Devil's Army

"Reporting to the battalion commander, I am the company commander of the third company, and now the highest-ranking officer of the third battalion."

"Company Commander, how many men are left in your Third Battalion?"

"They're all here."

When the soldiers of the Third Battalion heard the Fourth Battalion Commander's question, they all crowded around the Third Company Commander.

The fourth battalion commander glanced at the third company commander and felt quite distressed.

Of the 700-plus soldiers, only about 100 remained.

"You must immediately assemble the officers and soldiers of the Third Battalion and withdraw to Changbai County."

"We're not going back. Most of the officers and soldiers in our battalion are staying here. We're going to fight the Japanese to the bitter end."

"Company Commander, I think you've misunderstood. I'm not discussing this with you, but ordering you to immediately withdraw to Changbai County!"

With no other option, the company commander, supported by his soldiers, left the position where they had fought fiercely against the Japanese for two days, tears welling in his eyes.

Shortly after the company commander and his men left, the Japanese army, under the command of the deputy battalion commander, launched a fierce artillery bombardment of the Twenty-Three Ditch position.

The position at Twenty-Three Gully was once again filled with smoke and mud.

Most of the fortifications that the soldiers of the Fourth Battalion had rushed to repair were destroyed by Japanese artillery fire.

Looking at the smoke-filled battlefield, the fourth battalion commander wondered how many of his brothers would survive this battle, and whether their fate would be even worse than that of the third battalion.

Because the Japanese command post was bombarded by the artillery of the Fourth Battalion, the vengeful Japanese launched a retaliatory bombardment against the Fourth Battalion's position.

The Japanese artillery bombardment lasted for nearly half an hour before the infantry launched a fierce assault on the Twenty-Three Ditch position.

The soldiers of the Fourth Battalion, who had just buried the remains of the Third Battalion soldiers, launched a fierce resistance against the Japanese army.

The artillery of the Fourth Battalion also constantly changed positions and launched fierce artillery bombardment against the Japanese army.

After a fierce battle, the first wave of attack, personally commanded by the Japanese deputy battalion commander, was defeated by the soldiers of the Fourth Battalion.

It was already late at night. The fourth battalion commander knew that the Japanese army was not good at night fighting and thought he could breathe a sigh of relief. However, after the Japanese army had dinner, they launched a fierce attack on the Twenty-Three Gully positions.

Under artillery cover, the Japanese troops briefly stormed the position at Twenty-Three Ditch. However, they were driven back by the soldiers of the Fourth Battalion using bayonets.

(The Japanese follow-up troops were subjected to heavy bombardment by the 4th Battalion of artillery, and were unable to support the Japanese soldiers rushing to the position, resulting in the failure of the attack.)

After a night of fierce fighting, the soldiers of the Fourth Battalion, their faces covered in gunpowder smoke, finally ushered in the dawn.

At this time, the Japanese troops who had been attacking all night were exhausted and were resting at the entrance of the Twenty-Three Gully.

The fourth battalion commander finally breathed a sigh of relief. In just over an hour, their battalion would complete its blocking mission and be able to withdraw to Changbai City.

At this moment, a communications soldier delivered a telegram from the Second Regiment Commander, who inquired about the battle situation of the Fourth Battalion and whether they could hold out for another half day.

Government departments, including the Changbai City and County Party Committee offices, are currently evacuating.

The deputy battalion commander looked at the telegram and asked the fourth battalion commander with dissatisfaction: "Their county party committee and other government departments withdrew all day yesterday, and they haven't finished withdrawing yet?"

"Yesterday, he and his troops mainly arranged for the evacuation of the city's residents, while they themselves only began their evacuation in the early hours of the morning."

"Battalion Commander, you leave the First and Second Companies to me, and take the Third and Fourth Companies to retreat to Changbai City first. I will hold off the Japanese."

"The Japanese army's daytime attacks will definitely be more ferocious than their nighttime attacks. Our entire battalion might not be able to withstand them. You want me to divide our forces?"

Before the battalion commander finished speaking, the Japanese artillery began bombarding the Twenty-Three Ditch position again.