In the vast countryside, rain and fog made the vision hazy. Although the Japanese soldiers were wearing raincoats, they still had to lie down on the wet and muddy ground from time to time during the battle.
The cold muddy water soaked into their military uniforms, making them feel cold all over, and their pale lips trembled in pain from the cold.
But they did not dare to stand up casually, because the cold shots of the guerrilla snipers who were like ghosts wandering in the countryside would kill them.
At first, the little devils were still very motivated to fight, and were confident of victory in this expedition to suppress the guerrillas. After all, the guerrillas had fled every time they saw them in the past.
But this time they encountered unprecedented stubborn resistance. The muddy road was dug into sections, and white water filled the gaps, forcing them to abandon their cars and march on foot.
The muddy roads, traps everywhere, and the cold shots of the guerrilla officers and soldiers made every step forward extremely difficult.
They had already consumed enough energy in the difficult battle in the morning, and now fighting in such a quagmire, they seemed increasingly powerless.
The situation of the puppet troops seemed even worse. The Japanese soldiers could be replaced in batches to rest and recuperate, but they had to stay at the front and fight with the guerrilla officers and soldiers.
The guerrillas' tactics of sometimes dispersing and sometimes concentrating made these puppet soldiers extremely uncomfortable and they advanced cautiously, fearing that a sudden cold shot would kill them.
The sharp increase in casualties and the harsh combat environment caused the morale of the Japanese and puppet troops to decline rapidly. Although they were still advancing, they were already unable to achieve their goals.
Yang Ling and the others were already very familiar with the Japanese's rigid tactics, and knew that they liked to break through in the center while outflanking them on both wings.
In fact, the guerrilla officers and soldiers had already laid out ambushes on both wings. When the Japanese soldiers excitedly prepared to flank the enemy, they were greeted only by a hail of bullets.
After several repeated heavy casualties, Japanese commander Kuroda Ichiro had completely given up on the tactic of outflanking and concentrated his efforts on advancing from the front.
However, attacks by guerrilla officers and soldiers from the flanks still annoyed them. Although there were only a few casualties each time, the frequency of attacks was surprisingly high, almost once every few minutes.
Don’t the guerrillas need to rest and replenish their physical strength? This is Ichiro Kuroda’s question.
In fact, the brothers from the first guerrilla battalion and the guard platoon responsible for frontal blocking formed countless combat groups, and they were not fighting all the time.
Even if they were strong men, they would not be able to withstand such a high-intensity battle that lasted for several hours, so they took turns to fight against the little devils.
The Japanese troops led by Ichiro Kuroda did not have heavy weapons such as howitzers, nor were they covered by aircraft. The muddy roads further delayed their attack.
Facing such powerful enemies, they became the training and grinding stones for the guerrilla officers and soldiers. After a whole morning of fighting, the new recruits in the guerrilla army had gradually adapted to the rhythm of the battle.
The first time they had a firefight with the Japs, the new recruits of the guerrillas were so nervous that they could not even shoot at the Japs. They often couldn't help but shoot before they even received an order.
Now they can aim and shoot calmly, and their shooting accuracy is gradually improving. The battle is allowing them to grow rapidly.
"boom!"
The gunfire was particularly conspicuous in such rainy and foggy weather. A puppet soldier who bent forward to search fell to the ground and fell heavily into the ditch filled with rainwater, splashing a large snow-white water splash.
"Pah! Pah!"
"Da da da......"
The Japs and puppet troops who were cooperating in the search immediately fell to the ground subconsciously when they heard the sound of gunfire, and began to fire back in the direction of the attackers.
The whizzing bullets covered that small area like raindrops, causing the mud to splash and bounce. A gray figure was dodging left and right in pursuit of the bullets.
He was very skillful in dodging bullets and was obviously a veteran of many battles. The search team's counterattacks all failed.
"Damn it, he ran away again!"
Seeing the guerrillas who attacked them disappear in the hazy rain and fog, some puppet soldiers cursed, put away their guns, stood up, and kicked the mounds of mud hard.
The remaining puppet troops and Japanese soldiers looked around fearfully, fearing that there might be another lurker ambushing them.
They didn't dare to pursue him because they didn't know if there was an ambush in the rain and fog that they couldn't see. The two elite search teams had chased him out recklessly.
But when they came in with reinforcements, the two men from the vanguard unit had turned into corpses lying dead in the muddy water, with bloody holes all over their bodies, which made people shudder.
The two puppet soldiers struggled to pull up their companion who had fallen into the ditch, and made him lie on his back. After checking him, they painfully announced: "He's dead..."
Is this the first number of their companions who have died in battle? The tenth or the twentieth? They can't remember clearly now. Anyway, every time one of them dies, new people will be added to their search team.
"Bring a stretcher over here, another one is dead!" The puppet squad leader of the joint vanguard search team of the Japanese and puppet troops waved vigorously in the distance.
Not far behind them, two other troops fell behind them, ready to support at any time.
After hearing the shouting, three people quickly grabbed the stretcher and rushed over. They carried the body away neatly. One of them replaced the deceased and stayed with the vanguard search team.
Japanese Major Ichiro Kuroda's mood was as bad as the cold rainy and foggy weather, and he had long lost his previous high spirits.
Although they numbered more than 700 people and seemed well-equipped, they were stuck in the quagmire at the moment, like clumsy elephants, facing all sorts of strange attacks like flies, and they were extremely troubled.
.
Although it won't break your muscles or bones, it will advance slowly. You may not believe it, but a full morning passed before they only reached the outskirts of Xiaohekou Village.
As for whether we can break through the guerrilla detachment's blockade and reach our destination, Xiaowangzhuang, within one day, I'm afraid only God knows.
The officers and soldiers of the guerrilla detachment changed from their previous hard-fighting fighting style, and instead became erratic, like wandering ghosts, making it difficult for the Japanese to guard against them.
Sometimes they appear in front of the Japanese soldiers, sometimes on the flanks, and sometimes they stab the Japanese soldiers hard from behind. If the Japanese soldiers chase them, they will be ambushed. If you don't chase them, they will turn around and continue to beat you.
At this moment, every Japanese and puppet soldier advancing forward was trembling with fear, and their nerves were highly tense, because they did not know the direction from which the attacking bullets came, and they felt that they were surrounded by danger.
"Report, Xiaohekou Village is ahead."
After experiencing endless attacks, the forward search team finally reported good news.
Japanese Major Ichiro Kuroda took out his telescope and looked forward. In the hazy rain and fog, a small village was standing quietly near a large field of farmland.
After marching and fighting in rain and fog for so long, the Japanese and puppet troops urgently needed a dry place to rest and replenish their physical strength.
"Kameda-san, go and capture the village. We need to rest somewhere." Ichiro Kuroda told a Japanese lieutenant.
"Hiyi!"
Soon, Kameda Squadron quickly attacked and headed straight for Xiaohekou Village.
Yangling's forward headquarters was previously established here, but as the Japanese gradually advanced, they had to move away, turning this place into a battlefield.