Chapter 16: The Great Victory at Jifengkou! Seeking Recommendation Tickets!

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  Zhang Xinghan and others withdrew smoothly, but the two groups of devils continued to fight each other without stopping. Both sides thought that the other side was the Chinese army, and they all fought with all their might.

  Although the infantry company directly under the division was at a disadvantage in terms of troops, because it shouldered the safety of the division headquarters and the division commander, this infantry company's devils, under the leadership of the company commander, put up a desperate resistance.

  Both sides had been fighting for more than two hours, and just as the defending infantry battalion was about to collapse, more Japanese troops retreated back from Xifengkou in disarray.

  ………..

  The Japanese troops who retreated were defeated by the 109th and 110th brigades. Due to the sudden attack of the 37th Division, combined with the advantage of occupying the high ground, it was a fierce battle from the start. The Japanese army, which was already somewhat outnumbered, had also been ordered by Suzuki Mitsune to withdraw one infantry battalion to surround the Dadao Team.

  This resulted in even more empty front-line troops, and after a fierce bayonet fight, they were finally unable to withstand the 37th Division's fierce attack, defeated and fled.

  In fact, the 37th Division was able to defeat the Japanese Fourth Brigade in a bayonet fight, except that the battle took place at night, and the Big Knife Squad's nighttime raid on the Japanese artillery position caused the enemy's forces to be dispersed and their command to be chaotic. Additionally, the cavalry regiment led by He Jiguo, the brigade commander, was basically slaughtering the Japanese infantry in the bayonet fight.

  ………….

  The two groups of devils who were still killing each other discovered the devils retreating from Xifengkou, and Sakai Saburo ordered the launch of illuminating shells as soon as he found out that an intense battle had broken out in front of him without knowing the situation.

  "Boom! Boom!" About a dozen flares slowly rose into the air, and the dark night was suddenly illuminated as if it were daytime. The Japanese soldiers on both sides, who had been fiercely exchanging fire, finally realized something was wrong and stopped shooting.

  And just as he was about to give the order, Lieutenant General Sakai Sanro appeared with a menacing look on his face, wearing a military sword and walking quickly. Due to the defeat of the troops, Sakai Sanro had fallen while hastily retreating and had gotten a mouthful of mud, causing half of his face to swell up like a pig's trotter.

  So it looks particularly ferocious, Sakai Saburō led the guards to walk up and found that his first battalion commander was fiercely scolding a company commander who had just commanded the troops to fight with him.

  Sakai Saburō recognized the lieutenant, who was the commander of the guard unit directly under the division headquarters. He immediately strode forward and loudly rebuked him: "Baga Yarō! What's going on?"

  "Company Commander!" The Japanese lieutenant and captain hastily turned around and stood at attention.

  "What's going on?" Sakai Saburō asked.

  "Reporting to the regimental commander, our unit was ordered to pursue and attack the remaining Chinese troops, but we were intercepted by Zhou's guard battalion and suffered heavy casualties!" The Japanese battalion commander said with some annoyance.

  "Sir! Our defense company opened fire on the orders of Colonel Feng, and at that time we were blocking the Japanese army. I don't know how it became the First Battalion. Ninety percent of the brave warriors in our defense company have already fallen." The Japanese captain also said with a pale face.

  "Eight trigrams!" Sakai Saburō slapped both of them, one after another, and furiously shouted: "You fools! You're killing each other!"

  "Ah-hai!" The two of them did not dare to retort and suddenly lowered their heads at once.

  "Where is Ryotaro Tsubaki?" asked Sakae Itoi with a lingering anger.

  "Hey!" The Japanese captain raised his hand and called over a Japanese soldier, asking: "Where is the commander of the brigade?"

  "I don't know, sir," the Japanese soldier replied. "The platoon leader left with a few guards two hours ago."

  "Oh no! Oh no!" A Japanese soldier came running over with a flustered expression.

  "What's all this commotion? What kind of work is this?" Sakai Saburō scolded angrily.

  "Commander, the regimental commander has already been killed!" The Japanese soldier replied with a dejected expression.

  "What? What did you say?" Sakai Saburō was furious, grabbing the soldier's collar and shouting: "You're lying! How could the regimental commander have been killed in action?" As he spoke, he swung his palm left and right.

  "Hai! Sir, it's true! The platoon leader has been killed. His body is just over there!" the Japanese soldier responded loudly, pointing with his hand.

  Sakai Saburō rushed over in big strides, looking at Suzuki Mitsuto lying on the ground, Sakai Saburō was about to go crazy. Just then, a young lieutenant of the Imperial Japanese Army came running up hastily, without even standing at attention, saying: "Commander, the Chinese army is catching up!"

  "Hachigah!" Sakai Saburō's anger burned, and he said, "Carry General's body and retreat!" Since the brigade commander had already fallen, the 4th Brigade could be said to have lost its leader. Sakai Saburō's order to retreat was also a helpless move, because he knew that Watanabe Masao's 5th Infantry Regiment would absolutely not listen to his command.

