The War of Resistance Against Japan: Special Operations Battalion Traverses Shanghai and Slaughters

Upon spotting the New Fourth Army troops in the distance, Long Fei instructed Xie Qiang to slow down and maintain a safe distance while following.

"Commander, why aren't you moving forward?"

"Are you stupid? I don't want to bring out tanks and self-propelled artillery right now. Are we supposed to just drive them all the way there?"

Xie Qiang thought about it and agreed. He scratched his head and chuckled sheepishly.

The troops marched for about three hours, and by then they were less than three kilometers away from Lai'an County.

As agreed between Long Fei and Zhou Weiguo, the attack on Zhuzhen would begin at 4 p.m.

So when Long Fei saw that the time was almost up, he quickly retrieved the necessary weapons and equipment and then ran up to discuss the matter with Deputy Commander Luo.

Upon meeting Deputy Commander Luo, Long Fei immediately spoke.

"Deputy Commander Luo, my troops will soon be attacking Zhuzhen. We can set up an ambush here by the roadside."

Deputy Commander Luo frowned and thought for a moment: "You mean, the Japanese in Lai'an will send troops to reinforce Zhuzhen, and we can ambush them?"

Long Fei smiled and nodded: "My troops are well-equipped, so let us show them off."

Deputy Commander Luo thought to himself, if we can take Lai'an County at a very low cost, why not?

Since the Dragon Flame Legion is willing to fight, it's a good opportunity to witness their strength firsthand and see if their previous achievements were just empty boasts.

"Alright, then my first regiment will be there to cover your retreat."

Deputy Commander Luo was very eloquent. By saying this, it was clear, at least from a certain perspective, that his troops had participated in the battle and had not stood idly by.

"no problem."

After obtaining Deputy Commander Luo's approval, Long Fei quickly made arrangements.

Before four o'clock, Zhou Weiguo led his troops to the outskirts of Zhuzhen.

He ordered two Wild Bee self-propelled guns to aim at the city gate of Zhuzhen, blow it open, and then immediately adjusted their parameters to bombard the Japanese soldiers on the city wall together with ten mortars.

He then ordered Tiger tanks and Greyhound armored vehicles to rush into the city at full speed as soon as the city gates were blown open, in order to clear out as many remaining enemy troops as possible.

At four o'clock sharp, with Zhou Weiguo's order, the two Wild Bee self-propelled guns opened fire.

With two loud bangs, the wooden city gate of Zhuzhen was blown to pieces.

Although the city gate was made of thick solid wood, it could not withstand the onslaught of a 150mm howitzer.

On and outside the city gate, the Japanese soldiers built several makeshift fortifications with sandbags and set up machine guns inside them as firing positions.

But just as the Japanese soldiers and their puppet troops reacted and were preparing to fire wildly, a barrage of artillery shells came raining down on them.

In just over a minute, all of the Japanese fortifications and firing positions were destroyed by artillery fire.

The Japanese soldiers and puppet troops inside the fortifications were also killed on the spot.

The shelling lasted only five minutes, but those five minutes left the Japanese soldiers and puppet troops in Zhuzhen completely disoriented.

After the shelling stopped, the Tiger tanks and Greyhound armored vehicles rushed towards the city gate at full speed.

Although there were still a few Japanese soldiers who continued to put up a stubborn resistance, firing at Tiger tanks and Greyhound armored vehicles.

But this is completely a waste of time.

Soon, Tiger tanks and Greyhound armored vehicles stormed into the city through the gates.

They saw that there were still many Japanese soldiers and puppet troops inside, hiding in sandbag fortifications and using houses as cover to put up a stubborn resistance.

The soldiers operating the cannons didn't hold back either, adjusting the muzzle and unleashing another barrage of fire.

Upon receiving the report, the Japanese squad leader stationed in Zhuzhen was so frightened that he hurriedly called for help from the Japanese troops in Lai'an County.

