When he received a telegram from Han Hanying asking for help, Xue Yue's army was already on the main road between Yuping and Qingxi Town.

Knowing that the main force of the Red Army was ambushing the 59th and 93rd Divisions in Qingxi Town, Xue Yue almost fell off his horse with a "boom" in his head.

Thousands of calculations, why didn't the red bandits dare to touch the tiger's ass and directly attack their powerful main force of the Central Army?

Carelessness, carelessness that shouldn't be. The high staff of the commission and the camp, including themselves, only saw that after the encirclement and suppression and the battle of the Xiangjiang River, the main force of the red bandits suffered heavy losses, why didn't they think that the tiger would eat people as soon as he didn't die? I was just thinking about how to go straight into Guiyang, seize Wang Jialie's power, and force him to go north to suppress bandits, why didn't I think that the Red Army would stick a bar and attack him directly? It's too late to say anything now, I just hope that after the Xiangjiang War, the red bandits have not recovered their vitality, and their combat power and firepower have been greatly reduced, so that the 59th and 93rd Divisions can escape. You have to act quickly, it's too late, and the situation is not easy to say.

Several staff officers spread out the military map, and Xue Yue was silent after reading it. The chief of staff said: "This terrain is very bad, the Wuyang River closes the right side, and the left side is surrounded by mountains, which is not conducive to the movement of large troops, and there is only one Hunan and Guizhou road leading directly to Qingxi Town." One of the key points in this is Yangping Town. After occupying Yangping Town, you can attack Qingxi Town if you advance, and you can hold it when you retreat, and you can also divide your troops to outflank it in a roundabout way. ”

Xue Yue also nodded secretly after seeing it, and after thinking for a while, he felt that he had six main divisions plus a division-level Huiji detachment, and the red bandits would not be able to please him no matter what. So he ordered the chief of staff: "Send a report directly to the commission, my 59th and 93rd divisions were ambushed by the main force of the red bandits in Qingxi Town, Zhenyuan, and request that planes be sent immediately to help in the battle." ordered Ou Zhen's 90th Division to take the lead, run to occupy Yangping Town, establish a solid position on the front line of Yangping Town, and cover the movement of the whole army; ordered Wu Qiwei to lead Liang Huasheng's 92nd Division and Huiji's first detachment, follow the 90th Division, and after the 90th Division occupied Yangping Town, quickly reinforce the 59th and 93rd Divisions of Qingxi Town along the road; The Fifth Division of Xie Pufu was ordered to lead the mortar battalion of Zhou Yanbin's tax police regiment to follow Wu Qiwei, cross the river at Yangping Town, advance along the river bank to Qingxi Town, and leave the artillery battalion to carry out artillery attacks on the opposite bank of Qingxi Town. ordered Wan Yaohuang's 13th Division to go up the mountain from the vicinity of Xindian, advance along the mountain road to Qingxi Town, control the commanding heights of Qingxi Town, flank the red bandits from the left flank and cover the main movement; Zhou Hunyuan was ordered to lead Xiao Zhiping's 96th Division and Guo Siyan's 99th Division to be the rear guard of the whole army. Han Hanying of the 59th Division and Tang Yunshan of the 93rd Division were ordered to gather their troops and wait for reinforcements. ”

After the order was issued, the army composed of 6 divisions and one detachment quickly moved into action, like monsters in later cartoons, pressing towards Yangping Town and Qingxi Town.

Ever since the battles of Xiaoshui and Xikou were honored, He Xinghua, director of the Central Guard Division's radio station, and Lu Wen, a radio operator, would wake up laughing when they slept. Especially Lu Wen, who has been engaged in underground work and hid in the enemy camp every day, is now okay, he has returned to his team, surrounded by comrades-in-arms, no matter how hard and tired he is, it is much better than not sleeping well with the enemy every day. Unexpectedly, Xiaoshui was captured and returned to the revolutionary team after fighting, and then made meritorious contributions, and the division commander and political commissar personally dressed themselves in red and flowers, glory! As soon as he thought that he could help the troops achieve such great results and destroy so many enemies by listening to the enemy's radio, Lu Wen felt that the work was worth it.

As soon as the battle in Qingxi Town ended, He Xinghua and Lu Wen took the radio staff to look for the radio stations and operators of the 59th and 93rd Divisions. Luckily, they were all found. However, both of these operators were trained by the Central Union, and they were very stubborn and uncooperative. This is difficult for He Xinghua and Lu Wen, as long as they have the code book and check their sending records, they will soon be able to accept Xue Yue's telegram.

