Zhu Tian: Beginning to Cross the Changjin Lake

Li Guotao led a platoon to cover the retreat. While retreating, he also laid some booby traps along the way to stop the Japanese.

After dawn, the Japanese on the opposite bank began to bombard the first battalion's position again. However, the first battalion had already withdrawn from the position in advance, leaving only some dummies deliberately placed by Li Guotao.

Because they were worried that the Japanese would cut off their retreat, the troops retreated very quickly.

Yang Jihe led his troops to successfully retreat to Wumaguicao.

Li Guotao and his platoon fell a little behind, and during the retreat, they suddenly encountered a group of Japanese devils.

Chen Jianghe ran up to Li Guotao and said, "Deputy Battalion Commander, there are Japanese invaders in the south."

Li Guotao sneered and said, "These bastards came here pretty quickly."

Chen Jianghe said: "It must be the Japanese troops who crossed the Leishui River from the south. They are indeed heading towards our rear."

"If we were a step slower, we would be surrounded by them. Let's retreat quickly."

This group of Japanese soldiers were sent by the Songshan Battalion to encircle the First Battalion's rear. Just now, they encountered the retreating Second Battalion on the road.

The Second Battalion is not as good as the First Battalion, with only about a hundred people, barely the strength of a company.

Under the powerful offensive of the Japanese, they were quickly defeated, but they delayed the Japanese for a while, otherwise Li Guotao and his men would have been blocked behind.

Li Guotao asked: "How many Japanese soldiers are there?"

Chen Jianghe replied: "About one squadron, but there seem to be some Japanese soldiers behind them."

Li Guotao sneered and said, "Running away when you see the devils is not my style."

"Fuck him!"

Chen Jianghe said with a worried look on his face: "If we are entangled by the Japanese, it will be troublesome. After all, we only have a few dozen people."

Li Guotao pointed to a mountain in front of him and said, "Charge up, occupy the commanding heights, and ambush. When the Japanese come over, we will hit them hard."

"We'll retreat after the fight. We won't delay anything."

Chen Jianghe said: "You are the superior, I will listen to you."

Li Guotao shouted loudly: "Brothers, hurry up."

Under the leadership of Li Guotao, dozens of soldiers quickly rushed up the hillside in front.

The mountain is covered with lush vegetation, which makes it easy to hide.

"Ready to fight!"

In the past two days, the first battalion has killed a lot of Japanese devils and its morale is high.

Moreover, a large number of weapons and ammunition were seized, which means that we have now upgraded our muskets to better weapons and our strength has greatly increased.

Although there were only more than 30 people in a row, they were equipped with six light machine guns and two grenade launchers, which was almost unimaginable before.

Li Guotao and his men had just been hiding for less than two minutes when a large group of Japanese soldiers rushed over from the south.

A Japanese lieutenant stood on the slope beside the road, holding up a telescope to observe the situation, and shouted: "Speed ​​up, occupy the fork in the road ahead, and block the enemy retreating from the east."

"Hayi~!"

The Japanese soldiers were running forward, and they were still dozens of meters away from the fork in the road.

At this time, Li Guotao suddenly raised his gun, aimed at a Japanese second lieutenant in the team, pulled the trigger directly, and shouted loudly: "Brothers, hit him hard."

“Snap~!”

A crisp gunshot was heard, and the Japanese second lieutenant was shot in the head and died on the spot.

Then there was a burst of gunfire. Six light machine guns and four Thompson submachine guns opened fire at full force. Tongues of hot flames formed cross fire and quickly enveloped the Japanese.

"Puff puff puff~!"

The bullets hit the Japanese, making muffled sounds and splashing blood mist.

The shrill screams continued to ring out, and the Japanese soldiers in the front were knocked to the ground one after another like wheat being cut down.

The Japanese's formation was not too dense, but the firepower of one row was very strong. As soon as they fought, they knocked down more than 20 Japanese soldiers.

"Enemy attack~!"

The Japanese soldiers behind raised their guns and quickly formed a battle formation and dispersed.

The Japanese lieutenant behind him also quickly hid behind a large rock on the side of the road and shouted loudly: "Attack immediately and destroy them for me."

"Give me the rabbit~!"

The Songshan Battalion is also an elite force of the Japanese devils, and its combat style is extremely fierce.

Although they were ambushed and caught off guard, the Japanese soldiers behind them immediately launched an attack, firing back while rushing forward with guns in hand.

