Devil's Army

The main task of this Japanese army in Kaifeng was to rescue Puyang from the siege of the Japanese army, so when passing through Anyang, they did not split their troops to attack Anyang, but went straight to Puyang.

When the vanguard of the Japanese army arrived at the landing area of ​​Pingyuan Village in Nanle County, Qingfeng County, they encountered stubborn resistance from the First Battalion of the Third Regiment.

Afterwards, the Japanese artillery in Kaifeng launched a fierce bombardment on the positions of the first battalion.

As soon as the battalion commander heard the whistling sound of Japanese artillery shells, he immediately ordered his troops to abandon their positions and retreat.

The quick retreat of the battalion commander actually made the Japanese troops in Kaifeng a little worried.

They have been wandering around the periphery and dare not enter the village.

The nearby First Army Air Force then rushed to reinforce and launched a fierce bombing and strafing attack on the Japanese troops to cover the retreat of the First Battalion.

The Japanese commander concluded that the Devil Force's air force was covering their retreat. Since there shouldn't be too many Devil Forces in the village, he immediately ordered a pursuit.

When the Japanese army entered the village alleys, fierce gunfire and explosions were heard from the surrounding walls, houses, and ditches.

Members of the Hui Muslim Detachment of the Eighth Route Army, along with soldiers from the Third and Fourth Regiments, flexibly used the adobe walls, houses, ditches, and woods in the village to attack and transfer the Japanese army.

After entering the village, the Japanese troops of the first battalion who were dispersed to search were quickly eliminated one by one.

Seeing this, the Japanese commander changed his strategy, concentrated his superior forces, and fought a house-by-house and alley-by-alley battle with the soldiers of the Third and Fourth Regiments.

After fighting for more than an hour, the Japanese army still failed to completely occupy the village. Instead, they were ambushed everywhere and suffered heavy losses.

The Japanese commander ordered artillery bombardment of the village in an attempt to raze it to the ground.

Soon after the Japanese artillery opened fire, the position was bombed by the First Army Air Force.

The large Japanese forces outside the village were also bombed and strafed by the First Army Air Force.

The battle continued until evening, and the Japanese army failed to break through the village defense line. However, the Japanese army in Puyang continued to send telegrams for help.

Considering the complex terrain here, which made it extremely easy to be attacked by the devil's troops at night, the Japanese commander had no choice but to order a retreat and take a detour to reinforce Puyang.

Seeing that the Japanese troops in Kaifeng did not stop to rest but instead headed straight for Puyang, the Third Regiment Commander ordered two members of the Hui Muslim Detachment to rush to Puyang and notify the siege troops to retreat.

After receiving intelligence from the Hui Muslim Detachment, the soldiers of the Second Division of the Eighth Route Army and the First Battalion of the Fourth Regiment of the Jidong Independent Brigade, who were surrounding Puyang City, retreated overnight.

The next morning, when the Japanese army from Kaifeng arrived outside Puyang City, there was no trace of any Eighth Route Army or Devil Army soldier.

Soon, the Japanese troops in Jiaozuo also arrived in Puyang and joined forces with the Japanese troops in Kaifeng.

This time, when the Japanese troops coming to reinforce Puyang, Jiaozuo and Kaifeng were ambushed by the devil troops, suffering heavy casualties.

Commander Hata Shunroku ordered a team led by Lieutenant Colonel Gangdise from Kaifeng to reoccupy Anyang.

Brigade Commander Gao had already anticipated that the Japanese reinforcements would undoubtedly attack An Ran, who was so close. He had already ordered the First and Second Regiments to retreat, setting up ambushes along the narrow, three-kilometer dirt road between Puyang Liutun, Neihuang Jingdian, Nanleyuan Village, and Tangyin Yigou, along the houses and walls on both sides, preparing to catch the Japanese off guard again.

At the same time, the Third and Fourth Regiments were ordered to set up ambushes along the sand dunes, saline-alkali land, and woodlands along the old Yellow River course from Puyang north to Anyang south (such as Neihuang, Qingfeng, and Nanle), and along the ancient official road east of Anyang (such as Tangyin and the eastern part of Anyang County), preparing to kill the Japanese again.

The cavalry of the Hui Muslim Detachment acted as bait to lure the Japanese army into the ambush circle.