Devil's Army

On the day that Major Takahashi entered Tieling County, Zhang sent a clerk to deliver the intelligence to Leng Feng. Leng Feng put down the note in his hand and said to Li Guozhu:

"It looks like our golden time for recuperation has passed, and we have to fight a big battle again."

Li Guozhu took the note and read it and said, "There are many new members in the army. It's time to let them see blood."

Leng Feng nodded and ordered the messenger: "Order the captains of each brigade to return to the headquarters for a meeting at 7 o'clock tonight!"

"Yes!" The messenger responded and went out.

The captains of each brigade rushed back to Hejiazhai one after another. Wen Lang arrived the latest, at about 6:20. Leng Feng reported the intelligence he had just received to everyone. Wen Lang also reported to Leng Feng that nearly 300 Japanese soldiers had also arrived in Shan County.

The meeting lasted until eleven o'clock, and everyone left one after another. Wen Lang did not stay and rushed back to Hujia Village overnight. The war was imminent, and the commander of the army was the pillar of stability of this army.

The next day, Major Takahashi convened a combat meeting. Captain Matsuda suggested concentrating all the forces of the brigade to attack the headquarters of the devil's army, Hejiazhai, in one fell swoop. This plan was rejected by Major Takahashi. He believed that a defeated general would only propose a failed plan. The officers under Major Takahashi also arrogantly believed that using more than a dozen Japanese Kwantung Army to fight a guerrilla force of several hundred people was simply a sledgehammer to kill a chicken. Moreover, the remnants of the guerrillas would escape to Hujia Village through a small road. The troops should be divided into two groups, gradually advancing from Hejiazhai Village and Hujia Village, and finally destroying the guerrillas in Hejiazhai Village.

Major Takahashi accepted the suggestion and decided to encircle and wipe out the devil troops at six o'clock tomorrow morning!

Leng Feng knew that once the battle started, the Fourth Battalion outside Tieling County would bear the brunt. He told Wang Zhuangfei not to fight too long, but to gradually consume the enemy's manpower. After the battle started, he would strike the enemy with a certain blow and then retreat to Hejia'an Village through the small road when the time was right. He would bury some mines on the road to delay and attack the enemy. He would leave a group of soldiers with good marksmanship in the woods on both sides of the road to harass and attack the enemy.

Wen Lang was also actively preparing for battle. He dug a fortification 300 meters in front of Aozuikou and ambushed a group of team members and a group of dummies. A large amount of explosives and grenades were buried under the road from the fortification to Aozuikou. Everything was ready, just waiting for the Japanese to come.

After waiting for a whole day, the Japanese did not make any move.

At six o'clock in the morning on the third day, the Japanese invaders and puppet troops from Tieling County and Tiaobinshan County left the city at the same time and advanced towards Hejiazhai and Hujia Village.

The Fourth Battalion outside Tieling County fired the first shot of this counter-encirclement and suppression campaign. Dense bullets were fired at the Japanese and puppet troops. The Japanese immediately lay down and fired at the Fourth Battalion. They also set up mortars and fired back with fierce artillery fire.

Seeing that he could not gain any advantage, Wang Zhuangfei ordered his troops to retreat in turns immediately.

Seeing the 4th Battalion retreating right after the battle began, Major Takahashi said to Captain Matsuda with disdain:

"Is this the brave and warlike devil army you mentioned?" He drew out his command knife and shouted, "Charge! Kill!"

The Japs rushed forward excitedly as if they had been injected with chicken blood.

"Boom, boom, boom..." A series of explosions sounded, and the Japanese and puppet troops were blown away one after another by the buried mines.

Matsuda was very happy to see Major Takahashi defeated. In this battle, he did not want the Devil's Army to win, nor did he want Major Takahashi to win easily.

When Major Takahashi saw that the road was covered with mines, he immediately ordered the troops to stop advancing and sent four engineers to clear the mines.

Four engineers were carrying equipment to clear mines. As soon as they came out, a burst of dense gunfire came from the woods on both sides. The four Japanese engineers and several Japanese soldiers behind them fell to the ground.

Seeing this, Major Takahashi quickly arranged a heavy machine gun and a light machine gun to fire at the woods on both sides. But the group of people in the woods had no moral principles and ran away after firing a single shot. The Japanese's light and heavy machine guns only swept down leaves on the ground.

Lieutenant Colonel Takahashi called four engineers to take their equipment to clear the mines. However, when the four Japanese soldiers were carrying the mine-clearing equipment, another burst of gunfire came from another place in the woods on both sides. The four Japanese soldiers who were carrying the mine-clearing equipment but had not yet started to clear the mines were also knocked down. Lieutenant Colonel Takahashi was so angry that he blew his beard and ordered two teams of Japanese soldiers to chase the two unscrupulous guys in the woods on both sides. Sure enough, as soon as the two teams of Japanese soldiers chased, the two teams of special forces in the woods on both sides immediately retreated alternately.

Leng Feng saw all this in the images sent by the Golden Eagle, and immediately called Gray Wolf, asking him to send a squadron each to encircle the two teams of Japanese devils from both sides and try to wipe them out completely.

Gray Wolf left only one squadron to guard the hillsides on both sides and immediately sent two squadrons to encircle the two small groups of Japanese soldiers.

Finally, the two teams of Japanese soldiers were surrounded on both sides of the woods. Intensive gunfire rang out. The pursuing Japanese soldiers became the ones being surrounded and annihilated. The two teams that were retreating also stopped retreating and found cover to join the encirclement and annihilation of the two teams of Japanese soldiers.

Major Takahashi listened to the dense gunfire from the Type 38 rifles and looked at the modified Japanese Type 91 hand grenades that the engineers had unearthed. He slapped Captain Matsuda hard in the face:

"Bag, is this the mine that caused casualties in our Imperial Japanese Army?"

Captain Matsuda stood at attention with an aggrieved look on his face and said "Hey!" He thought to himself, "It was Koji Nakamura who was robbed of the arsenal, why is this blame put on me?"

After the engineers removed the mines, the Japanese army continued to advance. At this time, two Japanese soldiers who had just been chasing the special forces members ran out from the woods on the right.

"Where is Lieutenant Yamashita?" Major Takahashi asked puzzledly?

"Reporting to Major Takahashi, we were surrounded and attacked by more than a hundred Chinese. Lieutenant Yamashita died, and only the two of us escaped." One of the two Japanese replied.

Lieutenant Colonel Takahashi looked at the woods on the left and felt suffocated. He had already lost more than a hundred imperial soldiers before the battle officially started. But he was unwilling to give up and ordered Lin Junjie to lead the puppet army to charge.

Lin Junjie knew that there must be ambushes on both sides of the mountainside, and Major Takahashi wanted them to be cannon fodder. But he had to do it. If he charged, he would be cannon fodder, but if he was lucky, he could save his life. If he didn't charge, he would lose his life. So he shouted at the wide-open entrance of the mountainside:

"Brothers, charge!"

The puppet troops rushed towards the mountainside in a large number.