The Japanese machine gunners also quickly looked for advantageous terrain on the roadside and set up light machine guns in preparation for a counterattack.

But with Li Guotao's presence, their machine guns had no chance to fire at all.

Li Guotao was seen holding a gun and firing continuously. With the crisp sound of gunfire, the Japanese machine gunners were shot in the head one after another.

Because the Japanese machine guns were not effective and the firepower of the first row was extremely strong, the Japanese were completely suppressed. Those Japanese who risked their lives to rush up were all shot to pieces.

The Japanese soldiers behind were so scared that they no longer dared to rush forward. They just hid in a safe place and fired back with their guns.

Li Guotao realized that he had already gained the advantage he was supposed to gain and that continuing to fight might result in unnecessary casualties, so he decisively issued the order to retreat.

The brothers took turns covering each other and quickly retreated to the mountain, then followed a small path towards Wumaguicao.

By the time the Japanese rushed over, Li Guotao and his men had already run away, and it was too late to chase them.

The Japanese lieutenant looked at the more than 60 Japanese corpses lying at the foot of the mountain and yelled angrily, "Baga Yalu, I'm going to cut these bastards into pieces."

Li Guotao led a row of brothers to retreat westwards. After running for several miles, when they were almost at the point of returning to the stable, they ran into Yang Jihe who was rushing over with a group of people.

Li Guotao asked: "Battalion Commander, what are you doing?"

Yang Jihe said: "We heard gunshots coming from over there, and thought you were blocked by the Japanese, so we were about to go to pick you up."

"Haha~!"

Li Guotao laughed and said, "We were almost blocked by them. We took the opportunity to kill dozens of Japanese soldiers and then ran back."

"The Japanese probably don't know yet that we have all retreated, so they are busy blocking all the intersections to prevent us from escaping."

Yang Jihe said with a smile: "I feel relieved to see that you are all right."

"The commander has arrived at the Five Horses Returning to the Stable, and is waiting to see you. Let's hurry over there."

Li Guotao nodded and said, "Okay!"

In fact, Li Guotao also wanted to meet this famous anti-Japanese general. Since he was eager to see him, Li Guotao naturally had no reason to refuse. At the same time, Shima Genkichi commanded the troops and successfully crossed the Leishui River. Because there were no troops defending the position, the Japanese attack was very smooth.

"Report to the general, the positions on the other side are full of dummies, the enemy has retreated."

"Bagaya Deer!"

Shima Genkichi was so angry that he yelled, "These cunning guys are running pretty fast."

"What about the Songshan Battalion? Did they block the enemy's retreat in time?"

A Japanese officer replied: "We just received a report from the Songshan Battalion. They have cut off all the roads. In the process of advancing northward, they encountered a group of enemies and were defeated by the Locust Army. Later, they encountered an ambush and lost dozens of Locust Army warriors."

"Bagaya Deer!"

Shima Genkichi said angrily: "These idiots are more likely to cause trouble than to accomplish anything."

"Order the Songshan Battalion and the troops that have crossed the river to conduct a thorough search of the encircled area. If they have not escaped yet, these bastards must be completely wiped out."

"Hayi~!"

The old Japanese soldier Shima Genkichi was not stupid. He guessed that Li Guotao and his men must have escaped, and he was so angry that his lungs were about to explode.

A Japanese officer nearby said, "General, don't be angry. The enemy has withdrawn from the Leishui defense line and will definitely retreat to Wumaguicao."

"This is the only way for the locust army to continue advancing towards Hengyang. The locust army is crossing the Leishui River in an orderly manner. The next step is to attack Wuma Guicao. If we capture Wuma Guicao, we can completely annihilate this hateful enemy."

"Yoshi~!"

Shima Genkichi nodded slightly, his expression softened a bit, and then he said: "All troops must cross the Leishui River as quickly as possible, and then attack Wuma Guicao with all their might. We must defeat the enemy forces outside as soon as possible and reach the city of Hengyang."

"Hayi~!"

……

A Japanese officer ran over and said cautiously: "Report to the general, the locust army has carefully searched the encircled area and found no enemies. They have already escaped."

"but……"

"But what?"

"These cunning enemies set up booby traps when they retreated, and more than fifty Locust Army warriors died."

"Bagaya Deer~!"

Shima Genkichi cursed: "These idiots have brought shame to the Imperial Locust Army."

