Chapter 20: The Devil's Diligence

  There were two companies with a total of 400 people. Zhāi Qín said that the other party was not confident in their hearts, but he himself was not too sure either. The devils were a large company, and if they came out with half of their troops, it would be very dangerous for him, so he left two companies to ambush.

  When 400 grenades fell into an area of only a few hundred square meters, the result was predictable. The entire area was covered, and the explosion made it impossible to see anything. The grenades were thrown in succession, and the explosions did not occur at the same time.

  When the local earth-shaking explosion stopped, the charging soldiers stood there in a daze, it was too terrifying. Until the explosion ended, the soldiers who rushed onto the highway found that not a single living devil could be found on the entire highway and the wasteland on both sides.

  Diqin shouted after a brief daze: "Quickly, attack Xuan City and kill all the devils."

  The second and third squads reacted and rushed to Xuancheng. When Diqin eliminated the 3rd squad of devils, Zhang Meng led the first squad into Xuancheng.

  The arrogant Lieutenant Colonel Miyazaki Mochi did not think that this was the battle to capture Xuanzhou, he thought it was a harassment action. Recently, the New Fourth Army appeared in Maoshan, Danyang, and Jurong areas. In Yuyue, Jiaxing, and Huzhou areas, there were guerrilla forces of the 19th Group Army. They attacked small numbers of Imperial Japanese troops, raided villages and towns, and ambushed Imperial Japanese logistics convoys, but had not yet attacked county cities.

  Towards Xuan City, it's just harassment and attack. Without a complete division or brigade, don't even think about it. But he didn't know that Diqin was this bold guy who directly attacked Xuan City.

  He ordered the third battalion to go out of the city and wipe out the Japanese army, just to intimidate the surrounding National Army guerrillas not to think about Xuan City. Another point is that Zhai Qin's tactics were also very special. He did not command people to attack the city, but instead used a small force to lure the devils out, and Zhang Meng's first battalion was waiting for orders on the side of the city gate. This was a thousand meters away, with distant machine gun fire, but there was no signal coming through.

  Isn't the attack on Xuan Cheng? Just as Zhang Meng didn't know what to do, Zu Kun came panting: "Squad leader, the... battalion commander ordered, attack the city."

  "Brothers, let's charge into Xuancheng!" Zhang Meng shouted.

  One company from the East Gate has already left the city, and only a temporary security team formed by devils is guarding here. These security teams composed of traitors and rascals have never seen such a battle. When machine gun bullets hit the city wall, the captain of the security team had long since run away without a trace. The bundled hand grenades blasted open the city gate, and the first company rushed into Xuan City.

  Zhang Meng and his men, under the leadership of Cheng Shizhong's scouting team, left a small team to guard the city gate. The other three teams and part of the scouting team rushed towards the city center.

  "Report, the Shina army has entered the city!" a soldier rushed in to report. Miyazaki looked shocked: "Hachi ga, how many people?"

  The soldier trembled with fear, fearing the battalion commander more than the Chinese army: "There are already 200 people occupying the East City Gate, rushing towards the center."

  Miyazaki looked at Matsuoka, there were only about 200 people. But where did the 3rd platoon go? They must have pursued the Chinese army too far and been attacked by the Chinese army's tactics to enter the city gate. He said: "Pass on the order, the Imperial Army will surround the east gate from all sides and annihilate the Chinese army that entered the city."

  Until then, Miyazaki had not thought of reporting to the division headquarters in Wuhu because being invaded by the Chinese army was punishable, but annihilating the invading Chinese army was different.

  But he didn't have time to gloat, in less than half an hour, Miyazaki Mochi realized his miscalculation. This was not a small detachment, it was Xue Yue's attack plan. As reports came in, hundreds of Japanese troops rushed into the city, with strong firepower and fierce combat strength, also very brave.

  Both sides launched a fierce battle, but the Imperial Army was all rifles, with very few machine guns and heavy artillery, not to mention mortars and grenade launchers. Facing such powerful firepower, they couldn't hold their ground at all, suffering heavy casualties as they retreated, while the Chinese army was already close to attacking the battalion headquarters.

  Just as the order was about to be transmitted to the regimental commander, a string of bullets flew into the battalion headquarters. The glass was shattered, and this was the first medium-sized team to attack. Zhang Meng and his men relied on machine guns and hand grenades to attack the battalion headquarters. With no way out, Miyazaki ordered a retreat in the direction of Xicheng, concentrating troops in Xicheng.

