People are shining their swords, secretly helping the Iron Triangle in Northwest Shanxi

The night is deep, 12:10 midnight, west of Qinhe River in northern Henan Province.

At the headquarters of the 604th Regiment, the leader Ling Feng stood in front of the map with a solemn expression on his face.

In this battle, the 604th Regiment assumed the main combat mission, and their entire regiment was deployed in defensive positions west of the Qinhe River.

The third brigade was formed from the stragglers rescued by Chen Ziyun during the previous battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, and was directly affiliated with the 201st Division.

However, as the first theater and the second theater continued to fight for their wits, the 201st Division was first split into a Zhongtiaoshan guerrilla headquarters.

The subsequent third brigade was directly separated from the establishment of the 201st Division and was affiliated to the First Theater Commander's Department.

You must know that many areas in the northern Henan region were recovered before, but with the split and separation, the Third Brigade suffered considerable losses in Shanyang City.

If Chen Ziyun hadn't commanded the troops to provide support in time, the Third Brigade would have been dead in name only.

Because they were previously under the 201st Division, but now they are directly under the commander's headquarters, the Third Brigade's weapons and equipment are not bad.

The regiment has an anti-aircraft machine gun company, a small artillery company, and a mortar company.

The machine gun company directly under the battalion is also equipped with heavy machine guns, infantry guns, and small-caliber mountain guns.

Each squad has a light machine gun, each platoon also has a grenade launcher, and each company has a small-caliber mortar.

With more than 3,000 troops, it can be said that the weapons are well equipped.

However, the 604th Regiment suffered heavy losses in Shanyang City before. Although they were subsequently replenished, the number of new recruits was large, which greatly reduced their combat effectiveness.

Moreover, officers are constantly being placed here at the First Theater Command Headquarters, which has led to a decline in the overall quality of the Third Brigade.

The regiment leader Ling Feng knew his troops very well, so he did not dare to be careless in this battle.

"After this battle is over, I will have a good interview with Commander Chen no matter what."

"We should try to completely place our brigade under the command of Commander Chen. Otherwise, if the headquarters continues to place officers there, our brigade will be completely abolished."

"I really miss the time when I fought under Commander Chen. At that time, I didn't have to think about anything, just try my best to fight the Japanese."

"Now, not only do we have to train the troops, but we also have to scheming with them..."

Ling Feng closed his eyes slightly tiredly and murmured to himself.

As he finished speaking, the sound of cannonballs streaking through the air began to be heard in the distance.

Ling Feng, who had been in battle for a long time, immediately realized that there was an artillery unit conducting a bombardment.

As the sound got closer and closer, Ling Feng immediately avoided it.

At around midnight, Takeshita Ryuzo commanded the advance team to conduct raids on the headquarters of the 604th Regiment and the 605th Regiment under the Third Brigade.

The little Japanese conducted infiltration operations and used artillery to carry out shelling. A large number of advancing members quickly approached the regiment headquarters.

Not long after, fierce gunfire began to be heard from the two regiment headquarters.

The Lingfeng 604th Regiment Headquarters and Fang Qing 605th Regiment Headquarters were attacked successively.

There was a brief chaos in the two regiments. The commander of the third brigade, Liang Ruxian, was shocked when he received the report.

After the radio failed to make contact, Liang Ruxian did not dare to delay and contacted the artillery position as soon as possible.

Wei Monk, the leader of the guard regiment, learned about the situation and hurriedly mobilized a reinforced company to quickly escort Liang Rushian to the front line.

At 1:30 in the morning on May 15th, Liang Ruxian came to the front line to take command. The two regiments started fighting, and then the advancing team was repelled.

Liang Ruxian hurriedly sent personnel to check the situation of Ling Feng and Fang Qing.

But at this time, the field artillery regiment directly under the 53rd Little Devils Division began to launch a covering artillery bombardment on the west bank of the Qin River.

Thirty-six Type 38 field guns and twelve Type 90 field guns carried out shelling at the same time.

