Chapter 42: Shocking Heaven (Part 2)
This brief and swift attack resulted in very few casualties. The special troops were skilled fighters, supported by snipers, and had an absolute numerical advantage. The enemy's defensive capabilities were unexpectedly weaker than those of the infantry. The gains were substantial. When the special forces finally withdrew from the battlefield, the enemy's counterattack followed, with large numbers of enemies charging towards this side.
Yano and Ishii were even more astonished when they received the report from Matsuda's assistant, that two more battalions had been surrounded. This must be the main force of the Eighth Route Army. "Issue orders for all troops to advance in attack towards Shizicao. Order the artillery brigade to hasten their pace and arrive at Shizicao." (The artillery brigade was composed of 2322 men, with three artillery battalions of 688 men each, equipped with 12 75mm field guns or mountain guns; some divisions replaced one battalion with 105mm guns.)
When all the devils' troops attacked Shizigou, the first battalion and the special battalion immediately felt the crisis. Jia Zhenhao and Hao Qiang immediately understood Yang's meaning, ordered the artillery camp to withdraw first, and then let the guerrilla team retreat. After holding on for five minutes, they received the task of guiding the devils into the ambush area.
Three brigades of Zhou Shicai's troops, leaving one brigade to follow the devils, while the other two brigades and Li Baoguo's special warfare detachment from Rengao Ping's unit, were responsible for ambushing the devil's artillery regiment south of Dongjiafang. The base special operations team and the Xuntian combat team had already completed the encirclement of the devil's logistics units, and upon hearing the order, they immediately launched a massacre attack on them. Although the logistics units were not combat troops and had little resistance, Hu Yi and Li brothers did not leave a single survivor, capturing large quantities of supplies, ammunition, medical equipment, food, and other materials.
The three brigades' battle against the Ghost Child Artillery Regiment also went smoothly, because the regimental commander Tanaka died in a surprise attack at Xigou Village, and deputy regimental commander Kawabe Masayoshi received the report and immediately ordered his troops to depart from Zhuolu County Town and rush to the Dongjiafang area. Later, he received another order to quickly rush to Shilihezi to participate in the battle against the main force of the Eighth Route Army. This caused him to relax his vigilance along the way. As a result, he was annihilated by the three brigades who were ambushing from the dense forest. The Ghost Child Artillery Regiment had fallen behind since leaving Shalingzi Town due to severe damage to the road surface, and after passing through Xuanhua, Yano waited for a whole day before barely catching up. When they arrived at Zhuolu, they could only be stationed in the barracks there.
Jia Zhuohuang and Hao Qiang led the troops to retreat, and they were squeezed together with Weng Changdong's special operations team. The number of people was immediately seen by the pursuing devils, at least two reinforced regiments, and are now fleeing in the direction of Wei County. When this news was reported to Yano, Yano looked up at the sky and laughed loudly, "Heaven doesn't disappoint me, annihilating two regiments of the Eighth Route Army!"
Standing at a high place, through the telescope, Yajima finally saw the Eighth Route Army in his eyes, wearing a variety of uniforms, but their combat effectiveness was still very strong. After the two sides collided, they were only slightly disordered, and some troops stopped to resist the Imperial Army's attack, while others quickly retreated, and the remaining ones began to retreat in an orderly manner. He also saw the hated special forces, who could be identified at a glance because they fought the most fiercely and had the most flexible tactics. They often appeared where it was most dangerous, and as soon as the special forces joined the battle, the situation would immediately reverse. It seemed that the Imperial Army had also recognized the special forces and had a kind of fear towards them.
Yano could see it clearly, and indeed after several major battles, the special forces had instilled a fear in the enemy that couldn't be described with words. Who wouldn't be afraid when facing snipers everywhere, crazy firepower attacks, and enemies throwing hand grenades left and right? Even if there were commanders, they would still be afraid; as soon as they came out to give orders, they'd be guaranteed to receive a bullet, and seeing their predecessors fall to the ground with a single shot to the head, who would dare take the risk? Soldiers aren't afraid of death, but this kind of meaningless death by being shot in the head is really...
The army rushed into the Fanzi Valley. The towering cliffs all around made it impossible to hide troops, and the scattered rocks in the valley could provide good cover for the Imperial Army. What? There are still gunshots behind? Yano turned around and was shocked to find that on the hill of pomegranate flowers behind him, in the mountain valley, there appeared the Eighth Route Army wearing miscellaneous uniforms, busy building a position, with the muzzles of heavy machine guns densely lined up, absolutely exceeding the number of Imperial Army equipment. Wasn't it said that the Eighth Route Army's equipment was not good?
"General, look at that mountain!" Ishii Masami shouted loudly, startling him.
Sure, here is the translation:
As expected, on the high mountain head to the south, a team of people holding flags of different colors appeared. With a loud whistle, a person holding a red flag raised it high and then suddenly dropped it. Suddenly, huge explosions erupted from the rocks in the valley or under the rocks, almost simultaneously. The massive boulders that were blown up flew through the air. "The helmet exploded!" Shirano suddenly remembered the precision-made bomb. The enemy! The enemy is! The enemy wants to... It's too terrifying.
But Yano immediately heard the explosion in the valley center spreading to all sides, with flying rocks no less than shrapnel, leaving no blind spots. A large number of soldiers were hit by rocks on their heads, chests, limbs, and fell to the ground, only to be buried by falling rocks. Those who fled towards the foot of the mountain also had clever soldiers who narrowly escaped being hit by rocks, hiding in the craters blown open by explosions. Yano watched as the explosion extended towards his direction, with rocks flying wildly like a strange hail amidst the smoke and scattered stone powder. Watching the outer edge of the explosion extend towards him was a terrible nightmare, like a rising tide, the explosive death line rapidly expanded, with smoke, rocks, and shattered grass, swelling with the momentum and power of the explosion.
"Hurry! General, hide here. Protect the general!" Ishii Masami shouted, pulling Yano behind a large boulder and ordering his men to surround the general. The explosion finally came, and it was only then that Yano realized the enemy's cunning - almost every blast point had been carefully calculated, with no blind spots or escape routes. As he pushed away the guards who were shielding him, he looked up to see a scene of unimaginable horror: except for Ishii Masami, who had also survived thanks to the sacrifice of his guards, more than 50 bodyguards who had been standing beside him just moments before had perished in the blast. Looking around, he saw that few people had managed to survive. There were soldiers fleeing in the distance, and the sound of heavy machine guns firing intensively could be heard from afar - clearly, the enemy had made thorough preparations. The radio was destroyed, so Yano pulled out a notebook and crouched behind the boulder, determined to record this painful lesson and warn future generations: there was a special guerrilla unit here.
