Devil's Army

In January 1932, Nishi Yoshiichi, commander of the Japanese Army's 1th Division, captured the strategically located Shanhaiguan in just one day.

The current division commander, Maeda Toshiaki, was also confident that he could capture Qinhuangdao and Shanhaiguan in one day, and then capture Jinzhou.

At the beginning of the war, Leng Feng knew that it was the Eighth Division of the Kwantung Army that attacked Qinhuangdao and Shanhaiguan, so he personally rushed to the Qinhuangdao Command.

He asked the commander of the Fourth Brigade, Wang Zhuangfei, to kill as many of the Eighth Division's manpower as possible.

The Eighth Division of the Japanese Kwantung Army, Leng Feng called it the "Bastard Division".

The division entered China and participated in various atrocities against the Chinese people: the September 18th Incident, burning, killing, looting and clearing the countryside in Northeast China, Shanghai and Zhejiang, loyally implementing the Three Alls Policy, using poison gas bombs in Zhejiang and Chongqing, bombing Chongqing, and promoting the comfort women policy...

The crimes committed by this division against the Chinese people are too numerous to list.

The Japanese Army's Eighth Division attacked Qinhuangdao with full confidence, and on the same day Wang Zhuangfei dealt a heavy blow to them.

The vanguard of the Japanese Kwantung Army's 8th Division advanced alone into the deep before their supplies and weapons arrived, and launched an attack on Qinhuangdao.

Wang Zhuangfei arranged the battle according to Leng Feng's order to destroy the Japanese Kwantung Army's 8th Division as much as possible.

The battle went as smoothly as Captain Maeda Toshiie had expected at the beginning.

His vanguard launched the first round of charge and entered the northern city of Qinhuangdao without much difficulty.

Just as his vanguard troops were preparing to advance deeper into Qinhuangdao City, the captain commanding the vanguard troops suddenly discovered that the northern wall of Qinhuangdao was covered with machine guns. There were also two tanks blocking their way to the north of Qinhuangdao.

The captain felt that the situation was a bit bad, but the battle situation did not allow him to think too much. Following an order from Brigade Commander Wang, the tanks immediately launched a fierce bombardment on the vanguard troops that had rushed into the north gate of Qinhuangdao.

The machine guns on both sides of the city wall also kept firing "da da da..."

Four 150mm howitzers deployed in the depth of Qinhuangdao also began to bombard the vanguard of the Japanese army outside Qinhuangdao.

More than half an hour later, the vanguard of the Japanese Kwantung Army's Eighth Division, with nearly half a battalion of troops and only more than 40 people, escaped the encirclement of the Fourth Brigade.

When Leng Feng heard Wang Zhuangfei's report that the first battle in Qinhuangdao was a victory and that almost half of the Japanese vanguard's infantry battalion was wiped out, he cheered.

He told Wang Zhuangfei that this was how he was beaten, and it hurt.

Brigade Commander Wang knew that Commander Leng hated the Japanese army, but this was the first time he heard them repeatedly called the "bastard division".

Wang Zhuangfei has followed Commander Leng in the Long March for more than ten years. He admires Commander Leng very much and will carry out any orders given by Commander Leng without fail.

Soon, follow-up troops from the Japanese Kwantung Army's 8th Division arrived.

The main force of the Eighth Division of the Japanese Kwantung Army was divided into two groups, and they concentrated large and small caliber artillery to fiercely bombard the west gate and north gate of Qinhuangdao. They also requested the air force to send aircraft to reinforce.

Wang Zhuangfei knew the Japanese army's vengeful nature, so after wiping out the Japanese vanguard, he immediately ordered his soldiers to retreat. Only dummies made of military uniforms and tree branches were left on the walls of the west and north gates.

Wang Zhuangfei didn't even leave an observation post. The movements of the Japanese army were completely transmitted by the Golden Eagle drone.

Soon, Qinhuangdao's North Gate and West Gate were filled with smoke from the Japanese artillery and air-to-ground bombings, bricks and tiles were flying everywhere, and branches and military uniforms on the city walls were flying all over the sky.

Division Commander Maeda was very satisfied with the effect of the bombing and ordered the infantry to start the attack.

The commander of the Second Regiment of the Fourth Brigade learned from the intelligence sent by the Golden Eagle UAV that the infantry of the Eighth Division of the Japanese Army had begun to attack, and hurriedly ordered his troops to take up their positions.

The brutal Eighth Division of the Japanese Kwantung Army launched two large-scale attacks on the north gate and west gate of Qinhuangdao in one morning, but both were repelled by the Second Regiment of the Fourth Brigade.

The confident Maeda IV's attack on Qinhuangdao was not smooth at the beginning. First, his vanguard was wiped out by the devil's troops, and then the infantry's attack was frustrated.

After lunch, he personally supervised the battle and ordered the infantry to continue attacking the west and north gates of Qinhuangdao at the risk of being accidentally bombed by their own artillery.

The soldiers of the Second Regiment of the Fourth Brigade had no way to hide from the artillery fire and could only hold their ground on the city wall while braving the bombing of Japanese artillery and aircraft to block the attack of the Japanese infantry.

This also led to a sharp increase in casualties among the soldiers of the 2nd Regiment of the 4th Brigade.

Moreover, the Japanese planes were still bombing, and the four 150mm howitzers of the Fourth Brigade in Qinhuangdao City did not dare to fire in support.

In just one afternoon, Division Commander Maeda launched two large-scale attacks on the west gate and north gate of Qinhuangdao.

Although the Second Regiment of the Fourth Brigade suffered heavy casualties, they still firmly held the city wall and fought to the death.

Due to the heavy casualties among the soldiers of the Fourth Brigade, Wang Zhuangfei's wife Hu Jiani personally led a medical team to the North Gate to rescue the wounded.

The brigade commander's wife also went to the battlefield in person, which boosted the confidence of the soldiers of the Second Regiment. There was even a saying on the battlefield: If the brigade commander and his wife go to the battlefield together, the Japanese will be defeated soon.