The guerrillas were fighting and retreating. Just when the Japanese were about to catch up with them, they suddenly encountered an ambush by the guerrillas. Seven or eight Japanese were killed and injured.
When the Japanese saw an ambush, they immediately stopped their pursuit and launched a counterattack on the spot. The Japanese commander observed carefully and found that the number of guerrillas who came to attack was not large. There were only a few dozen people. He immediately organized his troops to attack.
When the guerrillas who ambushed them saw a large group of Japanese troops rushing over, they also turned around and ran away, but in a different direction from the guerrillas who had retreated earlier.
The Japanese saw the two groups of guerrillas fleeing in different directions. Taking advantage of their large numbers, they also divided their forces into two groups to pursue them.
The Japanese army dispatched two infantry squadrons, each of which pursued a group of guerrillas. During the pursuit, the fleeing guerrillas divided into two groups, each group consisting of only twenty or thirty people, and fled in different directions.
The Japanese squadron leader was determined to eat these guerrillas, so he divided his troops again to chase the guerrillas who had escaped.
The guerrillas were fighting and retreating, running and suddenly divided into two teams. At this time, there were only a dozen people in each team.
The Japs have been driven out of the fire, and these hateful guerrillas must be captured life or death. Seeing the guerrillas dividing their forces, they also divided their forces again. At this time, the Japanese army still had an advantage.
This guerrilla group is the second largest group of guerrillas. Based on the suggestions of the special operations team members, the captain sent some people to attack the Japanese army, and then used the tactics of dividing the troops to continuously disperse the Japanese troops. He himself led the main force of the guerrillas to hide in one place, looking for fighters and eating them. The Japanese army's journey.
Finally, a Japanese army was attracted by the guerrillas. At this time, the Japanese troops continued to disperse, chasing the fleeing guerrillas. There were about 40 Japanese troops in this group. They only focused on chasing the dozen guerrillas who had escaped in front of them, and ran into the encirclement set by the guerrillas.
The captain was very excited when he saw that the Japanese had been fooled. He shouted: "Fire." First, he raised his rifle and hit the Japanese who were chasing after him.
There were more than 160 guerrillas ambushing here. They opened fire and caught the Japanese by surprise. Most of the Japs were killed and injured immediately. The remaining Japs found that they had been tricked and it was too late to escape.
Under the cover of two light machine guns, the guerrillas launched a charge towards the remaining Japanese troops. After a few minutes, the battle was over. More than 40 Japanese soldiers who came to pursue them were all wiped out, and the weapons and ammunition they brought became trophies for the guerrillas.
The second brigade won the battle and its morale was high. Regardless of fatigue, the team members immediately set off as a team to attack the Japanese troops who were chasing the guerrillas on the other side.
The two squadron captains of the Japanese army led their teams in a desperate pursuit. The guerrillas took advantage of the familiar terrain and finally got rid of the Japanese pursuit. Although some guerrillas were sacrificed during the pursuit, the Japanese losses were much higher in comparison.
Seeing that they had lost track of the guerrillas, the two squadron leaders called each other and decided to stop the pursuit and return to Maiba Town.
When they returned to the Japanese position outside the town of Maiba, other units chasing the guerrillas also came back to report. Two groups of Japanese troops have been waiting for a long time but there is no sign of them. In the end, it is certain that they will never come back.
After this battle, the Japanese army basically gained nothing, and the Japanese officers and soldiers of this brigade lost more than 140 people.
Such a battle made the Japanese captain very distressed. He scolded the guerrillas for being too cunning and lacking in martial ethics. They did not dare to confront the yellow army of the island nation in an upright manner and would only engage in such conspiracies and tricks.
The situation of the other two infantry brigades of the Japanese army was similar. They also lost more than 90 people and more than 130 people respectively. They were unable to eliminate an organized guerrilla force.
Gao Cang and Tanaka had dealt with Xu Dalong and the others too many times during this period, and they were so passive every time.
The current situation is obviously that some guerrillas are surrounded in Maiba Town, and the Japanese army should take the initiative. Unexpectedly, the Japanese army still felt powerless during the battle.
Watanabe also felt very angry, and discussed with Takakura and Tanaka what tactics to adopt next.
At this moment, the guerrillas who had fled earlier appeared again, with dozens of people coming, and attacked the Japanese army again.
