Devil's Army

The Japanese and puppet troops on the city wall gradually could not withstand the intensive and fierce charge of the first battalion and began to retreat.

The soldiers of the first battalion did not give the Japanese and puppet troops a chance to catch their breath and immediately caught up with them.

When the regiment commander saw that the first battalion had broken through the Japanese city wall's defenses, he immediately ordered the remaining soldiers of the regiment to launch a full-scale attack.

The Japanese and puppet troops were defeated step by step and had no power to fight back. A regiment of soldiers pressed forward step by step, giving the Japanese and puppet troops no chance to breathe.

The sound of gunfire rang out throughout Tangshan City all night.

The commander of the Japanese army in Tangshan, under the escort of his guards, fled to Beijing from the East Gate of Tangshan with the defeated Japanese troops.

A regiment of soldiers rushed to the east gate of Tangshan Mountain and immediately built fortifications and prepared for battle.

After dawn, residents of Tangshan City opened their doors cautiously and looked at what was happening outside.

A group of soldiers that had never been seen before stood in every corner of Tangshan streets with live ammunition.

The timid citizens simply closed the door again. However, some well-informed citizens knew that this was the First Anti-Japanese Army, and they shouted happily and informed each other:

"This is our army, this is our army!"

As more and more people joined in the shouting and the voices grew louder, more and more citizens opened their doors and took to the streets.

More and more citizens found that the soldiers of this unit were different from the devils, and they did not have a murderous aura towards them. Moreover, these people spoke Chinese.

The common language immediately brought the citizens and the soldiers of the First Army closer together.

After dawn, soldiers from the 2nd Regiment of the 5th Brigade also entered the city one after another to replace the 1st Regiment.

Planes from the Second and Third Air Squadrons of the First Army flew over again and patrolled the skies over Tangshan, but the Japanese planes did not come over today.

Yesterday they shot down six Type 95 fighters and four Type 98 heavy bombers of the Japanese army, while only three of their own planes were damaged and none crashed.

After dawn, Commander Wu of the 364th Regiment of the 728th Brigade came to the front-line regiment headquarters. Their regiment had already exchanged guard with the 727th Regiment yesterday evening.

Captain Wu looked towards Sichuan with longing, and he couldn't let go of his worries about his parents, wife and children. But he had the responsibility of a soldier in troubled times, and he had no choice.

He heard Brigadier General Wang say last night that he would follow them later, and he was very worried. He wanted to say to Brigadier General Wang:

"Brother, don't go ahead. Can you leave some offspring for our 364th Brigade?" But he didn't say anything in the end, because he knew the temper of Brigade Commander Wang.

What surprised Captain Wu was that at eight o'clock in the morning the sentry came to report: The Japanese 110th Division in front of the position had begun to retreat?

"Retreat before the battle starts? Have the Japanese army found their conscience? This is absolutely impossible!" Captain Wu knew that he was facing an army of beasts and it was impossible for him to have a conscience.

Something must be wrong when things are out of the ordinary. He suspected that the Japanese army was going to use chemical weapons. He hurriedly asked the sentry:

"The first company did not remain in the fortifications?"

"No, the company commander left an observation post before daybreak and retreated with the other soldiers."

"Okay, notify the company commander and keep an eye on it."

"Yes!"

Captain Wu walked back to the regiment headquarters. He didn't care what tricks the Japanese might play. At least he could have a peaceful breakfast now.

Captain Wu stayed at the regiment headquarters until ten o'clock in the morning, but the Japanese army had not yet launched an attack.

At this time, Brigade Commanders Wang and Gao came to his regiment headquarters.

"Brother, the Japanese haven't launched an attack yet." Regimental Commander Wu asked Brigade Commander Wang in confusion.

"The Japs won't attack."

"What's wrong?"

"Because the 5th Brigade attacked the west gate of Tangshan last night and recaptured Tangshan. The Japanese troops in Tangshan fled to Beijing overnight, so there was no need for his reinforcements."

"Brother, why didn't you tell me earlier? You made me so nervous this morning."

"It's better to keep your nerves tight. If you relax too much, you'll have problems."

Brigade Commanders Wang and Gao both laughed out loud.

In the Gubeikou battle, since the Third Brigade launched a full-scale counterattack against the Japanese 27th Division, the Japanese 27th Division was driven back to the Gubeikou position and did not launch a large-scale attack again. It only launched two small-scale sneak attacks, and the artillery occasionally fired at the Third Brigade's position from a high position.

Commander Sugiyama Moto was very angry about the loss of Tangshan, and he scolded all the commanders of the Tangshan defenders and reinforcements, especially Major General Kawabe Masamitsu of the garrison infantry brigade.

Commander Sugiyama Moto asked Kawabe Masamitsu to explain why they had not reached Jixian after two days of attacking from Peiping?

"Commander Sugiyama, not long after I led my troops out of Peking, we were attacked by the devil's army."

"There are devil troops near Peking? Are you making an excuse?" Sugiyama Gen was a little unconvinced.

"Commander Sugiyama, I am a soldier and I dare not lie about military intelligence."

"How many people are there in the devil's army? Can't you defeat them?"

"There should be more than 4000 of them. Although they are no match for us, they did not engage us head-on. Instead, they harassed us and delayed our progress. When we were about to reach Ji County, we received an order for you, Commander Sugiyama Moto, to retreat."

When did the devil's army infiltrate the vicinity of Peking? Commander Sugiyama Moto began to worry.