Devil's Army

The more than 2000 officers and soldiers of the First Border Defense Brigade had to cover the retreat of the wounded and medical personnel while also blocking the Japanese army's attack, which made them look somewhat disheveled.

Captain Yu of the local armed forces volunteered to stay behind and block the Japanese army.

The brigade commander certainly knew what the outcome would be if a local armed force of just over 200 men were to resist such a powerful Japanese and Korean army. That's why he firmly disagreed.

Captain Yu repeatedly requested:

"The recapture of Changbai County still depends on their main force—the First Border Defense Brigade—and the reinforcements from the First Army that are about to arrive. I am from Changbai County, and I have only one request: I hope to recapture my hometown as soon as possible."

At this point in the war, it doesn't matter anymore. Whether they have the main force or not, their border defense forces have been reduced to just over 2000 men, with some scattered guerrilla units outside Changbai County. At most, their total strength won't exceed 5000.

It's unrealistic to think that you can recapture Changbai County with just four or five thousand men.

All they can do now is preserve their strength, stall the Japanese, and wait for the main force of the First Army to arrive as reinforcements.

Without waiting for the brigade commander's approval, Captain Yu led the local armed forces to turn around and engage the pursuing Japanese troops.

The Japanese army was very anxious because they had no way to engage in a decisive battle with the main force of the First Border Defense Brigade.

Suddenly engaged in battle with a large number of devil troops, the Japanese battalion commander immediately ordered his troops to keep a close watch on the devil troops in front of them and arranged for his troops to flank them from both sides.

At this moment, the flames of Changbai County were still burning behind them, and the smoke of the street fighting had not yet dissipated. The remaining local armed forces, with their tenacious fighting spirit, resisted the pursuing Japanese army.

Seeing this, the brigade commander had no choice but to lead his two thousand-plus men, who were no longer organized, carrying the wounded and dragging their injured bodies, through knee-deep snow, into the vast Changbai Mountains.

Behind him, nearly 20,000 Japanese and North Korean allied troops surrounded Captain Yu's local armed forces like a pack of wolves.

Due to the vast disparity in troop strength between the two sides, and the fact that the remaining troops were numerous, the battle ended in less than half an hour despite their tenacious resistance.

The Japanese troops pressed on relentlessly, their searchlights piercing the night sky, and gunfire echoing repeatedly through the valleys.

Relying on their superior numbers, the Japanese and Korean allied forces split up and entered the mountains to search and annihilate the enemy. The sound of horses' hooves and boots shattered the silence of the forest, leaving bloodstains on the snow wherever they went.

The border defense brigade deep in the mountains had no supplies or reinforcements, and the sub-zero temperatures were more ferocious than bayonets.

The uniform was already soaked and frozen with blood and snow, and every movement caused excruciating pain from the frostbitten wounds.

When hungry, they would nibble on a few bites of dry rations frozen as hard as rocks; when thirsty, they would grab a handful of snow and stuff it into their mouths; when exhausted, they would lean against a withered tree and close their eyes briefly, but dared not fall into a deep sleep—gunshots could ring out at any moment.

In particular, the wounded, due to the lack of proper treatment and poor medical conditions, suffered from persistent high fevers and died on the way to transfer and evacuation.

The officers and soldiers of the border defense brigade used the mountains and forests as a barrier, broke into smaller groups, and sometimes dispersed to hide, and sometimes turned around to ambush.

The Japanese army conducted a very thorough and dense search.

In order to draw away the combined Japanese and Korean forces, the Second Border Defense Brigade would occasionally arrange for the soldiers covering the rear to deliberately leave footprints to mislead the pursuing troops.

The soldiers covering the rear engaged in fierce fighting with the pursuing Japanese troops, and used their last grenade to perish together with the charging enemy.

Unwilling to be a burden to the main force, the wounded soldier quietly disappeared into the depths of the dense forest, detonated a grenade to commit suicide, and left no survivors for the enemy.

Intense gunfire and grenade explosions could be heard intermittently deep within the dense forests of Changbai Mountain.

Every step of the First Border Brigade's retreat was a desperate battle; every night of stealth was a brush with death.

At this point, the Japanese division commander came up with another brilliant move to deal with the border defense brigade.