  At this time, Jiaqin panted heavily and ran into the city. He shouted while running: "I want to have a car."

  Wang Biao, who was following behind, said: "Captain, cars are very expensive."

  Diao Qin said fiercely: "Rob Xuan City, I'll save money to buy a car." That's how Diao Qin entered Xuan City with such ferocity.

  Zhao Kai, who had arrived earlier, said: "Captain, the devils are escaping from the west city gate."

  "Never mind him," said Di Qin, panting heavily. "Start searching for the Japanese army's supplies and plunder all their money, load it onto carts and take it away."

  Zhao Kai exclaimed in surprise: "Why don't we occupy this place?"

  Choi Keung finally calmed down a bit and stared with his eyes wide open, saying: "You pig head, we've already infiltrated the enemy's ranks. The report just came in that all the surrounding enemies are closing in on us. We have three hours to retreat from Xuan Cheng."

  "Right," Zhao Kai replied nervously, immediately ordering his men to start collecting the spoils of war. Di Qin sat down in the enemy's large squad and said: "Ma Chun, send a telegram to the commander, the Independent Regiment occupied Xuanzhou this morning, but due to the Japanese counterattack, the Independent Regiment has decided to withdraw from Xuanzhou."

  Ma Chun said dully: "Squad leader, the devils haven't attacked yet."

  Dai Qin glared at him: "Idiot, aren't we going to attack soon? This is called knowing the enemy's plan beforehand and winning a thousand miles away."

  Ma Chun curled his lip, this is the decisive victory of a hundred miles, what's the use of thousands of miles? However, he thought that this rascal captain was nothing, but it turned out to be really capable. Daring to attack the city, Ma Chun still admired this point. He immediately opened the radio to report to the command center, but unexpectedly couldn't get in touch.

  Dai Qin looked at Ma Chun and said: "Don't be in a hurry, take it easy."

  Looking at Zhai Qin's expression, Ma Chun was already sweating. He had guaranteed that the technology was no problem by patting his chest, wasn't this just boasting? Looking at the team leader's expression, it meant exactly that. The more Zhai Qin said this, the more anxious Ma Chun became.

  Dai Qin is not someone who doesn't understand anything, nor is he an uncultured person. After all, he's a graduate of a third-rate university. Looking at that radio, it's like an antique, and this place is in the mountains, probably with poor signal transmission.

  Dí Qín sent Chéng Shì Zhōng and the others to keep watch on all sides, paying attention to the movements of the enemy. Just as he was about to go out and take a look at how Wáng Biāo and the others were doing, Dí Guì came in from outside. Seeing his angry face, Dí Qín asked: "What's wrong?"

  Dai Gui was about to cry: "Young master, you go take a look, the Japanese devils are not human, they actually treat Chinese people like this."

  Dí Qín knew that the devils had committed countless atrocities in China, worse than beasts. He didn't know what kind of beastly behavior they were up to here, which made Dí Guì so indignant and heartbroken. It just so happened that he also wanted to go out and take a look, so he said: "Let's go, let's go take a look."

  Dai Qin was in the command center of the Japanese army in the city center. As he walked out, not far away, there was a small square. When Dai Qin saw the scene here, his anger could no longer be expressed. He felt his blood boiling, and a thread of red appeared in his eyes.

  At this time, many civilians quietly placed some corpses on some shelves. These people had all kinds of clothes, and some were covered in wounds so severe that their original color could no longer be seen. Some were still recognizable as National Army uniforms.

  Some were beheaded, some had their legs cut off, and others were disembowelled. The civilians carrying the corpses were silently weeping.

  Anger rising in his heart, Diqin shouted loudly: "Di Gui, inform Zhao Kei to come here."

  Dai Gui didn't know what Young Master wanted to do, and hurriedly went to find Zhao Kai. Not knowing what had happened, Zhao Kai ran over: "Captain, what's wrong?"

  Diqin pointed at those corpses and said: "Don't you know about these?"

  Zhao Kai's expression turned gloomy: "I know, this is my arrangement for the civilians to bury them. Among these people, there are those who resisted the Japanese devils, captured National Army officers and soldiers. According to what the civilians said, there are also Communist Party members among them. They are all Chinese people who refused to surrender to the Japanese military."

