Devil's Army

Under the relentless and fierce attacks of the Japanese army, the number of casualties in the Third Company continued to rise.

The fourth deputy battalion commander also transferred his last company—the fourth company—to the Bailiping battlefield.

After a fierce and arduous battle, the Fourth Battalion, with the strength of a single battalion, held off tens of thousands of Japanese troops in the Changsenling-Bailiping area for five days.

The Japanese division commander was furious to see that nearly 10,000 men from part of his 19th Division and part of the Korean 6th Division had been held up by a few hundred devilish troops for almost a week. He ordered the three captains to break through the Bailiping defense line within a day.

With no other options, the Japanese Third Battalion Commander had no choice but to resort to a crude method: launching a relentless and fierce attack day and night on the Bailiping defense line of the Third and Fourth Companies.

Under the relentless, day-and-night attacks of the Japanese army, the last line of defense in Bailiping was breached.

The fourth deputy battalion commander led the remaining soldiers to retreat into Helong County.

The Japanese army arrived at the outskirts of Helong County late that night and surrounded the west gate of Helong County.

At this time, the other two city gates of Helong County were under constant attack from two other Japanese forces.

The Japanese army then launched its attack on the west gate of Helong County at 7:00 a.m. the following day.

Under repeated attacks from multiple Japanese forces, the 2nd Regiment of the 7th Brigade, stationed in Helong County, finally could not withstand the onslaught and retreated into the county town, where it engaged in fierce street fighting with the Japanese troops who had invaded Helong County.

While the Japanese army was engaged in fierce street fighting with the soldiers of the 2nd Regiment of the 7th Brigade in Helong County, the outer perimeter troops were constantly attacked by the retreating troops of the 1st Regiment.

After several days of fierce street fighting, the Second Regiment, suffering heavy casualties, was forced to withdraw from Helong County and retreat into Longjing County.

The Japanese army made enormous sacrifices, only to gain an empty city.

Meanwhile, the 3rd Regiment of the 7th Brigade, stationed in Hunchun, an important city on the Sino-Korean border, was also engaged in fierce fighting with the Japanese army.

The Japanese army constructed numerous fortified defenses and bunker complexes in Hunchun, particularly the Wujiashan Fortress Complex, which was referred to by the Japanese as the "Eastern Maginot Line."

Its core and main positions consist of permanent reinforced concrete fortifications, equipped with underground tunnels and a surface fire network, with more than 20 bunkers. Underground, there are command rooms, ammunition depots, power generation rooms, medical stations, barracks, and radio rooms, with interconnected tunnels. On the surface, there are artillery positions, machine gun nests, observation posts, and shelters, along with trenches, communication trenches, and anti-tank trenches.

Two years ago, in order to recapture Hunchun, the First Anti-Japanese Army dispatched a brigade. After nearly a month of fierce fighting, they finally eliminated and drove out all the Japanese troops occupying Hunchun and the surrounding area.

Now, more than 60,000 Japanese soldiers are pressing on the border.

Hunchun alone faced an attack from nearly 3 Japanese troops.

The First Anti-Japanese Army stationed in Hunchun consisted of only the 3rd Regiment of the 7th Brigade, with just over 2000 men. Could they hold the line?

The 7th Brigade Commander specifically spoke with the 3rd Regiment Commander to ascertain the situation:

"Hunchun has many underground fortifications and strongholds. We sacrificed many soldiers to take Hunchun."

If we lose Hunchun this time, we will be sinners in history, and our army will have to pay a heavy price to retake it. Are you confident you can hold it?

"Commander, how many days do you plan to have us hold out?"

While we must have unwavering confidence in our ability to win against the Japanese army, we must not be blindly arrogant.

Faced with the fierce attack of the overwhelmingly powerful Japanese army, the commander of the Third Regiment dared not presume to claim that he could resolutely defend Hunchun, but instead asked how many days it would take to hold out.

The 7th Brigade Commander thought for a moment and said:

"Our reinforcements are estimated to arrive in about ten days. You must hold Hunchun for half a month."