  ……..

  The sky was slightly bright, and the troops of the 37th Division returned one after another. This raid won a complete victory, not only destroying the enemy's artillery positions but also defeating the Japanese Fourth Brigade head-on, killing and wounding thousands of Japanese invaders.

  Zhao Dengyu, Wang Zhibang and others stood solemnly on the wall of Xifengkou Pass, watching the officials and soldiers returning triumphantly with their loads. General Wang Zhibang's face was somewhat exhilarated, after all, this time the 37th Division created a miracle, broke the Japanese army's invincible myth, and achieved the great victory of Xifengkou that would be recorded in history.

  However, Zhao Dengyu's mood at this time was quite heavy. He didn't know if the young soldier who had sacrificed himself to save him was still alive, whether he had died in battle as he said, or whether he could turn disaster into a blessing and return safely.

  "Brother Zhao! All the troops have returned! The battle results have also been counted, and in this campaign, we killed more than 4,600 Japanese soldiers, destroyed all the light and heavy artillery of the Fourth Brigade, captured countless guns and ammunition, and defeated the Fourth Brigade head-on, achieving a brilliant victory!" General Wang Zhibang said excitedly. In fact, the number of enemy troops killed by General Wang Zhibang was only counted after last night's fierce battle, and did not include the cumulative number of enemy troops killed in recent days.

  "Report victory! Can we report our triumph to the division and commander?" Deputy Commander He Jikun asked with great excitement.

  "Hmm!" General Zhao Dengyu's face was solemn, and he nodded: "Report the victory to headquarters. My 109th and 110th regiments fought a bloody battle all night, defeated the Japanese Fourth Brigade head-on, destroyed all enemy artillery and heavy weapons, and killed more than 5,000 enemies."

  "Yes!" He Jikun stood up straight and saluted with a loud "crack", then turned around and walked away with big strides.

  ……….

  Ji County, Headquarters of the Third Army Corps.

  General Song Zheyuan, commander of the 29th Army and concurrently commander of the 3rd Military District, was discussing military affairs with General Feng Zhi'an, commander of the 37th Division, who had just arrived from the front line.

  At this time, the Chief of Staff of the 29th Army, Zhang Weifan, hastily walked into the command center with a hurried expression.

  General Song Zheyuan saw Zhang Weibian's anxious expression and immediately asked: "Jie Ren, what's wrong? What news is there from the front line?" (Jie Ren was Zhang Weibian's courtesy name.)

  "Commander! A great victory, a great victory! The Xifengkou Great Victory! Zhao, Wang and He jointly sent an urgent telegram saying that the 109th and 110th brigades launched a surprise attack on the Japanese enemy overnight, and after a fierce battle throughout the night, they defeated the Japanese Fourth Brigade head-on. Meanwhile, Zhao Dengyu led a squad of big knife troops to successfully raid the artillery position of the Fourth Brigade, destroying all their artillery pieces. In this battle, more than 5,000 enemies were killed! This is indeed an unprecedented great victory since the September 18th Incident!" Zhang Weibian reported excitedly.

  "Good! Well done! This battle is enough to avenge the shame of 1918! Great prestige for our army!" General Song Zheyuan heard this and couldn't help but be overjoyed, striking his fist in excitement.

  "Yes! The Japanese army's 4th brigade has already retreated in disarray, and Xifengkou is as stable as Mount Tai! Zhao Dengyu and the others have done a great job this time!" Zhang Weibin also nodded in agreement.

  Next to him, the commander of the 37th Division, General Feng Zhi'an, was also overjoyed and excitedly said to Song Zheyuan: "Commander, can we report our victory to Nanjing? Announce it nationwide and to the entire army, our unprecedented great victory!"

  "Hmm! Send a telegram to Chairman Chiang at once! Report the brilliant military achievements of the 37th Division!" General Song Zheyuan nodded in agreement.

  "Let's go to Xifengkou! I want to comfort my brothers of the 37th Division!" General Song Zheyuan said, picking up his overcoat.

  "Let's go!" The two nodded heavily and immediately followed General Song Zheyuan out of the headquarters, one in front of the other.

  ……

  The Shun Ching Emperor's Palace in Peiping is now occupied by the National Government's Peiping Pacification Office.

  Zhang Xueliang, the current head of the Beiping Pacification Office, looked worried and had just received a telegram from the 29th Army on the front line a few minutes ago.

  Looking at this telegram that should have thrilled the whole nation, Zhang Xueliang couldn't get excited no matter what. The 29th Army won a battle and became famous, spreading national prestige to Jifengkou, greatly destroying the Japanese enemy's prestige. However, such a victory undoubtedly gave the Northeastern Army led by Zhang Xueliang a loud slap in the face.

  The 29th Army, with the strength of one division, was still able to retreat head-on and win a great victory. In contrast, the Northeastern Army had an army of 400,000 before the September 18 Incident, but did not fire a single shot or bullet, and was driven out of the three northeastern provinces by the Japanese invaders.

