kingnovel Chapter 322: Battle of Huangtu Ridge
Chapter 322: Battle of Huangtu Ridge
After talking about the devils, it was time to start drinking. Huang Gensheng first helped his father out.
Huang Xiaoer then took the lead in opening the wine he had brought and filled the glasses for his great uncle and fifth uncle.
Aunt Wu said cheerfully, "Drink more. I'll get you two more dishes to go with the wine."
Huang Xiaoer did not refuse this. This year, every household in Huangjia Village had surplus food, so adding two more dishes was no big deal. In previous years, they did not have the confidence to add more.
"Fifth uncle, great uncle, come here, I bought this wine from Gaojia Town a while ago, it tastes good, try it!"
In the countryside, everyone, regardless of age, likes wine. Even many women in their thirties and forties like Aunt Wu like it. It’s just that they didn’t have the conditions in previous years.
The wine Huang Xiaoer brought today was quite good, with a high alcohol content and clear water. It made even my fifth uncle, a man in his fifties, salivate over the sight of it.
Seeing Huang Xiaoer speak, the two naturally didn't say much. They picked up the bowl and took a big sip.
In the eyes of the old people, Huang Xiaoer was an official, which was a big deal in ancient times, so they had no grudges about Huang Xiaoer speaking first, not to mention that it was Huang Xiaoer who brought the wine.
As time gradually entered late at night, the peanuts, pork heads and other things on the table were all eaten, and only a little of the two bottles of wine that Huang Xiaoer brought were left.
Huang Xiaoer was already a little drunk at this time. Thinking of the purpose of his visit, he began to persuade his fifth uncle to go into the mountains.
Huang Gensheng also didn't want his father to stay, so he started to persuade him as well.
As expected, the old man was determined to stay and refused to listen no matter how the two men tried to persuade him. In the end, Huang Xiaoer had no choice but to return home.
The people in Gaojia Town were happily celebrating the New Year, but the people in the Eighth Route Army base were all hiding in the mountains and forests.
The Japanese invaders are coming, so everyone can only spend the New Year in the mountains and forests.
And making fire was definitely not allowed, so the people could only eat dry food.
There was no other way around it. There was no guarantee that the Japanese wouldn't send a small group of troops into the mountains, and Commander Yang didn't dare to take the risk of asking everyone to light a fire.
On the night of New Year's Eve, Abe Nobuhide did not let the 115th Division go. The Second Battalion pursued them with two thousand puppet troops, while Abe Nobuhide personally led the main force to follow behind and wait for the opportunity.
Inside the Eighth Route Army's temporary command post, Division Commander Yang nervously looked at the map, carefully considering whether there were any loopholes in his plan.
Although Commander Yang's equipment is better now than before, he is still under a lot of pressure to face so many enemies.
"Report to the division commander, the third regiment on the front line sent a telegram saying that the Japanese have retreated."
The signalman's words made Commander Yang a little confused. He turned to look at Staff Officer Li and wanted to ask his opinion.
Obviously, Staff Officer Li had no idea what the Japanese were up to and could only shake his head.
The Japanese Second Mixed Brigade did evacuate. Under the order of Abe Nobuhide, only a small number of people were left to conduct reconnaissance, and all the others went directly back to Laiyuan City.
The reason is very simple. The wind is too cold at night, and the Japanese will also feel cold. In addition, the visibility is low at night, and they are also afraid of being ambushed.
As news from all over gathered to Commander Yang, the two men realized that the Japanese would indeed not fight tonight.
Staff Officer Li thought for a moment and said, "Commander, the Japanese attack shouldn't be over yet. Let's rest here!"
Division Commander Yang nodded slightly and said, "Give orders to all regiments to remain vigilant. I'm afraid the Japanese will come back and strike back, which would be troublesome."
It is still necessary to be cautious, especially when facing so many devils.
In fact, Commander Yang was overthinking it. Abe Nobuhide evacuated completely and took the large army back to the city to sleep. He had no intention of continuing the attack at all.
Early morning of the first day of the new year.
Under the order of brigade commander Abe Nobuhide, the Japanese continued their march.
After walking through Yasuya again, the Japanese soldiers adopted the method of reconnaissance, rotation, gradual occupation and cover of advance to search and advance in the direction of Shangzhuangzi and Zhaitou.
Although the Japanese were very alert and deliberately slowed down their pace, they still did not discover the ambush.
In the afternoon, Japanese scouts reported that they had found signs of Eighth Route Army activities northwest of Huangtuling.
At this time, Abe Nobuhide was full of confidence. He did not take the 115th Division in front of him seriously at all. He directly ordered all the troops to assemble at Huangtuling.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, the Japanese entered the canyon path of Huangtuling one after another.
Upon receiving the telegram from the front, Division Commander Yang immediately issued an order: "Have all units proceed according to the plan. The 1st and 25th Regiments will take the lead in launching the attack."
"The Second, Third, and Special Forces Regiments will launch a joint attack from the west, south, and north."
The plan was successful, but it was undoubtedly very difficult for them to swallow so many devils and puppet troops.
But no matter how difficult it is, we must fight, firstly for our country, and secondly to boost the morale of the Chinese military and civilians.
Seeing his division commander was unusually nervous, Staff Officer Li couldn't help but smile and said, "Division Commander, the soldiers have enough ammunition this time. We also captured a lot of Japanese weapons and ammunition in the battle the day before yesterday."
"If the Japs want to break out this time, they can't do it without leaving some men behind. Besides, our heavy artillery still has more than 50 rounds of shells."
In fact, in their hearts, they only thought that if they could kill half of the enemies in this battle, it would be a great victory.
What was different from the day before was that this time the Second Mixed Brigade was mobilized en masse, along with three thousand puppet troops and their tank formations. It was already a very high requirement to annihilate half of them.
Although the Eighth Route Army had support from the 120th Division's Special Forces Regiment and the th Regiment, it did not have that many artillery pieces after all, and it was extremely difficult to defeat the Japanese Second Mixed Brigade in one fell swoop.
"Hey, if it wasn't Chinese New Year, I would definitely go to the Independent Regiment to get some good stuff."
"Damn it, how much did I have to pay to contain the Japanese Second Mixed Brigade?"
Commander Yang's complaint left Staff Officer Li speechless, but it was nothing to say behind closed doors.
In fact, Ji Guangshun had suggested it yesterday, but was rejected outright by Commander Yang. Firstly, it was the New Year, and secondly, the two places were a hundred kilometers apart.
Besides, Commander Yang was afraid that Gu Changfeng would have his own arrangements, so he did not accept this suggestion.
"Old Li, if the Independent Regiment were to fight this battle, could they completely wipe out the Japanese Second Mixed Brigade?"
Commander Yang suddenly became curious and asked Staff Officer Li directly.
Upon hearing this, Staff Officer Li hesitated and said, "It should be possible. Their battalion has more mortars and infantry guns than our entire regiment."
"Plus, their regimental headquarters also has a heavy artillery battalion. If it were us, we wouldn't dare to touch even a single division, let alone a brigade!"
The teachers and medical staff arranged by Commander Yang were not arranged in vain. Almost all the intelligence of the independent regiment was passed to the Eighth Route Army headquarters.
Gu Changfeng didn't care about this, so he was almost open to the Eighth Route Army in this regard.
"Damn it, this guy is a local rich man. After the Japanese raid is over, I have to go to the independent regiment's base."
Staff Officer Li understood his division commander's little tricks very well, so he just smiled and let it go.
At this time, the independent regiments had become the favorites of the various divisions of the Eighth Route Army, and everyone wanted to rob some of them.