Bright Sword's Bloody War of Resistance

Chapter 885: The Emperor is surrounded by treacherous ministers

The shelling stopped abruptly after about three minutes. The 1st Regiment rushed forward to stabilize the gap and wiped out the Japanese troops in front of them in one fell swoop. The 2st and 3nd Battalions detoured to both sides, trying to join forces with the nd and rd Regiments to attack the Japanese troops in the second-line positions from the front and back.

The third battalion continued to advance deeper, responsible for searching for the location of the Japanese headquarters and artillery.

"Captain, I didn't see a single living person. They were all dead, and their bodies were nowhere to be found!"

The soldier who was in charge of searching for the commandos among the dead bodies had a droopy face and spoke with a crying tone.

"Impossible. There is not a single survivor among the 300 members of the commando team? Where is Tang Siyi? I want to see him alive or dead!"

The commander of the 1st Regiment, Hou Zhenye, could not believe this cruel fact. At least half of the 1 members of the commando team were selected from the st Regiment, and Tang Siyi was his guard company commander.

Commandos are not selected casually. They are required to have extremely high combat qualities, be familiar with the tactical use of three-person teams, and be well versed in the coordination between infantry and artillery.

When the brigade headquarters ordered the 1st Regiment to temporarily attack and wait for artillery bombardment, the commander of the 1st Regiment, Hou Zhenye, was extremely opposed to it, but an order is an order.

"Captain, six commando wounded were found in the trench!"

Just as the officers and soldiers of the 13th Brigade launched a full-scale offensive against the Japanese army, the Japanese command center was already in chaos.

"Order the artillery to hold their positions and wait for the headquarters to approach them. They must hold their ground to the end. In another half an hour, reinforcements will arrive!"

The speed of the Eighth Route Army's advance was beyond the Japanese colonel's imagination. He could not admit why the Eighth Route Army on the opposite side could break through two lines of defense in succession in just twenty minutes.

The situation was so bad that there were no extra troops available for deployment except the artillery units. The only thing they could do was to move the command center closer to the artillery in an attempt to fight a final battle.

At this moment, gunfire rang out outside the command center, and a Japanese soldier on guard ran in covered in blood.

"Sir, a small group of the Eighth Route Army is coming and we can't stop them!"

"Baka!" The Japanese colonel suddenly stood up, lifted the curtain of the tent, and just as he leaned out, a series of bullets hit him and he was immediately knocked to the ground.

Three commandos showed up, two of them were on guard, and the other threw three melon grenades into the tent. After the explosion, there was no movement inside.

"The devil is a colonel, this is definitely the Japanese headquarters!"

"Great! Quickly wipe out the remaining enemies!"

This small force was composed of more than 20 commandos who rushed out of the encirclement, brushed past the Japanese 4th Battalion that came to reinforce, and then searched for the location of the Japanese headquarters.

When the Japanese army was fighting outside, they usually carried generators to ensure smooth power supply. When the commandos saw lights on ahead, they ran straight to the Japanese command post.

At this time, the Japanese army was like meat on the chopping board. The third and fourth battalions of the Japanese army in the second-line position were gradually being divided, and the sound of gunfire on the battlefield became increasingly sparse.

"Sir, contact with the command center has been lost and no one is answering the phone!"

"What?" The captain of the Japanese artillery battalion was shocked when he heard this. He instinctively realized that something was wrong. He sent two groups of people to contact them, but received no reply.

At this time, the Japanese artillery was truly panicked. Without the cover of the infantry, the incompletely equipped artillery was even less effective than the logistics troops in terms of combat effectiveness.

"Comrades, charge! Kill the enemy's artillery!"

In a blink of an eye, the soldiers of the Third Battalion of the First Regiment rushed into the Japanese artillery position. The Japanese artillery had less than 700 people, and only some officers were equipped with Type 14 Nambu pistols. The rest of the Japanese soldiers had only a bayonet for self-defense.

The battle was a one-sided massacre from the very beginning. The 13th Brigade had issued a clear notice before the battle that the enemy on the opposite side was a division of the Japanese Kwantung Army, and that they must not be merciful during the battle and must try to reduce unnecessary casualties.

At the 13th Brigade Headquarters, when Jing Dagang learned that the Japanese second-line position had been breached by the 14st Regiment, he realized that the overall situation had been decided, and immediately contacted Wu Qin's th Brigade via radio.

The enemy opposite the 14th Brigade was the 12th Regiment of the Guards Division, which also had a mixed th Battalion, but was not equipped with an artillery battalion, but was reinforced with tanks.

Wu Qin keenly noticed during the daytime battle that the Japanese troops on the opposite side had low fighting spirit and were lazy. In the intervals when the two sides stopped firing, many Japs actually took off their uniforms and hung them on their rifles to dry.

This surprised the soldiers of the 14th Brigade very much. However, the Japanese officers on the opposite side did not stop this behavior, as if it was commonplace.

The 14th Brigade also used the commandos as spearheads. After the commandos broke through the front-line positions of the Guards Division, the main force of the 14th Brigade had just caught up and had not yet engaged in battle with the Japanese army.

An astonishing scene appeared. The Japanese troops in the front-line positions retreated across the board. The huge momentum caused a chain reaction. The Japanese troops in the second-line positions, unaware of the situation, simply retreated, fearing that they would be late.

The two sides were chasing each other, and there were actually 12 tanks at the back. The soldiers of the 14th Brigade picked up 12 tanks for free without any effort.

