Chapter Twenty: Retaking Lanfeng

  Geng Zhongyue immediately organized the repair of the damaged railway. The plain area had no bridge and tunnel facilities, and as long as it was repaired to a temporary passable state, the repair work progressed rapidly.

  Daybreak, the enemy army in Lanfeng City went crazy and bombarded the train station area.

  It turned out that Tōyama learned the news of Lanfeng Railway Station being recovered by our army, and he was furious, scolding the commander of the 28th Brigade for being stupid: "Putting the main force in the county seat, while only dispatching one battalion to defend the station, is truly pig-headed! If you can't cut off the railway, what's the use of just defending a county seat?! Order them to counterattack at all costs and take back the station with all their might!"

  Chief of Staff Sano Tadayoshi: "Division Commander, the 28th Brigade has suffered heavy casualties and is exhausted from the intense attack by the enemy's 28th Army. If we launch a full-scale counterattack on the station now, there may be a risk of losing Lankao County as well..."

  Tsuchihashi waved his hand: "The loss of the station, Lanfeng City is no longer important. Tell the 28th Brigade to counterattack the station with all their might, regardless of the gains and losses of the county seat. Hmm, Saburo, tell the troops stationed in Kaocheng to prepare for the possible breakout of the 28th Brigade towards Kaocheng."

  "Yes!"

  After occupying Lanfeng Railway Station, Deputy Regimental Commander Wang immediately reported to the 28th Army and also reported that Regimental Commander Zhang led a small number of personnel from the regiment headquarters to change into casual clothes and escape in disguise.

  Guo Yongqing, who was directing the battle of the 82nd Division, heard that the station had been recovered and his spirit was lifted. He ordered Wang, the deputy regimental commander, to act as the commander of the Independent Regiment of the 28th Army, and issued a warrant for the arrest of Zhang and others who had deserted in the face of the enemy.

  King Wang immediately transferred a regiment and a battalion directly under his command from Luo Wang Station to Lanfeng Station. At this time, he had already admired Chen Hao, Xu Liang and others: he himself led two regiments to fight for half the night, with heavy casualties, and there were less than two companies left, while others' 600-700-strong security regiment annihilated all the devils in the station at a small cost. King Wang willingly accepted Chen Hao's unified command in the Lanfeng Station area. When Xu Liang and others went to attack Neihuangji Station, Chen Hao commanded his troops to attack northward with the station as their base, advancing about 1 kilometer and linking up with the Western Wing's 28th Army.

  At this time, the 1st Battalion of the 28th Army Independent Regiment and the direct unit, together with the remaining troops attacking Lanfeng Railway Station, still had more than 800 people. The 2nd Battalion of the 4th Guard Brigade suffered relatively small losses and still had more than 300 people. Many soldiers were equipped with newly captured Type 38 rifles. The 28th Army was one of the best-equipped units in the National Army at that time, and the equipment level of the 4th Guard Brigade was also higher than the average level of the National Army. The quality of the troops of both units was relatively high in the Chinese army at that time.

  The devils launched a charge from the south gate towards the station, and the 28th Army's assault troops saw the devils coming out and immediately concentrated their firepower to fiercely shoot from the flank. The devils disregarded casualties and desperately charged towards the station. Chen Hao ordered all frontline firearms to open fire simultaneously when the enemy approached within 50 meters, then threw hand grenades when the enemy rushed to about 30 meters away, and finally engaged in close combat with a combination of submachine guns and big knives.

  The first batch of devils who participated in the impact were all killed, and those who fell closest to our military formation were only two or three meters away. Our big knives didn't even have a chance to be used.

  The enemy began shelling again.

  The artillery of the 28th Army also launched a fierce counterattack and soon suppressed the enemy's firepower.

  The assault troops of the 82nd Division took advantage of the emptiness and entered the city from the west and north, the devils resisted stubbornly, fighting hard to resist house by house.

  The sky was overcast and at dawn a light rain began to fall again. Neither side's air force appeared.

  The 28th Brigade threw caution to the winds and organized charge after charge. Casualties mounted in the front lines.

  The submachine gun's ammunition was almost exhausted, and the position had been held several times by bayonet fighting against the devils who rushed up.

  At noon, the railway was restored. The military train coming from the east rushed westward through Lanfeng Station amidst the sound of gunfire.

  At around 3 pm, a regiment withdrawn from the eastern front was ordered to reinforce the defense north of Lanfeng Railway Station. The Japanese 14th Division's 28th Brigade could no longer retake Lanfeng Railway Station with its existing strength.

  By dusk, the 28th Army had occupied more than half of the county seat. The devils were compressed in a small area between the South Gate and the train station.

  Tsuchihashi saw the situation was unfavorable and ordered his troops to break through to the east and retreat.

  Although it was not within the time limit set by the committee, the 28th Army finally recovered Lankao County.

  The First War Zone army launched a pincer movement against the 14th Division.

  At this time, the enemy's 10th Division saw that Tachibana was stuck in Lankao and rushed west to support the 14th Division. The First Army also urgently dispatched the 16th Division to cross the Yellow River to reinforce Tachibana.

  The troops that entered southwestern Shandong in the First War Zone retreated southward. The enemy's 10th, 14th and 16th divisions also closed in on each other. The front line temporarily stabilized northeast of Lankao.

  The Battle of Lanfeng made the name of the 4th Security Regiment rise. After Kaifeng fell later, the three security regiments originally under the Kaifeng Garrison Command were transferred to Wuhan to participate in the outer defense war. The First War Zone only retained the remaining part of Chen Hao's 4th Security Regiment and left it in the First War Zone.

  The situation is still very unfavorable. The enemy on the eastern front approached Shangqiu, a key town in eastern Henan known as Guide Prefecture at that time, and the troops stationed in the fifth war zone were entrenched east of Shangqiu.

  After several days of busy military transportation, the railway line has become much quieter.

  Geng Zhongyue was busy again, this time not repairing roads but dismantling them, removing rails, sleepers, telegraph poles and wires... in short, as much railway equipment as possible was dismantled and loaded onto trains to be transported west. The security task was still undertaken by the 4th Guards Regiment.

  The 4th Battalion was quite dispersed along the railway stations from Kaifeng to Shangqiu. Chen Hao led the 2nd Battalion and a part of the machine gun company to stay in Lanfeng. Xu Liang led the battalion's direct troops, a part of the 1st Battalion, and a part of the machine gun company to stay at Minquan Railway Station.

  Geng Zhongyue marched from Shangqiu to Minquan, and the troops in this area also concentrated on Minquan. The troops left in Yu Dong no longer retreated by train, and the troops near Shangqiu were ordered to retreat to the southwest after completing their tasks and fleeing to the outskirts of Wuhan.

  Endless refugees, old and young, trudged westward along the railway. Every time Geng Zhongyue and his men sent a train loaded with railway equipment westward, it was always crowded with Chinese people who refused to live under the iron hooves of the devils and were forced to flee.

  Geng Zhongyue, after reporting to his superiors, recruited a large number of young and middle-aged refugee temporary workers, which can also be considered as a relief measure in the form of work instead of aid. These temporary workers indeed greatly accelerated the progress of road demolition. Time was pressing, and the main force of the Fifth War Zone had already withdrawn, making it difficult to expect that the Shangqiu defense line could hold out for too long. The undefeated Tu Feiyuan, after receiving reinforcements and replenishment, prepared to launch an attack on Lanfeng again. At this time, in the Lanfeng area, the main force of the National Army, such as the 74th Army, had already withdrawn from the First War Zone to the south.