Chapter 37: A Shocking Explosion (2)
Murata Sogo walked out from behind the broken wall to the edge of the small forest, and then came the voice of Yano Shōshō from behind him, "Murata, immediately order people to attack in the direction of Dongjia House, it must be fast!"
Murajū turned around and was startled, his voice also became much softer. Because Yano's head was wrapped in gauze, his arm was suspended in front of his chest, and his legs were limping. Seeing Murajū's slow reaction, Yano shouted loudly, "Murajū!"
"Hey!" replied Murajun loudly and turned around to run away.
Yano's appearance greatly stimulated the blood of the Japanese soldiers. Yano's general demeanor was still able to inspire the soldiers, especially when Yano remained calm and quickly judged that the enemy's retreat route must be Dongjiafang, and dispatched several messengers to order each unit to swiftly seal off the Dongjiafang line. Yano reckoned that the enemy's surprise attack would definitely have backup forces at Dongjiafang. The intense gunfire from the village ahead, as well as the faint sound of cannons from the direction of Dongjiafang, brought a cold smile to Yano's lips. Although the night was very dark, Imperial soldiers were not ones to be trifled with.
Yano's judgment and measures were indeed extremely wise. Yang Jiong and his men had to go to Dongjia House, otherwise they would be dead. Because Xieliu Village was east of the devil's stronghold Menghe Town, south was the precipice that Yang Jiong and his men had just come from, and north were two regiments of devils. Only Dongjia House was a way out.
Yang Jue and his men had also made such arrangements. However, Yang Jue still misjudged the reaction ability of the devils, especially the command ability of the devils in Dongjia House.
If it weren't for Zhou Shicai, Yang Jie and his men would probably be surrounded by the devils in the cave. When Yun Zesheng's scouts discovered that the devils stationed at Dongjia House were not the original two companies, but a reinforced battalion of four companies, Yun Zesheng couldn't help but jump with excitement. The three special warfare companies had a total of only 150 people, and although Fu Mali and Wang Guixi's troops had 900 people, they were behind enemy lines, their mission was arduous, and it was impossible to rely on them to break through Dongjia House. Yun Zesheng deeply knew that the people who raided the devil's command post were actually the soul-level figures of this troop, and there could be no slight mistake. So Yun Zesheng had never been as anxious as he was today, looking at the rapidly jumping second hand, his sweat slowly seeped through his clothes, and his heart felt suffocated with nowhere to vent. In the temporary command post, it was quiet enough to clearly hear the ticking of the watch's second hand, the battlefield was like a machine that had already started running, each component moving in an orderly manner according to its own plan and task, even the small communication soldiers who came and went from the command post were tiptoeing, the air was filled with tense atmosphere, even the annoying mosquitoes dared not fly into the command post. Yun Zesheng walked out of the command post and came to the front line again, using binoculars, he clearly saw the shadows of the devils patrolling and holding guns on guard everywhere. Obviously, these devils were also very cautious. The night wind blew from behind, making his heart brighten up, Zhou Shicai! Right, just find support from behind! He hurried to the residence of the three troops at 11 pm, less than half an hour before Yang Jie and his men started fighting.
Zhou Shicai proved himself to be a great general, after listening to Yun Zesheng's question, he immediately took charge and modified the original battle plan. He ordered the three artillery battalions to relocate their positions to the front line of Dongjia House at all costs, and when the surprise attack began, they would blast out a passage in Dongjia House.
Three brigades of artillery, were formed by the earliest batch of people from the Wei County guerrilla team, after reorganizing the remnants of the National Army in Lao Ye Mountain, Yang Jie and others specially gathered the National Army soldiers who understood artillery, organized an artillery training class, expanded to form an artillery command group, and later established a rapid artillery school. For some basic operational essentials, they even compiled slogans, which was also learned from Lin Biao's training methods. Each unit attached great importance to artillery, selecting and sending elite personnel for training, and after returning to their units, these people were immediately promoted, forming their own artillery teams. Some units didn't even have cannons yet, but already had artillery troops.
After receiving the order, Battalion Commander Li Dengsen and Political Commissar Hong Tai immediately borrowed a company from the nearby Second Battalion to help move the heavy artillery to a pre-designated forward position. From here, they could shell Dongjia House with precision, as every possible firing unit had already been marked out in advance. This was the effect of the guerrilla team's regulations, which required combat units to consider all possibilities when it came to their combat positions.
The artillery camp had just been deployed, and Yang Jie and his men launched a fierce attack. Li Dengsen's heavy artillery and various infantry guns all began to fire fiercely. The heavy artillery blasted out a straight alley in the town of Dongjiafang, while the infantry guns focused on attacking the enemy's defensive fortress.
The cannon fire didn't stop, Yun Zesheng led the special forces team to rush into Dongjia Village. As soon as they entered the town, the advantages of the special forces were brought into play. However, when Yun Zesheng and Long Xiao Lian rushed out of the north village entrance of Dongjia Village, they did not contact Fu Mali's unit and Wang Gui Xi's unit who were responsible for receiving them.
Yang Jiong rushed through the small forest and said to Kang Nianshan, "Hit once and leave, don't let the devils stick." He then hastily led the raiding team to retreat in the direction of Dongjia House. However, he still underestimated the devil commander's judgment and reaction ability.
The deputy regimental commander of the devils stationed in Ye Feng Town, Matsuda no Sukasu, was a veteran of World War I and an extremely bloody person. When the raid on Xiliu Village sounded, he was holding a magnifying glass and leaning over a large map of China, searching for the empire's strategic direction. He was not a romantic, but a true militarist and one of the most ardent advocates of occupying China. To him, this land was like a starving wolf, drooling three feet.
At the same time as the raid on Xiliu Village, Dongjia House also sounded with dense artillery fire. The old devil's first command was to order the rapid reaction team under his jurisdiction to immediately rush to the front line of Dongjia House, support and intercept possible enemies from Xiliu Village. Then he ordered all troops to depart in ten minutes and launch an attack on Dongjia House.
He judged that the Creek Village might have been attacked, and it was completely unnecessary to rush there again. On the contrary, Dongjia House here is a passage leading to the mountains and old forests, especially under such intense artillery fire, which further suggests that the enemy in Dongjia House must have made sufficient preparations. With his understanding of the Chinese army, if they were not well-prepared, they would not dare to provoke an imperial army battalion or above. And Dongjia House has a first-class field force with four companies, and it is the most combat-effective.
The Yano unit was originally preparing to participate in the southern campaign, and this time it was just helping out. As for the intelligence reported by Wei County, the Zhangjiakou Military Department didn't take it seriously either, it was just a small guerrilla team after all. Where is there no resistance from local bandits in the areas controlled by the Imperial Army? Perhaps this group of guerrillas is slightly stronger, and it's just that the Yano unit is about to participate in the southern campaign, so they can take care of them along the way. Attacking the Eighth Route Army headquarters was just a small personal wish of General Yano, he will soon be promoted to lieutenant general, and he needs some dazzling achievements. The vanguard troops at Dongjia House were one of Yano's most trusted units, with strong combat capabilities and brutal fighting strength.
