readx; Having gotten rid of his henchmen, Goofy immediately set about preparing to regain Guangzhou. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 After assembling several infantry divisions in northern and western Guangdong, they handed over the task of defending the place to the local troops, and then approached Guangzhou in great strides, while the Nanyang Corps made a detour to the South China Sea by means of a covert march, preparing to launch an attack from a place that the army did not expect. At the same time, Li Wuzi, commander of the Fifth Column, who had recently made a big splash, once again led his troops into Foshan, preparing to fight against the regular army. In order to increase the insurance coefficient and prevent the army from suddenly attacking Fujian, Gao Fei deliberately transferred the 167th Division and the New Fourth Division left in Jingdezhen in northern Jiangxi back to Sanming, and took the center to deal with the whole province.

Although this move seems reckless, it has been carefully analyzed: although the 11th Army led by Okamura Ninji occupied Wuhan and joined the 2nd Army, with a strength of as many as 300,000, it was not advantageous in terms of strategic situation. The more than 50 infantry divisions under the Ninth Theater Command are all deployed in the southwest of Poyang Lake, relying on Jiugong Mountain and Mufu Mountain, and have been actively reorganizing and preparing for a counterattack, like a steel knife on the neck of the Yue army, ready to cut off its lifeline on the Yangtze River at any time. On the west and north sides of Wuhan, more than 30 divisions of the Fifth Theater led by Li Zongren set up positions in the Suixian area, which was close to the first line of the Japanese army, and peeked at the city of Wuhan in front of them.

Although Guangzhou's strategic location is important, in the eyes of the General Headquarters, it is certainly much more secondary than Wuhan, so the primary task of the army in China is to ensure that Wuhan is not lost, and before the new divisions and regiments are formed, no new troops will be put into South China in any case!

Toshiyoshi Ando, commander of the 21st Army, also had a fairly accurate grasp of the situation on the battlefield in China, knowing that it would be impossible to get powerful reinforcements for a period of time, so after the bombers were all destroyed by the squadron, he immediately adjusted his subordinates and prepared to defend Guangzhou and wait for the formation of a new domestic army. He first increased the garrison of the Humen Fortress from two infantry brigades to an infantry wing, and equipped an additional heavy artillery brigade, then increased the strength of Zengcheng and Huadu to an infantry wing, focusing on the defense of the central [***] team in the northern area, and finally concentrated the ships of the Fifth Fleet to cruise on the river near the Humen fortress, ready to provide fire support at any time. Ando Toshikichi believed that if the Chinese [***] team wanted to conquer Guangzhou, it must first occupy the Humen fortress, so he deployed heavy troops here, preparing to use the fierce fortress artillery fire and naval artillery fire to kill and injure the [***] team in large numbers, and then send out reserves to counterattack.

However, to Ando's surprise, the central [***] team in northern Guangdong stopped after advancing to the periphery of Zengcheng, and chose favorable terrain around the county town to build fortifications, putting on a posture of fighting a protracted war, and the same was true of the two divisions in western Guangdong, what made the Yue army most angry was that Li Wuzi's fifth column appeared outside Foshan again, and built fortifications in the two villages of Xitang and Dachong, which were less than ten kilometers away from the city gate, as if they had joined the sequence of the regular army of the Chinese [***] team.

After waiting for a few days, Ando Toshikichi realized that the [***] team had no intention of attacking, so he quietly dispatched a large group of troops to Foshan to join the defenders here, preparing to completely defeat this ragtag army.

At about 8 o'clock in the morning of 2 February, the Chinese army concentrated the strength of two brigades, led by four tanks, and swooped down on Xitang Village.

At this time, under the guidance of officers sent by Gao Fei, the strength of the Fifth Column had been reduced from more than 5,000 to 3,000, but the reduction in numbers was exchanged for an increase in combat effectiveness and flexibility in command: The establishment of the unit was changed from the original 16 brigades to five reading battalions, and the commanders of the battalions and companies were temporarily appointed by regular army officers who had been dispatched, which quickly made up for the lack of combat experience of the local troops.

