repeatedly suffered losses at the hands of the Eighth Route Army, which made the little devil also realize the difficulty of the Eighth Route Army. This time, in order to open up the strategic passage from Shanxi to Henan, the little devil also began to implement the siege strategy of fortress strongholds, intending to compress the activity space of the Eighth Route Army.

For this tactic used by the Shanxi Dispatch Army, the Eighth Route Army was also aware of the trouble. It's just that seeing that the Japanese army has never advanced their fortress defense line, the Eighth Route Army has not launched a large-scale sabotage battle.

However, these fortified strongholds caused considerable trouble for the guerrillas operating in the area. Now that they saw that the stronghold that was causing them a headache was removed, the guerrillas who cooperated with them in the war were excited.

According to the instructions made by the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, this time in cooperation with the battle plan of the Jin Sui Army, it was launched from the front line of Lingshi and Jiexiu. The rest of the main forces of the Eighth Route Army, which bordered the Japanese army, were also all ready for war.

There was an opening, and the troops on standby attacked it. In a word, we can't let the Shanxi dispatch army open up the passage from Shanxi to Henan so easily and smoothly. Let them know that this road is not going to be opened!

The Japanese troops with the two strongholds of Lizhuang and Chencun went to support the defenders of Xiaowangzhuang's stronghold. As the advance force, the reconnaissance regiment and the first battalion of the third reconnaissance regiment entered the Lingshi area, and also started the first sabotage battle, taking the lead in eliminating the two strongholds of Lizhuang and Chencun.

After the battle, the two company commanders who led the team immediately said: "I will leave the matter of cleaning up the battlefield to the comrades of the guerrillas." You can keep some of these weapons, and hand over the rest to the main army.

You can take some of the supplies stored in the base, especially the grain, and you can take a few more bags. For the rest, it will be enough to hand over the main forces in accordance with the regulations. I'll leave it to you to be responsible! ”

'Yes, rest assured, chiefs, we will clean up the battlefield!' ’

'Good! Don't delay here too long, watch out for the little devil's reinforcements coming back. Later, our large troops will also come one after another. You are still the same as before, you must do a good job of vigilance and keep an eye on the deployment of the little devils' troops. ’

After explaining some things, the two reconnaissance companies, which led the attack on the stronghold, moved to the next location overnight. They don't have to worry too much about the Japanese troops who went to Xiaowangzhuang to support, there are also troops waiting for the little devils to come to the door.

What they have to do at the moment is to go to the highway from Laoliuzhuang to Xiaowangzhuang, and go there to wait for the little devil who can see from Laoliuzhuang. After all, in Lao Liuzhuang, the little devil has an infantry brigade stationed.

If they were to send troops to support the three strongholds on this side, they would have set off overnight. Therefore, the two reconnaissance companies that had finished beating the stronghold had to rush there in advance to build an ambush position and eliminate the Japanese troops coming from Laoliuzhuang.

When the two reconnaissance companies attacked the strongholds of Lizhuang and Chencun respectively, the Japanese troops who had driven out of these two strongholds did not know that their strongholds had been destroyed. still hurry up and rush to the Xiaowangzhuang stronghold that was ordered to support.

Even the two Japanese troops who rescued Xiaowangzhuang realized that their rescue road would not be too easy. But when they entered the ambush position preset by the reconnaissance company in advance, they also felt shocked when they looked at the mortar shells falling from the sky.

The leader of the Japanese squadron who led the team even shouted in a hurry: "Dodge, disperse and dodge!" ”

According to their experience in fighting the Eighth Route Army, the units of the Eighth Route Army that can be equipped with mortars are at least battalion-level units. With the reinforcements of more than 100 of them, against a battalion of the Eighth Route Army, the chances of victory are not much.

But they didn't know at all that the troops who ambushed them this time were not the Eighth Route Army they had contacted in the past, but the troops of the Third Regiment of the Reconnaissance Brigade who had specially arrived from Yulin. In the reconnaissance brigade, mortars have been issued to combat units at the company level.

Although most of them are 60-caliber mortars, the infantry squadrons against these little devils can still form a suppressive advantage in firepower. As far as the grenadiers of the little devils are concerned, there is no doubt that they are not enough to see!

Looking at those little devils who were holding torches, they were knocked over by bullets fired from the shadows one after another, and soon a military Cao said: "Put out the torches, don't take your head easily." The marksmanship of the enemy in the shadows is very powerful, so be careful! ”

The experienced little devils, looking at these not fierce but very accurate rifle shots, realized that the Eighth Route Army that ambushed them was only an elite regular army. It also means that what they feared is happening.

Although in order to recover Changzhi and Jincheng this time, Itagaki Seishiro assigned most of the reinforcements from North China to the areas bordering the Eighth Route Army to guard the strongholds. Many of the more critical villages were garrisoned by a squadron of Japanese troops.

Such a distribution of troops, in the view of Itagaki Seishiro, is also an emphasis on the Eighth Route Army. After several encounters with the Eighth Route Army, the Shanxi Dispatch Army gradually felt that the Eighth Route Army was more difficult to deal with than the Central Army they had come into contact with.

Looking at the ambushed Japanese soldiers, they extinguished the torches in their hands one after another, and the commander of the reconnaissance company of the Eighth Route Army who was ambushed also said with a smile: "It seems that the little devil is a brute, and he knows that if he hits the torch, he will become our live target."

