The movement discovered by the army's observation post was indeed a movement from the movement of the troops. However, this is not a movement from the actions of our army in Jizhong, but a movement made by the local armed forces appointed by the various factions of the [***] miscellaneous army.

After the start of the army's sweep, the Fan Zixia Department and Qiao Mingli Department between Wuji, Gaocheng and Jin County, the Duan Haizhou Department of Shulu and Wuqiang, the three Shi Province departments in the east of Fuyang River, and the Zhao Yunxiang Department between Wuyi and Ji County were all encircled. These units do not have unified leadership, nor do they have a unified operational plan, and their combat effectiveness is extremely low. In peacetime, under the banner of resistance, he was busy expanding the army to raise food and wages, but when the army encircled and suppressed it in a big way, the troops were chaotic and were beaten by the army.

The tactics of heavy centripetal crushing adopted by the army made these local forces have no power to fight back, and they can only run and hide. But running around, just can't escape the encirclement of the army. The more they ran, the greater the losses of the team, and Shi Shengsan's resistance to rescue [***] was completely dispersed under the weight of the army.

Liu Yimin's arrival has changed the fate of many people. This Shi Shengsan's resistance to salvation [***] originated from the "Iron and Blood National Salvation Group" organized by Ji Mengkuan, Ji Gen, the descendants of Ji Xiaolan, a famous genius in the Qing Dynasty. After the "77 Incident", Ji Mengkuan and Ji Gen contacted dozens of villagers in nearby villages with their father and son to form a "resistance team", which was later renamed the "Iron-blooded National Salvation Group". After the team developed and expanded, Ji Mengkuan, Ji Gen and his father and son fell into power, and Shi Xingsan stole the high position of commander. This Shi Province Trinity did not stop doing two things, and simply ordered the first wing captain Zhou Chaogui to brutally kill Ji Mengkuan and his son in the area of Hejian Dahan, and completely controlled the leadership of the troops. Historically, Shi Shengsan was later reorganized into the Sixth Route Army by Lu Zhonglin, chairman of Hebei Province, and was defeated by the Yue Army in the Zaoqiang area in November. At this time, the army launched a large-scale heavy encirclement and suppression in advance, and the three divisions of Shi Province were defeated early, except for the dead and captured, most of them fled, and a small part did Han annihilation.

Among these people, Fan Zixia is a famous martyr in history. He is a native of Feng County, Jiangsu, and after graduating from middle school, he went to study at the Northeast Army Camp School and served as a regiment commander in the Northeast Army. After the September 18 Incident, he resigned angrily because he was dissatisfied with Chiang Kai-shek's policy of non-resistance. He went to Zhangjiakou to participate in the Chasui Resistance against the Allied Army, served as the regiment commander, and led his troops to fight against the League. Later, he entered the puppet army Li Shouxin Department and served as the battalion commander. Instigated a battalion-wide uprising at the Battle of Bailing Temple and forced the Pseudo-Golden Chartist Division to surrender. He was later arrested and imprisoned by Kuomintang agents. He was released from prison after the Lugou Bridge Incident and organized the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army, which was under the command of Sun Dianying.

In the handbook of the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army, Fan Zixia wrote: "We are the outstanding sons and daughters of the Chinese nation, we are the descendants of Yan Huang, we are the heroic and warlike army, we are the iron army that marches forward bravely, we must seek liberation for the nation, fight for the survival of the motherland, vow to exchange our heads for the splendid rivers and mountains that have been lost, and vow to crush the evil Han and annihilate the enemy with blood." ”

That's what he wrote, and that's what he did. Historically, he joined the Eighth Route Army in November 1939 and successively served as the commander of the Pinghan Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Column of the Eighth Route Army, the commander of the 10th Brigade of the 129th Division, the commander of the Pinghan Column, and the commander of the Sixth Division of the Taihang Military Region. He led his troops to participate in the anti-"Eleventh Road Siege" in western Hebei, the Battle of the Hundred Regiments, the Battle of Huangya Cave and other battles, and was only 34 years old when he died, shedding the last drop of blood for the Anti-Japanese War.

Slowly, these forces came together. At this time, in the face of a strong enemy, there was no longer any distinction between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and they gradually moved closer to our army, wanting to join the People's Self-Defense Army and the Hebei Guerrilla Army to form a joint force, fight in groups, and break the encirclement of the devils. Unfortunately, their arrival also attracted a large army of devils.

At this time, Terauchi Shouichi already knew that the main force of the 21st Division had been annihilated, and the Fourth Brigade was in danger.

The iron fist of the Yue army gradually closed, and it had tightly held Anping's line in the center of the fist.

