Chapter 1 1938

At noon on March 30, 1938,

The Japanese Second Regiment began its attack on Xiang City.

Now, of the planned support forces, only Li Daxiong's Independent Cavalry Regiment of the Thirteenth Army had arrived at the battlefield.

Although the attacking Japanese Second Regiment had not completely withdrawn,

Division Commander Li Hanzhang believed that Xiang City was already safe.

He reported that morning's news of the combined efforts of the Seventy-fourth Division, the Special Operations Brigade, and the Independent Cavalry Regiment of the Thirteenth Army in Xiang City, resulting in nearly 3,000 Japanese casualties.

Army Commander Cao Fulin of the Fifty-fifth Army and Commander-in-Chief Sun Tong of the Third Army Group were both incredulous.

Only after confirming this repeatedly did they feel relieved.

The Third Army Group was originally composed of Han Fuqu's direct line troops. When the Japanese navy launched its attack,

The Third Army Group did not resist, and directly withdrew from Qingdao.

When the Japanese Fifth Division began to cross the Yellow River, the Third Army Group did not resist.

Wherever the Japanese went, the Third Army Group retreated, and retreated, and retreated.

This situation did not change until Chiang Kai-shek executed Han Fuqu, and Sun Tong, the commander of the Third Army Group, took over as commander-in-chief.

But by this time, most of Shandong had been occupied by the Japanese without firing a single shot.

Today, the Seventy-fourth Division was able to annihilate more than 3,000 Japanese soldiers in Xiang City, instantly changing the image of the Third Army Group as a non-resistant army.

Both Cao Fulin and Sun Tong were very excited.

Inside the Fifth War Area Command, there was also a burst of cheers.

For commanders like Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, the safety of Xiang City was the best news.

The Seventy-fourth Division's ability to annihilate more than 3,000 Japanese soldiers in Xiang City also put one person's mind at ease.

Although Chiang Kai-shek had executed the commander-in-chief of the Third Army Group, was the Third Army Group truly a team that resisted Japan?

He was still somewhat doubtful in his heart.

Especially this time, the Fifth Division suddenly abandoned its attack from Linyi and instead came to Xiang City to make a breakthrough.

In the past two days, Chiang Kai-shek had often considered what kind of team the Third Army Group was.

Now it was good: annihilating more than 3,000 Japanese soldiers in one battle.

Such a result was surprising, and at the same time, it could be regarded as a certificate of allegiance.

The Third Army Group used practical actions to show that they were resolutely resisting Japan.

And that they were able to have a head-on duel with the Japanese.

The previous failure to fire a single shot was only the intention of the commander-in-chief alone.

An excited Chiang Kai-shek immediately issued a commendation order, commending Division Commander Li Hanzhang of the Seventy-fourth Division and Regiment Commander Li Daxiong of the Independent Regiment for their proper command.

All of this had nothing to do with the Special Operations Brigade.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Commander-in-Chief Sun Tong of the Third Army Group led the Twelfth Army to Xiang City.

Only now could Xiang City be considered truly safe and worry-free.

Today's blow to the Japanese was largely due to the contributions of the Third Artillery Regiment of the Seventy-fourth Division.

After the battle, the officers and soldiers of the Third Regiment did not sit down to rest.

Under the command of the artillery platoon of the Special Operations Brigade, they began to wipe and maintain the cannons.

Time was tight, and the soldiers of the artillery platoon couldn't wait to teach all their knowledge of these cannons.

Fortunately, the Third Army Group had been in Shandong and was a well-equipped army.

After learning that the Seventy-fourth Division had completely acquired the thirty-six cannons of a Japanese artillery battalion,

Commander-in-Chief Sun Tong prepared a company of artillery instructors for the Seventy-fourth Division.

This was a real artillery company.

When Division Commander Seishiro Itagaki learned that the Second Regiment had suffered a major blow and that Regiment Commander Jun Sakamoto had vomited blood and fainted on the battlefield,

He also could not accept such a result.

In this situation, he was unwilling to withdraw his troops.

To this end, Division Commander Seishiro Itagaki immediately increased his forces: he sent another regiment from the Twenty-first Brigade to Xiang City to join the battle immediately.

