Chapter Thirty-Seven: Comprehensive Counterattack

  Oshima Hideshige made a mistake from start to finish, thinking that the troops on the high ground in front of him were the main force of "Shin-yo", because all previous combat actions of "Shin-yo" did not exceed 300 people. So he recklessly put two infantry companies into the attack on the high ground, with only a few guard units by his side. Unbeknownst to him, two more companies and an assault team equipped with submachine guns were approaching his assembly point.

  The 3rd Company had been ordered to encircle the outer perimeter of Xiao Wang Zhuang and move to the left flank of Da Dao, while the right flank was already firmly controlled by the 4th Company. The assault team, led by Su Jingwei, had begun to secretly approach the rear of Da Dao.

  The battlefield was still in fierce combat, and occasionally the devils broke through the defensive line's firepower to the first line, but were quickly eliminated. The battlefield was littered with corpses of both sides, and the attackers and defenders had reached a stalemate.

  To maximize the attention of the devils, create an opportunity for the assault team to launch a surprise attack, the snipers began to snipe at the devil's heavy machine gun position on the big island. The first shot was still fired by Wen Chuanhao, who accurately shot a bullet into the forehead of a devil's heavy machine gunner, and then the sniper squad opened fire one after another, instantly silencing half of the devils' machine guns. The big island was caught off guard by the sudden change and became somewhat disoriented under the protection of his men, finding cover first. Meanwhile, the devils around the big island raised their Type 38 rifles and fired wildly in all directions.

  The assault team took advantage of the enemy's confusion to continue approaching the garrison on the island, which happened to be in the blind spot of all the "Divine Eagle" artillery. The artillery company commander, Li An, was also helpless and could only order his few remaining guns to fire at the enemy on the ground to alleviate the pressure on the first and second companies.

  The remaining light and heavy machine guns of the devils can no longer support the front-line offensive, the frequent shots of the snipers made them furious, the platoon leader of the machine gun platoon commanded all firepower to crazily sweep all possible locations where the snipers might be hiding.

  The raiders successfully infiltrated to within 100 meters of the enemy's position at this time. Being able to get so close without being discovered is first and foremost thanks to the camouflage uniforms on their bodies and the face paint.

  Oshima currently has less than 250 troops around him, and the rest are repeatedly mopping up on the high ground opposite and in the two companies of "Shin Eagle". What he never dreamed of was that more than 80 submachine guns were aimed at them from behind.

  "Fire!" Su Jingwei ordered. Chen Jifan had told him when assigning the task that everything should be based on actual circumstances, giving him the right to command on the spot.

  More than 80 submachine guns fired in unison at the densely gathered enemy position on the island, and the Japanese devils who were on guard duty were caught off guard. They didn't even have a chance to return fire before they fell to the ground. The enemy's defense line was thus easily torn open. The machine gun squad in front suddenly heard intense gunfire coming from behind them, and they were shocked and turned their guns around to prepare for counterattack.

  Su Jingwei would not give the devils a chance, once the devils' machine guns locked down the attack route, the assault team would suffer heavy casualties. "Brothers, charge forward! Kill the little devils!"

  The warriors of the assault team were originally well-trained, and this 100-meter charge was not a difficult task for them. Soon, the assault team formed a fan-shaped attack formation and rushed towards the enemy's position on the opposite big island. The hastily organized defense of the devils had little effect due to the huge disparity in firepower, and many devils were shot into beehives before they could even fire their second shot. Oshima Hideki finally realized that he had been deceived by the enemy's trick of "covering the sky with one hand". Seeing the assault team getting closer and his soldiers being knocked down one after another, he was in a hurry. On the one hand, he organized the troops in his hands to shrink the defense line, and on the other hand, he sent out flag signals to abandon the attack and reinforce immediately.

  Lieutenant Ando also heard the gunfire coming from behind, and with his experience, he knew that this was an elite unit of the Chinese army, whose firepower far surpassed that of the Imperial Army. As soon as he saw the flag signal sent by his superior, he immediately ordered his squadron to turn back and provide support downhill.

  With this, the pressure on the high ground was suddenly reduced. Poorly New井中隊 originally was already strong crossbow end, after An Fengyi withdrew, he immediately faced defensive fire from two directions, because his team attacked in front, under the attack of Ichiro and Ni, it was difficult to advance or retreat. Retreat was absolutely not considered, that would be leaving their back to the enemy, but attacking again with only less than a hundred men was really powerless. New井明夫 ordered the troops to launch a fierce attack on the opponent's position.

