Chapter 31: The Defense of Xinghe County - Landmine Dogs

  When the telegram of the Seventh Army's victory arrived at the Second War Zone, Commander-in-Chief Yan Xishan was in a meeting. To be honest, during this period, apart from Chiang Kai-shek in Nanjing, no one else in China was as anxious as this old man.

  This old man regards Shanxi as his own private property. In his eyes, the sky is big and the earth is big, but Shanxi is the biggest. As long as no one interferes with his control over Shanxi, he doesn't care whether it's the Japanese or Chiang Kai-shek, let them do whatever they want.

  However, after the outbreak of the War of Resistance, not only did the Japanese send troops to attack Shanxi, but Chiang Kai-shek also wanted to send troops to fight in Shanxi. This old man had a feeling of driving out wolves at the front door and letting tigers in at the back door.

  Yan Xishan had studied in Japan and was classmates with several high-ranking Japanese military officers, such as Itagaki Seishirō. Therefore, at this time, the old man still had a glimmer of fantasy in his heart, hoping to compromise with the Japanese army. So when the Japanese army attacked Tianzhen, he actually sent someone to secretly meet with Li Shouxin's envoy from the puppet Mongolian army, asking Li Shouxin to act as an intermediary between him and the Japanese army, hoping that the Japanese army would bypass Shanxi and invade other provinces, allowing Yan to be a intact egg under a precarious rock.

  However, the Japanese intention to conquer China cannot be swayed by a small warlord. As a result, the Japanese army's attack on Tianzhen became even more fierce. At the same time, his old classmate Banqian Zhengsiro led a detached force south to Yu County and Liuyuan, capturing Guangling and Lingqiu with lightning speed, threatening the line of Niangzi Pass and Xingxian.

  What worried Yan Xishan the most was the morale of the Chinese army, including the Shanxi Army. During this period, the Japanese army marched triumphantly and took control of nearly half of northern China. Whether it was the 29th Route Army, which had been reorganized from the original Northwestern Army, or the 13th Central Army, they all lost cities and territories, suffered casualties, and saw many high-ranking officers lose their nerve in the face of the Japanese army's strength. Many would flee at the sight of the enemy, and morale was at an all-time low.

  As a veteran general who has been in the army for decades, Yan Xishan is more aware of the importance of morale than anyone else. He now urgently needs a major victory to boost morale, but since the war began over a month ago, the Chinese army has not even had a self-preserving draw, let alone a major victory, leaving Yan Xishan helpless.

  "Report, Seventh Army telegram!" a major shouted as he rushed in.

  "What's wrong? Has Tiansheng been lost?" Yan Xishan asked in a shocked tone.

  "Report to the commander, it's not that Tianzhen has been lost, but a great victory. The Baotou Pacification Team in Xinghe County, Suiyuan Province launched a surprise attack on the North Gate of Tianzhen, Xinpingbao, last night, annihilating over 160 defenders. This morning, the Pacification Team launched another attack, ambushing the Japanese artillery positions attacking Tianzhen County, annihilating two Japanese artillery battalions and one infantry company, killing over 1,300 Japanese soldiers, destroying 24 large-caliber artillery pieces, forcing the Japanese army to divert troops northward." The major reported loudly.

  "What did you say? A security team annihilated two Japanese artillery battalions?" The old man was clearly incredulous.

  "It's absolutely true, it was a telegram sent personally by Commander Fu."

  "Are you sure this telegram was sent by Mr. Ibsen himself?"

  "Yes, Commander Fu also said that the artillery of the Japanese army's Chahar Expeditionary Force is temporarily crippled, and the 61st Army has confidence in defending for more than ten days, please don't worry, General."

  "Haha, this security team is really something! I'm issuing an order: the Xinghe County Security Team is immediately upgraded to the 7th Independent Brigade of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, and the original team leader is promoted to Major General and brigade commander. A reward of $200,000 will be given, and 1,000 new rifles will be allocated to the 7th Independent Brigade." After finishing speaking, Yan Xishan said: "Immediately send a telegram to Nanjing, saying that my Shanxi-Suiyuan Army launched a small-scale counterattack last night, killing or wounding over 5,000 Japanese and puppet troops. The Xinghe County Security Team broke into the Japanese artillery position, annihilating an entire Japanese artillery regiment, killing over 2,000 Japanese officers and soldiers..."

  Chen Feng is on fire, although he himself is not quite clear, but whether it's Taiyuan or Nanjing, people are talking about a name today, that is Chen Feng, a newly promoted anti-Japanese general.

  On the same day, Central Daily and Ta Kung Pao, as well as many other newspapers, carried detailed reports of the Tianzhen victory, although most of the content was in praise of the great Chairman Chiang and General Yan Xishan of the Second War Zone, and Commander Fu Zuoyi of the Seventh Army Group. However, no matter which newspaper it was, they all remembered Chen Feng, the commander of the Security Regiment, and for a time, the name Chen Feng echoed throughout the land.

  After receiving the telegram from the headquarters of the Seventh Army Group, Chen Feng smiled and said: "Hold on for eight hours and give me a brigade commander. If this commander annihilates the entire infantry regiment, won't Commander Fu give me a division commander to take care of?"

  Li Wensheng was shocked and said: "Commander, you can't be serious about attacking the Little Devils' infantry brigade?"

  Having partnered with Chen Feng for so long, Li Wensheng could still guess a bit about the thoughts of this young commander.

  "How about it, can't we?" Chen Feng said with a smile.

