Devil's Army

Chapter 1917 Wuxue County Falls Again

To facilitate the future recapture of Wuxue County, the commander of the first brigade and the first regiment left a battalion in the county.

The 14th Brigade of the 5th Division had good relations with the local people in Wuxue County and were familiar with the terrain.

The brigade commander left a company behind to lie in ambush in Wuxue County together with the 1st Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the Southern Independent Division.

This time, the Japanese army launched a large-scale attack, dividing its forces into three routes to attack Wuxue County.

The First Army did not want to give up Wuxue County easily, so it decided to trap and eliminate some of the Japanese forces in Longjing, Cangtoubu, and Tianjiazhen outside Wuxue County before retreating.

Kunlongjing is located at the border of Wuxue and Qichun. It is surrounded by high mountains on the east, west and north sides, and the ancient post road is on the south side, forming a concave shape.

The 2nd Battalion of the 1st Regiment and the 40th Regiment of the 14th Brigade of the 5th Division of the New Fourth Army built fortifications using the natural barrier of the high mountains in preparation for an attack on the Japanese army.

When the Japanese army advanced to Kunlongjing, the treacherous terrain led them to suspect that the devilish troops would definitely be deployed there.

A Japanese major artilleryman had already targeted the hillsides on three sides and sent out a search party to advance cautiously.

The regimental commander originally intended to annihilate a large Japanese force within this pocket formation, but unfortunately, the main Japanese force was not entering the pocket; instead, it was lingering outside, waiting for reconnaissance from the search party.

Left with no other choice, the regimental commander ordered the three battalions of the regiment trapped on both sides of the dragon's neck, and the 40th battalion of the New Fourth Army on the front, to launch a fierce attack on the Japanese troops in the encirclement.

The Japanese search party was attacked from three sides and could not withstand the attack.

The Japanese artillery then launched a fierce bombardment of the already targeted Kunlongjing position.

The soldiers of the New Fourth Army and the First Regiment survived the Japanese artillery fire and continued to stubbornly resist the Japanese infantry's attack.

Due to terrain limitations, the Japanese army could not encircle and attack from three sides, and could only enter from the south, which greatly restricted the Japanese army's offensive routes and troop deployment.

The battle continued until after 3 p.m. on the second day. The Japanese army, which had been unable to capture Kunlongjing after a long siege, arranged for another unit to bypass Kunlongjing and attempt to outflank the Chinese army's supply lines.

At this point, although the Independent Division and the Fifth Division of the New Fourth Army had not lost their positions, if their rear was blocked by the Japanese army, their supplies would have to be transported by air.

Moreover, the troops had no way to leave Kunlongjing except to fight their way out of the Japanese encirclement.

Seeing that the objective of eliminating a portion of the Japanese army's manpower had been achieved, the regimental commander ordered his troops to retreat.

The next day at noon, another Japanese force outflanked Kunlongjing from behind and joined up with the Japanese forces attacking from the front. However, there was no trace of the Devil Troops or the New Fourth Army at Kunlongjing.

After the Japanese forces regrouped, they split into two groups, with the Japanese forces advancing towards Wuxue County from the front.

The Japanese troops, who had flanked from behind, continued to encircle and block the Japanese devil troops and the New Fourth Army in Cangtoubu and Tianjiazhen.

In Cangtoubu, the other two battalions of the First Regiment of the Tianjia Town Army, which was blocking the Japanese army, and the 41st and 42nd Regiments of the 14th Brigade of the New Fourth Army also withdrew from their positions to avoid being surrounded by the Japanese army.

The Japanese army reoccupied Wuxue County, plunging the people of Wuxue County into misery once again.

The Japanese army suffered heavy casualties this time when they launched a counterattack. In order to vent his personal anger, he decided to teach the people of Wuxue County a lesson.

The people of Wuxue County were gradually driven to the parade ground by the Japanese army.

The parade ground was surrounded by Japanese troops, and four machine guns were also set up there.

The terrified people of Wuxue County had no idea what fate awaited them, but under duress from the Japanese army, they had no choice but to assemble on the parade ground.