Captain Kasahara Koizumi of the 22nd Infantry Regiment of the Japanese Army was riding on a tall brown horse. Along the way, he kept urging the troops to speed up.

When approaching the vicinity of General Ridge, a Japanese second lieutenant officer suddenly hurried over from the front and reported to Kasahara Koizumi: "Report to the captain, a large number of corpses of imperial soldiers were found in the front. It is roughly estimated that at least

There are hundreds of tools.

Through their soldier IDs, we found that they are all members of the Imperial Army of the 9th Brigade."

Kasahara Koizumi frowned and asked, "Are there any survivors?"

The Japanese second lieutenant shook his head: "No!"

A combat staff officer next to him asked: "Captain, what's going on? Could it be that the 9th Brigade of the Imperial Army had an accident?"

Kasahara Koizumi raised his head and looked at the terrain in front of him and said: "The terrain of Jiangjun Ridge is difficult and very suitable for blocking. The 9th Brigade must have been blocked by the China Eighth Route Army here.

As for the 9th Brigade, although they lost hundreds of people here, it was not an accident.

General Watanabe must have been so angry that he couldn't wait to catch up with the Chinese Eighth Route Army, so he didn't dispose of the corpses of the Imperial Army."

Kasahara Koizumi is indeed a battle-hardened commander, and he analyzed the general outline of the matter at a glance.

After a pause, Kasahara Koizumi summoned the communications soldier again and asked: "How is it going? Have you contacted the 9th Brigade?"

"Not yet. I have been trying to contact the 9th Brigade, but have never been successful." A Japanese communications soldier carrying a radio came to Kasahara Koizumi and saluted him.

"Damn it! How could this happen?" Along the way, Tachihara Koizumi only saw traces of fighting everywhere and Japanese corpses on the ground, but he never saw the shadow of the 9th Brigade, which made him feel restless and faint.

I have an unknown premonition about it.

After withdrawing his thoughts, Kasahara Koizumi asked again: "Where is Colonel Yamamoto? Where are they?"

Japanese Communications Corps: "Reporting to the commander, Colonel Yamamoto just called and said that they are on their way at full speed and will arrive at General Ridge in 10 minutes."

"Yoshi!"

Kasahara Koizumi's gloomy cheeks finally softened a little, and then he issued another order: "Pass my order, the troops continue to advance, and they must catch up with the Imperial Army's 9th Brigade in the shortest possible time!"

After hearing this, the combat staff officer next to him said with some concern: "Captain, the terrain ahead is so dangerous, should we send some scouts to conduct reconnaissance? Otherwise, if the Eighth Route Army sets an ambush in the front, we will be in danger."

Already."

Kasahara Koizumi said indifferently: "Mouri-kun, your worries are completely unnecessary. The China Eighth Route Army is being pursued by the 9th Brigade. Their self-protection has become a problem. How can they still have troops to set up an ambush here?

If there really was one, it must have been wiped out by the 9th Brigade long ago!

No need to waste time!"

"Hiyi!"

The combat staff thought so, so he said no more.

It has to be said that everything was within Kasahara Koizumi's calculations. The only thing he miscalculated was that he did not expect that the Independent Battalion would divide its forces and turn back after besieging the 9th Brigade in Calabash Gorge.

As a result, Kasahara Koizumi's 22nd Infantry Regiment was unprepared and plunged into the ambush circle set up by Wang Chengzhu and others.

"Hit! Beat me hard!"

When Tian Shuisheng and Chen Xi saw that the Japanese 22nd Regiment had entered the ambush circle they had set, they decisively gave the order to fire and were the first to pull the trigger.

"Pah, pah!"

Gunshots rang out, and the two Japanese soldiers walking in front immediately fell to the ground.

The sound of gunshots was an order, and the 1,000 soldiers lurking on both sides of the road also pulled the triggers immediately.

All kinds of light and heavy weapons opened fire, and a large and dense rain of bullets poured out in an instant.

"Puff puff puff, puff puff puff puff!——"

"Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh..."

Caught off guard, the Japanese soldiers who were marching at full speed didn't even react. They screamed and fell down like a knife cutting wheat.

At the same time, Wang Chengzhu and Liu Qiang also led the soldiers of the artillery company to fire.

Wang Chengzhu had already spotted the Japanese commander riding a tall brown horse through his telescope, so his first shot was directly towards Kasahara Koizumi.

After many actual battles, Wang Chengzhu was very proficient in the use of small-caliber artillery such as the Type 97 light mortar.

Just one shot hit the target.

Kasahara Koizumi, who was riding a horse and leading his team forward at that time, had no chance to dodge. He was hit by a cannonball falling from the sky. After a loud bang, both men and horses were blown upside down.

The corpse of a war horse weighing hundreds of kilograms collapsed to the ground, and at the same time, it also suppressed a flag-bearing soldier next to it.

Although he didn't directly kill him, he suppressed the legs of the Japanese flag soldier, making him unable to move. During his struggle, he threw the military flag in his hand.

As soon as the military flag fell, the other Japanese soldiers were all in disarray.

Unfortunately, Kasahara Koizumi, who was riding on horseback, was not killed by the explosion. He only had one of his legs broken and was thrown away by the blast wave.

At this time, he was holding his injured calf and howling miserably.

"Co-captain, co-captain!"

Several Japanese officers nearby immediately surrounded him, called for medical soldiers, and began to bandage his wounds.

The independent battalion's offensive did not stop because of Kasahara Koizumi's injury, but became even stronger.

The independent battalion soldiers lurking in the grass and woods on both sides of the road kept firing and pouring bullets at the 22nd Japanese Infantry Regiment.

The artillerymen of the artillery battery controlled grenades and mortars, firing all their firepower, firing hot shells onto the road down the mountain.

Originally, the 22nd Japanese Infantry Regiment was marching forward quickly in a neat and dense formation, so the independent battalion's first round of offensive cost them hundreds of people.

Bodies were lying everywhere.

However, the remaining Japanese soldiers, under the command of some grassroots officers, immediately organized an effective counterattack from a nearby bunker.

"Tu tu tu tu!"

"Da da da!"

“Pah, pah, pah, pah!—”

Gunshots rang out, and dense bullets shuttled back and forth between the enemy and ourselves, causing smoke and dust to fly around the ground and breaking vegetation.

From time to time, grenades would fall down one after another, causing balls of scarlet and dazzling fire to rise on the ground.

The enemy and we were going back and forth, all concentrating their firepower to attack each other. However, because the independent battalion occupied the favorable terrain in advance, some soldiers were hit by stray bullets from time to time and were killed or injured.

Of course, the casualties of the 22nd Japanese Infantry Regiment were much greater. Soon, hundreds more bloody corpses appeared near the road below.
Chapter completed!