The Third Brigade, under the leadership of Wang Nanhu and political commissar Chen Revolution, passed through Wutai County, where the enemy's strength was weak, and five days earlier penetrated directly into the Xiazhuang Township area on the edge of Fuping County, Hebei Province.

The reason why Wang Nanhu chose the base here is because Xianzhuang Township is located in the mountains, and it is not a transportation artery, so the military strength of the army in this area is very weak. In the entire town, the army only sent a small team of troops to garrison it. What's more, the terrain here is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, even if you encounter the encirclement and suppression of the army of the army, as long as you casually drill into the mountains behind you, no matter how many devils come, there is no way to take yourself.

So, Wang Nanhu led a brigade of more than 3,000 people to capture the devil's stronghold in Xiazhuang Township with lightning speed, and completely annihilated a squad of devils.

Immediately after that, the troops did not immediately launch a new round of offensives, but occupied Xiazhuang Township, established a brigade headquarters, and at the same time, sent all the scouts to conduct a comprehensive reconnaissance and understanding of the deployment of the entire Fuping Army.

"Brigade commander, the guard company has cleared all the Han annihilations in the town and seized a lot of food, which is enough for our three brigades for half a month." The chief of staff walked into the headquarters of the original devil's stronghold and said to Wang Nanhu, who was observing the map.

"Well, well, except for the guard company, which is stationed in the town, all the other troops are camped outside the town. In addition, we should put all the local cadres brought from the division headquarters into the surrounding villages, and we will take advantage of the reconnaissance company's reconnaissance to consolidate this area in Xiazhuang Township first. Wang Nanhu said, pointing to several larger villages on the map.

"Well, I also agree with the brigade commander's opinion, after all, we are not familiar with the place here, and we must have a stable rear, so that we can advance eastward and further occupy the entire Fuping area." The commissar also nodded and said.

"Okay, I'll go and set it up." With that, the chief of staff turned around and left the command.

In this way, in the few days when the reconnaissance company did not get a clear picture of the situation, the three brigades successively dispatched more than a dozen working groups to the surrounding areas. These teams went deep into the surrounding villages. Negotiate with the landlord, reduce rent and interest, and buy the landlord's land and return it to the peasants

Originally, those landlords were still unwilling. However, under the heavy purchase of the Reading Brigade and the temptation of profits, many landlords sold their fields to the Reading Brigade and moved out of the village. As for the money for the purchase of land, of course, the pig's hair came from the pig, and all the landlords and bullies who had Han annihilation behavior were seized.

In this way, two days passed, and almost all the dozen or so villages around Xiazhuang Township were completely new, because overnight, the landlords in the village seemed to have moved away. I heard from the soldiers that they had bought all the landlords' land, and they had to give it to themselves.

As a result, with the efforts of various working groups, the common people got the land allocated to them with a smile on their faces. As the saying goes, only with land can there be reliance. After getting the land, in the face of the call of the working group, the enthusiasm of the people can be described as very high. Soon, anti-Japanese regimes were established in various villages, and militias were established

"Brigade commander, I really didn't expect the enthusiasm of the common people to join the army so high, you must know that China has a saying that good men are not soldiers since ancient times." Political Commissar Chen Revolution looked at the ordinary people who enthusiastically signed up for the militia and sighed.

"Hehe, commissar, it's a good man who doesn't serve as a soldier, but now when they join the army, they defend the land they just got and defend their homeland." The brigade commander said. With that, they galloped towards the next village.

"Brigade commander, political commissar wait a minute" A messenger rode a fast horse after the two.

"Report to the brigade commander, political commissar, chief of staff, please hurry back to the headquarters." Seeing the brigade commander and political commissar who stopped, the correspondent jumped off his horse and saluted.

"Did the chief of staff say what it was?" Brigade Commander Wang Nanhu asked.

"The brigade commander, the political commissar, no, the chief of staff just said that in case of emergency, please ask the brigade commander and political commissar to rush back to the headquarters immediately." The correspondent said.

"Alright, we'll go back with you." The commissar nodded.

"Political commissar, you said that the chief of staff was in such a hurry to call us back, what was the urgent matter?" Along the way, brigade commander Wang Nanhu asked.

"I don't know, I'm almost at the headquarters, and when we go back, we'll be clear?" The political commissar on the war horse said loudly.

"Brigade commander, political commissar, I finally got you back." Seeing the brigade commander and political commissar who rushed back, the chief of staff hurriedly greeted him.

"Chief of Staff, what's going on, so anxious to call us back?" Looking at the chief of staff with an anxious face, the brigade commander asked.

"Brigade commander, something happened, the soldiers of the reconnaissance company just sent back the information, this morning there was a squadron of soldiers, armed with heavy machine guns and mortars, drove over to Xiazhuang Township. It is estimated that we will approach the first village we now occupy at four o'clock this afternoon. The chief of staff said eagerly.