After Meng Qingshan took the first and second divisions to rest and recuperate in Daguanting, he was busy moving to Anping. After joining up with the People's Self-Defense Army, they decided to quickly move to Cangshi Road in Shulu County, southwest of Anping. On the whole, Lu Ben and Lu Zhengying led the people's self-defense army with the strongest combat effectiveness to open the road, Meng Qingshan led the first division to serve as the rearguard, and the other troops acted in the middle of the road, and must arrive at the new base before 8 o'clock in the evening of the 28th, and after breaking through the Cangshi Road, they directly broke through the Deshi line through Xinji and entered southern Hebei.

After the large army left Anping, the army immediately occupied the county seat of Anping and began to pursue. Meng Qingshan saw that there was no way, and he was determined to fight a counterattack to curb the pursuit momentum of the Yue army. As a result, after the first battle, not only did they fail to destroy the vanguard pursued by the Yue army, but they were tightly bitten by the devil's army. In particular, the planes of the devils kept bombing and strafing, and many soldiers were blurred with flesh and blood when they died.

Seeing that the losses of the troops were too great, and they couldn't stop the devil's attack at all, and if they persisted, the whole army would be annihilated, so Meng Qingshan had no choice but to organize the troops to cover alternately and withdraw from the battle. Seeing the heroic sacrifices of the soldiers behind the palace one company after another, Meng Qingshan's heart was like a knife, and he directly sent a report to Lu Ben and Lu Zhengying: "The army is too strong, and our army is powerless to stop the enemy's heavy attack. Please contact southern Hebei as soon as possible to meet the breakthrough of our army. ”

Finally, it got dark, and the devil's plane stopped bombing. Meng Qingshan hurriedly sent a correspondent to report to Lu Ben and Lu Zhengying, saying that the large army was about to be encircled, and it was necessary to quickly pass through the Cangshi Road and the Deshi Line, and there would be a danger of annihilation of the whole army at the later stage.

Lu Ben and Lu Zhengying had just received a telegram from Lei Ming, and they learned that our army had taken control of Xinji and would soon take control of Xinbeitou, the key point of Cangshi Road. Lei Ming demanded that the troops in central Hebei speed up their movements, and be sure to pass through the Cangshi Road before 9 p.m. and the Deshi Line before 11 p.m.

After reading the telegram, Lu Ben let out a long breath and said, "We are finally going to get through it, it's been three long days!" ”

Lu Zhengying's military style did not have so many sighs, and immediately deployed troops to prepare to cross the stone road. At this time, the troops of Fan Zixia, Qiao Mingli, Zhao Yunxiang, and Duan Haizhou were pursued by the Yue army to the vicinity of Cangshi Road.

Among these people, Fan Zixia and Qiao Mingli's troops were small, and Zhao Yunxiang and Duan Haizhou's troops were large, but they suffered heavy losses. Seeing that the People's Self-Defense Army and the Hebei Guerrilla Army were advancing in the direction of Cangshi Road, several people with the same spirit immediately realized that they were going to break through to southern Hebei. It is rumored that there is a regular army of the Eighth Route Army in southern Hebei, and it is estimated that the regular army of the Eighth Route Army should be in Cangshi Road to meet the People's Self-Defense Army and the Hebei Guerrilla Army.

When it was time to flee for their lives, these commanders were no longer polite to our army, and they didn't care about the pursuing army behind them, and they swarmed in front of our army and rushed directly in the direction of the new base.

Seeing the routed posture of these troops, Lu Ben and Lu Zhengyan could only shake their heads sadly, ordered the troops to follow up, and dispatched troops to block the pursuing army.

When the leader of the devil squadron heard the movement, many lights had already appeared in the distance around him. The leader of the devil's squadron knew that it was a symbol that the imperial army was coming from all directions, indicating that under the dark night in front of him, the resistance in the central Hebei region was hidden. The leader of the devil squadron immediately gave the order to prepare for battle and report the situation to the group leader and the wing commander.

It didn't take long for a black crowd to appear under the night, rushing towards Cangshi Road. Needless to say, it was the Chinese resistance force that was pursued by the main force of the imperial army.

Seeing the crowd getting closer and closer, it was already approaching the road. The Devil Squadron Leader sneered, raised his command knife, and shouted, "Kill it!" ”

The devil's machine guns, grenadiers, and rifles all opened fire, and the dense firepower knocked Zhao Yunxiang's troops, who were walking in the front, staggered, and the panicked soldiers immediately fell to the ground. Some soldiers in the back immediately shouted, "There is a military machine gun ahead," and after shouting, they turned around and ran, making a mess in the ranks.

