Devil's Army

This time, Commander Hata Shunroku mobilized a total of more than 6 troops from Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, Shangqiu, Xuchang and other places, attempting to encircle and suppress the devilish troops in Anyang and Puyang.

(Puyang City was recaptured in the afternoon of the second day after the Japanese troops retreated from Jiaozuo and Kaifeng.)

Gray Wolf received a telegram from the underground liaison in Henan forwarded by Deputy Commander Xu of the Eighth Route Army, and learned that the 1st Brigade and the Yidong Independent Brigade were facing great pressure. He immediately contacted the Nanjing leaders through Leng Feng, requesting the 4th Army of the Nanjing government army stationed in Zhengzhou, the 14th and 36th Army stationed in Luoyang, and the 39th Army stationed in Sanmenxia to help.

The attitude of the Nanjing leader was beyond Gray Wolf's expectations. He felt that things were not that simple, so he ordered the First Brigade, the Jidong Independent Brigade, the Second Brigade, and the Third Brigade in Henan to closely monitor the movements of the Japanese army.

At the same time, we requested the Eighth Route Army Underground Communication Station to assist in investigating the movements of the Japanese troops in these areas.

Sure enough, intelligence reports came in one after another from the Eighth Route Army communication stations in various places: the 40 Nanjing government troops in Zhengzhou, Luoyang, and Sanmenxia did not send troops to contain the Japanese army.

The 14th Army in Luoyang was still busy consolidating the defense zone it had taken over from the 1st Brigade.

The commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army ordered the Eighth Route Army troops and local armed forces active in various parts of Henan to try their best to contain the actions of the Japanese army.

Explosions were heard all over Henan Province, roads were destroyed, railway tracks were torn up, and telephone lines were disconnected.

The Eighth Route Army troops in various parts of Henan Province also actively harassed the Japanese army, seriously delaying the Japanese army's actions and the transportation of logistical supplies.

At this time, the Japanese army in western and southern Henan gathered more than 3 Japanese and puppet troops, broke away from the entanglement of the Eighth Route Army guerrillas, and arrived near Sanmenxia and Nanyang.

(When the Jidong Independent Brigade recaptured Puyang, the Third Brigade also launched a campaign to recapture Nanyang. They successfully recaptured part of Nanyang.)

At this time, when a Japanese army in western Henan arrived at Wulongmiaopo, Xixiakou, they were blocked by the fourth battalion of the first regiment of the third brigade.

The Japanese commander quickly arranged artillery to bombard the positions of the devil troops.

At this time, the air force from Luliang Dawu Airport rushed over and launched a fierce bombing and strafing attack on the Japanese troops in western Henan.

After the First Army's air force returned, the Japanese troops in western Henan divided into three groups and launched another fierce attack on the soldiers of the Second Regiment of the Third Brigade.

The soldiers of the Second Regiment held out until almost noon, but the Japanese army broke through many parts of their defense line, so they had to abandon Wulongmiaopo and retreat to Xixiakou.

Xixiakou is located at the southern foot of Funiu Mountain. The surrounding terrain is complex and the mountains are crisscrossed.

The Ma'an Bridge in the territory is surrounded by high and steep mountains on both sides, with peaks overlapping one another. The mountains face each other from north to south, and the passage in the middle is narrow.

The second and third battalions of the second regiment of the third brigade built fortifications on both sides of the passage to prevent the Japanese army from passing through the narrow passage in the middle.

Outside the mountain, there is the Guan River that flows from north to south around the west of the city, providing a natural moat for Xixiakou.

After years of construction, the fortifications of Xixiakou City are remarkably strong. The several-meter-high walls are dotted with blockhouses and machine gun holes. The moat beneath the city is wide, deep, and filled with water, with fuel oil floating on the surface. Outside the moat, densely packed with antlers and firewood, it forms a multi-layered defense system.

The area around Xixiakou City was open, and the attacking Japanese troops were easily exposed to the firepower of the Third Brigade when approaching the city wall.

When the Third Brigade recaptured Nanyang, Henan, Xixiakou was under the responsibility of the government army's 31st Army Group.

Xixiakou was also guarded by the militia and Nanyang security forces.

The Third Brigade Commander was worried that the Japanese army would break through the Xixiakou fortress, so he arranged for the Second Regiment to block the Japanese army at Xixiakou and Wulongmiaopo.