"General, please calm down. The Locust Army suffered a small defeat mainly because those hateful enemies are too cunning." The Japanese officer next to him hurriedly tried to comfort him.

Shima Genkichi was furious. All the previous battles were going very smoothly. Even Changsha, which they had fought for several years, was taken over smoothly.

However, they did not expect that they would suffer successive losses and heavy losses as soon as the war broke out in the small city of Hengyang, which made Shima Genkichi furious.

In his opinion, this was not a good sign.

At this moment, a violent roar of a motor was heard in the air.

Shima Genkichi quickly walked out of the command center and saw dozens of planes flying through the air, heading straight for Hengyang.

A Japanese officer nearby said, "It's the fighter planes of the Locust Army. The Army Aviation has sent planes to bomb Hengyang."

"I believe the entire Hengyang will be engulfed in flames."

Shima Genkichi nodded slightly and said, "But what we need to destroy is not a small city of Hengyang, but the enemy's will to resist."

"To be precise, our opponent this time is the 10th Army, which is known as the 'Taishan Army'."

“Humph! Even if they are truly a towering mountain, the Locust Army will completely knock them down and flatten them this time.”

"Hayi~!"

A Japanese officer said: "According to the accurate intelligence we have obtained, the enemy's 10th Army has suffered heavy losses in previous battles and has not been effectively replenished, so its manpower is seriously insufficient."

"According to preliminary estimates, the enemy's garrison in Hengyang is only less than 20,000 people."

"With the fighting power of the Locust Army, it will be easy to capture Hengyang."

Shima Genkichi said: "It is naturally easy to take Hengyang, but our 68th Division, or our 57th Brigade, must strive to get the first credit."

"We must be the first force to enter Hengyang City, and it would be best if we could completely wipe out this so-called 'Taishan Army'."

"I have never considered this 'Taishan Army' as an opponent. This time, the opponent we are competing with is our brother army. We must get ahead of them, capture Hengyang, and seize the first merit."

"So you guys need to work harder."

"Hai! General, please rest assured that our brigade will win this battle."

……

At the same time, dozens of enemy bombers flew over Hengyang.

Amid the shrill sound of air raid sirens, bombs fell from the sky and landed in the city of Hengyang.

Violent explosions sounded one after another, and in an instant the entire Hengyang city was engulfed in a sea of ​​fire. Fires broke out in various urban areas one after another, and the fires grew bigger and bigger.

The 10th Army was seriously lacking in anti-aircraft weapons and had basically no effective countermeasures against enemy bombings.

The US military originally built a military airport in Hengyang, but after the fall of Changsha, the US military believed that Hengyang could not be defended at all. Before the Japanese arrived, all the planes were withdrawn, leaving only the 10th Army to defend the city alone.

Fortunately, the people in the city have already retreated, and Hengyang City is now basically an empty city.

Before the Japanese arrived, Commander Fang also ordered the military and civilians to demolish some houses in the city to prevent the bombing from causing a fire that could not be controlled.

However, the enemy's bombing still caused a big fire. However, the defenders and civilian workers in the city managed to hide in a safe place in time and did not cause too many casualties.

Commander Fang stood on a hillside, looking at the thick smoke rising from Hengyang City, sighed helplessly, and said: "If you rely on the mountain, the mountain will fall, and if you rely on people, people will run away. At the critical moment, we have to rely on ourselves to defend Hengyang."

Sun Mingyu nodded in agreement and said, "It is no longer realistic to count on the support of our allies."

"When we were organizing the people to evacuate a few days ago, rumors were rife in Hengyang. There were even rumors that 50,000 American troops had already arrived in Guilin. With the support of the American troops, it would be easy to defeat the Japanese and hold Hengyang."

"It sounds very plausible, but I don't know who spread the news."

"Hmph~!"

Commander Fang snorted coldly and said, "Can the US military have 50,000 troops to support us? Dream on! They are eager to mobilize another 50,000 of our troops to support Myanmar."

Sun Mingyu said: "If the superiors had not always given priority to supplying the expeditionary army and fully organized the expeditionary army to fight abroad, would our 10th Army have been without sufficient supplies for so long?"

Commander Fang waved his hand and said, "Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore."

"The American planes have all left, but we can't leave. We must defend Hengyang at all costs."

At this time, an officer came over and said, "Report to the commander, Captain Yang is here with Li Guotao." (End of this chapter)