Zhu Tian: Beginning to Cross the Changjin Lake

Li Guotao had already determined the target in advance, which was Mianhuatang, a few miles east of Quanxi, which was an advance base of the Japanese.

The supplies transported from the rear will arrive here first, and then be transported in batches to the front line west of Leishui.

Li Guotao's target this time is the forward base here.

Under the cover of night, Li Guotao and his brothers successfully evaded the enemy's patrol and arrived near Mianhuatang.

Li Guotao climbed up a big tree, observed the situation carefully, and then carefully slid down from the tree.

"You guys keep an eye on it here. I'm going to go see the leader."

"Yes!"

Li Guotao found the regiment commander Yang Jihe, who then followed with his men.

Yang Jihe asked: "How is the situation?"

Li Guotao said: "I have checked carefully. There is a Japanese forward base near Mianhuatang, and there are a lot of supplies piled up inside."

"There were dozens of trucks alone, and piles of supplies piled up in the open space, all covered with tarpaulins, so it was hard to see what was inside."

Yang Jihe couldn't help but get excited when he heard this, and asked quickly, "How many Japanese soldiers are there in the camp?"

Li Guotao replied: "The preliminary estimate is that there are only about 200 people, all of them are the enemy's baggage soldiers, and they are easy to deal with."

Yang Jihe nodded slightly and said, "We can launch a surprise attack at night and catch them off guard. It won't be a problem to break into the camp."

"But once the battle starts, we must fight quickly because the nearby Japanese may come to support us. We must evacuate before they arrive."

Li Guotao said: "According to the intelligence we have obtained, there is only a large number of Japanese troops stationed in Quanxi nearby, which is several miles away. If the Japanese react quickly, it is estimated that they can rush to Mianhuatang to support in less than half an hour, so we must end the battle within half an hour."

Yang Jihe asked quickly: "Are you sure?"

Li Guotao smiled slightly and said, "I can't say I'm 100% sure, but 70% to 80% is no problem."

"But we still need to plan the retreat route in advance. After we capture the camp, we can drive away these dozens of trucks directly and destroy all other supplies because we don't have time to transport them."

Yang Jihe's eyes widened in surprise and he asked, "You mean, take all these supplies back, drive all the dozens of trucks back?"

"How can this be?"

Li Guotao took out a map, spread it out in front of Yang Jihe, pointed at the map and said, "After we take over this base, we will drive east directly, take this path, go north all the way, then turn west from here and rush to Liujia Chong Ferry. We can send a boat to Liujia Chong to pick us up."

"If everything goes well, these dozens of truckloads of supplies will all be ours."

Yang Jihe was both surprised and excited when he heard Li Guotao's words. He was surprised at such a bold plan, which he estimated was only Li Guotao could think of. Moreover, this matter was too difficult to accomplish.

What makes them excited is that if these dozens of truckloads of supplies can be transported back, they will have made a great contribution.

Yang Jihe tried to suppress his excitement and asked, "Will this work?"

Li Guotao asked: "Are you familiar with the surrounding terrain?"

Yang Jihe said: "We sent someone to scout the nearby terrain before. The path you mentioned is barely passable by trucks."

Li Guotao said: "As long as the truck can drive through, it will be fine."

"We have to try everything to see if it works. If the enemy catches up with us, the worst that can happen is that we abandon these trucks and retreat directly."

Yang Jihe gritted his teeth and said, "If that's the case, then what else is there to say? Let's do it!"

"Let's take down this enemy camp first."

"But there are more than 200 devils here. It's not that easy to kill them all."

Li Guotao said confidently: "Leave this matter to me."

"I will take a few people with me and sneak in first to eliminate their sentries. You take the others and enter the camp."

"Most of these devils are sleeping right now. As long as we kill their sentries, it will be much easier to deal with them."

Yang Jihe readily agreed: "Okay, I'll do as you say."

Li Guotao then explained Yang Ji and some details.

After the discussion, Li Guotao raised his wrist and looked at his watch. It was already twelve o'clock in the morning.

There was no time to delay any longer, so Li Guotao took decisive action.

Led by Li Guotao himself, along with several of the best veterans, they took advantage of the cover of night and quietly sneaked into the Japanese camp.