Let the commandos go out and destroy them at close range! Signal soldiers, prepare flares. Deal with them sooner, and we can hurry to join the third and fourth companies. Dare to come out and hang around at night, isn't it looking for death? ”

With the order of the commander of the reconnaissance company, the commandos of the reconnaissance company, equipped with submachine guns, began to sneak out of the ambush site, and kept approaching the hiding point of the Japanese army, which was already lying on their stomachs and did not dare to move at will, so as to shorten the straight-line distance between the two armies.

In this process, there were also Japanese troops who saw the Eighth Route Army looming in secret. Seeing the figure shaking, the Japanese soldiers, who immediately lay down in the hiding place, shot those who saw it.

It's just that most of the commandos don't walk in a straight line when they are advancing. Except for some who were not very lucky, the other commandos also fell down at the right time.

In the case of poor line of sight, the Japanese could see the commandos who were preparing to eliminate them in close combat, indicating that the distance between the two sides was not very far. The Japanese counterattack also realized that the time was ripe for an assault.

'Flares!' Assault! ’

With the order of the reconnaissance company commander, the signal corps, who had already prepared the flares, immediately fired the first light. As the flares rose into the air, the originally dark sky suddenly became bright.

The commandos who had heard the roar of the reconnaissance company commander before closed their eyes, and when they felt that there was light outside, they opened their eyes again, and pulled the submachine gun in their hands to the little devil who could be seen in their sight.

As for the little devil who has been staring at the secret commandos, it seems that he didn't expect the Eighth Route Army to shoot flares. With the light from the flares, I couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable, and I had to close my eyes to get used to this process of turning from dark to light.

One is to close your eyes first and then open your eyes, and the other is to open your eyes first and then close your eyes. The two forces chose different ways, but the latter missed the most precious time to strike first, giving the former the best time to attack.

A few seconds was also enough time for the assault team to rush to the place where the Japanese army was hiding. Compared with the Japanese rifle machine guns, the commando's submachine guns undoubtedly had an advantage in this close combat situation.

The assault team rushed into the defensive formation of the Japanese army and began to launch a surprise attack on the Japanese troops who were hidden on all sides. Seeing this scene, the commander of the reconnaissance company immediately said: "Comrades, rush! ”

In the process, the signal soldiers did not forget to fire another flare. In the process, the officers and men of the reconnaissance company who participated in the ambush also rushed out of the ambush point and encircled and annihilated the Japanese troops on the highway.

Until the last little devil was eliminated, the reconnaissance company, which also had the cooperation of the guerrillas, still handed over the task of cleaning up the battlefield to them. As for the soldiers who were killed and wounded in this battle, they were also sent to the rear hospital for treatment as soon as possible.

The defenders of Xiaowangzhuang's stronghold, who were still expecting reinforcements to arrive, finally failed to wait for reinforcements. From the moment the telephone line was severed, the reconnaissance company that surrounded them also attacked, and it was not long before it was successfully captured.

The removal of three strongholds one after another was undoubtedly the happiest for the partisans operating in the region. Even though it was night, the guerrillas were very excited, busy cleaning the battlefield for the reconnaissance company.

Even if a large part of the weapons and ammunition they collected had to be handed over to the main force. But these guerrillas were still happy. After all, they can also share a lot of benefits from fighting with the main force.

Some of the rifles used by the puppet army, as well as the food and supplies in the stronghold, they can all get a batch. With supplies, the strength of their guerrillas could be strengthened, and the size of the guerrillas could be expanded.

As these guerrillas returned to the rear one after another, the troops on standby in the rear were equally happy to see the return of the guerrillas with oxen and wagons. The removal of these three strongholds means that the passage to attack the spirit stone has been opened.

Compared with the troops on standby in the rear, they all hope to receive combat orders from their superiors as soon as possible. The reconnaissance battalion, which cleared three strongholds, rushed to the road between Laoliuzhuang and Xiaowangzhuang overnight and began to dig ambush fortifications at the ambush point.

One of the reconnaissance companies even traveled along the road to Laoliuzhuang at night. For them, the elimination of those three strongholds is just a passing part of their mission. What the reconnaissance battalion had to do was to break through the strongholds on the periphery of the spirit stone in the fastest time.

Clear these strongholds and open the offensive channel for the main forces of the regiment that will march later. If these strongholds are not removed, it will still be somewhat difficult for the Third Reconnaissance Regiment to secretly infiltrate the Changzhi area.

The Jin Sui Army, which also had intelligence officers in the Lingshi area, also seemed relieved to learn that the Eighth Route Army had launched a night attack on the Japanese army in Lingshi. This means that the Japanese army is not expected to attack Fenxi for a short time.

Yan Xishan, who learned of this situation, still said: "Order the troops on the front line to hurry up and build fortifications." Now that the Eighth Route Army has begun to contain the Japanese army, we must not let our guard down. This battle, and the next battle! ”

As the supreme commander of the Jin Sui Army, Yan Xishan also knew that this year, the Jin Sui Army, the Eighth Route Army and the Japanese army occupying Shanxi would fight, but he was afraid that there would be some battles. Be prepared to be prepared! (To be continued.) )