Xu Dalong received the telegram from Zhao Gang and knew that the security of the base area was no longer a problem, and he felt at ease. His thoughts also began to shift from defending the base area to encircling and annihilating the Japanese Eighth Division.
In fact, this telegram was not sent by Zhao Gang, but by Gao Zhiyong to Xu Dalong in the name of Zhao Gang. He knew that Xu Dalong was under great pressure as the commander of the entire battle. He did not want Zhao Gang's injury to affect Xu Dalong's emotions, so he concealed the news of Zhao Gang's injury.
Xu Dalong sent a telegram to Li Yunlong, asking him to lead his troops to change direction and no longer go to Guancheng County, but to cut off the escape route of the Japanese Eighth Division to SJZ.
Li Yunlong and Zhang Dabiao were very familiar with Xu Dalong and knew that he wanted to keep the entire Japanese Eighth Division. Such a bold idea suited the two of them, so they led the team on a rapid march in the direction of SJZ.
Kong Jie, Ding Wei and others also received the telegram from Xu Dalong. Their spirits were also very high and they led the troops to march regardless of fatigue.
The commander of the Eighth Division of the Japanese Army is now getting more and more anxious. The staff officers are constantly reporting to him the situation of the two brigades. He now feels that the possibility of capturing Guancheng County is getting smaller and smaller.
He asked his chief of staff to send a telegram to Shinozuka Yoshio, and learned from him that other Japanese troops attacking the base area had encountered tenacious resistance from the anti-Japanese armed forces and are still lingering on the edge of the base area. When he learned that the 11th independent mixed brigade had been completely destroyed, he knew that this battle would definitely not be able to go on.
He is an experienced general. Although it would be a great shame for him to retreat without achieving his goal, he also knows that if he continues to delay here, once the anti-Japanese armed forces surround him, the Eighth Division will be defeated. There is a danger of the whole army being destroyed.
After discussing with the chief of staff, he made up his mind to leave the battlefield immediately and return to SJZ.
The division commander was a decisive person. After making up his mind, he immediately issued an order to the troops so that they did not need to assemble and evacuated in the direction of SJZ as a unit.
All Japanese troops had rich combat experience. After receiving the order to retreat, they left a small force behind and continued to launch feint attacks on the Eighth Route Army's positions. However, the main force did not stop at all and immediately withdrew.
Because it was at night and the Japanese army had been on the offensive, various units of the Eighth Route Army were feigned attacks by the Japanese army at this time. Their main energy was still spent on defense and they did not notice the withdrawal of the Japanese army.
The first person to notice the withdrawal of the Japanese army was Sun Desheng. He was leading his troops to block the Japanese army when he saw the Japanese army suddenly increase the intensity of their artillery fire. The artillery shells seemed to be free of charge, blasting towards the Eighth Route Army's position.
He originally thought that the Japanese army would definitely launch a general offensive after the bombardment, but when he saw that the Japanese army that actually attacked them was very small, he noticed something unusual.
He also received a telegram from Xu Dalong, saying that various units of the Eighth Route Army were arriving and preparing to encircle and annihilate the Japanese Eighth Division. Sun Desheng began to suspect that the Japanese attack was an illusion.
After careful observation, he found that these Japanese troops were not aggressive in attacking. He judged that these Japanese troops' attacks must be feints and the main force of the Japanese troops might have withdrawn.
In order to verify his judgment, he gave orders to the commanders and fighters of the cavalry brigade to launch a counterattack against the Japanese army. Under the cover of artillery fire, the officers and soldiers of the cavalry brigade jumped out of their defensive positions and launched a counterattack against the Japanese army. It turned out that the enemy's resistance was not that strong, and the Eighth Route Army quickly broke through the enemy's defensive positions. It was obvious that the Japanese troops in front of them were insufficient.
Sun Desheng ordered the troops to encircle and annihilate the Japanese army in front of them with all their strength. He personally led people to advance deep into the Japanese defensive positions. It turned out that except for the Japanese army that was fighting fiercely with them, the main force of the enemy army had long disappeared.
Sun Desheng immediately reported the situation to Xu Dalong.
After Xu Dalong received the telegram, he sent a telegram to Wang Limin, Zhao Gang, and Gao Zhiyong, asking them to use all available forces to pursue the Japanese Eighth Division. They must entangle them and wait until the main force arrived to kill them. Encirclement and annihilation.
