Devil's Army

Chapter 1934 Recapture of Huang'an County

The Japanese artillery positions were attacked by soldiers of the Fourth Regiment, leaving them no time to bomb Macheng County.

Lacking artillery support, the Japanese infantry's offensive momentum was greatly reduced.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the artillery of the Second Regiment launched a fierce bombardment against the Japanese troops attacking the city.

The defeated Japanese infantry retreated and encircled the Fourth Regiment, which was attacking their artillery positions.

The fourth regimental commander ordered the third and fourth battalions to resist the Japanese attack, while the soldiers of the second battalion launched a fierce attack on the Japanese artillery positions from the breached Japanese defenses.

After a fierce battle, the soldiers of the Second Battalion wiped out the Japanese artillery and destroyed all the Japanese cannons and ammunition with hand grenades.

At this time, soldiers from the First Brigade of Macheng County and the Fifth Division of the New Fourth Army launched a counter-encirclement of the Japanese army in Hankou from the north gate of Macheng County.

The battle dragged on until dawn, which was extremely disadvantageous for the encircled Japanese troops. This was because the Devil Unit's air force would then launch air raids against them.

The Japanese commander then ordered his troops to retreat.

However, before the encirclement by the First Brigade and the New Fourth Army could be completed, the Japanese army quickly withdrew from the battle from the north and retreated to Hankou.

At this time, only Huang'an County (now known as Hong'an County) in the Second Administrative Inspectorate District of Hubei Province had not yet been recovered.

At that time, Huang'an was the strategic core of the anti-Japanese war in the Hubei-Henan border region, the birthplace of the main force of the New Fourth Army, and the cradle of anti-Japanese talent training, and had a profound impact on the anti-Japanese war behind enemy lines in Central China.

It was the place where the main force of the New Fourth Army was formed and set off, and also a strategic pivot point for the anti-Japanese war in the Hubei-Henan border region.

(Qiliping in Huang'an, along with Zhugou in Henan and Tangchi in central Hubei, were known as the three major strategic strongholds for launching anti-Japanese guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines in the Hubei-Henan border region.)

Huang'an was also an important training base for anti-Japanese cadres and a place for the practice of the anti-Japanese national united front.

Moreover, the number of Japanese troops in Huang'an was not large, and it was not an area heavily garrisoned by the Japanese army. Only the 13th Division of the Japanese Army, the Dicun Division, and a part of the 58th Division were active in five places, including Huang'an County and Taohuadian.

The county seat and the river mouth were two important strongholds, each with a company (about 100 people). Other strongholds had even fewer troops, and the occupied area of ​​the county accounted for only 3% of the total area.

The next day, the First Brigade and the New Fourth Army pressed in with their troops: the soldiers of the First Brigade dealt with two companies of Japanese troops in Hekou and the county town.

The New Fourth Army dealt with the Japanese forces at other strongholds. The battle ended in just half a day.

In this battle, the Southern Independent Division and the Fifth Division of the New Fourth Army crushed the encirclement and suppression of more than 5 Japanese troops from four divisions, but they also suffered heavy casualties.

Instead of continuing their offensive against Hankou in Hubei, the Southern Independent Division and the New Fourth Army rested and reorganized on the spot, consolidated the recaptured county town, and expanded their forces.

After the Japanese troops withdrew to Hankou, they were on high alert and set up several lines of defense around Hankou to prevent the devilish troops from entering Hankou.

While the Southern Independent Division marched north into Hubei to fight against more than 5 Japanese troops, the First Army of the First Front Army of Henan Province also marched south into Hubei to fight against the Japanese army.

At that time, four areas occupied by the Japanese army in Hubei were adjacent to multiple garrison areas of the Sixth War Zone of the Nanjing government army. The core adjacent areas were concentrated in southern Hubei, central Hubei and the western Hubei along the Yangtze River.

The brigade commander knew that since the outbreak of the Battle of Western Hubei in May, the number of Japanese troops in Hubei had reached more than 5.

Although the Japanese army dispatched more than 50,000 troops south to fight against the Southern Independent Division and the Fifth Division of the New Fourth Army, it still had more than 50,000 to 60,000 troops remaining.

If they march south and the First Area Army were to engage in a full-scale war with the Japanese army, it would be a tough battle.

So he used the more than 70 Japanese troops stationed in Hubei by the Nanjing government army to contain the Japanese army, and played a game of skirting the law.