"How so? We've only occupied this place for two days, how could the devil send troops so quickly. Also, how can the devil march so fast. There should be a distance of 150 miles in a straight line from Fuping County to Xiazhuang Township, how could the devil come so quickly, could it be that the intelligence is wrong" After listening to the words of the chief of staff, Wang Nanhu asked in disbelief.

"Brigade commander, commissar, at first I couldn't believe it. I found out later after learning about the situation. It turned out that a squad of the Japanese army stationed here would go to the county seat the day before yesterday to collect ammunition and baggage. And at that time, the little devils have been wiped out by us. Therefore, the army stationed in the county seat was aware of it. In addition, in the past two days, we have been in a storm here, and we have long been targeted by some devil spies. Therefore, it is reasonable for the devil to send troops to encircle and suppress us today. The chief of staff explained.

"Also, I didn't expect the Hebei devils to be so strong, and all the troops who came to encircle and suppress our squadron were transported by car. So, the 150-mile journey takes only a few hours, and if it weren't for the poor road conditions, it might take even less. The chief of staff continued.

"At four o'clock in the afternoon, that is, before the little devil feels that there are only a few hours to prepare for here. Chief of Staff, how many troops are there on our side now? Brigade Commander Wang Nanhu looked at the map and said.

"Brigade commander, I am in a hurry to call you back for this matter, otherwise I don't care about this little devil of the squadron. Now the two main regiments are distributed in a dozen villages around us, and the nearest to us is the first battalion of the five regiments, only three miles away, but it will take at least an hour for them to assemble. I've told the correspondent to inform them to hurry up to the brigade headquarters and stand by! I guess they're already assembling now. The chief of staff shook his head and said.

"Mistake, when I sent the troops out, why didn't I think of this thing? What other troops are in the vicinity of the brigade headquarters? In any case, the devil must not be allowed to enter Xiazhuang Township. The people here have a good impression of us just now, and we can't let the devils destroy all our achievements in the past few days. After listening to the words of the chief of staff, the commissar sighed.

"Political commissar, there is only one guard company at the brigade headquarters, one baggage company, and a mortar company directly under the brigade." The chief of staff immediately replied.

"Okay, as long as the guards are there. The communicator, inform the guard company, and the artillery company will assemble immediately. Political commissar, chief of staff, you go to the brigade headquarters to command, and after a few moments and a battalion arrive at the headquarters, let them immediately reinforce the northern slope of the river. I will now personally take the guard company and mortar company to the northern slope of the Hebei to block the army, hoping to hold the army on the northern slope," the brigade commander Wang Nanhu ordered.

"Brigade commander, should I go, you stay at the headquarters?" The chief of staff hurriedly stopped.

"Don't say it, I've decided, this time I will personally lead the team, and by the way, I will also touch the combat effectiveness of the Hebei Army." With that, he walked out of the headquarters.

At this time, the 126-member soldiers of the guard company were already standing neatly at the entrance of the headquarters, and the soldiers of the mortar company were also carrying shells, and the mortars were gathered at the door.

"The guard company and the artillery company will set off immediately and rush to the north slope of the river with me in the shortest possible time to block the army that is about to enter our base area."

As the name suggests, the north slope of the river is a mountain beam, and the highway crosses the beam, and the terrain is very dangerous. It is a place where the army must pass through when attacking the base area. The reason why Wang Nanhu placed the blocking position here was because of the terrain that was easy to defend and difficult to attack.

This place is only seven kilometers away from the starting point of Wang Nanhu, and it only takes an hour for the guard company, which often marches in a hurry. However, it was very difficult for the artillerymen, who were carrying mortars, shells, and in less than five minutes of the march the artillery battery was noticeably behind.

"The guard company must go first, and must rush to the northern slope of Hebei as soon as possible, and build a simple defensive fortification on the northern slope. The artillery company then followed, speeding up the march as fast as possible, reinforcing the guard company that was blocking the army. "Riding on a war horse, seeing the artillery company that was marching slower and slower, Wang Nanhu immediately issued an order to divide the troops."

So, after the artillery company was not dragged down, the guard company immediately wanted to take off the reins of the war horse, and quickly took its own steps and rushed to the north slope of the river.

The potential of the fighters can be said to be very huge. It usually takes an hour to march in a hurry, but today it took only 50 minutes, which is ten minutes less than usual. Looking at the soldiers who were flushed and panting because of overwork, Wang Nanhu was also unbearable for a while, because he knew that the guard company, which had no artillery support for the time being, could be said to be an egg hitting a stone in the face of a mechanized squadron equipped with heavy weapons. It is also unknown how many of these guard fighters will survive after this battle.

(To be continued)