The afternoon of the thirtieth was a quiet afternoon for the entire battlefield of the National Army in Xuzhou.

From Linyi to Taierzhuang, there was no gunfire.

Xiang City was the same.

The First Company, Second Company, and Artillery Platoon of the Special Operations Brigade finally had some free time.

Only Mao Wenxing was still flying along this line, observing the latest movements of the Japanese.

With the arrival of the Twelfth Army and the Independent Cavalry Regiment in Xiang City, Lin Fan was preparing to return to Taierzhuang.

He led the First and Second Companies to Xiang City originally to relieve the emergency, not to be stationed there.

Lin Fan did not publicize the withdrawal of the Special Operations Brigade.

He always believed that actions should be kept secret, especially in the current situation.

In case the action plan was revealed in advance and leaked by spies, things would be difficult to handle.

The First and Second Companies had been fighting continuously for the past two days, and they were indeed a little tired.

Mao Wenxing was also quite tired from pre-warning and commanding alone in the air.

On the afternoon of the thirty-first, Lin Fan ordered: "The Special Operations Brigade has completed its mission to reinforce Xiang City. Everyone will rest for half a day."

Commander-in-Chief Sun Tong of the Third Army Group specially came to visit Lin Fan at the Special Operations Brigade's camp in Xiang City.

As the superior of the Seventy-fourth Division, he mainly came to see with his own eyes this team of only four hundred people, which was able to turn the tide before the arrival of the large army.

He wanted to see what kind of team this was.

More importantly, Lin Fan's grand gesture had also frightened him.

Being able to send out a large battalion of artillery equipment at once, even Chiang Kai-shek was not so generous.

Therefore, Sun Tong believed that it was necessary to maintain a good relationship with the Special Operations Brigade.

Although Lin Fan was only a brigade commander, he was capable.

When Sun Tong arrived at the Special Operations Brigade's驻扎地 (zhùzhā dì, stationed location), the soldiers of the First and Second Companies were wiping their weapons.

Apart from seeing that the soldiers of this team were all strong, he didn't see anything special.

There were also strong soldiers in the Third Army Group, but their combat effectiveness was by no means comparable to that of the Special Operations Brigade.

Lin Fan was very enthusiastic about all the generals who could resist Japan.

He constantly thanked Commander-in-Chief Sun Tong for the Special Operations Brigade's rescue of the Seventy-fourth Division, and sent the Seventy-fourth Division an artillery regiment.

There were also those thousands of rifles and hundreds of machine guns, all of which were captured after annihilating three Japanese battalions.

The Special Operations Brigade didn't want anything this time, not even the bullets that had been used up.

This was because the Special Operations Brigade had seized a large amount of supplies in Lincheng, and they could get sufficient supplies as soon as they returned to Taierzhuang.

As for the Seventy-fourth Division, they only had two ways to get supplies: one was to get supplies from the Fifth War Area, and the other was to fight the Japanese themselves and seize them from the battlefield.

Both types of supply were a bit difficult for the Third Army Group.

Lin Fan had his own food, so he wouldn't compete with them for it.

On the morning of April 1, Lin Fan said goodbye to Division Commander Li Hanzhang on the phone: The Special Operations Brigade was going back to Taierzhuang.

This farewell came suddenly, and Li Hanzhang had not heard any news of it beforehand.

However, the Special Operations Brigade had always been a knife in Xiang City, only attacking and not defending.

All the defenses of the various positions in Xiang City were undertaken by the Seventy-fourth Division itself.

The withdrawal of the Special Operations Brigade did not affect the battle situation.

It's just that Division Commander Li Hanzhang still didn't want to let them go.

After all, with such a sharp knife by his side, the Japanese would not dare to look at Xiang City directly.

In any case, the Special Operations Brigade was definitely going back to Taierzhuang, after all, their mission in Taierzhuang had not been completed.

At seven o'clock in the morning, Lin Fan led his troops out of Xiang City.

Along the way they came, they walked briskly towards Taierzhuang.

On the way back, Lin Fan didn't plan to go back quietly.

Their team was now a ghost wandering outside the battlefield.