Zhao Yunxiang was so angry that he took out his pistol and shot three times in a row, shouting loudly: "Don't panic, don't mess up." The army is a small army, everyone rush over with me! After roaring, he grabbed a machine gun and rushed forward as he strafed.

Zhao Yunxiang took the lead in the charge, and the soldiers behind him were finally out of chaos, and those regiment commanders, battalion commanders, and company commanders also began to organize the team and rushed forward with Zhao Yunxiang.

As soon as the battle started here, all the units of the Yue army on the Cangshi Road were alarmed, and the lights of the cars and armored vehicles were also turned on, illuminating the plains. The troops that broke through suddenly became all targets, and their situation became dangerous.

Zhao Yunxiang saw it and hurriedly lay down. As soon as they reached the ground, bullets whizzed past them, knocking several slower soldiers to the ground.

When Lu Zhengyan received the report, he scolded directly: "Malabazi! Worse than useless! After scolding, he quickly ordered Zhao Chengjin, commander of the First Regiment of the People's Self-Defense Army, and Sha Ke, commander of the Special Forces Corps, to lead the troops to immediately catch up, suppress the devils with artillery fire, tear a gap, and cover the troops to break through. He also ordered the 2nd Regiment to defend to the east and the 3rd Regiment to defend to the west, and informed Meng Qingshan to speed up the retreat.

It's not bad, seeing that the main force of the People's Self-Defense Army came up, the troops of Zhao Yunxiang, Duan Haizhou, Qiao Mingli, and Fan Zixia automatically got out of the way and let the People's Self-Defense Army troops go to open the passage.

The Special Forces Regiment of the People's Self-Defense Forces was formed on the basis of the original 691 Regiment Machine Gun Company, and the gunners were all veterans. As soon as several mortars suddenly shelled, the devil's grenadier position was immediately thrown into chaos, and the devil's squadron leader immediately felt the pressure, and while asking the captain and the wing commander for help, he commanded the army to shoot. The first regiment rushed once, but did not rush over.

At this time, the situation was already extremely critical, and the large army in the distance was speeding up, and the garrison of the Chinese army on the Cangshi Road was also roaring with tanks, armored vehicles, automobiles, and motorcycles. The infantry and cavalry were all mobilized and rushed in the direction of the new fortress. The artillery of the army had already begun to shell from a distance, and the shells were whistling and smashing into the gathering place of the breakthrough troops.

Lu Zhengying was so anxious that he and Lu Ben came to the front together, preparing to command all the troops, adopt the tactics of crowds, and rush over in the face of the enemy's bullets.

That's when the miracle happened!

A convoy of military vehicles roared from the south with their headlights on, and when they reached the back of the devil's position, the leading motorcycle made an arc and drove east. The motorcycles, armored cars, and cars behind immediately turned around and lined up behind the devil's position.

When the leader of the devil squadron saw the reinforcements coming, he immediately stood up and waved his command knife to direct armored vehicles and cars to shoot. Unexpectedly, the bullets sprayed from armored vehicles, cars, and motorcycles did not shoot at the breakthrough squadron, but hit the backs of the devils who were shooting desperately.

The Devil Squadron Leader only had time to shout "Baga" when he was hit by a machine-gun bullet. The devils who were concentrating on shooting were sentenced to death by bullets coming from behind, just like the prisoners who were shot.

After eliminating the devils who blocked the attack, the convoy drove to the east and west, dodging a path in the middle to allow the troops who broke through to pass.

Zhao Chengjin, commander of the First Regiment of the People's Self-Defense Army, witnessed the miracle with his own eyes, jumped up with cheers, and shouted: "The Eighth Route Army is coming to meet us, comrades, hurry up and pass the blockade!" ”

After shouting, he rushed through the gap in the convoy with a group of horses.

Seeing that a regiment of the People's Self-Defense Army rushed into the gap without hesitation, Zhao Yunxiang hurriedly stood up and rushed in with the team. Behind him, Duan Haizhou's department, Qiao Mingli's department, and Fan Zixia's department quickly overflowed the gap like a flood that broke the embankment.

After crossing the Cangshi Road, Fan Zixia found that two teams of cavalry on both sides of the road were rushing towards the Cangshi Road in a straight formation. On one side were all cavalry, and on the other side were cavalrymen carrying mortars and heavy machine guns. At this time, Fan Zixia had already woken up from the anxiety of being made dumplings by the army, roughly counted the number of mortars and heavy machine guns, and was amazed in his heart, so many mortars and heavy machine guns, what a huge team it should be!

Perhaps they were shocked by this solemn military might, or they suddenly felt safe, and the soldiers of the various local forces who were in a hurry unconsciously began to pay attention to the formation at this time, and they were no longer like the chaotic and routed soldiers at the beginning.

