Iron and Blood in Taihang, 1940

In late autumn 1938, the battle to hold Cangyun Ridge was horrifically bloody. The company was wiped out, and the position reduced to scorched earth. It began in the trenches, where he refitted a few broken grenades into the first improvised booby trap. From there, he gathered a handful of old soldiers waiting to die and a band of unruly bandits. They ventured deep into the mountains, ambushed the Japanese and their collaborators, and battled blizzards, fighting for survival in the primeval forests of the Taihang Mountains at temperatures well below freezing. With his ruthless, hard-earned military discipline and his uncanny grasp of the moment to strike, Lei Zhen forged a motley band of defeated soldiers, mountain bandits, and desperate farmers into a blood-forged phantom force that terrified the Japanese army in North China! This is a blood-and-tears history of resistance without exaggerated heroics. The struggle is fought with cover, positioning, tactics, and the courage to face death. Realistic, brutal, and fiercely stirring!