Chapter 16: The Ambush Battle at Huangya Cave

  On this day, sudden bursts of gunfire came from the direction of headquarters. "Where is the shooting? Where is the shooting!", Captain Huang Yukai rushed out of the house in an instant, and immediately afterwards, Li Xinmin and others also rushed out of the house one after another. At this time, a soldier with a dusty face rushed in from outside, and saw Li Xinmin and others at a glance.

  "Colonel Li! Headquarters has been attacked, the commander orders the third battalion to rush over and provide support immediately." "What's the situation at headquarters?", Li Xinmin hastily asked.

  "It's extremely urgent! A group of devils secretly crossed our defense zone and directly inserted themselves into the headquarters here. At this moment, the guard troops at the headquarters are fighting with the devils!", the soldier said anxiously.

  "Emergency assembly!", Li Xinmin shouted loudly after hearing it, and immediately assembled his troops.

  "Damn it! They actually delivered themselves to our doorstep! Let me take good care of them!" Huang Yukai cursed from the side. The soldiers quickly carried their equipped weapons and followed Li Xinmin's lead, heading rapidly towards Wangjiayu.

  When the troops arrived at the top of Beishan, they found that the headquarters had already opened fire. The devils seemed to want to swallow the headquarters in one bite. Li Xinmin rushed up immediately and led the soldiers to charge down the mountain. Huang Yuke led a company to charge forward, being the first to arrive at the headquarters position, providing effective firepower support for the headquarters, which withstood the enemy's attack.

  "Commander Li! We can still hold on here, you quickly go to support Huangya Cave, the situation there is more urgent than here!", The commander of the special operations team saw that Li Xinmin's main force had arrived and immediately let him go to support Huangya Cave. Huangya Cave was an arsenal built by our army, where a year's production of weapons and equipment could equip 16 regiments. This arsenal improved the shortage of equipment in our army to some extent, many brother units used weapons and equipment produced here, even Li Xinmin's regiment had hand grenades and other equipment produced here. Therefore, this place became the main target of the enemy's attack.

  "Charge!", they arrived at Huangya Cave, Li Xinmin stabbed the devil in the back with a knife, directly inserting it into the devil's abdomen, thoroughly disrupting the devil's plan.

  "Commander!", after Li Xinmin and his men rushed into Huangyadong, Li Xinmin immediately found the Chief of Staff who was personally directing the battle here. He listened to the orders of the Chief of Staff, who ordered the third battalion to hold their position outside Huangyadong.

  "Don't worry, Commander! We won't let a single devil get away." Li Xinmin immediately expressed his stance to the Chief of Staff. The soldiers of the 3rd Battalion had already engaged in a fierce battle with the attacking devils at this moment. Both sides launched a decisive battle in front of Huangyadong, truly facing each other and attacking head-on. The devils' repeated charges were all repelled by the 3rd Battalion.

  "Hold your ground here and wait for the support of brother troops, you must not let a single devil get in." The chief of staff ordered repeatedly.

  "It's the captain! I guarantee to complete the task!", Li Xinmin guaranteed once again.

  This time, the Japanese army's 36th Division and an independent mixed brigade with over 7,000 troops launched a general offensive against our headquarters. Initially, they intended to annihilate our headquarters, but later discovered that this was actually an arsenal. They then split their forces into two routes: one attempted to eliminate our headquarters, while the other sought to destroy our Huangyadong Arsenal. The enemy's attack was extremely fierce, and they even used poisonous gas during the battle. Fortunately, Li Xinmin had some knowledge of this substance, so the third battalion took defensive measures by using cloth to cover their mouths. When the time was ripe, Li Xinmin and his troops would launch a counterattack against the enemy, with great force, causing the enemy to cry out in distress. The enemy's repeated attacks were all in vain. The enemy attempted to change its attack strategy, but their plans would ultimately be foiled. Under the consumption of our third battalion, the enemy's morale was greatly consumed, and at this moment, other brother units had already arrived one after another.

  Under the siege of our main force, the devils were surrounded by our army at one point. In the end, under pressure, the devils had to break through the encirclement and flee back to their base in Guanjiazhai. The old commander was still seething with anger and unresolved resentment, so he issued an order to annihilate the enemy that night: "My order: All units of the 129th Division around Guanjiazhai will launch a general attack on Guanjiazhai at dawn tomorrow, resolutely eliminate the Okazaki detachment, not a single Japanese devil can be allowed to escape! Anyone who lets the enemy escape will be dealt with according to military law!"