  Song Guanhu and Hu Yunfeng simultaneously discovered the enemy's movement, each shouting to their own company: "The devils can't hold on, everyone attack fiercely!" The soldiers below saw that more than half of the attacking devils had retreated, greatly boosting their morale, and they intensely fired at the remaining Niiyama squad in front.

  Although ōshima was caught off guard, he managed to retreat and regroup in time to avoid collapse, but the situation remained dire. Just as he was hoping for reinforcements from the high ground, a scene that almost made him faint occurred: just as Andō's unit had withdrawn from the high ground and was preparing to approach ōshima, dense gunfire suddenly erupted from both sides of Andō's unit, and even Chinese artillery shells began falling among Andō's troops.

  Ando's squadron was thrown into confusion, and Oshima completely lost confidence. These despicable Chinese had deliberately concealed their strength, intending to annihilate his three squadrons. Oshima watched helplessly as Ando's squadron was battered, struggling to defend itself, let alone provide reinforcements.

  Chen Jifan ordered the 3rd and 4th companies to move up, despite knowing that this was somewhat risky. The enemy's combat strength was strong, and it was only through the successful deception before the battle and the tenacious blocking of the two companies on the high ground that he could mobilize the remaining troops to complete the encirclement of the enemy. However, it would still take some effort to annihilate this group of enemies, and even more sacrifices would have to be made. But Chen Jifan believed it was worth it - the "Divine Eagle" had to have a head-on confrontation with the enemy one day, otherwise the "Divine Eagle" would forever be just a second-rate unit, unable to undertake more arduous combat missions.

  On the battlefield outside Xiao Wangzhuang, two troops were entangled and fought hard to distinguish themselves. Perhaps at this moment, the eyes of the whole country and even the world are focused on the Battle of Taierzhuang in East China, and no one will be interested in this small-scale battle that took place on the west side of Chuzhou, Anhui. However, it was a newly formed militia organized and trained by civilians themselves, engaging in a head-on confrontation with three companies of the Japanese army's most elite field division. Unlike Pingxingguan, the party fighting against the Japanese did not rely on geographical advantages to ambush, nor did they have an absolute advantage in numbers. They completely relied on the commander's grasp of the battlefield situation and the soldiers' tenacious combat will to engage in a bloody battle with the well-trained devils.

  The devils have been divided into three separate blocks. The new well is firmly stuck on the high ground, unable to advance or retreat, and its resistance is getting weaker and weaker with the consumption of ammunition and the continuous loss of personnel and equipment; The middle An Dui team was originally the strongest, but the up and down not only consumed a large amount of physical strength from the soldiers, but also exposed themselves without any cover to the opponent's artillery and mortar attacks. The continuous falling of various explosive objects and the bullets shot out from all sides made it impossible for An Dui team to establish an effective defense or retreat; While Oshima Hideki temporarily blocked the impact of an elite unit with a simple fortification dug in advance, the heavy machine guns that were constantly being knocked down by snipers could no longer effectively control the battlefield. The soldiers' three rifles, which fired one shot and pulled the bolt, were far from being able to withstand the firepower of the opponent's submachine guns.

  The balance of victory is slowly tilting towards the "Divine Eagle". Now is the time for both sides to test their will to fight. Although the "Divine Eagle" has a slight advantage, due to the fact that each regiment's basic troops are new recruits who have just received guns, they cannot launch a charge against the enemy (because it would result in too many casualties), and the assault team is currently being held off by the enemy's concentrated light and heavy machine gun fire on the outskirts.

  Chen Jifan's face was expressionless at this moment, despite his heart being more anxious than anyone else. The enemy's combat strength seemed to exceed his imagination, he took a deep breath and calmed himself down to carefully observe every detail on the battlefield. Now he only had a reserve team of less than 70-80 people from the special warfare squad and the inner guard squad, he wanted to stay at the most critical moment to give the enemy a fatal blow.

  Deputy Regiment Commander Zhao Jun and Deputy Guard Regiment Commander Gao Huanjie were even more anxious at this moment, hating that they couldn't lead their troops to charge up immediately and attack the little devils.

  Time ticked away as soldiers on both sides fell one by one. The first to collapse was the defensive position of the island, and the precise shooting of the snipers caused the machine gun squad to gradually lose its effective combat power. Gunners, deputy gunners, ammunition handlers, commanders, anyone close to the machine guns were ruthlessly picked off!

