Sun Weiguo planned to first ask various ministries to send reconnaissance troops to learn more about the specific situation of the enemy in various places to attack, and at the same time send political workers to various villages to publicize the policy of the Eighth Route Army.

But the puppet army and bandits in Linzhang County began to attack their troops in advance, and Sun Weiguo naturally would not sit idly by, and he immediately issued a combat order to Huang Gang's first battalion.

According to Sun Weiguo's plan, the first battalion, the second battalion, and the third artillery battalion were responsible for attacking Zhangliji and other places, and this time Sun Weiguo gave an order to Huang Gang's first battalion alone.

Zhangliji is located in the northwest of Linzhang County, which is not a very large town, and Houzhang Village is under the jurisdiction of Zhangliji.

Because the main forces of the two divisions of the Imperial Association Army were assembled in the county seat of Linzhang County, Zhangliji was under the jurisdiction of bandits.

Zhang Guangtou is a famous bandit in the area of Zhangliji, he has more than 300 people, since hugging the big tree of the Guo family in Linzhang County, Zhang Guangtou is even more proud, nearly 1,000 bandits of large and small gangs near Zhangliji are under the jurisdiction of Zhang Guangtou.

This time, Guo Qing wanted to encircle and annihilate the small force of the Eighth Route Army that had entered Linzhang County, and Zhang Guangtou even dispatched more than 300 bandits to cooperate with Guo Qing's puppet army troops to fight.

However, what Zhang Guangtou did not expect was that more than 300 bandits and more than 100 puppet soldiers were stunned and did not take Houzhang Village, but were beaten by dozens of Eighth Route Army in Houzhang Village and suffered heavy casualties.

After getting the news, Zhang Guangtou immediately began to gather more than 700 bandits, and he was ready to personally take these bandits to Houzhang Village to fight the troops of the Eighth Route Army.

Guo Qing, deputy commander of the Second Division of the Imperial Association Army, who was far away in Linzhang County, got the news relatively late, and when he got the news, he was also stunned for a long time.

"How is this possible, doesn't it mean that the Eighth Route Army's entry into Houzhang Village is just a small force of the Eighth Route Army? How could we lose so many people, what happened in Houzhang Village, how many people were in the Eighth Route Army. ”

After receiving the report from his subordinates, Guo Qing's face was full of incredulous expressions, and he asked several questions in a row.

It's just that no one can answer Guo Qing's questions, and no one knows what happened in Houzhang Village.

They just knew that there were dozens of Eighth Route Army in Houzhang Village, and more than 400 puppet troops and bandit troops had no way to encircle and annihilate these dozens of Eighth Route Army, and by now the puppet army and bandits had paid the price of more than 200 casualties.

"Deputy division commander, I think there is something strange in this matter, it is better for us to stay still, and we can inform Cheng Wenxuan of this matter, if Cheng Wenxuan sends troops to Houzhang Village, then the Eighth Route Army will be handed over to him to deal with." A puppet army officer looked at Guo Qing and said.

"Bastard, if Cheng Wenxuan destroys the Eighth Route Army in Houzhang Village, won't this credit fall on Cheng Wenxuan's head, you immediately contact the Sixth Regiment and let the troops of the Sixth Regiment immediately go to Houzhang Village, Lao Tzu still doesn't believe it, the troops of more than 1,000 people will not be able to eat these dozens of Eighth Route Army troops." Guo Qing said angrily.

He would not give Cheng Wenxuan the opportunity to make the first contribution, even if he didn't know the situation in Houzhang Village, Guo Qing still planned to send a regiment of troops to reinforce the past.

With the strength of this regiment, plus the bandits in Zhangliji, Guo Qing believed that it was completely certain to annihilate the Eighth Route Army troops in Houzhang Village.

The Sixth Regiment of the Imperial Association Army, which was stationed in the county seat of Linzhang County, began to set off after receiving the order, and the troops of more than 900 people immediately went to Houzhang Village under the leadership of the regiment commander.

At this time, Huang Gang's first battalion troops also began to enter Linzhang County immediately.

The noon of August was unusually hot, the sun hung over the blue sky, and the sun was scorching.

Zhang Guangtou sat on the sedan chair carried by two people, he was already sweaty, and he fanned his fan while urging the troops to speed up.

More than 700 bandits lazily marched towards Houzhang Village, although these bandits obeyed Zhang Guangtou's command because of the Guo family's face, they only obeyed Zhang Guangtou on the surface, and they only obeyed Zhang Guangtou's order to speed up.

"Hurry up, if you can't get to Houzhang Village before three o'clock in the afternoon, see if I don't screw your heads off."

Looking at the bandits marching lazily, Zhang Guangtou had an annoyed expression on his face, and he shouted loudly.

"Big brother, if you let us run on such a hot day, I'm afraid we will all be exhausted before we reach Houzhang Village. Although we marched slowly, we were able to maintain our strength, and when we arrived at Houzhang Village, we would be able to join the battle immediately. ”

"That's right, what kind of battle is there on such a hot day, it's better to have a good rest in the town, I don't think the town is as good as my territory, Brother Zhang, when will we be able to return to our own territory, it's not a matter for us to stay in Zhangliji all the time."

"Now they are shouting that the Eighth Route Army is coming to Linzhang County, but what are the troops of the Eighth Route Army coming all the way here to do, I don't think it may be the troops of the Eighth Route Army who came here this time. Brother Zhang, you better tell us the truth, who are we going to deal with. ”

The three bandit leaders began to come to Zhang Guangtou's side, he looked at Zhang Guangtou, and complained one by one.

Hearing someone questioning, Zhang Guangtou touched his bare head, and he wanted to scold.

But at this moment, someone in front of him hurriedly ran over.

"Big brother, no, a large number of troops of the Eighth Route Army were found in front, and this Eighth Route Army has seven or eight hundred people, and they also carry a lot of heavy machine guns and artillery. This Eighth Route Army is wearing gray military uniforms and steel helmets on its heads, and it looks like the elite of the Eighth Route Army. A bandit came to Zhang Guangtou and said hurriedly.

Hearing the bandit's report, Zhang Guangtou couldn't help but show a somewhat panicked expression on his face.

"You also heard it, there are hundreds of Eighth Route Army troops in front, you still don't believe that we are dealing with the Eighth Route Army troops, don't be so stunned, hurry up and prepare guys to deal with these Eighth Route Army troops." Zhang Guangtou shouted loudly.

The three bandit leaders nodded in a panic, and they immediately began to beckon their men to start preparing for battle.

This group of bandits originally did not have the habit of sending sharp soldiers, but Zhang Guangtou wanted to reap the benefits in private, so he sent more than 50 people to walk in front of the large army.

These people were preparing to loot the people nearby, and they accidentally discovered the Eighth Route Army troops, and after discovering this Eighth Route Army troops, they immediately returned to start reporting.

The Eighth Route Army unit discovered by this bandit was the first battalion of the Independent Regiment, and after receiving Sun Weiguo's order, the first battalion immediately began to enter Linzhang County under the leadership of the battalion commander Huang Gang.