Resistance against Japan: Starting with the local militia

Chapter 113 Capturing the Point

In the Japanese headquarters in Qingyun County, Tanaka Itsuki, fast asleep, was awakened by a series of urgent knocks on the door. Displeased, Tanaka Itsuki put on his military uniform and went outside.

"Baka yarou, what's going on?" Tanaka Shu asked the communications soldier in front of him in an unfriendly tone.

"Reporting to the Commander, the Hekou stronghold has been attacked by the main force of the Eighth Route Army."

"What? Weren't all the Eighth Route Army troops in the vicinity driven into the mountains? Why are they suddenly appearing at the river mouth stronghold?"

"Reporting to the Commander, according to the intelligence department's analysis, since the Hekou stronghold recently received a large batch of supplies, the Eighth Route Army in the mountains has its eyes on these supplies."

"Damn it! All Eighth Route Army soldiers, die! How dare you steal the Yellow Army's supplies!" After saying this, Tanaka Shu walked aggressively towards the office.

"Hey, hey, this is Tanaka Itsuki. Miyamoto-kun, the Hekou stronghold is under attack right now. You must immediately lead the First Company, the Second Company, a machine gun squad, and a battalion of the puppet army to support the defenders of the Hekou stronghold. You must wipe out the Eighth Route Army that dares to attack the Hekou stronghold."

"Yes, Commander, I guarantee the mission will be accomplished." Staff Officer Miyamoto received the order and began to act.

The Japanese moved quickly, setting off within an hour, while the puppet troops were not as swift, trailing behind them in a slow and sluggish manner.

The Japanese soldiers were spotted by a reconnaissance squad near the county town as soon as they left the city gate, and the information was promptly relayed to Tang Xiaohu and Li Yunfei.

"Report, the scouts at the front report that the Japanese reinforcements have set off from the county town and are expected to arrive at the ambush site in about half an hour."

"How strong are the Japanese troops?" Tang Xiaohu asked.

"It is estimated that there were about 350 Japanese soldiers and more than 500 puppet troops."

"The number is much smaller than expected," Li Yunfei said.

"The Japanese are used to being arrogant and treat us like an ordinary regimental unit. This number of Japanese troops could easily take on an ordinary regiment. They were just unlucky to run into us," Tang Xiaohu sneered.

"Let's teach the Japanese devils a lesson tonight!"

"Battalion Commander Tang, I'm going back to my position to direct the battle. I'll wait for your signal to attack."

"it is good."

At the river mouth stronghold, the remaining Japanese soldiers and traitors relied on the remaining bunker to defend against the Independent Regiment's attack. Because the Japanese had built this bunker exceptionally well, the Independent Regiment's mortars had little chance of damaging it.

"Damn it, the Japanese are as tough as turtles," Tie Tou cursed.

"Battalion Commander, let me lead the demolition team. I'm sure I can blow up these two bunkers," Tie Tou volunteered to Zhou Zheng Biao.

“Wait a minute. We have comrades inside. We’ll keep putting pressure on the Japanese from the outside so that our comrades inside can move around more easily,” Zhou Zheng-biao refused.

"There are comrades inside, that's great! We can coordinate an attack from the inside and outside," Tie Tou said excitedly.

"Tie Tou, pass the word down to the comrades to reduce the number of times they fire, and to conserve their bullets."

"Yes, Battalion Commander, I'll go and inform them right away." Tie Tou turned and left.

Inside the Japanese stronghold, there were fewer than 20 Japanese soldiers left, plus two squads of puppet troops. A Japanese squad leader shouted at one of the puppet platoon leaders:

"Zhang Sang, hurry up and fire the bullets."

"Yes, sir." A puppet army squad leader was slowly carrying bullets for the Japanese soldiers above. After the puppet army squad leader came down the stairs, a puppet soldier approached and said.

"Squad leader, when do we move out? Everyone is ready."

"Now prepare to move out. Zhang Qiang, you four comrades take care of the other group of puppet troops downstairs. I'll take the rest of the comrades and throw grenades upstairs. I just saw that the Japanese are all gathered together. One explosion will take out a whole bunch of them."

"Yes, monitor."

"Be careful, it's the final stage."

"Yes, monitor."

The two then split up and began their operation. Before long, Zhou Zhengbiao, who was guarding outside, heard dense gunfire and explosions coming from inside the Japanese bunker.

"Da da da."

"Boom, boom, boom."

The dense barrage of bullets fired at them from the bunker stopped, and Zhou Zheng-biao knew that his comrades inside had succeeded. He immediately shouted to the soldiers:

"Comrades, charge!" With that, Zhou Zheng-biao led the charge toward the bunker.

The once tightly closed gate of the bunker had been opened by the comrades inside, and Zhou Zhengbiao successfully captured the bunker and eliminated the remaining defenders.

"Comrade Zhang, you've worked so hard. If it weren't for you, our Independent Regiment would have suffered a great loss if we hadn't captured this bunker," Zhou Zheng-biao said, tightly grasping Zhang Da's hand.

"It's all for fighting the Japanese devils. We've finally been waiting for the main force of our Eighth Route Army to arrive," Zhang Daye said with great excitement.

During this time, he was often gossiped about behind his back by the villagers, but for the sake of the mission, he and his comrades endured the humiliation and waited for this day.

"Comrades, quickly clean up the battlefield."

"Yes, battalion commander."

"Communicator, quickly inform the regimental commander that the First Battalion has successfully captured the Hekou stronghold."

"Yes, Commander." The communications officer finished speaking and ran towards Li Yunfei's location.

Accompanied by the roar of cars, the Japanese reinforcements from the county town gradually walked into the encirclement carefully set up for them by Tang Xiaohu and Li Yunfei.

Seeing all the Japanese soldiers walk into the encirclement, Tang Xiaohu decisively gave the order:

"Company commander, pull the mine."

"Yes, battalion commander."

Immediately afterwards, a series of explosions rang out from the Japanese marching column.

"Oh no, enemy attack! Enemy attack! Take cover! Take cover!" Staff Officer Miyamoto jumped out of the car immediately.

The other Japanese soldiers immediately sought cover after being attacked. The puppet troops, however, panicked and scattered, showing no fighting ability whatsoever.

The explosions signaled the start of the attack. Soldiers lying in ambush on both sides of the road fired wildly at the Japanese soldiers whose figures were clearly visible in the firelight below the mountain, expressing their fury.

"Baka yarou! Counterattack! Machine gun squad, give me suppressive fire!" Staff Officer Miyamoto remained calm and organized the Japanese troops for a defensive counterattack in an orderly manner.

Commander Miyamoto's machine gun squad quickly set up machine gun positions and, under the command of Staff Officer Miyamoto, began suppressing the ambush positions on both sides with firepower.

"Damn, those Japanese devils react really fast."

"Communicator, tell the artillery company commander to take out the Japanese heavy machine gun for me."

"Yes, battalion commander."

With the roar of the mortar, the heavy machine gun that was still spitting fire instantly fell silent.

"Good, well done. Have the artillery company keep a close eye on the Japanese heavy firepower."

"Yes, battalion commander."

"Damn it! The intelligence is wrong. This is an elite Eighth Route Army unit." Staff Officer Miyamoto saw the heavy machine gun position that had just been used for fire suppression being destroyed by enemy mortars. He immediately realized that ordinary Eighth Route Army units could not have done this.

"Two captains, quickly organize a breakout." Staff Officer Miyamoto immediately issued the breakout order.

Tang Xiaohu and Li Yunfei realized that the Japanese soldiers were about to escape, and simultaneously gave the order to tighten the encirclement.