Devil's Army

Chapter 1904 Repelling the Japanese Counterattack in Zhejiang

The 4th Battalion of the 4th Regiment was defending the right flank. The sudden and intense gunfire caught the 4th Battalion off guard, and the Japanese army tore a hole in their defensive line.

The fourth battalion commander reacted swiftly, immediately mobilizing machine gunners from the first and second companies near the breach to fiercely fire upon the Japanese troops who had breached the gap. Rocket troops continuously bombarded the Japanese troops attempting to breach the gap.

After a fierce battle, except for a few Japanese soldiers who escaped through the gap, the rest of the Japanese troops were trapped in the encirclement.

The major saw the devilish soldiers advancing towards the gap from both flanks.

He left a detachment to continue the feigned attack while leading the main force to turn around and attack the left flank.

The left flank was defended by the 1st Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the 1st Brigade. They were encircling and suppressing small groups of Japanese troops attempting to break through.

Suddenly, the Japanese troops intensified their firepower during their breakout attempt.

The battalion commander immediately judged that the Japanese army's breakout direction had shifted to their left flank.

They quickly transferred the 1st and 3rd companies from the side to assist the 2nd company in blocking the Japanese troops attempting to break through.

The soldiers of the first and second companies surrounded the Japanese troops in a semi-circular arc, constantly suppressing their room to maneuver.

The 2nd Battalion of the 1st Regiment, which was blocking the Japanese army's breakout from behind, also rushed over to reinforce them.

As the encirclement tightened, the Japanese troops within it had less and less room to maneuver.

With no other option, the major made a desperate last-ditch effort to break out towards Changshan County. However, he was met with fierce resistance from the 3rd and 4th Battalions of the 1st Regiment.

Seeing that the time was ripe, the Third Regiment Commander, together with soldiers from the First and Fourth Regiments, launched a final attack on the Japanese troops in the encirclement.

After holding out for more than half an hour, the Japanese troops, isolated and without support, were mostly annihilated.

At this point, the Japanese troops in Changshan County were no longer able to send troops to attack Jiangxi.

The Japanese troops in Kaihua County and Jiangshan County were also blocked by the soldiers of the Third and Fourth Regiments outside Yushan County and Guangfeng County, respectively.

At the time, Lieutenant General Shigeru Sawada, commander of the 70th Division of the Japanese Army stationed in Zhejiang, was worried that the "Devil Force" would take the opportunity to invade Zhejiang. He ordered the Japanese troops in Kaihua County, Changshan County and Jiangshan County, which are adjacent to Jiangxi, to hold their county seats and not to send troops to attack Yushan County and Guangfeng County in Jiangxi.

He relied on the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Railway to mobilize troops from Jinhua, Yiwu, Lanxi, and other places to reinforce Kaihua County, Changshan County, and Jiangshan County, preventing the "devil troops" from infiltrating into Zhejiang.

The Second Brigade, having suffered heavy casualties and depleted ammunition and supplies from continuous fighting, had no plans to continue its offensive into Zhejiang. Instead, it constructed fortifications along the Jiangxi-Zhejiang border to guard against another Japanese invasion of Jiangxi.

The Second Brigade rested for more than a week on the Zhejiang-Jiangxi border, and the Japanese army did not invade Jiangxi again.

Conversely, the First Brigade, after nearly a month of rest and expansion in the Nanchang and Jiujiang areas, made considerable progress.

The Southern Independent Division of the First Army drove the Japanese invaders out of Jiangxi. In order to defend this hard-won victory, the people of Jiangxi enthusiastically joined the army.

A brigade commander transferred a regiment back to its original unit, and after replenishing four regiments with new recruits, there was still a surplus.

Half a month has passed, and apart from small groups harassing the Jiangxi border, the Japanese army in Zhejiang has not sent any large forces to invade Jiangxi.

Commander Zhang then ordered the First Brigade to relieve the Second Brigade. The Second Brigade was then ordered to retreat to the rear to rest and reorganize its forces.

After the Second Brigade retreated to the rear, its commander shifted the focus of recruitment efforts away from the First Brigade, concentrating on the surrounding counties and cities of Nanchang and Jiujiang. The local people were very enthusiastic about enlisting.

During the period when the First and Second Brigades were rotating, in order to prevent the Japanese army in Zhejiang from causing any trouble, the First Army's air force would occasionally launch unscheduled bombing raids on important cities and military strongholds in Zhejiang to maintain a strong deterrent against the Japanese army.