With Mao Wenxing guarding the air, and ten tanks on the ground, everyone in the company was riding a war horse, and their maneuverability was excellent.

The Special Operations Brigade marched rapidly all the way, advancing fifteen kilometers in an hour, and arrived at the place where they encountered the Japanese supply train the day before.

Three kilometers south of here was a Japanese team.

Captain Watanabe Zaemon, who was stationed in Zhang Village, had been very angry these past two days: his company had been assigned to act with a regiment of puppet troops.

This was obviously because the regiment commander felt that his company's combat effectiveness was not good, and they could not act with the regular army.

They could only be used to make up the numbers, and stay in Zhang Village with the puppet troops.

This was not what made him the most angry.

What made him the most angry was that the team that sent supplies to his company was robbed less than five miles from Zhang Village.

All the Japanese in the supply train were 玉碎 (yù suì, killed themselves/died honorably), judging from the injuries:

These Japanese soldiers were all砍死 (kǎn sǐ, hacked to death) by cavalry.

All the supplies that were sent were also robbed.

Because of this, he had to rely on Zhao Zhishan's puppet regiment to loot the villages these past two days, forcing the people of Zhang Village to hand over their rations to help them.

Zhao Zhishan had been instructed by Captain Watanabe Zaemon these past few days to have the puppet troops of his regiment dig trenches and fortifications every day.

Patrolling at night and setting up sentries were all the responsibility of his puppet regiment.

Even if he did so much, Zhao Zhishan, the commander of the puppet regiment, still suffered a lot of slaps.

Fortunately, on the thirtieth, the supplies that were supposed to be delivered were robbed on the way.

The entire company of Japanese soldiers could only rely on the puppet troops to rob food from the homes of the villagers.

They had to ask for it from those wealthy families.

Because of this, the days of Zhao Zhishan, the commander of the puppet regiment, had been a little better: he had not been slapped for two days.

The Japanese base camp seemed to have forgotten them. The supplies had been robbed for two days,

And no subsequent supplies had been sent.

These Japanese and puppet troops were stationed in Zhang Village.

When they first arrived, some puppet troops pretended to appease the people for a while.

The people stayed, half believing and half doubting.

Since these days they started asking the people for food, the people in the village ran away one after another and never came back.

Zhao Zhishan had already set his sights on the cow in Zhang's wealthy household yesterday afternoon.

Early this morning, he sent someone to go and get the cow.

He was a little embarrassed to go himself, since he had already taken twenty loads of white flour from the wealthy household yesterday.

Today he would send someone else to go. In any case, they had guns in their hands, so they were not afraid that the Zhang family would dare to resist.

The person who was sent to get the cow had not returned for so long?

They were really useless! Just then, Zhao Zhishan heard gunshots: had they already started shooting?

Just as he was wondering,

A burst of intensive gunfire came from the entrance of the village.

"Where is the shooting?" Watanabe Zaemon, who was anxiously pacing in his house, rushed out of the door and asked loudly.

Soon a puppet soldier ran in: "Report! A team of Japanese soldiers has come outside the village.

The leader of the Japanese soldiers is very angry and has already opened fire."

Upon hearing that a team of tanks had arrived, both Captain Watanabe Zaemon and Zhao Zhishan, the commander of the puppet regiment, became nervous.

They immediately ran towards the entrance of the village.

Watanabe Zaemon and the others had only run halfway out the door when a team of soldiers riding war horses charged towards them.

There was a small squad of Japanese soldiers beside Watanabe Zaemon.

These Japanese soldiers stood at attention, standing on the side of the road.

Lin Fan rode on his war horse and spouted a lot of gibberish.

The more he spoke, the more angry he became. He jumped off his war horse, reached out, and slapped Watanabe Zaemon left and right.

Crisp "pa pa" sounds echoed in the village.

Captain Watanabe Zaemon's face was noticeably swollen.

For every slap Lin Fan gave, he responded with a "hai yi" (yes).

After slapping him a dozen times, Lin Fan ordered, "Gather all the Japanese and puppet troops.

I want to give a speech!"

Behind Lin Fan, war horses dragged a dozen puppet soldiers.

Zhao Zhishan, the commander of the puppet regiment, recognized them at a glance: those were the people he had sent to get the cow.

