After all, the premise of the unprecedented sweep launched by the Japanese army at this time is that the Japanese North China Front has almost evacuated the North China garrison. The entire Japanese First Army stationed in Shanxi poured out, and there were only a small number of remaining troops in the towns occupied by the Japanese army in the rear. But the problem is that with so many troops, it is impossible to fight continuously in the Taihang Mountains for a long time.

The time of each day was important for the Eighth Route Army in the counter-sweep, but it was also important for the Japanese army, which had evacuated almost all of its garrison. The Japanese army was still very familiar with the tactics of the Eighth Route Army's counter-sweeping operations, which often jumped out of the outside line to fight. After suffering so many losses, the memory of the Japanese army is still relatively good.

At present, the entire outer front is relatively empty, and the large army is in the Taihang Mountains. In order to deal with a county-level local armed force, Tsuruta Numan drew a considerable part of his troops from the pursuing force. Even with the full support of Lieutenant General Jing Seki, the commander of the 36th Division, the huge dissatisfaction from other quarters still put considerable pressure on him.

Because this sweep of Taihang Mountain is not a family of the 36th Division. Moreover, the commander of the First Army of the Japanese army stationed in Shanxi is now sitting in Changzhi to personally supervise the war. For the Japanese army, which had always been well-planned, a part of the troops was left southeast of Cross Ridge, which meant that there was a certain gap left in other directions.

Although Tsuruta Numan left behind was only an infantry brigade that was not satisfied with the formation, plus a search wing of the 36th Division, and a puppet army that participated in the sweep. The overall strength of the army was actually not very large, but it still caused dissatisfaction among the Japanese troops who participated in the sweep from other directions.

Even within the 36th Division, there were many officers who believed that more troops should be dispatched to pursue the victory and completely eliminate the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army. This small force of the Eighth Route is still in the center of the Cross Ridge Encirclement, and has not yet finally stood out, and it is impossible to escort any important people.

At this critical moment, when it was necessary for troops to pursue the victory, a large number of troops were wasted to compete with the remnants of a local armed force of the Eighth Route Army. Even in this remnant, there are people with important identities. But there is no need to leave so many troops to pursue and search under the current situation of tight troops.

Although the Japanese army has a very high opinion of the political work cadres of the Eighth Route Army. At least in the eyes of the Japanese army's spy department, the political work system of the Eighth Route Army was one of the most important reasons for its tight organization. However, the Japanese army looked down on the military command ability of the political and work cadres of the Eighth Route Army.

The so-called field political department of the Eighth Road, which broke through from the southeast, were all scholars who only incited the common people to resist in the eyes of the Japanese army. There is nothing to be taken seriously on the battlefield. Even among those who ran out from the southeast, there were very important people. However, judging from the stragglers captured so far, they are all non-combatants.

Even if it is caught, it will not be able to eradicate the so-called bandits in Taihang Mountain. At present, the sweeping operation in the Taihang Mountains should still be aimed at capturing the high-level command organs of the Eighth Route and carrying out devastating destruction of its so-called Taihang base area, completely destroying the foundation of its survival in the Taihang Mountains.

A small force, there is simply no need to pay so much attention. If Tsuruta Numan keeps an eye on it, one squadron plus part of the garrison will be enough. There is simply no need to put so many troops on such a small team. Put it on the pursuit of the senior commander of the Eighth Route Army, and it will achieve greater results.

Under the tremendous pressure, Tsuruta Numan had no choice but to take certain changes, find a way to adjust the deployment, and fish out Li Ziyuan's department, which was nowhere to be seen now, as soon as possible. It's just that Li Ziyuan, who was hidden under his nose the night before, was as immobile as a mountain, and after his director's trick failed, Tsuruta Numan was quite frustrated.

This time, he did not hesitate to offend a large number of colleagues, put in such a great effort, and withheld so many troops. Even the two advance teams that were dispatched were always in their own hands. During the entire sweep, the forward troops were contacted every three hours, and the forward troops were required to report to them as soon as possible about the interrogation of the captured personnel.

After learning that Li Ziyuan's headquarters was in the Cross Ridge, he immediately formulated such a tactic in the shortest possible time according to the laws of the opponent's activities that he had mastered when dealing with Li Ziyuan in the past two years. In spite of the continuous operation and fatigue of the sweeping troops at the front, a considerable part of the resources were mobilized.

As a result, he is still empty-handed, and this result makes it strange if Tsuruta Numan is not depressed. Because according to his calculations and judgments, this mountain village was definitely a must-pass place when Li Ziyuan retreated. The most important thing is also the periphery, the only place where you can raise provisions.

But despite the terrible results, the advance team that was close to the villagers did not get any news about Li Ziyuan's department. Tsuruta Numanan, who didn't plan to withdraw his troops here, simply pulled off the disguised mask and did it himself. Just after Li Ziyuan evacuated the outskirts of the mountain village, Tsuruta Numan raised his butcher's knife and attacked the villagers who were barely defenseless.

In Tsuruta Nunan's view, even if Li Ziyuan can't be transferred with this hand, it can also divide the relationship between the Eighth Route and the people in the so-called base area. Isn't your Eighth Route Army claiming to have a fish and water relationship with the common people, and aren't you known as the people's soldiers? Then I will come to a big drama of the Eighth Route Army slaughtering the villagers, so that the people will not trust you.

