Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

If they retreated together, it would be difficult to defeat them, and they might even collapse. But Wei Hongjun was very confident that he could only annihilate one of the Japanese troops.

"Yes."

"Gather all officers above the company level from the First and Third Security Regiments."

The First and Third Security Regiments had a total of fifty to sixty cadres at the company level and above.

Wei Hongjun stood up and said, "I know everyone has been very tired since yesterday. The Third Guard Regiment held off the Japanese for several hours yesterday and even participated in a surprise attack on the Japanese at night. The same thing happened with the First Guard Regiment. They ran over a hundred miles yesterday and launched a surprise attack on the Japanese overnight. But now is not the time to rest. The Japanese are about to withdraw. They burned down Songjiazhuang before they left, and they'll burn down any village they come across along the way. Do you think we can let these devils escape?"

"No."

"No."

The night attack gave everyone a burst of confidence.

At the same time, the Japanese army burned down Songjiazhuang, which was a great shock to everyone. Songjiazhuang was the symbol of the Eighth Column. Although the Eighth Column headquarters moved to Beilingzhuang, Songjiazhuang was more important to the Eighth Column than Beilingzhuang.

For the Eighth Column, Beilingzhuang can be abandoned, but Songjiazhuang cannot be abandoned.

So everyone was very angry.

"So I hope you can overcome these difficulties, carry forward our army's fine style of continuous combat, and completely annihilate this Japanese force. Let them pay the price for their actions. Everyone, tell me, can you do this?

"can."

"can."

Wei Hongjun nodded and said, "Now the troops should go back and prepare. If the Japanese retreat, we will follow them."

Chapter 304 All Japanese Army

The Japanese army packed up their things and began to withdraw.

However, Akiyama Utaro was a man of great combat experience. Although they were retreating, it wasn't a blind retreat. There were vanguard units leading the way, and there were also units guarding the rear to prevent the Eighth Route Army from pursuing them.

The most difficult thing is to retreat the troops.

How to withdraw the troops intact is the most challenging part of a commander's ability. Akiyama Utaro is quite capable and has deployed all the necessary troops.

Unfortunately, he was completely unfamiliar with the Eighth Route Army base, especially the Eighth Column's old nest, Sheng County.

"Are all the mines buried?"

District 3 of Sheng County.

There were dozens of people standing in front of Shi Mangui.

The clothes are varied.

Some were wearing military uniforms, some were wearing only Eighth Route Army caps, and some were wearing ordinary people's clothes. After Wei Hongjun's order was passed to Shi Mangui, the local troops in Sheng County were in an uproar.

There is a county brigade here, as well as district teams in Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

District teams from other places haven't had time to come over yet.

However, the total number of these troops alone exceeds one thousand.

In the Eighth Column's base, with the exception of the special armed forces and the county brigade in the Longyanchi base, all other county brigades were organized as battalions, while the district squads were organized as companies.

The Shengxian County Brigade and five district teams gathered here, totaling 1100 people.

The Shengxian County Battalion, in particular, was a unit truly developed amidst the flames of war. Although a county battalion, it participated in the encirclement and annihilation of the Japanese Army's 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade last year, killing Tsuneoka Kanji. It also participated in the ambush of Major General Shinichirō Nagumo, commander of the Japanese Army's 15th Independent Mixed Brigade, a few months earlier.

Each time the troops suffered heavy casualties.

But after so many brutal battles, the combat effectiveness of the Shengxian County Brigade is comparable to those of the main forces. Moreover, Shengxian is the Eighth Column's home base and also its model base. The weapons and equipment of the county brigade and district squad here are quite good.

Although it is not as good as the main force, it can basically ensure that everyone has a gun.

To ensure the safety of Sheng County, the base, these county brigades and district squads were commanded by officers drawn from the main force. Even many veterans of the main force who had recovered from their injuries were added to these county brigades and district squads.

And it wasn't just the county brigade and district squad that gathered here. Militia from every village within a radius of dozens of miles had also gathered. These militiamen were quite numerous, totaling over three thousand.

The militia's weapons were much worse.

The better ones were Hanyang rifles, the treasures of the militia. Many of the people were armed with old barrels or homemade hunting rifles. A large number of them were armed with swords and spears.

However, although many militiamen are carrying cold weapons, they are very disciplined.

Because those who train the militia are all veterans from the battlefield.

"Buried."

The county brigade member patted his chest and said, "Captain, don't worry.

I've planted seventeen mines along the way, and I've set up minefields at each one. Killing five or six of them at a time, or even a dozen, is no problem."

"well done."

Shi Mangui nodded.

Shi Mangui carefully considered the order from Wei Hongjun.

The Japanese army was trying to escape, and Wei Hongjun and his men wanted to annihilate them completely. So what they could do was to delay the Japanese army's retreat as much as possible. Before the main force closed in, they had to kill as many of the Japanese troops as possible. This would make it easier for the main force to encircle this group of Japanese troops.

It would definitely not be possible to lead these county brigades, district squads, and so many militiamen to directly stop the Japanese troops. We still need to find a way to get from Songjiazhuang to Districts 3 and 4.

