Devil's Army

Chapter 1983 Recapture of Jinhua and Hangzhou

After completing the encirclement, the 12th Brigade of the First Army launched a fierce attack on the Japanese 70th Division.

The Japanese 70th Division troops that were blocking the attack were quickly divided and surrounded.

Seeing this, the 50th Army of the government forces also launched a counterattack against the Japanese army from the front.

The battle ended quickly, and only then did Commander Zhang realize that the force blocking their advance was merely a rearguard of the Japanese army. The Japanese 70th Division had already taken advantage of the chaos to retreat back to Hangzhou.

The government's 50th Army took the opportunity to take over some counties and towns in eastern Zhejiang.

The First Army's Independent Brigade and the First Army's 12th Brigade returned to the battlefield and intensified their offensive against Hangzhou.

The Japanese 22nd Division was not so lucky.

Taking advantage of their familiarity with the terrain, the 3rd Brigade of the Southern Independent Division of the First Army quickly and successfully surrounded the main force of the Japanese 22nd Division, which was attacking the 62nd Division of the 28th Army of the government forces, and launched a fierce attack on them.

The New Fourth Army's Zhejiang East Detachment and Pengze Guerrilla Detachment attacked the Japanese army from the flank.

Soon, they saw the tide of battle turn in their favor. The government's 62nd Division also launched a fierce attack on the Japanese army from the front.

Under the combined attack of the 3rd Brigade of the Southern Independent Division of the First Army, the New Fourth Army, and the 62nd Division of the Government Army, the Japanese 22nd Division suffered heavy casualties. Only a small number of troops managed to break through the encirclement and retreat back to Jinhua.

Taking advantage of the situation, the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Independent Division continued its eastward advance and broke through the Japanese defense line in Jinhua County.

The following day, the First Independent Brigade and the 12th Brigade of the Army also broke through the Japanese defense line in Hangzhou and entered Hangzhou.

The Japanese military headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, was forced to retreat urgently.

Because the 15th Brigade, a "devil unit," was engaged in battle with Japanese troops in Jiangsu and Shanghai to the north, Commander Shimomura had no choice but to retreat eastward.

The Japanese army split into three routes. The first route retreated to Ningbo along the Hangzhou-Ningbo Highway and through the passes of the Kuaiji Mountains.

The second route was to retreat to Ningbo via the eastern section of the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Railway – the Cao'e River Bridge and the hills on both banks.

The third route runs along the Hangzhou Bay coast – from Zhenhaikou to the mudflats of Chuanshan Peninsula.

Commander Shimomura, together with the Third Route Japanese Army, boarded ships and retreated from Hangzhou Bay. However, the muddy and soft tidal flats made it difficult for heavy equipment to pass, and there was a lack of cover in the surrounding area.

The air force quickly arrived and launched a massive bombing raid on the Japanese troops who had already boarded the ships and those who were preparing to board and retreat.

The Zhejiang guerrillas nearby also launched a surprise attack on the retreating Japanese troops, keeping them busy with their own defenses.

Even more critically, the first ship carrying Commander Shimomura was destroyed by heavy bombing from the First Army Air Force.

Commander Shimomura was lucky; he was rescued by his guards at great personal risk and brought ashore. But the other soldiers were not so fortunate; most of them sank into the Cao'e River with the broken-up ship.

Ignoring his soaked and disheveled state, Commander Shimomura immediately ordered his troops to construct defensive fortifications in preparation for repelling the devilish army's attack.

Taking advantage of the absence of the Devil Force air force overhead, he used a truck to retreat from the Cao'e River railway bridge to the east side of the Cao'e River.

Shortly after Commander Shimomura withdrew to the east bank of the Cao'e River, the vanguard of the Independent Brigade caught up with him.

They engaged in fierce fighting with the rearguard of the Japanese army on the west bank of the Cao'e River.

Because the Cao'e River Bridge is a railway bridge with a narrow deck, limited load-bearing capacity, and only a single railway line, Japanese heavy equipment (tanks, artillery, trucks) could only pass through in sequence.

During the limited air raids by the Devil Forces air force, vehicles and artillery were often destroyed, causing congestion.

The Japanese army had to push the destroyed trucks and artillery pieces into the river one by one to ensure the smooth operation of the Cao'e River Bridge.