Zhu Tian: Beginning to Cross the Changjin Lake

Because the explosion at the Japanese base blocked the Japanese pursuers, Li Guotao successfully put some distance between himself and the Japanese.

Li Guotao led these dozens of brothers and retreated while laying some landmines and booby traps along the way, trying to delay the pursuing Japanese as much as possible.

Because there are dozens of trucks of supplies, weighing almost hundreds of tons, it will take some time to move all of them onto the ship and transport them away.

Li Guotao led the team to cover the rear, so naturally he had to do his best to stop the Japanese and delay time as much as possible.

At the same time, Yang Jihe and his convoy had successfully arrived at Liujia Chong.

Hundreds of large and small boats crowded on the shore, and hundreds of civilian workers and more than two hundred soldiers who came to support them immediately rushed up to help the brothers of the first battalion carry supplies.

Yang Jihe shouted loudly: "First, dismantle the four mountain cannons and move them onto the big ship. Load the other scattered materials onto the small boats. Hurry up and set off immediately after loading a full boat and transport it back as soon as possible. Hurry up."

"Yes!"

The entire shore was in chaos. Both the civilian workers and the soldiers of the 10th Army were helping to carry supplies quickly, and the scene was extremely intense.

Yang Jihe turned his head and looked into the distance, and couldn't help but feel a little worried.

"I don't know how Li Guotao and the others are doing now?"

At this time, Song Weiguo ran over and said, "It will take some time to transport all the supplies onto the ship. I guess the Japanese soldiers will catch up soon."

"Captain, the situation is unclear. Why don't I take a team to pick them up?"

Yang Jihe nodded and said, "That's fine. You take two platoons and drive over to pick them up and withdraw."

"Be sure to pay attention to safety."

"Yes!"

Song Weiguo responded quickly, and then took two platoons of soldiers, drove several motorcycles and eight unloaded trucks, and returned along the original route to meet Li Guotao and others.

……

The news that the Japanese base in Mianhuatang was attacked was also transmitted to the Japanese command at the fastest speed.

Major General Shima Genkichi was suddenly awakened from his deep sleep and his sweet dream was disturbed. He was already furious, and after hearing the news, he became even more furious.

"Bagaya Deer~!"

Shima Genkichi angrily yelled, "What the hell are these idiots doing?"

"Why did a group of enemies suddenly appear behind us?"

A Japanese lieutenant colonel said helplessly: "General, please calm down. We don't know where these enemies came from."

"Preliminary judgment is that they should have secretly crossed the Leishui River and then found their way to the vicinity of Mianhuatang."

Shima Genkichi said angrily, "What a bunch of losers! So many enemies suddenly found their way into our defense zone, evaded the guards, and infiltrated Mianhuatang, and we knew nothing about it."

"Are the troops in charge of the alert all blind?"

The Japanese officers present were scolded so harshly that they were too scared to retort.

Shima Genkichi asked angrily, "What is the damage?"

A Japanese officer replied: "A large amount of supplies we stored there were blown up by the enemy, and another large amount of supplies were stolen by the enemy."

"A large portion of them are weapons and ammunition."

"Bagaya Deer~!"

Shima Genkichi shouted angrily, "What's going on? They are just a small force at most. How could they take away a large amount of supplies?"

If so many supplies were destroyed, it would only be a pity, but if they fell into the hands of the 10th Army, it would be a boon to the enemy! In the future, these weapons and ammunition would be fired at them. Thinking of this, Shima Genkichi was furious and almost fainted.

The Japanese officer replied cautiously: "General, those supplies were loaded on trucks and were only delivered to the front line this evening. The enemy drove away all the dozens of trucks."

Shima Genkichi suppressed his anger and cursed with gritted teeth: "Send troops to pursue them immediately, and pursue them with all your strength."

"Make sure to get the lost supplies back to me."

"Even if we can't take them back, we can't let these weapons and ammunition fall into the hands of the enemy."

"Hayi~!"

Shima Genkichi walked quickly to the front of the sand table, stared at it for a while, and said, "Where do you think the enemy crossed the Leishui River from?"

A Japanese staff officer pointed to the sand table and said: "Preliminary estimates show that they should have entered Leishui directly from the Xiangjiang River, then went all the way south, landed in this area, and then reached the vicinity of Mianhuatang."

