The main objectives of the Japanese army's winter sweep this time were to encircle the headquarters and the headquarters of the 129th Division, as well as to snatch the grain harvested in the autumn. In order to take advantage of the drought that has been revealed in the southeast of Shanxi this year, the living conditions of the Eighth Route Army in the Taihang Mountains will be completely destroyed from the root.

For the Ludong Army Division, which has only two regiments that have been disabled and has not yet recovered, it is just a way to borrow. At present, the core area of the southeast region of Shanxi Province, following the spring sweep and summer sweep, is another wolf smoke. On the contrary, the counties under the jurisdiction of the Ludong Military Sub-district seem to be very calm.

Faced with this situation, in fact, Li Ziyuan wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to fish in troubled waters, and take advantage of the opportunity that most of the Japanese troops were sweeping in the north and east to see if he could take the opportunity to pull out these three strongholds. It's just that the Japanese army's sweep of the Taihang Mountains this time did not focus on the Ludong area.

But the key point is that the focus is not on the Ludong area, which does not mean that the Japanese army will relax its vigilance in Hubei. After the Japanese army swept away, the number of Japanese puppet troops in Hubei not decreased, but also increased a part of the Japanese army in Qiaokou and Hubei County. This is also the reason why Li Ziyuan has never done it.

However, for Li Ziyuan, the superiors did not give him a combat mission in this anti-sweeping operation, which was a matter for the superiors. But this does not mean that he just watched the surrounding brother troops fighting against the sweep, and he had nothing to do here.

Moreover, from the perspective of the terrain, Liu Yanlai wanted to rob the Japanese army's grain train, and if he did not uproot these three strongholds, even if he succeeded, the grain would not be able to be transported back. These three strongholds and the Luoma and Qiaokou behind them form a cross-dimensional cooperation, tightly sealing the entire eastern mountainous area of Hubei. If you don't pull out at least one stronghold, even if you grab food, you can't bring it back.

Li Ziyuan, who had made up his mind, didn't expect all the information to be provided by Liu Yan, he still wanted to see it for himself. After rushing to the periphery of the Japanese puppet army stronghold in Wangjiagou, Li Ziyuan raised the telescope and took a closer look, but he couldn't help but have a headache.

When these three strongholds were being built, the entire Ludong Army Division, from the two main forces, to the local armed forces and even the basic militia, was recovering its vitality. Even Li Ziyuan's department, which was transferred to Hubei for training, was also replenishing the troops and training the troops.

Under the heavy escort of the Japanese puppet army, it was impossible to pose a threat to the three strongholds at all. Less than half a month after the three strongholds were repaired, the winter sweep launched by the Japanese army began again. Li Ziyuan can only put his energy elsewhere, and he can't take care of it for a while.

Although the structure of these three strongholds and the number of troops stationed in them have been roughly figured out before. But when it came time to see it with his own eyes, Li Ziyuan still had a headache. Especially in Wangjiagou, the stronghold of the Japanese puppet army, the location and structure of the setting are obviously painstaking. What the scouts offered, after all, was not as detailed as what they saw with their own eyes.

The scale of the Japanese puppet army's stronghold in Wangjiagou is not large, and he already knows the situation of the garrison inside, that is, a detachment of Japanese troops plus a small team of puppet troops. The strength of the army is nothing, but the location and structure of the setting are very tricky. The turret was built on the south mountain of Wangjiagou, and its unique topography made the firing range on all sides quite open.

In addition to the turret on the mountain, halfway up the mountain between the turret on the top of the mountain and the main road at the foot of the mountain, there is also a pillbox that can be used to block the entire Wangjiagou by firepower, and extend eastward through Wangjiagou to the eastern mountainous area of Hubei, a simple road.

From the position of the turret to the outside of the pillbox on the mountainside, it was surrounded by barbed wire. Perhaps it was because they thought that the Eighth Route Army had no artillery, and Nanshan was a commanding height around Wangjiagou. Although the Japanese puppet army did not build communication trenches, they only used barbed wire to form an overall defensive posture between the turrets and the pillboxes.

That blockhouse could not only block the route in and out of Wangjiagou, but also play a role in protecting the road behind the turret on the top of the mountain. The turret and the bunker form a complementary structure, and cross-cover can be formed between the two. The two Japanese fortifications were all made of stone and cement, and the surrounding terrain was artificially modified.

The only way to attack from the bottom of the mountain was through a narrow mountain road blocked by pillboxes. With such a terrain, if he launched a strong attack, Li Ziyuan knew that he would pay a heavy price. It doesn't take much, a single machine gun can block the entire front of the attack.

The unique terrain of the surrounding area after artificial renovation made it difficult for the attacking troops to avoid being discovered by the Japanese puppet army no matter which direction they approached from which direction. The Japanese puppet army had a turret and a pillbox, relying on the surrounding terrain after resting, forming a small but complete overall defensive formation.

Looking at the Japanese puppet military fortifications in Wangjiagou, Li Ziyuan immediately dispelled the idea of attacking. Wangjiagou is too close to Qiaokou in the west, and as soon as the gunfire is fired here, the reinforcements of the Japanese puppet army in Qiaokou can arrive at any time. Besides, attacking under this kind of terrain, this kind of business that is sure to lose money, Li Ziyuan himself will definitely not do it.

But how to transfer the Japanese puppet army here to fight has become a headache for Li Ziyuan. The Japanese puppet army in this stronghold was quite cunning, and the work of going down the mountain into the ditch to carry water was all done by the puppet army escorting and arresting the people. Grain and vegetables were also forced to be sent to the bottom of the mountain by several surrounding villages, and then the puppet army on the mountain sent people down to escort them up.

