Chapter Forty-Five: First Siege

  Xia Xiande heard the sound of artillery fire, which was the signal for "Divine Eagle" to attack Quzhou North Gate. At 9:00 pm sharp, with Chen Jifang's order, Li Anju, the commander of the artillery company, immediately commanded two Type 92 infantry guns to fire horizontally at the North Gate. The other mortars also targeted the machine gun firepower points on the city wall occupied by the devils.

  Only a few dull cannon shots were heard, and the north gate of Quzhou County was blown up with smoke billowing everywhere. The wooden city gate could not withstand the bombardment of two infantry guns, and two shells directly hit the city gate. In an instant, the city gate was shattered and flew in all directions, leaving no trace. After the city gate was successfully blasted open, the infantry did not immediately charge into battle, but waited for the howitzer to clear each firepower point on the city wall before starting to move towards the city gate in a scattered formation.

  The city gate tower was the devil's key defense zone, and the devils arranged two machine guns here. However, before the two machine guns could fire a single bullet, they were directly blown into the sky by the infantry cannon along with the people operating them. Other firepower points still had the opportunity to open fire, but since the "Divine Eagle" ground attack hadn't started yet, the city wall could only engage in blind and disorderly shooting. As soon as they opened fire, their positions were exposed. The special warfare team's scouts recorded the enemy's firepower point locations and then quickly transmitted them to the artillery.

  Under the direction of scouts, "Divine Eagles" began to make precise strikes on the city walls with a small number of infantry mortars.

  The poor devils never thought that in this small county town they would be subjected to the artillery attack of the Chinese army, and all the firepower support points on the city wall became the target of the opponent's mortar. Platoon leader Li An held that he must not miss this rare opportunity for actual combat training, and ordered the mortar to hit every shot.

  Within 5 minutes, the city walls within a distance of 800 meters on both sides with Beimen as the center were named by howitzers and infantry guns.

  Chen Jifang saw through the telescope that the city wall was crumbling and the enemy's resistance was getting weaker, so he gave a decisive order: "Launch an attack!"

  As soon as the commander's voice fell, dozens of soldiers behind him quickly carried special wooden ladders to the moat and set up a temporary bridge.

  Deputy Captain Su Jing wore two hand grenades around his neck and grasped a Thompson submachine gun, charging forward first. After the assault team charged into the city gate, they began indiscriminate shooting at the devils. The devils had built barricades behind the city gate, placing one machine gun and two rifle squads.

  Su Jingwei was indeed rigorously trained, and as soon as he arrived at the city gate, he felt the sound of the devils' bullets. He waved his hand backwards to order a halt in the advance, then simultaneously with more than ten people behind him, pulled out the safety pins on their grenades, delayed for two seconds, and together threw them over towards the devils' street barricade.

  A dozen hand grenades flew into the enemy's street barricades like sparrows, some flying to the side, and even more exploding directly on the enemy's head. Soon, the barricades were cleared, and the assault team charged forward without hesitation under their own dense hail of bullets.

  The devils in the city are still very powerful, and this stage of devils is basically all from field warfare divisions, with very strong combat effectiveness. However, under the circumstances of unequal firepower, they encountered a more powerful force than themselves, and the outcome of the devils' strength was mostly only one result: being annihilated.

  The commander of the garrison was a major named Ishikawa Shingoro. After he crushed the daytime attack by the Chinese militia with lightning speed, he looked down on these mobs even more. So when he heard the sound of artillery fire coming from the north gate, he didn't understand what was going on, but when someone reported that it was the Chinese attacking the county seat again, he didn't believe it at all. It wasn't until ten minutes later that news came that the north gate had fallen.

  The North Gate has fallen? The North Gate is our heavily defended area, how could it have fallen? Lieutenant-General Ishikawa roared at the reporting soldier in the command room.

  Although Ishikawa was furious, he didn't let his anger cloud his judgment. After calming down, he decided to follow the advice of an Imperial Army officer beside him and telephoned the prefecture to request combat guidance.

