The troops of the two battalions crossed over the mountains and stabilized the three-beam defense line that had been riddled with holes. They also took the opportunity to launch a short counterattack and eliminated many Japanese.
"Deputy Commander Yang, leave the position to us!" Seeing that Yang Ling was almost exhausted, a deputy commander of the 174th Brigade led the team and said decisively.
No matter which army they were in, no matter which camp they belonged to, they all admired those hard-blooded men who dared to fight and kill. Yang Ling and the others' tenacious resistance blocked the Japs and gave them hope of victory. Everyone admired Yang Ling and the others.
In awe.
The blocking battle was fierce. The brothers who were short of ammunition fought with the Japanese who rushed to the position countless times, and then suppressed the Japanese again and again.
Officer Yang Ling was not spared. He also picked up a bayonet and fought hand-to-hand with the Japanese. He was also covered in scars. The blood in the ripped-off military uniforms had solidified into dark black.
Seeing friendly troops coming in for reinforcements, a wave of fatigue came over him, and his groggy head felt as heavy as lead. He wanted to say something, but his head went black and his body fell to the ground involuntarily.
"Hurry and help Deputy Commander Yang go down and rest!" Seeing Yang Ling fainting from exhaustion, the deputy commander hurriedly ordered, and everyone scrambled to move Yang Ling and the surviving brothers who were seriously injured to the rear of Sandao Liang for temporary resettlement.
The battle was not over yet. The anxious Japanese were at the end of their rope. They no longer cared about tactics. Amid the hoarse roars of the officers, they launched a new round of attacks like a tide.
"Da da da......"
The whistling bullets flew out like locusts, and the bullets brought up pieces of blood mist. The charging Japanese fell to the ground like wheat.
However, the Japanese who were responsible for opening up the retreat road had already received a fatal order, which was to seize the Chinese blocking position of Sandao Liang even if they spent all their efforts, because it was related to the life and death of their brigade.
The Japanese soldiers charged towards Sandaoliang's position in waves amid a hail of bullets. They looked even more crazy in the desperate situation, like wild beasts struggling to their death, desperately attacking.
Grenades kept falling on the group of Japs. The Japs were bombarded by the rumbling tremors, causing them to cry for their fathers and mothers. They suffered heavy casualties, but those who were still alive still got up and attacked tenaciously.
The individual quality of the Japanese soldiers was very high, and the desperate situation inspired their wildness. Although they were sleepy and tired now, under the scolding and urging of the officers, they launched a jade-breaking attack.
The two officers and soldiers who crossed over the mountain were also frantically blocking the attack, firing quickly to knock down the Japanese who were rushing over one after another. The barrel of the Czech-style light machine gun that kept firing was already so hot that it was smoking.
"Hurry up and get a barrel!" the machine gunner yelled and took off the hot and scrapped barrel. His skin and flesh were sizzling from the heat, but he was already crazy and couldn't care less at this moment.
One brother grabbed a gun barrel and hurried over to deliver it. A grenade exploded. The brother was knocked over and the barrel of the gun was thrown away. The other brother dropped the rifle and rushed to pick it up.
He raised the barrel and started running towards the machine gun position again.
Although two battalions of reinforcements came over, the Japanese had already launched a swooping attack across the entire front. They sent countless small groups of troops to exploit every opportunity to poke holes in the blocking defense line.
Some brothers were being hit when a group of Japanese soldiers suddenly rushed up behind them, forcing them to engage in hand-to-hand combat on the battlefield. Fighting took place everywhere.
The Japs had run out of ammunition, and their grenade launchers, mortars, and powerful machine guns had become a display. They could only launch a desperate attack with their bayonets drawn.
The people surrounding Sandaoliang were so slaughtered that the sky was dark and the ground was covered with corpses. However, the Chinese officers and soldiers who blocked the attack were like nails nailed to the position, fighting for every inch of territory and refusing to give in an inch.
Officers and soldiers in many positions were already fighting with the Japs. Although the Japs had run out of ammunition, they organized countless death squads. These death squads with white cloth strips wrapped around their heads were fierce and scary, and they constantly broke into the blocking positions.
