under fire

The independent regiment's communications officer dismounted and trotted into the village. Upon entering a house, he pulled out an envelope and handed it to Regiment Commander Lu: "Reporting, Commander, enemy situation report from the forward command post..."

Commander Lu took the letter and immediately pulled it out: "...Yang Faxian's 2nd Regiment suffered a crushing defeat...Ambush and annihilation of Cheng Daohe's regiment...Attack on Cheng Ximeng and his son's troops met with fierce resistance...Shi Jianye's unit withdrew from Huilong..."

"...A battalion of Japanese soldiers and two regiments of puppet troops stationed in Liaocheng set off last night and are currently marching rapidly southwest. They have reached the Donggu Ferry. The command estimates that the enemy's vanguard may arrive in three hours."

"A brigade of Li Ying's puppet North China Autonomous Army, stationed in Baoding, set off two hours ago..."

"The Anyang security forces have fully assembled and are about to depart..."

Commander Lu handed the letter to Wu Yan, who was standing next to him, and then examined the map spread out on the table.

"The enemy to the east is over 120 li away from Wei County," Commander Lu muttered to himself, then drew a large arrow on the northeastern edge of the map: "120 li... can they reach us in three hours?"

"Cough cough...car...the Japanese must have come by car!" Wu Yan, who was standing next to him, was patching his gray military uniform, which was covered with dirty black patches, and he was coughing violently while smoking his pipe.

I don't know if it was from the smoke or the gunpowder fumes in the air that choked me.

The tea mug on the table was empty. He took the tan aluminum kettle that Tie Dan handed him from behind and gulped it down.

Commander Lu pointed to the attack situation of the various brother units on the map and analyzed: "The enemy is coming from the northeast, around Guantao. No matter which route they take, they will have to pass through the friendly forces' defense zone first..."

"Well, the forward command has reported the enemy situation but hasn't issued any orders to change the offensive plan... so it shouldn't be a problem for our Independent Regiment..." Wu Yan added.

“Assuming the Japanese army’s vehicle speed is 30 kilometers per hour… and 60 li, it will take them at least three hours to reach Weizhen. There’s really nothing for us to do…” Commander Lu’s brows relaxed.

"The ammunition issued to the forward command post is already half used up..." Wu Yan thought for a moment, "Since it's a feint attack, the puppet troops are well aware of it. Regimental Commander, do you think we should consider setting off some firecrackers occasionally to make a noise? That could save a lot of bullets..."

...

The Japanese supervisory team at the Allied Army headquarters guarded the city wall all night.

We received repeated requests for assistance from several brigades stationed near Weixian County.

After analysis, it was determined that the Eighth Route Army's attack on Wei County was entirely a bluff.

The battle situation was quickly reported to the Liaocheng Command, which promptly replied: The North China Command has formulated an operation plan codenamed "Autumn Harvest," which aims to draw the Eighth Route Army into the entire territory of Weixian County. The Command has mobilized the Imperial Army, the puppet army, the security army, and various sweeping forces from the counties near Weixian County to encircle Weixian County!
After the main force of the Eighth Route Army was transferred westward, the guerrilla forces that still dared to jump out were annihilated in Weixian County.

The Japanese lieutenant supervising the battle was somewhat worried that the puppet troops defending the city were fighting too fiercely and scaring away the Eighth Route Army guerrillas...

Therefore, he ordered the puppet troops who had borrowed fortifications outside the county town to withdraw back to the city, and to reduce the number of puppet troops on the city wall by half.

Opportunities to encircle the Eighth Route Army are rare... Calling in reconnaissance aircraft for tactical guidance is completely unnecessary; scaring away the cowardly Eighth Route Army would be a greater loss than gain.

The military dispatched an officer to oversee the operation on-site, only to discover…

The Eighth Route Army soldiers occupying the outer fortifications seem to be setting off firecrackers...

The Eighth Route Army's secret representative stationed at the Allied Army looked utterly exasperated...

The special envoy of the Allied Forces' special operations team was dumbfounded...

The puppet troops on the city wall stared in disbelief…

In areas out of sight of the supervising team, the puppet troops, who had been fighting all night, simply stopped acting and lay down to rest, waiting for lunch to be delivered from the city!

Occasionally firing blanks...

This scene of children playing house made the special envoy and Eighth Route Army representative, who were watching from the city wall, so embarrassed that they lost all interest in continuing to enjoy the spectacle…

...

Donggu Ferry.

A large, flat-bottomed ferry came from downstream and stopped on the east bank of the canal.

The term "large" refers only to the wooden ferry at the crossing; it was slightly wider than the gunboat captured by the Ninth Battalion.

There were more than ten Japanese soldiers on the ferry.

With the help of the engineers at the temporary dock driving piles and securing the mooring lines, the ferry came to a stop. Then, more than ten engineers quickly carried sandbags onto the ship to set up fortifications. It was a skilled job, and there were no puppet troops guarding the pillboxes to do the hard labor...

There are local Eighth Route Army guerrillas on the other side. Although their marksmanship is poor, their bullets don't discriminate. We need to protect the ferry's engine...

Lieutenant Colonel Kujo immediately dispatched two fully armed Japanese squads, equipped with four grenade launchers and two light machine guns, to board the ship…

After boarding the ferry, they hid behind cover and set up machine gun positions, planning to seize the ferry crossing on the other side of the river in preparation for the main force to cross later.