  This time, Chen Jifa was unusual. Before attacking the city, he did not cut off the Japanese army's telephone lines or use large-scale special forces to infiltrate. It was a direct frontal assault. In fact, Chen Jifa knew that at present, the Japanese army in Chuzhou could not dispatch many troops. The main force of the Japanese army in East China and Central China had all been transferred to the Xuzhou area, preparing to annihilate the Chinese army's main force together with the North China Dispatch Army under the city of Xuzhou. Therefore, only a small number of troops were placed at each important point along the Tianjin-Pukou railway line to ensure logistics support for the front line.

  Quanjiao County is obviously not on the logistics transportation line of the devils. In fact, after the devils occupied Quanjiao, they only did one thing - looted grain. There are now more than 10,000 kilograms of grain in the warehouse, all of which were looted from Quanjiao, He County, Chaohu, Hanshan and other places, just waiting for the vehicles to be emptied to transport them to the front line.

  "The Divine Eagle" was quickly pinned down at the North Gate under the fierce firepower of the assault team. Captain Luo Yugang boarded the North Gate city wall as planned, dividing his troops into two routes to attack both wings along the city wall. The devils on the city wall had been bombed almost to pieces, and the remaining few dozen were no match for the third company's ferocity. After occupying the city wall, the blocking squad and heavy machine guns began to set up positions on top.

  The sniper squad had just set up their position and began to clear out the scattered enemy soldiers hiding in various places. The city wall offered a wide field of view, overlooking from above, making it an ideal location for sniping operations.

  Wang Dazhu ordered the heavy machine gun to be carried onto the street to build a position and prevent the devils from counterattacking.

  The assault team fought all the way to the county center along the North Gate, and the second company followed the assault team to search for Japanese devils on both sides of the street.

  Ishikawa Shinryō was now anxious, the Chinese had broken through the north gate and were heading towards his command center, but he couldn't withdraw troops from other gates to reinforce. Chuzhou was an hour or two away by car, and the Chinese attack was too fierce, not only using artillery but also many automatic weapons. At this rate of advance, Ishikawa feared that he wouldn't be able to wait for reinforcements from Chuzhou. With a determined mind, Ishikawa ordered a full retreat, concentrating his forces in front of the command center to hold off the enemy. As long as the troops could hold on for a little longer, the reinforcements from Chuzhou would launch a pincer attack with him, wiping out the Chinese in one fell swoop.

  Ishikawa did not think that the reinforcements from Chuzhou would come so quickly, because they encountered the blockade of the Fourth Regiment.

  The 4th Company was ordered to monitor the enemy's movements on the Chuzhou-Quanjiao Highway. Captain Shang Changfu, who had been seriously injured in the previous battle, decided to take revenge and fight a good battle with the devils when he got the chance.

  He chose a suitable section for the ambush, ordering his troops to build fortifications at all costs. The officers of the 4th Regiment were mostly former National Army elites, and digging fortifications was always one of the regular training subjects of the 4th Regiment. Soon, the 4th Regiment set up an "iron lock" on the highway, firmly locking it down.

  After receiving the call for help from Quanjiao, the Chuxian Command sent out two battalions with a total of 500 men, who were divided into 18 vehicles and rushed to Quanjiao along the highway. In Ishikawa's report, it was mentioned that the enemy had infantry guns and several heavy machine guns, so the Chuxian Command did not dare to slack off and also brought out four infantry guns to support them together.

  Chen Jifan knew that time was the key to victory, and with the temperament of a ghostly general, he would not ignore the whole pepper at all. Although the fourth consecutive had been preparing to block on the road, this side could not drag on for too long, and could not let the brothers of the fourth consecutive use their lives to exchange for victory.

  He personally led the special warfare team with his 03 rifle to the enemy's headquarters, and when they were about to take action, a scout came to report that there was a group of people moving towards them from behind.

  "What?" Chen Jifan's face suddenly turned pale with sweat.

  "Impossible! Captain, please believe our special warfare team. We've already scouted the entire Zhoubei County area and there's no way any enemy troops are hiding there. Let me take a team to investigate personally." Zhao Jun hastened to request battle in order to prove the actions of the special warfare team.

  "Go quickly and come back quickly, if it's an enemy don't hesitate to open fire, I'll make arrangements here." Chen Jifan thought that if they were enemies, he would immediately call the company back, and fight to the death to block their retreat.