After receiving the telegram, Zhou Zhiyong organized the Eighth Route Army around Guancheng County and launched an attack on the enemy forces on the opposite side. He quickly defeated the Japanese troops blocking them, and then pursued them along the Japanese retreat route.
Wang Limin led the Guancheng County Security Regiment to defeat the enemy forces on the opposite side, and then also pursued them.
The Zhongyang Army, the Jinsui Army and the Eighth Route Army, which were blocking other Japanese troops, all received a telegram from Xu Dalong, saying that the Japanese Eighth Division had withdrawn from the base area and was fleeing. The Eighth Route Army was encircling and annihilating it. They knew that this time the Japanese army The campaign launched to siege the Mawushan base area was a complete failure, and this campaign was about to end.
They immediately reported the good news to their troops. The morale of the officers and soldiers was greatly boosted, and they worked harder to block the Japanese troops in front of them.
After the Japanese 16th Brigade received the order to retreat, they no longer wanted to fight and immediately evacuated from Guancheng County. They were not familiar with the terrain of the base area and could only return along the original route. Therefore, they had to pass through the village that had been attacked before.
The village militia had previously won a great victory and seized many weapons and ammunition. Their morale was extremely high at this time. There were few of them and they did not dare to go out to fight in the field. They could only hope that the little devil would pass by on the road outside their village again.
They were so lucky that they really waited until the Japanese army retreated from here. The militiamen were very happy and attacked the Japanese army on the road again.
The Japanese army was unwilling to fight and sent a small number of troops to fight back against them. The large group of people continued to flee. At this time, the militiamen had enough fun. They kept firing at the Japanese soldiers passing by on the road. Although they didn't know how many Japanese soldiers they could kill, they were sure that some would be hit.
The enemy troops retreated separately in regiments. The militiamen fought for a while, and then the enemy troops in front of them withdrew. When they saw the Japs walking away, they ran to the highway to check.
It turned out that there were at least thirty or forty corpses of Japanese soldiers beside the highway. The Japanese retreated so neatly that they even gave up their corpses. It's a pity that the weapons and ammunition of these dead devils were taken away by other devils, and they did not capture them.
However, the militiamen still made a fortune, and the Japanese still had some things on their bodies. Some of the Japanese still had Japanese military stamps on them, and someone even confiscated a watch. The leather shoes on the feet of the dead Japanese were good things, so the militiamen all took them off. These leather shoes, plus those captured earlier, are enough for each soldier to have two pairs each.
The militiamen took away all the useful things from the Japanese and were about to return to the village to show off to the villagers when they heard the sound of vehicles driving on the road again, as well as the footsteps of large groups of people.
They hurried back to the village. Soon after, a group of Japanese troops came over again, from another regiment. The militiamen were so happy that they shot at the Japanese soldiers again.
This group of Japanese soldiers were also unwilling to fight. They sent a small force to suppress the militiamen with firepower, and covered the large group of people to pass quickly.
After the Japanese troops withdrew, the militiamen ran out again. This time they had another big harvest. In addition to the leather shoes and the belongings of the Japanese soldiers, they also picked up two Type 38 rifles, grenades, and bullets that the Japanese soldiers had no time to take away.
The militiamen became more and more experienced as they fought. They imitated the special operations team members and made improvised explosive devices with hand grenades on the highway. As a result, they killed and injured many Japanese soldiers and destroyed a Japanese military vehicle. .
After the Japs left again, the militiamen ran out, and this time they gained even more. In addition to the previous seizures, they actually seized half a truckload of military supplies on the damaged truck, including some guns and several guns. A mortar with its bracket broken. It can still be used with simple repairs. There were also a lot of military cans and even two cases of Japanese sake.
The militiamen happily moved the supplies back to the village.
The Japanese officers and soldiers of the Eighth Division now knew that the enemy had bombers. In order to avoid being bombed by enemy planes, they took preventive measures and sent surveillance posts behind the marching group. Once they heard the sound of bombers flying in the air, they Fire the alarm immediately.
In order to speed up the march, the Japanese marching brigade where the commander of the Eighth Division was located drove their cars with their headlights on. When they heard the alarm gunshots coming from behind, they quickly turned off the car lights. Although the Eighth Route Army's air force was not able to detect them, they did not dare to turn on the lights, so their marching speed was greatly slowed down.
Gradually it got daylight, and the bombers of the flying group flew over again. This time they discovered the Japanese marching group and immediately launched a bombing.
