Wu Yude, the commander of the third regiment, saw that the little devil was putting on a decisive battle posture, and he pouted and said with a smile: "Our plan to bite the enemy to contain the speed of the march and give the only regiment a timely arrival at the Qingshui Bridge to fortify it seems that it should be successful." ”

Ma Ming, deputy commander of the only regiment, received Lei Jian's order and led the cavalry battalion to immediately withdraw from Fuping City and rush to the Qingshui Bridge more than 60 kilometers away at the fastest speed.

The cavalry battalion composed of more than 300 war horses, the horses stepped on the ground and burst into the sky of dirt and dust, like a huge storm, sweeping everything on the passage, after more than three hours of rapid marching, finally arrived at the west bank of the Qingshui Bridge.

Deputy Regiment Commander Ma Ming jumped off his sweaty war horse and ordered the troops to set up defensive positions on the west bank of Qingshui Bridge, preparing to start an unexpected and tragic resistance battle with the 364 Matsumoto Wing that reinforced Fuping City here.

Gong Zhijian, the commander of the cavalry battalion, walked up to Ma Ming, looked at the Qingshui Bridge more than forty meters wide, and said: "Deputy Commander Ma, in order to prevent the enemy's 364 Matsumoto Wing from breaking through the Qingshui Bridge and reinforcing the Ikeda Wing trapped in Fuping City, why don't you just blow up this bridge, how simple is it?" ”

"I also thought so at the time, blowing up the Qingshui Bridge, our only regiment would not be able to break through the position by the 364th Matsumoto Wing because the large force could not arrive in time, and it could also block the enemy on the east side of the bridge, which could be regarded as avoiding a bloody battle, but I don't know why our Commander Lei didn't deploy like this.

Haha, anyway, we have fought so many battles with Commander Lei, hundreds of times, large and small, and there are no major problems in the battle plan deployed by Commander Lei every time, it seems that this deployment must contain other intentions, let's order the soldiers to speed up the construction of fortifications according to the order. ”

Ma Ming and Gong Zhijian have never been separated since they joined the Eighth Route Army, especially on the eve of each major battle, the cavalry battalion is always the first to move rapidly, occupy the most powerful fighter in the shortest time, and inflict a sudden blow on the enemy.

Instructor Fang Chao walked up to him and said: "Deputy Regiment Commander Ma, Battalion Commander Gong, Regiment Commander Lei must have his ideas for such a deployment, otherwise we will not be asked to deploy a defensive position on the west bank and block the enemy on the east bank, I guess leaving the Qingshui Bridge will definitely be of greater use." ”

The three of them talked for a while, but they still couldn't figure out what major mystery was contained in Lei Jian's refusal to blow up the bridge to block the enemy.

According to the combat area distributed by Ma Ming, the soldiers of the cavalry battalion carried out a rapid construction of position fortifications on the front line of Qingshui Bridge, and some soldiers did not understand and said: "The fortifications used by one of our cavalry battalions do not need to build such a large area, it seems that this fortification can accommodate the strength of a regiment, and I don't know why." ”

Ma Ming didn't have nothing to do to force the soldiers to do coolies, but before leaving Fuping City, Lei Jian called him over, and explained like this, Ma Ming comprehended and led the cavalry battalion to the front line of Qingshui Bridge, according to the deployment of Lei Jian, ordered the cavalry battalion soldiers to speed up the construction of fortifications, and extend outward, this kind of arrangement of position fortifications, how can the cavalry battalion soldiers understand?

After more than an hour of intensive construction of fortifications and the basic formation, Ma Ming took the cavalry battalion commander Gong Zhiming and instructor Fang Chao to carefully and carefully inspect the construction of the fortified position, and immediately demanded rectification with a serious attitude when they found that there were deficiencies.

Suddenly, fierce gunfire came from the direction of Sangtou Town on the east bank of Qingshui Bridge, and although it was three or five miles away, the gunfire that could be heard was still very clear.

Deputy Commander Ma Ming frowned, saw that there was a boulder at the head of the bridge, he rushed over and rushed up, the whole person stood firmly on the boulder, looked in the direction of Sangtou Town with a telescope, and found that the highlands three or five miles away were full of war, and the sound of guns and cannons became more and more intense, as if the two large forces of the enemy and us were engaged in a crazy fierce battle.

In order to find out the situation, Ma Ming ordered Zhao Dongcheng, the commander of the first company, to lead a squad of soldiers to ride through the Qingshui Bridge quickly, and covertly approach to reconnoitre, to find out which Eighth Route Army troops were fighting fiercely with the enemy when there was a fierce gunfire in Sangtou Town.

Zhao Dongcheng, the commander of the first cavalry company, led a squad of cavalry soldiers to rush across the Qingshui Bridge, and the horses galloped away on the dirt road, and soon there was no figure, all that could be seen was a flying dust mist.