Forty-eight 75MM field guns fired continuously. A large number of shells quickly fell on the ground, and deafening explosions occurred one after another.

The engineer regiment directly under the division quickly began to build bridges, and the Little Japanese troops began to launch offensive operations. By 2:50 in the morning, a large number of Japs repeatedly attacked the Third Brigade position.

The two regiment headquarters were first attacked by surprise attacks, and the troops were in chaos.

Liang Ruxian had just arrived at the position to stabilize his troops, and before he had time to establish contact with various ministries, the Japanese bombardment began.

For a time, the troops lost contact, the brigade commander could not find the regiment commander, and the battalion commanders lost effective command.

The commander of the 52nd Division, Toshizaburo Mako, has personally taken command. The field artillery regiment conducted extended bombardment, and the engineer regiment completed the erection of bridges and assisted in building positions.

The 107th Regiment, the 150th Regiment directly under the artillery force, six brigades directly under the infantry artillery, rapid-fire artillery, and heavy machine guns launched fire suppression on the east bank of the Qin River.

The little devils organized themselves into squadrons and quickly launched operations across the Qinhe River.

For a time, dense bullets and artillery shells were fired at the west bank of the Qin River one after another, and a large number of little Japanese began to quickly cross the river with the help of cover.

"Brigade, we can't stop them anymore. We can't stop the little devils anymore. They have strong firepower and there are many troops crossing the river."

"Our positions have been hit one after another, each battalion has lost effective command, and the position may be completely lost."

"Now...it's better to evacuate quickly now, otherwise our troops are likely to be defeated."

Some staff members came to Liang Ruxian in a panic and hurriedly reported.

Liang Ruxian frowned tightly. He did not expect that the river defense position he had carefully prepared could be broken through so easily.

"Continue to contact the two regiment leaders Ling Feng and Fang Qing to convey the order, and each department will alternately cover the transfer to Hanoi County."

"In addition, quickly generate electricity to contact the artillery unit and ask them to assist in covering the evacuation."

Liang Ruxian said with a solemn expression on his face as he was forced to issue a combat order.

"Yes, brigade commander." The staff member agreed immediately.

The troops of the Third Brigade began to gradually withdraw and were forced to abandon their positions on the west bank of the Qin River.

The Japanese troops quickly crossed the river, and by eight o'clock in the morning on the 15th, the river defense position on the west bank was completely lost.

The 604th Regiment was forced to move to Hanoi County for defense, and the 605th Regiment was forced to move to Wencheng for defense.

The First Artillery Regiment and the Guard Regiment built positions behind it to assist in defense.

After the Japanese troops passed through the Qinhe River, they did not continue to attack for the time being, but covered the passage of the main force.

A large number of troops began to assemble in the area on the west bank of the Qinhe River. Division commander Mako Toshizaburo discussed with the staff in Shanyang City.

After passing the Qinhe River, they will continue to fight.

How the next battle will unfold is the focus of the little devils' discussion.

If the 53rd Division launches an attack with all its strength, it will definitely be able to capture towns such as Hanoi County.

However, fighting like this can only push back the troops of the third brigade until the third brigade retreats to the Zhongtiao Mountain position.

Such a result is not what the 53rd Division wants. They want to completely annihilate the third brigade and seize Hanoi County and other towns!
After repeated discussions, Toshizaburo Mako prepared to fight in two directions.

The main force of its division continued to attack Hanoi County and Wencheng.

The elite unit is taking a circuitous route to the northwest, aiming to seize Ziling Town.

After capturing Ziling Town, the troops went directly south to capture Baixiang Town, Gudan Town and Meng County.

As long as the little devils capture Ziling Town, Baixiang Town, Gudan Town, and Meng County, the Third Brigade's retreat will be completely cut off.

These towns are all in Hanoi County and the area west of Wencheng.

Once captured, the Third Brigade will be surrounded by the 52nd Infantry Division. (End of chapter)