Age of Conquest Reborn

Chapter 549 Night Attack

Feng Zhi'an looked at the dozen young officers walking in front of him in surprise, thinking rapidly in his mind, what are they going to do? Are they going to mutiny or are they going to hold him hostage and force him to agree to their demands?

The sudden turn of events shocked the other officers who participated in the meeting, and they looked at the abnormal development at a loss. Suddenly, these dozen officers all knelt down on one knee and said, "Deputy Commander, please.

To fulfill the wish of all my subordinates, the commander and many good brothers fell at the gunpoint of the little Japs. If this revenge is not avenged, we will be in trouble for the rest of our lives. The few of us are recruiting brothers in the army who are willing to follow us to kill the Japanese Japs.

The large forces can evacuate as planned without affecting your plans."

A tragic momentum rose in the room, and Feng Zhi'an choked in his throat. He could no longer refuse these enthusiastic soldiers' desire to kill the enemy to the death. He sighed, "Okay, you can choose whatever you want, soldiers.

In addition, I will transfer all the best weapons in the entire corps to you. I only have one sentence: come back alive and find the chief of staff's retreat route map."

After a pause, he added: "This is also the commander's wish. I am old and may have different ideas from you. I hope you won't blame me." After saying that, a lonely expression appeared on his face. Under the dim light, it seemed that

He felt an indescribable disappointment. Perhaps, the enthusiasm of these young officers inspired the fighting will of the old soldiers in his heart, but they could not personally charge into battle.

In the cold wind, reflecting the swaying firelight, more than a thousand men stood in the dark night like solidified statues. These were soldiers who volunteered to join the death squads. They were all equipped with light machine guns and submachine guns, and their bodies were covered with grenades. Each man had one.

The silk on the handle of a big knife flutters in the wind, hunting like a flag.

It was already past one o'clock in the morning on December 21, and the troops of the Sulu Garrison Corps were quietly evacuating their positions in an orderly manner. The Japanese troops on the opposite side were huddled in the trenches and did not notice at all that under the cover of night, the Japanese troops were hit.

The team's position has changed, and Feng Zhi'an arrived in front of the death squad's queue.

This old soldier who has experienced countless battles has been fighting with his compatriots for half his life. Only on the battlefield of the bloody battle with the foreign invaders did he find the blood that he had lost long ago. He saluted him with a straight military salute and prepared to fight against him.

Each of his subordinates then turned and left. No one saw the tears welling up from the corners of the eyes of this old soldier who was over fifty years old, and fell on the cold wind and night of the Central Plains.

Isotani Rensuke sat in the headquarters with a depressed mood. Staff officers came in and out. Although the fire was burning brightly, he still felt cold in his heart. In just five days, his troops lost two men in Kaifeng.

More than ten thousand people have already arrived in Shangqiu

Nearly 20,000 people have been lost, and there is still no hope of conquering Shangqiu. Tomorrow, tomorrow cannot be predicted. All I know is that it will still be a bloody fight. The Chinese army on the opposite side is like an impenetrable wall, blocking the way.

in front of him and his troops.

Especially today, the sudden bombing by the ** Division Air Force, and the fire bombs falling from the sky, caused an immeasurable blow to the morale of the troops. Even he, a veteran soldier who was used to seeing corpses everywhere on the battlefield, thought of it.

The soldiers, who were on fire, howled miserably before dying, and felt chills in their hearts. What's more, those ordinary soldiers, no matter how powerful their bushido spirit was, could not withstand bullets.

He regarded the encounter with the bombing by Japanese Army aircraft in Shangqiu as top-level information and quickly reported it to the North China Expeditionary Forces Headquarters, hoping to attract sufficient attention from the top management and regain the lost air superiority. The telegram had just been sent. But he received a telegram that made him very depressed.

Xiangyue Qingsi mobilized a division from the Niangziguan battlefield to break into Henan from the Anyang breach. It served as a backup force for the First Army. It also wanted to use this to expand the breach and stabilize the situation in the Luoyang area west of Zhengzhou and prepare for a comprehensive occupation. Henan prepares.

This was a decision made by Kōgetsu Seiji and Isotani Rensuke before they knew that all key points on the line from Anyang to Zhengzhou had been recovered by the troops commanded by Tang Qiuli. The Japanese troops in this division crossed Zhangzhou without warning. When crossing the river, Yuan Jinghao's troops, who had been well prepared, suddenly attacked halfway across the river. The smooth ice restricted the Japanese army's movement speed and became a living target for light and heavy machine guns. Artillery shells exploded on the river. The ice cave became a death trap for the Japanese soldiers who retreated in a hurry.

After a fierce battle for half a day, the Japanese troops of one division were beaten back again and again. Once they retreated from Yuecheng and then Cizhou, the Chinese Army crossed the Zhanghe River again and pursued them until they pushed the Japanese troops to Handan before stopping the attack and Occupying Cizhou and pushing the front lines of Hebei and Henan into Hebei, Anyang became the rear.

Isotani Rensuke looked at the telegram and was full of displeasure. Although he had never planned to return to North China along the route from Zhengzhou to Anyang, it was not a pleasant thing after all when his back was cut off. He always felt like there was a cool breeze on the back of his head. The feeling of being unreliable also meant that there was no hope for the follow-up troops, and the First Army was truly alone.

Putting these things together, Isotani Rensuke can't be in a good mood. He hasn't seen the shadow of Xuzhou yet. The attack of the First Army is sharp and blunt. The high ambition when he was ordered to form the First Army has been ruthlessly destroyed. Reality was shattered by repeated blows, and Isotani Rensuke increasingly felt that this trip south would never go smoothly.

