Devil's Army

When the squadron leader led the remaining Japanese and puppet troops to the vicinity of Wangchanggou, the soldiers of the third company suddenly opened fire.

The fierce gunfire and grenades caused the squadron leader and his men to flee in panic.

The Japanese troops in Chengde County and Pingquan City attacked Wangchanggou and the mountain pass for half a day but failed to break through the positions of the second and third battalions.

At this time, news came that Kuancheng County had fallen, so they withdrew their troops and retreated to Chengde County and Pingquan City.

Kuancheng County was the first county town occupied by the First Anti-Japanese Army in Rehe Province.

In order to defend Kuancheng County, the commander of the Third Regiment left the Second and Third Battalions to continue defending Wangchanggou and the mountain pass.

Kuancheng County left behind a squadron of the Lubei guerrillas to maintain public order, while the other members and the first battalion of the third regiment and its direct company cleared out the strongholds and towns of the Japanese and puppet troops around Kuancheng County, preparing to establish a new government.

Commander of the Kwantung Army, Michijiro Umezu, was worried that the devil troops would expand their influence to Rehe.

The area is vast and sparsely populated, and they do not have many troops.

If the devil troops take root and develop in Rehe, it will be even more difficult to eliminate them.

Therefore, a death order was issued to the Kwantung Army in Chengde County and Chifeng City, requiring them to drive the invading devil troops out of Rehe Province within a specified period of time.

Lieutenant General Machijiri Ryoki, commander of the 6th Division of the Kwantung Army in Rehe Province, immediately arranged two battalions to attack the unstable devil troops and the Eighth Route Army guerrillas from Chengde County and Pingquan City respectively.

Faced with the aggressive Japanese Kwantung Army, Captain Pei of the Eighth Route Army's Lubei Guerrillas and the commander of the third regiment of the 12th Brigade of the First Anti-Japanese Army had a disagreement.

Captain Pei has been operating behind enemy lines, advocating withdrawal from Kuancheng County, avoiding the enemy's attack, and looking for opportunities to attack the Japanese army.

The commander of the Third Regiment had been fighting the Japanese army head-on in the Tangshan base, and advocated relying on the dangerous terrain of Wangchanggou and the mountain pass to block the Japanese army from entering the newly built base.

The two sides argued endlessly and neither could convince the other.

The third regiment commander asked his superiors for instructions, and both Army Commander Tan and Brigade Commander Du agreed with the third regiment commander's plan and prepared to send reinforcements to Kuancheng County.

After Captain Pei asked his superiors for instructions, he received an order from Deputy Division Commander Xu, asking him to obey the arrangements of the commander of the 3rd Regiment of the 12th Brigade of the 1st Anti-Japanese Army.

Although Captain Pei still firmly believed that his battle strategy was correct, he also expressed his determination to obey the arrangements of his superiors.

At this point, the 3rd Regiment of the 12th Brigade in Rehe and the Lubei Guerrillas of the Eighth Route Army entered a tense state of preparation for war.

At around ten o'clock that morning, the Second Battalion of the Sixth Division of the Kwantung Army in Chengde County took the lead in launching a fierce bombing on the position of the Third Regiment in Wangguanggou.

Captain Pei had never encountered such fierce artillery fire from the Second Battalion of the Japanese Army.

He was more convinced that his strategy of avoiding the enemy's edge and fighting guerrilla warfare with the Japanese army was correct. However, his superiors asked him to obey the arrangements of the Third Regiment Commander and agreed with the Third Regiment Commander's strategy, so he carried it out unconditionally. He still had this awareness.

Seeing that the Japanese artillery fire was so fierce, the second battalion commander stayed in the trench with one row, and the rest of the troops retreated to the rear.

The Japanese artillery fire had not stopped yet, and a mixed squadron of fighters and bombers flew over and launched a fierce bombing on the second battalion's position.

The Japanese fighters and bombers bombed the positions of the Second Battalion for more than ten minutes and then quickly withdrew, because they knew that if the First Army's pointed aircraft were in combat readiness, it would take no more than 20 minutes to fly from Xiaoguanzhuang Airport to here.

As soon as the Japanese artillery bombardment stopped, the second battalion commander immediately ordered the first company to return to the position.

Captain Pei also had to lead his squadron back to the position.

At this time, the roar of an airplane was heard in the air again.

Captain Pei didn't even think about it and ordered his team members to hide immediately.

The second battalion commander looked up at the sky, patted Captain Pei on the shoulder, and said:

"Don't be nervous, this is our plane."

At the same time command:

"Second and third companies, follow me to the position and prepare for the counterattack."

Captain Pei asked his team members skeptically to stop avoiding the bombing of the planes and go to the position with the second battalion commander to prepare for a counterattack.

Sure enough, a Hua Xia 2 fighter squadron and a H 1 bomber squadron flew over the second battalion commander's position and launched a fierce bombing and strafing attack on the attacking Japanese troops.

A large number of Japanese soldiers who were unable to dodge in time on the mountain road were knocked down and injured by the explosion, and the rest of the Japanese soldiers hurriedly hid in the woods nearby.

As soon as the First Army's air force stopped the air raid, the Second Battalion Commander immediately ordered the charge.

The soldiers of the Second Battalion, together with the First Squadron of the Lubei Guerrillas, launched a fierce attack on the already defeated Japanese army.

The Japanese army was beaten back repeatedly, and then it turned into a great rout, running desperately to the rear.

After cleaning up the battlefield, the second battalion commander left one row in the trench, and the other troops retreated to the rear.

He was worried that the Japanese artillery would launch a retaliatory bombing against them, but the First Army's planes were constantly patrolling the sky, and the Japanese artillery did not dare to fire at all.

The first major offensive by the Second Battalion of the Sixth Division of the Japanese Kwantung Army was thus repelled by the joint efforts of the Second Battalion and the Lubei Guerrillas.