Just now, when Lin Fan was slapping him, he had already said:

"Imperial troops must abide by discipline and use practical actions to show civilization to these ordinary people!

Such things as shooting耕牛 (gēng niú, farming cattle) today are absolutely intolerable.

This puppet troop is under the supervision of Captain Watanabe Zaemon.

Such a lack of military discipline is the responsibility of Watanabe Zaemon.

How should these dozen puppet soldiers be dealt with?"

Watanabe Zaemon glared fiercely at Zhao Zhishan.

With a wave of his hand, the Japanese soldiers beside him rushed forward, tied up all the dozen puppet soldiers dragged behind the war horses, and押上 (yā shàng, escorted away).

Watanabe Zaemon also ordered the Japanese soldiers to announce that all the Japanese and puppet troops should gather at the entrance of the village.

To listen to Lieutenant Colonel Ito's speech.

Just now, while he was being slapped, ten tanks had also driven over.

Watanabe Zaemon did not have the slightest suspicion that this lieutenant colonel who commanded more than three hundred cavalry soldiers also commanded ten tanks.

At the entrance of Zhang Village, ten tanks were lined up in a row, the machine guns on the tanks pointed at Watanabe's company and Zhao Zhishan's puppet regiment.

After Watanabe Zaemon consulted with Lin Fan, who was pretending to be Lieutenant Colonel Ito,

He first shot dead the dozen puppet soldiers who had shot耕牛 (gēng niú, farming cattle) in front of the villagers of Zhang Village gathered at the entrance of the village.

Only then did he invite Lin Fan to speak.

Lin Fan said to the villagers of Zhang Village, "Villagers! We are a team that values reason.

We came here today to value reason.

Here, we will avenge grudges and怨 (yuàn, resentment)."

The villagers of Zhang Village who had not run away were all silent.

Lin Fan was not embarrassed either: "Since you are not speaking, I will speak directly!

Do it!"

At his command, the left side of the position where Watanabe's company was gathered suddenly exploded.

Four directional mines went off completely without warning.

The huge explosion startled everyone in Zhang Village.

As the explosion sounded, most of the more than 180 Japanese soldiers in Watanabe's company

Fell to the ground.

The machine guns on the tanks opened fire, and those Japanese soldiers who were lucky enough not to fall were being named one by one.

Lin Fan ordered Zhao Zhishan's puppet regiment: "All puppet soldiers are not allowed to move.

Anyone who dares to run will be killed without mercy."

Even with Lin Fan's orders, some people in the puppet regiment still wanted to run.

They suddenly rushed towards the nearby farmland.

What greeted them was a storm of bullets.

The "tut tut" sound of the heavy machine guns hitting the hearts of those puppet soldiers who were still standing there.

The villagers of Zhang Village were extremely frightened.

They watched two groups of Japanese soldiers fighting each other.

After all of Watanabe Zaemon's company had fallen, the soldiers of the First and Second Companies

Immediately rushed into the battlefield and gave these Japanese soldiers a补刀 (bǔ dāo, coup de grace).

Those Japanese soldiers who were lucky enough to be wounded but not dead, who had just been呻吟 (shēn yín, groaning) and哀嚎 (āi háo, wailing), quickly lost their voices.

At this time, Lin Fan took off the Japanese lieutenant colonel's uniform he was wearing and put on a National Army uniform.

Smiling, he said, "Villagers, you have been frightened!

We are the Special Operations Brigade of the Fifth War Area, and I am the brigade commander, Lin Fan.

In order not to harm ordinary people, we disguised ourselves as Japanese soldiers.

And wiped out the Japanese soldiers stationed in Zhang Village in one fell swoop.

Only dead Japanese are good Japanese.

As for the puppet soldiers, there are some differences.

Now it's time to settle accounts with these puppet soldiers.

Tell me, which puppet soldiers have committed outrageous acts.

We will give you justice immediately!"

The villagers of Zhang Village were stunned by Lin Fan's words.

Still no one spoke.

Zhao Zhishan, the commander of the puppet regiment, was frightened.

Judging from the Special Operations Brigade's actions just now, their justice was killing people.

