Chapter 424: Elite, This Is Definitely Elite

Hearing this, Yu Hua said, "Go, I'll go take a look. What exactly is this matter?"

Liu Zhangqing and the others followed Yu Hua out of the headquarters; the sentries, seeing Yu Hua and the others arrive, all cleared a path.

At this moment, Yu Hua saw three or five men dressed in coarse cloth clothes, who were no longer making a scene.

The tall man in the lead shouted to Yu Hua, "Officer, we have an urgent matter to report."

After Yu Hua gave the guard a look, he let this tall man in.

"Officer, my name is Li Dazhuang!" Upon reaching Yu Hua, Li Dazhuang imitated the troops he had encountered before and saluted Yu Hua.

Liu Zhangqing and Zhang Yungang assembled their troops and headed toward the Feiluo Valley airfield.

"We are attacking the airfield; this can also reduce the pressure on the Chu Ming Regiment. This airfield is the bridgehead for the Japanese Army to attack Wuhan."

However, Li Dazhuang's imitation was not very good. Yu Hua smiled slightly: "What urgent matter do you have? You can say it now; I am still busy fighting the Japanese devils."

"Brigade Commander Liu, when will the follow-up troops of your Sichuan Army arrive?"

"And here, Luofeng Mountain; this mountain is also very suitable for hiding, as there are many caves inside."

"Plus the three thousand Puppet Army soldiers, the airfield's strength is over four thousand!"

"Come back, tell Regimental Commander Zhang, this is a death order. If he doesn't take the airfield, I will shoot him. Tell him to fight with all his might; I will provide him with the manpower and ammunition."

After Zhang Yungang of the 26th Group Army received the order from Xu Yuanquan, he had no choice but to bite the bullet, assemble his troops, and head toward the airfield at Feiluo Valley.

"Rest assured, we have large-caliber artillery. Our main force of the Independent Brigade is behind us, hiding in the mountain forests during the day. The trucks are towing the artillery. Now that the Japanese Army has Air Superiority, it is not easy for our Independent Brigade to save up some assets."

Liu Zhangqing saw Zhang Yungang's bitter smile, "Why, brother, you look like you have some unspeakable difficulty?"

"Brother!" Liu Zhangqing looked Zhang Yungang over: "Where are you all preparing to go?"

Zhang Yungang sighed deeply, "Brother, our 26th Group Army withdrew from Xuzhou and had just rested for less than ten days when these Japanese devils suddenly appeared. In half a day, the defensive line of our entire Group Army collapsed."

"I know, once this airfield is built, all the young people in our village will be slaughtered by the Japanese devils."

"Oh!" Yu Hua looked at Li Dazhuang: "You tell me, what is going on? Where are these devils?"

At this moment!

In a small village, Xu Yuanquan's headquarters was established here.

"Of course... I am very familiar with this airfield. Once we arrive at the location, we don't even really need to scout; I already have a general understanding of the Japanese Army's deployment."

With the two Japanese Army forces of Inaba Shiro and Boda Chongyi numbering twenty or thirty thousand, if he just threw his own brigade in, it would be Filling the Oil Tactics. That is a losing business, and Yu Hua would never do it.

Yu Hua decided to attack this airfield; regardless of anything else, the existence of the airfield was too great a threat to the Sichuan Army.

Liu Zhangqing looked at Yu Hua: "Old Yu!"

Liu Zhangqing patted Zhang Yungang on the shoulder, "Brother, your 26th Group Army still has some backbone; you can still counterattack the Japanese Army now."

"Not many!" Li Dazhuang shook his head: "I took a few fellow villagers and ran away from the airfield. There are only about two hundred Japanese soldiers at the airfield."

"Brigade Commander Liu, when are we attacking the airfield!"

After observation, Liu Zhangqing found that the defense of the Japanese airfield was indeed just as Zhang Yungang had said, roughly accurate.

"The number of planes has also increased; it looks like the Japanese devils have deployed at least twenty planes here."

"Changqing, you lead the team yourself this time." Yu Hua patted Liu Zhangqing on the shoulder.

Just like that, in the cover of night, the two armies each laid an ambush at their predetermined locations, waiting for orders.

"Brother!" Zhang Yungang looked at Liu Zhangqing: "I want to ask for your help. I see that your unit has quite a lot of people; can you spare some troops to help me attack the Japanese airfield?"

"Dazhuang, it is very likely that after you escaped, the Japanese Army increased the defense of the airfield. After all, such a large airfield was only guarded by two hundred people before; it was indeed prone to problems."

After meeting at the predetermined location, Zhang Yungang came before Liu Zhangqing.

The Sichuan Army attacks the airfield, and his own troops also attack the airfield. In this way, if the Japanese Army counterattacks, the troops will have sufficient strength to deal with it calmly.

Yixiantian Canyon and Luofeng Mountain are close to each other, with only a thirty-minute journey between them.

Just like that, while the two units were marching in the mountains, the vanguard troops bumped into each other.

After the situation at the airfield was figured out, Liu Zhangqing planned to hide the troops first and wait for nightfall to arrive.