The Japanese troops in Lai'an County consisted of a company plus a battalion of puppet troops.

The Japanese company commander immediately decided to send a squad plus a company of puppet troops to reinforce Zhuzhen at full speed.

The Japanese reinforcements dared not delay, assembled their troops as quickly as possible, and immediately marched out of the city toward Zhuzhen.

Within three kilometers, the Japanese soldiers and their puppet troops entered the ambush zone in just over ten minutes.

Long Fei turned to Xie Qiang and ordered, "Same old routine, first fire with artillery, then let the Tiger tanks crush the lucky Japanese and puppet troops into mincemeat."

"Yes, but Commander, these few dozen Japanese soldiers and more than a hundred puppet troops are not even enough to fill our teeth."

As a result of Xie Qiang's words, Long Fei gave him a sharp rap on the head, but Long Fei didn't use any force; he just made a gesture.

"You can't say that in front of the New Fourth Army. You have to consider their feelings."

"Haha, I got it."

Soon, the Japanese reinforcements, who were marching at full speed, were caught off guard when a barrage of artillery shells rained down like hail.

Long Fei retrieved a total of five Tiger tanks, five Wespe self-propelled guns, five Greyhound armored vehicles, and twenty mortars from the system.

Using these weapons and equipment to deal with the Japanese and puppet troops in Lai'an County was really like using a cannon to kill a mosquito.

Long Fei only used twenty mortars to ambush the Japanese reinforcements.

Twenty mortars fired five rounds of shells in less than a minute, with one hundred shells landing precisely in the marching ranks of the Japanese and puppet troops.

When the Tiger tanks charged forward, only seven or eight Japanese soldiers from one squad were still alive, and of the more than one hundred puppet troops, only a dozen or twenty were still breathing.

Five Tiger tanks, lined up in a row, began to move forward and crush the enemy.

Whether it was the corpses of the Japanese soldiers and their collaborators, or these barely surviving men, they were all crushed into a bloody pulp.

The key issue was that five Tiger tanks ran over it one after another.

This scene left the New Fourth Army soldiers stunned.

Everyone couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

"Deputy Commander Luo, the Dragon Flame Legion is too ruthless."

"I think they did the right thing. They didn't hold back at all against the Japanese devils and those traitors and lackeys who sold out their country for personal gain."

"No wonder so many Nationalist troops joined the Dragon Flame Legion. Look at their weapons and equipment. If the Japanese encountered them, they would be doomed."

At this moment, Political Commissar Jiang of the First Detachment had an idea and whispered something in Deputy Commander Luo's ear.

"Deputy Commander Luo, so many guns of the Japanese and puppet troops have been crushed by tanks. What a waste!"

Deputy Commander Luo saw this and was naturally heartbroken, as the New Fourth Army was severely lacking in weapons and ammunition.

Political Commissar Jiang hurriedly suggested, "Deputy Commander Luo, I see that Commander Long respects you very much. After we finish attacking Lai'an County, could we ask him to leave all the spoils to us? If that's not possible, 70% or 80% would be fine too. We are really short of weapons and ammunition."

Deputy Commander Luo was still reasonable: "Political Commissar Jiang, I'm afraid it's not appropriate for me to say this."

Political Commissar Jiang gritted his teeth and said firmly, "Then I'll mention it to Commander Long later."

Deputy Commander Luo nodded silently in agreement.

Seeing that the reinforcements sent by Anxian County had been completely annihilated, Long Fei walked up to Deputy Commander Luo and said.

“Deputy Commander Luo, once the fighting starts here, the Japanese in Lai’an will definitely hear the commotion. So I plan to use these weapons and equipment to take Lai’an County in one fell swoop.”

Long Fei's impressive display of skill deeply impressed even Deputy Commander Luo.

So he immediately nodded in agreement: "Okay, Commander Long, you'll be the star today, and the New Fourth Army will support you."