On the east bank, two heavy machine guns, four light machine guns, and two mortars were subsequently deployed on the riverbank.

The river was only seventy or eighty meters wide, but with the roar of the ferry engine, the ferry hadn't even reached half its normal speed before it was already in the middle of the river...

When the ferry was about 30 meters away from the west bank, it began to slow down, and suddenly more than ten heads appeared on the west bank.

More than ten shots suddenly rang out.

Then, those heads quickly retracted...

The Japanese lieutenant, who was half-kneeling and sticking half his body out from behind the sandbag at the bow of the ship, knocked the sandbag down on the spot.

The sergeant who took over swung his arm and shouted in retaliation…

The battle began as the Japanese soldiers had anticipated.

However, the attackers had all retreated...

The reverse slope of the west bank river embankment.

If you stand on the west bank of the canal and look eastward, you can see a series of individual artillery shelters on the embankment slope…

"Those Japanese are very skilled shooters! Don't let them peek out for more than half a second!" Old Li shouted from a cave, "Never fire from the same spot! Fire one shot, then move to another... At a distance of 80 or 90 meters, the enemy can aim their rifles at our heads for no more than half a second..." "When the enemy shells us, turn your helmet and backpack outwards..."

The riverbanks on both sides are too close together!
Almost at the most comfortable firing range for grenade launchers on the East Coast…

After being attacked, the Japanese opened fire...

Thump thump thump…

Four grenades were fired and launched into the air…

After the river receded, it left behind a seven- or eight-meter-wide mudflat.

The ferry came to a stop after crashing directly into a makeshift earthen dock.

The light and heavy machine guns positioned on the east bank directly behind the ferry, providing cover on both flanks, opened fire…

The two light machine guns on the ferry also began firing continuously…

Under cover of fire, Japanese infantrymen quickly jumped off the ferry and stormed the beach...

There was no shooting exchange across the river as I had imagined.

The Japanese soldiers on the east bank were now attacking the west bank, and the bullets from the Type 96 light machine guns were being pulled back and forth on the west bank in a show of rage.

The four grenade launchers fired half a unit of ammunition towards the north bank in one go…

The mud that suddenly broke off from the ridgeline of the West River turned into mist and fell into the water near the dock, creating ripples.

The Japanese suppressed the enemy with a barrage of bullets, and grenade launchers exploded one after another, injuring two soldiers who were forced to hide in a newly dug anti-artillery hole on the reverse slope of the river embankment.

The soldiers in the artillery shelter endured the stinging mud and sand flying around them, listening to the arrogant whistling of bullets overhead.

Hiding behind the bunker without making a sound, he unscrewed the grenade and waited. In the clear morning, he heard the shouts and yells of the Japanese soldiers who rushed ashore.

Amidst the hail of bullets and the piercing whistling sound, a sharp whistle suddenly rang out from the western slope of the riverbank…

More than thirty slovenly grenades simultaneously went off...

"Four..." a voice shouted, seemingly announcing a death countdown.

As the Japanese soldiers were about to climb the west bank of the river, the grenade launchers on the east bank ceased firing.

"three…"

The heavy machine guns used for cover and suppression were pulled towards the two sides of the Japanese troops on the embankment.

"two…"

Rifle shooting became sparse on the East Coast.

Seeing that the Japanese soldiers who jumped off the ferry had occupied the west bank of the river, the Japanese soldiers on the east bank all breathed a sigh of relief.

"bomb!"

A roar suddenly erupted from the outside of the riverbank.

More than thirty hand grenades were thrown.

Delaying the bomb launch... with only one second left, is absolutely suicidal.

So much so that the fuse of a certain grenade was too short, perhaps the soldier was the fastest to pull the fuse after hearing the whistle...

boom…

The grenade exploded the moment it was thrown...

booming...

More than thirty hand grenades landed one after another on the riverbank, landing on the inner side of the riverbank…

The explosions occurred in quick succession, lasting only a second or two, and the combined loud bangs created a deafening roar...

The grenades exploded upon landing, shrapnel flying everywhere at the feet of the Japanese soldiers, tearing flesh and breaking bones, with blood swirling and churning amidst the shockwaves…

The aftershocks have barely subsided…

"Kill!" "Kill!" "Charge!"...

More than thirty figures, hidden in the reverse slope cave, emerged in droves, their pistols flashing with muzzle flashes…

Amidst the billowing smoke, the enemy and our forces were three to five meters apart…

The Japanese soldiers were indeed formidable fighters; they resisted fiercely even after being bombed. Unfortunately, the distance was too close, and they had to pull the bolt back after firing their rifles…

Even the Japanese soldiers who miraculously survived the explosion only had a chance to fire one shot at most, and several were still hit by bullets...

The machine gunner on the ferry looked bewildered. The Imperial Army had clearly captured the riverbank, so why was it suddenly shrouded in smoke?

More than ten seconds later.

A Japanese soldier with a white cloth wrapped around his arm burst out of the smoke and ran desperately toward the ferry dock...

Then another man in a khaki military uniform ran out...

What's the meaning of the white cloth strips wrapped around the arms of the two cowards who ran back?
Getting shot and bandaged doesn't happen that quickly...

The machine gunner behind the sandbags stared wide-eyed in bewilderment. He hadn't heard the sergeant beside him, who was taking over command, give the order to retreat. How could the invincible warriors of the Imperial Army possibly retreat? (End of Chapter)