Beiteng Village is located at the confluence of the Muwen River and the Chaiwen River.

The village is bordered by the Muwen River to the north and the Chaiwen River to the south. Locals are accustomed to calling the Muwen River in the north the North River and the Chaiwen River in the south the South River. Of course, there is also the West River, which is the name of the Dawen River formed by the confluence of the Muwen River and the Chaiwen River.

In the middle of the village is a street where two horse-drawn carriages can run in parallel, and the villagers call it Ertiaojie. Most of the people living south of the street are Zhai and Yiliang, and most of the people living north of the street are Dong Zhao.

At this time, it is the turn of spring and summer, and the willows, poplars, and locust trees on the river embankment in the village and outside the village are vigorous, splashing a puff of greenery into the quiet and quiet Muwen River and Chaiwen River, provoking those fish and shrimp to play in the green shadow of the heart.

The children, regardless of whether the water was cold or not, jumped into the water and caught crabs and fish by the river, which caused the women who were washing clothes by the water to exclaim one after another. But the shout was full of doting on the naughty child.

The children ignored the women's calls, found a place where the water was a little deeper, pricked the fierce sons, fought water fights, fished and touched crabs, all of them were like white stripes in the waves, and they had a lot of fun. It wasn't until the adults came and shouted that several children came out of the water, their lips were cold and blue, their upper teeth grinding their lower teeth, and they were holding the fat grass carp tightly in their hands, and followed the adults home.

This scene looks like an idyll, if the writer meets it, maybe he will be prosperous and recite a landscape poem!

It's a pity that there are always bad guys.

When it was almost lunch, a small group of devils came from the direction of Dawenkou, wading across the Chaiwen River and walking towards Beiteng Village under the guidance of the puppet army and a few Han anniversaries wearing black silk cedars.

The women who were talking, laughing, and washing clothes didn't know who it was, and as soon as they looked up, they saw the devil, and exclaimed, so that a group of sisters and sisters threw down the mallets and the clothes that were being dried, turned around and ran towards the village.

At this time, the devils, the puppet army, and the Han Annihilation all came into play, and the puppet army and the Han Annihilation shouted "Stop, don't run, and if you run again, you will shoot", and the devils are like male dogs in heat, shouting "Flower girl, flower girl", shooting and howling into the village.

To the surprise of the devils, the village was quiet, and there was no chaotic escape as expected.

Seeing that there were no ordinary people fleeing in the village, quietly, as if there was no one, the devils and puppet soldiers couldn't help but become cautious, holding guns, bending over, leaning against the wall, and slowly searching. Only a few Han Jian thought that the common people were hiding in the house and did not come out, jumping on the street and scolding, trying to scold the common people.

It may be that the shouting and scolding of the Han J played a role, and there was finally movement in the village, and this movement was a bit strange, it was a crisp and crisp gunshot, but the gunfire was very urgent, only dozens of rings, and the devils, puppet soldiers and Han J who entered the village lay down on the ground, leaving only the most fierce Han J who scolded and looked at the corpse in a daze.

This group of unlucky devils and puppet soldiers knew that this Beiteng Village was now the location of Zeng Zhongsheng and Cai Zhong, who commanded the Tai'an detachment and taught the troops directly under the division to prepare for the second dozen Dawenkou, and they broke in by mistake, so they naturally wanted to leave their lives here.

After interrogating the Han Annihilation, the situation quickly became clear. Since the last time the instructor attacked Dawenkou and eliminated the Dawenkou garrison and took away the planes, the 10th Brigade had to send another brigade to garrison Dawenkou. After this part of the devils arrived at Dawenkou, they learned a lesson, strictly guarded the strongholds and positions, and did not leave the railway line and positions at all, so as not to be wiped out by the possible [***] team. This morning, the captain of the devil brigade received a report from Han Jian, saying that Beiteng Village is located at the confluence of two rivers, the land is fertile, there is grain to be eaten, there is a river to be fresh, and the women are also very beautiful. So, the captain of the devil brigade was moved, thinking about the turtle cowering in the stronghold all day long, not even daring to go out, it was simply a loss of dignity for the Imperial Army! sent a squad of devils, led by a squad of puppet soldiers and a few Han anniversaries, to Beiteng Village.

The small army of devils was eliminated, but Zeng Zhongsheng and Cai Zhongli were a little anxious, because Liu Yimin had delayed giving the order to act, and the command headquarters was placed here, and there was a danger of exposure.

Since Zeng Zhongsheng came to work in the Red Seventh Army, he has been in a good mood, and he is good at walking and talking. Especially in several battles, Liu Yimin consciously exerted his leadership and command skills and let him take charge alone, which made Zeng Zhongsheng feel what trust is and what unity and work together.

