Devil's Army

Chapter 1770: Complete Recapture of Nanyang's Three Gates

At this time, the Japanese troops attacking Fangcheng County were surrounded on all sides.

The commander gave up attacking Fangcheng County and focused on blocking the attack of the government army's 68th Army 119th Division, the temporary 36th Division and the devil troops.

However, this was just the beginning of the Japanese army's nightmare.

When they were busy dealing with the attacks of three divisions of the Nanjing government army and two regiments of the Devil Forces, Brigade Commander Li led the main force of the Third Brigade to launch a fierce attack on the Japanese army from the rear.

The Japanese army, which encircled and suppressed more than 30,000 troops from the 1st and 2nd Regiments of the 2nd Brigade, was besieged by nearly 30,000 troops from the 68th Army of the Nanjing government army and more than 10,000 troops from the 3rd Brigade and two regiments of the 2nd Brigade.

The battle lasted until evening, and the Japanese defense line continued to shrink.

At this time, four bombers of the First Army, under the cover of three fighter planes, launched fierce bombing and strafing on the Japanese troops in the encirclement.

This made the situation even worse for the Japanese army, which was already struggling to deal with the government forces and the First Army.

Commander Huang of the 143rd Division of the 68th Army and Commander Cui of the Provisional 36th Division had long wanted to teach the Japanese army, which was showing off its power at their doorstep, a lesson.

This was the first time that we joined forces with the prestigious First Anti-Japanese Army to launch a counterattack against the Japanese army.

The officers and soldiers of the 68th Army did not want to embarrass themselves fighting on their home turf. (Most of the officers and soldiers of the Second and Third Brigades of the First Anti-Japanese Army were from Northeast China.) They were not afraid of sacrifice when fighting.

After two days of fierce fighting, the Japanese army was surrounded in the woods on the left side of Fangcheng County.

The commanders of the second and third brigades entered Fangcheng County and met with Commander Huang. They decided that Mayor Huang would take the lead in launching the final battle against the Japanese troops in the woods tomorrow.

The Japanese army may have realized that their situation was dangerous, so at one o'clock in the morning of the next day, they launched a fierce attack to the north, broke through the defense line of the 119th Division, and retreated to Zhengzhou via Pingdingshan.

The sieges of Nanyang and Sanmenxia were also lifted.

At this time, the first brigade of Anyang, Puyang, Hebi, and Xinxiang, the Jidong Independent Brigade, was being surrounded and suppressed by more than 6 Japanese and puppet troops.

At this time, most of southern Henan was in the hands of the Nanjing government forces.

If the Second and Third Brigades leave behind a small number of troops, they are likely to have friction with government forces and fall into danger.

If too many troops are left behind, they will not be able to reinforce the friendly forces in the north.

At this time, Commander Liu learned from internal channels that the Nanjing leaders wanted to deal with Commander Huang of the 143rd Division for disobeying orders.

(In fact, it was Commander Huang who sent troops to fight against the Japanese, disrupting the Nanjing leaders' opportunity to use the Japanese army to weaken the strength of the First Anti-Japanese Army.)

In order to avoid conflicts, the commanders of the Second Brigade and the Third Brigade, Li, took advantage of the situation and transferred all the troops left in Sanmenxia and Nanyang to the north to reinforce the First Brigade and the Jidong Independent Brigade.

Commander Liu used the news media to publicly announce that the 143rd Division had taken the initiative and that the 68th Army had fully recaptured Nanyang and Sanmenxia.

For a time, Commander Huang and Commander Liu became anti-Japanese heroes, and major news media competed to interview them.

The Nanjing leaders did not dare to go against public opinion, and the handling of Division Commander Huang and Army Commander Liu was put aside.

At that time, the First Brigade and the Jidong Independent Brigade worked together to defeat the siege of more than 20,000 Japanese troops in Jiaozuo and Kaifeng, and recaptured four cities in northern Henan Province: Anyang, Puyang, Hebi, and Xinxiang.

The troops are actively recruiting soldiers in preparation for the next Japanese counterattack.

Who knew that before the new recruits completed their training and formed combat effectiveness, the Japanese army once again gathered more than 6 people from Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, Jiaozuo, Shangqiu and other places, attempting to drive the devil troops occupying northern Henan Province back to Shanxi.