Wei Dayong nodded, and Yu Hua chatted with Li Dazhuang for a few more sentences, striving to obtain more information.

Seeing that the Japanese Army had more than a battalion, plus the Puppet Army troops, Zhang Yungang was also quite afraid in his heart. If the Sichuan Army had not come, his reinforced regiment would really have been lost at the airfield.

"The location of the airfield is next to Feiluo Valley!"

This airfield is the bridgehead for the Japanese invasion of Wuhan; it must be taken back, otherwise, the threat to the Chinese defending troops is simply too great.

"Tonight, we must attack this airfield!"

Four 105 mm Howitzers; this is the heavy firepower of the Independent Brigade.

Yu Hua nodded, "The 1st Regiment advances with light equipment; march to the airfield for me and clarify the situation."

When he saw these four behemoth artillery pieces, Zhang Yungang was so surprised he could hardly speak!

"Dayong!" Yu Hua called out: "Get these fellow villagers something to eat."

After everything was ready, the 1st Regiment, under the leadership of Liu Zhangqing, began a raid on the airfield.

"No rush!" Liu Zhangqing waved his hand: "Today is definitely not the time; we have to wait until night."

"Yes!"

"Old Yu, just leave it to me; I will definitely get the matter done beautifully for you."

When Zhang Yungang heard that the other party was the Sichuan Army, and moreover, the Independent Brigade, his mood improved quite a bit.

After finding it, Yu Hua had the Staff Officer immediately work on the map to calculate the distance.

"To tell you the truth! We are also going to attack the airfield this time."

"Adjutant Yang!" Xu Yuanquan shouted!

"Here!" Adjutant Yang came before Xu Yuanquan: "Commander-in-Chief, your orders."

"There is a Yixiantian canyon here, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, which is very suitable for hiding troops. If our troops hide here, I guarantee the Japanese reconnaissance planes won't be able to find us."

"Fighting the Japanese devils! Where else would we go? We, the Sichuan Army, traveled thousands of miles out of Sichuan for the sake of fighting the Japanese devils."

"This airfield is huge, and the number of Japanese Army troops is too small. We also took advantage of the Japanese Army's lax defense to escape. During the escape, five or six fellow villagers still fell under the devils' guns."

The two armies waited until the sun went down and the Japanese Army's aircraft were no longer circling in the sky before slipping out of their hiding places and heading toward the airfield in Feiluo Valley.

Hearing this, Yu Hua widened his eyes: "How is the Japanese Army's airfield coming along now?"

At this time, Li Dazhuang also spoke softly: "Officer Liu, I haven't been gone for many days, but I didn't expect the airfield to have changed so much; the barbed wire and towers have also increased quite a bit."

"Map!" Yu Hua shouted, and Liu Zhangqing hurriedly brought the map over, then his eyes searched the map for the Japanese Army's airfield.

"Regimental Commander Zhang, don't be anxious. It has just turned dark. Our Sichuan Army troops possess a large amount of heavy equipment and cannons, so we move slowly. It will take at least two hours to rendezvous with you."

"Brother! I am Zhang Yungang, Regimental Commander of the 103rd Regiment of the 26th Group Army."

Seeing Liu Zhangqing say this, Zhang Yungang felt that the Sichuan Army was just too good!

If it were his own troops attacking the airfield, without siege artillery, it would purely be a matter of using human lives to fill the gap.

Only now had he gradually re-established contact with his troops, and there wasn't a single piece of good news; the various units were retreating very quickly, and almost all of them collapsed across the board after fighting for less than half a day.

What kind of mettle is this! He was clearly being used by the Commander to take the fall.

"We just escaped from the Japanese Army's airfield! Then we ran into our troops. I'm a crude man, but I also understand that we have a responsibility to fight the devils."

"Yes... the Japanese Army airfield, it is the Feiluo Valley airfield. The order my regiment received was to capture the Feiluo Valley airfield."

Li Dazhuang wiped the rice grains from the corner of his mouth, "No problem, I am very familiar with this area."

Now Zhang Yungang had already decided that his troops might as well listen to the Sichuan Army's command.

Zhang Yungang nodded: "Brigade Commander Liu, the little devils' airfield defense is really damn tight. Does your Independent Brigade have any large-caliber artillery?"

"Officer, we came here just to ask for your help in fighting the devils."

Although the airfield had increased its manpower, Liu Zhangqing still had confidence that they could take it out.

"Fine! Since that's the case, let's act separately and hide the troops."

Because the Independent Brigade was attacking the airfield this time with over ten thousand men, it was definitely a Class A Adjusted Division establishment.

Liu Zhangqing felt a wave of emotion: Good heavens, to actually encounter people from the 26th Group Army also attacking the airfield.

Looking left and right, Xu Yuanquan chose the airfield captured by the Japanese Army; he prepared to dispatch a reinforced regiment to recapture the airfield.

This damn Sichuan Army Independent Brigade is even wealthier than Principal's Central Army Class A Adjusted German-equipped Division!

Every soldier also had a brand-new Mauser 98K Rifle, plus a Type 26 Submachine Gun; this damn thing could beat any local army to a pulp.