When Li Ziyuan was scouting on the periphery of Wangjiagou, he happened to find that he didn't know which village in the surrounding area, and he was forced to send supplies to the Japanese puppet army in this stronghold. After the donkey cart arrived at the bottom of the mountain, the two puppet soldiers came down to inspect it. Directly with a gun, escort the villagers to the stronghold for them. And only two people can go up the mountain at a time, and no more than three people are allowed to deliver supplies.

Except for the two puppet troops who went down the mountain to receive supplies, the other Japanese puppet troops in the stronghold would not easily and absolutely not go down the mountain except for activities within the barbed wire fence. Since coming to the Wangjiagou stronghold, the telescope he raised has not been put down. After a whole day of observation, I didn't see any other Japanese puppet troops descending the mountain.

After the observation, Li Ziyuan ordered Liu Lianming to prepare for battle, and then picked up the one that he had stolen and left behind among the two captured Japanese Type 97 sniper rifles. He aimed his scope at a Japanese sentry on the turret and killed him with one shot at a distance of 400 meters.

Li Ziyuan tried to test the reaction of the Japanese puppet army in the Nanshan stronghold of Wangjiagou through this method of startling the snake, but the result was very disappointing to him. Although he killed the Japanese puppet army with this shot, the Japanese puppet army in a gun tower and a pillbox on the mountain almost penetrated into the fortifications at the same time.

The Japanese army in the turret also fired a crooked machine gun in the direction of Li Ziyuan first. In the halfway up the hill with a slow response, a Czech machine gun of the puppet army also fired. Compared with the puppet army's aimless blind shooting, the crooked handle of the Japanese army in the turret can be said to be quite accurate.

But after the Japanese puppet army fought machine guns for a while, they stopped firing after finding that there was no response. However, the Japanese troops in the fortifications did not come out to search at all as Li Ziyuan imagined, but only fought with firepower for a while and then died down.

The reaction of the Japanese puppet army was a little unexpected by Li Ziyuan. It's just that the Japanese puppet army has now drilled into the fortifications, and if they want to shoot again, they have no chance. Li Ziyuan, who was helpless, hesitated for a while, and then turned to the other two fortifications and came again. The result was the same, the Japanese puppet army couldn't survive after being shot.

Moreover, the Japanese puppet military fortifications in the other two locations are similar to Wangjiagou, basically not too much. The only one who reacted fiercely was the Japanese puppet army in He Jiayu, which used not only machine guns but also heavy machine guns. Li Ziyuan fired a single shot, triggering a fire blow of two light machine guns plus a heavy machine gun, plus a grenadier canister.

The Japanese puppet army in the three strongholds had the same reaction, and Li Ziyuan knew very well that this must be these Japanese puppet army, and they should have received a special order. Otherwise, even if the puppet army does not come out, the Japanese army has always been accustomed to never sit idly by and ignore its own provocations.

Compared with the Japanese puppet army in Wangjiagou and Donglinkou, which only had two machine guns, Hejiayu was more important because of its geographical location, and its firepower was also more powerful. The Japanese here, in addition to two infantry detachments, had a heavy machine gun. The number of puppet troops is also around two infantry squads.

The stronghold of Hejiayu is the easternmost of the three nails planted by the Japanese puppet army in the eastern mountainous area of Hubei. It is also the strongest in terms of strength and firepower. Hejiayu is a large village with the largest population in the eastern mountainous area of Hubei except for Luoma and Qiaokou.

The Japanese puppet army put the entire Hubei East Front blockade line, and the most core area was mainly placed here. However, although this is the most prominent stronghold, it is also a bit far away from the two strongholds of Luoma and Qiaokou. However, during the sweep, the Japanese puppet army captured a large number of migrant workers and built an improvised road based on the original mountain road.

This improvised highway allowed Japanese cars to drive directly from the Qiaokou stronghold to Hejiayu. Although the speed of the vehicle should not be too fast, this simple road also greatly enhanced the maneuverability of the Japanese puppet army in the mountainous area east of Hubei. The most important thing is that the Japanese puppet army can start from here and go straight to the mountainous area at the junction of Licheng and Hubei.

In the winter sweep launched by the Japanese army, the Japanese puppet army that set off from Hubei passed through the mountainous area in the eastern part of Hubei from here and penetrated directly into the territory of Licheng. At that time, Li Ziyuan had reported to the military sub-division that he would take advantage of the terrain of Hejiayu to the east to fight a battle, and adopt the tactics of resisting step by step, delaying the Japanese puppet army to attack and advance eastward.

But at that time, the Japanese puppet army not only had an absolute advantage in firepower, but also far surpassed Li Ziyuan's troops in terms of troops. In addition, the superiors took into account the troops belonging to the Ludong Army Division, but they have not yet recovered. The main forces of the division and the military district again focused on several subdivisions north of the key area of the Japanese army's sweep.

Under the circumstance that the Ludong Army Sub-district was unable to rely on its own ability to carry out anti-sweeping operations. The Ludong Army sub-division was ordered to be divided into parts and dispersed to carry out activities, and if it was not necessary, try not to carry it with the Japanese puppet army, and everything should be focused on preserving the current living forces. However, the higher authorities also approved the troops of the military division, which could carry out small-scale sorties at the appropriate time.

In order to contain and disperse the sweeping forces of the Japanese puppet army, and reduce the counter-sweeping pressure in the core area of the base area. And ensure that the autumn grain harvest in the Ludong area will not be destroyed by the Japanese puppet army. This will have a bearing on the survival of the Ludong Military Division next year. After receiving the order, the military sub-district immediately began to deploy.