The gunfire from the back mountain soon alerted the militia company that had been on standby. They sent some people to evacuate the villagers, and the main force, led by the company commander Xue Liang, went to reinforce the back mountain. They only deployed one platoon in the position of the back mountain.

At this time, the platoon leader was leading the second platoon of militiamen in a firefight with Xinzhi’s advance team. The gap between the two sides was very obvious. After only a few minutes of fighting, the second platoon suffered more than a dozen casualties, and they achieved almost no results.

Sha Zhu’s mission was accomplished, but he did not retreat. After the main force of the Japanese soldiers were attracted by the second row’s firepower, he quietly stuck his head out, aimed at a Japanese soldier and fired a shot.
This time he didn’t care whether he hit the target or not. After firing the shot, he retracted his head under the rock. The Japanese bullets seemed to have eyes and came straight at him, causing gravel to fly everywhere.

Sha Zhu took a deep breath and secretly thanked his good luck. He was now sure that the other party was definitely a Japanese devil.

The Japanese soldiers of Xinzhi’s advance team attacked in alternating cover, and then stepped into the minefield without any surprise, causing the Japanese soldiers to scream in pain;
After facing the threat of death, they stopped pretending and shouted to remind other devils to retreat, as the number of mines was beyond their imagination.

After suffering a loss at the hands of the Japanese last time in the back mountain, the Shitang Village Militia Company had buried hundreds of land mines in the back mountain, with a depth of more than 200 meters, almost blocking all the passages into the village horizontally;

The gap between the militia company and the Japanese Xinzhi’s advance team was too big, but the existence of the minefield allowed the militia to abuse their power and kill the old master. They barely withstood the Japanese offensive and killed more than a dozen Japanese.

Ishida Nobuyuki, who arrived later, looked very unhappy. What made him even more uncomfortable was that the Chinese reinforcements were running over, with more than a hundred people.

He was not afraid of the reinforcements. If there were no minefields, they could defeat the Chinese who were blocking them with a single charge. But now there was no need for him to take any risks.

Even if they could successfully capture Shitang Village, it would not be of much significance. Their whereabouts have been exposed, and there is no point in continuing to fight.

With a dark face, he called a halt to the attack and quickly retreated to the outside of the forest with the wounded and corpses. At this time, the militia led by Xue Liang also hurried over. Seeing that the Japanese had retreated, they stopped the second platoon that was about to pursue them.

After revealing her whereabouts, Ishida Nobuko retreated very quickly, without even thinking of ambushing the guerrillas, as their time was very precious now;

They had to reach Leishen Ridge before the defenders could react. Now they could only race with the Chinese in speed and hope that the guerrillas were unaware of their true intentions.

It was not until the Japanese ran away that Sha Zhu slipped out from behind the rock and reported the situation to the company commander.
Xue Liang’s expression became extremely serious after hearing this. This was definitely a group of devils disguised as national army soldiers, and they were special devils similar to the headquarters reconnaissance battalion.

As a veteran of the guerrilla column, although he could not guess the real purpose of the devils, he was sure that the devils were not targeting them;

He immediately praised Sha Zhu and said:

“Shazhu, you have done a great deed this time! This is not an ordinary group of devils. Their target is not Shitang Village. They may just be passing by and want to kill us by the way.”

Sha Zhu quickly added:
“Yes, these sons of bitches are very accurate in their shooting skills, and they are very cunning. I have only seen this with Commander Yue.
Their outfits are very similar to those of the people brought by Commander Yue, all of them are equipped with fancy machines. If I hadn’t been hiding behind a rock, I would have gone down to accompany Changhe.”

Sha Zhu looked sad after he finished speaking. Xue Liang patted his shoulder and comforted him:

“Every wrong has its perpetrator, and the main force will deal with them. Come with me to Changling Town immediately and tell Commander Yue everything you saw.”

This was the breaking news that Yue Wanli received. After listening to Sha Zhu and Xue Liang’s stories, he knew what was going on and roughly guessed the Japs’ true intentions.

He immediately sent people to the town to warn Song Yunhan, and then gave Xue Liang a new task, asking them to notify nearby villages to strengthen vigilance to prevent a small number of Japanese invaders from sneaking in.

After Xue Liang left, Yue Wanli sped up the pace of closing the net. They had to deal with the Japanese who were coming around as soon as possible and let the guard battalion take action to deal with the Japanese special forces.

At the blocking position of the guard battalion of the guerrilla column in Changling Town, the Noguchi Battalion launched wave after wave of attacks. They had broken through two lines of defense of the defenders in succession, and only the last one was left;

At this time, Noguchi’s battalion had suffered more than 300 casualties and had severely depleted its ammunition, but Major Noguchi did not intend to give up. He was already furious.

