Devil's Army

When the Second and Third Divisions were preparing to launch a battle to retake Xiamen and Shantou, Commander Zhang Shaojie arrived in Xuwen County.

At this time, apart from being on guard against harassment from the Japanese army at the border with Vietnam, there were no other major battles in Guangxi and Yunnan.

Leng Feng ordered the Second Independent Division of the Gui-Yunnan Front Army stationed in Guangxi to leave behind a regiment and rush to Xuwen County with 5000 newly recruited wolf soldiers in Guangxi to participate in the battle to recapture the southern city and county.

At around 4 o'clock in the afternoon of that day, the Second Independent Division of the Gui-Yunnan Front Army and 5000 new recruits arrived in Xuwen County.

As soon as the Second Independent Division of the Gui-Yunnan Front Army arrived in Xuwen County, Commander Zhang did not let them rest, but ordered them to immediately rush to Fangcun, Huadi, Shiweitang and other places in Nanhai County.

At this time, the Third Battle of Changsha launched by Anami Korechika, commander of the Japanese 11th Army, had come to an end.

The Japanese army was already showing signs of defeat and was being forced to retreat by the 9th War Zone troops of the Nanjing government army.

As soon as the Third Battle of Changsha was over, the Japanese Army's Third Aircraft Division would certainly come to reinforce the battle in the south. The Japanese army in Guangzhou could counterattack Nanhai County at any time.

Commander Zhang did not know how many troops the Guangzhou Japanese army would gather to attack the South China Sea, but with less than three regiments of troops in the South China Sea, it would be impossible to resist.

The rest of his Southern Front Army was either defending the county towns that had already been recovered, or fighting to recover Xiamen and Shantou. There was an extreme shortage of troops.

So he dispatched the Second Division of the Gui-Yunnan Front Army in advance, and ordered the Second and Third Divisions to end the battles in Xiamen and Shantou within two days, and return the main force to defend Bao'an County, Xiangshan County and Dongguan County.

The Second and Third Divisions received orders from Commander Zhang and intensified their attacks on Xiamen and Shantou.

When the Second Division arrived at the Aitoutan Gorge between the southwest of Tong'an and the north of Xiamen Island (the sea and hilly area near today's Xinglin Bridge), it was blocked by the Japanese army.

The waters of Aitoutan Canyon are narrow and there are many hills on both sides. The land route requires passing through the canyon passage. The sea route is difficult to cross by boat due to the many reefs and shoals.

The Japanese army deployed two squadrons here to set up defenses and blocked the attack of the Second Division.

The Third Battalion of the Second Division attacked twice, but was blocked by the Japanese army each time.

The Third Battalion, which was on a long march, lacked heavy artillery and was at a great disadvantage in the siege.

The third battalion commander had to ask the second regiment commander for air force support.

Soon, three bombers and three fighters of the First Army arrived over the Aitoutan Gorge and fiercely strafed and bombed the Japanese positions in the gorge.

The Japanese Xiamen defenders, who lacked air defense experience, had all their fortifications destroyed by the strafing and bombing by the First Army's fighters and bombers.

The Japanese soldiers on the position also suffered heavy casualties.

After the bombing, soldiers from the first and second companies of the third battalion continued to attack the Aitoutan Gorge.

At this time, the fighters and bombers of the First Army did not return, but patrolled in the air. Once they found the Japanese firepower points in the canyon, they immediately rushed over to destroy them.

With the strong support of the First Army's fighter planes and bombers, the soldiers of the Third Battalion finally broke through the Japanese defense line in the Aitoutan Gorge.

Most of the Japanese troops on the position were wiped out, and a small number retreated to the rear of Xiamen.

After passing through the Aitoutan Gorge, the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Division and the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Division continued to advance towards Maluan Bay, Xiamen West Port and the coastal hills.

They successively broke through the coastal mudflats, the port defense line, Huwei Mountain and Xianyue Mountain, and approached the center of Xiamen.

In order to break through the Japanese army's outer defense line in Xiamen, the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Division split its troops into two routes, with the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Division attacking Xiamen from the east and the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Division attacking Xiamen from the south.

Most of the Japanese defenders in Xiamen were deployed on the outer defense line. After the outer defense line was breached, the Japanese troops in Xiamen were no longer strong.

Under the fierce attack from both sides of the two battalions of the 2nd and 3rd Divisions, the Japanese troops in Xiamen were overwhelmed.

Xiamen's defense line was finally breached at around 3 o'clock in the afternoon of that day.

Afterwards, the soldiers of the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Division and the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Division marched straight in and fought bravely. After two hours, they finally defeated the Japanese troops who were trying to resist stubbornly in the houses.

When the Third Battalion of the Second Division recaptured Xiamen, the main force of the Third Division also broke through the Japanese defense line in Shantou and was fighting fiercely with the Japanese troops defending the Shantou Airport.

Shantou Airport was an important air force base in the south of the Japanese Army. Although its scale was not as large as that of Sanzao Island Air Force Base, it was mainly responsible for the battles in Chaoshan area and the coastal areas of South China. It was also responsible for cutting off the transportation line of the Allied countries' maritime aid to China.

Therefore, after the 3rd Division of the Japanese army broke through the Shantou defense line, they retreated to the Shantou Airport and put up a desperate resistance.

Under the cover of night, the Third Division Commander, with mortars and 40 artillery pieces covering the infantry, broke through the Japanese Shantou Airport defense line from three sides, rushed into the Shantou Airport, and engaged in a brutal hand-to-hand combat with the stubborn Japanese troops.