Devil's Army

The next morning, before dawn, the Japanese army launched an attack on Laoye Mountain.

The soldiers of the 728th Regiment of the Sichuan Army quickly took up their positions and blocked the Japanese attack.

At this time, the Japanese artillery suddenly opened fire, and the fierce artillery fire destroyed the Sichuan Army's surface positions on Laoyeshan.

The Japanese artillery fire had not yet stopped when the infantry launched an attack.

The Sichuan Army was suppressed by the dense artillery shells and bullets of the Japanese army and had no way to raise their heads.

Some Japanese troops had already climbed to the vicinity of the Laoyeshan position, and they could reach the Laoyeshan position with a single charge.

The Sichuan Army took advantage of the pause in the Japanese artillery fire and threw grenades fiercely down the mountain from the trenches.

The continuous rain of grenades blew the Japanese troops near the Laoyeshan position down the mountain.

The fish that escaped the net were also knocked down by the Sichuan Army's machine guns.

But the Japanese commander did not stop the attack. He knew that daybreak would soon come, and under the bombing of the Devil Force's air force, they would have no way of breaking through the Laoyeshan position.

Under the Japanese army's desperate wave-like continuous attacks, the 1st Battalion of the 728th Regiment of the Sichuan Army suffered heavy casualties.

Just when the Japanese army was about to break through the Laoyeshan position, the first and second companies of the second battalion of the Sichuan Army broke through the blockade of the Japanese artillery and rushed to support.

The fiercest wave of the Japanese attack before daybreak was repelled. Before they could organize a new wave of attack, the First Army's air force rushed to support them.

The Japanese commander was disappointed. Without the support of the Devil Force's air force, they had no way to take the Laoyeshan position.

Now, once the Devil Forces' air force discovers their infantry gathering, they will immediately rush over to strafe and bomb.

Their artillery, threatened by the Devil Forces' aviation, dared not fire at all. The possibility of the infantry taking the Laoyeshan position was very low.

In this way, the Japanese army took advantage of the absence of the Devil Force's air force to launch several attacks on Laoye Mountain, but they were all repelled by the Sichuan Army.

The Japanese army once rushed to the Laoyeshan position, but was beaten back by the Sichuan Army with bayonets and grenades.

Over the next few days, the two sides fought back and forth around the Laoyeshan position. The Japanese army, suffering heavy casualties, was unable to break through the Laoyeshan position, and the Sichuan army, also suffering heavy losses, was unable to defeat the attacking Japanese army.

Soon, several other Japanese troops in Jiaozuo, Anyang and Xinxiang, Henan, withdrew back to Henan.

The Japanese troops that attacked Laoye Mountain and Guanjiazhai also retreated to Xinxiang in disappointment.

After nearly a week of bloody fighting, the 1st Brigade, the 2nd Brigade, the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Army, the Jidong Independent Brigade, the 364th Brigade of the Sichuan Army, the 120th Division and the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army and local forces finally repelled the counterattack of the 200,000-strong Japanese and puppet troops in Henan.

After this battle, the Japanese army in Henan no longer had the ability to attack the First Army's base in Shanxi.

The First Army had been attacking Dalian, Lushun, Tianjin, Beijing, and Shanxi continuously during this period, and the troops were very tired and in dire need of rest.

A brigade commander ordered all troops to rest on the spot and actively carry out conscription work to make up for the loss of manpower during this period.

The recovery of major cities in Shanxi made the commander-in-chief of the Jin Army, who regarded Shanxi as his territory, feel choked up and wanted to recover it all the time.

Before the recovery of Shanxi, the defense zones of the Eighth Route Army and Yan's Army in Luliang were roughly divided by the Fenyang-Lishi-Jundu Highway. The south of the road was the Yan's Army garrison area, and the north of the road was the Eighth Route Army garrison area.

After Shanxi was recovered, Yan's army continued to encroach on the territory of the Eighth Route Army.

In order to protect the overall situation of the anti-Japanese war and avoid being given an excuse to undermine the united anti-Japanese war, the Eighth Route Army voluntarily gave up some towns and lodged a serious protest to Commander-in-Chief Yan's Army.