Chapter Forty-Four: Launching a Full-Scale Attack

  In April 1938, the news of the great victory at Taierzhuang spread throughout China, and even the "Divine Eagle" in Xiao Wangzhuang, Chuzhou, learned of this thrilling news. After the headquarters gradually transmitted the news of the great victory to the troops, the effect was surprisingly good, especially among the officers and soldiers from the National Army, who finally heard that their old unit had won a battle, and the pent-up anger in their hearts was finally cleared.

  But the news from various intelligence stations and the New Fourth Army was not so reassuring. The defeat of Taierzhuang did not stop the Japanese army's attack on Xuzhou, but instead concentrated its forces to push towards Xuzhou. Now, except for the Tianjin-Pukou railway line where the devils still have a strong garrison, there are no significant enemy forces stationed in other counties and towns.

  Chen Jifang was unwilling to let go of this opportunity, and immediately ordered a military meeting attended by all military commanders. After the situation was reported at the meeting, each unit had a strong desire to fight.

  Chen Jifan did not respond immediately, instead he turned his attention to Deng Fangshun, the troops had not moved, but the logistics were already in place. Without reliable logistical support, there would be no successful military action.

  Deng Fangshun saw the camp commander ask himself, and immediately stood up to recite those familiar numbers again. The ammunition storage had reached the warning line, and food and other materials were also running out. The tension in logistics was like a basin of cold water that extinguished the raging fire that everyone had just ignited.

  However, Gao Huanjie brought good news to everyone. According to the intelligence he had grasped, there were only about 300-400 Japanese troops in Quanjiao County in the south recently, and their logistics had been harassed by local anti-Japanese armed forces for a long time and were exhausted. He suggested that the troops consider occupying Quanjiao County.

  Chen Jifang immediately brought out the map after hearing Gao Huanjie's words. Quanjiao County is located in the south of Chuzhou, and it is the first stop from Nanjing to Hefei, as well as a must-pass place for entering Anhui Province from the south of Chuzhou. It has extremely important strategic value for the future development of "Shenying". Chen Jifang still remembered that when he was in Wuhan before, he had to take a detour because Quanjiao was occupied by the devils.

  With everyone's unanimous agreement, a combat plan to attack all of Hebei was thus born.

  The first step of the plan was for the special warfare company directly under the regiment to take the lead, infiltrating the surrounding areas of Quzhou County in advance to conduct reconnaissance, clarify the enemy's strength and firepower, and clarify the terrain around Quzhou.

  The 4th Company continued to move east, occupying villages on both sides of the Chuxian Highway, and monitoring the movements of the Japanese devils in Chuxian County; the rest of the companies quickly assembled, preparing for battle with the battalion headquarters. To ensure timely transmission of information, Chen Jifang specially equipped the special warfare company with a radio station, which used the original password of the special forces to communicate with the general headquarters, and the technology at that time was impossible to decipher.

  The rest followed suit and acted with the vanguard.

  "Lao Chen, I want to participate in this battle operation." Zhong Dingcheng said to Chen Jifan after the meeting.

  "It's only right, Old Clock. Since we returned from Zhulong Town, I've been keeping you confined to Xiaowang Village, using you as a political commissar, but I know your heart is the same as everyone else's, yearning for battle. But this way is good too, let those little devils witness the champion of the 'Erna' International Scout Competition, and give them a long memory."

  "Captain, you're overpraising me. Back in the army, who didn't know the great name of Chen Jifan? Later, when you chose me as your partner, I was really excited for a while." Zhong Dingcheng said with a smile.

  "Alright, this time we'll go into battle together, but we must fight quickly and decisively. If the devils raid our old nest, it won't be good."

  Quzhou County first fell in December 1937, after which the local people spontaneously formed an anti-Japanese self-defense army and repeatedly fought against the Japanese army in Quzhou, finally occupying the county seat at great cost.