The fifth column defended Xitang with two battalions and one battalion defended Dachong, and Li Wuzi personally led two battalions to be stationed in several small villages that were in a slightly backward position as the reserve of the column.

The commander of the Xitang garrison was Chen Zhibai, the commander of the first battalion, and after patiently and meticulously observing the terrain, he built a very complete defense system with Xitang Village as the core: there were more than a dozen large fish ponds with an area of more than five or six acres around Xitang Village, and the defenders connected all the fish ponds to form a fortification around the village; All weeds and trees within 200 meters in front of the fish pond were cleared, so that the defenders could maintain a good firing range; The front of the fish pond is all filled with sharpened bamboo sticks, and behind the bamboo sticks is an anti-tank trench two meters deep and three meters wide; Behind the fish pond was a trench around the village, and a strong shelter was built to deal with the shelling of the Japanese army; The village's original two-meter-high polder wall formed a third line of defense more than fifty meters behind the trenches; Two fortified bunkers were built inside the village, which served as the core fortifications of the entire defense system.

Dachong Village on the south side is smaller, but it is only about 500 meters away from Xitang in a straight line, so it is very convenient to support each other with machine gun fire, ensuring the safety of Xitang's flank.

The infantry assault was preceded by a heavy artillery bombardment as usual, but because the defenders were well prepared and the fortifications were unusually strong, they did not achieve the desired effect, and then four tanks opened the way in front to cover the infantry of two squadrons charging towards Xitang.

When the Japanese army began to cross the open field in front of the fish pond, the light and heavy machine guns on the defenders' positions opened fire at the same time, and a dozen soldiers exposed to the tank were immediately knocked down, and the rest of the Japanese army were so frightened that they all cowered behind the tanks and advanced step by step. At this time, two consecutive anti-tank rebound armor-piercing shells flew over, because the defenders had just been equipped with such advanced weapons and had not yet been trained, so all two shots were missed, but they caused great mental pressure on the tank driver. Smoke billowed from behind the buttocks of the four tanks almost at the same time, and they suddenly accelerated and rushed to the front, preparing to eliminate the anti-tank fire point, but the infantry behind did not react for a while, and all of them were exposed to the fire of the defenders. With the cheerful shouts of various guns, a dense stream of bullets fluttered and danced like butterflies in the army, knocking the enemy to the ground in pieces, and the panicked infantry quickly divided into two groups, the front one accelerated to catch up with the tanks, and the rear simply lay on the ground and fired at the defenders.

The front tank struck straight into the bamboo stick formation like a wild horse, and before the infantry could do anything, the tank's good fortune ended: it fell headlong into the anti-tank trench and could no longer move. The other three tanks swerved sharply to the side while slamming on the brakes, finally stopping at the edge of the trench and then advancing along the trench in the hope of finding a gap. At this time, an armor-piercing shell flew from the trench behind the fish pond and hit the side of the tank, and in the violent explosion, the tank caught fire and burned, and the driver covered in fire just lifted the roof cover, and the tank exploded and became a scattered fireball.

The remaining two tanks turned around and ran, leaving all the infantry behind, and the defenders unceremoniously opened fire on all fronts, killing most of the Japanese army. The commander of the army hurriedly ordered the artillery to form a barrage at the front of the defenders' positions with a dense rain of bullets to cover the retreat of the infantry, and in the end, less than 150 men of the two squadrons of the army returned.

In order to rescue the tanks that had fallen into the trap, the angry commander ordered the troops to take shovels and divide into several squads to attack in multiple directions, trying to approach the tanks under the cover of artillery fire.

The defenders quickly saw through their intentions and fired heavily on the tank's perimeter with heavy machine-gun fire, making it impossible for the enemy to approach. In desperation, the army adjusted the target of the attack and turned to attack Dachong.

Although there were no fish ponds as a barrier, the defenders dug four trenches on the outskirts of the village and planted bamboo sticks at the front of the position. Under the stubborn resistance of the defenders, the advance of the army was very slow, and after two hours of fighting, only two trenches were captured. Taking advantage of the fact that the Yue army was focusing on Dachong Village, the Xitang defenders sent several demomen to completely destroy the tank with explosives packs.

