Seishiro Itagaki didn't necessarily know much about geology, but he knew that if the empire wanted to have enough resources to wage war, it would need these geologists, and the empire needed their knowledge in exchange for coal, iron ore, and oil.

"Order the surrounding troops to rush to Niangzi Pass, and be sure not to let the Eighth Road hurt our experts."

The orders from the Fifth Division were sent out one by one, but what he didn't know was that the garrisons in several places were also anxious at this time. Just when this group of Japanese military experts arrived at Niangziguan Station, the Japanese troops in several places were also in trouble one after another, the surrounding roads were damaged, and the telephone lines were also cut!

……

Time goes back about twenty minutes ago.

"Regimental commander, the brigade commander sent a telegram. The fraternal troops have set up a stage for us, and now they are waiting for us to sing. ”

About three kilometers northwest of Niangziguan Station, the first battalion of the second battalion of the 424th Regiment is entering a state of combat readiness here at this moment. After receiving the notice from the brigade headquarters, Liu Chuan immediately reported to Yue Siliang.

"Okay, the brother troops have paved the road for us to this point, so it's time for us to show our faces! Get the whole battalion of fighters ready. Remember, we only have two hours, so we can take the station as fast as we can! ”

It was clearly stated at previous operational meetings. The purpose of this battle was to stop this group of Japanese experts and at the same time sabotage the Japanese railway. In addition, there is no need to provoke the nerves of the Japanese army too much, and it is necessary to grasp the proportion.

It is precisely because of this that the brigade did not send too many troops, and the delay and cover carried out by the various units was only two hours, and the time left for the main attacking force was only two hours. That is why the brigade commander pointed to General Yue Siliang, this kind of quick combat is what the 424 regiment has seen.

In the middle of the station, Ishikawa and Maeda on the train had no idea what was waiting for them. Look at the soldiers and geologists who are boarding the carriages on both sides.

"Ishikawa Shaozuo, let's enter the territory of Shanxi now, right?"

Maeda, who was stepping into the carriage, asked casually, and Ishikawa nodded immediately.

"Yes, Mr. Maeda. Are you looking forward to meeting the division commander? ”

"Hehe, although I am looking forward to meeting the division commander, I am not concerned about this matter at the moment. As you said before, the Chinese troops here are very vicious, but now it seems that there is nothing, and we are not very safe along the way? ”

Ishikawa laughed too.

"Mr. Maeda is really humorous, although the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi is very powerful, how can they have the strength to attack the railway? We have been escorted by a leading ironclad car all the way, and since last night, there has been a team of escorts to inspect the railway, so that we can reach it safely. ”

Ishikawa's words tell that he is confident in the safety of the railway.

"Huh~"

As the two were talking, a sharp roar rang out, and a mortar shell arced across the sky. Hearing this voice, Ishikawa's face suddenly changed greatly, and he was all too familiar with this voice.

"Mr. Maeda, hide!"

Ishikawa pushed Maeda into the carriage with one hand, and at the same time ran in with him.

The next second the two rushed into the carriage, a loud cannon exploded on the front right side of their carriage. The explosion of the shells shook the carriage violently.

"Ishikawa Shaosa! What's going on?! ”

Maeda's face was bloodless from the sudden change, and he asked Ishikawa loudly.

"We're under attack! I didn't expect these eight roads to really dare to do it! ”

Ishikawa said, pulling out the pistol from his waist and hiding in the window of the carriage to look outside. At this moment, a large area of the Eighth Route Army suddenly appeared in the distance, opened a long front and rushed over.

The soldiers who were boarding the car were taken by surprise by the surprise attack of the 424th Regiment, and after losing some soldiers, the Japanese soldiers reacted immediately, either rushing into the carriage or leaning against the carriage to shoot.

"Regiment commander, the enemy is mainly distributed in those four carriages, looking at the number of people, our intelligence is correct, it is the strength of a squadron."

Listening to Liu Chuan's report, Yue Siliang just nodded indifferently.

"One squadron, more than 180 people, the firepower configuration is no less than our ordinary battalion. It's not easy to solve them in two hours. ”

"Yes, our first echelon has gone up. Our first wave of attacks had good results. ”

Liu Chuan nodded and said, while raising the telescope and observing with Yue Siliang.

The first echelon of the second battalion was 100 men, and these 100 men formed a sharp cone 30 meters wide, and charged from the diagonal right side of the train, and the fighters of the most forward squad held light machine guns in their hands, forming a powerful firepower to charge towards Liecheng.