  The troops that came were not the devils, the devils had just left Chuzhou. It was Xia Xiande who brought his own people to come and take a look. He really wanted to know who was so powerful that they actually used cannons to attack the little devils, hadn't the National Army already withdrawn?

  Just as he was considering whether to go and make friends with this group of good men, a voice came over: "Halt! The Chinese 'Eagle' anti-Japanese special operations team is on a combat mission. Anyone who approaches will be killed!"

  The people next to him were unhappy, what kind of person is this? They argued and quarreled, taking out their guns and preparing for a big fight.

  Xia Xiande was also unhappy, and he didn't fear anyone on this earth, not even the devils. He swiftly pulled out two revolvers (bought from the black market) from his waist and charged forward. When he approached, he found no one there.

  "The All-Pepper Anti-Japanese Self-Defense Army heard that there was a hero fighting in the county town, and came to pay respects to Mountain Head!" Xia Xiande decided to use courtesy before resorting to force, and still had to go through the motions.

  The one who shouted was Zhao Jun, he had already seen the appearance of these people through the night vision telescope, they were all armed farmers, to be precise, most of them were still holding spears, daggers and other weapons. These people were exactly the ones who attacked Quzhou County that day, it turned out they didn't leave.

  Zhao Jun's special warfare platoon is now fully manned, and after the battle of Xiao Wangzhuang, the regimental headquarters specially allocated four MP18s to him. When Xia Xiande arrived, the entire special warfare platoon was hidden in the grass and woods, vigilantly watching this group of people.

  These people are not only not enemies, but also comrades-in-arms who fight against the devils together. Zhao Jun decided to go out and make contact with them. The squad leader took a risk in person, while the rest of the soldiers gripped their guns even tighter, ready to open fire at any sign of movement from the other side.

  Xia Xiande saw a soldier with a straw ring on his head and wearing a "dirty" military uniform suddenly appearing in front of him, and was so shocked that he couldn't speak. The guy in front of this strangely dressed soldier didn't recognize the thing in his hand, but it was clear that this thing was better than the devil's 38 big cover.

  Chen Jifang received a report from Zhao Jun that the newcomers were friendly and not enemies, saying they wanted to see the troops attack the city. Chen Jifang didn't have the energy to bother with these irrelevant people now, so he ordered Zhao Jun to stabilize them first. Wait until the troops took down Quzhou before dealing with them.

  The whole city is filled with the sound of gunfire, and now the devils have withdrawn all their forces from each gate to the command center, preparing to fight to the end using the terrain. The devil's command center was originally the county party department, surrounded by high walls, with a slope at the entrance, and the devils brought out all the defensive weapons, constructing temporary fortifications with sandbags at the entrance and perimeter, four machine guns were mounted on the fortifications, and the devils also deployed troops on both sides of the high wall.

  The company that was pretending to attack also entered the city, Song Guantao was very experienced, he didn't follow the main force to attack the headquarters, but instead let the company disperse and advance in small groups of three people along the streets and alleys. The battalion commander had said that when the little devils fight, they are usually very stubborn, so we must be careful not to let them hide in some corner and shoot from there.

  Soon, the main force of "Shenying" surrounded the devil's command center. Ishikawa Nobuyoshi understood that his hundreds of men might be annihilated at any time. These Chinese were not the mob that attacked the county seat in broad daylight, but the "Shenying" troops who had repeatedly provoked the Imperial Army. He did not expect this unit to have come from Chuzhou to Quanjiao. It seemed that today was a fight to the death to be loyal to His Majesty the Emperor.

  Chen Jifan would not give him much time to sigh, his time was even more precious!

  "Get Li An's battery up here!" Chen Jifang ordered.

  In fact, the battle has reached this point and there is no suspense. The "Divine Eagle" side has heavy machine guns, mortars, grenade launchers, and more than twice as many people as the devils. It's only a matter of time before the command center falls.

  "Lao Zhong, take Second Lieutenant and quickly retreat from the battlefield."

  "Captain, are you worried about four consecutive losses?" Zhong Dingcheng asked.