First, a large number of mines were buried on the road.

"Where's the road?"

"Captain, are you still worried about our Shengxian militia? In addition to our militia, we have also mobilized the surrounding civilians.

There were a lot of wood and rocks thrown on the road. If the Japanese wanted to get through, they had to move all the rocks and wood. They would be exhausted, but they couldn't move them in a short time."

Why the Eighth Route Army attached great importance to base area construction.

That's why.

With the support of the people in the base area, everything will be easy.

Landmine laying is a specialized job, requiring professionals. However, the civilians in the base area were trained for this kind of road-destroying work. It was winter, and digging was too tiring. So, they mobilized the civilians to throw large rocks and logs into the middle of the road, directly cutting it off.

This is a very common thing in the Eighth Route Army.

Many militiamen and civilians were unable to fight the Japanese army directly, but they also wanted to contribute to the anti-Japanese war. So when something like this happened, as long as they were notified, thousands or even tens of thousands of people would come out immediately.

"Well done. The mission of your five squads is to harass the Japanese. Remember, do not engage them. After firing a shot, whether or not you hit the enemy, you must evacuate quickly. You are all veterans who have fought against the main force. You should understand the strength of the Japanese army. If you engage them, none of the squads will be able to withdraw. I don't want the squads to suffer heavy casualties."

"Captain, don't worry. We all understand these principles."

Those who can serve as district team leaders are all squad and platoon-level cadres in the main force.

Understand this principle.

"Everyone, prepare. Our mission is to slow down the Japanese advance and buy time for the main force to encircle and annihilate them."

"Yes."

The arrangements made by Ishi Manki almost caused Akiyama Utaro to have a mental breakdown.

By this time, Akiyama Utaro began to understand why many Japanese officers preferred to fight on the front lines rather than remain in occupied territories to raid the Eighth Route Army bases. The Eighth Route Army's battles were simply too nerve-wracking. In Akiyama Utaro's view, the Eighth Route Army's fighting was unmilitary and servile.

Not long after their troops set out, the vanguard stepped on a landmine.

The explosion killed four people and injured two.

The troops stopped, worried about the presence of more mines. Suddenly, gunfire rang out. While the shots weren't intense, over thirty rounds were fired. The Japanese, believing the Eighth Route Army was about to ambush them, quickly laid low. They prepared to counterattack the Eighth Route Army, but after a while, there was no response.

Akiyama Utaro sent a team to go up the mountain to take a look.

There was no one in sight.

After firing their first shot, the District Squad quickly retreated. The Japanese army counted the number of shots fired, finding that the District Squad had fired over thirty rounds in their previous attack. The casualties were not severe, with one killed and two injured.

Although the casualties were not great, the pressure on the Japanese army was great.

The Japanese finally managed to resume their march, but after walking just over 200 meters, they stepped on a mine again with a bang. Three more men were killed and four injured. The Eighth Route Army's minefields were quite effective.

Akiyama Utaro sent the few engineers he had to clear the mines.

Just as they began clearing the mines, they suddenly heard another burst of rapid gunfire. Two engineers were killed on the spot. After killing them, the men fled again.

cycle.

This constant sneak attack continues in a cycle.

Although the casualties were very small, only two or three people were killed or wounded each time, this harassment put a lot of mental pressure on the Japanese army.

There are also those annoying landmines. The Japanese have stepped on almost ten of them.

About forty people were killed or injured in the explosion.

It took several hours to complete the short distance, and the troops were already very tired.

"Colonel, there's a pile of rocks and wood blocking the road ahead."

"Let me see."

When Akiyama Utaro walked forward and saw so many stones and wood, his face suddenly darkened.

So many stones and wood?

The militia and civilians didn't just block the road with rocks and wood. They chose paths that were difficult to pass through, with steep slopes on either side. The Japanese had to retreat and find a more suitable path up the mountain to bypass it. Otherwise, if they wanted to pass directly, they had to move the rocks and wood away. Even if they didn't remove all of them, they would have to move some of them to make it easier for people to pass.

Akiyama Utaro looked grim. With so many stones and wood to clear, it would take forever to complete.

But Akiyama Utaro had no other options. The mountains here were too numerous, and the paths too complex. If you weren't a local, it would be impossible to find your way. In the dead of winter, if you got lost in the mountains, all these troops would starve to death.

You can only walk along the road.

"Use a bomb to blow it up first, then move away."

The militia and the surrounding civilians took only twenty minutes to clear the items, while the Japanese army took over an hour. Although they used explosives, they were unable to completely demolish the area, requiring manual labor to remove the items.

The Japanese troops were truly exhausted. They had been marching in secret for the past few days, fighting the Eighth Route Army for several hours yesterday, and hadn't rested at night. This morning, they packed up early and marched for several hours. In between, they were repeatedly ambushed, and spent over an hour clearing rocks and wood.

The Japanese army was really tired.

Besides, there are still many wounded soldiers on the Japanese side who need to be carried during the march.

Such cold weather has been draining the Japanese army's physical strength and energy.

"boom"

After finally clearing the obstacle, I stepped on a landmine after taking only two steps.

Then it goes back and forth again.