The battle went on until two o'clock in the afternoon, after paying more than 200 casualties, the defenders finally drove out of the trenches, and the battle line advanced to the bottom of the polder, at this time, the Xitang defenders had completed the preparations for the attack, and more than a dozen mortar shells accurately fell in the middle of the army, so that the offensive suddenly stopped, and then, two companies of soldiers rushed out of Xitang Village under the cover of machine gun fire, and bravely killed the enemy.

At the same time, the defenders of Dachong also fought back violently, pushing the Yue army back from under the polder wall, and then rushed out of the village with a shout, and it is commendable that dozens of villagers also rushed out behind the army, picking up the guns and ammunition discarded by the Yue army and joining the attack.

The army had no choice but to fight and retreat under the attack from two sides, and finally barely stabilized its position with the timely support of two tanks. In order to save the face of the imperial army, the commander of the Yue army organized two squadrons of troops to attack Dachong Village at night, but as soon as they touched the front of the village, they fell into a bamboo stick formation: it turned out that the villagers took action immediately after the retreat of the Yue army, and once again planted bamboo sticks on the main road of transportation. The screams pointed out the direction for the defenders, and all kinds of bullets and grenades came overwhelmingly, completely shattering the dreams of the army.

The next morning, the commander of the Yue army, who was not willing to be defeated, drove his soldiers to launch three successive attacks on Dachong, but the soldiers who were worried had lost the sharpness of yesterday, and they stopped and stopped, and from time to time tried among the weeds with bayonets, for fear of being pierced on the soles of their feet. The barely launched offensive vanished immediately in front of the morale-high defenders, and the soldiers did not hesitate to turn around and run away immediately after being subjected to heavy machine-gun fire from the defenders, ignoring the hoarse shouts of their commanders.

In sharp contrast, the names of Li Wuzi and the Fifth Column were once again recited in the Lingnan area, and inspired by their heroic images, the local troops in Guangdong became extremely active, ambushing the Yue army everywhere, compressing the enemy to the death in the city, and effectively supporting the main force.

According to the experience gained on the battlefield of the Anti-Japanese War, every time the army suffers a loss, it will soon use more troops to retaliate, so after the defeat of the army in Foshan and the return to the city, Li Wuzi immediately ordered the troops to seize the time to repair the fortifications, closely monitor the movements of the army, and at the same time request the theater command to send additional troops to be ready to deal with the enemy's retaliation at any time.

The fifth column once again inflicted heavy losses on the Yue army in Foshan, which was indeed beyond Gao Fei's expectations, and in addition to being excited, he was also as worried about the retaliation of the Yue army as Li Wuzi, but the troops for the counterattack on Guangzhou had not yet been assembled, and of course they could not send the regular army to reinforce it, so after receiving the telegram asking for help, Gao Fei could only order the two security regiments in southern Guangdong to move closer to the east of Foshan, and at the same time let the fifth column take the initiative to retreat to avoid direct confrontation with the Yue army.

Three days passed quickly, and the two security regiments reinforcing the fifth column had already arrived in the emerging area, and the army in Foshan City did not make any unusual moves except for constantly urging the people to build fortifications outside the city, and seemed to have forgotten the shame of the fiasco and were determined to defend the county seat of Foshan. Li Wuzi and the column commanders slowly relaxed and began to discuss how to cooperate with the main force to recover Guangzhou, so that the famous Fifth Column could show its face again.

At five o'clock in the morning on February 28, 1939, more than 40 ships of the Fifth Fleet suddenly appeared on the Jiujiang River! It turned out that while the cunning Ando Toshikichi was paralyzing the fifth column with the passive attitude of the Foshan garrison, he quietly gathered the strength of an infantry brigade in Guangzhou, and with the assistance of the Fifth Fleet of the Navy, it moved to the rear of the [***] team overnight.

After receiving the report from the fishermen, Tang Shuchen, the head of Tangao Township, hurriedly sent someone to report to Li Wuzi, and then led a joint defense team of only more than 50 people to meet him without hesitation!