Shima Genkichi frowned and said, "We neglected this point and let these damn bastards take advantage of it."

"So which direction did they retreat to when they retreated from Mianhuatang?"

A Japanese officer replied: "They retreated eastward."

Shima Genkichi frowned and said, "The east is a dead end. They must have gone east first, then north, and then retreated all the way west."

"That means retreating along this route. Judging from the sand table, this route should be barely passable by trucks."

"This should be their only retreat route."

"If they want to withdraw to Hengyang, they have to take the water route."

"So they should take the water route in the Liujia Chong area."

"Your Majesty the General is wise."

Shima Genkichi said seriously, "Immediately order the pursuit troops to go straight to Liujia Chong and prevent them from crossing the river."

"Hayi~!"

Shima Genkichi pondered for a moment and felt that this was not enough, so he continued: "Immediately order the Suzuki Battalion to advance along the west bank of the Leishui River towards Liujia Chong and try to cut off their retreat. We must stop them."

"If we find the enemy boarding a ship here, or an enemy fleet passing through a nearby river, we will immediately intercept them with mortars and heavy machine guns and sink their ships."

"Hayi~!"

The more Shima Genkichi thought about it, the angrier he became. Since this old Japanese guy arrived in Hengyang, everything has been going wrong for him and he has suffered repeated setbacks. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of bad luck he had.

……

At the same time, after receiving the report, Commander Fang no longer felt sleepy.

He came to the command hall excitedly and said with a smile: "Yang Jihe and Li Guotao did a great job. They seized so many spoils in one go. It's really great."

Commander Fang did not expect that they could seize so many spoils just by carrying out a sneak attack mission.

Sun Mingyu smiled and said, "This amount of weapons and ammunition is probably all the supplies that the Shima Brigade has received in the past few days."

"Now it's all gone. We have seized them all." "But it's not easy to transport all these supplies back."

Commander Fang walked quickly to the front of the sand table, stared at it and said, "The Japanese are not stupid, they will not let us go easily."

"The Japanese don't have many troops left on the east bank of Leishui. If we leave one troop behind to cover their retreat and delay the enemy for a while, it shouldn't be a big problem."

"The biggest threat still comes from the enemy west of Leishui. The main force of the Shima Brigade is basically all in this area."

Sun Mingyu stared at the sand table and said, "The commander is worried that they will send troops from the west bank to intercept them?"

Commander Fang frowned and said, "Shima Genkichi is also an old fox. They will naturally figure out our approximate retreat route."

"If they send a troop northward along the Leishui River and reach the other side of Liujia Chong, it will also be a considerable threat to us."

Sun Mingyu frowned and said, "We have finally captured so many spoils of war. We must ensure that these things are transported back."

Commander Fang nodded and said, "That's for sure. No matter what, we must stop the Japs and ensure that they can bring all the spoils back to me safely."

"Immediately send a telegram to the 54st Regiment of the th Division and have them rush to Xiaozhu Mountain as soon as possible to stop the Japanese."

"We must stop the enemy advancing northward along the west bank of the Leishui River at all costs and ensure that the 568th Regiment can withdraw safely."

"Yes!"

Sun Mingyu did not dare to delay, so he responded quickly and turned around to convey the order.

In addition to the 190th Division, there is also a temporary 54th Division in the area east of the Xiangjiang River. However, like the 190th Division, this division does not have too many troops.

A regiment of the temporary 54th Division was stationed in the area near Xiaozhu Mountain. If they could arrive at Xiaozhu Mountain in time and block the Japanese army's way to the north, the troops retreating from Liujia Chong could be guaranteed absolute safety.

In other words, we just need to hold out for a while, and when the fleet withdraws, everything will be safe.

Under the order of Commander Fang, the 54st Regiment of the Provisional th Division immediately took action and rushed to Xiaozhu Mountain to build a temporary defensive fortification.

The commander of the first regiment, Chen Chaozhang, directed his brothers to seize favorable terrain and build defensive positions as quickly as possible.

A battalion commander said: "Commander, the terrain of Xiaozhu Mountain is limited. If the Japanese really attack in large numbers, we don't have enough defensive fortifications and we won't be able to hold out."

Chen Chaozhang said: "What do you know? We just need to hold off the Japanese for a while. In fact, there is no need to fight them to death."

