Traveling through 1937, starting from the Battle of Songhu

Meng County, Shili Village, the hiding place of the 769th Regiment of the Eighth Route Army.

As the Japanese surrounded and suppressed several regiments of the Independent Brigade, their control over the surrounding villages had been reduced to zero.

Of course, the devils were not interested in these villages. They wanted to take down the independent brigade first.

"Old Chen, the Independent Brigade's secret message has arrived."

Huang Zhen, the political commissar of the 769th Regiment, looked at the regiment commander Chen Xi with joy. The two had been waiting here with their troops for several days, and now they had finally arrived.

After the last battle at Shizhao Mountain, they had a good harvest. They picked up five mortars and infantry guns, one mountain gun, and many light and heavy machine guns.

If it were in the past, such a thing would hardly be imaginable. It was like becoming rich overnight.

Moreover, during their subsequent hiding period, they obtained ten heavy artillery pieces and three hundred rounds of artillery shells, which made the two of them extremely happy.

They are very happy to do such business and are now waiting for the Independent Brigade to speak.

"Okay, Lao Huang, tell me what you want to say quickly. Are you going to make us wait any longer?"

Chen Xi didn't see the political commissar's expression. He still lowered his head to study the map on the table. He was wondering whether the Japanese would flee if they were suddenly attacked by both sides, and where they would flee to.

"Old Chen, the general offensive begins tonight. The independent brigade means that our main force will directly cut off the enemy's retreat."

Huang Zhen's words startled Chen Xi. He instantly raised his head and laughed, "Haha, it's finally our turn. When is the agreed time for the attack?"

"Launch the general attack at 8 o'clock in the evening and defeat these devils in one fell swoop!" Huang Zhen said directly.

Needless to say, they have been waiting for the general attack for many days, and now they have finally got this opportunity.

"Notify the troops to prepare for departure. Send a message to Lao Wang of the 14th Regiment to set off. Target the Japanese right wing!"

"Reporting to headquarters, the independent brigade's encirclement and suppression campaign has begun!"

After giving the order, Chen Xi quickly walked out of the room.

The Eighth Route Army was preparing, and Gu Changfeng also arrived near Qiling Mountain. He had to exchange weapons first before gathering Xiaowu and his party.

At the same time, the Japanese 8th Mixed Brigade also surfaced, aiming directly at the northeast direction of Shizhao Mountain.

The 8th Mixed Brigade took a detour from near Niangzi Pass. They thought that the troop division was very secretive, but in fact it was already seen by the Eighth Route Army and reported directly to the Independent Brigade.

Gu Changfeng received the news last night, which was just perfect for him as he was already prepared for a decisive battle.

As night fell, the fighting was still fierce in the directions of Shizhao Mountain and Qiling Mountain. The Japanese had lost their patience and prepared to attack overnight.

Seven or eight kilometers away from Shizhao Mountain, Huang Zhengkui, who was ordered to provide support, had already rushed to the outskirts. At this time, the Japanese Eighth Mixed Brigade had begun to attack the Second Regiment's defense line.

At 7:30 in the evening, the two division commanders, Konoe and Muden, led all their troops to the battlefield of Shizhao Mountain. They were left with only a cavalry battalion, a baggage battalion, and their joint division headquarters.

It's no wonder that the two division commanders made such a big bet. The 23rd Regiment on the mountain had been pushed out halfway up the mountain and entered the third line of defense in the rear. If they continued fighting, they had a good chance of crushing the 23rd Regiment's defense.

This was indeed the case. The Japanese sent a large number of troops, and there were battlefields everywhere on Shizhao Mountain. The two regimental commanders had to send out the militia company as well. The battle was very difficult, and soldiers fell every second.

The heavy artillery of the 23rd Regiment was simply not enough to provide support, and they also had to guard against the Japanese finding the location of the artillery positions. How could that not be difficult?

The main force was of course the Japanese artillery group. They did not use them in a concentrated manner at the foot of the mountain, so the 2nd and 3rd Regiments had no chance to destroy them with concentrated artillery fire.

Five kilometers away from the flank of the 8th Mixed Brigade, Huang Zhengkui looked at his artillery battalion commander with a serious expression and said, "Old Zhao, whether we can defeat these devils this time depends on your artillery regiment."

