Devil's Army

The deputy battalion commander personally took several scouts to conduct reconnaissance outside the south gate.

When the deputy battalion commander and his men arrived at a small intersection three kilometers outside the south gate, they always felt something was wrong ahead.

The path ahead was very quiet, so quiet that it was frightening. There were lush trees on both sides of the path, making it a good place to set up an ambush.

The deputy battalion commander asked two scouts to go from the left side of the path, while he and another scout quietly walked forward from the right side of the path.

The deputy battalion commander had not walked too far when he spotted Japanese soldiers in yellow clothes lying under a tree in front of him by the moonlight. However, due to the distance, he could not see how many Japanese soldiers there were.

After the deputy battalion commander retreated, the two scouts returned to the meeting place after a while. They also found that there were Japanese troops ambushing on the left side of the path.

After returning to Weiyuanbao Town, the deputy battalion commander reported the intelligence they had obtained to the first battalion commander.

"There is indeed an ambush," said the battalion commander, putting down his water cup.

"Captain, why don't we counter-ambush him from behind?"

"No, this Japanese brigade has nearly 4000 soldiers. Even if they are evenly distributed among the four city gates, there are nearly 1000 Japanese soldiers at each gate. If we attack them by surprise, we might end up making matters worse and get caught by them."

"Just let them go like this?"

"Retreat, at ten o'clock tonight, retreat westward along the wall, then turn back south. There are plenty of opportunities for ambushes, so don't put yourself in danger."

Afterwards, a battalion commander arranged a company of soldiers to disguise themselves as soldiers in their military caps and uniforms and place them on the three city walls.

At ten o'clock in the evening, the commander of a battalion led his soldiers to retreat westward along the wall from the south gate of Weiyuanbao Town. After getting away from the ambush circle of the Japanese army, they turned south and marched towards Kaiyuan City.

A battalion commander stopped when they marched to the bank of the Lie River. There was a large area of ​​reeds taller than a man, which made it a natural ambush site.

The commander of the first battalion left the first and second companies to set up an ambush in the reeds. There were two machine gun positions on the two slopes opposite the path, blocking the path.

The third company crossed the Jie River from a small bridge and, together with the first company of the second battalion, reinforced the fortifications in preparation to block the Japanese army from crossing the Jie River.

A battalion commander reported his plan to a regiment commander.

A regiment commander originally wanted to ambush the Japanese army in the ravine north of Weiyuanbao Town, and then retreat to Weiyuanbao Town, hold it for two or three days, and then retreat to the Jiehe River... In this way, the Japanese army's vitality would be eliminated step by step and the Japanese army's morale would be frustrated.

The commander of the first battalion transferred the battlefield of Weiyuanbao Town to an ambush in the reed fields. This would not only reduce the casualties of the soldiers of the first battalion, but also prevent the Japanese army from massacring the civilians in Weiyuanbao Town out of hatred.

The next morning, Japanese troops at the east, west and north gates of Weiyuanbao Town began to bombard the city walls.

The fierce artillery fire blew the uniforms of the First Army on the three city walls of Weiyuanbao Town into flying all over the sky.

As soon as the Japanese artillery fire stopped, the infantry began to attack.

What surprised the Japanese was that their infantry had already begun the attack, but the devil troops on the city wall had not yet fought back.

"Did the devil troops retreat? But they have blocked all three gates of Weiyuanbao Town, and the ambush troops at the south gate did not find the devil troops retreating. Where did they retreat from?"

The commander of the regiment followed the main force into Weiyuanbao Town while thinking, and found that the devil troops had indeed retreated. As for where they retreated from, no Japanese soldier at the city gate knew.

The brigade commander then followed the main force and continued southward, preparing to attack Kaiyuan City.

The 28th Regiment of the Japanese Army came to a small path on the Kou River. The road here was relatively narrow and the banks were covered with reeds.

The captain of the corps was worried about being ambushed by the devil's troops, so he ordered a small team to go and investigate.

A small group of Japanese soldiers walked forward, firing at the reeds on the shore, but they found no trace of the Devil Army soldiers.

Afterwards, the large Japanese army formed a long line and began to pass through this path.

When the Japanese troops were about to pass through this reed path, the roar of two heavy machine guns suddenly sounded from the small earthen slope opposite, and the Japanese soldiers in front were knocked down one after another.

Before the regiment commander could arrange for the artillery to suppress the machine gun positions of the devil troops on the opposite side, fierce gunfire rang out from the reeds beside the path. Grenades also flew from the reeds to the path.

The Japanese soldiers on the path were suddenly covered in blood and flesh, and cries of grief were everywhere.

After the ambush was successful, the battalion commander immediately ordered the first and second companies in the reeds to withdraw from their positions.

Although the reeds were suitable for ambushes, they were no match for artillery fire. If the soldiers were to hide in the reeds and come under Japanese artillery fire, they would surely suffer heavy casualties.

Sure enough, the commander of the regiment, who had recovered from the shock, began to order the artillery to bombard the reeds fiercely. A large area of ​​reeds was completely blown off by the Japanese artillery fire.

After more than half an hour, the Japanese stopped shelling. The infantry began to advance while firing at the reeds. But by then, the devil troops in the reeds had already evacuated safely.