  Guanjia Village is located in the center of Taihang District, with a dangerous terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. The enemy occupied the high ground and built a complete fortification system based on cave dwellings after long-term construction. Each cave dwelling can form an independent firepower point, and also provide mutual cover and support with other cave dwellings, forming crossfire. In front of the cave dwellings, there are also trenches to prevent grenades from being thrown in. If the grenade didn't land in place and fell into the trench, it would be difficult for the enemy to pose a threat. The enemy also connected the caves to form a fortification system. The Japanese army's Gakuzuka and Takaoka units retreated and merged here. The old commander personally came to the 129th Division headquarters, requesting that the 129th Division capture Guanjia Village with the cooperation of brother units. Shortly after the order was issued, the 129th Division surrounded the enemy's position in Guanjia Village from all sides. The Japanese army blocked the mountain road, repaired trenches, dug deep holes, and defended waiting for reinforcements. Twelve enemy planes took turns bombing our attacking troops, and the soldiers of the 129th Division bravely charged forward under the bombardment, strafing, and firepower pouring down from the top of the hill! On the same day, a seesaw battle was fought with the Japanese army on the mountain road.

  The enemy was on high ground, and our soldiers were falling down like cut scallions. The division commander saw that the terrain was very unfavorable for our attacking troops, his heart burning with anxiety. The enemy was at the top of the hill, while our troops were below, a hard attack would not be able to quickly win, he thought about asking the old commander-in-chief whether to stop the charge? However, the old commander-in-chief's determination had been made, no matter how great the casualties, we must annihilate the Okazaki Brigade!

  After the fierce battle lasted for two days and nights, more than half of the troops in each company responsible for this main attack task were casualties. The division commander came to see Lao Shuai again and said: "Guanjiazhai is located on high ground, and a dozen planes bombed our position in succession. The casualties of the main attacking troops are too heavy. We will block the road down the mountain. Should we wait for the Japanese army to run out of food and come down the mountain before fighting again?"

  The old commander's anger had not dissipated, and he slammed his hand on the table: "No matter how great the sacrifice, I must eliminate the Okazaki Brigade!" The commander of the 386th Regiment also requested to the commander: "The majority of the cadres of the Decisive Battle Team are young intellectuals, very lovely. In the first and second stages of the battle, the 25th and 38th Regiments have already had 1570 wounded and more than 500 dead. This encirclement and annihilation campaign is a positional attack war, it's a tough battle. In order to preserve the main force of the Decisive Battle Team, can this time's task be exempted for these two regiments?"

  The commander did not agree, and the battle continued to intensify. The Eighth Route Army's various attacking units suffered powerful counterattacks from the Japanese devils, with heavy losses, among which the 1st Battalion of the 772nd Regiment, which was in charge of the main attack, had only over 80 men left. The battle was at a stalemate. By dawn the next day, Guanjia Village had still not been taken, while more than 2,500 Japanese troops from Wuxiang and Liao County had already moved out, attempting to annihilate the main force of the 129th Division.

  The old commander roared angrily: "I must take down Guanjiazhai before the enemy's reinforcements arrive!" The military order was like a mountain, and the troops immediately adjusted their deployment and reorganized their attack. The 772nd Regiment of the 386th Brigade, which was responsible for the main attack task, launched 18 consecutive attacks on the enemy on Guanjiazhai, with multiple hand-to-hand combats, but failed to take down Guanjiazhai. Finally, the brigade commander sent someone to deploy the Independent First Battalion, Li Yunlong's troops, to Guanjiazhai. After receiving the order, Li Yunlong led his troops to Guanjiazhai and immediately ordered the engineering battalion to dig a tunnel from the foot of the mountain to the top of the hill. The engineering battalion worked in shifts, and after a night and a day of continuous digging, a passage leading to the top of Guanjiazhai was opened. Under the cover of firepower, the assault troops climbed up the tunnel to the top of the hill. The soldiers used big knives, hand grenades, and explosive packs to eliminate the Japanese devils who were resisting in the fortifications one by one. In the end, the two Japanese battalion commanders were also killed by our attacking troops, and we finally took down Guanjiazhai. This group of Japanese devils was completely annihilated by the Eighth Route Army.

  At this time, 1,500 devils from the Huangya Cave direction had approached. The old commander saw that the enemy surrounded by Guanjiazhai had been annihilated, and the number of incoming enemies was too large, so in order to maintain the initiative and seek a favorable opportunity for battle again, he ordered the troops to withdraw from the battlefield. Just after the Eighth Route Army withdrew, the devils carried out crazy revenge on the surrounding areas of Guanjiazhai, slaughtering thousands of people around.

  The three battalions that successfully defended the Huangya Cave Arsenal did not participate in the attack on Guanjiazhai with other brother units. After repelling the devils' attack, they were ordered to guard here and ensure the safety of the arsenal. Although this battle successfully repelled the devils' offensive, the casualties of the three battalions were not small, which was not good news for the three battalions that had just recovered their energy. After accepting the task, Li Xinmin strengthened his training for the soldiers even more. This battle further increased the reputation of the three battalions. The shooting level and combat effectiveness of the three battalions were fully demonstrated in front of the chief of staff and brother units, and the super-strong shooting level and combat effectiveness made everyone admire the three battalions. After the war, some soldiers came to the three battalions to ask for instruction on shooting and other skills. From then on, everyone knew that each member of the three battalions was a god of guns.