The puppet soldiers who had been sent to get the cow in the morning had all been killed.

If he let the villagers of Zhang Village say that he and his men had ruined all the livestock in Zhang Village a few days ago,

Chickens, ducks, pigs, sheep, mules, donkeys, and everything else had been eaten.

Wouldn't he be dead?

He stood up and knelt down to the villagers of Zhang Village,磕头 (kē tóu, kowtowing):

"Villagers! Villagers! We have not committed the slightest offense here these past few days!

Villagers! Please spare us!"

Lin Fan did not believe a single word he said.

Without the permission of the superiors, would those puppet soldiers dare to get the cow from ordinary people's homes?

Originally, none of the villagers of Zhang Village dared to come out and speak.

Now, hearing Zhao Zhishan tell such a blatant lie, immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of Zhang, the wealthy household, among the crowd.

He said angrily, "Yesterday, you brought people to rob 200 dan (a unit of dry measure, about 50 kg) of white rice from my house.

The day before yesterday, you dragged away three pigs.

The day before the day before yesterday..."

The more he said, the more excited he became, and he couldn't help but rush up and punch and kick Zhao Zhishan.

With one person taking the lead, more people followed suit and revealed the puppet soldiers' wrongdoings.

More than 30 puppet soldiers in Zhao Zhishan's puppet regiment were identified.

After dealing with these puppet soldiers, there were still 1,400 puppet soldiers left.

Now Lin Fan was going to take them back to Beiluo Village in Taierzhuang.

The 5,000 puppet soldiers that Lin Fan and the others had captured in Hanzhuang had already been stationed in Liujia Village.

Company Commanders Shan Huacan and Dan Chengfu, according to Lin Fan's orders, had divided these 5,000 puppet soldiers into 33 companies.

Two soldiers from the Special Operations Company were assigned to each company to lead them.

These past two days, they had been宣传 (xuān chuán, propagandizing) to these puppet soldiers. Da Feng Novel Network

Mainly talking about the War of Resistance and the glorious achievements of the Special Operations Brigade.

The supplies that the First and Second Companies had抢运 (qiǎng yùn, rushed to transport) back from Lincheng had already been delivered.

There were now ample shells for the captured cannons.

This made Regiment Commander Seya Qi very uncomfortable. The team he sent to attack Taierzhuang

Was always being blown up.

Commander-in-Chief Sun Lianzhong, in order to protect the artillery positions at Liujia Lake,

Specially transferred a regiment from the Thirtieth Division to assist the Second Company in guarding this artillery position.

After the Special Operations Brigade seized the Japanese artillery position, Battalion Commander Qu Tiancheng, the commander of the artillery battalion who had been增援 (zēng yuán, reinforce) by the National Army a few days ago, dared to support the troops in Taierzhuang.

When the Japanese artillery was wreaking havoc, his artillery battalion, which only had ten 75mm野炮 (yě pào, field guns),

Simply did not dare to bombard the Japanese infantry. The reason was very simple: as soon as he opened fire, the Japanese bombardment of his artillery would come.

Therefore, in the past few days, the artillery battalion had first made some fake cannon positions with wood.

Then they would fire with a real cannon.

After firing two shots, they would immediately transfer the position, leaving the wooden cannon frames behind for the Japanese artillery to bombard.

Now, they did not have to be so careful.

Because of this, the days of Seya Kei's regiment began to become difficult.

In order to recapture his cannons, Regiment Commander Seya Kei finally organized a battalion to come and attack Liujia Lake on April 1.

Mao Wenxing, who had been paying attention to the entire defense line from the air, discovered the Japanese intention.

And immediately contacted the Third and Fourth Companies.

Company Commander Shan Huacan ordered the regiment sent by the Thirtieth Division to leave two battalions to guard the village.

Another battalion followed him to strike.

The Kawauchi Thirteenth Battalion, which was coming to attack, was advancing on the road

When many shells fell from the sky.

This was Mao Wenxing guiding the artillery to bombard.

In a day and a half, the Fourth Company and the Second Artillery Platoon had repaired more than twenty cannons.

Now, at Liujia Lake, the Special Operations Brigade already had 56 cannons.