  "Yes, the whole pepper is under attack. The devils of Chuxian County cannot not react. I really have no bottom line whether the four consecutive can hold on. Bring the radio station with you. If you encounter trouble, call us. We will clean up here and immediately reinforce."

  After the second and third echelons took over the defensive positions, they quickly withdrew. However, the enemy's pressure did not ease up in the slightest because the "Divine Eagle" mortars had arrived. Chen Jifan ordered all grenade launchers and mortars to conduct a covering bombardment of the enemy fortifications, he would rather lose some ammunition than let his soldiers shed blood in vain.

  When the shells whizzed over to his side, Ishikawa realized how stupid a mistake he had made. He had concentrated all his troops in one place, originally intending to concentrate his forces for a decisive battle with the enemy and delay them until reinforcements arrived. But in his haste, he had forgotten that the enemy had cannons, and the intense cannon fire was covering his position, causing heavy casualties among his soldiers.

  Ishikawa had no choice but to order the grenade launcher in his hand to counterattack, otherwise, without the enemy's charge, his own defensive line would be blown up. The devils were very familiar with the use of grenade launchers, and the grenades thrown from the command post accurately hit the soldier's bunker on the front line, killing more than a dozen soldiers on the spot.

  Chen Jifan was even more enraged, and at this time the devils were still able to inflict casualties on themselves. He ordered the mortar to quickly suppress the devil's rocket launcher with shells, and the heavy machine guns simultaneously swept across the devil's defensive fortifications.

  Under intense gunfire, more than 200 devils were beaten to the point where they could not lift their heads, while mortars and grenade launchers continued to kill and injure the devils' living forces.

  Su Jingwei hastily said to Chen Jifa: "Captain, please let the assault team charge forward, the howitzer can't blast down the enemy's position."

  Chen Jifan hesitated for a moment, "Alright! Wen Chuanhao, your sniper team provides cover, and the machine gun gives me a good beating!"

  The assault team began to charge the enemy's first line of defense under the cover of light and heavy machine guns. Although the devils were at a disadvantage, they were well-trained and still had many people who stubbornly fired, causing some casualties among the charging assault team members. However, the snipers soon completely suppressed the enemy's fire.

  For the devils who only have three or eight big covers, the assault team is simply a devil within 100 meters. When the assault team breaks through the devil's defense line, everything has already been settled. Chen Jifan ordered the third company to quickly follow up. The third company, under Luo Yuguang's training, specially established an enhanced bayonet class, each of whom was a master of close combat, with one against ten being exaggerated, and one against three being absolutely no problem.

  Sanlian Chang Luo Yu Gang led the bayonet class to charge directly into the devils' group, starting a fierce melee. Luo Yu Gang only had one military dagger in his hand, but not a single devil could escape from under his hands for even a round. The soldiers of the bayonet class made the devils tremble with fear.

  Wen Chuanhao didn't shoot again, he gave the opportunity to Jin Suo. Jin Suo's gun was very accurate, hitting Luo Yuguang and scolding him, saying that snipers always robbed his business.

  The assault team didn't have the enthusiasm to engage in hand-to-hand combat, what they had to do was actually very simple: break through the enemy's defense line, bloom in the middle, and create opportunities for the follow-up troops to split the enemy. Although the enemy had a large number of people, once they were surrounded, they quickly collapsed.

  The siege lasted for more than four hours, from 9 pm to after 1 am. Finally, at the cost of over sixty casualties, they annihilated this group of devils.

  Victory! This is the first time since the establishment of China's "Divine Eagle" anti-Japanese special operations team that we have recaptured a county town from the devils. Everyone's emotions are extremely excited.

  Spoils were definitely available, and the "Divine Eagle" arsenal had more than 400 rifles, several machine guns, countless ammunition, a set of military maps for the entire Pei County, and a radio transmitter. However, these were not enough to excite Chen Jifang, what really excited him was the more than 20,000 catties of grain stored in the county granary, which could now feed the troops for two months.

  After sweeping the battlefield, it was already past three o'clock in the morning. Just as everyone was excitedly transporting the spoils of war, a telegram arrived from Zhongding City!

  Lao Zhong has gotten into trouble!