During the night, three salt farms were reported to have been attacked by the Eighth Route Army. Ishihara sent a squadron to each salt field to support.

The phone rang constantly, and Co-Captain Ishikawa didn't sleep all night.

Before dawn, he rode his horse and led the team to inspect the attacked salt works. The Eighth Route Army is long gone. Two of the three squads were wiped out. There was also a squad with a few devil soldiers patrolling the perimeter and narrowly escaped with their lives.

This result made Ishikawa dumbfounded.

He was a veteran soldier who examined the corpses of the devils one by one, and found that although many of these devil soldiers died from shooting, most of them died from cold weapons such as swords.

What surprised him even more was that these more than 100 devils died from a limited number of weapons.

So he ruled out the possibility of an attack by the main force of the Eighth Route Army. This was the work of a small, highly combat-ready guerrilla force, and the same group attacked all three squads.

This added to Ishikawa's panic. Since entering China, he has never encountered such a strong opponent. Two Dazuo were assassinated here, and their troops have been attacked repeatedly recently, losing a total of several hundred soldiers.

And they didn't even see what this group looked like.

In the city where he is stationed, there is such a strong guerrilla force active, maybe one day, this group of people will find him.

What was the purpose of the Eighth Route Army's attack on the salt flats? Do you want to get salt? If they had mobilized a fleet of fishing boats and stopped at the seashore, they would have run out of salt from a salt pan overnight.

The more Ishikawa thought about it, the more scared he became. In addition to strengthening the vigilance of the wing headquarters, he increased the number of troops in the six salt farms, from the original one squad to two squadrons.

After a busy day, Ishikawa was so tired that he died. It was almost dark before I got back to the city. Before he had time to eat, he suddenly reported that the Eighth Route Army had attacked the West City Gate, and when it came, it was fierce and advancing towards the city center.

Ishikawa was terrified. If Yunpu City is lost in his own hands, it will have a major impact on the entire East China war situation. And the future of his decades of struggle is over.

Ishikawa hurriedly mobilized all the men and horses in his hands to block the attack of the Eighth Route Army.

Although the battle was fierce, Ishikawa quickly judged from the sound of gunfire that there were only about 400 people in the Eighth Route Army fighting. And there are more than 1,000 people who can participate in the battle at any time in their own hands.

Ishikawa had the bottom in his heart, he wanted to annihilate this group of Eighth Route Army in the city, at least drive them out of the city and then annihilate them. Ishikawa personally supervised the battle and ordered the devils to fight and rush.

In the end, this group of Eighth Route Army could not support it, and retreated while fighting, and finally withdrew from the city through the West City Gate. The devil clung to the Eighth Route Army and chased after him.

By this time, it was already dark. The results of the operation were not very good. But this group of Eighth Route Army refused to retreat. Instead, they fought and retreated.

Unconsciously chased out five or six miles. Ishikawa suddenly thought that there were no soldiers in Yunpu City, and if at this time, another Eighth Route Army took the opportunity to attack, and Yunpu would be lost.

Surprised, Ishihara hurriedly found the captain Heyuan and said, "Heyuanjun, order your troops to annihilate all this group of Eighth Route Army in the area of Songzhuang in the west of the city. ”

Heyuan said, "Yes! Please rest assured, my strength is three times that of the Eighth Road, and I will definitely annihilate them. ”

Having assigned a combat mission, Ishikawa hurried back to Yunpu City with a squadron of more than 200 people.

By this time, his command had become a mess. As soon as I saw Ishikawa returning, someone immediately shouted, "Please answer the phone, sir!" ”

Ishikawa sprinted over and grabbed the phone: "I'm Ishikawa." Before he finished speaking, there was a burst of scolding on the phone. Ishikawa kept saying, "Hey, hey!" He bowed while standing upright.

On the phone, he scolded him for leaving his command post without authorization, delaying military aircraft, and engaging in military justice. He was ordered to dispatch urgently, and at ten o'clock in the evening, the 328th military train must depart on time. Because it is a military column, it must be escorted by heavy troops.

The phone on the other end hung up. Only then did Ishikawa realize that the battle here had not been reported at all. But I can't take care of it. He took out his pocket watch and looked at it, it was already nine o'clock. Military trains must depart on time.

He grabbed the phone and dialed the station dispatch room. But no one answered. Ishikawa was anxious and shouted outside the door: "Inada-kun! ”

Inada who was in charge of the security of the headquarters ran in and stood up with a "horn": "Wing Captain!" ”

Ishikawa said: "Order, you get on the motorcycle, immediately rush to the station dispatch room, dispatch quickly, the 328th military train will depart on time at ten o'clock, and all vehicles along the way will be avoided." ”

The rice paddy said "hi", turned around and ran away.

Next, it was necessary to arrange for troops to escort the military column, which made it difficult for Ishikawa. His army numbered more than 3,000 men. Recently, there have been several successive battles and the loss of several hundred people, and the more than 1,000 people sent to guard the salt works today are more than 1,000 people who have just gone out of the city to pursue the Eighth Route Army.

Now his team is less than 300 people, and more than 200 people can fight with guns.

Now the troops are transferred back from the salt works, and the nearest twenty miles will take three hours at the earliest, and it will be too late. If all his men are sent to protect the military columns, and then the Eighth Route Army will attack, Yunpu City will be finished.

Send up to a squad to escort the car! Ishikawa thought that it was still important to Yunpu City.

If in peacetime, a squad is enough. However, from the recent analysis of the situation, the goal of the Eighth Route Army may be this military train. If so, a squad escorts the car, and there are too few. After all, it's a military column, and the stakes are high.

There was no one on the gendarmerie side either, and the last time the Eighth Route Army attacked the gendarmerie and killed dozens of people, the manpower over there seemed to be tight. Such a large city needs to be managed.

Even if there are people, it is useless, the gendarmerie is not a fighting force, and its combat effectiveness is very poor.

Ishikawa was so anxious that he circled around the house.

Suddenly, Ishikawa stood down and shouted, "Someone! ”

A little devil ran in. Ishikawa said: "Order the commander of the salt police, Sun Ye, to rush here. It's too late to shoot! ”

In less than twenty minutes, a horn sounded in the courtyard, and Sun Ye ran in: "Taijun, I'm here, what's wrong with me?"

Ishikawa said: "Order, you personally lead two salt police squads, no less than sixty people, to rush to the No. 3 freight yard of the railway station at 9:40 to stand by." Shot a minute late. ”

Sun Ye said: "What is our mission? ”

Ishikawa said, "Escort the salt carts. ”

Sun Ye said: "Your Excellency, my salt police are scattered in various salt farms on duty. I'm afraid ......"

"You want to disobey?" Ishikawa pulled out the Wang Ba box with a "whew", and the muzzle of the gun was aimed at Sun Ye's head.

Sun Ye stood upright: "Report to Taijun, I will carry out the order!" ”

"Go!" Ishikawa yelled.

"Yes!" Sun Ye turned around and ran out.

Nine forty o'clock. Ishikawa took a team of devils to the No. 3 freight yard. Immediately afterwards, Sun Ye also arrived with sixty salt policemen.

Sun Ye said loudly: "Report to Your Excellency Ishikawa, Sun Ye led sixty salt police officers to report!" ”

Ishikawa waved his hand, and a devil came over and gave each salt police two grenades, and briefly explained how to use them.

Ishikawa said, "Your people, four per carriage. Got it? ”

Sun Ye said, "Understood." ”

Ishikawa said, "Get in the car!" ”

The whistle sounded for a long time, and the 328th military train slowly left the station.