Devil's Army

Just as Commander-in-Chief Terauchi Hisaichi was preparing to dispatch troops to encircle and wipe out the devilish troops in the North China battlefield, his main attack direction: a battalion of the 109th Regiment of the 136th Division at Huangyadi near the Taiyuan battlefield was ambushed by the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army.

It was the end of 1937, and the Japanese army's attack on Taiyuan was met with stubborn resistance from Fu Zuoyi's 35th Army of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army.

At that time, there were 4 and a half divisions of the Central Army commanded by Wei Lihuang, Liu Maoen's 15th Army, Gao Guizi's 17th Army and others around Taiyuan, who were trying to contain the Japanese army.

Terauchi Hisaichi then ordered a battalion of the 109th Regiment of the 136th Division at Jiulong Pass to rush to Taiyuan for reinforcement via Xiyang, Beijiedu and Huangyadi areas.

Commander Liu of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army judged that the Japanese army would reach Taiyuan via the Huangyadi area, so he decided to set up an ambush with the 386st Regiment of the 771th Brigade in the Fengju Village area south of Huangyadi, and the 772nd Regiment in an ambush on the high ground around Gongjiazhuang east of Huangyadi.

The next morning, Deputy Division Commander Xu used the Golden Eagle No. 4 sent by the commander of the Second Brigade of the First Anti-Japanese Army to conduct long-range reconnaissance and found that about a battalion of Japanese troops with their baggage had arrived in Xiyang.

Deputy Division Commander Xu immediately ordered the 771st and 772nd Regiments to prepare for battle.

The Japanese army reached Donggongjiazhuang and entered the ambush circle of the 772nd Regiment of the Eighth Route Army. However, the commander of the 772nd Regiment, Ye Chenghuan, did not order to open fire.

The Japanese army continued to advance and reached Nanfengju Village, where they entered the ambush circle of the 771st Regiment of the Eighth Route Army.

Commander Xu of the 771st Regiment of the Eighth Route Army ordered the ambush troops to open fire immediately.

When the 772nd Regiment of the Eighth Route Army in Donggongjiazhuang saw that the battle of Nanfengju Village had started, Commander Ye also ordered to open fire.

The Japanese army was suddenly attacked by the Eighth Route Army from the front and rear, their formation was thrown into chaos, and they fought back in a hurry.

The Japanese troops in Nanfengju Village used two tanks as the vanguard in an attempt to break out of the encirclement of the Eighth Route Army.

A company commander of the 771st Regiment of the Eighth Route Army commanded his soldiers to blow up the Japanese tanks, but they were all killed by the infantry next to the Japanese tanks and died on the way to blow up the tanks.

The company commander was about to send another soldier to blow up the Japanese tanks, but two aviation soldiers from the 129th Division who came with Deputy Division Commander Xu stopped him and said:

"Captain, let's eliminate the infantry next to the enemy tanks and then arrange for the soldiers to blow up the tanks. This way the success rate will be higher."

"No, you are the guests brought by Deputy Commander Xu. I can't let you take risks."

"Captain, we are Chinese soldiers first and your guests second. We are not in any danger. Please prepare the soldiers."

After the two aviation soldiers finished speaking, they sat in the fortifications and controlled the Golden Eagle No. 4 in the air.

After a while, Golden Eagle No. 4 dived towards the Japanese tanks from high altitude.

As soon as the Golden Eagle No. 4 approached the Japanese tank, the Type 92 heavy machine gun on its belly immediately fired at the infantry around the tank.

The infantry around the tanks immediately fell down one after another like rice cut by a sickle.

Two Eighth Route Army soldiers who were preparing to blow up the tank had no time to be surprised and rushed towards the tank on the road with their explosives.

The Japanese tanks were blown up one after another and the path was blocked.

In order to reverse the situation, the Japanese army immediately seized the high ground, but was repelled by the Eighth Route Army.

The Japanese troops then gathered in the Huangyadi River Valley, preparing to seize the high ground again and break out of the encirclement, but they were attacked by the concentrated firepower of the Eighth Route Army's ambush troops.

During this period, the Japanese army launched three fierce attacks on the ambush positions, but failed each time.

As a last resort, the captain of the 136th Regiment of the Japanese Army ordered his troops to retreat to Huangyadi Village and hold their ground until reinforcements arrived.

The 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army lacked offensive weapons and was inferior to the Japanese Army. A hard attack would bring heavy casualties to the troops. In addition, according to the intelligence from the Golden Eagle, the reinforcements of the 109th Division of the Japanese Army had crossed Xiyang and arrived at Beijiedu.

Commander Liu then ordered the troops to retreat immediately after cleaning up the battlefield.

In this battle, the Eighth Route Army killed and wounded more than 300 Japanese soldiers and more than 300 mules and horses, with only more than 30 casualties of its own.

This battle also successfully attracted the attention of the Japanese army, the commander-in-chief of the North China Front Army, Terauchi Hisaichi, to the Eighth Route Army.

On the main front line of the Japanese army's advance southward, there were still active troops like the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army. How could they have the manpower to encircle and suppress the devilish troops on the branch front line?

General Terauchi Hisaichi originally wanted to transfer the 109th Division under Commander Yamaoka back to Peiping to work with the Japanese garrison in China to encircle and wipe out the devilish troops in Sanhe County and Ji County.

现在因为109师团136联队在黄崖底遭八路军129师伏击，损失惨重。遂转而命令山冈师团长带着109师团搜索八路军129师主力的行踪，企图将八路军129师消灭。

With the help of the Golden Eagle, the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army was even more powerful. It was always able to learn the search direction of the Japanese 109th Division in advance and retreat early.

The 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army had been wandering around Huangyadi, and the 109th Division of the Japanese Army had been repeatedly attacked and defeated.

Commander-in-Chief Terauchi Hisaichi arranged several reconnaissance planes to scout the whereabouts of the headquarters of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army.

Soon, a Japanese reconnaissance plane discovered the traces of the 129st Regiment of the 386th Brigade of the 771th Division of the Eighth Route Army transferred to Madaoling, Xiyang County, and arranged heavy troops to surround Madaoling from all sides.