Chapter 113: The Siege of the Eighteenth Division (6)
The encirclement was once again broken by the Japanese army, but Mutaguchi Ryoya's 18th Division was almost completely crushed, and its strength was sharply reduced from more than 20,000 when it first landed on the Malay Peninsula to less than 10,000. The sky had gradually begun to darken, but the fierce fighting during the day had not changed at all because of the darkening of the sky, and even the battle was more fierce than during the day. Most of the Japanese soldiers were still on empty stomachs, and their whole bodies were powerless to carry out the so-called counterattack, and all that supported them was faith and the desire to survive.
"Report, Your Excellency Division Commander." A bloodstained Nakasa ran away from the country, and said to Mutaguchi Renya very anxiously: "The enemy has thrown off our rearguard troops and rushed straight over, Your Excellency the division commander, please transfer the command headquarters, they are about to rush to the headquarters" Hearing this, Mutaguchi Renya and his staff officers not only frowned, but they did not expect that the other party's combat effectiveness would be as strong as Ruichang. The shouts of Japanese soldiers could already be heard outside the headquarters where the gunfire was "onboard," and Mutaguchi Ryoya and others did not dare to stay longer, and then continued to retreat with the troops who had broken out of the encirclement.
The 18th Division was still in hot pursuit of the indigenous servants, and even though the Independence Army was already a fully mechanized force, in the current terrain, the indigenous soldiers who were good at mountain warfare were still faster than the Independence Army. Under the light of the fire that burst out after the explosion of the shells, a large group of indigenous servant soldiers rushed into the crowd of Japanese soldiers, their long knives dancing from time to time, cutting down the terrified Japanese soldiers to the ground one by one.
The night battle is actually a melee, and Zhuo Fei will never let the independent army join in this melee, and the only people who will participate in it can only be the indigenous servant army who are eager to get the spoils of war. The roaring indigenous soldiers swept through the rear of the Japanese army, and the warm blood quickly spilled all over the ground, and the smell of blood that diffused was disgusting, and these indigenous soldiers became more and more brave because of this, and some even used the blood of Japanese soldiers to smear their faces, and the whole person looked like a mandrill ghost.
"Mr. Zhuo, Xie Mou's these can be regarded as eye-opening, your army can indeed be regarded as a division of tigers and wolves." Gunfire was everywhere around Zhuo Fei's makeshift command post. The sound of explosions and shouts of killing made Xie Zhuoxin, who followed Zhuo Fei to the front line to watch the battle, regarded the indigenous soldiers who pursued the Japanese army as soldiers of the Independent Army. Regarding Xie Zhuoxin's praise, Zhuo Fei didn't have the patience to explain anything to the other party, anyway, the records of the servant army were also counted on the head of the independent army.
"General, the Eighteenth Division continues to retreat eastward, and a regiment of the Third Division is already in place, ask if it is possible to implement fire coverage on the Eighteenth Division?" A regiment again drawn from Singapore had finally arrived at the predetermined location day and night, and the reconnaissance unit assigned to them had already discovered the position of the forward troops of the 18th Division, and at this time, with long-range fire coverage, the existing strength of the 18th Division would definitely be drastically reduced again.
Dozens of rockets instantly smashed on the heads of the forward troops of the 18th Division, bright yellow fireballs rose one after another, and the severed limbs and stumps of the Japanese soldiers were even lifted into the air by the shock wave after the explosion. Looking at the tragic situation of the Japanese army in front of him, although most of the soldiers of the Independent Army were already battle-hardened Predators, there was still a burst of discomfort in the stomach.
Seeing that the pursuers behind him had arrived, the Japanese soldiers who had no way out suddenly became crazy, and all the Japanese soldiers took bayonets one after another, either forward or backward, and launched an attack on the pursuers and the independent army that intercepted them. The Japanese rushed forward for the last time, regardless of casualties, and the independent army units ordered to intercept the 18th Division immediately began to return fire, but the Japanese soldiers had already sensed that they were really cornered this time, so they showed great bravery. The Japanese soldiers in front were shot and fell, and the Japanese soldiers in the back turned a blind eye and rushed up again.
As the commander of the division, Mutaguchi Lianya had actually lost control of the troops, and the remaining 10,000 or so Japanese soldiers of the 18th Division had also gone completely crazy. The few officers of the 18th Division also drew their swords and followed the soldiers into the battle frantically, and they, like ordinary soldiers, rushed towards the intercepting enemy in front. At this moment, the 18th Division didn't care whether it could reach Singapore or not, and all the remaining Japanese troops of the 18th Division, including the division commander Mutaguchi Ryoya, were already crazy, trying to use the last drop of blood to open the way to survival.
The final madness of the 18th Division caused a sudden killing sound on the battlefield, and a large number of indigenous soldiers who had been pursuing the Japanese army saw this, and they all rushed towards the Japanese army like beasts brandishing long knives. The exhausted Japanese soldiers fell to the ground one after another, they would never wake up, and all the Japanese soldiers knew that they were afraid that they would not survive this time, and all they could do now was to pull one more enemy on their backs.
