Devil's Army

Chapter 1969 Obstructed on the Majinling Ancient Road

Knowing that holding out would lead to certain death, the Japanese troops at Daxikou launched a desperate counterattack against the First Regiment's blocking position, attempting to break through and reach the south to join forces with the Japanese troops in Kaihua County. But this was nothing but wishful thinking.

Even if the Japanese troops in Daxikou managed to break through the defense line of the First Regiment, they were unable to join forces with the Japanese troops in Kaihua County.

Because at this time, Kaihua County had already been recaptured by the 12th Brigade of the First Army.

When the Independent Brigade launched its attack on Chun'an County, Zhejiang Province from Jixi County, Anhui Province, the 12th Brigade of the First Army also launched its attack on Kaihua County, Zhejiang Province from Xiuning County, Anhui Province.

The Japanese army in Kaihua County fought two major battles with the Southern Independent Division of Jiangxi, suffering heavy losses and its strength was greatly reduced.

Faced with the aggressive 12th Brigade of the First Army, the Japanese army still built defensive fortifications along Majinling, Huikai Ancient Road, and Qixi Town to block the 12th Brigade's attack.

Majinling is located at the junction of Anhui and Zhejiang provinces. Its main peak, Yangkengjian, is 1137 meters above sea level and serves as the watershed between Huizhou, Muzhou, and Quzhou.

The Majinling Ancient Road was the only route from the ancient Huizhou Prefecture to Kaihua, Zhejiang Province. It is also the only remaining section of this official road that is still passable.

It starts from Huangyuan Village in Donglinxi Town, Xiuning County in the north, crosses Majinling, and ends at Guloutan Village in Longtian Township, with a one-way distance of about 30 li (15 kilometers), and is known as "ten ups, ten downs, and ten horizontals".

The ancient roads of Huizhou generally meander along the mountainside in a Z-shape, while the Majinling Ancient Road rises directly up the mountainside from the bottom, making it very difficult to climb.

The Japanese army constructed fortifications and numerous firing bunkers here in an attempt to halt the 12th Brigade's advance.

Moreover, some sections of the Majinling Ancient Road are only about 1 meter wide, and are mostly paved with cobblestones or bluestone slabs, with weeds and shrubs growing on both sides.

For example, on the section of road leading up from the Majinling Tunnel entrance, pedestrians have to crawl through. This narrow terrain makes it difficult for the 12th Brigade to deploy its troops, even though it has a numerical advantage. It can only march in a single file, thus losing its advantage.

Moreover, the vegetation along the Majinling Ancient Road is well preserved, with tall trees and dense shrubs.

This provided excellent cover for the Japanese army. The First Army Air Force had difficulty detecting the Japanese fortifications from the air, let alone destroying them.

The Japanese army also set up artillery observation posts on the peaks and high ground of Majinling Mountain to provide the artillery hidden in the woods with the coordinates of bombing targets.

When the vanguard of the 12th Brigade reached the Majinling Ancient Road, they were met with fierce resistance from the Japanese army, which was positioned on higher ground.

The 12th Brigade's artillery launched a fierce bombardment of the Japanese positions. However, they were quickly met with a precise counterattack from the Japanese artillery.

The soldiers of the 1st Regiment of the 12th Brigade finally broke through the Japanese blocking positions at the cost of considerable casualties. However, they were constantly ambushed by the Japanese along the way.

In particular, when they reached the entrance of the ancient road tunnel, the Japanese army had set up two machine guns above the tunnel entrance. The soldiers of the 12th Brigade were killed by the Japanese army as soon as they crawled out of the tunnel.

The artillery of the 12th Brigade was also unable to cross the tunnel entrance to bombard the Japanese positions.

The battle reached a stalemate for a time.

Meanwhile, the 2nd and 3rd Regiments of the 12th Brigade made relatively smooth progress on the Huikai Ancient Road in the direction of Qixi Town.

This made the regimental commander even more anxious.

One of the regimental commanders believed that roads are made by people walking, and since the tunnel entrance was blocked by the Japanese army, they should climb over Majinling and launch a surprise attack on the Japanese troops at the tunnel entrance.

The regimental commander had no choice but to order the first battalion to hold back the main Japanese force from the front, while the second and third battalions would climb over the tunnel entrance from both sides of Majinling and launch a surprise attack on the Japanese troops at the tunnel entrance.

This plan is easy to propose, but difficult to implement.