Devil's Army

After listening to the platoon leader's difficulties, Uncle Guo laughed and said:

"We may not be good at shooting the Japanese with guns, but rowing a boat is no problem for us who grew up drinking the water of the Songhua River. It's not convenient to row the boat out during the day. Let's go back to the village first. I'll find some good people to drive the boat away at night."

"Thank you, Uncle Guo."

"We are all family, don't be polite."

The platoon leader reported the situation to the company commander. The regimental commander also learned that the Japanese had built fortifications along the northern bank of the Songhua River. If the three boats were to sail from Aomutai to the garrison, pick up the soldiers, and then cross the river, they would be very likely to be exposed during this period.

So the regiment commander decided to cross the river at Aomutai Lianhuapao.

The commander of the first regiment asked the commander of the second battalion to launch a feint attack on the Japanese troops on the north bank of the Songjiang River in two hours, and the artillery would assist them.

He led three battalions of soldiers on a rapid march to Aomutai.

During the forced march, the regimental commander became increasingly worried.

Because the Japanese army on the north bank of the Songhua River would occasionally sweep searchlights across the river.

After walking more than ten miles, the water here was quite turbulent, but the Japanese did not deploy searchlights to sweep the river again.

"It seems that changing the crossing point to Aomutai was the right decision. Otherwise, if we had crossed the river near their base, the three boats would not have been able to escape the Japanese searchlights."

Before the regimental commander could walk far away, a flare was suddenly launched not far in front of the Songhua River.

A regiment leader urgently ordered everyone to hide.

Soon, the flares illuminated both sides of the Songhua River as bright as day.

The soldiers could clearly see the Japanese soldiers patrolling on the north bank of the Songhua River.

After more than twenty minutes, the flares gradually dimmed.

The third battalion commander asked the first regiment commander worriedly:

"Captain, the Japanese defense is so tight, can our ships transport the soldiers across the north bank?"

"I don't know either. Let's rush to Aomutai first, and then we'll see what happens."

An hour and a half later, the regimental commander and the soldiers of the third battalion arrived at Aomutai Lianhuapao.

The platoon leader had already brought the boatman introduced by Uncle Guo, and rowed three small boats out of the reed marsh, and docked them by the river waiting for the regimental commander and his men.

"What's the situation?" a regimental commander asked a platoon leader.

"The Japanese would fire flares from time to time, and we didn't dare to sail the boat away from the reed marshes."

"How long does it take the Japs to fire a sweeping bomb?"

"I've noticed there's no set time. Sometimes it's more than half an hour, sometimes closer to an hour."

"The Japanese army's flares stayed for nearly 20 minutes. If the Japanese army fired one flare every hour, we would have 40 minutes to paddle across to the other side."

"Captain, the three boats can only carry one and a half platoons of soldiers across the river at a time, and 40 minutes is only enough for a round trip."

"I'm worried that if the Japanese discover our boat during transportation, their artillery will surely destroy it, and then the soldiers crossing the river will be stuck."

The captain looked at his watch and said:

"We're running out of time. The Second Battalion is preparing to launch a feint attack on the Japanese troops on the east bank. Have the First Company Commander arrange for the soldiers to board the boats and prepare to cross the river."

Shortly after the soldiers of the first platoon of the first company and part of the second platoon boarded the ship, the artillery of the first regiment launched a bombardment on the Japanese positions on the north bank of the Songhua River.

At the same time, the soldiers of the second battalion also fired fiercely at the Japanese troops on the north bank.

The Japanese commanders had long feared that the Devil Unit soldiers would launch a night attack on them. Now this fear became a reality.