The surprise is yet to come. After the cavalry, there were two rows of infantry marching on both sides of the road, with steel helmets of one color on their heads and armbands of the Eighth Route Army on their gray uniforms. Looking at the armament again, it is clear that each squad has light machine guns, and each platoon has heavy machine guns, as if every company has grenadiers and mortars. The weapons of infantry shooters are even more staggering, except for light machine guns, submachine guns, and guns similar to submachine guns, the rifles are all brand new, and they all look like the same 38 type. The squad and platoon leaders all carried twenty rounds in their waists, a gun like a submachine gun on their backs, and a Type 38 on their shoulders.

Fan Zixia just sighed with such strong firepower, and saw one of his squad leaders shouting, "I want to be the Eighth Route Army", and ran into the marching team of the Eighth Route Army. As a result, he was gently pushed out by the soldiers who were marching.

Fan Zixia pulled the little squad leader and scolded, "Look at your cowardice!" Now that the war is going on, if you want to be the Eighth Route Army, you can wait until you get to the ground! ”

When the squad leader saw the commander angry, he couldn't help but mutter: "If I have such a good gun, why do I run?" Directly with the devil! ”

Fan Zixia said, "If you have a good gun, you have to shoot accurately", and pushed the small squad leader into the team and continued to march.

Wang Nanhu, political commissar of the Fourth Brigade, Cao Shengli, chief of staff, and Li Lingfeng, captain of the special operations brigade, rushed to Xinjiaotou, where large units of the People's Self-Defense Army and the Hebei Guerrilla Army were crossing the Cangshi Road.

Wang Nanhu looked at the headlights of the Yue army that were gradually surrounding him, and ordered all the mortars to concentrate at once, quickly establish a position, and put Cao Shengli, chief of staff, under the direct command of the Yue army. Order all heavy machine guns to concentrate, set up positions along the Cangshi road, and concentrate on dealing with the devil infantry. Order all the bazookas to concentrate and resolutely knock out the tanks and armored vehicles of the devils. Engineers were ordered to lay mines and explosives packs to block the enemy's pursuit when our troops retreated. Two regiments were ordered to send a battalion each to the east and west to prepare to block the enemy. The 1st Brigade of the other units was on standby.

After giving the order, the troops moved quickly, and Wang Nanhu and Li Deguang and Li Lingfeng met Lu Ben and Lu Zhengying, who were already waiting on the side.

Wang Nanhu was not familiar with Lu Ben and Lu Zhengying, and it was a battlefield, so Wang Nanhu simply told Lu Ben and Lu Zhengying that Comrade Lei Ming, the commander of the Fourth Brigade, was waiting in Xinji, and asked the Jizhong troops to seize the time to act.

After Lu Ben and Lu Zhengyan left, Meng Qingshan withdrew with the first division that was blocked by the palace.

As soon as he saw that Meng Qingshan was covered in blood, Wang Nanhu immediately stepped forward to hug him, carefully touched his body with his hand, and saw that he was not injured, so he said: "Old Meng, you are very powerful, you brought out 100,000 guerrilla troops in Jizhong alone, amazing!" ”

Meng Qingshan, Wang Nanhu, and Li Deguang are all acquaintances, all of whom were regiment-level cadres during the Red Army period. Our losses were so great that in just three days, the troops lost at least 50 percent. I don't even have the face to report it to the chiefs. How many people are there in my first division? I, I'm uncomfortable! ”

As he spoke, he cried out loud.

Looking at Meng Qingshan, and then at the First Division, where almost everyone was colored, Wang Nanhu was also miserable in his heart, and asked Li Lingfeng to transfer the cars and motorcycles of the Special Operations Brigade over, and asked the troops to vacate a batch of pack horses to transfer the wounded of the First Division backwards. Then he said to Meng Qingshan: "Lao Meng, don't cry, Lao Tzu will avenge you!" You hurry up and lead the troops to withdraw, go to Nangong to have a good rest, if you have any grievances, wait until you meet the division commander and political commissar, and then you will tell them in detail. ”

Meng Qingshan raised his head, wiped his tears, and said categorically: "Jizhong can't lose it like this!" I'm going to call back! When the time comes, please ask the principal and the old guys to help me, I must take back Jizhong. Otherwise, you won't be able to die! ”

After speaking, he gave a military salute to Wang Nanhu, Li Deguang, and Li Lingfeng, turned around and left.

Wang Nanhu glanced at Meng Qingshan's back, said "good man", turned around and ordered the troops to prepare for battle.

(To be continued)