Chapter 102: The Long Drive South
Although the trip to Nanjing was a preliminary victory, Qiao Youhua knew that there was still a long way to go in order to rewrite the historical tragedy.
Just as the top brass of the Japanese army in Central China knew that the overall situation was the most important, they continued to attack Nanjing, and left the Dragon's Tooth Task Force alone.
Qiao Youhua understood that he had to continue to lead his soldiers to fight, and only by continuing to cause trouble to the Japanese army and completely hurt the little devils could they be attracted from the frontal battlefield.
In other words, the current Dragon Tooth Task Force has not been regarded as the number one henchman by Matsui Shigen, an old devil.
Therefore, after a short day of rest in Wuhu, Qiao Youhua decided to lead the team to leave and continue to advance south!
On both sides of Wuhu Nanmen Street, tens of thousands of Wuhu people learned that the Dragon Tooth Task Force was going to evacuate, and they spontaneously rushed to see them off.
After these battles, the people of Wuhu have come to regard the victorious team of the Dragon's Tooth Task Force as the local protector, and of course they do not want them to withdraw.
Qiao Youhua rode on the war horse, his heart moved, and he said loudly at the top of his voice: "Folks, we are also very reluctant to everyone!" But we are in the military, we can't stay here, we still have to fight devils! This is our duty, please take care! ”
An old man asked excitedly, "Sir Qiao, will you come back?" ”
"I think so, if we live!" Qiao Youhua said.
"Don't be afraid that the Japanese will come to occupy this place again, and after we leave, other friendly forces will come to take over the defense of the Wuhu area! Folks, there will be a period later! Under the leadership of Qiao Youhua, more than 1,000 dragon tooth warriors saluted the people who saw them off and walked away.
In the reluctance of the people, Qiao Youhua led the newly adapted Dragon Tooth Task Force to leave Wuhu and go straight to Rencheng.
At present, the Dragon's Tooth Task Force has more than 1,050 troops, which are temporarily divided into three battalions, with Jiang Haidong, Ma Biao, and Wu Ming serving as battalion commanders, with 300 people in each battalion.
The original cannon platoon was temporarily abolished and was organized into three battalions.
The original reconnaissance platoon was reorganized into a guard platoon directly under the regiment, with 60 soldiers, and a new reconnaissance company was formed with 90 people assigned to the regiment, with Liu Jianhua as the company commander, which was also a unit directly under the regiment.
Compared with Liu Yidao, the former commander of the reconnaissance platoon, Liu Jianhua, who has been stationed in Jiangnan for a long time, is obviously more familiar with the geographical and cultural conditions here, and is more suitable than him to serve as a reconnaissance officer.
In this great victory in Wuhu, the task force captured an astonishing amount of weapons and ammunition, in addition to carrying more than 500 light machine guns and heavy machine guns, as well as dozens of grenadiers and mortars, with sufficient ammunition.
All the other weapons and ammunition were left in the warehouse in Wuhu City, as well as the dozens of 75mm mountain guns, all of which were left to the friendly troops in the 3rd War Zone who came to receive them, after all, Qiao Youhua couldn't take them away, so he just had a favor.
Although there is some reluctance, but it is also a helpless move, if you really bring those weapons and equipment, the task force's mobility will be greatly reduced, the slightest carelessness may fall into the Japanese encirclement, after dozens of mountain artillery shells are exhausted, it may not be as good as a bayonet.
Heavy equipment will certainly not be able to be carried in roundabout mobile operations deep behind enemy lines, otherwise it will not only not help enhance the combat effectiveness of the troops, but will instead become a burden to the entire annihilation of the troops.
Packing light and reducing weight is king.
Xuancheng is not far from Wuhu, the task force rushed to the northern suburbs of Xuancheng in half a day, since the Japanese 18th Division moved to Hangzhou and other places, the defense of Xuancheng fell into the hands of the Japanese Kunizaki detachment.