Not to mention Cai Zhong, since he met Liu Yimin in Xinwei, the two of them have simply been a perfect match and a tacit understanding.

This time, Zeng Zhongsheng and Cai Zhong were entrusted by Liu Yimin to command the Tai'an detachment and the troops directly under the instructor to prepare for the second attack on Dawenkou, attract the enemy to defend Tai'an, set up a position between Dawenkou and Beijipo, annihilate the Yuekou reinforcements, and let the Jiao 1st Brigade and the cavalry brigade take advantage of the situation to attack and occupy Tai'an, which will not only achieve the purpose of disrupting the strategic deployment of the devils, but also allow the 1st Jiao Brigade, which has tanks, armored vehicles, and automobiles, to smoothly cross the Jinpu Road and rush to Luzhong to participate in the Luzhong Campaign.

Now the troops are in place and ready to fight. However, the battle order was delayed, and the division commander simply asked the troops to wait in concealment, and this concealment and standby lasted for several days. Although Zeng Zhongsheng knew that the reason why Liu Yimin did not issue the battle order was that he was waiting for the 1st Brigade and the Cavalry Brigade to attack, and second, he was waiting for the opportunity to launch an attack, but the troops had been hidden here for a few days, and the 1st Brigade and the Cavalry Brigade had already moved to the designated place. After Zeng Zhongsheng and Cai Zhong discussed, he sent a telegram to Liu Yimin, asking for permission to start the action.

There are more people who are more anxious than Zeng Zhongsheng!

After receiving a report from Liu Yimin that the Fifth Brigade had eliminated the 2,000 people of the Sixth Brigade of the Sixth Brigade of the Giant Bandits Liu Heiqi, Zhang Buyun, and the Reading Power of the Yue Army, they could not wait for Zeng Zhongsheng and Cai Zhong to say anything, Li Chang, commander of the artillery brigade, and Zhang Haitao, commander of the Tai'an detachment, could not sit still, and ran to the headquarters to ask if the combat order of No. 1 had arrived.

Zeng Zhongsheng was also in a hurry, but this matter could not be solved by being in a hurry. It is said that Zeng Zhongsheng is one of the founders of our army's guerrilla strategy and movement strategy, and now he is deeply relied on by the central authorities and Liu Yimin, and has the right to make decisions on the battlefield. Historically, the three pamphlets he wrote, "Keys to Fighting the 'Red Army,' Key Points of Fighting the Sichuan Army," and "Key Points of Guerrilla Warfare," were required reading for the training of military cadres in the Red Fourth Front Army, provided a rich basis for systematically summing up China's revolutionary war and strategic issues, and were an important part of China's military thinking. However, since working with Liu Yimin, Zeng Zhongsheng felt that many of Liu Yimin's ideas had profound truths, such as letting him be in charge of commanding the Second Dawenkou Battle this time, which was definitely not a simple battle, but an integral part of Liu Yimin's Luzhong Campaign. Looking at it this way, it must be carried out in accordance with Liu Yimin's order, he said that he would fight whenever he wanted, not sooner or later. Now that the telegram has been sent, we can only wait for the call back.

Li Chang saw that Zeng Zhongsheng was unhurried on the surface, and he didn't seem to be in a hurry at all, so he sat down, picked up Zeng Zhongsheng's teapot and drank it, and after drinking, put the teapot down, and said: "This little devil has searched here, why didn't he give the order to attack?" If we delay any longer, we will find out our army's intentions. ”

Zeng Zhongsheng went to pour water for Li Chang again, and then said: "I just sent a telegram to No. 1, requesting an attack, and now I am waiting for a callback." ”

As soon as Li Chang heard this, he knew that it was useless to say anything without an order, so he turned to Cai Zhong's side and put Cai Zhong's shoulder on it: "Director Cai, Brother Cai, I heard that when you were in Shaanxi, you accompanied the division commander to northern Shaanxi, and the division commander painted a few oil paintings for Comrade Tang Xingying, and also painted a few for Ren Ying's sister-in-law along the way. You say, isn't the teacher's drawing particularly good? ”

When Cai Zhong heard this, he rolled his eyes and said, "Go, go, don't wander around and be foolish." The division commander painted an oil painting for Comrade Tang Xingying, and the painting was excellent. Your sister-in-law was still my fiancée at that time, so how would the teacher be willing to paint her. If you really paint a picture for her, maybe in the future, when you don't have money, you can exchange some money! ”

As soon as Li Chang heard this, he continued to break down: "I said Director Cai, since you know that the teacher's painting is good and valuable, why don't you let him paint for Ren Ying's sister-in-law?" If I follow, I have to ask her to paint a few paintings of my willow leaves. It seems that what the division commander said and Director Cai are friends of life and death, and they are purely fooling people. If it were me, I would have to settle accounts with him! ”

Zeng Zhongsheng heard Li Chang say this next to him, and said that Li Chang had bad intentions and wanted to provoke Director Cai to ask for a painting for the division commander. However, this kind of provocation is a bit clumsy, and it is estimated that it will not work.