However, in such a mountainous area with undulating terrain and full of rocks and woods, if the Japanese soldiers wanted to fight hand-to-hand, the Chinese officers and soldiers did not suffer. They gave blood for blood, tooth for tooth, and refused to retreat, even though the Japanese screamed.
Fierce, but difficult to break through.
When the blocking position of Sandao Liang fell into a melee, the attacking troops of the 74th Army behind the Japanese did not stop for a moment, launching round after round of attacks against the Japanese, cannibalizing and weakening the Japanese troops.
"The troops are divided into companies and platoons! Keep moving forward! Don't stop, the Japanese can't hold on anymore, completely defeat them!"
The commanders of the 74th Army's attack force also knew that it was time to decide the outcome. The Japanese had now begun a desperate breakout and wanted to escape. The troops could not expand in such a mountainous area, so they simply split the troops into small companies and platoons.
Cross forward to attack, cut the enemy, and disrupt the battle.
The attacking troops in units of companies and platoons charged forward crazily along more than a dozen trails trodden by the mountain people, fighting bloody battles all the way, beating the Japanese to pieces.
"Your Excellency, Brigade Commander, break out of the encirclement. If you don't leave, it will be too late!"
The mountainous area with a radius of more than ten miles has been reduced to a mess. The two sides are engaged in a crisscross melee. Many troops have lost contact. Now the 6th Brigade has been entangled. If they don't leave, the entire army will be annihilated.
Masao Maruyama, whose eyes were red, was full of reluctance. They could have successfully retreated to Ruichang, got supplies and then fought back, and the battle would not have been considered a failure.
But who would have thought that they were dragged behind the mountainous area by those elusive sneak attackers. Now there are wolves in front of them and tigers in the back. The situation has taken a turn for the worse. Although friendly troops are constantly approaching for reinforcements, I am afraid that they will not wait until the 106th Division arrives.
The whole army was wiped out.
"Order all ministries to break away from the battle, bypass the Chinese blocking defense line, and break out toward Ruichang on their own!"
Maruyama Masao had given up the plan to break out of the encirclement with the entire army. He could only abandon some of the troops that could not be contacted, bypass the three-beam blocking position, climb mountains and drill into the woods to break out.
Although they were embarrassed to climb mountains and break out of the encirclement, and had to give up some mountain artillery and heavy firepower that could not be carried, they could at least survive.
The order to break out of the encirclement was sent, and the Japanese began to break out of the encirclement on their own in squadrons and squads. They were no longer limited to the blocking positions of the Chinese army that broke through three beams, but could leave wherever they could, even if it was a mountain full of thorns and cliffs.
The heavy weapons that the Japs could not carry and could not break through were thrown all over the mountain road. The attacking Chinese army also discovered that the Japs began to run away.
"Damn it, the Japanese are trying to escape, brothers! Chase them!"
One rushed into a tent set up by the Japs in the woods and found that things that the Japs could not take away were thrown all over the ground. He realized that the Japs had escaped and hurriedly led his men to chase after him.
The Japanese 6th Brigade was completely in chaos in order to survive. They began to break out separately and ran all over the mountains. The Chinese officers and soldiers who were biting behind the Japanese soldiers also chased them all over the mountains and plains. The Japanese soldiers were gone.
The number of Chinese troops blocking the Three-Daoliang attack was too small. The Japanese were single-minded in attacking them and opening up the road, but they could still hold on. However, now the Japanese were breaking out from the woods and ravines regardless.
With their small force, they couldn't take care of it at all. They had just stopped the Japanese who were breaking out here, but when the Japanese invaded in the forest over there, they took the opportunity to get through and run away. They were in a hurry.
Fortunately, these Japanese soldiers were completely in chaos. Hunger and fatigue had reduced their combat effectiveness to freezing point. Moreover, they had no ammunition. When they saw that the Chinese officers and soldiers had no intention of fighting, they just focused on breaking out.