  Dai Qin finally burst out in anger: "Since you know and still remain indifferent, are you a Chinese or not?"

  Zhao Kai also became anxious: "What can I do? Besides avenging myself against the devils on the battlefield, what else can I do? Should I let them come back to life? Doesn't it make my heart ache? I am a soldier, a soldier of the Chinese Revolution."

  "Alright, alright, you're still remembering that you are soldiers. Well, show me some soldierly spirit then. Pass the order, all Japanese captured in the city, regardless of male or female, young or old, I want them all killed."

  "Needless to say it was Zhao Ke, but whoever saw this scene wasn't filled with hatred and anger. Zhao Ke stood upright and shouted loudly."

  "Get all the Japanese corpses together, cut off their heads and pile them up into a spectacle. Strip the bodies bare and hang them around Xuan City. I want to let those devils know that this is what happens when you invade China. Write it with their blood: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

  Zhao Kai knew what Jingguan was, but he didn't expect Zhai Qin to be so ferocious and even a bit cruel. However, looking at Zhai Qin's bloodshot eyes, he immediately stood up straight and shouted loudly: "Yes, I will resolutely carry out the order."

  When the news came, everyone who knew about it trembled with fear. This was too brutal. Zhai Qin's behavior was somewhat difficult to understand. Was he so angry? But nobody knew that Zhai Qin, who understood the entire history of the war, had experienced all sorts of things in his later years - what militarism, what right-wing elements, what just a portion of people, what Japanese people are good, were all nonsense. Can one emperor alone start a war? Can several generals start a war? Are these people under the command of military officers? Among the 1 million or 2 million Japanese soldiers, which one was not born to ordinary people?

  With the angry youth mentality, Diqin finally burst out at this moment, crossing over to now, injustice, confusion, worry and fear, all kinds of negative emotions made Diqin want to vent and seek revenge.

  A regiment of devils, with over 800 men, suffered heavy casualties under the attack of the independent regiment. When Wang Biao and his men were driving horse-drawn carts loaded with supplies to leave Xuan City, Zhai Qin had already received a report that a regiment of the Japanese 116th Brigade was heading towards Xuan City from Wuhu.

  The sky has appeared Japanese reconnaissance planes, and the distance from Xuancheng to Ningguo is only a few dozen miles. Palace Sakae's lieutenant colonel lost the best time to report to the brigade commander when he escaped from the city. When Division Commander Teiichi Nakajima received the news of Xuancheng's fall, he was greatly shocked. The Chinese army could not have simply occupied Xuancheng, which would be useless. Since a direct attack on an important city should be Xue Yue's overall counterattack.

  He reported the situation to the dispatch army headquarters, and began to closely monitor the surrounding Chinese troops. He ordered the commander of the 116th Brigade, Tameda Kōsuke, to withdraw one battalion from the brigade attacking Tongling to retake Xuancheng.

  Due to Diqin's actions not being coordinated with the entire battlefield, it instead made the enemy suspicious and hesitant to move, buying Diqin three hours of time, allowing him to withdraw from Xuancheng before the enemy arrived.

  In the command center of Tunxi, Xue Yue stared at the map, he couldn't understand why the Japanese army suddenly stopped attacking and began to withdraw their defensive lines, putting on a defensive posture. Why was this?

  Before he could figure it out, Xu Supu handed him a telegram and said, "This is the reason."

  Xue Yue was stunned for a long time after receiving the telegram, and slammed his fist on the table: "This kid is either ignorant or looks down on me. Such a big military operation actually didn't report to me. Missed the opportunity."

  Xu Supu said: "Indeed, if we had known that the 12th Division would be ordered to advance and occupy Xuancheng, it would have broken through the Japanese army's defense line and solved the siege of Tongling. The strategic situation would have changed. However, this is not serious, take a look at this."

  Xue Yue finished reading the report in his hand: "Send someone to Ningguo to let Chai Qin come to the command center immediately. What kind of person is this kid? Is he really a devil? How can he do such a thing? How can we explain it to Chinese and foreign people?"

  Xue Yue was furious because after Zhai Qin returned to Ningguo, except for one telegram, there were no reports. But what he did in Ningguo was made public and he was labeled as a devil.

  Enraged Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Central China Expeditionary Army, General Matsui Iwane, is concentrating his forces to attack Ningguo and avenge the Imperial Japanese Army.