The Japanese army, disguised as the Eighth Route Army, gathered the villagers in the village to the threshing floor in the east of the village, and forcibly dragged all the women out of the village. For the remaining young and old people, machine guns have been set up and ready to slaughter the villagers in order to destroy the relationship between the Eighth Route Army and the common people in the base area.

As early as when this fake eight-way army entered the village, it was found that many of them had acquaintances in the melee below the cross ridge. judged that this Eighth Route into the village was not his brother army at all. But I don't know what tricks the Japanese army played, they did not evacuate, but just turned around, and He Sanliang, who had always secretly monitored the movements of this team around the village.

Faced with the Japanese army's obvious move to slaughter the village, even if the troops in his hands were limited, he could only do it head-on. The gunshots Li Ziyuan heard were He Sanliang's feints to rescue the villagers. Two teams wearing the same military uniforms fought fiercely under the noses of the villagers who didn't know what was going on.

He Sanliang concentrated the small number of troops in his hand, and forcibly tore a small gap in the periphery of the slaughter circle deployed by this fake Eighth Road. and concentrated the firepower at hand to suppress the firepower of this fake eight-way army, and finally snatched the villagers out from under the bayonets of the Japanese army.

However, as soon as He Sanliang's side started, almost all the Japanese troops in the southeast direction of the entire Cross Ridge were alarmed. Thinking that he had captured Li Ziyuan's subordinates, Tsuruta Numan was ecstatic, and immediately mobilized all his troops to encircle and outflank the mountain village. At this time, the corpses of the puppet soldiers who should have been buried outside the village suddenly resurrected and appeared on the battlefield at this time.

Moreover, these puppet armies are not real puppet armies, all of them are disguised by the Japanese army. Except for the military uniforms on their bodies, all of them are authentic Japanese elites. Facing the Japanese army outflanked from many directions, He Sanliang immediately felt the pressure doubled. It's just that Tsuruta Nuan's transfer did put the remnants of He Sanliang's second company into the encirclement.

But in this way, Li Ziyuan, who was hidden outside the battlefield, could be regarded as jumping out of the encirclement in advance. In other words, with the outflanking position of He Sanliang by the Japanese army, Li Ziyuan now means that he is generally safe. As long as he doesn't make a big deal and is bitten by the Japanese army, there is basically no big problem.

Of course, He Sanliang is not stupid, in the face of the superior Japanese puppet army, as well as the surrounding Japanese puppet army that is rushing over, he will not be stalked. He tore open a gap, and with the cooperation of the reacting militia, he covered the villagers and rushed out. He tried to get rid of the Japanese bite in front of him, and rushed out while fighting and retreating relying on the broken walls and ruins in the village.

It's just that although He Sanliang said that he moved quickly, he was not slow to make up his mind. But when persuading the villagers who didn't know that they were already in danger, He Sanliang, who had wasted a certain amount of time, was intercepted by a force of Japanese soldiers who stuck behind him when he tried to get out. The surrounding Japanese troops are also constantly coming, which puts He Sanliang's side in a very dangerous situation.

Just when He Sanliang's many attempts to rush out failed, seeing that the Japanese army was about to encircle him, and the soldiers around him were also fighting less and less under the intensive firepower of the Japanese army. Dense gunfire rang out again on the flanks of the Japanese army, and a unit of half a regiment of the 129th Division, which had been ordered to meet Li Ziyuan, rushed over under the leadership of Wang Changfeng.

Under Wang Changfeng's reminder, the incoming reinforcements all wore obvious identification marks. The advance team with the Japanese army in the village can be clearly distinguished, but there is no need to fall into chaos without distinguishing between friends and enemies.

As reinforcements from both sides arrived, a fierce battle broke out around the small mountain village. The villagers who were rushed out by He Sanliang almost protected with their lives were stunned when they watched from the top of the mountain. Until now, they still can't figure out why the Eighth Road that entered the village yesterday actually became a Japanese devil.

The soldiers who stayed in place to pick up Wang Changfeng and He Sanliang were after the reinforcements arrived. Under the leadership of Wang Changfeng, who was anxious to report to Li Ziyuan, he and a cadre and a platoon of soldiers sent by the receiving unit, after meeting the reconnaissance personnel sent by Li Ziyuan on the way to find Li Ziyuan, they did not dare to have any delay and went directly to Li Ziyuan's location.

After listening to the report and looking at the cadres of the troops who came to respond, the nerves that had been highly tense finally relaxed. After thinking about it, he left Wang Changfeng here to protect these non-combatants, and he quickly rushed to the battlefield. After seeing the person who led the team to pick him up, Li Ziyuan completely relaxed this time.

This person is none other than the old comrade-in-arms and old superior who was in the same unit during the Red 30th Army and is now serving as the deputy commander of the main brigade of the Taihang Military Region when he met him at the Party School of the Northern Bureau. The situation was tense, and the two people who had just met had no time to be subtle, and immediately conducted a certain study on the current chaos.

After thinking about it, Li Ziyuan said: "Old chief, in this way, we will still divide the soldiers into two ways." Those people were still protected by me, and they were taken to find the division headquarters. But yours has to be left for me first. In this continuous battle, almost all of them were hard battles, and the casualties of this battalion under my command were too heavy. ”

"Now I have all the people who can still move, and there is only one reinforcement force that is not even enough. As for those people in the headquarters, I am already very content without pulling my hind legs, and it is better to expect them to go to war than the militia. If you don't give me a little more troops, I don't have the strength to deal with emergencies. ”