Devil's Army

Seeing that the main force of the Japanese army was still there, the Second Brigade Commander knew that the Japanese army, with their vengeful nature, would not give up easily. He decisively ordered the artillery positions that had not yet been exposed to move forward.

The ambush position was redeployed in the mountains two kilometers in front of Shentouling.

The second regiment commander gave all the captured Japanese weapons to the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army and asked them to arrange a regiment to ambush on the left side of the mountain.

The Second Regiment ambushed the Third and Fourth Battalions on the right side of the mountain.

Sure enough, at 6 o'clock the next morning, the Japanese army rushed over aggressively, ready to retaliate against the devil troops in Shentouling.

Before this group of Japanese troops reached Shentouling, they were subjected to heavy bombardment by the artillery ambushed nearby by the Second Regiment Commander.

The Japanese commander regrouped the Japanese troops, whose formation was in great disarray, and launched an attack on Shentouling.

When they first entered the mountains in front of Shentongli, they were attacked from both sides by a regiment of the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army and two battalions of the 4th Regiment of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Army.

The artillery of the Second Brigade took the opportunity to launch a fierce bombardment on the trapped Japanese troops.

The First Army's air force flew over at the right time and launched fierce bombing and strafing on the subsequent Japanese reinforcements.

The Japanese army in Hebi City had never encountered such a fierce air-to-ground fire attack, and they had no way to resist it.

The Japanese commander had no choice but to order a retreat.

Seeing that the Japanese army was in chaos and began to retreat, the commander of the Fourth Regiment launched a general attack.

For a moment, the shouts of the Eighth Route Army soldiers and the Fourth Regiment soldiers came from all directions of Shentouling.

They drove the Japanese troops that entered Changzhi back to Hebi City like chasing rabbits.

Another group of Japanese troops in Hebi and Anyang attacked Changzhi while also entering Changzhi from Xinxiang, Henan.

When the Japanese army reached Guanjiazhai, they were blocked by part of the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army.

Guanjiazhai is located in Wuxiang County, Changzhi City, Shanxi Province. It is a dangerous hill in the Taihang Mountains. The top of the hill is flat and the surrounding areas are steep. It controls the mountain passage from Xinxiang via Shexian County to Changzhi.

There is only one narrow path leading to the top of the hill. If the Japanese army passes through here, they will easily fall into the dilemma of "difficulty in climbing the mountain and difficulty in retreating".

In October 1940, the Eighth Route Army assembled nearly 20,000 troops to besiege more than 600 Japanese troops from the Okazaki Detachment at Guanjiazhai.

The battle lasted for 36 hours, and the Eighth Route Army suffered heavy casualties, but still failed to capture the Guanjiazhai position.

The Japanese commander launched two fierce attacks on the Guanjiazhai position, but both were repelled by part of the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army. He then left some Japanese troops to contain the 386th Brigade while the main force of the Japanese army bypassed and entered Changzhi.

When the Japanese army arrived at Laoye Mountain, they were blocked by the 728th Regiment of the 364th Brigade of the Sichuan Army.

Laoye Mountain is located in Tunliu District, Changzhi City, Shanxi Province. It is next to the main transportation route from Xinxiang to Changzhi via Jincheng. The mountain is steep and ravines are crisscrossed. The commanding heights overlook the surrounding roads.

Japanese transport troops or marching columns had to travel along winding mountain roads, which limited their mobility.

The Sichuan Army relied on mountain fortifications to stubbornly block the advance of the Japanese army.

The mountain road was so steep that the Japanese artillery had no way to keep up.

Lacking artillery support, the Japanese infantry made slow progress.

At this time, the First Army Air Force, which was supposed to return, rushed over to support after hearing the news.

The First Army Air Force's fierce bombing and strafing blocked the Japanese artillery and support troops from following up.

The Japanese vanguard troops that entered Laoye Mountain lacked support from artillery and reinforcement troops, and were all wiped out by the fierce firepower of the Sichuan Army.

The Japanese commander had no choice but to stop the attack and confront the First Army at Laoye Mountain, waiting to launch another attack tomorrow.