Under the leadership of Li Guotao, several people successfully killed several Japanese sentries.

After receiving the signal, Yang Jihe led the remaining brothers and carefully sneaked into the Japanese camp.

Because Li Guotao and his men successfully killed the people on the two searchlight towers of the Japanese, the Japanese did not notice until all the brothers sneaked in.

Then, under the command of Li Guotao, the brothers dispersed, with several people forming groups, and approached the Japanese camp one after another.

Several patrolling teams of Japanese soldiers were also killed one after another.

The brothers rushed into the Japanese tents and slashed and stabbed them with swords and bayonets. Amidst the shrill screams, the Japanese soldiers all met their death in their sleep.

In the chaos, some Japanese soldiers were awakened and ran out of the tents without even bothering to put on their clothes.

What greeted them was a hail of blazing bullets. Amid the dense gunfire, Japanese soldiers were constantly shot and fell to the ground.

Li Guotao stood on a watchtower, shooting the Japanese soldiers from a high vantage point.

As the crisp sound of gunfire rang out, more and more Japanese soldiers were shot and killed.

Because the incident happened suddenly, these Japanese devils were unable to organize effective resistance and were quickly wiped out.

The reason why it went so smoothly was that these Japanese devils were all baggage troops and their combat effectiveness was not strong.

On the other hand, in the later period of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Japanese expanded their military forces on a large scale, and the total force expanded to nearly 10 million.

Basically, anyone who could go to the battlefield was drafted into the army, which led to a serious decline in the quality of the Japanese soldiers.

After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Japanese also transferred most of their elite troops to the Pacific battlefield, resulting in a serious decline in their combat effectiveness.

Although the weapons and equipment of these Japanese devils have been improved, their actual combat effectiveness is far inferior to that of the elite veterans during the War of Resistance.

After quickly dealing with the enemies in the camp, Yang Jihe shouted loudly: "Chen Jianghe!"

"To!"

Chen Jianghe ran over quickly.

Yang Jihe ordered: "Take a platoon to the west to block the Japanese reinforcements from the Quanxi direction and cover our retreat."

"Yes! Promise to complete the mission."

Chen Jianghe responded quickly and then left with a group of people.

Li Guotao also came down from the tower, ran into the crowd and shouted loudly: "Song Weiguo."

"To!"

Song Weiguo ran over quickly. Li Guotao ordered: "Gather all the brothers who can drive, drive these dozens of trucks and retreat immediately."

"Yes!"

Song Weiguo responded excitedly.

Song Weiguo's airport garrison was originally formed by elite troops drawn from other troops, and they had received special training before, and many of their soldiers could drive.

It is not difficult to select dozens of brothers who can drive.

Just as Li Guotao guessed, these dozens of trucks were all filled with various supplies and had not been unloaded at all.

Li Guotao rushed to Yang Jihe and said, "Captain, you and Song Weiguo drive away first."

"Let Song Weiguo lead the team to clear the way. If nothing unexpected happens, we won't encounter a large number of Japanese soldiers according to our planned route. At most, there will be some Japanese checkpoints. We can rush straight past them and get to Liujia Chong as soon as possible."

Yang Jihe nodded and said, "Don't worry, I have sent a telegram to the division headquarters, and the division headquarters replied that they have dispatched ships to Liujia Chong to pick us up."

"Great!"

Li Guotao said excitedly: "I will take my brothers to cover our retreat and prevent the enemy from catching up."

"All the remaining supplies were blown up."

Yang Jihe nodded and said, "You must be careful and pay attention to safety."

"Do not worry!"

Li Guotao smiled slightly, and then began to direct his brothers to place the explosives.

Song Weiguo led a team of people, driving the captured Japanese three-wheeled motorcycles to clear the way. Yang Jihe and other brothers followed in trucks. Dozens of trucks slowly drove out of the camp.

Li Guotao was also very excited as he looked at the convoy gradually driving out of the camp, because the harvest this time was indeed not small.

These dozens of trucks were filled with various strategic materials, and four Type 94 mountain cannons and thousands of artillery shells were also seized.

Although these mountain cannons are not numerous, they can somewhat make up for the defenders' lack of heavy firepower.

Moreover, so many weapons and ammunition are the most urgently needed supplies for the 10th Army, and the subsequent battles will become more and more brutal.

