Devil's Army

The mortar artillery of the Second Regiment caused considerable casualties and trouble to the Japanese army, and also reminded the brigade commander Take Harukichi. He decided to follow suit.

At seven o'clock in the morning, Brigade Commander Take Haruyoshi concentrated all the mortars of the brigade at the corner of the path and launched a fierce bombardment on the hiding place of the Devil Force's rocket soldiers on the hillside and the Devil Force's positions opposite.

The rocket soldiers of the Second Regiment retreated quickly, and the small road positions of the Second Regiment were blown up into the air. Soldiers were blown out of the trenches from time to time.

Seeing this, Captain Lu of the Second Regiment stationed here ordered the mortars to counterattack. However, Captain Lu's artillery fire was far less fierce and dense than that of the Japanese army, and was suppressed instead.

The Japanese army gradually gained a firm position at the corner of the path, and the infantry, with the support of intensive mortar fire, began to attack the position of Battalion Commander Lu.

While organizing the soldiers to resist, Battalion Commander Lu ordered the soldiers on the top of the mountain to retreat.

After the soldiers on the top of the mountain retreated successfully, Battalion Commander Lu began to arrange for the soldiers to retreat and abandon this position that was no longer defensible.

After occupying the position of the Devil's Army, Brigade Commander Takeharuyoshi continued to advance, heading straight for Shenzhou City.

Captain Lu and his men stopped retreating when they reached Tianpinggou in the west of Shenzhou City. They defended Tianpinggou together with their third company. This was the last line of defense outside Shenzhou City.

The Japanese army stopped when they arrived near Tianpinggou. There were dykes everywhere and the vegetation was lush. They were worried about the ambush of the devil's army.

A truck, protected by a small group of Japanese soldiers, cautiously searched forward.

Suddenly, there were two loud "booms," and the truck ran over two mines buried together.

The huge explosive force of the two mines overturned the truck, and many Japanese soldiers nearby were also blown over.

The remaining Japanese soldiers quickly fired at the front of the path and behind the dikes on both sides, but there was no response for a long time.

The Japanese troops who followed rushed over to treat the wounded Japanese soldiers who were blown to the ground, and pushed the destroyed truck off the path.

The captain also arranged several engineers to go forward to clear the mines.

Three engineers had just stepped forward with their deminers to clear the mines when three gunshots were heard from the front of the path. The three engineers fell one after another and went to meet their emperor.

The Japanese machine gunner quickly lay down and fired at the place where the gunshots came from.

The machine gunners of the Second Regiment on both sides of the path also began to roar and fire at the Japanese machine gunners.

The Japanese battalion commander immediately arranged for more machine gunners to suppress the machine gun fire of the Devil Forces, and arranged for mortars to bomb the machine gun fire points of the Devil Forces.

The Second Regiment's machine guns were no match for the fierce firepower of the Japanese army and had to move quickly.

The captain then continued to send engineers to clear mines, but they were soon killed by snipers from the Devil Forces.

The Japanese machine gunners once again suppressed the Devil Force's sniper firepower and sent infantry to attack the Devil Force's position from the side.

Before the Japanese infantry approached the Second Regiment's position, they were strafed by machine gunners who had already moved their positions.

The Japanese battalion commander immediately requested machine guns and mortars to counter-suppress the firepower of the devil troops. The two sides fought fiercely across the mine-filled path.

The two sides fought fiercely for more than two hours. Although Captain Lu's Third Company suffered heavy casualties, the trees on both sides of the path prevented the Japanese from launching a large-scale attack. The position was still firmly in the hands of the Third Company.

A squadron leader whispered something in the ear of the Japanese battalion commander, who nodded repeatedly and asked him to carry out the order.

The Japanese army also temporarily stopped its attack on the third company's position.

After a while, the squadron leader led more than 20 civilians to step over the mines.

It turned out that when the squadron leader arrived at Taipinggou, he saw smoke rising from a village not far away. Knowing that there were people in the village, he grabbed them and asked them to step over the mines.

The soldiers of the third company were furious, but there was nothing they could do; this was how the Japs always behaved.

More than 20 civilians were forced forward by the Japanese with bayonets. They were getting closer and closer to the landmine. If they were not stopped, the landmine would kill all of the more than 10 civilians.

The captain was smiling behind, looking at the squadron leader's masterpiece with satisfaction.

The third company commander suddenly shouted to the common people:

"Get down!"

Then the soldiers of the third company in the trench also shouted to the civilians in unison:

"Squat down, squat down..."

The common people rushed to squat down. The Japanese soldiers behind them, who could not understand what they were saying, looked at the common people who suddenly squatted down in confusion. Before they could react, fierce gunfire rang out from the third company's position.

More than a dozen Japanese soldiers were knocked down one after another, and the third company commander shouted to the people again:

"Run to both sides, run to both sides..."

The soldiers of the third company stopped shooting, and the civilians hurriedly ran to the woods on both sides.

The angry captain launched another attack on the third company's position, but several Japanese soldiers stepped on landmines and were killed.

The captain had to stop the attack again.

At this time, the cunning squadron leader offered advice to the captain.