Devil's Army

After receiving this intelligence, Gray Wolf decided to launch a battle to recapture the last three cities in Shandong.

The battle started with the elimination of Yantai and Weihai, where the Japanese defenses were relatively weak and not far away.

This battle was led by the 7th Column of the Shandong Column, which was familiar with the local conditions, and followed by two regiments of the 12th Brigade of the 1st Army.

The Seventh Column stopped advancing when it reached Lingshan, Zhaoyuan, Yantai.

Zhaoyuan Lingshan is located in the west of Canzhuang Town, Zhaoyuan City. The mountain is majestic and steep, like a crouching tiger.

The location of its combat fortifications faces west and east, with a cliff seventy or eighty meters deep to the west and steep slopes to the east, south and north.

When a large force passes under the cliff, it is very easy to be attacked by Japanese ambushes.

The commander of the 12th Brigade gasped when he saw the terrain before him. He requested that his battalion lead the charge, but the soldiers of the 7th Column disagreed.

The regimental commander had to ask the soldiers of the Seventh Column to temporarily stop the attack. He called for air force support and set up artillery positions at the entrance of the cliff.

After a while, the Jinan Air Force came to provide support.

The soldiers of the Seventh Column lined up in a single file, keeping their distance from each other, and passed through the cliff path.

When the troops first entered the cliff path, they were not attacked by Japanese ambushes, but the column commander was not careless and still asked the soldiers to pay attention to concealment at all times.

When most of the soldiers of the Seventh Column entered the cliff path, the Japanese troops on Zhaoling Mountain suddenly opened fire.

Dense bullets rained down on the cliff path.

The soldiers of the Seventh Column on the cliff path quickly rushed to the bottom of the mountain and lay down.

The First Army's Jinan Air Force, which had been patrolling in the air, immediately lowered its altitude and fiercely strafed and bombed the exposed Japanese firepower points on both sides of the cliff path and on Zhaoling Mountain.

The soldiers of the Seventh Column took advantage of the suppression of the Japanese firepower and quickly passed through the cliff path.

When the soldiers of the 12th Brigade passed through the cliff path, they came under heavy fire from the Japanese army who had recovered.

At the cliff intersection, the artillery of the 12th Brigade launched a fierce bombardment on the Japanese positions.

The fighter planes of the First Air Force also flew low and carried out precision strikes on the Japanese firepower points.

The Japanese troops on Zhaoling Mountain were subjected to double bombardment from fighter planes and artillery, and were unable to organize dense firepower to prevent the 12th Brigade from passing through the cliff path.

After all the soldiers of the 7th Column and the 12th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army passed through the cliff path, the commander of the Second Regiment left behind a company of soldiers to guard the intersection, preparing to deal with the Japanese troops on Zhaoling Mountain.

The main force continued to advance towards Yantai.

When the 3rd and 4th Regiments of the 12th Brigade and part of the Shandong Column of the Eighth Route Army arrived at Leishan in Qixia, they also stopped advancing and arranged reconnaissance troops to explore the way.

Leishan is located 15 kilometers northwest of Qixia City and is closely connected with Aishan and Gushan.

The valleys here are deep and narrow, the mountains are steep and the slopes are connected. The deep valleys are "V" shaped, and the shallow ones are "concave" shaped. The soil layer on the top of the mountain is thin, the rocks are exposed in large quantities, and the slope is large.

The Japanese army arranged a blocking force here to prevent the devil troops from invading Yantai.

The Eighth Route Army's reconnaissance troops soon engaged in a firefight with the Japanese ambush troops.

The artillery unit of the 12th Brigade, which had been prepared in advance, immediately opened fire to support the Eighth Route Army, but was soon counterattacked by the Japanese artillery unit on Leishan Mountain.

After receiving the intelligence, the air force from Shiqiao Airport quickly rushed to reinforce and fiercely bombed the Japanese artillery on Leishan Mountain.

Seeing that the Eighth Route Army's attack was blocked, the commander of the Third Regiment immediately arranged for the First and Second Battalions, which had relatively better weapons, to follow up.

Under the cover of air force and artillery, after more than two hours of bloody fighting, the soldiers of the 12th Brigade and the Eighth Route Army successfully occupied the Leishan position.