The Japanese army had just been fooled, and of course they did not dare to pursue them rashly. They organized defenses on the spot to prevent the guerrillas from approaching.
Even so, the Japanese army still had a headache. There were a small number of mortars in the hands of the guerrillas, and the Japanese army also fired back with artillery fire. However, the guerrillas were very scattered and in motion, so it was very difficult to hit them. The Japanese army's position was fixed, and every time the guerrillas fired The artillery shells fired inflicted heavy casualties on the Japanese army.
Not only that, among the guerrillas who came to attack, there were also special forces members under Xu Dalong. Their marksmanship was superb, and their long-distance sniping still caused considerable casualties to the Japanese army.
The Japanese officers and soldiers were frightened and rushed forward desperately.
The guerrillas were still doing the same thing. When they saw the Japanese troops rushing over, they immediately retreated while fighting.
After the Japanese chased them for a certain distance, they thought about the loss they suffered last time and did not dare to continue chasing, so they retreated to their original positions.
But those damn guerrillas didn't want the Japanese army to live in peace. Seeing the Japanese army retreating, they quickly followed them and fired guns and artillery at the Japanese army's positions again, which exhausted the Japanese army.
While observing the situation on the battlefield, Xu Dalong sent a telegram to Wei Dayong to ask about their current location.
Wei Dayong quickly responded with a telegram, saying that they had captured a county town, collected a large number of vehicles from it, and were rushing to Maiba Town. They expected to arrive in three and a half to four hours.
Xu Dalong was very happy and immediately informed each brigade of the good news. He asked Gao Xiling to lead the First Brigade to resolutely defend Maiba Town, and other guerrilla brigades to strengthen their offensive against the Japanese army, firmly attracting the Japanese army here, waiting for the arrival of reinforcements, and completely defeating the Japanese 19th Regiment.
The news of the arrival of Wei Dayong and others has been kept secret. The commanders and fighters of the guerrilla detachment suddenly heard that a squadron of special operations members and a reinforced battalion of Yunnan Army troops had arrived for reinforcements. They couldn't help but be overjoyed and their morale was boosted.
Especially Gaoxiling and the surrounded guerrillas. At first, they believed that the enemy had too many troops. Even if other troops of the guerrilla detachment commanded by Xu Dalong cooperated outside, it would be difficult to hold the town. What awaited them was likely to be the destruction of the entire army. They were very excited at this time and looked forward to the coming reinforcements.
Watanabe, Takakura and Tanaka were still studying how to change the situation in front of them, and they all felt very depressed. Being able to fight the main force of the guerrillas is what they want to see most, but now it is obvious that the main force of the guerrillas are gathered in this area, but this battle is so awkward.
Watanabe and others are regular troops, and they have a very high tactical level. If they face armies from other countries that are also regular armies, they have a great chance of winning. However, against the guerrillas with changeable tactics, the set of tactics they are familiar with will hardly work.
Gao Cang had dealt with the guerrillas many times in the past few days and had a certain understanding of the guerrilla tactics. Seeing the Japanese army's losses increasing under the constant attacks of the guerrillas, he made a suggestion to set aside some troops to continue the siege. In Maiba Town, the main force was concentrated to attack the guerrillas. One of them must be pursued fiercely this time until all the guerrillas are annihilated.
This tactic was recognized by Watanabe, Tanaka and others. They called several captains and told them this combat plan.
One of the captains raised a question, saying that the current situation of the Japanese army is also very embarrassing. Maiba Town is still in the hands of the guerrillas. If you want to surround Maiba Town, you must surround it from all sides, which will require a lot of troops. If the main force is deployed to attack one group of guerrillas, then the forces of the other groups surrounding Maiba Town will be obviously insufficient. If other groups of guerrillas plus the guerrillas in Maiba Town attack the Japanese troops staying outside the town, it will be difficult for the Japanese troops to deal with them. There is a high possibility that the guerrillas in the town will break through the Japanese encirclement and take the opportunity to escape. The Japanese troops responsible for the siege will also suffer heavy losses.
The other two captains also felt that what he said made sense and also raised this question.
This suggestion was made by Gao Cang, and he naturally insisted on it. He suggested that one of the infantry brigade go to attack the guerrillas. The strength was very sufficient, and the remaining two brigade were used to surround the guerrillas in the town and fight against several others. The road guerrillas can also be adequately dealt with.
