Devil's Army

Chapter 1780 Recovering Xiuwu County and Wuzhi County

The 4th Regiment of the 1st Brigade, which had been fighting in the northern mountainous area of ​​Xiuwu County, and the 3rd Regiment that was blocking the Japanese troops in Zhengzhou jointly attacked the north gate and east gate of Xiuwu County.

The First and Second Regiments of the First Brigade attacked Wuzhi County in Jiaozuo.

At that time, the Japanese army in Jiaozuo was mainly stationed by the 390th Battalion of the 117th Division. In addition, Jiaozuo was the headquarters of the puppet "North China Xingya Governor Army" and was stationed with many puppet troops.

A brigade used two regiments to attack Xiuwu County, alarming the Japanese army.

The Japanese commander quickly dispatched troops from the counties surrounding Jiaozuo to provide support, and also dispatched troops from the troops that had just withdrawn to Zhengzhou to provide support.

The Japanese troops in Bo'ai County were ordered to go to reinforce, but they were stubbornly blocked by two battalions of a regiment.

The Japanese troops in Zhengzhou were also blocked outside Xiuwu County by part of the Second Regiment.

At that time, there were only two squadrons of Japanese troops and one regiment of puppet troops in Xiuwu County.

When bombing Xiuwu County, the First Army's air force focused on bombing and strafing the Japanese troops.

After half a day of fierce fighting, the regiment broke through the north gate of Xiuwu County.

Most of the Japanese squadron defending the north gate of Xiuwu County was wiped out.

Seeing this, the puppet troops defending the north gate of Xiuwu County scattered like birds and beasts and disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.

Soon, the Third Regiment also broke through the east gate of Jiaozuo.

After the Fourth Regiment broke through the north gate of Xiuwu County, it immediately launched an attack on Wangfeng Mine, Lifeng Mine and Pingxin Mine in Xiuwu County.

During the Anti-Japanese War, Jiaozuo Coal Mine was well-known nationwide and was one of the important coal mines in North China and even the whole country at that time.

Jiaozuo coal mine has a long history of mining (large-scale development began in the late Qing Dynasty), with excellent coal quality and stable output.

After the Japanese army occupied Jiaozuo in 1938, they forcibly controlled major coal mines such as Wangfeng and Lifeng, plundered a large amount of coal for the war of aggression against China, and made it an important resource stronghold for the Japanese army to "fight to support the war."

Due to the shortage of manpower, the Japanese army only left a small team of troops in each coal mine, and then arranged a large number of "North China Xingya Governor's Army" to manage it.

The Japanese army also ordered that if there was any problem in the coal mine, the "North China Xingya Governor's Army" would bear the responsibility.

Therefore, when the soldiers of the Fourth Regiment attacked several coal mines in Xiuwu County, they encountered stubborn resistance from the Japanese and puppet troops.

The battle lasted until evening, when the main coal mines in Xiuwu County were recaptured by soldiers from the Fourth and Third Regiments of the First Army.

The 1st Company of the 4th Regiment suffered heavy losses in this battle, and the company commander was so angry that he was ready to execute the captured puppet soldiers. However, he was stopped by the 4th Regiment Commander. After all, under the coercion of the Japanese army, the puppet soldiers who wanted to survive had to fight.

When the 3rd and 4th Regiments of the 1st Brigade recaptured Xiuwu County, the 1st and 2nd Regiments of the 1st Brigade also recaptured Wuzhi County.

At that time, there were no important coal mines in Wuzhi County, and the number of Japanese and puppet troops stationed there was far smaller than that in Xiuwu County.

The First and Second Regiments of the First Brigade recaptured Wuzhi County in less than half a day.

After lunch, the 1st Brigade and 1st Regiment began to recapture the outlying towns and villages of Boyan County, laying the foundation for the next step of recapture Bo'ai County.

The Second Regiment recaptured the towns and villages around Wen County, laying the foundation for the next step of recapture Wen County.

It was already evening when the Third and Fourth Regiments recaptured Xiuwu County. The troops were tired after a whole day of fighting.

A brigade commander therefore decided to launch a battle to recapture Boai County and Wen County tomorrow.

What the brigade commander hadn't anticipated was that the Japanese army, in order to achieve their long-term goal of plundering Xiuwu County's coal resources, had secretly sent a disguised troop into Xiuwu County, intending to take advantage of the enemy troops' insecurity and blow up all the coal mines in Xiuwu County.

The Japanese troops who had sneaked in were discovered by the vigilant soldiers of the First Brigade, and a brief fierce battle broke out between the two sides.

The soldiers of the 3rd Regiment of the 4th Regiment of the 1st Brigade quickly wiped out the infiltrating Japanese troops.