The Japanese had no other choice. In order to avoid being overtaken by the enemy, they did not dare to stay, and they could not care so much. They forced themselves to continue on their way, but they suffered heavy casualties from the bombing.
The Japanese army didn't even bother to eat breakfast and continued on their way. At 7:10 in the morning, the division commander received a telegram from the 16th Brigade, saying that the enemy's cavalry had been chasing them, and that the 31st Regiment had left an infantry brigade to block the enemy's pursuit.
By 8:30, a large group of Japanese troops fled to the edge of the Mawu Mountain base area, with the Japanese-occupied area ahead.
The commander of the Eighth Division finally breathed a sigh of relief. He said sarcastically: "The legendary Xu Dalong doesn't look that smart. There is a hilly area ahead. If he can send a force to intercept our army, then the problem will be It’s much more serious.”
The chief of staff also comforted himself and said: "Your Excellency, the division commander, is wise. It seems that Xu Dalong's tactical command level is also very low, especially his lack of ability to control the overall situation of the battlefield. As a smart commander, he should be able to think of all this." "
As soon as he finished speaking, violent gunfire and explosions came from the front.
The division commander and chief of staff turned pale and looked at each other with frustrated expressions. Unexpectedly, the two of them were slapped in the face for bragging.
It was the Eighth Route Army led by Li Yunlong with four regiments that intercepted them. After they rushed to the road leading to SJZ, they saw that the terrain here was flat. The troops of these four regiments alone could not stop a Japanese division. .
Li Yunlong has rich combat experience. After checking the map, he found that walking 6 kilometers further was a hilly area. The road passed through these hills, which was really a good place to block the attack.
So he ordered his troops to overcome the fatigue of the long march and continue marching. They arrived at this hilly area and built a defensive position here.
After the Japanese marching group arrived, the officers and soldiers of the Eighth Route Army had already rested for more than an hour. They waited for work and launched an attack on the Japanese army.
Xu Dalong received a telegram from Li Yunlong, saying that the enemy's path had been blocked. He was very happy and immediately reported the good news to the entire army.
Troops led by Ding Wei, Kong Jie and others, as well as troops from the Mawushan Military Division, surrounded the Japanese Eighth Division from all directions.
Bob and others drove bombers to continuously bomb the Japanese army. They worked very hard. After dropping the bombs, they flew back to the airport and waited for the ground crew to fill up the tank with fuel and load the bombs. Then they immediately took off again to carry out bombing.
The commander and chief of staff of the 8th Division were in such a panic that they no longer dared to take the car. When the enemy plane came to bomb, they parked the car on the road and ran to a cornfield on the side of the road. .
As a result, the vehicles parked on the road, including the cars they were riding in, were all blown into scrap metal. From now on, they can only ride horses or walk.
The commander of the Eighth Division had never fought such a useless battle, and he was very angry. However, he had no time to lament, because he knew very well that if he could not quickly break through the blocking position of the Eighth Route Army blocking the road ahead, large enemy forces would be surrounded from all directions. , the Eighth Division is in danger of being wiped out.
So he issued a death order, asking the Japanese army to launch a full-line attack on Li Yunlong's troops, and it was necessary to open a way forward.
The Japanese officers and soldiers also knew that the situation was critical. Regardless of the fatigue of the long march, they launched a frantic attack on the troops led by Li Yunlong. The battle was fierce.
The commander and chief of staff of the Eighth Division were getting more and more anxious. They believed that the main force of the Eighth Route Army was coming here at this time. If they could not break through the enemy's obstruction as soon as possible, the Eighth Division might be surrounded or even eaten. Danger.
In history, the Eighth Division has always had an absolute advantage in every battle and has never been in such a crisis. The division commander said: "Hurry up and send a telegram to Shinozuka Yoshio and ask him to urge nearby Japanese troops to come for reinforcements."
The chief of staff shook his head and said: "Your Excellency, Division Commander, I'm afraid it's useless. All the field troops of the Yellow Army are now blocked by the enemy. They were unable to break through the enemy's defense line before. The one closest to us is the garrison No. 3 The 32nd Division cannot be counted on based on their combat effectiveness.”
The division commander asked: "What should we do? We can't stay here and wait to die, right?"
The chief of staff said to the combat staff beside him: "Besides the hilly area ahead, are there any other roads?"
The staff officer quickly checked the map and said: "There is another road from here to Jingxing Pass that can bypass the hilly area in front, but it only takes more than 60 kilometers to walk."
The division commander said: "Bring the map quickly."
(End of chapter)
