All the Japs in Ruichang County were wiped out, the Japs' weapons were blown to ashes, and the Japs 6th Brigade at the front of Minshan was completely cut off from supplies.
In the command post of the Japanese 6th Brigade at the front of Minshan, Major General Masao Maruyama, commander of the brigade, was restless. No matter how many calls he made on the radio, there was no response from the Zhuqi Heitani Squadron in Ruichang County.
"Order Ono-san to quickly send people to the direction of Ruichang to investigate the enemy's situation." Masao Maruyama is now eager to get news about Ruichang County.
He was not worried about the Zhuqi Squadron he had left behind in Ruichang. He was worried about the ammunition and supplies he had stored there. If they fell into the hands of the Chinese army, his 6th Brigade would be cut off from supplies, which would be a blow to them.
It's fatal.
The ordering soldier also saw the anxious look on Masao Maruyama's face. After receiving the order, without any hesitation, he turned around and ran outside to convey the order.
The hurried messenger and the chief of staff, who was heading into the tent with the telegram, bumped into each other and fell to the ground unsteadily.
"Why panic? The sky hasn't fallen yet!" Masao Maruyama, who was in a bad mood, couldn't help but scolded him when he saw that the messenger almost knocked over the chief of staff.
"Hi!" The messenger stood up hurriedly and stepped aside to make way for the chief of staff.
The chief of staff, who had a solemn face, no longer had the intention to blame the reckless messenger, and hurriedly walked to Masao Maruyama.
"General, there is news."
Maruyama Masao grabbed the message and read it quickly.
The message was sent by the aviation unit. Their reconnaissance plane witnessed the shocking explosion in Ruichang County, so they immediately sent the situation to the front of Minshan.
"Impossible, impossible!" Masao Maruyama could no longer keep his orders and roared angrily, tearing the message into pieces.
His troops were unstoppable all the way, and as long as they persisted in Minshan for another day or two, they would be able to completely defeat the 74th Army on the opposite side.
But now the reconnaissance plane reported that their ammunition depot in Ruichang County exploded, which meant that his troops' supplies were cut off. How could he fight this battle and how could he win?
It is said that a good woman cannot make a meal without rice. Even though his 6th Brigade is the most capable unit under the Ninth Division, but without bullets, how can he fight the 74th Army empty-handed?
When Masao Maruyama thought of this, he slumped back in his chair with a pale face. His dream of making great achievements was gone the moment the ammunition depot was blown up.
"Reporting to the general, the Third Battalion encountered a fierce attack by the Chinese Army and requested support!"
As the saying goes, one wave after another rises again. Just when Masao Maruyama was angry that the ammunition supply in the rear was blown up, the battle situation at the front also took a turn for the worse.
As Yang Ling and others attacked the Japanese baggage troops on the mountain road, Second Battalion Commander Chen Ming had returned to the 151st Brigade with the wounded, and reported in detail to the brigade commander Zhou Zhidao about the attack on the Japanese baggage troops.
Brigadier Zhou Zhidao was overjoyed when he learned that the Japs' baggage and ammunition had been blown up. Although he was dissatisfied with Yang Ling's unauthorized attack in the direction of Ruichang, seeing that he had attacked the Japs' baggage troops, he did not intend to care about it and was ready to wait for him to come back.
Just reprimand him.
If Zhou Zhidao now knew that Yang Ling and the others had done a big job and directly destroyed the Japs' logistics and ammunition supply warehouse in Ruichang, I don't know how happy he would be. I'm afraid he wouldn't be willing to reprimand him.
"Counterattack! Counterattack across the board. I want to see what the little devil can do!"
Although they did not know that Yang Ling and the others had taken away the Japs' logistics and ammunition supply warehouse in Ruichang, Yang Ling and the others attacked the Japs' baggage troops transporting to the front line. This was enough for Zhou Zhidao to decide to launch a counterattack.
The brothers who had fought fiercely with the Japanese for seven days and six nights in the Minshan area were already red-blooded. Although the corpses were piled up in mountains, after hearing the charge horn, they still desperately attacked the Japanese positions.
The firepower of the Japanese positions was no longer as fierce as the battleground, and their grenades and mortars had long since stopped firing because they had run out of ammunition.
The Type 92 infantry artillery and the 75th Mountain Cannon that the Japanese infantry relied on were turned into a pile of scrap metal because of the shells. Facing the desperate charge and attack of the Chinese officers and soldiers, the Japanese guarding the trenches could only use rifles to stop them.
Although the Japanese rifles fired accurately, without the support of heavy firepower, their sparse firepower could not stop the charging Chinese officers and soldiers.
The red-eyed Chinese officers and soldiers had almost run out of bullets, so they grabbed cheap grenades and rushed to places where there were many Japs. Anyway, killing every one counts.
The desperate fighting style of the Chinese officers and soldiers made the Japanese soldiers tremble with fear. Every time they saw the Chinese officers and soldiers rushing over with grenades, they could not help but retreat.
"Fight to the end! Even if you fight hard, you will still have to fight!"
The officers and soldiers of each brigade and regiment of the 74th Army fought like crazy, and the school-level officers also took the lead in the charge with their bayonets pointed out. They collided with the Japanese in various positions, causing a bloody storm.
These grassroots officers, most of whom graduated from military academies, are the soul of the army. Their bravery greatly inspired the sleepy and hungry soldiers, allowing them to fight for their lives against the Japanese without fear of life or death.
The Japanese positions were eroded by repeated charges and blood mist, but the attacking Chinese army also suffered heavy losses, and almost all the grassroots officers were defeated.
The company commander sacrificed his platoon leader to lead the attack, and the platoon leader sacrificed his squad leader to continue the attack. Many companies were a reinforced company an hour ago, but in the end only one squad was left, but they were still attacking.
Officers at all levels knew very well that they had to use this continuous attack to put pressure on the Minshan Japs, crush them, and completely defeat them.
In fact, just as the 74th officers and soldiers expected, the Japanese 6th Brigade could not hold on.
Not only were they short of ammunition, they were also in dire need of food and medicine. Many of the corpses in the trenches had rotten and stinky before they could be dealt with. The remaining Japanese soldiers were hiding in the piles of corpses. They were at the end of their fight.
The Chinese army's attack spread all over the mountains and plains. Every position and every hilltop was under tremendous pressure. Many Japanese troops were wiped out. The brutality of this battle was beyond what Masao Maruyama could bear.
"retreat--"
At ten o'clock in the evening, Masao Maruyama had to issue an order to retreat. If he continued to insist, it would only become a bad battle in which the entire army would be annihilated. He could not afford to lose.
The Japanese 6th Brigade, which headed toward Minshan with great momentum, began a comprehensive retreat. Facing the mountains of corpses of their companions, they only had time to cut off a bunch of their hair and take them back, and then retreated in a hurry.
The Chinese officers and soldiers still attacked very fiercely, almost suppressing the pace of the Japanese retreat. Although they were tired and hungry and could hardly walk, they still pursued staggeringly, not wanting the Japanese to retreat so easily.