  Su Jingwei heard the gunfire on the enemy's position getting weaker and weaker, the density of the devils' firepower becoming more and more sparse. Su Shao Wei, who was very familiar with the positional warfare, would not let go of this opportunity, he ordered everyone to change magazines and prepare for a charge. The assault team had already sacrificed three people, but for the assault team members who were used to seeing their own side suffer heavy casualties, this was already the best situation.

  "Brothers! We are the sharp claws of the 'Divine Eagle', charge forward! The devils can't withstand it!"

  As soon as Su Jingwei's voice fell, more than 80 assault team members who had been waiting for a long time rushed towards the enemy position. The enemy's shooting could not withstand the powerful firepower of the concentrated use of submachine guns. Moreover, the Japanese-style hand grenades of the assault team were constantly thrown into the enemy's position. In just 5 minutes, the assault team broke into the circular defense position where Oshima Hideki was gathering.

  The devils charged up with bayonets, attempting to drive the assault team away through a bayonet charge, but not a single person could get close to the front of the assault team. The devils holding bayonets were all beaten into sieves without any suspense.

  No matter how hard Oshima wielded his sword, he couldn't stop his position from crumbling. Chen Jifan saw the vanguard break through the stalemate and couldn't help but shout in excitement. He immediately ordered the special warfare platoon and the inner guard platoon to quickly infiltrate Oshima's troops, determined to completely separate Oshima and Ando, cutting off Oshima's retreat route.

  The special warfare platoon and the inner guard platoon were all seasoned veterans who had been selected through screening, and their joining of the battle group accelerated the collapse of the Oshima group. The machine gun squad was the first to bear the brunt, with Gao Huanjie and Zhao Jun's 03-style assault rifles and their precise shooting techniques making the two platoons like a sharp dagger thrusting swiftly into the heart of the enemy. The Oshima group, which had been caught in a pincer movement, finally could not withstand it, and more than 20 devils escorted Oshima Hideki in a desperate attempt to break through, while the rest of the devils launched suicidal attacks, and those devils who held bayonets were killed one after another under the fire of the shotgun and submachine gun.

  The desperate devils could no longer organize effective resistance, and more than 200 devils were quickly reduced to only about 40 people. They formed an outward defensive formation with bayonets, and ōshima Hidetaka and several officers held military swords inside, shouting loudly.

  Zhao Junlian didn't even think about it, and with a sweep of the submachine gun in his hand, Su Jingwei saw that someone had brought their head, shouting "Fight!", and for a time all the weapons fired at the same time. The 40 or so devils fell to the ground like dominoes from outside to inside.

  ōshima Hidetaka never expected the Chinese to not engage in close combat with him, he desperately swung the chrysanthemum crest imperial gift sword in his hand and charged forward...

  ōshima Eiju's defeat turned the tide of battle into a one-sided affair, and Su Jingwei immediately snatched the wakizashi from ōshima's corpse and joined forces with Zhao Jun and Gao Huanjie to launch a fierce attack on the nearby An Fengzhong squad.

  On the high ground, Song Guanhu and Hu Yunfeng's two companies suffered more than half casualties. However, Arai Akio's days were even harder, his squadron had been attacking all along without any rest, and the ammunition of the six light machine guns in their hands was almost exhausted. Without the firepower of the machine guns, Arai's squadron quickly became a sheep to be slaughtered. The soldiers' accuracy was greatly discounted when firing upwards, on the other hand, the grenades constantly thrown down from the enemy's position became a nightmare for Arai's squadron. More than 40 Japanese devils were screaming and crying out in pain as the grenades exploded.

  Ando's detachment was still resisting, but a sudden attack from the direction of Oshima completely disrupted his deployment. Looking at the "God Eagle" soldiers in their colorful uniforms rushing towards him, Ando Ryoichi, who had always been extremely contemptuous of the Chinese, couldn't believe his eyes. The impact of the assault team, special warfare squad and internal guard squad also gave the 3rd and 4th companies a headache, especially Luo Yuguang, who would have led the charge if not for the battalion commander's instructions to cherish the lives of his soldiers and avoid unnecessary charges.

  The three companies and four companies had nearly 300 people, who rushed towards the Ando corps from two directions. Faced with the overwhelming attack of the Chinese army, Ando had no choice but to order his subordinates to fight while retreating, attempting to escape by breaking through the encirclement.

  However, everything that Ando Ryoichi did was in vain. As the "Shin Eagle" drew closer and closer, the number of hand grenades on Ando's head increased, while the fierce firepower of the assault team swept away, all the way to the middle of Ando's defense system, then quickly broke out in a different direction.

