With the cooperation of the seven companies that were temporarily formed, the rescued laborers were no longer in confusion, and began to help the independent battalion carry the wounded, carry ammunition and supplies, and hurry to the northeast while the devil's reconnaissance plane left.

After walking through a hillside, Liu Tianshu accidentally found that there were six or seven people in Cheng Zhihua's Central Army Company who seemed to be a little wrong.

Sure enough, after careful observation, he found that Cheng Zhihua seemed to be very respectful to one of the middle-aged men in his forties, while the six stronger men were vigilantly guarding him, obviously protective.

Seeing Liu Tianshu's eyes swept over as if unintentionally, one of the tall men with a tiger's back and a bear's waist looked at Liu Tianshu with alert eyes, Liu Tianshu smiled and didn't say much, but looked into the distance and said to Cheng Zhihua: "Brother Cheng, can you come over?" ”

When Cheng Zhihua heard this, he glanced at the middle-aged man, the middle-aged man nodded slightly, and he immediately ran over.

"Battalion Commander Liu, if there is anything, please just give orders." Although Cheng Zhihua is in the Central Army, his attitude towards Liu Tianshu is not bad. After all, if it weren't for the independent battalion sacrificing their lives this time, he and his brothers would probably have arrived in Qingdao by this time.

As long as you get on the devil's ship, whether you can return to China in this life will be a big question mark.

Even if he dies in a foreign country, it's nothing, but he can sit in his ......

Glancing at Cheng Zhihua, Liu Tianshu looked into the distance and said, "Brother Cheng, I took a look, and the speed of the troops is still too slow." According to the information we have obtained, the devils have been provoked this time, a wing of troops is coming from Jinan, behind us, there is a brigade of devils in hot pursuit, the Watanabe Wing in the east, there are also two brigades of troops, is moving to this side, plus there is a brigade in the south, if we can't leave this area quickly and return to the base area, we are very likely to be besieged by the devil's heavy troops. ”

There are still forty kilometers away from the base area, after those laborers were arrested, they were abused by the devils, although there was no physical problem, but they were a little weak, just now because of the excitement of being rescued, the speed of action was naturally faster, after two hours, the speed gradually slowed down.

"Camp Commander Liu, what do you mean?" Cheng Zhihua looked at Liu Tianshu.

"Brother Cheng, the newly formed Eighth Route Army New Fourth Army Battalion, with Comrade Liao Zhifeng in charge, the situation is not serious, but the three companies formed by the Sichuan Army and other local troops, because there is no unified command, seem a little scattered, I mean you are from the Central Army, or the other three companies will be temporarily placed under your command, what do you think?" Liu Tianshu thought for a while and said.

There are 14 companies in the army, with a total strength of 1,56 troops, and the total number of the entire team is as high as 2,800 people, but among these people, in addition to the seven companies of the independent battalion, the newly formed New Fourth Army Battalion of the Eighth Route Army is commanded by Liao Zhifeng, the deputy commander of the Eighth Route Army, so there should be no need to worry.

But those Sichuan Army, Central Army, and local troops, I am afraid it will not be easy for him to command them freely.

He hadn't exchanged fire with the devils yet, and once the fight started, he wasn't sure that the four companies formed by these central army, the Sichuan Army and the local troops would obey his command.

"This?" Cheng Zhihua pondered for a moment, looked at Liu Tianshu and said, "In this way, I will think about it before replying to you." ”

Before Cheng Zhihua fell into the hands of the devil, he was just a company commander of the Central Army, and he asked him to command the other three companies, and he was a little worried that those people would not obey his command.

After all, he was just a small company commander.

"Okay, I'll go to the front and have a look." Liu Tianshu nodded, and then ran forward with Dong Zhao.

Seeing that after ten miles, he would reach Stone Ridge, when the correspondent Luo Kai came running and said that the instructor had asked him to pass.

"Tianshu, Captain Hong sent a telegram, saying that the devils have gathered heavy troops and are ready to destroy us, so let's speed up and return to the base area before the devil's encirclement is formed. At the same time, he told us that the detachment had allowed the troops in this vicinity to try to drag the devils. Zhu Aiguo saw Liu Tianshu, and his tired face showed solemnity.

Hong Feihu was naturally very excited when he learned that Liu Tianshu's independent battalion had successfully stopped the train, not only rescued more than 800 anti-Japanese soldiers who had fallen into the hands of the devils, but also rescued more than 1,000 laborers.

You must know that in order to rescue this group of anti-Japanese soldiers, not only Chongqing, but also Yan'an also came with instructions.

The entire underground party organization in Shandong was put into operation for this matter, and the exact time when the devils started the plan to transport labor was obtained by the Qingdao underground party.

Hong Feihu, as the leader of the eastward advance detachment of the Eighth Route Army, naturally knew the difficulty of this mission, especially the Ma Xuekui Department of the National Government fell into the trap of devils, and even Yongle Town was lost, which made Hong Feihu very anxious.

Now the independent battalion has finally succeeded in rescuing these anti-Japanese soldiers, although they still have to face the crazy pursuit of devils, but after all, they have seen the dawn of victory.

The news of the independent rescue of anti-Japanese soldiers and laborers was known not only to the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, but also to the Kuomintang.

