Chapter 55: Top Secret Mission (Three)

  At noon, the gate of Lucheng was heavily guarded by devils, and pedestrians were not allowed to stay there. The devil's trucks slowly drove out of the city, and hundreds of trucks drove out of the city, which was a spectacular sight. This large convoy of trucks slowly got on the highway and headed towards Licheng. When the devil's motorcade arrived at Weizi Town, it split into two parts. The main force continued to drive along the highway towards Licheng, while dozens of trucks behind drove into the small road in Weizi Town and continued to move forward along the small road.

  The 386th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army was dispatched to the Sunjiazhuang area. The 771st Regiment of the 386th Brigade ambushed on both sides of the highway between Sunjiazhuang and Zhangzhuang, while the 772nd Regiment ambushed on both sides of the highway east of Wangjiazhuang. The main force of the 772nd Regiment was responsible for launching a surprise attack on the enemy, taking advantage of the favorable terrain to camouflage and hide; the third battalion of the 772nd Regiment was deployed east of Lijiazhuang, ready to strike at any time and cut off the enemy's retreat route. A platoon was stationed in Yuzhuang to ensure the safety of the main force on its flank. The independent regiment was deployed west of Xuejiazhuang and Annan Ridge, preparing to launch a surprise attack on the enemy from the east side of the highway. The 386th Brigade blocked the enemy head-on and had one battalion stationed at Shenjiamen as a reserve force, which could be used as a relief force in case of emergency. The 385th Brigade was responsible for cutting off the enemy's retreat route, blocking the enemy's support troops, and coordinating with the 386th Brigade to attack the enemy's convoy. The 770th Regiment of the 385th Brigade garrisoned Lühe Village, guarded against the direction of Licheng, destroyed the Zhaozhuang wooden bridge, cut off the enemy's transportation line, and ensured that the main force could smoothly annihilate the enemy. The 769th Regiment of the 385th Brigade went to the high ground northeast of Lucheng, responsible for blocking the enemy reinforcements coming from Lucheng. A platoon was also sent to monitor the movement of the enemy in Changzhi west of Lucheng. After making all preparations, the soldiers waited here for the appearance of the enemy, but after waiting for a day and night, they still couldn't wait for the enemy to appear.

  "Damn it! Are the devils coming or not?! Why haven't we seen any sign of them yet?" cursed Qi Zhenhu, commander of the 1st company of the 71st regiment. They had been lying in ambush for a whole day and night, but the soldiers were still waiting anxiously without catching a glimpse of the enemy.

  "Commander! Do you think the devils can come?" a soldier beside Qi Zhenhu asked.

  "Who knows what! Those damned devils are up to something again!", at this time, a soldier rushed over quickly.

  "Enemy's coming!", "Be careful and hide!", Qi Zhenhu immediately ordered.

  The enemy's truck slowly appeared in their line of sight, and the machine gunner on the truck aimed at the grass and woods on both sides of the road and fired a burst. That was exactly where the soldiers were hiding, and some of them were hit by bullets before they could dodge. But they all gritted their teeth and didn't make a sound. The enemy thought it was safe here and continued to move forward. In fact, the enemy was just blindly firing, he had no idea if there was anyone inside or not.

  "Look! Commander!", the soldier whispered, pointing at the enemy's trucks to Zhen Hu.

  "The devils' defense is really solid!", "Look! Those trucks are all covered with tarpaulins.", "Later, I'll beat them to a pulp, not letting one devil go!", Qi Zhenhu said hatefully.

  Just as the devils had all entered this rugged road, suddenly a signal flare rose into the sky. Each unit immediately launched an attack on the devils on the highway according to the signal. In an instant, the quiet mountain ridge seemed to have turned into a volcano that was erupting, and hundreds and thousands of hand grenades exploded in the devil's army like raindrops, with flying shrapnel, flashing flames, along with the lingering gunpowder smoke and yellow dust, forming a furious fire dragon, which instantly engulfed the devils' troops and the entire highway, swallowing them up. Hand grenades fell around the trucks, causing intense explosions. Some of the devil soldiers didn't even have time to get out of the truck before being directly killed by hand grenades thrown into the truck by the warriors. The devils were killed and wounded all over the place. At this time, the devil commander, Major General Kato, got off the bus under the protection of the guards and organized his troops to counterattack.

  At this time, the devils in the ambush circle were suddenly attacked, and they were in a state of confusion, losing command, and fleeing everywhere. Facing the already timid soldiers, Katō was furious and scolded his subordinates, ordering them to return and reorganize their troops to attack the Eighth Route Army's position.

  "Damn it! Hold on to everyone! Captain Sasao! Take over those two highlands for me!", Katō said, pointing out the location to Sasao, and Lieutenant Colonel Sasao Jirō immediately led his men to contend for the highland. Katō fantasized about controlling the place to counterattack against the Eighth Route Army.

  "Captain Ito! You take care of securing the truck's safety! Proceed as planned!" Kato ordered.

  "Yes!", Ito immediately brought people to guard beside the truck, as if there was really something very important inside.

  Although the Eighth Route Army's attack was fierce, the devils charged towards the position like they had been injected with chicken blood, regardless of their lives. What greeted them were bullets filling the sky, and the devils fell in batches under the soldiers' guns.

  "Comrades! Have you seen those trucks of the devils? Charge and blow them up!" Upon hearing the order, the soldiers rushed out of their trenches and charged towards the devils' canvas-covered trucks.

  Ito led the men in a slight resistance, and the devils deliberately retreated. Just as the warriors were about to approach these trucks, suddenly, the tarpaulin on the truck opened by itself, and people with sharp eyes found that it was a machine gun muzzle inside.

  "Run! There's an ambush!", the soldiers behind shouted. But it was too late, the enemy's machine gun had already fired. "Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!", bullets whizzed towards the soldiers. The enemy's machine gun let out bursts of strange cries. The soldiers were caught off guard by the enemy and those who rushed to the front of the truck were mowed down by the enemy's machine gun, falling to the ground in batches. The enemy hiding in the trucks rushed down one after another, and their situation was immediately alleviated. Taking advantage of this, Kato immediately organized his troops to attack the Eighth Route Army's position. Although the soldiers were caught off guard by the enemy, they did not fear, and they engaged in a desperate battle with the enemy. The soldiers from both sides were entangled together, originally preparing to blow up the truck, but after being hit by the enemy's bullets, some of them did not give up, still crawling towards the enemy's truck, detonating explosives and perishing together with the enemy. Some soldiers on their way to crawl to the truck were stabbed to death or shot dead by the enemy. Some soldiers took out hand grenades from their bodies, pulled out the fuse, and threw them at the enemy's trucks or crowds with all their might.

  "Boom! Boom!", the intense explosion sounded among the devils' crowd, the devils' truck was thoroughly destroyed by explosives, and a large fire broke out on the vehicle, emitting thick smoke. The devils on the truck were also affected. Some devils were directly blown to death. Others had their clothes set on fire, they jumped off the truck, lay on the ground rolling around constantly, trying to put out the flames on their bodies. They were shot dead by the Eight Route Army soldiers who rushed up. Under the devils' fierce attack, the Eight Route Army soldiers had no choice but to retreat back.