  Since arriving on the Chinese battlefield, these devils have never encountered a Chinese army that could break into their own defensive circle. Usually, they were the ones attacking and the others defending. Now, not only has this turned around, but this tactic of "blooming in the middle" is also extremely unsuitable for the devils. Despite being well-trained, the devils cannot avoid the fate of a complete collapse of their defense line. Soon, Lieutenant An's squadron was divided into small pieces by the swarming "Divine Eagle" warriors. Luo Yuguang drew his bayonet and charged directly at the devils.

  The devils soon saw a Chinese soldier charging over like a killing god, and some of the devils' spirits almost collapsed, because no one could survive from his hands. Some were stabbed in the heart with a knife, some had their ribs kicked broken, and some had their faces smashed with a single punch... In short, all the devils who got close to him died very miserably.

  Seeing Lianzhang so brave, the soldiers of the three companies were all in high spirits. Although their bayonet skills couldn't compare to those of the devils, they took advantage of their numerical superiority and quickly gained the upper hand. Moreover, with more and more people holding shotguns and firing wildly at the devils, the devils had little chance of engaging in close combat with the three companies and were mostly knocked to the ground.

  In comparison, the inner guard squad was much gentler. They rushed to within 40-50 meters of the devils and suddenly dropped down to shoot at them. Gao Huanjie's submachine gun was like a superior machine gun at this time, with every burst of fire resulting in devil casualties. Since coming to this era, due to being responsible for intelligence gathering, Gao Huanjie rarely participated in such battles. His skilled marksmanship and standardized combat movements made many soldiers look up to him.

  Shang Changfu's 4th company had completely blocked the enemy's retreat route on the other side, and the dense firepower of the 4th company became an insurmountable barrier for the scattered and fleeing devils. Many devils fell down in front of the 4th company after being hit by bullets.

  It can be said that the end of Ando's battalion has arrived, with less than half of the original 180-man infantry battalion still resisting, but this resistance is having little effect due to a lack of organization. They have been split and surrounded in several areas, with "Shenying" warriors on all sides, and it is common to see Japanese soldiers falling at any time. Although the Japanese are very stubborn, the "Shenying" never thought of taking prisoners. Since the massacre at Lijia Village, the "Shenying" would absolutely not take Japanese prisoners again. Moreover, before the battle, the regimental commander told the whole regiment that this unit had killed many compatriots in Nanjing and must be beaten to death.

  The current mood of Araki Akio on the high ground cannot be described in words. His own squadron is getting smaller and smaller, a successful attack has become an unattainable luxury, withdrawal is not possible, and Ando's safety below is also uncertain, let alone expecting reinforcements.

  Song Guantao saw that there were less than thirty people still alive in the new team, and he decisively led the remaining two hundred or so men to charge out of the position. He seemed to see those National Army comrades who died on the battlefield of Luo Store, and his eyes were filled with hatred, nothing but hatred. Song Guantao's big chopping knife was specially made by someone in Xiao Wangzhuang later, and the big chopping knife finally saw blood.

  Just as he approached the devils, one of them charged forward with a bayonet, shouting loudly. Song Guantao swung his knife back and upwards, knocking open the devil's bayonet, then continued to strike at the devil's neck without hesitation, leaving him no chance to react before beheading him.

  The devil's head flew out very far, and the blood splattered everywhere. The devils next to him were greatly shocked, and the fear in their eyes was not concealed at all. The first and second companies finally annihilated the Arai unit at the cost of 10 people. After Arai Akio cut down several "Shin Eagle" warriors with his knife, he was finally kicked in the face by Hu Yunfeng, and the other foot trampled on all his ribs, dying a terrible death. The new soldiers had never thought that the usually gentle and elegant second company commander would be a "devil" who killed devils, which shocked them even more than the devils themselves.

  After the destruction of Arai's unit, Ichinose and Ninose came rushing down with bloody bayonets, shouting loudly as they charged into the surrounded Ando unit.

  Captain Ando Ryōichi finally began to feel fear, he started fighting in China after landing in Shanghai, his past experience made him think that the Shina people were not a match for the Imperial Army at all, his squadron had already wiped out nearly a thousand of the Shina government army, but this time he was wrong, he never understood until his death why he would lose to these militia and still lose so badly. When there were only a dozen or so men left fighting desperately, Ando Ryōichi despairingly drew his wakizashi, took off his jacket and stabbed it directly into his abdomen.

  When the last devil was stabbed into his chest with a bayonet, this brutal battle of annihilation finally came to an end.