Devil's Army

The regiment directly under the Jidong Independent Brigade was like a sharp knife, quickly tearing a hole in the Japanese defense line.

The soldiers of the Second Regiment kept tearing bigger gaps on both wings like the two cuts of a pair of scissors.

Although the Japanese troops on both sides continued to come to support, they could not withstand the fierce attack of the two regiments of the Jidong Independent Brigade and the newly formed 9th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army. The defense line was finally torn open.

The soldiers of the newly formed 9th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army quickly broke out of the encirclement through the gap.

Brigade Commander Gui, who broke out of the Japanese encirclement, met with Brigade Commander Gao. The two sides did not talk in detail, but shook hands and exchanged a few polite words before continuing to rush towards Hengshui City.

When the Japanese division commander Ichiro Nanada saw that the main force of the Eighth Route Army, which had been surrounded for a long time, was about to escape, he immediately ordered his troops to follow closely from behind.

Brigade Commander Gao arranged the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Regiment to block the Japanese army and cover the retreat of the main force.

The section from Suzheng and Suyi to Hengshui City is all flat and unobstructed, which is neither suitable for ambushes nor for blocking.

The main force of the Eighth Route Army was always elusive, and it was difficult to surround a main brigade. If he escaped, the division commander Ichiro Nanada would be blamed.

He personally supervised the battle and ordered his soldiers to attack the devil's troops regardless of casualties.

The road from Suzhengsuyi to Hengshui City is all flat and unobstructed, which is not suitable for ambushes or blocking.

Under the frenzied attack of the Japanese army, the first battalion suffered heavy casualties.

The first battalion commander looked at the soldiers who kept falling and asked the second regiment commander for air support.

The First Army's planes had just supported them in bombing the Japanese troops in Hengshui City a few hours ago. If they requested support again, it was unknown when the support would arrive.

The second regiment commander had to settle for the next best thing and ordered the Army Aviation soldiers to fly the two Golden Eagle IV drones that were on reconnaissance to attack the Japanese army.

Two Golden Eagle No. 4 drones flew over the first battalion's position and came over the Japanese army. The two Type 92 heavy machine guns under their bellies fired continuously.

The Japanese soldiers who were charging desperately were killed one after another by the Type 92 heavy machine gun bullets of the Golden Eagle.

Some Japanese soldiers fired at the Golden Eagle No. 4 in vain. However, they could only vent their anger and could not hurt the Golden Eagle No. 4 drone at all.

The Type 92 heavy machine guns carried by the two Golden Eagles had all been fired, and they quickly returned to the base to replenish their ammunition. The Japanese attack was also completely disrupted.

A battalion commander took the opportunity to order the mortar soldiers to launch a wave of bombing on the Japanese army, and then quickly retreated to catch up with the main force.

Division Commander Ichiro Nanada looked at the corpses of imperial soldiers lying in front of the position, and sat on the ground helplessly, as if his spine had been pulled out.

The captain walked cautiously to the division commander, Ichiro Nanada, and asked:

"General, are you still chasing?"

"Chase, kill these devil troops!" Division Commander Ichiro Nanada shouted hysterically.

The soldiers of the Devil's Army and the Eighth Route Army had already fled without a trace. But it was obvious that they had definitely fled back to Hengshui City.

The captain ordered his soldiers to speed up their advance and prepare to attack Hengshui City.

Brigade Commander Gui led his soldiers into Hengshui City, and Brigade Commander Li came to greet them personally:

"Thank you for your hard work! Go to the headquarters and take a rest."

"Brigade Commander Gui, this is Brigade Commander Li Guozhu of the Sixth Brigade of the First Anti-Japanese Army, and the commander-in-chief of our westward-moving troops."

Brigade Commander Gao introduced to Brigade Commander Gui.

"Thank you, Brigade Commander Li, for your help!"

"We are family, so let's go back to the headquarters, drink some water and take a rest."

Before Brigade Commander Gui could take a sip of water, the sentry came over to report: a large number of Japanese troops appeared at the west gate of Hengshui City.

"How many people are there?" Li Guozhu asked.

"No less than a brigade."

"The Japanese are coming for us. I will lead my troops to fight them," said Brigade Commander Gui as he put down his water cup.

"Commander Gui, now that we are here, we should make the best of it. The Japanese army with a large battalion of troops wants to attack Hengshui City, which is defended by our Jidong Independent Brigade and the Sixth Brigade. You have eaten too much kohlrabi."

"The enemy's force was far more than just this battalion. At the time, the enemy had the 20th and 36th divisions surrounding us, with at least 34 men."

"I will first eat up this brigade and then cut off this arm of its."

Li Guozhu turned to Brigade Commander Gao and said:

"Brigade Commander Gao, you must gather all the machine guns in your brigade and form a machine gun battalion. After shelling the Japanese infantry, you must immediately rush out of the city and massacre the devils outside the city!"

"Yes!" Brigade Commander Gao immediately walked out of the brigade headquarters.

"Signalman, connect me to the artillery unit."

The signalman handed the phone to Brigade Commander Li and said:

"Commander, the call from artillery battalion commander Fan is connected."

"Captain Fan, in half an hour, launch a fierce bombardment of the area 500 to 600 meters outside the city wall to prevent the Japanese reinforcements from arriving and also to prevent the Japanese siege troops from retreating."

"Yes."

At this time, Brigade Commander Gui also interrupted:

"Commander Li, I can't sit still now that the Japanese are here. Should we go to the front line?"

"If Commander Gui wants to go, I will go with you."