The War of Resistance: My Expedition, My Country

Sawan, nestled on the west bank of the Mai Li Kai River, was originally a small mountain village. Centuries ago, a group of Ming Dynasty survivors fled here and established a temporary refuge. Over time, the area grew and prospered, becoming a major hub for ethnic Chinese survivors from the surrounding area.

Qin Shi and Zhou Hubing split into two teams here. Zhou Hu led the 2nd and 5th Battalions of the First Detachment, along with the columns' subordinate units, totaling approximately 3000 men. They sailed upstream along the Mailikai River, passing through Bennongben, Lesa, and Pasiga, heading north, their target set on Putao.

Qin Shi stayed in Savan, preparing for a fierce battle with the 32nd Japanese Brigade. He hoped to draw the Japanese troops to Savan and then move westward into the primeval forest, thereby misleading the Japanese into thinking they had successfully driven the guerrilla column and encircled it in the Shiwan Mountains east of the Hugang Valley.

Under the leadership of Tang Xuesi, the column's direct brigade, as the rear guard of the entire army, harassed and delayed the actions of the Japanese army along the way. The traditions of the old 600nd Battalion of the 2th Regiment were fully utilized in their hands. They used raft formations, pits, bamboo stick traps, bamboo tube bullet mines, etc., mixed with trip mines, booby traps, and cluster mines, which made the pursuing Japanese army suffer a lot.

Yanbu's Jing Rui also put aside his contempt and began to confront his opponent. He organized his tank and motor squadrons into a rapid column, rapidly advancing along the highway to Inzuzu, cutting off Qin Shi and his entourage's escape route southward. Simultaneously, he instructed two battalions of the 31st Brigade to advance westward, forming a western interception network along the Xiadusu and Dinggao Sekan lines. To the northeast, the 56th Division's task force was already approaching along Injiangtang and Shanbangmada, blocking Qin Shi and his entourage's escape route north. Local Kachin tribes, acting at the behest of their chieftains, attacked the guerrilla columns along the route and provided guides, making the Japanese encirclement operation a breeze. Despite heavy casualties suffered by the pursuing 2nd and 3rd Battalions, Yanbu remained confident that it could defeat the guerrillas along the Yeren Mountain line.

Lieutenant Colonel Liu Xiao personally visited the 3rd Battalion's defensive positions along the riverbank to inspect their construction and layout. Liu Xiao's operational plan for the 3rd Battalion was to establish delaying positions along the riverbank to draw Japanese fire and mislead them into believing they had trapped the main force of the guerrilla column. Therefore, Liu Xiao deployed all four of the detachment's 4mm mortars behind the 100rd Battalion to support its operations.

After Liu Xiao inspected the position arrangements of the squadrons and teams of the 3rd Battalion, he was obviously not very satisfied. He called the battalion commander, Major Wang Qiang, and the three squadron leaders together, pointed out the shortcomings of their positions, and suggested areas that needed optimization and improvement.

Liu Xiao added: "The 3rd Battalion's combat objective is to delay the Japanese offensive, but not to fight them to death. Preserving our manpower and being able to concentrate our forces for a counterattack at any time is our fundamental goal!"

Under Liu Xiao's guidance, the 3rd Battalion quickly optimized its positions and troop deployment! Each squadron pulled out a squadron from its position as a reserve, ready for a critical counterattack.

Luo Hui, formerly the deputy platoon leader of the 93rd Division, is now the captain of the 3st squad of the 2nd company of the 1rd battalion. The 1st squad is the spearhead of the battalion, and its position is built in the bushes in front of the river bank mudflats. Based on the experience of positional warfare of the 600th Regiment learned from the battalion, Luo Hui dispersed the entire squad in echelons, with groups of three people, to build alternating individual tunnels, underground bunkers, etc.

The mudflats in front of the position were also strewn with various traps, both real and fake. In terms of firepower, each team consisted of a squad leader armed with a submachine gun, a grenadier with a pistol (Mauser or Browning), and a sniper with a Type 38 or Zhongzheng rifle. The team's only machine gun and two grenade launchers were positioned on the left side of the position, misleading the Japanese into believing this was the direction of their main position. The first team's objective was clear: inflict heavy casualties on the Japanese and delay their advance!

Night fell as usual, and the faint sound of gunfire could be heard from the other side of the river, signaling the approach of the rearguard battalion and the Japanese pursuit force. Luo Hui reached the mudflats and, along with his comrades from the forward group, helped those swimming across the river while also preventing Japanese forces from taking advantage of the situation and launching sneak attacks. When the last friendly soldier, armed with a machine gun, approached him, Luo Hui took a closer look and saw it was Major Tang Xuesi, the commander of his direct battalion.

Luo Hui was about to salute Commander Tang, but Tang held his hand back. Tang Xuesi recognized Luo Hui and nodded to him, then asked softly, "Are you all ready?"

Luo Hui quickly said, "It's ready."

Tang Xuesi held Luo Hui's hand tightly and said, "I'll leave this to you. Remember, don't be impatient, stay calm!"

Luo Hui nodded. Before leaving, Tang Xuesi handed the Type 95 machine gun he had captured from the Japanese army to Luo Hui. Luo Hui felt grateful. This way, the team would have two machine guns, making it easier to deal with the situation.

As expected, the Japanese army did not launch an overnight assault. Instead, they established a strong position on the opposite bank. Large groups of Japanese troops continued to arrive, and the opposite bank was ablaze with fire and noise. The river was not very wide to begin with, and Luo Hui and his men even used the lights on the opposite bank to see the Japanese army preparing bamboo rafts for crossing.

Luo Hui had an idea and quickly found two team leaders. After some discussion, several soldiers immediately came to the shallows of the river bank and temporarily arranged several underwater buried objects...

The next morning, the Japanese began shelling positions in the bushland on the opposite bank. The bombardment was mild, purely probing. After a burst of bombardment, seeing no unusual reaction from the other side, a small Japanese unit boarded makeshift bamboo rafts and split into two groups, heading towards the other bank. Several heavy machine guns then began to fire, covering the assault team's movements.

Luo Hui signaled each team to ignore the Japanese machine guns and just pay close attention to the bamboo raft route of the Japanese assault team. After predicting the landing point of the Japanese assault team, he quietly ordered the front-line team to board the Japanese bamboo raft and approach, and immediately detonate the pre-buried explosives in the shallows to force back the Japanese vanguard!

"Boom—boom—boom—"

Several explosions blew the two Japanese bamboo rafts that were closest to the shallows to pieces, and the Japanese soldiers fell into the water one after another. Fortunately, the river was low and shallow at that time, and only a few Japanese soldiers were injured. The rest quickly swam back to the edge of the bamboo rafts at the back. The team leader hurriedly ordered the remaining bamboo rafts to return.

During the entire process, the Japanese commander on the shore did not notice any unusual movements on the other side. He believed that this was a trick set by the enemy to provoke the enemy, so he ordered the artillery to fire at the river bank and shallows to destroy the traps in these places.

About 15 minutes later, the Japanese army took action again, this time using bamboo rafts and swimming simultaneously, with about a squadron of more than 100 infantrymen.