Xinkou is located 255 kilometers north of Xinzhou, since the reading force captured Xinzhou, the 11th Wing of the Fifth Division of the Army and the Fifth Wing of the Cavalry were ordered to strictly defend in the Xinkou Basin.

It stands to reason that Xinzhou has been lost, and it is meaningless to say that the army will defend Xinkou again, but because the strategic location of Xinkou is extremely important, the 11th Infantry Wing is like a cancer, which may threaten the rear flank of the Reading Force marching into Taiyuan at any time. Therefore, it was imperative to seize Xinkou and eliminate the 11th Infantry Wing.

Xinkou is located in the broken gap of Xinkou Mountain, and Xinzhou City is separated by a Xinkou Mountain, the devils in Xinkou and Nanhuaihua, two strategic places to deploy heavy troops, build fortifications, and at the same time send a small force to set up machine guns in various small roads in Xinkou Mountain to block the road, in order to protect the safety of its back road.

After Zhang Biao and others received Zhang Mingyu's reply, the First Regiment of the First Division, as the vanguard force, had already taken the lead in marching, and Dingxiang was located in the northwest of Xinzhou, less than 60 miles away from Xinzhou, and less than 50 miles away from Xinkou.

The 1st Regiment arrived at the perimeter of Xinkou at 2 p.m. after about three hours of normal marching.

Niu Tiangui and a few soldiers stood on a high slope and looked at the opposite Xinkou, from the telescope Niu Tiangui saw that the devils on the opposite side had already built fortifications, and from time to time there were devil soldiers carrying ammunition back and forth, obviously they had discovered the arrival of the Reading Army.

"Captain! The teacher is calling! Just as Niu Tiangui was still observing the position of the army on the opposite side, a communications soldier walked quickly to his side and stood upright.

"Read!" Niu Tiangui said to the communication soldier.

"The division said in the telegram! A call from the military seat urging us to launch an attack on the army before it gets dark today! The signal soldier said quickly.

"Hmm!" Niu Tiangui nodded and said, "Call back to the division, and say you know!" In addition, the battalion commanders of each company were informed to immediately come to the regimental headquarters for a meeting, and which tank battalion commander who came with us also had to participate! ”

"Yes!" The communications soldier responded with a bang and immediately took the order.

Niu Tiangui said to several guard soldiers beside him: "Let's go, let's go back!" ”

A few minutes later, the four battalion commanders of the first regiment, more than ten company commanders, and a battalion commander of the armored division all arrived, and Niu Tiangui strode into the regiment headquarters, and everyone inside suddenly stood up and said, "Regiment seat!" ”

"Hmm!" Zhang Mingyu nodded and waved his hand, "Sit down." ”

After everyone sat down, Niu Tiangui asked the commander of the first battalion: "Zhao Sheng, how are the preparations of your first battalion, are all the personnel here?" ”

"Report to the regiment, all 1,000 and 53 people in my battalion are here, and they are ready to listen to the command at any time!" Zhao Sheng stood up and replied.

Niu Tiangui nodded, and then asked several other battalion company commanders, and everyone patted their chests and said: "Regiment commander, don't worry, when did our brothers in the regiment disgrace you, this time I promise to beat the little devil to the bumble!" ”

"Good! The devil on the opposite side is the sworn enemy of our regiment, last time on the side of the Yellow River, our regiment simply wiped out the 11th Infantry Wing, and the Ninth Brigade was also disabled by us, and now although the devil has reorganized the 11th Wing, the combat effectiveness is not worse than the original old devils. This time, Lao Tzu wants to completely annihilate this 11th Wing, and let the emperor who he said go to reorganize again! Niu Tiangui said loudly.

At the foot of the northeast mountain of Xinkou Mountain, the headquarters of the 11th Infantry Wing of the Yue Army is deployed here.

"Yaga! What did you say? All the jade of the Guyuan squadron is broken, and Yangqu has been occupied by the Chinese people? The new Wing Commander Ozawa Harano roared after hearing the report.

"Hay!" A devil lieutenant suddenly bowed his head and said, "According to the scout's report, all the warriors of the Guyuan squadron have been shattered, and their corpses have all been hung on the head of Yangqu City by the Zhina, and all their heads have been cut off!" ”

"Yaga Yalu!" Ozawa Harano was furious: "Damn the Shina people! Order the 1st Brigade to assemble at once????????"

Before Ozawa Harano could finish his order, a hurried report sounded, "Your Excellency the Commander of the Report, according to the report of the Nanhuaihua and Xinkou Forward Observation Posts, it is said that a large number of regular troops of the Zhina people have been found, and the number is at least the size of a regiment!" And there is at least one regiment of tank fighting vehicles. ”

"Yaga Tooth Road! The people of China finally came, and ordered the troops to be ready for battle! Prepare to fight the people of China to the end! Ozawa roared.

"Hay!" The devil soldier bowed his head suddenly, and then turned to leave.

"But, Your Excellency, now that Yangqu has been occupied by the China, our rear route has been cut off, and our ammunition reserves are running out! What are we going to do? The devil lieutenant said.

"Yaga! The Imperial Warriors are the best soldiers in the world, and even without ammunition, they can defeat the Shina people with bayonets, defend Xinkou, and hold Taiyuan! Immediately send a telegram to the division commander, report that Yangqu has been lost, and ask for tactical guidance! "Ozawa Wilderness Road.

"Hay!" The devil lieutenant bowed his head suddenly.

The headquarters of the Fifth Division of the Taiyuan Army.