By the time the joint defense team arrived at the riverside, a brigade of the vanguard of the Chinese army had successfully landed under the cover of amphibious tanks and shallow water motorboats, and was rushing forward vigorously along the country road.

Tang Shuchen led the joint defense team to hurriedly run up to a mound more than 30 meters high on the left side of the highway and attacked the army from a high position. After being attacked, the Japanese army immediately fanned out and outflanked, and the sound of bursting machine-gun fire rang out behind them, and dense bullets flew over the soldiers' heads, shooting at the defenders on the dirt slope.

The weapons of the joint defense team are basically very old sleeves, the best is made in Hanyang, and there is no official branch, so the only light machine gun has become the main point of fire. Tang Shuchen personally held his machine gun and fired fiercely at the swarming Yue army, and the joint defense team members calmly repeated the action of shooting, loading bullets, and shooting again, turning a blind eye to the hideous faces of the Yue army that gradually became clear.

Tang Shuchen's machine gun just pressed down the enemy in front, and the enemy on the left and right flanks rushed up, he hurriedly got up from the ground, ready to turn around and attack the Yue army on the flank, however, several heavy machine gun bullets hit him almost at the same time, and finally even people with guns rolled down from the top of the slope. The members of the joint defense team pulled grenades one after another, and they died together with dozens of soldiers who rushed up the dirt slope!

"Township Chief, wake up! Steward! Liang Xing shook Tang Shuchen's body vigorously, but this old man who was always amiable had closed his eyes forever and could no longer answer his questions!

Liang Xing just turned sixteen years old this year, and he is the youngest member of the joint defense team, because he is young and very sleepy, he doesn't even know that his teammates have set off, and the team members, including Tang Shuchen, know that today is a life of nine deaths, so they deliberately did not wake him up.

Liang Xing wiped away his tears, forcefully pulled out the machine gun from Tang Shuchen's hand, then took off the bullet pouch and put it on his shoulder, and then quickly burrowed into the lychee forest next to the road, and rushed towards the direction where the army disappeared.

More than an hour later, there was a fierce gunfire in front, and as the distance approached, the gunfire became more and more violent, as if it was exploding next to his ears, and at the same time, the smell of gunpowder smoke in the air became stronger and stronger, choking Liang Xing's throat itching, and he wanted to cough.

Liang Xing put the machine gun behind his back, quickly climbed a tree more than ten meters high beside him, and looked ahead: shells whistled from about a kilometer away from the north to a hill in front, shrouding the hill in thick smoke and fire; On the road below the mountain, dense soldiers of the Japanese army fired fiercely with grenadiers and light and heavy machine guns, and from a distance they could only see the flames covering the top of the mountain; The light and heavy machine guns on the top of the hill were also fiercely returning fire, firing at the Japanese army.

Suddenly, with a loud and piercing bang, a heavy machine gun on the top of the hill was hit by a shell, and the shooter and the machine gun were blown to pieces! Liang Xing lowered his head to think carefully, then raised his head and continued to observe, after more than ten minutes, he finally understood that the machine gun was the main target of the artillery of the Yue Army, and deduced the location of the impact point from the sound of the cannonball flying!

Liang Xing hurriedly slid down from the tree and ran in the direction of the artillery position of the Yue army, and at this time, the Yue army on the road had already launched a charge towards the hill.

The artillery position of the army was set up in an open rice field, and there was no concealment around it, and there were more than a dozen soldiers with loaded guns and ammunition walking around the position, and they were very tightly guarded.

Liang Xing observed for a while and found that there were dozens of tombs of different sizes about a hundred meters away from the position of the Yue army, and there was a shallow canal on the side of the tomb facing him, so he quietly got out of the woods and climbed along the canal to the front. After more than ten minutes, he finally came to the back of the tomb, and after quickly setting up the machine gun, he fired fiercely at the artillery position of the Japanese army, several gunners fell in response, and the rest of the people hurriedly lay on the ground, and the sound of artillery suddenly subsided.

The alert troops on the artillery position were the first to react, quickly locked on to the target, and fiercely counterfired with Liang Xing with rifles and light machine guns.

(To be continued)