After receiving the telegram ordered by Xue Yue to hold on, He Xinghua immediately reported to Liu Yimin, and Liu Yimin immediately instructed He Xinghua to call back in the name of Han Hanying: "Chief Xue: The headquarters is besieged by the enemy, and it is extremely critical. He is determined to stick to the help, and repay the kindness of the chairman with a benevolent heart. ”

Then, Liu Yimin ordered Wu Zheng, who was in charge of cleaning up the battlefield, to speed up the progress and escort the captured materials and prisoners to hide in Qingxi Town. The troops marching towards Yangping Town were ordered to pay attention to concealment and air defense, ordered the guard battalion and the cavalry battalion and baggage battalion as reserves to reinforce the third regiment, and ordered the fourth and fifth regiments, two companies of the guard battalion and the engineer battalion, and two companies of the recruit battalion led by Li Qing to seize the eastern mountain peak of Yangping Town, meet the 13th Division of Wan Yaohuang, concentrate firepower and troops, and resolutely defeat the enemy. He led the first regiment and the second regiment to quietly rush along the mountain road to the east of Yangping Town, to join the third company of engineers led by He Mingming, and wait for the battle in concealment.

Xue Yue received Han Hanying's second telegram, stamped his feet in a hurry, and urged the air force to dispatch quickly, ordering the 90th Division and Wu Qiwei to run forward.

Yangping Town is connected to Yuping County in the east, and faces Cengong County across the river. On weekdays, there are trucks on the road and cargo boats on the river, which is quite lively.

The sound of gunfire in Qingxi Town has long since shocked this quiet town. However, the common people didn't know that the town mayor and regimental members who were babbling and majestic in Pingyu had already been quietly escorted to Qingxi Town by the reconnaissance company of the guard division with guns. There was no one in charge of the town, and the residents ran and closed the doors, and it looked deserted.

Luo Yan and his scouts had been active in the area for two days, and they were familiar with the terrain and roads, guiding the troops to the desired position.

The first to reach the position was the sniper company.

Before the battle in Qingxi Town ended, Li Lingfeng led the second and third platoons of the sniper company to set off. The division commander's pre-battle order was very clear, the battle of Qingxi Town was over, and the division was waved to meet Xue Yue's main force. Li Lingfeng is an old Red Army soldier and a student of Qing University, and he knows that although the guard division is strong and strong, it is indeed very risky to meet Xue Yue's main force. The two platoons led by himself could not give full play to their advantages in the big battle, but they should be more sure of a sneak attack, capturing an enemy officer, blowing up an artillery position, or something. Therefore, he didn't ask anyone, and led the team along the top of the mountain to the direction of Yuping.

The platoon led by Wang Tongsheng left later than Li Lingfeng, but it left earlier than several main regiments. They do not need to replenish and replace weapons, so they are not interested in cleaning up the battlefield. As soon as the 59th Division surrendered, Wang Tongsheng whistled here, and the soldiers came out of the lurking points one by one and followed Wang Tongsheng.

When they arrived at the hillside east of Yangping Town, Wang Tongsheng made another gesture, and the soldiers immediately looked for their sniper points in pairs, and after a short time, they couldn't see anyone. Wang Tongsheng, who watched it, couldn't help but sigh with emotion, after three battles in Xiaoshui, Xikou, and Qingxi Town, the soldiers in the first platoon of the sniper company were no longer the sniper platoon at the time of the passage, and they had initially mastered sniper tactics, and their ability to observe and control the battlefield had also improved rapidly. As long as the battle began, the enemy's junior and middle-ranking officers, machine gunners, and mortar gunners could not escape the guns of the soldiers. The reason why the enemy's two divisions collapsed so quickly in the battle at Qingxi Town was that in addition to the powerful firepower and the sudden surname of the ambush, the middle and low-ranking officers, machine gunners, and gunners were killed one after another, which was also a factor. It seems that the comrades-in-arms are used to this method of fighting, and they have been concealed so quickly.

After Chen Dayong, commander of the Third Regiment, ascended the hill on the east side of Yangping Town, he immediately ordered his troops to occupy their positions, and asked Ding Zhuodong, who had just been assigned to the command of the Third Regiment, to take his 40 men to set up a position on the mountainside, shoot out all the explosive packages, and withdraw after the battle was completed, so as to prevent bombing by enemy planes. The mortars of the regimental fire support company selected several positions to facilitate the transfer; Light and heavy machine guns were all strengthened in front-line positions. The first task of the whole regiment is to do a good job of concealment, not to shoot or speak without orders, and to ensure that the fire is sudden.

Thinking about it, Chen Dayong personally ran to the mortar position of the fire support company, led them to choose the main position and the preset position, and arranged cover.