After receiving Ozawa Harano's message, the Scratcher was furious: "Yaga Yalu! The hateful Zhang Mingyu, the hateful reading force! Immediately order the 44th and 42nd Infantry Wings to assemble, attack with Chaoyang Qu, and all die! ”

Chief of Staff Qianmuren persuaded: "General, it is not appropriate to fight hard with the people of China at this time, our army is inferior in terms of strength, and we also have to deal with Yan Xishan's Jin Sui Army and Shanxi's Tuba Road, at this time we should only hold on, the general of the temple said, as long as we hold on to Shanxi for half a month, reinforcements will arrive, and then we can eliminate Zhang Mingyu and the Reading Army in one fell swoop." ”

Scratching the people sighed and said: "Qianmu-kun, I understand everything, but at this time, Yangqu was occupied by the people of China in one fell swoop, and the 11th Infantry Wing fell into the enemy's two-sided attack, and the whole army could be wiped out at any time, if the 11th Wing is defeated, then Xinkou will not be guaranteed, and Taiyuan will be opened, what will we do to hold Taiyuan?" ”

Chigiren's eyes rolled in a circle and said, "We can request the headquarters to send fighters to airdrop the 11th Wing, so that the ammunition of the 11th Wing can be replenished, and we can fight the Chinese people to the end." ”

"No, this method will not work, if it is airdropped, the air force of the Zhina Reading Army will definitely not sit idly by, so the airdrop will not succeed, but it is very likely to cause heavy casualties to the air force, and our North China Front Flying Corps has lost nearly hundreds of fighters and hundreds of excellent aviation units before and after. General Terauchi is definitely not joking with the lives of these precious fighters and aviation. Scratching the head, he shook his head and waved his hand.

"General, please forgive me for being ignorant, may I ask the general, what should we do?" Chigi asked humbly with his head down.

"Where is the 3rd Brigade of Reading Power now?" Scratching the figure asked, after thinking about it.

"General Hui, the Third Brigade of Reading Power is now on the way to arrive, and it is estimated that it will be able to reach Taiyuan this afternoon, and the Fifth Brigade of Reading Power has also arrived in Shouyang, and it will all be able to reach Taiyuan in two days at most!" Chigi replied.

"I want the West!" Scratching the people and nodding and said: "Send a telegram to the Third Brigade, let them speed up the march, and be sure to rush to Taiyuan this afternoon, and the Fifth Brigade of Reading Force must rush to Taigu, Jinyuan and other places in the evening of tomorrow to support the 21st Infantry Wing, block Yan Xishan's attack, and order the 42nd Infantry Wing of Shouyang to immediately go south except for one part of Shouyang, and I will fight to the death with Zhang Mingyu!" Order the Fifth Cavalry Wing to attack Yangqu from Xinkou, the 41st Wing to leave the 3rd Infantry Brigade to stay in Taiyuan, and the rest of the main force and the 5th Wing of the Field Artillery Wing to counterattack Yangqu with me, we must recapture Yangqu and open up the lifeline of the 11th Wing and the 5th Cavalry Wing! ”

"Hay! Let's do it! Chigi said abruptly.

Yang Qu, the headquarters of the guard battalion of the Reading Army.

"Throne! Scout Report! From the direction of Xinkou, a large number of devil cavalry came! Before Li Gangren arrived, the sound like a bell had already sounded.

"How many?" Zhang Mingyu asked with a slight frown.

"There have to be two or three thousand riders!" Li Gang replied.

"Two or three thousand, this is a cavalry wing! It seems that there is more than one wing of the 11th Wing guarding Xinkou, there is actually a cavalry wing! Zhang Mingyu stood up and said.

"Hmm!" Li Gang nodded in agreement: "The little devil reacted quickly enough, the forward troops of the first division of Deputy Army Commander Zhang in the direction of Xinkou have arrived, and the devil is facing such a great pressure that he has actually transferred a cavalry wing as a whole, it seems that they want to recapture Yangqu!" ”

"Cavalry, as long as we don't go out of the city, they don't have heavy weapons, it's not terrible, it's really worth our vigilance is the little devil from the direction of Taiyuan!" Zhang Mingyu said.

"You're saying that this cavalry is just a suspicious soldier?" Li Gang asked.

"Half-true! As long as we block the devil infantry in Taiyuan, the devil cavalry in Xinkou will come to two wings, and Lao Tzu will have the confidence to block them! Zhang Mingyu replied.

"Hmmm! The devil cavalry may be strong in combat on the plains, but when it comes to attacking fortified positions, it is a live target! It's a pity that our armored division is not here, even if there are only two tanks, the cavalry of the dog can kill all over the ground! Li Gang nodded.

"The more fierce the enemy's offensive, it means that we hold the important surname of Yangqu, remember that the gains and losses of Yangqu are directly related to whether we can recover Taiyuan and Shanxi at the lowest cost! Tell the brothers in charge of observation that they must carefully observe the movements of the Taiyuan devils! Zhang Mingyu said to Li Gangjun.

"Yes! Let's do it! Li Gang stood up.

On a low hillside opposite Huaihua in the south of Xinkou, more than 1,000 soldiers of the Reading Army with loaded guns and ammunition squatted quietly in the dry grass, all looking at the position of the Yue Army two thousand meters away with cold expressions.

A regimental headquarters.

A lieutenant colonel officer strode into the regimental headquarters, and immediately gathered his feet and said: "Regiment commander, all the brothers in my first battalion are ready for battle and can launch an attack on the army's position at any time, please instruct!" ”

"Hmm!" Niu Tiangui, the commander of the first regiment, nodded and said: "In five minutes, the artillery will shell the position of the Yue army, and now I order your first battalion to immediately launch a tentative attack on the position of the Yue army, so as to provide accurate coordinates and directions for the artillery!" ”

"Yes!" The commander of the first battalion stood up and immediately took the order.

(To be continued)