With only one last word left, Major Noguchi bowed deeply to the squadron leaders and said:
“Gentlemen, please! The glory of the 10th Independent Mixed Brigade depends on this. As long as we break the last line of defense of the Chinese, Changling Town will belong to the Imperial Army.

Blow up the guerrilla column’s military factory, lift military discipline for the entire brigade for three days, kill, burn, and loot Changling Town!!!”

The Japs’ bodies are full of animal blood, and their blood boils when they hear about burning, killing and looting, especially when a beautiful girl appears, which can boost their morale.

Several Japanese soldiers excitedly bowed to Major Noguchi, and then shouted in unison:

“We will not withdraw our troops until Changling Town is conquered.”

The Japanese were ready to launch a general attack. The remaining five guns fired fiercely at the defenders’ positions, almost using up all their shells.
Major Noguchi saw that the situation was almost right, so he drew out his command knife and shouted:
“Warriors, the time has come to serve His Majesty the Emperor. Kill the chickens!”

The Japanese soldiers instantly rushed towards the defenders’ positions as if they were injected with chicken blood, screaming and shouting, and they were as densely packed as locusts passing through a border.

Seeing that the Japs were like a gambler who had lost all his chips, Song Yunhan did not hide anything and said to Sun Yifeng:

“The Japs have even put their underwear on the line this time, so let’s not be too stingy. Order the artillery company to fire at the Japs. Don’t be stingy with the shells. Beat them to death!”

Sun Yifeng had been waiting for this moment for a long time. He had been beaten by the Japanese all the time, and even a clay man would get angry.
They were a guard battalion, and it was a rare opportunity for them to beat up the Japanese, so the soldiers had been crying out in frustration for a long time.

Following Sun Yifeng’s order, the five artillery pieces of the guard battalion (one of which was lost) launched a fierce attack on the Japanese, firing 5 rounds of rapid fire in one breath, blowing the Japanese soldiers and horses to the ground;
If they were not worried about being bitten by the Japanese artillery, they would have thrown out a dozen more rounds. They would never use guns if the problem could be solved with artillery.

The Japanese didn’t expect that the firepower of the defenders was still so strong after fighting for so long, and they suffered a great loss, but the arrow was on the string and had to be shot, so they could only bite the bullet and charge forward;

After finally breaking out of the artillery blockade zone, they ran head-on into a fire network composed of dozens of light and heavy machine guns, and dozens of them were knocked down instantly.

The Japs were also ferocious. They had no way to retreat, and the smell of blood on the battlefield made them even more crazy, as if the people being torn to pieces by heavy machine gun bullets around them were not their companions.

“Kill the chicken and give it to me!”

“Ban Zai!” “Kill all the Chinese!”

“The time has come to serve the Empire…”

The louder the slogans are shouted, the faster they will die. In the face of dense firepower, the stupid rush tactics will only lead to death.

Seeing the warriors he had placed high hopes on falling one after another, Major Noguchi almost dropped the telescope in his hand. His mouth was shaking uncontrollably, and he muttered sadly:

“Bakayalu, you’re so cunning!”

“It’s not a samurai’s job…”

He had already realized that he had been tricked by the Chinese, and suddenly found himself being played like a monkey. The guerrillas had not tried their best before and had hidden a lot of their strength.

At this moment, something even more aggrieved happened to him. Rows of artillery shells hit the charging team from behind, with more than a dozen of them.

Based on his understanding of the Chinese army’s firepower configuration, a dozen artillery pieces meant that there was at least a regiment of troops behind them;
They were surrounded, and nearly half of the Japanese soldiers had been killed or wounded. With obstacles in front and strong enemies behind, the Noguchi Battalion fell into an unprecedented crisis…

Just when Major Noguchi was at a loss as to what to do, a series of military trumpet calls rang out behind them;

This was a death horn from hell, which scared the Japanese soldiers out of their wits and became the last straw that broke their morale.

The devils collapsed, running around like headless flies, with revenge bullets everywhere, and the world was filled with the cold gleam of bayonets…

Noguchi felt disheartened and closed his eyes in pain.

Under the pincer attack from the guerrilla column, most of Noguchi’s battalion were killed or wounded, and the remaining remnants all fled, becoming lambs to be slaughtered. It was only a matter of time before they were annihilated.

While the 10th Independent Mixed Brigade was attacking southwest Shandong, the 6th Independent Brigade, the 21st Infantry Division and other units also launched a full-scale attack from the railway line to the southeastern, central and northwestern military sub-districts of Shandong.

The third and fourth detachments of the guerrilla column each dispatched a main force from each military sub-district, and with the cooperation of local troops and militia, they built strong defenses and cleared the fields, using guerrilla tactics to delay the main force of the Japanese.

