However, the 36th Division, which was almost mad by Li Ziyuan's hand, although it did not all the troops that were transferred back to sweep the eastern mountainous areas of Hubei. However, two infantry squadrons were drawn back from other directions, plus one mortar squadron, one cavalry squadron, one heavy machine gun squadron, and two search squadrons of the division.

And together with the mobile troops drawn back from the mountainous area in the eastern part of Hubei, they concentrated the strength of nearly two infantry brigades, and went crazy to look for Li Ziyuan's traces everywhere in the entire territory of Ludong. And Li Ziyuan's head was on the price list of the Japanese army's bounty list, and he directly increased by 20,000 oceans in one go.

This price has caught up with Li Ziyuan when he was still a platoon commander, and he was already one of the only six brigade commanders in the Eighth Route Army. The famous Huangpu Sanjie, a famous division commander during the Red Army, is now serving as the commander of the Taiyue Military Region. He was once pasted on an armored car by the Japanese army, specializing in beating the famous general of the Eighth Route Army who commanded the 386th Brigade.

In order to clear Li Ziyuan's headquarters, the 36th Division transferred the original mobile troops to return to the western plains of Hubei. And mobilize a large number of troops to tightly seal the connection between the east and west of Hubei, as well as the connection between the western plain of Hubei and other surrounding counties.

The entire mountainous area in the eastern part of Hubei was returned after the 36th Division returned with mobile troops. Only one infantry brigade of the Japanese army was left, plus the main force of the puppet Hubei garrison. In view of this situation, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army concentrated the main force of the Taihang Military Region into the mountainous area of eastern Hubei, looking for an opportunity to prepare for the complete annihilation of the Japanese puppet army remaining in the mountainous area of eastern Hubei.

The headquarters is still very clear about the situation of the Japanese army's focus on sweeping Hubei this time, as well as the strategic intention behind it. If he didn't even have this ability to judge, the Eighth Route Army would not be able to gain a foothold in the southeast of Jin. It's just that the Japanese army has invested too many troops this time, as well as the overall situation around the entire Taihang base area, so that the headquarters has not been able to make up this decision.

At present, after 40 years of three operational stages of the Hundred Regiment War, and encountering the Taihang base area that the Japanese puppet army focused on sweeping, the vitality has never recovered. Although the troops have relied on an effective replenishment system, the casualty figures have been replenished. But the problem is not just the number of casualties, but the critical one is the shortage of ammunition.

Last year, the units of the 129th Division of the 100 Regiment War had already exhausted their poor foundation. The limited output of the arsenal, so many troops are far from satisfying the needs. In the overall situation of the extreme shortage of ammunition, this determination is not easy to make. But the fighter plane was placed in front of him, and it still made the superiors make up their minds.

This time, the Japanese puppet army in the eastern part of Hubei became a lonely and prominent situation, and keenly grasped the deputy commander-in-chief of the fighter plane and mobilized several regiments to prepare to encircle and annihilate the Japanese puppet army in the eastern part of Hubei. Let the Japanese army not dare to divide troops on multiple roads when sweeping the Taihang Mountain base area. At least they forced the Japanese army to go deep into the base area with a brigade when they were sweeping.

Here, the main force of the Eighth Route Army is mobilizing troops, preparing to use this opportunity to eat the prominent Japanese puppet army in the eastern mountainous area of Hubei. Under the effective secrecy system of the Eighth Route Army, Lieutenant General Jingguan, who was about to go crazy by Li Ziyuan, obviously did not know that his troops left in the eastern mountains of Hubei were already in danger, and he was still mobilizing heavy troops to search for Li Ziyuan.

The headquarters of the First Army, which received the report, was also quite furious, and not only sent a large number of planes to cooperate with the 36th Division in the search, but also transferred a group of traitor armed forces from Taiyuan who were familiar with the southeastern Shanxi region, and a cavalry battalion from the first section of the puppet emperor's cooperative army stationed in the northern Shanxi region to go south to cooperate in the operation.

After Li Ziyuan defeated the Japanese poison gas convoy, the entire territory of Hubei was almost earth-shattering. From the eastern mountains to the western plains, there were Japanese puppet troops everywhere. The junction between Hubei and the surrounding counties of Changzhi, Ludong, Huguan and other counties, except for the direction of Huguan, was tightly sealed by the Japanese puppet army.

At this moment, Li Ziyuan, who also did not know the main force and was preparing to fight a war of annihilation in Hubei, led his troops, and as soon as he entered the western plains, he only had time to rest for a night at night, and he did not expect that he would be discovered by the Japanese puppet army before he left the village for rest the next morning.

After finally discovering Li Ziyuan's traces, the surrounding Japanese puppet army reacted quite quickly, immediately concentrated a large number of mobile forces, and with the cooperation of many armored vehicles, quickly surrounded Li Ziyuan's location. The cavalry troops that arrived first directly cut off Li Ziyuan's retreat route to Basongling.

Facing the Japanese puppet army surrounded from all sides, in a small village in the northeast of Hubei County, Li Ziyuan, who was lying on the roof of a house and holding a telescope to observe around. Looking at the Japanese army's rapid maneuvering Japanese cavalry and trucks, kicking up a lot of dust around the village, and the first infantry squad of the Japanese army that appeared in the field of vision, the expression on his face was not as nervous as others imagined.