Among so many cannons, there were also four 150mm榴弹炮 (liú dàn pào, howitzers).

The shells fell like raindrops on the heads of the Kawauchi Thirteenth Battalion, which was marching.

Immediately, the entire battalion of Japanese soldiers panicked.

Battalion Commander Kawauchi 13th took on this task in front of Regiment Commander Seya Kei.

Regiment Commander Seya Kei put the honor and future of the entire regiment and the entire division on Battalion Commander Kawauchi 13th.

He said, "Kawauchi-kun! The Liujia Lake artillery position is extremely important to our army.

If it cannot be recaptured, our army's plan to attack Taierzhuang will not be completed.

This will be a disgrace to our army.

It is also a disgrace to the entire empire!"

Battalion Commander Kawauchi 13th of course knew: "Since the beginning of the war, the empire has always been战无不胜 (zhàn wú bù shèng, invincible).

Now that we are blocked at Taierzhuang, if we really cannot capture it,

The myth of the empire's invincibility will no longer exist.

The enthusiasm of the people in the international community and on the land under our feet to resist the empire will be unprecedentedly high."

He replied loudly, "This subordinate will definitely capture Liujia Lake and recapture the artillery position."

Battalion Commander Kawauchi 13th had made a guarantee in front of Regiment Commander Seya Kei.

Now was the time when he needed to take action.

The sudden bombardment completely prevented the Japanese soldiers of Kawauchi 13th Battalion from resisting.

All the Japanese soldiers frantically rushed towards the wheat fields on both sides of the road.

They tried to escape from the road and scatter into the wheat fields.

Doing so still had some effect.

At least the Japanese soldiers were scattered, and the effect of the shell bombardment was not as good as it had been just now.

The bombardment came quickly, and it ended quickly.

Ten minutes later, the bombardment stopped.

Battalion Commander Kawauchi 13th collected the Japanese soldiers and found that in just this wave of bombardment, he had lost nearly two companies of Japanese soldiers.

The troops had not yet seen the position of the National Army, and the casualties were so great.

The entire battalion of Japanese soldiers suddenly became depressed.

These Japanese soldiers had been fighting continuously here for ten days.

They had been fighting at high intensity every day, but had not advanced half a step.

This was unacceptable to the Japanese soldiers, who had always been marching forward with great strides.

This also seriously affected the morale of these Japanese soldiers to continue fighting.

Mao Wenxing, who was in the air, saw the Japanese soldiers gathering again and continuing to march towards Liujia Lake.

And once again guided the Second Artillery Platoon to bombard the Japanese soldiers of Kawauchi 13th Battalion again.

The Japanese soldiers who were bombed for the second time had learned their lesson this time. The shell bombardment had just begun

When the Japanese soldiers immediately fled in all directions.

Ten minutes later, the bombardment stopped.

This time, Battalion Commander Kawauchi 13th did not dare to concentrate the entire battalion to march anymore.

The entire battalion marched towards Liujia Lake in three routes.

Now his entire battalion only had the strength of three companies left.

Could the Kawauchi Battalion, which had lost more than half of its strength, complete the task assigned by Regiment Commander Seya Kei?

Battalion Commander Kawauchi 13th himself was not sure.

In any case, he still had to lead the troops to continue forward.

The Japanese soldiers came in three directions.

The best way to deal with it was, of course, for the Second Company, the Third Company, and the Third Battalion to each fight one route.

Company Commanders Shan Huacan and Dan Chengfu both knew that the three battalions of the Thirtieth Division that were sent to guard should not be able to defeat a Japanese company.

The troops on the National Army's side were redistributed. Each route had two platoons from the Special Operations Brigade, plus a company from the Thirtieth Division, so the troops were evenly distributed.

Each fought one route of Japanese soldiers.

The Special Operations Brigade had a pair of eyes in the air. Every move of Kawauchi's Thirteenth Battalion was clearly known by the three teams on the ground.

The Special Operations Brigade was best at fighting this kind of battle: setting directional mines on the routes the Japanese soldiers had to take.

Then they waited for the Japanese soldiers to enter the ambush circle.

One hour later,

Battalion Commander Kawauchi 13th looked at the Japanese soldiers lying in the bloodbath.

