Devil's Army

Since several major divisions of the Japanese army were still moving south to attack the main force of the National Army, Commander-in-Chief Terauchi Hisaichi transferred the 18th Infantry Regiment and heavy artillery squadron of the Chinese Garrison Army stationed in Peiping to take Tongzhou.

Captain Su, the defender of Tongzhou, had already smelled the scent of an impending storm. In order not to bring disaster to the residents of Tongzhou, he took the initiative to withdraw his troops to the outskirts of Tongzhou.

Two days later, in the early morning, before daybreak, scouts came to report that Japanese troops had appeared in the direction of Beijing in the left front.

"The Japanese who were not good at night combat have also changed and started fighting at night?" Although Captain Su was puzzled, he still ordered his troops to prepare for battle.

It turned out that the commander of the 18th Regiment of the Japanese Army in China was afraid of the Chinese planes at the Xiaoguanzhuang Airport, so he decided to attack Tongzhou at night when the planes could not provide support.

The commander of the brigade had already sent people to investigate and found out that the Chinese garrison in Tongzhou was only the size of a company, so he arranged a squadron to attack Tongzhou at night.

Although this squadron of Japanese troops marched towards Tongzhou silently, they were discovered by a company of scouts who had been on alert for a long time.

As it was a dark and windy night, it was impossible to know the exact strength of the attacking Japanese army. Captain Su made a prompt decision to fight first and then retreat if he could not win.

When this squadron of Japanese troops quietly arrived at the outskirts of Tongzhou City, they were suddenly attacked by fierce grenades.

The flames from the continuous exploding grenades illuminated the outskirts of Tongzhou City, exposing the sneak attack by the Japanese army.

Captain Su led his soldiers to lie in the bunker and continuously shoot at the Japanese army.

The Japanese soldiers who reacted, led by the squadron leader, lay down on the ground and continued to fight back against Captain Su and his men.

The sounds of gunfire and grenade explosions continued throughout Tongzhou City.

At this time, the scout reported to Captain Su that a large number of Japanese reinforcements from the rear were rushing to reinforce.

Captain Su ordered the two mortars in the company to concentrate their firepower on bombing the Japanese army, and he led his soldiers to retreat in a staggered manner.

The Japanese squadron suffered heavy casualties in the fierce mortar and grenade bombardment and was unable to organize an effective attack, so they urgently called for reinforcements.

More than ten minutes later, Captain Su led his soldiers out of the battlefield and retreated towards Sanhe County.

Soon, the captain of a large reinforcement team looked at the embarrassed squadron leader and asked:

"Where are the Devil's troops?"

“They just retreated.”

"Where did they retreat to? How many people?"

"There were about one or two companies of soldiers, and their firepower was very strong. We were bombed so hard that we couldn't fight back. I don't know where they retreated to."

"Idiot, you have brought shame to our garrison troops. You don't even know where the Chinese troops should retreat. How come you didn't get killed?"

"Hi!" the squadron leader responded with his head down while standing at attention.

The Japanese captain estimated that after ambushing them, the Chinese defenders would hide back in Tongzhou City and rely on the city walls to fight them.

However, the searching troops ahead judged from the traces that this Chinese troop did not retreat back to Tongzhou City, but fled towards Sanhe County.

The captain ordered the soldiers to speed up the pursuit in the direction of Sanhe County.

The Japanese army chased the Chinese army all the way out of Tongzhou City for more than ten kilometers, and the traces of the Chinese army's march suddenly disappeared.

The captain had no choice but to order the troops to stop advancing and return to attack Tongzhou City.

His mission this time was to capture Tongzhou City. No matter whether this devil army company was destroyed or not, as long as Tongzhou City was taken, his mission would be accomplished.

The captain and his men returned to the city of Tongzhou when it was already dawn.

The captain ordered the heavy artillery squadron to launch a fierce bombardment on the Tongzhou city walls and gates to give the Chinese army a warning.

A 150mm howitzer from the Japanese heavy artillery squadron accurately hit the gate of Tongzhou City, directly blowing it down.

The Chinese defenders in Tongzhou City did not fight back.

"These devilish troops are really patient. Sato-kun, charge!" the captain ordered the second squadron leader next to him.

Captain Sato personally led the Japanese Second Squadron to launch the first wave of attack on Tongzhou City.

The Japanese Second Squadron encountered no resistance and quickly rushed into Tongzhou City through the blown-up city gate.

They looked inside the Tongzhou city wall and did not see even a single Chinese defender.

The Japanese captain successfully occupied Tongzhou City. But he was not satisfied. He took out his anger on the people in Tongzhou City for the attack on the first squadron yesterday and ordered the soldiers to relax for a day.

The brutal nature of the Japanese army was exposed again, and they burned, killed and looted the residents of Tongzhou County for a day and a night.

The people of Tongzhou lived in dire straits during that day and night, and they were traumatized by the sight of the Japanese army for a long time afterwards.

Afterwards, Wu Lang also learned about the atrocities committed by the 18th Regiment of the Japanese Army in China that occupied Tongzhou, and listed the 18th Regiment as one of the Japanese troops that must be annihilated. He was ready to find an opportunity to completely annihilate the 18th Regiment of the Japanese Army in China in the future.

In the evening of the same day, the commander of the 18th Regiment of the Japanese Garrison in China received a congratulatory message and commendation from Commander-in-Chief Terauchi Hisaichi for his contribution in occupying Tongzhou.

On the third day after the occupation of Tongzhou, the commander of the 18th Regiment of the Japanese Army in China left the second and third infantry squadrons of the first battalion to garrison Tongzhou, and the main force immediately followed him back to defend Beijing.