Devil's Army

Commander Zhang was smoking leisurely, but the commander of the first division lost his patience. He asked:

"Commander, you said that we didn't take Ding'an County, not because of our poor fighting ability, but what was the reason?"

"Do you know where Ding'an County and Chengmai County used to be?"

“Ding’an County used to be Qiongshan County.”

"Going southeast from Chengmai County is also Qiongshan County."

"That's right. The Japanese army's headquarters, Haikou City, belongs to Qiongshan County. How could they let you enter Qiongshan County so easily? So Ding'an County and Chengmai County must be the counties that the Japanese army is strictly guarding."

"We will definitely take Ding'an County tomorrow!" The commander of the first regiment of the first division patted his chest and assured Commander Zhang.

"No hurry. Our artillery has run out of shells. If we fight the Japanese head-on, the casualties will be high. I have applied for artillery support from the Kunming headquarters. We will launch an attack on the Japanese troops in Ding'an and Chengmai counties after the shells arrive. You will first consolidate the recovered county towns tomorrow to prevent the Japanese army from counterattacking. Then clear out the strongholds of the Japanese and puppet troops around the county towns."

"Yes!"

Early the next morning, the two columns and four detachments of the Southern Front Army did not continue to attack the Japanese army, but instead carried out a comprehensive campaign to clear out and recapture the Japanese strongholds in the county.

At around eight o'clock, Qiongdong County, Ding'an County, and Lingao County were counterattacked by large Japanese troops.

The Japanese troops attacking Qiongdong County were divided into two groups. One group attacked Qiongdong County, while the other group marched through the Wanling Ancient Post Road Gorge and attacked Lehui County, which had been recovered.

The soldiers of the Second Regiment took advantage of the dangerous terrain of the canyon positions on both sides of the Wanling Ancient Post Road to block the fierce attack of the Japanese infantry.

Soon, the Japanese artillery that followed launched a fierce bombardment on the canyons on both sides of the Wanling Ancient Post Road.

At this time, the artillery of the Second Regiment did not counterattack the Japanese artillery because their artillery shells were insufficient and if they exposed their position, they would probably be destroyed by the Japanese artillery.

The county seat of Qiongdong was also subjected to heavy bombardment by Japanese artillery.

The soldiers of the Second Regiment on the city wall held on to the wall under the bombardment of Japanese artillery, but suffered heavy casualties.

Soon, Captain Du brought fighter jets and bombers from Lingshui Airport and Sanya Airport to provide reinforcements.

The Japanese artillery saw the Devil Force's pointed bombers from afar and immediately stopped the shelling and lay dormant.

The bombers and fighter planes of the First Army launched fierce bombing and strafing at the Japanese troops that were attacking the Wanling Ancient Post Road and Qiongdong County.

The soldiers of the Second Regiment on the city wall of Qiongzhong County squatted behind the parapets, looking at the Japanese troops howling in agony after being bombed under the city wall, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhang Zijie knew that Hainan Island was an important port of entry for the Japanese army in the south.

The assets they plundered from China were transported to the country from Hainan Island, and Hainan Island also served as a springboard for them to attack small countries in Southeast Asia.

Hainan Island is rich in iron and crystal mines, among which the Shilu Iron Mine in Changjiang County has hundreds of millions of tons of ore with a grade of up to 60%.

However, after Changjiang County was recaptured by the Hainan Island Independent Regiment, the Japanese army blew up all the entrances to the Lushi Iron Mine.

Therefore, the Japanese army will definitely try its best to retake Hainan Island.

Sure enough, when some fighters and bombers of the First Army on Hainan Island were strafing and bombing the Japanese army, more than 90 Japanese fighters and bombers flew over from Guangzhou Tianhe Airport and Shantou Airport.

Captain Du immediately ordered all fighter planes at Lingshui Airport and Sanya Airport to take off and fight. All bombers took off to avoid the air raid of the Japanese Air Force.

At that time, Captain Du had more than 40 fighter planes on Hainan Island, and the ratio to the Japanese fighter planes was nearly 1 to 2.

With the current performance of the First Army's fighter jets, they would not be at a disadvantage, so Captain Du did not ask for help from the Kunming headquarters.

Before the Japanese fighters and bombers had time to strafe and bomb the soldiers of the First Army's Southern Front, they were entangled with the First Army's fighters and engaged in a fierce battle in the air.

The sky over Hainan Island was filled with the roar of planes and the explosion of artillery shells.

Captain Du personally led the fighter group of the Fourth Air Force, using the speed advantage and flexibility of the Huaxia III fighter planes of the previous generation to constantly evade the attacks of Japanese fighter planes and continuously launch sneak attacks on Japanese fighter planes.

In the sky, Japanese fighter planes and bombers kept emitting black smoke and roaring down to the ground. Occasionally, fighter planes from the First Army would also emitting black smoke and roaring down to the ground.

At this time, the Japanese Fifth Fleet had already set out from Shenwei Bay in the north of the Qiongzhou Strait and was heading towards Haikou Port at full speed.

The soldiers of the First Army on Hainan Island encountered the most ferocious counterattack by the Japanese navy, army and air force since its establishment.