At the 14th Brigade headquarters, upon hearing the battle report from the front, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

Political Commissar Wang Lin was very puzzled: "This battle was really inexplicable. The Japanese troops were not damaged, so why did they suddenly retreat? Those who don't know would think that the opposite side is a puppet army." "This Guards Division has a big reputation. I guess they are a group of old soldiers. We will interrogate the captured prisoners later." Wu Qin said.

Not long after, the troops at the front sent over a group of prisoners, about a hundred people, including a major and a dozen lieutenants.

When Wu Qin walked out of the brigade headquarters, he saw that they were all bare-chested, squatting on the ground with their heads in their hands, looking like hairless pigs.

"what happened?"

"Commander, these devils are really weird. They insisted that it was too hot and asked us to take off our shirts. But they were quite cooperative along the way."

Speaking of which, the 14th Brigade had captured quite a few Japanese prisoners. They had seen some with hard bones and some with soft bones, but they had never seen one as obedient as this one.

"Raise your head!" The brigade clerk translated Wu Qin's words.

"You, your name, age, unit number, and position!" Wu Qin pointed at a Japanese major among the prisoners.

The Japanese major didn't understand his situation, so he stood up and saluted: "Sir, I am Ishida Hisasaku, 27 years old, from Tokyo, graduated from the Army University, and currently serve as the deputy commander of the th Battalion of the th Regiment of the Imperial Guard Division."

"How old are you to be promoted to major?"

The Japanese army has a strict promotion system. With the war lasting for many years, the promotion system has collapsed. But no matter what, a 27-year-old Japanese major is a rare thing, let alone in a combat unit.

Wu Qin guessed that this guy came to the combat unit to gild his reputation: "What does your father do?"

"Sir, my father is a lecturer at the Army University. However, I did not rely on my father's connections to join the army. I have achieved what I have today entirely through my own efforts!"

Wu Qin raised his eyebrows and nodded: "You are right, I see!"

Among these Japanese prisoners of war, the oldest was Ishida Hisasaku, and the youngest was only 16 years old, but without exception they were all from Tokyo, and some of them were students before joining the army.

After inquiring, I learned that the Guards Division had newly formed the 5th and 6th Regiments last year. After two months of training, the Guards Division was transferred to Southeast Asia to fight.

The expansion of the Japanese army was often based on an elite force, with officers and grassroots non-commissioned officers all veterans with combat experience. However, the Imperial Guards Division only added a few backbones, and the rest were all recruits.

As if seeing Wu Qin's confusion, Ishida Hisasaku explained directly: "Sir, as a soldier, being captured on the battlefield is a great shame!"

"My division was originally ordered to return home from Southeast Asia, but the military intercepted the warships in Haizhou. In recent days, there have been many rumors in the army that there are treacherous ministers around the emperor, who intend to destroy my division through war!"

Wu Qin waved his hand and had the prisoners taken away. Before leaving, Ishida Hisasaku shouted, "Sir, please implement the Geneva Convention!"

When Wang Lin saw this scene, he couldn't help but mutter, "So these Japanese soldiers are all ignorant?"

"Hehe, what the Communist Party member said is right. There is a big mess in Japan. They are the victims of the political struggle!" Wu Qin shook his head: "In recent years, as we Chinese say, they are all good family children. Logically, they are the group that the Japanese emperor relies on the most. But now?"

"Pass on my order. The 4th Regiment must maintain its formation and be on the alert for Japanese reinforcements at all times. The 5th and 6th Regiments must do their utmost to drive back the fleeing Japanese troops and attack the Japanese defense line on the Longhai Railway!"

The battle reports from the front line were quickly transmitted to the column headquarters, but the first to arrive was the battle report from the 13th Brigade.

"The 13th Brigade fought well. It took only 40 minutes to wipe out more than people from the th Division. The Japanese army should be scared this time!" Zhao Bingzhang said with a smile.

Zhou Weihan placed the telegram on the table, glanced at the time, and asked, "No news from the 14th Brigade yet?"

"Not yet, but the communications personnel are guarding the radio station!"

About ten minutes later, the telegram from the 14th Brigade finally arrived.

"Hehe, the 14th Brigade has picked up a great bargain. Maybe we can let Wu Qin give it a try!" Zhou Weihan asked everyone.

"I think it's okay. There's no problem in releasing the Japanese prisoners, but they should be carefully screened. Only the hardliners should be kept and the rest should be released. This may have a miraculous effect!" said Luo Benzhong.

Luo Benzhong was originally supposed to be in charge of work in northern Anhui, but was specially transferred back by Zhou Weihan before the war. At present, the 14th Brigade in northern Anhui is mainly concentrated in Xiayi, and the remaining counties are only guarded by newly formed local armed forces.

Zhou Weihan nodded and said, "Reply to the 13th and 14th Brigades. The number of Japanese reinforcements is unknown. All units should hold on according to the original plan and not engage in battle with the Japanese before daybreak!"

"Once the situation is clear, all units may continue to advance towards the Longhai Line, but they can only stay and rest. Without the command of the headquarters, they are not allowed to launch an attack on the Japanese troops stationed on the Longhai Line without authorization!"

"I want to see what Yamashita Tomoyuki's reaction is."

The main forces of both sides gathered around Shangqiu. The battle had just begun. The two Japanese detachments responsible for defense lost more than 13 people, and the 14th Brigade and the th Brigade could march towards the Longhai Line after dawn.

As long as Zhou Weihan gave the order, the Japanese supply lines could be cut off at any time.