Devil's Army

Three Japanese squadrons went to the countryside to conduct a sweep, but less than two squads returned. The commander of the 41st Regiment, Tetsujiro Yamada, was so angry that he scolded the two squadron leaders in his office.

After calming down, Yamada Tetsujiro felt strange again. Why were his three squadrons ambushed by the well-prepared Chinese army? Was there a leak of intelligence?

Recalling the process of issuing the order, he felt it was impossible. Because he found that there were no Chinese garrisons in Meihua Town, he arranged three infantry squadrons to go to the countryside to clear out the enemy. It was impossible for the Chinese soldiers to receive the intelligence in advance.

Due to the consecutive defeats of the 41st Battalion and the 41nd Battalion of the 21st Regiment, the commander of the th Division of the Japanese Army, Itagaki Seishirō, directly suspended the commander of the st Regiment for reflection. He ordered the st Regiment to make every effort to encircle and eliminate the Chinese soldiers in the villages around Meihua Town tomorrow morning.

At eight o'clock the next morning, the 21st Regiment of the Japanese Army, led by its commander Awana Hide, sent three battalions, each with heavy artillery and tanks, to search for Chinese troops in the three directions that the three squadrons of the nd Battalion had marched yesterday.

The Second Captain and Captain Lu learned from the Golden Eagle that the Japanese were approaching in large numbers this time, so they decided to avoid their attack.

Soldiers were sent to notify villagers in villages along the way where the Japanese army passed by to avoid the Japanese attack in time.

Sufanhara Hide had been searching until the evening but had not found a single Chinese soldier. Even the civilians along the way had fled. He only found a large number of bodies of imperial soldiers in the south and west of Meihua Town. (The bodies of Japanese soldiers in the north had been buried by the Chinese army.) He had to return to Meihua Town, Gao County in disappointment.

Itagaki Seishirō also felt very strange after receiving the report from Afanhara Hide, as if there was a pair of eyes watching them from the dark, knowing their every move.

The next morning, Amihara Hide arranged six scouts in plain clothes to scout the three roads.

As soon as six Japanese scouts in plain clothes walked out of the headquarters gate, they were immediately discovered by a Golden Eagle II that was following them in the air.

The Second Regiment Commander and Commander Lu immediately arranged for soldiers in plain clothes to approach the six Japanese scouts and send them back to their hometowns one after another.

Six Japanese scouts did not return all night. Kurihara Hide knew they must be in danger, so he asked for reinforcements from the Army Air Force.

The next day, a Japanese reconnaissance plane circled nearby but did not find any Chinese troops.

The two regiments of the Japanese Fifth Division wasted three days in the villages near Meihua Town and gained nothing. The headquarters' combat target was Xinkou, Shanxi.

Itagaki Seishirō had to leave a squadron to garrison Meihua Town, while the main force moved towards Xinkou.

As soon as the large Japanese army left Meihua Town and rushed to the Xinkou battlefield, they were immediately discovered by the Golden Eagle No. 2 in the air.

Captain Lu stared at the intelligence that Golden Eagle No. 2 kept sending, and couldn't help but say to the Second Captain:

"Your device is really useful. It's worth several of our intelligence agents."

"Of course, this is developed by our research department." The second captain replied proudly.

"Tell the soldiers to gather at Meihua Town and prepare to take over Meihua Town." Captain Lu and the second captain discussed.

"it is good!"

Upon receiving the order, the four troops scattered in the four directions of Meihua Town immediately assembled towards Meihua Town.

The troops quickly assembled near the east gate of Meihua Town. After careful reconnaissance by the Golden Eagle No. 200, Captain Lu and the Second Captain discovered that the Japanese army was stationed in Meihua Town with a reinforced squadron of more than soldiers and two Type mortars.

In order to deal with them, the Japanese army also left two Type 150 mm howitzers in the barracks.

Meihua Town is located on a high ground and has a dangerous terrain. If they attack it head-on, they will surely take Meihua Town, but there will definitely be a lot of casualties. At this time, most of the residents in Meihua Town are still outside to avoid the war, and only a small number of residents have returned to the town. It is definitely unrealistic to rashly send a large number of soldiers into the town at this time.

After analysis, Captain Lu and the Second Captain decided to proceed in two steps. The first step was to lure out the enemy and destroy the Japanese forces outside Meihua Town. The second step was to attack from all four sides, attack from the four gates of Meihua Town, disperse the enemy's forces in the town, and then rush into the town and capture Meihua Town.

The troops followed the order and waited outside the four gates of Meihua Town in secret. It was agreed that when the Golden Eagle No. 2 appeared above them, it would be the order to attack.

Captain Lu and the second captain each sent a platoon to the east and south gates of Meihua Town to fire provocatively at the Japanese army.

A small team of Japanese troops at the east gate was the first to go out of the city to pursue the platoon of soldiers from the second regiment. The soldiers of the second regiment retreated as ordered.

From the information transmitted by Golden Eagle No. 2, the Second Regiment Commander discovered that the Japanese troops at the South Gate were only shooting at the soldiers of Commander Lu's platoon on the city wall and did not leave the city gate.

The second regiment commander did not order his soldiers to encircle and annihilate this small group of Japanese troops, allowing them to return to Meihua Town smoothly.

In the afternoon, the soldiers of the 691st Regiment outside the South Gate continued to provoke the Japanese in Meihua Town. The Japanese finally lost their patience and sent a small team to chase them out.

At the same time, the second row of soldiers at the east gate began to provoke the Japs in Meihua Town. The Japs squad rushed out of Meihua Town again, attempting to wipe out this Chinese army of only dozens of people.

Seeing that the two Japanese squads in the southeast had already left the city, the second regiment commander ordered his troops to surround these Japanese squads and sent a signal to the regiment commander Lu at the same time.

The annihilation battle outside Meihua Town began immediately!