  Each unit began to make combat preparations according to the order, and about 6 hours later, the special warfare company sent the first telegram. The telegram reported their reconnaissance of the Japanese army's strength and firepower in Quanjiao County. There were more than 300 troops, but the specific firepower was not clear. The local people around Quanjiao County supported them very much, and a squad had already begun to infiltrate into the county secretly under the leadership of the local people.

  With the current strength of "Divine Eagle", more than 300 Japanese soldiers are no match, Chen Jifan didn't even think about it and ordered to set off.

  Just as Chen Jifeng led the main force of "Shenying" to halfway, the special warfare team sent a second telegram. The telegram said that the situation had changed, and troops from unknown places began to surround the county seat. The battle was not intense, because these troops were too poorly equipped, and they were strongly attacking, but under the strict defense of the devils, they did not gain an advantage, and now both sides are in a stalemate.

  "What do you think?" Chen Jifang asked the surrounding officers.

  "The regimental commander is not surprised, the enemy's forces are only enough to occupy the county seat, and there are anti-Japanese armed activities in other places. Some are defeated soldiers from the front line, some were originally bandits, but those with a bit of combat effectiveness should be the troops developed by the New Fourth Army."

  "These troops are poorly equipped and the personnel have hardly received any training, if they go to attack the county town, it's likely to end in disaster." Zhong Dingcheng said with some concern.

  "Things in Quzhou are more complicated than we thought, and all troops must listen to commands after arriving in Quzhou. Without orders, no one is allowed to take action on their own," said Chen Jifang.

  The battalion's response to the special warfare company was to continue surveillance and wait for the main force of the regiment to arrive.

  The reconnaissance of the special warfare squad has a new mission, which is to continue to understand the enemy's deployment and firepower, while also observing those comrades who are attacking the county town at the risk of their lives. In fact, Zhao Jun had wanted to take his men up to help with the battle from the beginning, but without the approval of the regimental headquarters, they could not act arbitrarily.

  On the march route, a company commander Song Guantao asked Chen Jifan a question: "Why not let the special warfare team help out, maybe it can reduce the loss of Chinese people."

  Song Lianchang's awareness is getting higher and higher, Chen Jifan doesn't say a word, just looking at him like this.

  "What's wrong, Captain? Why are you staring at me like that? Don't you recognize me?" Song Guantao felt somewhat uneasy.

  "There are some who don't recognize you, but you've also been a bandit for a few days. Think about it, if we go up and join this group, not only will they not be grateful, but they'll even accuse us of stealing their spoils. So if these people can take the county town, we'll head to the countryside; if they can't take the county town, we can always go later." Chen Jifan slowly analyzed to him.

  "Captain, I didn't expect you're still an old hand at this! Alright, listen up, comrades of the first company, let's move out quickly!"

  Just before dawn, the main force of "Divine Eagle" arrived at the outer suburbs of Quanjiao County. This time, apart from the inner guards and militia, all troops had come, which was Chen Jifang's style - either don't fight or concentrate the main force to beat the little devils to death. The Japanese garrison had only three or four hundred people, as long as the tactics were right, it was not impossible to win with relatively small casualties.

  "Head, during the day we just arrived at the station, and some armed men began to gather around the city of Quzhou. These people were mostly dressed in ordinary civilian clothes, and the things in their hands were all over the place, like beggars."

  "Don't talk like that! They are our compatriots and flesh-and-blood brothers, tell us about the battle situation!"

  "Yes! These people came suddenly, the devils were not prepared, and as a result they relied on their numbers to almost break into the county town. However, the devils counterattacked quickly, just as they were about to enter the city, and they were beaten back. This group of people did not have heavy weapons, so they could not pose a threat to the devils, nor did they dare to launch a strong attack. The devils also did not dare to pursue them out of the city, so both sides just wasted time like this until nightfall."

  "What about casualties? Where are they now?" Zhong Dingcheng asked.

  "The devils were lightly wounded a few, one died, this side has died more than sixty, and many are lightly wounded. Shouldn't we retreat to the surrounding mountains now?"

  "That's good too, let's continue with this play, Zhao Jun said about the situation of the devils." Chen Jifan said.

