Devil's Army

Nearly 2 Japanese and North Korean troops surrounded the deep mountains of Changbai Mountain. After two days of pursuit, they only encountered a small rearguard of the First Border Guard Brigade, but failed to encounter the main force of the First Border Guard Brigade.

This caused great anxiety for the Japanese division commander.

In order to wipe out this devilish army in the dense forest, he had a flash of inspiration and came up with a brilliant strategy to emulate Commander Okamura Yasuji:

The troops were divided into several detachments to search different areas, and all entrances and exits to Changbai Mountain were sealed off.

After the Japanese army occupied Changbai County, it continuously transported strategic materials from its logistics bases in Hyesan County, Sansu County, and Houchang County in Korea to Changbai County and Ji'an County.

The Japanese army intended to turn this place into a bridgehead for occupying China.

However, the China of today is far from the China of 37 years ago, no longer the China that was ravaged by the Japanese invaders, a small island nation.

The 11th Brigade of the 364th Brigade of the Sichuan Army, serving as the vanguard, has arrived in Jilin and Liaoning and is heading to the battlefield.

The Independent Brigade and the 15th Brigade of the Second Front Army of the First Army of the Anti-Japanese War, as well as the 8th Brigade in Beiping, and the 4th, 6th, 10th, 13th and 14th Brigades in Northeast China, have also completed their assembly and are heading to Jilin and Liaoning.

After occupying Changbai County, the Japanese army did not stop there. Instead, they divided into three routes: one to garrison Changbai County and occupy the surrounding towns; another to attack Fusong County to the north; and the third to attack Linjiang County to the south.

At that time, Fusong County only had a police force to maintain order and the Eighth Route Army's anti-Japanese armed forces.

They fought desperately against the powerful Japanese and Korean army, and after a day and night of attacks, they bought time for the county government and the people to evacuate before withdrawing from Fusong County in batches.

The Japanese troops attacking Linjiang County encountered fierce resistance from the First and Second Border Defense Brigades, which had retreated to the area, as well as some police units.

Under the fierce artillery fire and repeated attacks by the Japanese army with superior forces, the First and Second Border Defense Brigades and the police force that had retreated to Linjiang County retreated to Mengjiang County.

After occupying Linjiang County, the Japanese army continued westward and occupied 14 Daogou Town, 8 Daogou Town, and 3 Daogou Town, successfully joining forces with the Japanese army in Ji'an County.

While the Japanese left flank attacked Changbai County and the central flank attacked Ji'an County, the right flank, consisting of over 60,000 Japanese troops, split into three routes, attacking Helong County (present-day Helong City) from the Musan Group, Huining County, and Wencheng County in Korea; upstream, Yanji County (present-day Longjing City + Yanji City); midstream, and Hunchun County (present-day Hunchun City); downstream.

The 7th Brigade of the First Anti-Japanese Army was left to guard these border counties.

The Japanese 18th Division and the 2nd Division of Korea, numbering over 20,000 men, launched an attack on Helong County from Maoshan County in three routes. They encountered fierce resistance from the 1st Regiment of the 7th Brigade of the 1st Army in the Hongqi River Gorge (Damalugou).

Hongqihe Canyon is located southwest of Helong County, on the upper reaches of the Hongqi River, and north of Chongshan Town.

Here, two mountains enclose a valley, forming a narrow, long canyon with dense forests and a highway winding along the river valley, creating a natural "pocket formation".

The 7th Brigade of the First Army was a veteran main force brigade that had fought against the Japanese army for many years and had extremely rich combat experience.

The regimental commander constructed strong defensive fortifications in the Hongqi River Canyon and set up the first ambush position in front of the valley.

When the vanguard of the Japanese invasion force reached the front of the Hongqi River Gorge, they were met with a fierce attack by a battalion of ambushers.

The Japanese vanguard was attacked suddenly and suffered heavy casualties.

By the time his main force arrived, the ambush troops of the First Battalion had already retreated into the Hongqi River Canyon.