After reading the message, Liu Tianshu asked the correspondent to call Cheng Zhihua and Liao Zhifeng.

A few people surrounded the map, and Liu Tianshu said: "Commander Liao, Cheng Company Commander, time is pressing, I won't say much else, according to intelligence, the devil's army is coming here, this is our location, this is Stone Ridge." Two companies of our Fuchang County Brigade were there to pick up, but I was worried that these two companies might not be able to stop the devil's attack on Stone Ridge, and if the devils occupied Stone Ridge, it would be equivalent to blocking our way back to Fuya Mountain. Therefore, troops must be sent to Stone Ridge to reinforce the two companies of the county brigade, and at the same time, troops must be sent to occupy the pheasant flat in the south to ensure the security of the flank. The strength of the independent battalion is not enough, Commander Liao, the task of reinforcing Stone Ridge will be handed over to your battalion, and I will let the machine gun company and artillery squad of the independent battalion follow you. As for the pheasant flat, the second company of the independent battalion is in charge, and the company commander, and the four companies of you, are responsible for organizing laborers to transport supplies for the wounded and quickly advance towards Stone Ridge. ”

The 1234th Company of the Independent Battalion participated in the battle to rescue the anti-Japanese soldiers, and each company suffered certain casualties, but in order to relieve the pressure on the 5th and 6th companies that were broken behind, he had to let the 2nd Company rush to Pheasant Ping, and the 134th Company moved with the large force.

After all, in this group of people, there are not only four companies of the national government, but also a large number of laborers, without his own troops to watch, Liu Tianshu is still not at ease.

Cheng Zhihua didn't expect Liu Tianshu to hand over the dangerous task to the Eighth Route Military Camp and his own independent battalion, and his troops were only responsible for organizing laborers, so he couldn't help but admire Liu Tianshu's mind.

"Battalion Commander Liu, don't worry, the matter of organizing labor will be handed over to us, and we will definitely let them speed up."

Although Liao Zhifeng's body had not fully recovered, he knew that the situation was critical, looked at the map and thought for a while and said, "Okay, I will immediately take the Eighth Route Military Camp to Shiling." ”

Although his three companies only had more than a hundred rifles, as the Eighth Route Army, even if there were no bullets, they dared to fight the devils, besides, there were machine gun companies and mortar squads of the independent battalion that acted at the same time as them.

After seeing the two leave, Liu Tianshu immediately called Jin Zhenbiao and assigned him a task.

After listening to Liu Tianshu's arrangement, Jin Zhenbiao said a promise to complete the task, and immediately turned around and ran to Pheasant Ping with the troops.

In order to facilitate command, Liu Tianshu sent Shi Qiang's reconnaissance platoon to a group, with a radio station, and followed Jin Zhenbiao to Pheasant Ping.

At this time, the fifth and sixth companies responsible for the broken rear had started a fierce battle with the chasing devils.

Liu Sutang, commander of the fifth company, and Hao Mengxuan, commander of the sixth company, discussed and decided that the two companies would take cover alternately.

When the Fifth Company learned that the pursuers were approaching, it immediately set up a position on the mountain ridge, and all the officers and men of the company held the position to prepare for the enemy, while the Sixth Company, under the command of Hao Mengxuan, set up a blocking position on a mountain ridge 500 meters behind the position of the Fifth Company.

According to the plan discussed by the two, after the Fifth Company blocked the devils in front for half an hour, it immediately retreated backwards and set up a blocking position again five or six hundred meters behind the Sixth Company.

Originally, the Japanese army in Jiping County had only one brigade, but the last time they were besieging Ma Xuekui's department, the Japanese army sent another brigade to Jiping County for the attack in the direction of Yongle Town.

After successfully capturing Yongle Town, this brigade did not evacuate Jiping County, but handed over Yongle Town to the Imperial Allied Army and the Japanese troops stationed in Jiping County to guard, and the entire brigade assembled by the railway in the east of Jiping County.

According to the deployment of the Japanese army headquarters in Jinan, this brigade will not withdraw from Jiping County until the laborers are successfully sent to Qingdao.

After the independent battalion attacked the train, the brigade immediately rushed to Linheji, and finally, finally caught up with the retreating independent battalion.

Seeing the devils appear on the opposite side, Liu Sutang asked the platoon guarding the forward position to prepare for battle, and at the same time ordered the three crooked machine guns and three grenadiers arranged on the main position to also prepare for battle.

The leader of the devil squadron running in front received a report that Chinese soldiers had been found on the hill in front of him, and he immediately held a telescope to observe and saw a figure shaking on the hill, but it was estimated that there would be at most one company, and he immediately ordered the first squad to prepare for battle.

More than fifty devil soldiers quickly assembled, and then under the leadership of the devil squad leader, they rushed towards the top of the mountain.

Rushing to a place three hundred meters away from the forward position of a platoon, the devils immediately dispersed in battle formation, and at the same time, two crooked machine guns were set up on the spot, and the bullets hit head-on the hill, and the mud in front of the platoon of soldiers suddenly continued to splash.

The soldiers of the first platoon lay their bodies dead in the trenches, because they had only blocked for half an hour, and the soldiers of the fifth company did not dig a hiding hole in the position to prevent shelling. (To be continued.) )