One must know that Fifth War Zone's Bai Zhuge gave the 26th Group Army the task of holding the Huo Mountain, Liu'an, and Anqing areas. Now that his own troops had lost so many positions, he might be punished.

"Dazhuang!" Yu Hua came to Li Dazhuang's side: "You are familiar with the road to the airfield. Would you mind being our guide?"

"If we pull our whole brigade over, the little devils will definitely dispatch reinforcements to defend and save the airfield!"

Zhang Yungang widened his eyes; the Sichuan Army was also heading for the airfield. This was the same as him.

After reporting separately, Zhang Yungang and Liu Zhangqing met.

The 26th Group Army fighting so poorly made Xu Yuanquan's old face ache in waves.

"I have now received a death order from the Group Army Headquarters, and that is to recapture our lost positions!"

Hearing this, the airfield was very close to his position, and the guards were not numerous. Now Chu Ming Regiment in Anqing was fighting hard.

"Yes!"

"The devils' airfield is currently being built while aircraft take off and land. There are about five or six aircraft inside the airfield."

"Dazhuang!" Yu Hua looked at Li Dazhuang: "Are the airfield's guards strict? Is the troop strength large?"

"Brother... say no more! Let's hurry to the airfield now." Zhang Yungang looked at Liu Zhangqing urgently.

Xu Yuanquan's heart was still very afraid. The current Principal was not only ruthless toward local armies but also ruthless toward his own Whampoa direct subordinates.

At first, both sides thought the other was the Japanese Army, but when the scouts from both sides made contact, they discovered they were Chinese.

Zhang Yungang gave a bitter smile; in the entire Group Army, only his regiment received the counterattack order, and the remaining troops were already preparing to retreat.

"Brother, where are you going with this Rapid March?"

After the troops arrived at the airfield, Zhang Yungang really hadn't been bragging.

"As long as I can fight the devils, it's nothing if I have to run a few more times."

If he were held accountable later, he would have his reasons. He wanted to avoid ending up like Han Fuqu; Long Muhan of the Whampoa first class in the Lanfeng Battle was also executed.

Since his troops were routed by the Japanese 6th Division, the collapse was very rapid, and Xu Yuanquan also relied on his own guards to escape from the melee.

"The Feiluo Valley airfield must be recaptured for me. Have Regimental Commander Zhang lead the men."

"Sigh..." Xu Yuanquan let out a long sigh.

Here!

Zhang Yungang saw the remaining Independent Brigade soldiers. He saw the Sichuan Army machine gunners shouldering Type 26 General Purpose Machine Guns, Maxim Heavy Machine Guns, M2 Heavy Machine Guns, and 20mm Machine Cannons. These weapons gave him a huge shock.

After looking at the Japanese Army's deployment, Liu Zhangqing frowned slightly: "The little devils' troop strength at this airfield has clearly increased quite a bit; there are now about 1,500 people."

"Airfield?!"

"Officer!" A Staff Officer shouted: "This place is about ten kilometers away from us."

Now in broad daylight, the risk of attacking the airfield is too high; acting at night is the most convenient.

At a distance of ten kilometers, if traveling light, a Rapid March could reach it in one hour.

Adjutant Yang nodded and left!

"This little devil's airfield, once built, is very unfavorable for our troops' operations. I want to ask the officer to go attack the airfield and save the men in our village."

On the road, Liu Zhangqing asked: "Brother, your troops previously defended the Feiluo Valley airfield, so you should be quite familiar with the airfield's layout, right?"

At this time, at Yixiantian Canyon, Yu Hua led the main force to arrive here. The terrain of the canyon was acceptable and could accommodate vehicles and pack animals.

Li Dazhuang said: "Officer, we didn't expect the little devils to come so quickly. Many of the young and strong men in our village were captured by the little devils."

"Otherwise, if we attack the airfield at night, we still have to organize a dare-to-die squad to blow up the Japanese Army's strongholds."

Saying this, Zhang Yungang let his guards take out the map and place it in front of Liu Zhangqing.

Things like Grenade Launchers, Mortars, Type 92 Infantry Guns, and so on, were in no small quantity, not to mention the 105 mm Howitzers towed by trucks.

"Regimental Commander Zhang, is there any place nearby where we can hide? Let's conceal our troops well; it's broad daylight now, and if the devils' reconnaissance planes spot us, we'll be at a disadvantage."

Liu Zhangqing led the 1st Regiment toward Yixiantian Canyon, while Zhang Yungang brought his own troops to Luofeng Mountain.

After looking at the map, Xu Yuanquan felt that he must fight a comeback battle during the retreat to show the Fifth War Zone and the Nanjing Command in Hankou that although he was defeated, he was still organizing his troops for a counterattack.

"Liu Zhangqing, Deputy Brigade Commander of the Independent Brigade of the Chuan-Kang Pacification Office, Sichuan Army Second Route Army!"

This Sichuan Army unit had achieved impressive combat records in Songhu, Taihu, as well as Niangziguan and Xuzhou, and the Independent Brigade in particular was the cream of the crop within the Sichuan Army.

Elite!

This was absolutely the elite among the Sichuan Army units!!

(End of this chapter)