Even if I'm a useless bum at Whampoa Military Academy, I'll be invincible in the War of Re

North of Yicheng, the headquarters of the 323rd Brigade

Brigade Commander Qiu Fengzi was closely monitoring the situation in the direction of the county town. The inverted figure-eight formation was already in place, just waiting for the defeated soldiers to enter.

The ambush point chosen by Qiu the Madman was about five kilometers from the county seat. It was a necessary route to Zaozhuang, with low hills and ravines on both sides, which could hide thousands of ambushes.

The middle is a depression, through which the highway from Yixian to Zaozhuang passes. Qiu Fengzi's command post was located in Huaihua Village, about 800 meters west of the main road, which was also the position of the artillery company.

The reconnaissance company of the 645th Regiment was keeping an eye on the Japanese troops in the direction of the county town. The soldiers were camouflaged with vegetation and ambushed in the ditches on both sides, making them difficult to spot without careful searching.

Qiu Fengzi was already very experienced in ambushes and remained very calm, while Chief of Staff Ma Weilan was somewhat restless and would go out to check from time to time.

With no news coming from the reconnaissance company for a long time, Ma Weilan remained anxious and uncertain.

At 3:15 PM, the reconnaissance company commander sent someone to report. Ma Weilan pumped his fist and excitedly returned to the command room, his voice preceding his arrival:

"Commander, the Japanese are coming! There are at least several thousand of them!"

After Ma Weilan finished speaking, he marked the location on the map with a red pen. Qiu Fengzi, no longer pretending to be calm, leaned closer to the map, estimated the distance with a ruler, and then said:

"Given the speed of the Japanese army's retreat, they will arrive in a quarter of an hour. Considering the lag in information, the time will be greatly shortened."

Notify all departments that the guests will arrive soon and preparations for the meal are complete!

The brigade headquarters and each regiment agreed on a communication method. For a distance of only a few hundred meters, signal flags were faster than radios, and each regiment assigned an observer.

Qiu the Madman's instructions were transmitted to all departments via signal flags, and preparations for "welcoming guests" were quickly completed.

Qiu Fengzi also came out of the command post, found a high point and used binoculars to observe the enemy situation. Soon he saw a stream of people coming, a yellowish-brown line that became clearer and clearer.

Behind them was a cloud of dust; Qiu Fengzi guessed it was the 324th Brigade pursuing them. This was a clear sign they were being escorted to the west. A smirk played on Qiu Fengzi's lips as he muttered under his breath:

"Old Wang is really a man of principle."

The rout drew ever closer, the earth trembled, and they surged into the lowlands like a herd of wildebeest, shoving and jostling each other, utterly disoriented and no longer befitting a mighty army.

As Qiu Fengzi watched the fleeing soldiers enter the ambush, he decisively drew his signal pistol and fired three shots into the sky.

The gunfire further confused the Japanese soldiers, who seemed to sense the call of death and fled even more frantically.

Colonel Fujita screamed in terror:

"Baka yarou, there's an ambush!"

A barrage of shells rained down from the sky, crashing into the enemy ranks like a meteor shower, instantly wiping out dozens of men.

There were too many Japanese soldiers. If we were lucky, a single shell could hit more than a dozen, and every shot hit its mark.

The routed soldiers scattered like bees from a lit swarm, only to be met with a hail of bullets. Hundreds of light and heavy machine guns became the Japanese devils' nightmare and sealed their fate.

Thousands of machine guns, rifles, mortars, and grenades rained down on the Japanese troops, who were left with little power to resist and could only howl like madmen.

Colonel Fujita abandoned all illusions and decisively ordered the destruction of the regimental flag, resulting in the annihilation of the 40th Infantry Regiment.

Colonel Nagano still harbored a glimmer of hope, thinking he could break through the encirclement and would never admit defeat until the very last moment.

The defeated Japanese troops were divided into three infantry regiments, which were not under each other's command and fought independently, thus failing to form a united force to break through the encirclement.

The inverted V-formation completely blocked the east and west flanks. On the south front, thousands of soldiers from the 324th Brigade were chasing the Japanese. It was a standard encirclement with three sides open and one side left open, leaving only a narrow escape route on the north front.

The wisdom of our ancestors in warfare is that as long as there is a glimmer of hope, the Japanese will not fight the ambush, but will desperately try to break through the escape route.

The ambush troops only needed to close in from both flanks to easily eliminate the lagging Japanese soldiers, peeling them off layer by layer with almost no cost.