He did not know what the situation was with the other two companies now.

In any case, the company he was following was finished.

After a few loud noises, these Japanese soldiers, who had already become birds startled by the bow,

Did not have time to run or hide, and were hit by countless iron弹子 (tán zi, bullets).

Only about twenty Japanese soldiers were lucky enough to escape.

Not far away, National Army soldiers rushed over.

This was completely not giving them a way to live! Battalion Commander Kawauchi 13th thought to himself.

In this situation, he had lost interest in commanding the remaining Japanese soldiers.

This time, the attack on Liujia Lake was wrong from the start.

They had already suffered more than half of their casualties after being炮击 (pào jī, bombarded) by the National Army twice in a row.

Including this time, he had been bombed three times this morning.

It was considered lucky that he had not been killed in any of the three consecutive bombings.

But his luck had finally run out.

Shan Huacan was the fastest to rush over, and he rushed to the front of the team.

Behind him were his two platoons and a company from the Thirtieth Division.

Twenty-odd Japanese soldiers were simply not enough for the more than 200 soldiers who rushed up to divide among themselves.

When cleaning up the battlefield, the weapons and ammunition belonged to the Special Operations Brigade, and the leather shoes, helmets, and belts belonged to the officers and soldiers of the Thirtieth Division.

On April 1, the largest operation launched by Seya Kei's regiment failed.

Regiment Commander Seya Kei also lost the desire to continue attacking Taierzhuang.

The battlefield became诡异 (guǐ yì, strangely) quiet again.

In Taierzhuang, the Thirty-first Division had driven the Japanese soldiers entrenched inside Taierzhuang to a very small area.

The more Japanese soldiers gathered in this small area, the stronger their firepower became.

The Thirty-first Division was temporarily unable to wipe out these Japanese soldiers completely.

These past two days, there had been good news for Division Commander Chi Fengcheng: the Japanese soldiers had not rushed into Taierzhuang for two consecutive days.

These Japanese soldiers entrenched in Taierzhuang had become water without a source and trees without roots.

It was only a matter of time before they were completely wiped out.

It was under these circumstances that Lin Fan led more than 1,000 puppet soldiers back to Liujia Lake.

The puppet soldiers he brought back were immediately divided into nine companies according to Shan Huacan's method, and two squad leaders were sent to each company.

To train these puppet soldiers.

The attacks on Taierzhuang, Linyi, and Xiangcheng had all been狙击 (jū jī, sniped) by the National Army.

Especially in Xiangcheng, more than 3,000 Japanese soldiers were lost in one day and one night.

This made Commander-in-Chief Terauchi Hisaichi of the Japanese North China Front Army furious.

He ordered: The Fifth Division should immediately concentrate all its forces and head to Xiangcheng. It must break through the National Army's defense line at this location.

He ordered the Tenth Division to increase its forces in the direction of Taierzhuang and must break through Taierzhuang and reach Xuzhou directly.

Lin Fan led the First and Second Companies back to Liujia Lake.

Division Commander Chi Fengcheng and Army Commander Sun Lianzhong already knew from Lin Fan's report that he had led two companies to assist the Seventy-fourth Division in守 (shǒu, guarding) Xiangcheng these past two days.

The regiment that the Thirtieth Division had arranged in Liujia Lake had not withdrawn after Lin Fan led his troops back.

At this time, Mao Wenxing, who was侦察 (zhēn chá, reconnoitering) deep into the Japanese-occupied area, discovered that the Japanese were again储备 (chǔ bèi, storing) supplies at the Japanese train station in Tengxian County.

This was because Division Commander Isogaya Rensuke felt that Lincheng was too close to the front line and, after being attacked by the Special Operations Brigade, had put his supply base in Tengxian County, which was further back.

Mao Wenxing observed from the air that most of the defenders in Tengxian County were puppet soldiers.

This gave the Special Operations Brigade a lot of room to maneuver.

This time, Lin Fan planned to lead the Third and Fourth Companies to空袭 (kōng xí, airstrike) Tengxian County.

When he gathered the four companies for a meeting, Company Commanders Gu Xiuming and Hua Deze cited favorable conditions: the First and Second Companies could all ride horses.