After the Japanese army penetrated deep into the base area, the main forces of the third and fourth detachments, which had been hiding near the railway line, launched a battle to disrupt the Jinpu Railway and Jiaoji Railway. The momentum was very huge.
For a time, all the strongholds along the railway were in a panic, and the Japanese were overwhelmed. Emergency telegrams were sent to the 21st Division and the 6th Independent Brigade like snowflakes.

Jiaoji Road, Niushan Station
Although Captain Watanabe Toshio had already sent a call for help, he was still very nervous. He didn’t know if he could hold on until the main force returned. The Chinese offensive was too fierce!
“Boom! Boom!”

Two rockets with long tails of flame hit the enemy’s flank turret almost at the same time, destroying it easily. This was the third secondary fort destroyed by the guerrillas. Now only the main fort where Captain Watanabe was located was left.
The outer barriers had been cleared, and the main fort was completely exposed to the guerrillas’ rocket launchers. Captain Watanabe did not expect the guerrillas to have so many anti-tank guns, and said to the other devils with a dark face:
“Gentlemen, the time has come to serve His Majesty the Emperor!
The Chinese are about to launch a general offensive. They are definitely not guerrillas. The despicable Chinese are cunning and sly. The more the Imperial Army is in the most critical moment, the more powerful its fighting power will be. Kill them all!”

After hearing this, the Japanese soldiers expressed their stance one after another, vowing to live and die with the bunker, showing great momentum.

At this time, the guerrillas launched another attack on the main fort. Dozens of people formed a strict formation according to the “three-three system” and rushed forward with great momentum.

Captain Watanabe immediately ordered to open fire. Several light and heavy machine guns in the bunker crazily fired at the charging guerrilla soldiers, and people were shot and fell from time to time.

Company commander Wu Yuze’s heart was bleeding, but sacrifice was inevitable. He had to use continuous infantry attacks to attract the Japanese firepower and buy time for the rocket squad.

Previously, rocket launchers were directly under the command of the battalion headquarters (military sub-district). In order to adapt to the new needs of the struggle, this time the rocket launchers for the anti-trade war were transferred to the brigade level, and the number was also increased significantly;

Each battalion has 4 rocket launchers and 3 infantry guns, which are powerful weapons against the Japanese bunkers.

The third company was allocated two rocket launchers, which had a far shorter range than the Type 92 infantry gun, so they could only rely on infantry attacks to gain a chance.

Two rocket launcher groups have already approached the bunker in secret, 200 meters, 150 meters, 120 meters…

During this period, several soldiers died. Their sacrifice finally gave the rocket launcher team an opportunity. The two main shooters pulled the trigger almost at the same time, and the rockets hit the target accurately, destroying the main bunker.

The main building of the bunker collapsed, burying all the Japanese soldiers including Captain Watanabe inside, killing or injuring them.

The channel for attack was finally opened, and Captain Wu immediately ordered the charge to be blown, and the entire company of soldiers rushed into the train station like a tidal wave, killing all the Japanese who were still resisting in the station;

The news that the third company had captured the station quickly spread throughout the surrounding area, and militiamen and villagers came to help.

They not only assisted the main force in destroying the railway lines and stations, but also helped the main force transport the stripped rails to the mountains and hide them, completely paralyzing the railways around Niushan Station, opening up the connection between central and southeastern Shandong, and allowing the main force to jump to the outside line of battle.

In the battle that lasted for more than ten days, the Shandong sections of the Jiaoji Railway and the Jinpu Railway were almost completely paralyzed, dozens of strongholds of various sizes were captured, more than 2 enemies were killed, and the Japanese railway blockade was completely broken.

At this point in the battle, the initiative on the battlefield has returned to the hands of the guerrilla column. In order to launch a counterattack against the Japanese invaders who have penetrated deep into the base area;
The main forces of the third and fourth detachments began to assemble secretly. The time for an annihilation war has matured. Everything is ready, only the east wind is missing!
This “East Wind” means that when you attack the enemy, you must rescue them. You have to make the devils run. Only when they are moving can you have the greatest chance.

In Jinan city, the 12th Army headquarters was as busy as a market. Iida Sadatsugu’s face looked as ugly as if his father had died. The guerrillas’ sabotage operations along the railway had made him extremely anxious.

At this moment, the Chief of Staff, Major General Kobayashi, came in in a panic, motioned for the other devils to step aside, and then said to Iida Sadatsugu:

“Commander, something serious has happened. Several Chinese troops have appeared around Jinan City. Most of the outposts deployed by the Imperial Army on the periphery have been destroyed by the Chinese. Their target seems to be Jinan City!”

Lieutenant General Iida was also shocked and broke out in a cold sweat. No one knew Jinan’s defense situation better than him. At most, there were only about 3 people left. He knew something about the reputation of Yue Qianli and the guerrilla column.

It was so brutal that he suddenly felt a chill on his neck for no apparent reason. (End of this chapter)