The 3rd Artillery Wing, which was completely annihilated by the task force, was the last Japanese unit to go north from here, and after they left, only a few hundred puppet soldiers and dozens of Japanese wounded soldiers were left in Xuancheng.
After receiving the news of the total annihilation of the Kunisaki detachment, the Japanese army headquarters in Central China urgently dispatched a garrison corps (regimental troops) from Shanghai to Rencheng to strengthen the defensive force.
But now that this garrison regiment is still halfway through, the devils of Rencheng did not expect that the Chinese army, which had just fought a bloody battle with the main force of the Guozaki detachment in Wuhu, would move south so quickly, so when Qiao Youhua ordered the troops to swing dozens of grenadier mortars to bombard the north gate of Xuancheng.
Dozens of wounded devils in the city were frightened, regardless of the need to flee towards the south gate, as soon as the devils ran, where did the remaining puppet army dare to compete with the now famous Dragon Tooth Task Force, without waiting for the Dragon Tooth Task Force to charge, they immediately raised the white flag, opened the city gate, disarmed and surrendered.
The news that the Dragon Tooth Task Force won four battles and four victories in Wuhu and annihilated more than 8,000 devils of the Guoqi detachment has already spread all over the world, and Xuancheng is not far from Wuhu, of course, some rumors have been heard, so the puppet army is very interesting.
After the main force of the task force entered the city, they raised their weapons one by one, rushed to disarm and surrender, and led the task force to the warehouse and headquarters of the devils.
Dozens of devil wounded soldiers fled from the South Gate in a hurry, and outside the South Gate, Liu Jianhua was ordered to lead the cavalry reconnaissance company to make a detour here, and he had been waiting for a long time.
Without waiting for the dozens of wounded devil soldiers to come to their senses, Liu Jianhua pulled out a saber, clamped his legs between the horse's belly, and rushed towards them first.
More than ninety cavalry scouts followed, brandishing sharp sabers high, there was no suspense in this battle, dozens of devil wounded soldiers did not even have the strength to resist, and they were dismembered by the roaring dragon tooth cavalry, and none of them escaped!
After having lunch in Xuancheng, he sent a telegram to Chairman Jiang informing him of the recovery of Xuancheng, and Qiao Youhua led the team to leave Xuancheng in the evening and embarked on the journey again.
Guangde County is located more than 60 kilometers southeast of Xuancheng, because Xuancheng fell too quickly, dozens of devil wounded soldiers did not carry radio stations, the telephone line between the county and the county has long been destroyed when the Chinese army withdrew, and the Japanese army did not have time to repair.
Therefore, the Japanese puppet army in Guangde did not know that the Dragon Tooth Task Force had called.
In the middle of the night, dozens of agile scouts climbed the city head of the west gate of Guangde, solved the dozen puppet troops standing guard at the city head with bayonets and daggers, opened the west gate, and welcomed the main force of the Dragon Tooth Task Force into the city.
Two Japanese squads were stationed in Guangde, and it was not until the Dragon's Tooth Task Force entered the city in large numbers that the devils of these two squads woke up from their sleep and hurriedly rushed out of the barracks with guns and rags.
But they were greeted by a burst of heavy machine-gun fire, dozens of dragon-tooth soldiers armed with light machine guns blocked them in the barracks compound, several grenadiers fired several shots into the courtyard, and the two squads of devils were killed before they could even rush up to the street.
Easily recovering Guangde County, Qiao Youhua ordered the troops to rest on the spot, so far he has led the troops to drive south for more than 200 miles, recovering the two county seats, it is time to rest.
Liu Jianhua's reconnaissance platoon served as a guard, and after the other main forces hurriedly finished dinner, they quickly fell asleep, marching long distances and fighting continuously, and the soldiers were very tired.
More than 1,500 Japanese troops were marching along the highway toward Guangde, and they were the Japanese garrison regiment sent to Xuancheng by the Japanese army headquarters in Central China.