Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Plus it was night time.

The limited field of vision makes the fighting even more chaotic.

This melee lasted for nearly an hour.

In the small space of Songjiazhuang, a force of more than 4,000 people was fighting.

During the battle, some even shot in the back, because there were enemies and friendly forces around. In fact, if they were to engage in a head-on battle, the 1st and 3rd Guard Regiments combined would not necessarily have the upper hand against two Japanese field battalions.

After all, there are more than 1100 people in the field brigade.

But this night was completely different. The three battalions of the First Guard Regiment, plus the regimental headquarters' guard company, totaling over 1600 men, gained the upper hand. This was even more evident after the five companies of the Third Guard Regiment joined the battle.

Because the Japanese army was really in chaos.

There were originally two armies, and after the chaos of the night, the two armies were combined, and the command became even more chaotic. The regimental commander couldn't find the battalion commander, the battalion commander couldn't find his squadron commander, and the squadron commander couldn't find his squadron commander.

The First and Third Guard Regiments, though disorganized, maintained unified company-level operations. While the chaotic regimental commander couldn't find the battalion commander, and the battalion commander couldn't find the company commander, the companies fought as a unit, and the subordinate companies remained in order.

Therefore, the overall battle was a chaotic one, but when it came to company-level units, the fighting was still very organized.

More than an hour later, the troops of both sides slowly broke off contact.

"How about it?"

"It's the first time I've played something so cool and exciting."

Cao was very excited.

He came up to Wei Hongjun and said, "Political Commissar, you don't know. We defeated all those devils. After we entered the village, we used pistols and grenades to mow down a large area. When the Japanese army reacted, we went up and fought them with bayonets. If our regiment's guard company went up, I guarantee that we would kill at least fifty people.

"The Japanese army didn't pursue us, did they?"

"Their troops are all scattered. They can't gather together in such a short time, so how can they chase us?"

"What a shame. I have heavy and light machine guns ready, waiting for the Japanese to catch up.

Wei Hongjun slapped his thigh.

In order to prevent the Japanese from pursuing them, Wei Hongjun ordered the remaining troops of the Third Guard Regiment to deploy all their light and heavy machine guns. If the Japanese came after them, they would be given a barrage of machine gun fire.

"Commissar, Commander, look at what we've brought back."

"Why are there so many mortars?"

"Our company fought its way in and found itself right where the Japanese mortar unit was. We destroyed everything there and captured a total of 16 mortars. The second company of the second battalion wiped out a Japanese machine gun company and captured three heavy machine guns and 3 Type 14 rifles."

"it is good."

Wei Hongjun was overjoyed.

Wei Hongjun did not expect that this night attack would be so effective.

"After the troops assembled, they all went up the mountain. Let the soldiers rest for a while; everyone was very tired.

Chapter 303 Forced to Retreat

Wei Hongjun was counting the casualties and spoils of war, and the entire army was very happy.

After all, it was the first time I fought so hard.

The troops had ambushed the Japanese before, killing a major general. However, each time such an ambush ended, the troops suffered heavy casualties. However, this time, although the night attack on the Japanese was a chaotic battle, the Eighth Route Army was in control of the entire rhythm.

When the troops attacked, each man had only one gun. When they returned, almost everyone could carry two guns. Some troops even directly destroyed the Japanese mortar and machine gun units.

Bring back a large number of mortars and light and heavy machine guns.

Anyway, the spoils were rich.

The Japanese side was in a miserable state.

Because they all hated it.

What war did we just fight? Did we just fight a war?

We did fight, but was it really a war just now?

The Japanese army had fought all manner of battles, encountering all sorts of opponents. But when had they ever fought such a bizarre, chaotic battle, like a street fight between thugs? Even from their perspective, it was a cowardly fight. They didn't even know what they had fought after it was over. It was just a chaotic fight in a small area, and before they could fully react, the Eighth Route Army retreated.

Akiyama Utaro is the colonel and the highest-ranking commander of the two units.

So he immediately began to gather his troops.

"Where's Takeda-kun?"

"Your Excellency, the captain has died."

"The jade broke?"

"Yes."

Akiyama Utaro didn't know what to say.

The major-level battalion commander of the 35th Division, who had entered Shengxian from Laiyuan, had died inexplicably and miserably in a night battle. He probably didn't even expect his death to be so pathetic. Akiyama Utaro glanced at his battalion commander. Although he wasn't dead, he was injured. He had been shot by an Eighth Route Army pistol, but fortunately, it was only in the arm. If it had hit a vital part, he would have died miserably in this inexplicable battle.

Akiyama Utaro was in a bad mood.

This was originally an opportunity to raid the Eighth Column's base, but now it has turned out like this.

"What about your squadron's casualties? Have you counted them?"