The artillery battalion and reconnaissance battalion led by Liu Jianli were the first to shift their positions, but they needed to make a detour to get to Yangping Town, and the plank road on the river bank could not pass the artillery and heavy machine guns. Fortunately, Liu Jianli had been prepared, with Luo Yan's scouts and guides to guide the way, and his actions were also very fast, and soon after the third regiment seized the position on the east side of Yangping Town, he rushed to the ferry area opposite Yangping Town.

After Liu Jianjian, commander of the artillery battalion Li Chang and Wei Xiufeng, commander of the heavy machine gun battalion, observed the terrain, they decided to set up the main artillery position on a mountainside 2,000 meters east of the ferry, which is facing the Hunan-Guizhou Highway. Then three more preset positions were set up, ready to be transferred in time when enemy aircraft came. Heavy machine-gun battalions set up positions along the mountainside, and machine-gun fire was enough to cover several kilometers of the road.

After looking at the terrain, the artillery battalions and heavy machine-gun battalions immediately began to establish positions. Time was pressing, and enemy planes could come at any time to bomb and strafe, so Liu Jianli asked the battalion and company cadres to all go down to the artillery positions and machine gun positions to direct the artillery bombardment, firing, and transfer.

Wei Xiufeng was very introverted and didn't talk much, but just asked the cadres to check carefully to ensure that the position arrangement was not only convenient for concealment, but also convenient for shooting.

Li Chang was different, he called the squad leader, platoon commander, and company commander together, and asked one by one in a low voice, "Did you enjoy the fight just now?" The cadres didn't dare to speak, and they all nodded desperately. Li Chang asked again: "Do you still want to have fun?" The cadres nodded vigorously again.

Li Chang said: "If you still want to have fun, you should act quickly, measure the distance accurately, and according to the method explained by the division commander, as in the battle just now, divide the battlefield into squares, aim accurately, and hit me hard." Which one played well, after returning to Zhenyuan, Lao Tzu invited him to drink. If any of them don't fight well, they will directly send me to the baggage battalion as a groom, and there will be more people in the guard division who want to be artillerymen. If an enemy plane comes to lay eggs, move quickly, don't wait for the bombing. In times of crisis, the cannon can be dispensed without, and people have to run first. If the cannon is lost, the division commander will get it for us; When someone dies, the division commander will let me be a groom. Did you hear me clearly? ”

The cadre nodded hurriedly.

Li Chang, like Liu Yimin, waved his hand and said let's get to work, and the cadres rushed to their gun positions.

After the 4th and 5th regiments led by Li Qing and the attached guard battalions, engineer battalions, and recruit battalions ran along the road to Yangping Town, under the guidance of scouts and guides, they quickly went up the mountain, bypassed the positions of the 3rd Regiment, seized the mountain behind the positions of the 3rd Regiment in three ways, and took control of the mountain road behind Yangping Town, Xindian, Yuping. Li Qing deployed the engineer battalion and the recruit battalion near the main peak to act as a blocker, and the fourth and fifth regiments hid on the peaks on both sides of the main peak, and he led the guard battalion as a reserve, planning to wait for Wan Yaohuang's 13th Division to climb up and the engineer battalion and the recruit battalion to open fire first, and when the enemy concentrated his troops to attack the main peak, the two wings came out together to destroy the enemy in one fell swoop.

The 1st and 2nd regiments led by Liu Yimin were the latest to arrive at the predetermined position.

Seeing the division commander bringing the main force up, He Mingliang hurriedly explained their arrangement. The 3rd Engineer Company planted 15 explosives along the road, which were not found when the 59th and 93rd Divisions passed just now. At that time, the soldiers all wanted to blow up the 59th or 93rd Division, but they did not dare to detonate for fear of affecting the ambush of the main force. In the end, He Mingliang said regretfully: "It's a pity that the explosives package is still too small, if there are too many, we can bury one or two hundred places along the road, and when the enemy comes, there will be explosions everywhere, and they will be scared to death." ”

Liu Yimin smiled, patted He Mingming's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, wait a little longer, Xue Yue's main force will come up, and it will explode again when the time comes, so that Xue Yue can see the power of the Red Army engineers." In the future, if you find a talent to make explosives, you should pay more attention to it and try to keep it as much as possible. ”

He Mingming's eyes widened: "The division commander wants to make explosives by himself?" ”

Liu Yimin nodded.

He Mingliang immediately said: "I will definitely complete the task!" ”

As soon as this side was arranged, the roar of enemy planes was heard in the sky.