  With such a stark contrast, how could he feel good about it? Moreover, after the September 18th Incident, Zhang Xueliang also secretly regretted in his heart. The foundation laid by his father's generation with their lifelong efforts was lost entirely under his own hands in just a few years, and he and tens of thousands of his subordinates became stray dogs without a home.

  If the warlords in the country are fighting each other, and he loses the Northeast, it doesn't matter, a king wins and a bandit loses. However, the ones occupying the Northeast now are the Japanese dwarfs who have been eyeing our great land of China since the Ming and Qing dynasties. From a public perspective, the Japanese invasion of our Northeast, standing on our territory, killing our people, is a national hatred. And from a personal perspective, Zhang Xueliang has a father-killing feud with the Japanese, as his father, Zhang Zuolin, the former leader of the Fengtian Army, was killed by the Japanese.

  The two added together are national hatred and family enmity, every aspect is a deep blood feud, all men with blood should be prepared to take up arms at any time, ready to avenge and wipe out the humiliation.

  In fact, at this time Zhang Xueliang had some regrets in his heart about the decision to abandon the Northeast without resistance. However, things were irreversible now, and all he could think of was that as long as he lived, he would definitely lead the Northeast Army back to the Northeast again. The only question was whether he still had such an opportunity.

  ……….

  Nanjing, Headquarters of the National Government Leadership

  The sky was slightly bright, and Chairman Chiang had already gotten out of bed. After washing up, he didn't even have time to eat breakfast before coming to his study.

  Just as Chairman Chiang had just sat down, the Chief of Staff of the Military Affairs Commission, He Yingqin, hurried in with a hasty expression.

  After entering the study, He Yingqin stood up and saluted: "Chairman, good news! The commander of the 3rd Army Corps, Song Zheyuan, has sent an urgent telegram saying that the 37th Division launched a surprise attack at Xifengkou last night, defeated the Japanese 4th Brigade head-on, killed over 5,000 enemy soldiers, captured many weapons and equipment, and achieved brilliant results! This is a heavy blow to the Japanese army's prestige.

  "Good! This battle was fought beautifully! Who commanded it? Such talent, the government should cultivate and reward them well to boost military morale!" Chairman Chiang said with great pleasure.

  "The commanders-in-chief of this campaign were Zhao Dengyu, deputy commander Wang Zhibang and He Jiyuan." He Yingqin replied.

  "Telegraph the good news! Encourage the frontline soldiers to continue to carry forward the spirit of this battle, bravely fighting and sacrificing for the country! Also, spread this victory report to all major newspapers, widely publicize it to boost national morale, increase their trust in the government, and let the people know that the government is anti-Japanese." Chairman Chiang's words were full of meaning.

  "Yes! I understand!" How could He Yingqin, with his intelligence, not know the intention behind Chairman Chiang's move?

  ……….

  On the same day, the news of the great victory at Xifengkou was known to all major newspapers. The Central Daily News and the Central News Agency published this shocking victory in succession. By dusk, the headlines of various newspapers were published one after another, reporting that the 29th Army had heavily defeated the Japanese army at Xifengkou and won a great victory.

  The news was released and the whole country was stirred up.

  That night, the streets of major cities such as Beiping, Baoding, Taiyuan, Jinan, Qingdao, Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Wuhan were filled with people rushing to spread the news, and the news of the great victory at Xifengkou spread instantly across the country.

  That night, patriotic masses of students and merchants in some major cities held overnight rallies and parades to celebrate the brilliant victory of the 29th Army at Xifengkou.

  For a time, the 29th Army's Big Sword Team and anti-Japanese heroes such as Zhao Dengyu became famous throughout the country. Zhao Dengyu, Wang Zhibang and others became anti-Japanese generals in the hearts of the people!

  Just as people all over the country were celebrating the great victory at Xifengkou and cheering with joy.

  At the same time, Zhang Xinghan, who had already achieved great merit, was leading the remaining dozens of Dagou Team warriors to advance towards Xifengkou with difficulty.

  In last night's battle, they successfully guided two devil troops to kill each other and took the opportunity to withdraw from the war group. However, since the main force of the Japanese army had already retreated, their retreat route was completely blocked. As a result, Zhang Xinghan had no choice but to lead this small team to continue retreating northward, and they were ahead of the devils in retreating northward.

  After a night of turmoil, they finally evaded the main force of the retreating devils and returned to Xifengkou along the original road.

  At this time, the weather was extremely cold, and the brave warriors of the Big Knife Squad had gone a day and night without eating or drinking. After a fierce battle all night and a long march, everyone was exhausted.

  Everyone gritted their teeth and persisted because they had completed their mission, everyone wanted to return alive.

  PS: The Battle of Xingangkou is about to end, and Zhang Xinghan will also start his extraordinary journey as a soldier. Next is the July 7 Incident and the Battle of Shanghai! **Incoming, requesting firepower support! Seeking recommendation votes!