Devil's Army

Gray Wolf then informed General Peng of the Eighth Route Army headquarters about their upcoming Tangshan Campaign.

General Peng told him that he would notify the Eighth Route Army to contain the 27th and 110th Divisions of the Japanese Army and support the Tangshan Campaign of the Second Front Army of the First Anti-Japanese Army.

Gray Wolf put down the telegram and laughed. Their First Anti-Japanese Army was getting closer and closer to the Eighth Route Army, and it was not ruled out that they would be combined with the Eighth Route Army in the future.

In the evening of the next day, Wulang's 364rd Brigade and the th Brigade of the Sichuan Army arrived near Gubeikou and Jiangjunshan, built fortifications, and prepared to block the Japanese reinforcements from the direction of Gubeikou and Jiangjunshan.

The commander of the first regiment of the third brigade looked at Gubeikou in the distance and asked Wulang:

"Brigade Commander, Gubeikou is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Why don't we occupy Gubeikou? This way, it will be difficult for the Japanese 27th Division to pass through."

"You also know that Gubeikou is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Didn't the Japanese know that? The Japanese occupied Gubeikou after the Battle of the Great Wall in 1933 and have been operating there for six years. There are many bunkers and other defensive fortifications on it. How could it be so easy to take it down?"

"It's not easy for us to defend here."

"Commander Tan ordered the Fifth Brigade to fight quickly and resolve the battle within two days. We also have air support, so it won't be a problem for us to hold out for three to five days."

That afternoon, a part of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army attacked Wangdu and Xinle stations on the Pinghan Railway. The 27th Division of the Japanese Army had to dispatch troops to encircle and suppress them.

Part of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army attacked Baoding Railway Station, and the 11th Mixed Brigade and the 110th Division of the Japanese Army's China Garrison in Peiping sent reinforcements.

At eight o'clock the next morning, the West Gate of Tangshan had not yet opened, and only a few Japanese soldiers were standing lazily on the wall to keep watch.

The mortar soldiers of the Fifth Brigade suddenly bombarded the Japanese on the west gate wall of Tangshan.

The sudden bombing alarmed the Japanese in Tangshan. At that time, the main troops stationed in Tangshan were the 27nd Battalion of the th Division of the Japanese Army and the North China Security Army of the puppet army.

At this time, due to strategic adjustments, the commander-in-chief of the Japanese North China Front Army had been replaced by General Sugiyama Hajime.

The great riot in eastern Hebei some time ago had already alarmed him. When the devil troops attacked Tangshan again, he responded quickly.

On the one hand, he asked the commander of the 27th Division, Masaharu Homma, to send reinforcements. On the other hand, he ordered the 110th Division near Tangshan, the 9th Independent Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Army, the 15th Independent Mixed Division, and the 11th Division of the Japanese Army's China Garrison Army to rush to reinforce.

Two squadrons of the 27nd Battalion of the th Regiment of the Japanese Army stationed in Tangshan City rushed to the West Gate of Tangshan to provide reinforcements.

The Golden Eagle No. 4 drone, which was conducting aerial reconnaissance, discovered two squadrons of the Japanese Second Battalion that were rushing over to reinforce, and immediately notified the artillery of the Fifth Brigade.

The four 150mm howitzers transferred from the th Brigade's artillery fired at the same time under the command of Golden Eagle.

The 27nd Battalion of the 150th Division of the Japanese Army had been guarding against the mortars of the Devil Forces. Unexpectedly, the Devil Forces suddenly changed their tactics and switched to mm large-caliber howitzers. They were unable to dodge in time and suffered heavy casualties.

The 150th Brigade then fired two consecutive waves of mm howitzers, causing the city wall of the West Gate of Tangshan to collapse in two places.

The soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 1st Regiment, 5th Brigade, with the support of mortars, launched a charge towards Tangshan.

The puppet North China Security Army that arrived later was so frightened when they saw the bloody scene inside the West City Gate with broken limbs and potholes filled with blood that their legs trembled and they dared not move forward.

The devil troops were already attacking. A surviving Japanese lieutenant on the city wall put a gun to the head of the commander of the puppet North China Security Corps and ordered them to go up to the city wall immediately to resist the attack of the devil troops.

The puppet security corps commander, trembling with fear, led his puppet soldiers and the remaining Japanese troops to shoot and strafe at the devil troops outside the city wall.

The soldiers of the First Battalion of the First Regiment of the Fifth Brigade were attacked by fierce gunfire and grenades from the remaining Japanese soldiers on the West Gate wall of Tangshan and the puppet security forces who rushed over, and were forced to retreat.

After the first battalion retreated, the commander of the fifth brigade ordered the artillery to use 150mm howitzers to bombard the Japanese and puppet troops on the west gate wall.

Another terrifying sound of a 150mm grenade whistling towards the west gate wall of Tangshan Mountain.

The soldiers of the pseudo-security corps were screaming in agony and suffered heavy casualties, but they did not dare to withdraw from the city wall.

After two waves of 150mm howitzer bombardment by the th Brigade, mortars plowed the positions on the west gate wall again.

At this time, the Japanese army had basically no complete fortifications on the West Gate wall of Tangshan.

The first battalion launched a second wave of attack on Tangshan.

While organizing the surviving Japanese and puppet troops to launch a fierce counterattack against the devil troops under the city wall, the lieutenant asked the captain for help.

The captain of the second battalion of the Japanese army knew that the west gate wall of Tangshan was under bombardment by the large-caliber howitzers of the devil troops and was in danger. He immediately ordered the second regiment of the puppet security army to reinforce and sent the third infantry squadron to reinforce.

The reinforcements of the Japanese and puppet troops had not arrived yet, but the First Army's air force had already arrived.

The Second Aviation Squadron of the First Army, led by Captain Yin, flew to the West Gate of Tangshan and strafed and bombed the Japanese and puppet troops at the West Gate at low altitude.

The soldiers of the First Battalion took advantage of the gap in the bombing by the First Army and rushed into Tangshan City from the collapsed city wall of the West Gate of Tangshan, firing at the Japanese and puppet troops.