Four [***] planes flew over Yangping Town towards Qingxi Town. In the sky above the Xiangqian Avenue leading to Qingxi Town, the pilots found that the fighting had long stopped, the road was full of the corpses of [***] soldiers, and there was not a single shadow of a red bandit on the ground. The town seemed to be calm, and there was no sign of red banditry in sight.

The pilots, who had found nothing, were unwilling to chase the plane in the direction of Zhenyuan, hoping to catch up with the red bandits on the road and avenge the infantry brothers, but the result was still nothing. The angry pilots returned to Qingxi Town, circled and reconnoitred again, and searched carefully, but they really did not find any trace of the red bandits, so they had to report to the ground that the battle was over and the red bandits were nowhere to be found. Then he flapped his wings and flew back to the airport.

Xue Yue, who received the report from the Air Force, was as cold as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head in the current weather. It's over, my two divisions are finished. The red bandits are so ruthless, they dare to take down two elite divisions at one time! If you don't avenge this revenge, you swear not to be a man! Immediately ordered the troops to speed up their movements, quickly occupy Yangping Town, and then pursue the Red Bandits in the direction of Qingxi Town.

It was still the chief of staff who had an extra heart, and reminded on the side: "Now that the battle has ended, the task of each division should be changed to search and pursue, so as to prevent the red bandits from taking advantage of the power of victory and setting up a situation again to plot against our army." ”

Xue Yue's arrogant surname was exposed again, and he reprimanded: "I think you are frightened by the red bandits, what will these guys do besides ambushes and sneak attacks?" Our army of tens of thousands, not to mention the broken and incomplete red bandits, look at the country, there is that army that is our opponent. Chase me, you must catch up with the red bandits and destroy them! ”

The chief of staff was not afraid of Xue Yue's anger, and said, "Please think twice, commander, and be careful to sail the ship of ten thousand years." It's better to search and chase instead. ”

Xue Yue also calmed down a little at this time, thought about it, and said: "The order must be clear that the battle in Qingxi Town has ended, and all divisions are searching and pursuing. ”

The chief of staff said yes and went to give the order.

Ou Zhen, the commander of the 90th Division, who served as the vanguard task, belonged to the Fourth Army together with Han Hanying and Tang Yunsheng, and they were all Guangdong villagers. When he heard that the 59th and 93rd Divisions were in distress and sent him to be the vanguard of reinforcements, he immediately organized the troops to advance lightly, and to see that the speed was not fast, he rode his horse directly and ran next to the team, shouting hurry, hurry, hurry as he ran, and the first to run will be rewarded!

Running, running and running heard the sound of airplanes overhead, and when I looked up, the plane of [***] flew in the direction of Qingxi Town, Ou Zhen thought, this time the 59th Division and the 93rd Division have been saved, the red bandits have no anti-aircraft weapons, and when they encounter aircraft bombing, they often go into the mountains and forests to hide, and the attack on [***] will naturally stop. As long as you speed up a little faster and occupy Yangping Town, you can cover the main force to reinforce with all your strength and relieve the siege for the two fellows. Therefore, Ou Zhen simply raised his horsewhip and whipped the slow-moving soldiers as he ran, urging the troops to run forward.

Look at the front is Yangping Town, Ou Zhen was about to hurry up, the cavalry correspondent sent Xue Yue's order, it is very clear, according to the air force report, the battle of Qingxi Town has ended, the whereabouts of the two division commanders of Han and Tang are unknown, and the whereabouts of the red bandits are unknown, so all divisions are ordered to search and pursue Qingxi Town, and pay attention to the search and rescue of the surviving officers and soldiers of the two divisions.

At this time, Ou Zhen calmed down. Now that the battle has ended, and the Air Force has searched for dozens of miles and has not seen the main force of the red bandits, where did they go? You must know that the supply of the red bandits is difficult, the cleaning of the battlefield has always been very meticulous, the weapons and ammunition of the two divisions are not small, and they have to escort prisoners, in such a short time, it is impossible for them to go far!

Since the red bandits won't go far, what are they doing, are they escaping into the mountains and forests to escape? No way, they are now victorious, and they will not run away casually. According to this reasoning, what would the Red Bandit do if he had strengthened his weapons and ammunition, and what would he do if I were [***]? Damn, the Red Bandits are not hiding somewhere waiting for our army to get into the ambush again! I heard that the three divisions of the Hunan Army were ambushed three times before and after, do the red bandits want to repeat the battles of Xiaoshui and Xikou again?

The more he thought about it, the more frightened Ou Zhen looked up at the hillside on the east side, how did he feel that the woods were gloomy, as if there were troops?

Ou Zhen immediately ordered the troops to stop advancing. As soon as he said this, he heard a gunshot, and hurriedly knelt down, and a bullet flew past his ear.

(To be continued)