Everyone discussed for a while and felt that there was no other way, so they decided to adopt Gao Cang's suggestion.
Watanabe asked one brigade captain to concentrate his troops to attack the guerrillas, while the other two brigade captains deployed part of their troops to take over the brigade's defense area, maintain the siege of Maiba Town, and deal with several other guerrilla attacks. Team.
Just as one of the Japanese brigade was preparing to attack the guerrillas who were attacking, the brigade's communications staff officer ran over in a panic and reported to Watanabe that a large group of anti-Japanese troops were heading towards Maiba. Driving in the direction of the town, it should not be far from Maiba Town at this time.
Wei Dayong and others captured a county town occupied by the Japanese army. Why has the news not spread until now? Because Wei Dayong and others disguised themselves as Japanese troops and suddenly captured the county seat. The Japanese gendarmerie and puppet police in the county town at that time were suddenly wiped out, and their communication tools were confiscated. There was no way to inform Watanabe and others.
After Wei Dayong and others left by car, the remaining Japanese and puppet personnel in the city found a civilian radio station and reported the news to their superiors. After the superiors got the news, they turned to Watanabe and others to report it.
The sudden reinforcements from the anti-Japanese army surprised Watanabe and others. At first, they even doubted their ears.
In particular, Takakura and Tanaka both belong to the intelligence department. According to what they know, although there are many guerrillas in Malaysia, each force is relatively weak. The sudden appearance of large groups of anti-Japanese armed forces was completely unexpected.
Today, the situation of the Japanese army is already very embarrassing. They surrounded the guerrillas here in Maiba Town, and the guerrillas surrounded the Japanese army from the outside. So far, although the strength of the guerrillas is not enough to eat so many Japanese troops, if the enemy's reinforcements arrive, the situation will be different.
Watanabe, Tanaka and others have now begun to feel that the 19th Regiment is in danger. They no longer have the energy to dispatch another infantry brigade to pursue the guerrillas. Instead, they must first protect themselves and then counterattack the guerrillas.
Today, the Japanese army is in a very passive situation. If the enemy's reinforcements arrive, the Japanese army will be completely attacked from both sides, and they will be easily divided and annihilated by the enemy.
Watanabe immediately considered two plans. One was to immediately concentrate his troops and evacuate Maiba Town, choose a favorable terrain, and organize defense.
Another way is to capture Maiba Town immediately and rely on Maiba Town to implement defense, or organize a counterattack based on the situation on the battlefield.
Watanabe is a very experienced warrior, and he simply weighed it. Under the current circumstances, gathering the troops and choosing a place for field battle is not the best plan. Because this area is a plain area, there is no danger to defend. The enemy's reinforcements will arrive soon, and it is too late for the Japanese army to repair the fortifications.
If we can quickly capture the buildings in Maiba Town, it will be the best defensive position. He no longer discussed with Takakura and Tanaka and immediately ordered an attack on Maiba Town.
The three captains obviously realized the seriousness of the situation. They immediately returned to their troops and organized their forces to attack the town of Maiba.
Gao Xiling and others in the town were struggling to support themselves in the face of the Japanese attack. Fortunately, this was a feint attack by the Japanese army. Otherwise, with their strength, they would not be able to stop the Japanese attack.
Things are different now. With Xu Dalong and others harassing the Japanese army from all directions, the Japanese army was unable to mobilize a large number of troops to attack Maiba Town, which greatly reduced the pressure on Gao Xiling and others.
At this moment, they saw that the Japanese army concentrated artillery and bombarded the town fiercely, and a large number of infantry were gathering, preparing to launch a charge, and they knew that the situation was serious.
Gao Xiling quickly called Xu Dalong and reported the situation to him.
Xu Dalong has been observing the situation on the battlefield. When he saw the Japanese army turning their guns to bombard the town of Maiba, he guessed the Japanese army's intention. Of course he couldn't let the Japanese army get what they wanted, so he immediately called the various guerrilla groups outside Maiba Town to launch a fierce attack on the Japanese army.
Xu Dalong also called Wei Dayong, asking him to speed up his march and get to the battlefield as soon as possible. (End of chapter)
