Devil's Army

When Captain Xu initiated the battle to recapture Ledong County and Changshui County, Captain Zhang also initiated the battle to recapture Baoting County and Lingshui County.

At the beginning of the battle, the battle went unusually smoothly because Captain Zhang was well prepared and the Japanese troops in Baoting County were not well prepared.

Several townships on the border between Baoting County and Ya County were successively recaptured by the independent regiment.

The defeated Japanese troops quickly retreated back to Baoting County along the Yaxian to Tengqiao highway.

When the vanguard company of the first battalion attacked Tengqiao River, they were ambushed by Japanese troops lying in wait in the woods on the river bank.

The battalion commander immediately mobilized the second and third companies to encircle the enemy from the flank.

The ambushed Japanese troops feared being surrounded and quickly crossed the river to block the attack of the first battalion on the other side of the Teng River.

Soon, the first battalion of troops arrived at the other side of Tenghe River, and after a little preparation, launched a fierce attack on the Tenghe Bridge.

The two machine gun positions at the Japanese bridgehead cross-blocked the small bridge across the river.

The first platoon of the company, which lacked the cover of heavy weapons, suffered heavy casualties when trying to cross the Tenghe Bridge and had to retreat.

At this time, several soldiers borrowed a cart from the locals, filled it with sandbags and soil, and protected the two rocket soldiers as they crossed the bridge.

The rocket soldiers opened fire in succession as they approached the machine gun positions on the Japanese bridgehead. Two rockets, trailing flames, accurately blasted the two machine gun positions on the Japanese bridgehead into the sky.

The company of soldiers following behind quickly charged to the other side of the Teng River. But before the company of soldiers had crossed the Teng River, the Japanese soldiers who followed had already laid on the ground and set up machine guns, cross-firing at the company of soldiers crossing the river on the Teng River bridge.

The fierce charge momentum was suppressed by the fierce machine guns of the Japanese army.

The rocket soldiers who arrived later repeated the same trick, hiding behind the approaching carts and blasting away the Japanese machine gun fire points again.

Seeing that the Japanese machine gun firepower point was destroyed, the soldiers of the first company quickly launched a charge and rushed across the Tenghe Bridge in one fell swoop, and then pursued the retreating Japanese troops fiercely.

After the first battalion crossed the Tenghe Bridge and arrived at the Qixianling area, it was ambushed by the unprepared Japanese army.

Qixianling is located at the junction of Ya County, Baoting County and Lingshui County. It has dangerous terrain, numerous valleys and lush trees.

Because the Japanese defenders on the border with Ya County retreated quickly, the Japanese troops in the rear had no time to set up positions at Qixianling and had to hastily engage in battle with the First Battalion of the Independent Regiment.

The commander of the first battalion arranged for the first company of the vanguard to attack from the front to contain the Japanese defenders, while the second and third companies left the front battlefield and climbed up to the temporary Japanese position on Qixianling from the side, constantly attacking the Japanese troops in the position with rockets and grenades.

The Japanese army suffered heavy casualties due to fierce fire attack and was forced to abandon the strategic location of Qixianling and withdraw to Baoting County.

After the commander of the first battalion captured Qixianling in Baoting County, he arranged a platoon to consolidate the fortifications here. In case the Japanese troops from Lehui County broke through the defense line of Baoting County when heading north to Baisha County, they could also use the strategic position of Qixianling to keep the Japanese troops out of Ya County.

After the vanguard of the first battalion broke through Qixianling, they quickly arrived at the south gate of Baoting County.

At this time, there were less than two squadrons of Japanese troops in Baoting County. However, when the first company launched a strong attack on Baoting County, it encountered stubborn resistance from the Japanese troops on the wall of the south gate of Baoting City.

At this time, the soldiers of the first company were still quite far away from the city wall, and the 40 rockets had no way to attack the Japanese firepower points on the city wall.

A battalion commander then divided the troops into three companies and attacked the three city gates of Baoting County respectively.

The Japanese troops in Baoting County were forced to split into three groups to block the three-way attack of the first battalion. This also led to a serious shortage of troops at each city gate.

The Japanese defenders at the three gates of Baoting County kept asking their commander for reinforcements.

The Japanese lieutenant in Baoting County sent his own guards to reinforce, but the manpower was still stretched to the limit.

More than half an hour later, the rocket soldiers of the second company successfully approached the city wall, blew away the machine gun fire points on the Japanese city wall, and blew down the city gate.

Afterwards, the soldiers of the Second Company rushed into Baoting County and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Japanese army.

The Japanese soldiers on the Baoting County wall wanted to defeat the soldiers of the Second Company with their superb bayonet skills. However, the soldiers of the Second Company relied on their superior numbers, with two or three soldiers besieging one Japanese soldier.

Most of the remaining Japanese soldiers on the city wall were stabbed to death by the soldiers of the second company, and a small number continued to flee to the north.

At this time, the soldiers of the first and third companies of the other two city gates also attacked Baoting County one after another and launched a large-scale encirclement and suppression of the Japanese troops in Baoting County.

The Japanese lieutenant, who had no guards left, fled Baoting County in a panic and retreated to the north under the protection of a group of retreating Japanese soldiers.

The first battalion did not stop after retaking Baoting County, but immediately launched a siege on the Japanese strongholds and towns and villages in Baoting County.