It was already around two o'clock in the morning, and Isotani Rensuke was not sleepy at all. The fire bombs dropped by the damn China planes had ignited a lot of fires. They would not affect tomorrow's attack operations. I hope that the battle of Shangqiu will end tomorrow. .

The sudden sound of gunfire and shouts of death woke him up from his reverie. A staff officer rushed in to report that the Chinese army suddenly launched a sneak attack deep into our position. The number of enemy troops was currently unknown, and there were battles taking place everywhere. , Isotani Rensuke was startled, and suddenly remembered that Kaifeng City was also attacked suddenly, and the troops of the ** Division took advantage of the chaos to withdraw.

Could it be this trick again, using a sudden attack by a small number of troops to cover the evacuation of the main force? He immediately gave the order, and the troops immediately began to attack, surrounding and annihilating the attacking *** division troops. Just as the staff officer was about to convey the order, he stopped him again, The officers under Tang Qiuli were not so stupid. On the contrary, they were all cunning and full of tricks. They attacked me all night and set up ambushes. The Imperial Japanese Army was not good at night fighting.

He canceled the order to attack immediately, and instead ordered the troops not to let go of the sneak attack by the Chinese troops. There were shouts of killing and fierce gunfire. The explosions lasted for more than an hour before gradually subsided. The battle was over, and the sneak attack by the Chinese troops was over. The troops were annihilated. In the Chinese saying, this is called "stealing chicken but losing rice". In fact, what he said is "being clever but being misled by cleverness". If he attacks immediately, he will at least buy himself more than five hours. time.

The staff officer came in and reported: "Your Excellency, Commander, the sneak attack of the Chinese army has been repelled by us." "Hani? Repulsed, not completely annihilated?" The result was beyond his expectation, and he asked: "Details?"

The staff officer hesitated and replied: "According to reports from the front, a group of about a thousand Chinese soldiers, very well-equipped, all with automatic weapons, and carrying broadswords, suddenly launched an attack on the defensive position of our Pianshan brigade, inflicting heavy losses on them."

Our soldiers caused heavy casualties, and later, under the attack of our superior force, they retreated to the north and south of Shangqiu. Because the situation was unclear and it was night, our army did not pursue it."

Isotani Rensuke was furious. He launched an attack on our more than 100,000 Imperial Army troops with more than a thousand troops, but he retreated completely. Katayama Hirono was incompetent. It was a shame for the Japanese Imperial Army. He rushed to Katayama with anger.

Along the way to the brigade's position, we saw the corpses of soldiers missing arms and legs from time to time. I accidentally kicked someone on the head. Without looking closely, I knew it was one of my own soldiers, with a helmet on his head.

This group of Chinese soldiers used cold weapons to kill the brave and skilled imperial soldiers, leaving corpses everywhere. Isoya Renjie was so angry that he almost went crazy. When he saw Katayama Kono, who also had an ashen face, he learned that it was indeed a

Chinese soldiers armed with broadswords were killing each other in and out of the Katayama brigade's position.

Because it was night, the soldiers did not dare to shoot blindly for fear of accidentally injuring their own people. As a result, they suffered a big loss. More than a thousand people were hacked to death with machetes, and more than 2,000 people had their arms and legs chopped off. The number of troops was reduced by 3,000.

Among the many people, Isoya Rensuke gave Katayama a cold look and said, "Give me a detailed report." After saying that, he turned around and walked away, leaving Katayama Kono, who was so depressed that he almost vomited blood, to sit here in a daze.

Feng Zhian, who had withdrawn from Shangqiu with his troops, ordered the chief of staff to continue marching towards Haozhou with his troops. He led a regiment of troops and listened on a hill about ten kilometers outside the south gate of Shangqiu.

Amidst the fierce gunfire in the city, he waited anxiously, hoping to see those young figures. He knew that the hope was slim, but he was unwilling to give in. There was always hope in his heart.

The gunfire stopped, and in the dark night, there was still no figure in sight. More than half an hour passed, and he was desperate. It was a pity for more than a thousand loyal and brave men. Suddenly, the adjutant beside him shouted in surprise:

"Deputy Commander, you see, it should be them"

Following the direction pointed by the adjutant, Feng Zhi'an saw his familiar figure. As he got closer, a strong smell of blood hit his nostrils. The murderous aura in his body had not dissipated. He said to himself, it would be good to come back. It would be good to come back.

This raid could be described as a complete victory, with less than a hundred casualties. They killed people all over the Japanese positions. I don’t know how many little Japs had their heads cut off. Anyway, the swords were sharpened.

The head of the guard group was covered in blood. He touched his feet and reported: "Deputy Commander, the death squad has reported to you. Fortunately, it has fulfilled its mission and killed more than a thousand Japs at the cost of eighty-seven casualties. I now request that

"Return to the team." Feng Zhian looked at the soldiers covered in blood, said nothing, waved his hand, and disappeared into the darkness with his troops.

The soldiers clearly saw the jumping sparks in the deputy commander's eyes. They did not see Feng Zhi'an facing the direction of Shangqiu, solemnly saluting, and secretly said in his heart: "Xin Chen, I brought the troops out safely, soldiers."

We have avenged you, you can go in peace."

He seemed to see the tall figure and hear the heroic laughter. This figure and this laughter have always been with him throughout his military career.

(To be continued)