Devil's Army

After the Japanese planes were driven away, all the artillery in the heavy artillery positions of the regiment removed their camouflage and constantly adjusted the artillery coordinates transmitted by the golden eagle.

At this time, the soldiers of the 47th Division on the Fangshan position were still immersed in the fierce air battle between the First Anti-Japanese Army Air Force and the Japanese Air Force. Then the commander of the first regiment sent them another big gift.

Fourteen 150mm howitzers and five small steel cannons fiercely smashed towards their respective targets.

The Fangshan position was suddenly filled with the whistling sound of heavy-caliber howitzers and the explosion of shells after they hit the ground.

The Japanese in front of the Fangshan position, the Japanese headquarters and artillery positions were suddenly engulfed in a sea of ​​fire.

The 20nd Battalion of the Japanese th Division repeated the mistakes of the st Battalion, with heavy casualties.

However, the commander of the first regiment did not want to passively defend. Before the shelling stopped, he ordered the first and second regiments to prepare to launch a large-scale attack on the second battalion of the 20th Division of the Japanese from two directions.

As soon as the first regiment's bombardment stopped, the first and second regiments of the fifth brigade quickly launched a fierce attack on the second battalion of the Japanese from two directions.

The front of the Fangshan position was suddenly filled with the shouts and running sounds of soldiers from the first and second regiments.

With the consent of Division Commander Pei, the soldiers of the 47th Division also participated in the major counterattack against the Japanese Second Battalion.

It must be said that the Japanese were still very strong during the July 7 Incident in 1937. After a brief period of chaos caused by a fierce bombardment, they immediately organized a strong resistance.

However, the soldiers of the First Army are not the poorly equipped Central Army, nor are they the poorly trained local ragtag army.

Under the fierce attacks from both the 20st and nd Regiments of the th Brigade, the nd Battalion of the Japanese th Division finally could not withstand the attack and began to retreat.

A regiment commander ordered his soldiers to beat the enemy when they were down and drove them more than ten miles out of Fangshan.

The Fangshan position in the north of Baoding City was finally held with the strong intervention of the First Army. However, the situation in other areas was not optimistic.

The Japanese 26th and th Divisions successfully crossed the Yongding River, Juma River, and Cao River, and occupied the Zhuozhou Command Post of the th Army.

Commander-in-Chief Sun Lianzhong led the 26th Army to retreat into Baoding City. Except for the Fangshan position in the northeast of Baoding City, which was still in the hands of the Chinese defenders, all other peripheral positions had been captured by the Japanese, and Baoding City became precarious.

Shortly after the Fangshan position was held, the commander of the Fifth Brigade also arrived in Fangshan.

The commander of the first regiment informed the commander of the fifth brigade of the progress of the Fangshan battle and asked him whether he would continue to pursue the 20th Division of the Japanese.

"Chase! The Japanese are now surrounding Baoding City on three sides and may launch an attack at any time. The more noise we make on the outskirts, the more Japanese troops we will attract, and the less pressure there will be on Baoding City." The commander of the fifth brigade said to the commander of the first regiment.

"So are we going to defend Baoding City?"

"Baoding City is an important transportation hub of the Pinghan Railway. The Japanese are determined to take it, and the Nanjing government is determined to take it. Judging from the current situation, the Japanese have assembled more than 20 elite troops, and the Nanjing government has also assembled the Central Army, the former Northwest Army, the former Northeast Army and the Sichuan Army, totaling more than people."

"Can more than 100,000 people defend against the attack of more than 200,000 Japanese?"

"It's difficult. Even if we send several thousand people down, we can only delay the fall of Baoding City, but we cannot defend Baoding City." The commander of the fifth brigade shook his head and said.

The regiment commander stopped talking. The current battle situation was indeed very serious.

As the troops were advancing towards Baoding along the left side of the Pinghan Line, they suddenly heard bursts of sparse gunfire.

A regiment commander asked a scout to investigate the situation. After a while, the scout came back and said that a group of Japanese troops were suppressed by several Chinese snipers on a field road. There were also a few Chinese troops blocking the Japanese troops on the side.

The Fifth Brigade Commander seemed to have thought of something and immediately called the scouts:

"Go, scout out the number of this devil's army."

After a while, the scout came back and reported to the Fifth Brigade Commander:

"This is the 103rd Infantry Brigade of the Japanese."

After hearing the scout's report, the Fifth Brigade Commander's face turned quite ugly.

A captain stepped forward and asked:

"Commander, what happened?"

"Immediately order the heavy artillery units to move forward, build positions, and aim at the 103rd Infantry Brigade of the Japanese in front. Then request the Air Force to provide support as soon as possible from the headquarters. Your first regiment will be responsible for the left wing, and the second regiment will follow immediately and be responsible for the right wing. Launch a general attack in half an hour. Do your best to destroy this 103rd Infantry Brigade of the Japanese."

The regiment commander immediately went down to do it, but he was still very surprised. No Japanese army had ever made the fifth brigade commander so angry.

After a while, a captain came back and reported:

"Report to the brigade commander. Our first regiment is ready. Since the second regiment is a reserve force and is stationed far away, we request to postpone the general attack for 15 minutes."

"Okay, then we'll launch the general attack in 45 minutes."

"Brigade Commander, the Japanese 103rd Brigade should have eight to nine thousand people. I'm afraid our two regiments can't handle them all." A regimental commander asked worriedly.

"If you can't eat it, just cut off one of his arms. If you encounter the 103rd Brigade on the battlefield in the future, fight them to death and don't take any prisoners."

"Brigade Commander, what evil did the 103rd Infantry Brigade of the Japs do to make you so angry?"

Only then did the Fifth Brigade Commander slowly begin to talk about the situation of the Japanese 103rd Infantry Brigade.