Looking at Li Ziyuan's not nervous face, He Sanliang on the side also put down the binoculars in his hand and said to Li Ziyuan: "Battalion commander, now in the northeast, southeast, and northwest, there are large groups of Japanese puppet troops, which means that we are now surrounded by the Japanese puppet army." I don't think you're nervous at all? ”

Regarding He Sanliang's question, Li Ziyuan looked up at the sky and said, "If you want to say that you are not nervous, you are a liar." Lao Tzu is a reinforced company, and the Japanese puppet army surrounded by this perimeter has an infantry brigade. Although the southeast side is well concealed, the devils there have at least one artillery squadron deployed. ”

"But if I put all my emotions on my face, what will happen to the troops? Now that the troops are looking at us, if we are worried, what will the soldiers think in their hearts? So Lao He, even if he is nervous in his heart, he can't show it on his face. Even if you can't laugh, you can't cry with a sad face. ”

Li Ziyuan's answer, He Sanliang hesitated for a moment and said: "Battalion commander, after we fought the ambush battle on the periphery of Pingchuan, I feel that this knife is also ruthless enough, should we withdraw to the eastern mountainous area?" After that battle, did you decide to continue westward rather than eastward, a little too hasty in your decision? ”

Although He Sanliang's words had already weighed the tone and tone, Li Ziyuan obviously heard some flavor. However, Li Ziyuan did not rush to answer him, but raised the telescope and observed the enemy situation for a while before saying: "Lao He, I'm afraid this is not your personal idea, but most of the people in the army have this idea." ”

"Everyone thinks that since we have fought an ambush battle, the Japanese puppet army in the east must have been alarmed, and some troops must be transferred back from the eastern mountains. Now that we have achieved our goal, we should not continue to go deep into this unobstructed plain, but should immediately withdraw to the mountainous area and join the remaining troops in the mountainous area to find fighters, which is more conducive to the situation we are facing. ”

Li Ziyuan's rhetorical question made He Sanliang fall silent. Although He Sanliang did not answer Li Ziyuan, the silence he showed also answered Li Ziyuan's rhetorical question in disguise. Regarding He Sanliang's silence, Li Ziyuan pondered for a while and said: "Old He, I want to hear your true thoughts, I don't think you should look at this issue so superficially." ”

Regarding the topic of Li Ziyuan's throwback, He Sanliang shook his head and said: "Battalion commander, if you want to say that your decision, from the perspective of strategic intent, I think it is not wrong. Judging from the forces of the Japanese army in the eastern mountains and some of the methods adopted, it is quite different from the past. “

"At present, the Japanese army has given up the idea of finding the main force of our army for a decisive battle, but through a lot of destruction, it has fundamentally disintegrated our living environment. We had to take the initiative to find fighters and fight them in a decisive battle. If the Japanese puppet army in the eastern mountainous area of Hubei is not transferred back, this sweep will cause losses to the eastern mountainous area. ”

"And I am afraid that this loss will be unbearable for the eastern mountainous areas, which are already not abundant and produce far less grain than in the western plains. In this sweep, the Japanese army clearly took measures to stabilize the grain-producing areas of the western plains. The implementation of the three-light policy of burning, killing, and robbing the eastern mountainous areas is to destroy our ability to survive at the root. ”

"From the limited information we have so far, the Japanese army has caused almost as much damage in just three days in the eastern mountains of Hubei as in the previous years combined. Although Li Jiawa said that the masses were moved out in advance, the entire village was razed to the ground. All the grain and livestock, except for the part that had been fortified before, were robbed by the Japanese puppet army. ”

"The food that could not be taken away was even polluted by the poison gas released by the Japanese army, or even burned directly. Most of the wells were contaminated by the corpses of Japanese puppet military personnel and animals. In addition to Lijiawa, there are currently more than a dozen villages in the eastern part of Hubei that have suffered the same disaster. ”

"If the sweep of the Japanese puppet army continues like this, I am afraid that this winter will become our most difficult winter. Fighting, in the face of the superior strength and firepower of the Japanese puppet army, we basically have no chance of winning in the eastern mountains. If we don't fight, according to the strength of the Japanese army's destruction, we may not even be able to eat this winter. As for winter clothes, I'm afraid it's even more impossible to talk about, and our whole army will starve and freeze. ”

"Therefore, how to mobilize the Japanese puppet army's destruction of the eastern mountainous area of Hubei before it causes irreversible consequences, so as to reduce the damage as much as possible, has become a choice that you, the battalion commander in charge of the armed struggle in Hubei, must make."

"We fought that battle on the outskirts of Pingchuan, although it brought a lot of losses to the Japanese puppet army, but it was far from the time for the Japanese army to break their muscles and bones. At this time, the withdrawal to the eastern mountains can only make the Japanese army more frantic to sweep the eastern mountains. From this point of view, you are not wrong to choose to go west, instead of retreating eastward. ”

"But there was one point, which was a bit of a misjudgment. That is, we were not able to withdraw to the outside of the blockade circle of the Japanese puppet army before the Japanese puppet army completed the blockade. Battalion commander, after that ambush battle, we moved a little too slowly. However, I always have a feeling that this action of yours must have been deliberate. ”

"From the moment you arrived in this village, you evacuated the villagers as soon as possible. In other words, this battle has long been summed up in your heart. It's just that I don't understand, according to the current situation, choosing this village is undoubtedly the right choice. ”

"At least there are villages to rely on, and it is much better than being exposed in the open field by Japanese mechanized and cavalry units to catch up and scatter. But the village is surrounded by plains, and there are hardly any barriers except for the Zhuozhang River in the north. Unless we plan to die all here, we will also face the problem of how to get rid of the Japanese pursuit when we break out. ”