Devil's Army

"Based on the current situation, Hukou may not be able to be defended." Brigade Commander Fu said worriedly to the First Regiment Commander and Regiment Commander Zhu.

"Brigade Commander, where will we retreat to next?" asked Captain Zhu.

"I don't know. Let's listen to the arrangements from above. I think it will be Jiujiang."

The regiment commander did not say anything. The Japanese army had been continuously increasing its troops during this period, and he had already guessed the outcome.

Seeing that the regimental commander remained silent, Brigade Commander Fu asked:

"Have you ever encountered such a large number of Japanese troops besieging your First Anti-Japanese Army?"

"Of course there are. Not to mention the distant past, since the July 7 Incident, our First Army sent more than 40,000 North China Front troops to North China and was bombed and surrounded by three Japanese divisions of nearly 60,000 people and more than 200 aircraft."

"More than 200 planes?" Captain Zhu stuck out his tongue. The Japanese army had already sent out to planes to bomb Hukou, which had already made them suffer terribly. What did more than planes mean?

"Yes, according to intelligence, at the beginning of the war, the Japanese army dispatched 10 aviation squadrons and 120 aircraft. They were constantly replenished during the battle, so there should be more than 200 aircraft."

"Did you successfully withdraw from the Japanese encirclement?" asked Captain Zhu with a concerned look on his face.

"Retreat? Why should we retreat? When I came here, I heard that Commander He had already led his soldiers to smash the enemy's encirclement and successfully defended the Tangshan base."

Zhu looked full of admiration. He had been with the First Regimental Officer for more than a month, and although many of the First Regimental Officer's words were unbelievable to him, none of them were exaggerations.

"If it is in our base, the Japanese's 10 or 20 planes are nothing to worry about. Because we have supersonic fighters that are three times faster than theirs, and our firepower is also more fierce than theirs. On land, we have imitation German imported Type 150 tanks and imitation German Krupp mm howitzers."

"How many 150mm howitzers do you have in the First Anti-Japanese Army?" At this time, Brigade Commander Fu no longer thought that the regiment commander was bragging.

"I don't know the exact number, but I estimate it will be no less than 30. By the way, I heard that a brigade of your Sichuan Army also participated in the defense of the Tangshan base in North China."

“Which unit?”

"I don't know about that. I heard the brigade commander's surname is Wang."

Thousands of miles away, Brigade Commander Fu was of course very happy to hear that his brother unit had arrived. However, there were many brigade commanders with the surname Wang in the Sichuan Army, and he didn't know which unit it was.

The next day, the Japanese 106th Division, which was severely damaged by a regiment of artillery surprise attack, retreated. The Japanese th Division took over and attacked the pass position with the support of aircraft and artillery.

Japanese planes bombed all three artillery positions of a regiment, and then strafed and bombed the pass positions at low altitude.

The battle lasted for a month, and it was impossible for the Japanese army to not figure out the several reserve artillery positions of the First Army. Therefore, the artillery battalion commander was more cautious when retreating later, and did not retreat to one of the reserve positions, but stopped in the dense forest halfway between the reserve positions.

The artillery battalion commander's decision also saved the precious lives of their artillerymen.

The Japanese charge was repelled, and they arranged four tanks to charge towards the pass with the infantry, but they were still attacked by the 40th Rocket Force of the 1st Regiment.

The four Japanese tanks turned into four incomplete iron turtle shells, lying lifeless on the path.

The artillery of the Japanese 106th Division continued to fiercely bombard the pass positions, and planes also flew over and bombed continuously. The infantry rushed forward under the sound of artillery fire.

Although the soldiers of the 76st Regiment and the th Brigade put up a desperate resistance, they were able to allow the Japanese to break through the pass positions once again.

At this time, the situation outside Hukou was not optimistic.

Part of the Japanese Imperial Guards Division broke through the defense line of the government army's 77th Division in the Chenjiaqiao area and marched towards Hukou County.

Part of the Japanese Hata Detachment and the Marine Corps broke through the defense line in the Longtan Mountain area of ​​the 26th Brigade of the 78th Division.

In the direction of Pengze, the Japanese 27th Division had broken through the defense line of the Chinese 43rd and 73rd Armies a few days ago and was advancing towards Hukou. However, it was blocked by the 43rd and 73rd Armies of the government army along the way, and its advancement was slow.

The 76st Regiment and the 106th Brigade once again retreated to the woods behind the pass, using the terrain to block the attack of the Japanese th Division.

Brigade Commander Fu found the regiment commander and told him:

"The situation in Hukou is very serious now. It could fall at any time. Should his artillery unit be transferred in advance?"

"Commander Fu, my artillery unit is too obvious a target. If we retreat during the day, we will undoubtedly become the target of bombing by Japanese aircraft. We can only retreat at night. We have only two boxes of shells left for our 150mm howitzers. I have decided to withdraw them to Jiujiang tonight.

On this day, the Japanese army lit a bonfire in the woods and confronted the soldiers of the 76st Regiment and the th Brigade.

The two armies were too close to each other, and the artillery of the 76st Regiment failed to attack the Japanese troops. The soldiers of the st Regiment and the th Brigade were also unable to launch a counterattack with the assistance of artillery and recapture the pass position.

Just when the Japanese thought that they would not be bombarded by the Chinese defenders tonight, another artillery position of the regiment that had not fired suddenly opened fire.