The smell of blood in the air grew stronger and stronger, and thousands of soldiers fought desperately on the land, and every minute, dozens and hundreds of soldiers on both sides fell. With the continuous increase in the number of soldiers of the Independent Army and the increase in firepower, the counterattack power of the 18th Division has become weaker and weaker, and more than 6 hours of non-stop retreat and fighting have almost consumed the physical strength of the Japanese soldiers, but they have to face more than 10,000 fresh troops who have undergone a short rest.
The servants who had been chasing the Japanese army had already been reluctantly replaced, and most of the servants who were fighting with the Japanese army were fresh troops who had rested and eaten, and after three hours of battlefield fighting, the morale of the Japanese army had dropped to the lowest point. The 18th Division was defeated all the way to the enemy, and Zhuo Fei's temporary command post also changed its position, and when the gunfire and shouting on the battlefield gradually weakened, Zhuo Fei's temporary command post had moved forward to the edge of the battlefield.
Although there were still hundreds of Japanese troops frantically carrying out the final counterattack, the victory and defeat of the battle had already been decided, and the devastating attack of the Independence Army had already cut down the exhausted Japanese army to the ground like melons and vegetables in the fields. Mutaguchi Ryoya's face was no longer expressionless, as if he didn't realize that the 18th Division had been defeated, looking at the hundreds of Japanese soldiers left around him, and then looking around at the soldiers of the Independent Army around him, Mutaguchi Ryoya also raised his head very proudly and shouted to an independent army officer in front of him.
"I am the commander of the 18th Division of the Imperial Japanese Army, Mutaguchi Ryoya, I deeply admire the combat effectiveness of your army, I don't know if I can meet your commander before I die, so that I can die without regrets." A soldier of the Independent Army who understood the Japanese army translated Mutaguchi Renya's words to his commander, and the news that Mutaguchi Lian, the commander of the 18th Division, was also surrounded by regiments and regiments was quickly transmitted to Zhuo Fei's temporary command post, and learned that there were less than 200 ordinary soldiers left around Mutaguchi Renya who had lost the will to fight, Zhuo Fei immediately invited Xie Zhuoxin, who was eager to try, to go with him.
Gently pushing away Huffman, who insisted on blocking in front of him, Zhuo Fei stepped towards Mutaguchi Renya, who was holding a knife in both hands, as the supreme commander of the Independent Army, Zhuo Fei would not give Xie Zhuoxin such an opportunity to show his face. "General Murataguchi Ryoya, I am Zhuo Fei, the supreme commander of the Independent Army, and I heard that you want to see me, so I came." Looking at Zhuo Fei, who was standing more than ten meters away from him, Mutaguchi Lianya's face showed a trace of surprise, he didn't expect that the supreme commander of the other party would actually be a Chinese, but would be so young.
"Yo Xi, Zhuo Jun, you are very good, in the words of you Chinese, you are a hero out of a teenager." Even if he and Zhuo Fei were former opponents, Mu Taguchi Lian did not hide his appreciation for Zhuo Fei at this moment, "I, Mu Taguchi Lian, have also fought countless battles in my life, and today I am defeated here, and I am worthy of dying on the battlefield." As soldiers, even if we become opponents, we are just our own masters, otherwise, I really want to get to know heroes like Zhuo Jun and you. ”
Mutaguchi Lianya's tone was also calm at this time, and he didn't see the decadence that a defeated general should have, Zhuo Fei also smiled at Mutaguchi Lianya, "General Mutaguchi Lianya, I'm sorry, you just said something wrong, I'm not a soldier, I'm just a mercenary, because I accepted the U.S. government's employment, so I will fight against the Japanese army." And I don't have any so-called masters, we mercenaries only fight for ourselves, and for the sake of you being a pure soldier, I will order someone to return your body to the Japanese mainland. ”
"Then thank you Zhuo Jun" Although he was surprised by Zhuo Fei's identity, Mu Taguchi Lianya still bowed lightly to Zhuo Fei, and then knelt down and carefully ripped off his military shirt, aiming the tip of the saber at his abdomen. "Poof," with the sound of a knife entering the flesh and blood splashing, Mutaguchi Lian, who chose to commit suicide by shaving his abdomen, also officially bid farewell to the historical stage.
"You all go, take the body of your division commander back to the mainland, and tell those people in the cabinet by the way, don't send troops here, otherwise you will end up with your 18th division." The last hundred or so ordinary soldiers of the Eighteenth Division had already lost their fighting spirit, and Zhuo Fei did not order the indigenous soldiers who were eyeing them to kill them all, but let them leave according to the promise he had made to Mutaguchi Ryoya.
"Thank you, Your Excellency, General, we will definitely follow your orders." A Cao Chang, who was missing an arm, walked out, said to Zhuo Fei very respectfully, and then motioned to the soldiers around him to carry away Mutaguchi Renya's body on a simple stretcher, and the command knife that cost Mutaguchi Renya's life became Zhuo Fei's trophy. As Zhuo Fei raised the command knife in his hand, there was a thunderous cheer around, and the 18th Division of the Japanese Army was completely annihilated.