When突袭 (tū xí, raiding) Tengxian County, they could move quickly.

This reason left Company Commanders Shan Huacan and Dan Chengfu, who originally wanted to争取 (zhēng qǔ, fight) for it, speechless.

These two companies of theirs did not know how to ride horses.

However, Lin Fan did not intend to let these two companies rest.

Lin Fan ordered: "All ten tanks will be left behind this time. The veterans in the Third and Fourth Companies will be responsible for teaching a group of qualified tankers."

Regardless of whether they had tanks or not, they first had to teach everyone how to drive a tank and fire a tank炮 (pào, gun).

First储备 (chǔ bèi, storing) talents.

Mao Wenxing had carefully察看 (chá kàn, inspected) the road to Tengxian County in the air. He only slightly modified the road from Tengxian County last time.

Lin Fan had already decided: they would set off after dark.

Now the officers and soldiers of the First and Second Companies and the First Artillery Platoon were seizing the time to rest.

The distance from Taierzhuang to Tengxian County was 200 li (Chinese mile, approximately 500 meters).

Even if they were riding war horses, they would have to急行军 (jí xíng jūn, march rapidly) all night.

Not to mention that they were also carrying combat equipment. The 88mm anti-aircraft gun had to be carried.

As soon as it was dark, the First and Second Companies and the First Artillery Platoon had already had dinner.

For convenience, each soldier also made a rice ball to take with them.

At seven o'clock, it was already dark.

Lin Fan led his troops to set off.

Division Commander Chi Fengcheng and Army Commander Sun Lianzhong knew that Lin Fan was going to take his troops out to fight游击 (yóu jī, guerrilla warfare).

But they did not know Lin Fan's goal this time.

The last time Lin Fan went to Lincheng, it was the same.

These two officers had some意见 (yì jiàn, opinions) about Lin Fan's approach.

However, Lin Fan's reason was very sufficient: small troops acting outside.

Once the action target was泄露 (xiè lù, leaked), if the spies revealed the situation,

The entire team would face a catastrophe.

In the current situation, the抗战 (kàng zhàn, war of resistance) situation was严峻 (yán jùn, grim). Were there any spies in the team?

No one could guarantee that.

The team that Lin Fan was leading was too capable.

Back then, a company could守 (shǒu, guard) Beiluo.

Now two companies could守 (shǒu, guard) the Liujia Lake artillery position, and at the same time, they had to serve as artillery.

Such a team made Division Commander Chi Fengcheng unable to express his意见 (yì jiàn, opinions) even if he had them.

In fact, he simply wanted to know: what was the target of the Special Operations Brigade tonight?

According to the last target being Lincheng, this time it should be Yixian or Zaozhuang.

However, both of these places were now驻扎 (zhù zhā, stationed) with large numbers of Japanese troops.

Even if the Special Operations Brigade押上 (yā shàng, bet) all four companies, they might not be able to攻打 (gōng dǎ, attack) them.

Division Commander Chi Fengcheng reminded Lin Fan of these concerns.

Lin Fan just smiled,非置可否 (fēi zhì kě fǒu, neither confirming nor denying). He was not a child and would not reveal his target.

It was not until Lin Fan led his troops to攻下 (gōng xià, capture) Tengxian County that Chi Fengcheng and Sun Bianzhong knew:

The target of the Special Operations Brigade was actually Tengxian County!

Tengxian County, 100 kilometers away!

After a night of疾驰 (jí chí, speeding), Lin Fan led his troops to the west side of Tengxian County at 5 o'clock in the morning.

Company Commander Gu Xiuming knew this area very well.

When he had just arrived in Tengxian County a few days ago, the First Company had sent people out to侦察 (zhēn chá, reconnoiter) the terrain.

The airport runway outside Xicheng North was still there.

Lin Fan ordered: "Everyone will rest for two hours. After it is dawn and Mao Wenxing arrives,

Observe the defense situation of the守军 (shǒu jūn, defending troops)驻扎 (zhù zhā, stationed) in Tengxian County from the air, and then start the attack."

On this morning, Commander Liu Guitang of the puppet Manchukuo Tenth Army,