"Fifteen heavy artillery pieces, forty-six mortars, infantry guns, and eight mountain guns, totaling 4000 rounds of artillery shells. This is the feast we carefully prepared for the devils."

"Don't worry about the consumption. Finish the fight as quickly as possible. The rest will be handed over to other battalions. Is that okay?"

Upon hearing this, the artillery regiment commander immediately said excitedly: "Captain, don't worry, we have enough people, even if we push, we will push the devils down!"

With 1500 heavy artillery shells alone, he could beat the Japs to pieces. How could he be afraid of them?

Huang Zhengkui waved his hand very domineeringly and said, "Alright, go ahead, fire when you're ready, don't hold back!"

His goal was to take down the 8th Mixed Brigade first, and then intervene in the main battlefield. It was not a big problem for him.

The Japanese Eighth Mixed Brigade had suffered heavy casualties after the Eighth Route Army's counter-mopping-up operations during this period, and even after reinforcements, it was still not at full strength.

It is just the configuration of three infantry battalions, plus logistics, with a personnel of just over 4000.

The battlefield on the 8th Mixed Brigade's side was relatively flat, with more trees. Facing the firepower of the independent brigade, they were actually not that comfortable attacking.

Boom boom boom!

On the east side of Shizhai Mountain, the Japanese artillery battalion began to bombard the defense line of the Third Battalion of the Second Regiment.

Of course, the third battalion commander was not so stupid as to stay in the position and be bombarded. The efficiency of the twelve-gun mountain artillery was not low. After a few rounds, his entire battalion could be crippled, especially when the artillery battalion was unable to provide support.

So he had already ordered the soldiers to retreat several hundred meters away, and there were only a few people left on the position.

When the Japanese infantry was once again beaten back by the Third Battalion, the captain of the Japanese front-line command finally couldn't help it and cried to their brigade commander:

"Your Excellency, the Chinese are like rabbits. They didn't even give us a chance to fire. Our brave warriors suffered heavy casualties in their charge..."

"Harada-kun, don't worry. Your mission is just to reduce the enemy's movement space. We will find ways to deal with them when the time comes."

The commander of the 8th Mixed Brigade, Yoshishige Mizuhara, said lightly.

Their mission is not much, just to contain the enemy, so Yoshishige Mizuhara is not worried.

Boom boom boom!

Just as Mizuhara Yoshishige finished speaking, an artillery position five kilometers away attacked the Japanese artillery battalion.

The opening was a bombshell, with fireworks filling the sky from the Japanese artillery positions, making the night sky look very gorgeous.

Afterwards, without waiting for the Japanese to react, the artillerymen quickly adjusted the muzzles and aimed directly at the Japanese 8th Mixed Brigade.

Boom boom boom!

The artillery position of the 8th Mixed Brigade was bombed, and it took only two minutes for the first regiment's artillery battalion to target them. The Japanese had no time to react at all, and many of them suffered a devastating disaster while still confused.

The first round of fifteen large-caliber grenades caused heavy casualties to the Japanese in the 8th Mixed Brigade, followed by the second and third rounds.

The area where the Japanese brigade was located was in chaos, and there were few safe areas.

Before the Japanese could make any move, the Bamenshan artillery that the regiment had previously captured also roared, and the shells fell into the Japanese area.

The specific location of the Eighth Brigade had already been discovered, and the artillerymen of the First Regiment were firing very comfortably.

After more than a dozen rounds of artillery fire, the surviving Mizuhara Yoshishige spat out a mouthful of blood and fell heavily into the arms of the staff officer, fainting.

Staff Lieutenant Colonel Takeuchi was dumbfounded. He didn't know how to clean up the mess, and even at this point he didn't know whether to escape.

There was not a single intact place in the entire area. All it could be heard were wailing and the dismembered bodies of the warriors in their brigade. The warriors who had barely survived were almost running away like crazy. Even a god would be of no use in this situation.

The Japanese were in a bleak situation, but the third battalion of the second regiment on the mountain began to counterattack. At the same time, the main forces of the three battalions of the first regiment also attacked.

Mizuhara Shigeyoshi never expected that he would be in such a catastrophic situation just after arriving and barely making a few moves. If he had known this earlier, he would have disobeyed the commander's order. After all, he also knew that the Independent Brigade was not to be trifled with...