"Besides, the Japanese may not send troops north, so you can rest assured."

"Just lay some mines on the nearby roads, just stop them from heading north."

"There's no need to fight them to death. We need to use our brains more in this war."

"I understand."

Under the command of Chen Chaozhang, the brothers of the 1st Regiment buried some mines on the nearby roads and set up machine guns and mortars on Xiaozhu Mountain. The brothers seized the advantageous terrain and prepared for battle based on it.

Sure enough, not long after, the Japanese soldiers from Suzuki's battalion went north along the Leishui River and arrived at the area near Xiaozhu Mountain.

After receiving the report, Chen Chaozhang asked anxiously, "How many Japanese soldiers are here?"

"About a battalion of troops?"

"Codes!"

Chen Chaozhang couldn't help but curse: "These bastards came here pretty fast."

"Immediately report this to the division and army headquarters, inform the brothers to stay hidden and be ready for battle."

"Yes!"

The Japanese vanguards exchanged fire with the first regiment's guard troops, and the first regiment's guard troops immediately retreated.

The Japanese took the opportunity to launch a massive attack in the direction of Xiaozhu Mountain, but they were caught off guard and entered the minefield. A violent explosion was heard and the twenty or thirty Japanese in front were all blown to the ground.

The landmines temporarily blocked the Japanese, but they did not give up. They immediately made a detour from both sides and quickly surrounded Xiaozhushan.

Chen Chaozhang held up a telescope to observe the situation in the distance, and then ordered: "Immediately use mortars to bombard the enemies coming around on the left, and use heavy machine guns to block the enemies attacking from the right."

"Inform all battalions and companies to hold their positions firmly and resist the attacks of the Japanese. Do whatever you can to hold them back."

"Yes!"

Following the order from Captain Chen, the mortars on the mountain began firing.

Amidst the shrill whistling sound, shells fell continuously into the attacking Japanese crowd.

Violent explosions continued to ring out, and the Japanese soldiers walking in front were immediately blown to the ground.

Machine guns also sounded in another direction, and dense rain of bullets swept over, and Japanese soldiers were shot and killed continuously.

Lieutenant Colonel Suzuki held up a telescope to observe the situation on the battlefield, and angrily shouted: "Damn it, there are so many enemies here."

A Japanese officer nearby said, "Major, should we continue the attack now?"

Major Suzuki gritted his teeth and said, "Of course, we received a death order. We must stop the sneak attacking enemy troops and destroy the locust army supplies they intercepted."

"We are still three kilometers away from our destination. We must defeat them with all our strength."

"Order the mortar units to immediately build artillery positions. The infantry units should deploy at full strength and launch attacks from different directions. We must strive to capture Xiaozhu Mountain as soon as possible."

"Hayi~!"

Under the command of Major Suzuki, the Japanese immediately launched a more fierce attack.

However, Chen Chaozhang's regiment also received an order to defend Xiaozhu Mountain to the death. Commander Fang issued a death order, requiring them to hold Xiaozhu Mountain for three hours at all costs to buy time for the troops to retreat.

In order to boost morale, Commander Fang told Commander Chen Chaozhang to let them fight with all their might. He would replenish them with the same amount of ammunition as they had consumed, but they must hold out for three hours no matter what.

If we lose the position prematurely, we will be severely punished.

Chen Chaozhang did not dare to be careless and could only order his troops to hold their positions with all their strength.

Although their Provisional 54th Division was only temporarily transferred to the 10th Army, he, a small regimental commander, did not dare to disobey the orders of the army commander.

Under the tenacious resistance of the regiment, Suzuki's battalion was dragged on Xiaozhu Mountain for three hours and failed to advance even a single step.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Yang Jihe and his brothers loaded all the spoils onto the ships. Hundreds of ships entered the Xiangjiang River from Leishui and docked at the Hengyang city pier.

Li Guotao also successfully completed the task of covering the rear, and arrived in Hengyang by boat before dawn with dozens of brothers.

In this battle, Li Guotao led a battalion to a great victory, seized hundreds of tons of spoils, and once again made great contributions.

After hearing the news, Commander Fang was overjoyed and once again sent a telegram to commend Li Guotao's troops and once again rewarded a large amount of wine and meat to reward the first battalion. (End of this chapter)