"According to statistics, 186 soldiers were killed, 77 were seriously injured, and 161 were slightly injured.

"How many combat-capable soldiers do you have left?"

"There are still about 460 uninjured soldiers in the army."

"hehe."

Akiyama Utaro couldn't help but smile bitterly.

A large battalion of soldiers had arrived in Sheng County for only a day and a night, and only about 460 healthy soldiers remained. Including the lightly wounded, there were only about 600 soldiers able to fight. It was truly pitiful.

However, seeing the situation on his side, Akiyama Utaro was in no mood to care about their affairs. So he directly said to his subordinates: "Nagano-kun, what's the situation of our team?

"Colonel, our brigade's situation is similar to theirs.

But we were in a worse situation than they were. They wiped out our mortar and machine gun squadrons. I went to see them, and when they left, they took all our mortars and light and heavy machine guns with them. They didn't even leave behind any mortar shells or machine gun ammunition.

"All gone?"

"Yes."

Akiyama Utaro didn't know what to say.

For this offensive, Akiyama Utaro drew upon the regiment's mortars, light and heavy machine guns to form two squadrons: one mortar squadron and one machine gun squadron, which operated alongside the battalion.

Because this was a surprise attack, we did not bring heavy weapons such as infantry guns.

In order to strengthen the firepower of the troops, a mortar squadron and machine gun column were temporarily formed. However, they were all wiped out by the Eighth Route Army and became their trophies.

"What are the specific casualties?"

"251 killed, 68 seriously wounded, and 189 slightly wounded."

How the war was fought.

Akiyama Utaro still doesn't understand what kind of warfare the Eighth Route Army fought. He'd learned so much in school and fought on the battlefield for so many years, but he'd never seen anything like it.

The battle was fought in such a confused manner.

What made Akiyama Utaro angry was that his side suffered too many casualties in this battle.

"Nagano-kun, the troops are ready to retreat. We will leave at daybreak.

"Yes."

Akiyama Utaro realized that this sneak attack had failed.

And they also suffered heavy casualties.

The only option now was to withdraw from Sheng County. If we waited for the rest of the 8th Column to arrive for reinforcement, it would be a question whether we could escape. The Eighth Route Army troops that attacked tonight were vigorous and numerous.

Akiyama Utaro understood that reinforcements had arrived from the 8th Column.

Time is running out, so we should leave quickly.

Akiyama Utaro turned his head and looked at the squadron leader who was currently in charge of the 35th Division and said, "Do you want to come with us or go on your own?"

"Your Excellency, we can just leave Xiaonan Mountain."

"Ok."

It’s not an army anyway.

Akiyama Utaro was in no mood to care. No one on the Japanese side dared to sleep, fearing another attack from the Eighth Route Army. As daylight dawned, before the sun even rose, Akiyama Utaro began packing up.

"Burned."

Akiyama Yutaro looked at the buildings in Songjiazhuang with fire in his eyes.

The people here weren't caught, but what were they keeping these things for? Soon, the entire Songjiazhuang was engulfed in flames. Wei Hongjun watched this from the mountain, his face turning very grim. It took an incredible amount of effort to transform Songjiazhuang from a small rural village into a place with a population of several thousand.

That was all Ba Zong Zan’s fortune.

But now it has been burned down by the Japanese army.

Fortunately, the arsenal was located on the mountain, otherwise it would have been destroyed. If the machinery and equipment that the arsenal had worked so hard to build were also destroyed, Wei Hongjun would have had no place to cry.

"Political Commissar, the Japanese army is about to withdraw."

Guo Changyi spoke.

Then he pointed at Songjiazhuang and said, "Political Commissar, look. The Japanese army is not retreating together. The two groups are preparing separately.

Wei Hongjun nodded.

Guo Changyi's observation was correct. The Japanese troops were preparing to retreat individually, not together.

Wei Hongjun thought for a moment and said to the guard battalion commander Tian Jingmin who was accompanying him, "Tian Jingmin, send someone to run over via the mountain road to District 3 to find Comrade Shi Mangui, the captain of the county brigade. Tell Shi Mangui to have the county brigade find a suitable location to block the Japanese army. We must not let the Japanese army leave Sheng County and enter Dingbei County from Districts 3 and 4. We will immediately follow and encircle and annihilate this group of Japanese troops."

Wei Hongjun had not thought about encircling this group of Japanese troops before.

But they were just too much.

The fact that Songjiazhuang had been set on fire was unacceptable to Wei Hongjun. Meanwhile, the follow-up troops of the First Guard Regiment had arrived. Combined with the weapons captured last night, the heavy firepower of the First and Third Guard Regiments had been greatly strengthened.

And the Japanese troops did not retreat together.