APTnovel Chapter 1919: Fighting Guerrilla Warfare Against the Japanese Army
Chapter 1919: Fighting Guerrilla Warfare Against the Japanese Army
Although the Japanese army achieved some success in these three attacks on the city gates, the regimental commander knew that things should not be done more than three times.
He ordered his troops to rest and await further orders in Tianjia Town outside Wuxue County, and to cease any proactive attacks.
The Japanese troops, who had been lying in ambush outside Wuxue County for three days, failed to ambush the Devil Troops and the New Fourth Army, and had to return disappointed.
In order to continue to disrupt the Japanese army's search for troops hiding in Wuxue County, the regimental commander and his men stopped their attack on the Japanese army in Wuxue County, but the air force of the First Army was dispatched.
They bombed the Japanese troops and their command posts on the city walls from time to time, keeping the Japanese busy and unable to pay attention to the devilish troops and the New Fourth Army hiding in Wuxue County.
While attacking Wuxue County, the Japanese army also attacked Xishui County and Qichun County. However, they encountered fierce resistance from the 2nd and 3rd Regiments of the 1st Brigade and the 13th Brigade of the 14th Brigade of the New Fourth Army.
The Japanese forces' battles in Xishui and Qichun counties were not progressing smoothly. After occupying Wuxue County, the Japanese forces successively dispatched reinforcements, but these were met with encirclement and interception by the First Army Air Force.
The Japanese army went all out in this encirclement and suppression of the Southern Independent Division and the New Fourth Army's Fifth Division, with its troops advancing on multiple fronts simultaneously. The First Army Air Force was unable to attend to all the Japanese forces at once.
Japanese troops continued to arrive in Xishui County and Qichun County to provide reinforcements.
Because the Japanese counterattack was so fierce, Commander-in-Chief Li and Division Commander Zhang decided to abandon Xishui County and Qichun County after discussion.
The main force was dispersed into four units: the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Regiments of the 1st Brigade of the Southern Independent Division each led a contingent of Eighth Route Army troops to fight in the surrounding towns and villages of Xishui County, Qichun County, Wuxue County, Luotian County and Yingshan County, engaging in guerrilla warfare against the Japanese army and wearing down their manpower in the process.
The Japanese troops that went out to encircle and suppress the New Fourth Army and the First Brigade were repeatedly ambushed and suffered heavy losses.
The major had also learned his lesson and began to revise the encirclement plan.
He divided these county towns and surrounding townships into grids, with each grid corresponding to a unit. When the Japanese troops in one grid were attacked, the Japanese troops in the surrounding grids quickly surrounded them.
Okamura Yasuji's strategy of using roads as chains and bunkers as locks to carry out the mopping-up operation had caused the Eighth Route Army considerable trouble a few years earlier. However, the major forgot that their current opponent was not only the New Fourth Army, but also the devilish troops.
The brigade commander equipped each regiment with several Golden Eagle drones. Any movement by the Japanese troops was immediately detected by the Golden Eagles.
This meant that during each Japanese encirclement campaign, the Independent Division and the New Fourth Army were able to slip away from the junctions of various Japanese forces.
Meanwhile, the Japanese 9th Division in Puqi (now Chibi City) and the Japanese 106th Division in Yangxin also launched attacks on Ruichang City and Wuning County in Jiangxi Province.
At that time, Yanggang Town in Hubei Province was only 60 kilometers away from Ruichang City in Jiangxi Province, and the county seat was only 120 kilometers away from Jiujiang City in Jiangxi Province. The 2nd Brigade of the Southern Independent Division had been on high alert against the Japanese troops in this direction.
The Second Regiment of the Second Brigade set up a defensive line in Xiao'ao on the border of Hubei and Jiangxi, preparing to replicate the classic case of the Battle of Wuhan in 38.
The 3rd Regiment of the 2nd Brigade set up defenses at the pass of the Mufu Mountains to block the Japanese army from advancing into Jiangxi from Puqi County, Hubei.
The 4th Regiment of the 2nd Brigade set up defenses along Bengshan and the Chaoyang River to prevent Japanese troops from Yangxin County, Hubei Province, from crossing the Chaoyang River and invading Jiangxi Province.
The Third and Fourth Regiments of the Third Brigade remained in Jiujiang County as reserves.
While the Japanese 6th Division in Wuchang and the Japanese 13th Division in Hankou were besieging the 1st Brigade of the Southern Independent Division and the 5th Division of the New Fourth Army in Huanggang County, Wuxue County and surrounding towns, the Japanese 9th Division and the 106th Division in Puqi and Yangxin also launched an attack on the 2nd Brigade of the Southern Independent Division.