  "It's not that we can't, but the Japanese army has more than 5,000 people now, while we only have more than 3,000 people. The difference in military strength is extremely great, and this battle is fundamentally unwinnable." Li Wensheng hastily said.

  "Damn, how can we not win? There are only 5,000 Japanese puppet troops. That little devil's infantry regiment is indeed a bit tricky, but as for that puppet cavalry division, humph, in this terrain, the cavalry is just a live target. And that damn cavalry division has only about 1,500 people, I can easily take them down. Moreover, our commander doesn't plan to swallow these 5,000 Japanese puppet troops all at once, our security regiment doesn't have such a good appetite, we can't digest it." Chen Feng said.

  "What does the commander plan to do?"

  "Stick to the original plan and block them at every step, then set up a pocket array under Xinghe City to annihilate the invading enemy." Chen Feng said.

  "Report to the commander, the artillery battalion has wiped out the Japanese artillery, and the two attacks by the Japanese were repelled by the third battalion." The communications officer reported.

  "Alright, let Wang Hansheng continue to beat the old man severely. Only when this group of bastards is beaten until they're in pain can their ferocity be stirred up. Only when these wild beasts lose their rationality will the hunters have a chance."

  .......

  Honda Team Temporary Command Center.

  Honda's mood was extremely angry, and the troops had just launched two attacks that were beaten back by the Chinese. Not to mention the loss of soldiers and generals, even the only artillery battalion in the regiment was destroyed by the Chinese artillery, with more than 30 soldiers surviving, all of whom were injured.

  "Sasaki, have the 7th and 8th companies attack. You lead them personally. If you can't take it down, don't come back." Honda Shinnosuke gave the order coldly.

  "Hi!"

  "Commander, this Burmese army is extremely powerful and it's uncertain whether Lieutenant Colonel Sasaki can capture it. Moreover, we have lost the support of our artillery."

  "Hmph, what's so powerful about them? I just went to the front line to observe, and the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army isn't that great. Their soldiers don't look like seasoned veterans with rich combat experience, but rather new recruits who have just joined the army."

  "Nonsense," said Lieutenant Commander Takahashi, "but according to Lt. Cmdr. Taka's report, the Chinese soldiers are good marksmen and have a strong will to fight, they don't seem like new recruits."

  "That's because he didn't observe carefully, just now I observed from the telescope that the Chinese soldiers' movements are stiff and many people seem to have never been on the battlefield, they don't even understand some of the most basic common sense. This doesn't look like a veteran unit that has been fighting for years, but the quality of the Chinese soldiers is indeed very good, although it's still not as good as our Imperial Japanese Army, but it's much stronger than the Chinese government army. Moreover, the commander of this unit is very skilled in deploying troops and arranging battle formations, the two-winged positions and the middle defensive line are mutually responsive, if one side is attacked, the other two sides can reinforce each other. Also, the fortifications built by the Chinese army are very peculiar, the light and heavy weapons are equipped very reasonably, I really don't know how such a unit appeared behind our Imperial Army." said Honda Shinichi.

  "Does Sasaki's team have a chance of winning?"

  "Hmph, if you can't bring it down, then leave your own corpse on the battlefield. The Empire of Japan doesn't need cowards." said Honda Shin'ichi coldly.

  "Boom" "Boom" "Boom"

  Shells continued to fall on the position, although the Honda artillery was destroyed, but the Japanese army called in planes to assist and also had more than a dozen tanks cooperating with infantry attacks.

  After a morning of fighting, most of the defensive fortifications previously built by the three regiments had been destroyed. Although they repelled two Japanese attacks, their own casualties were not small.

  After the Japanese planes bombed, under the cover of more than a dozen tanks, two companies of devils launched an attack on the front position of the Third Battalion.

  A shrill whistle suddenly sounded from the position of the Chinese army.

  "The enemy is coming, it's the sound of a whistle, the little devils are here!" A small warrior shouted loudly in the bunker.

  "Brothers, the little devils are coming again, immediately enter your respective positions." Wang Hansheng loudly commanded.

  "Yes," everyone answered loudly.

  "Camp commander, four hundred meters..."

  "Company commander, three hundred meters..."

  "Company commander, two hundred meters..."

  "Fire, give me a good beating..." When the Japanese army entered the three-camp position 200 meters away, Wang Hansheng gave the order to fire and pulled the trigger of his shotgun.

  "Dada dada..."

  Under Wang Hansheng's command, the three-sided array of Shifo Temple opened fire simultaneously, with dozens of light and heavy machine guns spewing out bullets of hatred at the Japanese army.

  With a loud "boom" after a fierce explosion, a heavy machine gun not far from Wang Hansheng was destroyed by the Japanese tank.

  "It's the Ghost King Bao, one after another, blow it up for me!"

  Yes

  "Let the dog out"

  Suddenly, more than a dozen stray dogs rushed out from the position of the Chinese army. In the surprised expressions of the Japanese soldiers, these stray dogs quickly approached the Japanese armored vehicles.

  Suddenly, a sharp-eyed Japanese soldier shouted: "Bombs... bombs..."

  It was only then that everyone realized that the native dogs had explosives strapped to their bodies. The Japanese soldiers following behind the tank hastily opened fire on the dogs, hoping to kill them.

  However, the native dogs were small in size and fast in speed, and it was easy to be shot down in a hurry. More than ten native dogs had only one shot down while running, and the rest approached the Japanese armored vehicle smoothly.

  The mud dog approached the war chariot and quickly drilled under the war chariot, then crouched motionless. Soon, a series of explosions came from under the car, and more than ten Japanese war chariots were blown upside down.