Devil's Army

When Captain Li drove near Xinwu Village, there was continuous artillery fire and gunfire.

The Japanese 14th Division was trying to cross the Yongding River from the ferry north of Xinwu Village.

Two squadrons of the 14th Division of the Japanese were bombarding the river bank and Xinwu Village with heavy artillery fire. There were 17 households in Xinwu Village, and 44 houses were destroyed.

The 8th Company of the 53rd Army of the Central Army was stationed at the ferry crossing north of Xinwu Village. Their fortifications were destroyed by the enemy's artillery bombardment. The soldiers lay down beside the broken bricks and tiles, continuing to block the enemy from crossing the river.

Although the Japanese artillery fire was fierce, they were still stubbornly blocked by the 8th Company of the 53rd Army on the other side of the Yongding River.

At this time, the enemy's planes and artillery had already flattened the position of a platoon of the 30rd Army at the Dongyang Village ferry. The remaining -odd soldiers of this platoon of the Central Army all died heroically.

The Japanese tanks crossed the Yongding River from the Dongyang Village ferry and began to attack the position of the 8th Company of the 53rd Army.

Some soldiers of the Eighth Company were hit by tank fire and were splashed along with the mud.

Captain Li knew that it would be difficult for the Central Army to resist the Japanese attack, so he sent a telegram back to ask where the First Army's reinforcements had arrived.

Soon the command center replied, ordering the first company of Daxing County to go for reinforcement, and the second regiment of the first regiment of the second brigade had also set out from Tongzhou.

鬼子15联队已经过河的45辆89式中型坦克，20辆由东杨村继续南下。另外25辆猛烈进攻八连辛务村渡口阵地。

The remaining platoon of the Eighth Company retreated to Xinwu Village and fought street battles with the Japanese. However, due to the huge disparity in manpower and firepower, they had to withdraw from Xinwu Village with the remaining twenty-odd soldiers.

Due to the tenacious resistance of the 8th Company of the 53rd Army, the Japanese troops attacking Xinwu Village suffered heavy casualties and two of their tanks were destroyed.

The Japanese invaders vented their anger on the common people and conducted a comprehensive search of Xinwu Village. They found three tunnel entrances, and then used machine gun fire and grenade bombing to kill all 72 innocent people in the tunnels.

Then the Japanese attacked Xiyu Village, where the Central Army had already retreated. The Japanese stabbed the village chief Zhang Pengju to death with a bayonet and slaughtered the villagers at will. On the first day alone, they killed 48 villagers.

At this time, the First Company of the First Army that came to reinforce encountered part of the Japanese 15th Regiment heading south.

The Japanese tanks and artillery bombarded the first company together, and the infantry followed closely behind the tanks and charged towards the first company.

The company was short of firepower and manpower and was unable to resist the enemy's charge.

The company commander ordered the 40th rocket soldiers to destroy the two Type 89 tanks that were in the front of the enemy, and took the opportunity when the road was blocked by the enemy tanks to quickly withdraw to Daxing County.

Considering that the biggest threat to Daxing County was the enemy's tanks, the company commander consulted four rocket soldiers when the troops retreated into the city and asked them to hide in the fortifications on both sides of the city gate.

The four rocket soldiers did not object and ambushed in the fortifications at the city gate.

On the one hand, Wu Lang urged the 150nd Regiment of the nd Brigade to speed up their march, and on the other hand, he ordered the nd Regiment of the th Brigade and the rd Regiment of Datang Village to rush to Tongzhou with mm howitzers and Golden Eagle II.

After clearing the road, part of the Japanese 15th Regiment continued to march towards Daxing County.

Soon they arrived at Daxing County, where the city gates were tightly shut and rows of soldiers were waiting on the city walls.

The Japanese tanks of the 15th Regiment began to bombard the walls of Daxing County while rushing towards Daxing County, followed closely by the infantry.

The Japanese artillery also bombarded Daxing County at the same time. The walls of Daxing County were suddenly filled with flying bricks and stones, and explosions continued.

When the four Type 89 tanks of the Japanese approached the two silent and dilapidated fortifications at the gate of Daxing County, the 40 rocket soldiers who had been lying in ambush there fired at the Japanese tanks in succession.

With one round of salvo fire, two groups of rocket soldiers destroyed the two tanks that were in the front of the Japanese.

After the rocket soldiers bombed the two Japanese tanks, they immediately reloaded and prepared to bomb the two tanks behind them.

A Japanese infantryman on the right side of the tank spotted a 40th rocket soldier of the First Army who was loading ammunition and immediately fired a shot at him.

The 40 rocket soldier who was shot shook his body for a while, trying to hold on. The assistant gunner next to him immediately took over the 40 rocket launcher and fired at the Japanese tank. Two more Japanese 89-type tanks were lying in the pit.

In order to cover the 40 rocket soldiers, a company of soldiers on the city wall ignored the Japanese artillery bombardment and fired light and heavy machine guns at the infantry around the Japanese tanks.

The only two mortars of the artillery company kept moving their positions and bombarding the Japanese.

Under the tenacious resistance of the company's soldiers, the Japanese lost six tanks in this charge. The infantry also suffered heavy casualties and had to retreat to reorganize their forces and prepare for the charge.

While the Japanese were resting, the company commander leaned against the wall, lit a cigarette and asked the instructor:

"Have you figured out the casualties of the first platoon during the Japanese charge just now?"

"Including the wounded, there are still eleven soldiers left."

"Each charge lasted more than half an hour. Our company was able to withstand three charges from the Japanese, which means we could hold out for an hour and a half."

The instructor didn't say anything. The company commander was calculating whether they could hold on until the main force arrived.

"Have the rocket soldiers withdrawn?"

"Just now, they have retreated back to Daxing City under the cover of the first row."

"Leave two observation posts on the city wall, and the other soldiers withdraw. We must delay the Japanese as much as possible."

The company commander had a premonition that the next wave of the Japanese attack would be even more fierce.

Sure enough, after a while, the Japanese artillery fired even more fiercely towards Daxing County.