With more ammunition, Hengyang’s safety will be further guaranteed.

After the battle here started, the Japanese troops stationed in Quanxi were also alarmed.

Upon learning that the rear base had been attacked, the Japanese immediately gathered hundreds of troops and rushed to Mianhuatang for support.

Chen Jianghe led a platoon of brothers and ambushed at an intersection. They quickly laid more than 20 mines on the road to block the enemy.

Not long after, a large number of Japanese soldiers came towards this side with great momentum.

A few three-wheeled motorcycles took the lead and drove towards Mianhuatang.

"Boom~!"

A loud explosion was heard, and the three-wheeled motorcycle in front was the first to hit the mine and was blown to the ground.

The three-wheeled motorcycle behind failed to brake in time and crashed into the ditch on the side of the road.

Chen Jianghe ordered loudly: "Hit him hard."

A row of soldiers lying in ambush on the roadside raised their guns and fired. A burst of dense gunfire rang out. The Japanese soldiers on several three-wheeled motorcycles had no time to fight back and were all shot to pieces.

The Japanese soldiers behind them immediately formed a battle formation. A Japanese captain waved his saber and shouted loudly: "Prepare to attack! Quick!"

After hearing the gunshots, Li Guotao turned his head and saw that the Japanese reinforcements had arrived. Li Guotao asked loudly, "How is the deployment of explosives going?"

"Report to the battalion commander, the arrangements have been almost completed."

Li Guotao quickly ordered: "Send a signal flare immediately to let Chen Jianghe and the others withdraw."

"Yes!"

Since the convoy has already evacuated and the arrangements here have been almost completed, there is no need for Chen Jianghe's row to continue fighting the Japanese.

Li Guotao issued the order to retreat in time.

"Chirp~!"

A shining flare shot into the air.

Chen Jianghe turned his head and saw a large number of Japanese soldiers rushing over. Chen Jianghe shouted, "Retreat, immediately retreat to Mianhuatang and meet up with the battalion commander and his men."

"Yes!"

After receiving the order to retreat, the brothers in the first row immediately took turns to cover each other and withdrew from the battle.

The furious Japanese soldiers immediately chased after them, but they were blocked by landmines and were delayed for a while.

Chen Jianghe took the opportunity to lead a row of brothers to quickly retreat to Mianhuatang.

Li Guotao came forward and asked, "What's the situation?"

Chen Jianghe panted and said, "The damn Japs are catching up with us. There are almost several hundred of them!"

Without saying anything, Li Guotao shouted, "Retreat immediately!"

"Yes!"

The two teams merged together and retreated eastward according to the original plan, quickly leaving the Japanese camp.

A large number of Japanese soldiers came rushing over aggressively, and at this time the engineers detonated explosives in the distance.

"Boom~! Boom~!"

A series of violent explosions sounded in the camp, and suddenly flames shot up into the sky and thick smoke billowed.

The explosion also ignited the gasoline stored in the camp, and soon the entire camp turned into a sea of ​​fire.

Some Japanese soldiers who rushed into the camp were blown to pieces. The Japanese soldiers who were chasing behind were so scared when they saw the camp engulfed in flames that they dared not continue the pursuit.

Li Guotao glanced back and said with a smile, "We can probably hold off the Japanese for a while, so we can retreat immediately."

"Yes!"

Li Guotao led dozens of soldiers and began to retreat along the planned retreat route.

On the way, they encountered a group of Japanese patrol soldiers who came to support after hearing the noise, but they were also killed by Li Guotao and his men.

Song Weiguo and his team were making quite smooth progress, with Song Weiguo leading the way in front.

According to the route planned by Li Guotao, the journey was relatively smooth.

There was indeed no main force of the Japanese along the way. There was only a sentry post set up by the Japanese, with a squad of Japanese soldiers stationed there. They were easily defeated by Song Weiguo and his men, and more than a dozen Japanese soldiers were all killed.

The convoy first went east for a while, then turned north, then turned west onto a small road, and followed the winding country road straight to Liujia Chong.

Yang Jihe had already reported to his superiors. When the military learned that Yang Jihe and his men had seized a large amount of supplies, they dispatched all the ships they could to the Liujiachong River to meet them. (End of this chapter)