Battalion Commander Gong Zhiming guessed: "Deputy Regiment Commander Ma, do you say that the devil 364 Matsumoto Wing, who was trapped in the Ikeda Squadron in Fuping City with rapid reinforcements, encountered a unit of our Eighth Route Army halfway, and fought so lively?" ”

Instructor Fang Chao shook his head and said: "In my opinion, it should be the devil's reinforcements surrounded by our large army, or pinned down in Sangtou Town, the purpose is to give my only regiment time to quickly reach the designated position, so as to block the enemy's reinforcements and do a good job of positional defense." ”

"I think what Instructor Fang said has some truth, let's not guess yet, order all the soldiers of the cavalry battalion to immediately enter the position and prepare for battle, once the enemy's large force pounces on the Qingshui Bridge, we must block the enemy on the east bank of the river with the greatest firepower."

Ma Ming gave the battle order, but he stood on the big rock at the head of the bridge with a telescope, waiting for the company commander Zhao Dongcheng to lead the soldiers to reconnoiter back, only in this way can he find out the situation of the enemy in Sangtou Town.

It didn't take long or more than ten minutes, and in the twilight when the sky was dark, it seemed that you could see the dust blowing off from the dirt road on the east bank of the river, and quickly rushed to the Qingshui Bridge, Ma Ming shouted to Gong Zhijian and Ma Chao who were standing under the boulder: "Our reconnaissance squad is back, and we will find out what happened in Sangtou Town immediately." ”

More than a dozen black shadows moving rapidly, like a black whirlwind, rushed across the Qingshui Bridge and quickly came to the west bank of the river, and shouted at the figure on the front war horse: "Deputy Regiment Commander Ma, after investigation, it was found that a large army of devils was blocked by a small force on the eastern slope of Sangtou Town, and it was fighting with each other. ”

Ma Ming stood on the boulder and asked Zhao Dongcheng, who was reporting: "Company Commander Zhao, you said that the Japanese army surrounded the highlands on the eastern slope of Sangtou Town?" A small army on the highlands engaged with the enemy in a precarious situation on the battlefield? Why do I think it's wrong? Could it be that the commander of the Japanese army would use a large force to deal with a small force of the Eighth Route Army that held the high ground? This kind of tactic of big and small, the devil commander should not do this. ”

Zhao Dongcheng took a breath and shouted: "Report to Deputy Regiment Commander Ma, I haven't finished all the reconnaissance yet, I ......." ”

"You, Company Commander Zhao, why are you still panting when you speak? Say it. ”

"Yes, Deputy Regiment Commander Ma, I led the reconnaissance squad to bypass Sangtou Town, close to the Dongpo Heights, and found that there was probably a company of small troops, which was engaged with the enemy's large army, in order to find out the situation, I abandoned my horse and took another soldier to the high ground, and was thrown to the ground by the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army who were sticking to the high ground, I reported the number of the unit and my position, and was twisted to a person, and asked a few simple questions, only then did I find out what was going on."

"My Company Commander Zhao, you are in a hurry to kill me, don't say that the process is fast and say what situation you have touched?" Ma Ming couldn't help but ask.

"Report to Deputy Head Ma, I'll ......."

"Long-winded, let's talk about things directly." Ma Ming yelled in a stern and angry tone.

General Zhao Dongcheng, commander of the first company of the cavalry battalion, briefly reported the situation to Ma Ming, and finally said: "Deputy Regiment Commander Ma and deputy commander of the Third Regiment of the Military Region Zhou Liheng clearly said that relying solely on the Third Regiment to fight the enemy has no chance of winning at all. ”

Ma Ming received Lei Jian's order to lead the cavalry battalion to stick to the west bank of the Qingshui Bridge, and without an order, he did not dare to lead the cavalry battalion to leave the position without authorization, once there was danger in advance, it would disrupt Lei Jian's overall deployment. In order to get Lei Jianxin's order as soon as possible, Ma Ming shouted into the black shadow: "Operator, come to me immediately." ”

Ma Ming said quickly to the operator who ran to him: "Quickly contact Commander Lei, report the situation on the east and west banks of the Qingshui River, and request to reply immediately." ”

Lei Jian received an urgent telegram from Ma Ming, and after careful thinking, he said decisively to Zhang Ping: "Director Zhang issued my order, ordering Ma Ming to lead two companies of the cavalry battalion to attack and rescue the commandos of the third regiment holding the high ground, and not to engage the enemy for more than half an hour, and to fight and retreat to confuse the enemy.

ordered the commando of the 3rd Regiment to withdraw from the high ground and immediately throw off the enemy and return to the 3rd Regiment; Ordered the commander of the 3rd Regiment Wu Yude to bite the enemy and retreat, contain the enemy's 364 Matsumoto Wing in pursuit, and then enter the Taihang Mountains to hide at night, waiting for the next order to start the operation.

Ma Ming, deputy commander of the 1st Regiment, was ordered to return to the west bank of the Qingshui Bridge as soon as he withdrew from the battle, and to prepare for battle, and once the 364th Matsumoto Wing forced its way through Qingshuiqiao, it was necessary to block the enemy on the east bank of the river with the heaviest firepower.

The fourth battalion of Song Chun and the third battalion of Duan Zhiquan were ordered to run to reinforce Qingshui Bridge, throw off all burdens on the way to the forced march, and rush to Qingshui Bridge as quickly as possible. ”

Lao Sun, who was standing on the side, asked: "Commander Lei, once the third and fourth battalions can't arrive in time, it will be difficult for the Qingshui Bridge to be defended by the cavalry battalion alone." ”

(End of chapter)