Cai Zhong said directly to Li Chang: "I know that you want to fight and you want to go crazy, and you have nothing to say." However, I was a little tempted. My wife didn't say anything, when my son was born, I had to ask him to paint a picture of my son. ”

Seeing that Cai Zhong was moved, Li Chang said, "Director Cai, I reminded you of this." In the future, when your girl is born and gets a painting, don't forget me. It's better if you tell the division commander and ask him to draw one more picture, yes, just paint the majestic posture of our artillery brigade when it destroys the 21st brigade, it must be very imposing! ”

Cai Zhong laughed: "I said Li Chang, the fox's tail is finally exposed, right?" Speaking of which, if you want to paint, and you are embarrassed to say it, take my son to talk about it. By the way, I may have a son, not a girl. If you dare to talk nonsense again, let your sister-in-law really give birth to a girl, I won't follow you. ”

Li Chang hurriedly said: "This is not what I said, it was said by the division commander. ”

After speaking, he also felt that it was boring to say these light words, so he couldn't help but sigh, and said to himself: "Hong Chaoyuan has made great contributions this time, and it is still second to eliminate the devil and Zhang Buyun, and it is too beautiful to kill the tumor Liu Heiqi." I don't know how many people want to offer Lao Hong as a bodhisattva! Alas, my fucking hands are itchy! ”

Zhang Haitao didn't speak since he came in, he kept listening to Li Chang and the chiefs joking, and when he heard Li Chang say this, he couldn't help it: "That is, many of the soldiers of our Tai'an detachment are from the Linyi area, and when they heard that our army had killed Liu Heiqi, they all wrote letters to their families excitedly. There are also people who secretly burn paper at night to make sacrifices to their relatives. Brigadier Hong's luck is too good, why didn't this Liu Heiqi hit Lao Tzu's muzzle? ”

Zeng Zhongsheng listened to Li Chang and Zhang Haitao sing and harmonize, and laughed in his heart, these two are going crazy when they are bent on fighting! Thinking about it, this unit is strong, has sufficient ammunition, is ready for battle, and is sure enough to destroy the target in one fell swoop, but the combat order has not been issued for a long time, and it is indeed urgent.

Liu Yimin's order was finally issued: "Tomorrow morning, the attack will be launched in the early morning, and the battle plan will be carried out." ”

After receiving the telegram, Zeng Zhongsheng and Cai Zhong immediately came to their senses, called the operational staff officers, and issued combat orders one after another. Li Chang and Zhang Haitao were no longer at the headquarters, and had already run out of the courtyard and returned to the troops.

Zeng Zhongsheng didn't know that the reason why Liu Yimin made the troops wait so long was to wait for the Fifth and Fourteenth Divisions of the Japanese Army to make a move.

On 5 May, the Sixth Division of the Chinese Army suddenly landed in Lianyungang, and the Fifth Division also suddenly exerted its strength to capture Heze in one fell swoop. After repelling the Third Army, the main force made a detour to the west of Xuzhou. The 14th Division was transported from Xinxiang to Jining, and after arriving in Heze, it began to make a rapid attack on Puyang, attempting to cross the river to the south. At this point, all the armies of the Yue army have completed their deployment, and they have begun to gradually close their nets, preparing to gather and annihilate the Xuzhou area.

After Liu Yimin received the battle report, he knew that it was time to take action himself, and immediately ordered Zeng Zhongsheng and Cai Zhong to attack.

The development of the Dawenkou operation was somewhat unexpected, and many deployments were simplified and omitted. Because the captain of the army had waited for an afternoon and did not see the team that had gone to Beiteng Village to search for it come back, and the radio could not be contacted, a sense of foreboding immediately swelled in his heart, and he hurriedly reported to Major General Mizuno Nobu, commander of the 10th Brigade of the Reading Power Mixed Brigade, who was in Tai'an.

Major General Mizuno had laughed at Major General Morita Masaho, the commander of the 13th Brigade of the 13th Brigade of the Reading Force last time, and then made a disgraced face at Dawenkou. When he heard that the squad that had gone to Beiteng Village to sweep had not returned, he was alert and immediately ordered the captain of the devil brigade stationed in Dawenkou to leave two squadrons to defend, and sent two squadrons in two echelons to quickly take a car to Beiteng Village to reconnoiter and respond, and make sure to find out what was happening.