The two main regiments of the 323rd Brigade were fresh troops, numbering five thousand men, with two to three hundred light and heavy machine guns. Their firepower was so strong that it instilled fear in the Japanese, who instinctively retreated to the low-lying area and crowded together to break out from the north.

The soldiers unleashed their full firepower, spraying bullets at the fleeing troops with ease, as if they were carrying out a one-sided massacre.

Colonel Nagano, having finally escaped, excitedly pointed ahead with his riding crop and laughed heartily:

"Zhao Yunwen is nothing but a playboy. The Chinese are hypocrites, only good at playing the game of surrounding three sides and leaving one side open. If I were setting up an ambush, I would definitely lay an army here, and no one would be able to escape."

The senior staff officer felt a sudden chill when he saw Colonel Nagano putting on airs. He had loved reading "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" since he was a child, and this was not a good omen.

"Commander, the Chinese are catching up soon. It's more important to rescue the division commander."

The senior staff officer's words were somewhat discouraging, and Colonel Nagano was displeased. Just as he was about to reprimand him, he suddenly felt the ground shaking, and his expression changed drastically.

Just as I feared, this happened. The senior staff officer screamed in terror:

"Cavalry...the Chinese cavalry!"

This is exactly like a scene from a drama. It's all Colonel Nagano's fault. Why did he have to imitate Cao Bailian?

On the left flank, the cavalry had already picked up speed, with Regiment Commander Yao Wangshan charging at the forefront, his saber held high, flanked by several guards, each armed with a submachine gun.

The warhorses were charging at great speed, and the senior staff officer, knowing full well that two legs couldn't outrun four, shouted a reminder to Colonel Nagano:

"Commander, destroy the regimental flag immediately!"

"You idiot, coward! Trash!"

Colonel Nagano reacted as if someone had stepped on his tail, immediately launching into a tirade and expressing extreme rejection and instinctive resistance to the proposal to destroy the military flag.

The senior staff officers no longer cared about Colonel Nagano's reputation. They only had a few hundred remaining soldiers with them, which was absolutely no match for the charge of thousands of cavalry. If they were any slower, the enemy would be right in front of them.

"Commander, you have a responsibility to the Nagano family. The 10th Division cannot afford to lose its flag!"

Colonel Nagano was struck dumb, his face turning as pale as a corpse; family honor was more valuable than his own life.

The sound of horses' hooves thundered, and a murderous aura swept over them. Colonel Nagano coldly shouted:

"Destroy the military flag immediately, quickly!"

Yao Wangshan's warhorse leaped high into the air, and his saber slashed down, knocking away the senior staff officer who was trying to stop the horse from getting closer. Colonel Nagano didn't have time to dodge, and his head was sliced ​​off, rolling several meters away on the ground.

The routed soldiers were scattered and instantly overwhelmed by the cavalry. In an instant, sabers flew and heads rolled down the hill.

The cavalrymen, driven mad by the battle, switched to sabers, not to save bullets, but to enjoy the thrill of chopping off Japanese heads—this was the most stylish entrance for cavalry.

The few hundred Japanese remnants were no match for the cavalry regiment. In a short time, the remaining Japanese soldiers were annihilated, and not a single one escaped.

This is the correct way to use cavalry groups; they are meant to pursue fleeing soldiers, but breaking through enemy lines still requires artillery.

The fleeing soldiers who arrived later were terrified by the cavalry's brutality, and Colonel Fujita simply ordered them to retreat freely.

The Japanese soldiers scattered and fled, and the cavalry pursued them in platoons, killing so many that corpses littered the fields and blood flowed like rivers.

The battle lost all suspense and became a one-sided massacre. Most of the Japanese soldiers who broke out of Yixian were annihilated, and only a small number of remnants managed to escape by breaking out in small groups.

Zaozhuang, 10th Division Headquarters: When the devastating news arrived, Lieutenant General Isogai was struck dumb, as if waking from a dream, and angrily cursed:

"That despicable Zhao Yunwen, so cunning! Their goal is to besiege the enemy stronghold and ambush any reinforcements!"

"It's all over, everything's ruined!"

"A bunch of useless trash!"

Colonel Tsutsumi no Kagaki quickly advised:

"The Chinese army is marching in with overwhelming force; Zaozhuang cannot be defended. We must make plans as soon as possible!"

"You idiot, coward! I will live and die with Zaozhuang!"

Isogai himself didn't believe what he was saying, and then let out a long sigh:

"Let's turn north!"