"Da Da Da ......"

The range of the light machine gun was much longer than that of the rifle, and the first few Japanese soldiers who bore the brunt of it burst into blood flowers in their chests, were beaten into a sieve, and fell to the ground.

"Rush !!"

Although when he was in the base area, Yue Siliang had already begun to train his troops in the "three-three system" tactics, but this did not mean that the traditional charging method would be eliminated immediately, especially the tradition of the second battalion was that the combat style was strong, and it was particularly good at charging in groups.

"Yaga !!"

The Japanese army, who was caught off guard, was immediately furious, and Ishikawa, who had observed the situation clearly in the carriage, rushed out of the carriage where he and Maeda were in a hail of bullets and came to the team.

"Immediately counterattack, the opponent is not as numerous as us, and counterattack with strong firepower."

At the same time, Ishikawa looked at his assistant again.

"Immediately find a way to get in touch with the front and the division commander. At the same time, order the commander to immediately find a way to start the train as quickly as possible, we don't have time to do a meaningless battle here with these Eighth Route Army! ”

"Booming !!"

As Ishikawa's order was given, the large iron door in a carriage was suddenly opened, and in that carriage were two heavy machine guns placed side by side!

"Da Da Da ......"

"Regiment Commander, the devil's heavy machine gun has appeared!"

Seeing that the devil used a heavy machine gun, Liu Chuan, who was observing from a distance, shouted at that time. When fighting the devils, the most important thing to guard against is the devil's heavy machine gun, because this kind of thing is the most lacking in the ranks of their Eighth Route Army, and it can also be said to be one of the most terrifying things on the battlefield.

Yue Siliang looked at the heavy machine gun in the devil's compartment from the binoculars, and immediately gave the second order

"Okay, let's move on to the next phase of the battle."

"Yes!"

Liu Chuan strictly carried out the order. Yue Siliang just stood aside and watched him do specific command matters. This can also be regarded as a kind of training for Yue Siliang's subordinate commanders.

"Five in a row! Come here! ”

With Liu Chuan's brief order, the commander of the fifth company immediately ran over.

"Let your people, divided into two parts, move together from both sides of the train to the middle, and attack in strict accordance with the 'three-three system'!"

"Yes!"

After receiving the order, the commander of the fifth company immediately went to make arrangements. A company of more than 150 people was divided into two parts, and shook the train along the two wings of the train like two big hands.

In the middle of the position, the soldiers of the fourth company were still charging in groups, and the dozen light machine guns in their hands were frantically firing at the devil's heavy machine guns. Almost every ten seconds, a soldier on both sides suffers casualties.

"Da-da."

The light machine gun in a soldier's hand ran out of bullets, and the tongue of fire gushing from the muzzle of the gun also stopped abruptly, and at the moment when he was about to change the bullets, a string of machine gun bullets hit him in the chest, and the soldier fell down with the magazine in his hand that had not been replaced, while the soldier behind him was still charging.

"Shao Zuo, the firepower of the Eighth Route Army is very fierce, and they concentrated the use of light machine guns, which caused us considerable casualties, and now there are almost no soldiers alive outside the carriage."

Ishikawa was shocked at the time, he had not fought with the Eighth Route Army in the previous battle, so there was always a trace of doubt about the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army, even if he heard about the fiasco of the Nishimura Brigade at Lingqiu, he thought it was just a coincidence. However, at this moment, he had completely corrected his mentality, because the combat effectiveness shown by the 424 regiment in front of him was enough for him to face it squarely.

"Are the soldiers outside the carriage already shattered? In that case......

Speaking of this, a hint of shame also appeared on Ishikawa's face.

"In that case, is it possible for us to start the train now? Mr. Maeda's safety is even more important. ”

Ishikawa knew that when he said such things, his subordinates were likely to look down on him and take the initiative to break away from the battlefield, what was the difference between this and desertion? In the twentieth century, there were almost no deserters in the imperial army.

However, in the next second, a Japanese man in a train uniform ran from the carriage in front of him and said to him in a panic.

"Ishikawa Shaosa, the ironclad car that led us was destroyed, and the railroad tracks five kilometers in front of us were also blown off!"

Hearing this, Ishikawa understood that the Eighth Route Army in front of him wanted to leave them here completely, and immediately looked out of the carriage fiercely.

"In that case, let's fight to the death!"

What he didn't know was that a pair of big hands of the 424th Regiment were already about to be clenched.

……