After the order was issued, Major General Mizuno Nobu was still not at ease and hurriedly reported to the new commander of the Second Army, Lieutenant General Higashijueriyaki Tsukihiko.

This Lieutenant General of the Higashijure Palace Tsukihiko King is the ninth son of Prince Asahhiko of Kurenomiya, his uncle is Prince Zaihito of Kanin Palace, and Emperor Showa Hirohito is his nephew. King Kugahiko of Higashijuergu and his three elder brothers, King Kunihiko of Kurenomiya, King Morimasa of Rimoto Palace, and King Hatohiko of Asakanomiya, were all imperial generals of Yumoto in history. Among them, King Kunihiko of Kurenomiya is the father of Empress Ryoko, King Serumiya Morimasa was tried as a royal war criminal after the war, and King Hatohiko of Asakanomiya is the main culprit of the Nanjing Massacre, and none of the four brothers is good.

Lieutenant General Tsukihiko of Higashijueriyaki had just taken over as the commander of the Second Army, and he had not personally experienced the power of the Eighth Route Army, and he was disdainful of the ban that Nishio Shouzo told him not to march at night before leaving, thinking that it was a petty style and absolutely insulting the dignity of the Imperial Army. Therefore, after receiving the report, Lieutenant General Tsukihiko of Higashijurmiya did not hesitate at all, and directly ordered Major General Mizuno Nobu to send a brigade-sized force to search the accident site and retaliate. In this way, the army brigade living in Dawenkou set out and drove towards Beiteng Village. Only the railway garrison, the gendarmerie and a company of puppet troops were left in the town of Dawenkou.

It is said that the army's dispatch is full of cars, motorcycles, cavalry, and infantry, which makes chickens and dogs jump. When they arrived at the south bank of the Chaiwen River opposite Beiteng Village, Zeng Zhongsheng had already found out.

Zeng Zhongsheng immediately adjusted his deployment, and used the heavy machine gun regiment, the engineer regiment, and the artillery brigade infantry regiment to hold the north bank of the Chaiwen River and the south bank of the Muwen River respectively, and hit them severely when the devils waded across the river; Ordered the Tai'an detachment, which was hidden in the area south of the Chaiwen River and the area north of the Muwen River, to outflank the back road of the devils and annihilate the devils in one fell swoop. Then take advantage of the situation to capture Dawenkou.

Zeng Zhongsheng's calculation was really accurate, this little devil did not have many troops, and he even played a two-way outflanking tactic, and the three squadrons advanced along the south bank of the Chaiwen River and went straight to Beiteng Village. The other route, consisting of a squadron of devils and two companies of puppet troops, advanced along the north bank of the Muwen River and outflanked Beiteng Village in a roundabout way.

When the devil arrived at the river on both sides of Beiteng Village, Luo said that the sunset of the day had been rendered, projected on the ripples of the Chaiwen River and the Muwen River, and a river was colorful.

The captain of the devil brigade has rich combat experience, and he knows that the danger factor is great as soon as it gets dark, so he hurriedly enters Beiteng Village to check what is going on, to see where that small group of soldiers has gone, and why Beiteng Village and Nanteng Village are all quiet farmhouse scenery with smoke rising.

With the pointing of the devil captain's sword, the flag soldiers waved small flags, and the devils on the north and south roads began to wade through the water at the same time.

At this time, it was the dry season of the Chaiwen River and the Muwen River, and the amount of water was small, so the villagers often waded across the river to work on the other side.

The devil had already begun to attack, and the formation had changed. Basically, a squad acts as the vanguard, and the brigade follows. Seeing that the top soldiers crossed the river smoothly, the captain of the devil brigade thought that there was no main force of the squadron [***] here, and kept urging the squadrons to cross the river quickly.

This time it was lively, the two devils went into the water at the same time, and the Eighth Route Army met the enemy at the same time. However, the most unfortunate was the spearhead squad, who crossed the river in fear, and had just set up a police line to cover the actions of the squadrons, when they saw a lot of Chinese troops hidden under the river embankment opposite, and a pair of eyes and black muzzles looked extremely strange in the twilight.

As soon as the leader of the devil's spearhead squad wanted to send a flag to inform the troops behind him to stop crossing the river, gunshots rang out. Just a row of guns, the devil's north and south spearhead squads all lay down.

Hearing the gunshots, the captain of the devil brigade knew that he was ambushed. However, judging by the absence of light and heavy machine guns in the gunfire, the firepower of the ambush squadron was limited. Therefore, the captain of the devil brigade did not retreat but advanced, and ordered the squadrons to speed up the speed of crossing the river, seize positions, and resolutely destroy the small Chinese troops that resisted. The infantry artillery of the brigade under his own command began shelling, covering the infantry attack.

(To be continued)