  "Yes! There are over 300 devils, but not many heavy weapons. About six machine guns and some grenade launchers."

  After Zhao Jun finished introducing the enemy situation, he gathered all the company and platoon leaders to discuss the battle plan. Chen Jifan decided to use artillery to directly bombard the city gate. As long as the city gate could be opened, the 300 or so Japanese devils would not be a match for them.

  "Li Pai Chang, once the battle begins, concentrate all artillery fire on the city gate and walls; assault team, as soon as the gate is open, charge in with all your might; Third Company follows, occupies the city wall after entering the city, and fights along the wall; Second Company is responsible for searching inside the city, sniper teams cover the assault team; Machine Gun Company quickly constructs a defensive position after entering the city to prevent the enemy from counterattacking; First Company divides into three groups to launch a feint attack on the remaining city gates, attracting the enemy's attention."

  "What about me?" Zhao Jun was somewhat perplexed, wondering why he didn't have a share.

  "The special warfare platoon is in charge of the outer city defense, preventing unexpected events. Old Zhong, you are in command of the 2nd and 3rd companies, you can withdraw two platoons as reserve troops, wherever there is an emergency, reinforce that place."

  "Head, there's another question, what if the devils break out?" Zhao Jun asked again.

  "Hmph! I'd love to see these sons of bitches run out, lose the cover of the city walls, and without heavy weapons, it's even easier to deal with them in the open. Any other questions?"

  "It's all gone!"

  "Get ready for action! Launch the attack at 9 o'clock sharp tonight."

  After being attacked by a group of unknown guerrillas during the day, the devils did not dare to slack off at night and increased their forces at each gate and city wall in the county seat. Chen Jifan decided to concentrate his main force on one point only after seeing this, as long as this point was breached, it would not be difficult for the assault team's powerful firepower to give the devils a mid-game bloom.

  Xia Xiande is currently leading his team of six or seven hundred people to rest in the mountains near the county town. He is a farmer from a nearby village, and apart from being good at dancing with guns and sticks, he is also one of the best hunters within dozens of miles. Moreover, he is a man who values justice, so he has earned the respect of his fellow villagers from far and near.

  Xia Xiande is 25 years old, in the prime of his life. He has a virtuous wife at home and they work together as a couple, with him farming and her weaving, living a life that others envy.

  Who would have thought that at the end of last year, a group of devils arrived in their village. At that time, he was leading several strong men from the village to pick herbs in the mountains. When they returned, they saw that the village had been burned clean, and his wife had also been ravaged to death. At that time, this group of devils hadn't left yet, and were still roasting chicken in the village.

  Xia Xiande glared at these beasts, his eyes almost spewing fire. He then organized the dozen or so people around him, armed with hunting knives and firearms, to wipe out these seven or eight devils one by one over the next two days. With the little devil's gun in hand, he began to assemble a team, and in just a few short months, he had assembled more than 700 people.

  He also decided to take a risk and make a battle after hearing that the little devils in the county town had few troops. Once successful, the grain piled up by the devils in the county town could not only solve the problem of feeding so many people under his command but also be distributed to the surrounding villagers. So he decided to attack the city, but unexpectedly the devils reacted so quickly and relied on their equipment to block his troops outside the city wall.

  Watching his brothers die one by one at the hands of the devils, Xia Xiande decided to temporarily retreat and fight again the next day. He couldn't care about eating now, alone with a big knife, he went to visit his injured brothers.

  Just as everyone was about to fall asleep, a burst of gunfire came from the direction of the county town. The sound of gunfire was quite dense and didn't seem like it was fired by the devils (Japanese). As far as he knew, the devils in the city didn't have such equipment. Could it be that the National Army had arrived? Just as they were guessing left and right, their brother who stayed behind to gather information in the county town returned.

  "Tell me quickly, what's going on?" Xiahende was anxious.

  "Report to big brother, there is a troop attacking the county town, they have brought many men and equipment. At present, they are using the Japanese steel cannons to blast the city gate."