Devil's Army

Relying on its superior numbers, the commander of the Japanese 20th Division ordered the 3rd Battalion of the Korean 4th Division to launch continuous and fierce attacks on the 3rd Battalion's position at Twenty-Three Ditch, in company-sized units.

Gunshots and explosions echoed throughout the twenty-three gullies and valleys all night long.

At dawn the next day, the soldiers of the Third Battalion, who had fought fiercely all night, had bloodshot eyes. But not one of them said they would retreat.

Twenty-Three Gully is the last line of defense north of Changbai City.

Many of the officers and soldiers in the Third Battalion were conscripted from Changbai City. They had heard about the tragedy in Ji'an County and did not want their loved ones to be in danger.

So despite being quite exhausted, they stubbornly resisted the repeated attacks of the Japanese army.

The second regimental commander sent a telegram to the third battalion inquiring about the battle situation, but received no reply.

The second regimental commander knew his third battalion was likely in grave danger, so he solemnly summoned the fourth battalion commander and said:

"Zhu Zi, the people of Changbai City started evacuating this morning. We can no longer contact the Third Battalion of the Twins by telegram, so their chances of survival are slim. You take your Fourth Battalion and rush over there to see if you can hold off the Japanese for a day and a night."

Zhu Zi knew what it meant for his battalion of over 700 men to withstand an attack by nearly 10,000 Japanese soldiers for a day and a night.

However, he was a Chinese soldier, and it was his bounden duty to protect his country and drive out the Japanese invaders.

Without hesitation, Zhu Zi saluted the Second Regiment Commander, then turned around and prepared to lead his troops away.

At this moment, the second regimental commander called out to Zhu Zi again:

"We've lost contact with Zhuzi and Shuanzi, and I don't know the situation at the Twenty-Three Valleys position."

"If you rush over there and the twenty-three valley defenses fall, there will be no more defensible positions ahead. Retreat immediately to Changbai City. Do not make unnecessary sacrifices."

"Yes!"

The fourth battalion commander led his soldiers to the position at the Twenty-Three Gullys at around 9 a.m.

Although the fourth battalion commander knew that the third battalion's blocking battle would be very fierce, he was still shocked by the terrible state of the position when he arrived at the battlefield.

The trenches and the battlefield were littered with the bodies of the Third Battalion soldiers.

There were also limbs and severed bodies of soldiers, blown apart by Japanese artillery shells, scattered all over the battlefield.

On a bare tree to the right rear of the position, a piece of clothing, tattered from the bombing, hung, fluttering in the strong north wind, as if telling the story of the brutal battle that had just taken place.

A soldier whose left arm had been blown off by a Japanese artillery shell heard a strange noise behind him, turned around and saw the soldiers of the Fourth Battalion rushing towards him. He stood up happily and shouted:

"Our reinforcements have arrived! Our reinforcements have arrived! Our..."

Before the soldiers' cheers had even subsided, a bullet struck him in the head.

The soldier fell beside the trench with a smile on his face.

When the medics were treating him, he was still worrying about his disability and wondering if he would be able to continue serving in the military. Now he doesn't have to worry anymore.

"Heads down, heads down! The Japanese have snipers, don't look up!" The officer-looking soldier shouted anxiously to his men from the trench.

The soldiers of the Third Battalion stopped cheering, immediately lay down, and continued to resist the Japanese army.

"Get to position immediately!"

At the order of the battalion commander, the soldiers of the first and second companies of the fourth battalion who had rushed to the front line jumped down from the trenches and fiercely fired and threw grenades at the Japanese troops who were charging up.

The Japanese army's latest attack, which came closest to the Twenty-Three Ditch position of the Devil Unit, was on the verge of victory when it was suddenly repelled by troops that rushed out from behind the enemy lines.