Devil's Army

After Itagaki Seishirō failed in his campaign to encircle and suppress the devil troops' Tangshan base, Commander-in-Chief Terauchi Hisaichi was greatly disappointed with him.

After replenishing his troops, he was sent to the southern battlefield to destroy the Nanjing government army. He was defeated by General Li Zongren in Taierzhuang and dismissed by the Japanese emperor.

The Japanese army has completely retreated and will not come back for a while. Wu Lang asked Liu Yaohua to station his Sixth Brigade in frontier positions such as Zunhua County, Fengnan County, Luan County, Bailonggang Bridge, Sanchakou, Panshan Position, Huangyaguan Great Wall Position and Fengrun County.

After fighting the Japanese army for more than a month, the front-line troops retreated to Jixian County for rest and recuperation.

When Wulang and Huilang met these soldiers, who were still smelling of gunpowder, on the training base playground, their eyes were red.

He had more than 40,000 good soldiers in the North China Theater, but now, except for the 5th Brigade stationed in Tangxia Village, there are only about 14,000 good men left.

Gray Wolf choked up and said to everyone:

"Comrades, you have worked hard. You used your backbone to resist the Japanese invaders' iron hoof. The Japanese invaders once said that they would exterminate our Chinese nation in three months. Now it has been nearly a year, and we are still here! Our Chinese nation is still in the east of the world. Since we are not so tall now, our steps are still a little unsteady, but as long as you are here, our Chinese nation will not perish. We will stand tall in the east of the world and become a tall giant. The small country of Japan is only worthy of looking up at us!"

Thunderous applause broke out in the playground. They had fought bloody battles for more than a month and finally waited for the day of victory.

"The Japanese will not sit idly by and watch us grow stronger in North China. They will definitely come back again. Although they were also hit hard this time, with an estimated 30 casualties, their military strength is far greater than ours. Terauchi Shouichi's Central China Front alone has troops. If he transfers one or two more divisions, it will be enough to give us a hard time. So we have to vigorously expand our army and develop our troops next."

Gray Wolf’s words made everyone feel a deep sense of crisis.

"According to the intelligence we have obtained, the Japanese Sixth Division of nearly 364 troops are heading north to besiege us. The Eighth Route Army only delayed them and failed to annihilate them. I discussed with Commander-in-Chief He and decided to transfer the Fifth Brigade from Tangxia Village to Jixian County. The Second Brigade and the Eleventh Brigade, which suffered the most casualties in this battle, were transferred to Tangxia Village to expand the army and train, while being responsible for the protection of Tangxia Village. The Third Brigade, the Twelfth Brigade and the th Brigade of the Sichuan Army also stayed in Jixian County for rest."

Just when everyone was worried about how to defend themselves when the Japanese Sixth Division of nearly 30,000 people came to attack, the signalman delivered a telegram from Gray Wolf Leng Feng:

The 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army launched a raid along the Handan Highway, cutting off the Japanese army's transportation supply lines and delaying the Japanese army's reinforcement to the Xuzhou battlefield. The Japanese army's Xuzhou battlefield was in a state of emergency, and the Japanese th Division turned south to reinforce the Xuzhou battlefield.

On the playground, the soldiers of the First Army cheered and shouted with joy when they heard the news. They could win some time for peaceful development.

The Battle of Xuzhou was a battle in which the Japanese North China Front Army marched southward and the Central China Expeditionary Army marched northward. The two front armies gathered a total of 24 troops and attempted to meet at Taierzhuang and then destroy the main force of the Nanjing government army near Xuzhou.

Who knew that Yu Xuezhen's government army fought fiercely with the Japanese army in Mingguang, Chihe and other places, and formed a confrontation across the river with the Japanese army heading north.

Sun Lianzhong's government army inflicted heavy damage on the Japanese Isogai Division in Taierzhuang.

Under pressure, Tang Enbo's troops outside Taierzhuang launched a flank attack at the right time. The government army then launched a full-scale counterattack, achieving the first major victory of the government army since the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War.

The Fifth Division of Itagaki Seishiro, who was sent south to reinforce the army, was also severely damaged by the government army. Soon, Itagaki Seishiro, the old rival of the First Anti-Japanese Army in the North China Theater, resigned and Ando Rikichi became the commander of the Fifth Division of the Japanese Army.

After Gray Wolf finished speaking, Wu Lang encouraged everyone:

"Although the Japanese army outnumbers us, we are not fighting alone. There are more than 200 million government troops and nearly 8 Eighth Route Army troops fighting against the Japanese!"

After the post-war summary meeting, each brigade took its troops back to Jixian or Tangxia Village to rest as required by Commander-in-Chief He. Captain Xu and Captain Ren of the Air Force followed Wulang and Huilang to the headquarters.

"How many Japanese planes did our air force shoot down in this air battle? And how many of our planes were shot down by the Japanese?"

"In this air battle, we shot down a total of 136 Japanese fighters and bombers, and 24 of our own fighters and bombers were shot down or damaged."

"With a casualty ratio of nearly 6 to 1, our results are considered brilliant. But our foundation is much weaker than that of the Japanese. The Japanese temporary air corps serving as the North China Front has nearly 400 aircraft, and there should be more than 200 aircraft left. However, our First Army North China Theater has only 12 combat aircraft left. In the future, when fighting against enemy aircraft, we should ensure our own safety as a prerequisite."

"Yes!" Captain Xu and Captain Ren responded almost at the same time.

Because they knew that if they did not preserve the few remaining air force aircraft they had, the air force of the First Anti-Japanese Army would no longer exist.