The sky was getting brighter, and when the first rays of sunlight shone down through the clouds, Zhao Zhi was moving his body with his arms outstretched, and 200 mercenaries were scattered in three directions according to Zhao Zhi's deployment and stared at Hekou Town, as long as the Japanese troops in Hekou Town had any trouble, Zhao Zhi would be able to grasp their movements immediately.

"Sir, the scouts have news that the Japanese troops in Hekou Town are in a whole team, and it looks like they are going out of town" Before the big cake in his mouth was swallowed, Luo Ying hurriedly ran to call Zhao Zhi. The scouts lurking outside Estuary have just sent back a message, and the scouts have found that the Japanese troops in Estuary Town are gathering, and there are heavy machine guns in the Japanese ranks, and it seems that this group of Japanese troops should be dispatched.

"Tell them not to worry, see clearly the direction of the Japanese army's departure, and then say" Yesterday all day, the villages that were raided by the Japanese army in Hekou Town were not only Xiaolizhuang and Niutoushan, but also Zhangcun was also burned to the ground, and the abnormal behavior of the Japanese army in Hekou Town reminded Zhao Zhi of the Japanese encirclement and suppression that Zuo Quan had told him. After Pingxingguan, the Japanese puppet army in Shanxi had repeatedly encircled and suppressed the activities of the Eighth Route Army, the purpose of which was to limit or suppress the scope of activities of the Eighth Route Army by burning, killing and looting.

"Sir, the scout said that the Japanese troops from Hekou Town went east, numbering about 300, with heavy machine guns and mortars" Zhao Zhi packed up, and the new news of the scouts in front also came back. Zhao Zhi, who got the movement of the Japanese army, was a little confused, there were only a few small villages to the east of Hekou Town, all of them were small villages with no more than 100 people, and the Japanese army did not need to deal with such villages, and they still needed to dispatch 300 people and carry heavy machine guns and mortars.

"Bring the map" Zhao Zhi just ordered the scouts to continue to keep an eye on the remaining Japanese troops in Hekou Town, and did not immediately order the mercenaries scattered outside Hekou Town to gather and surround him, he had to find out what the real purpose of this group of Japanese troops was. Several villages and towns east of Hekou Town were all considered by Zhao Zhi, but he couldn't find out what the goal of this group of Japanese soldiers was, it couldn't be that they were going up the mountains with heavy weapons for outing or hunting.

"Tell the first team to follow, if these Japanese soldiers don't stay when they pass through Xiaoge Village, they will be summoned back immediately" Zhao Zhi did not find the target that the Japanese army wanted to attack on the map, so he did not plan to release all the strength in his hands, the first team had 30 mercenaries, just following and scouting, they could completely deal with it.

Ono Jiro, who was riding on horseback, didn't realize that he had been targeted, and he was thinking about how to use a reinforced squadron of soldiers to exterminate the Tubalu in Xiao's set, and the news reported by the maintenance association said that there was a guerrilla force hiding in Xiao's house from Jinzhong, and the purpose of Ono Jiro's trip was this guerrilla. Jinzhong and Jinnan have become a pot of porridge, and the role of the Guishan Brigade stationed in Hekou Town is to defend the west gate of Taiyuan and prevent the Chinese army from breaking into the Taiyuan defense area from the west.

"Speed up, before lunch, we have to rush to the small ditch 30 miles away from Xiao Jiaji" The wind that blew overnight had already dried out yesterday's muddy road, at this current speed, Ono Jiro calculated that walking 20 kilometers in a morning should not be a problem, only in this way could he have time to give the soldiers time and opportunity to breathe before the night attack on Xiao Jiaji. Ono Jiro's pride did not allow his soldiers to let go of the China guerrillas due to lack of physical strength when they arrived at Xiao Jiaji, but at the same time he did not allow his soldiers to delay the attack on Xiao Jiaji at night.

At Ono's repeated requests, his soldiers sped up, and in three hours from 7 to 10 o'clock, Ono's squadron traveled 20 miles, and at this rate, Ono's squadron could have reached Kogou before lunch. "Xiao Jiaji, they must have gone to Xiao Jiaji, inform the first team to go around the front of this group of Japanese soldiers, and the other two teams leaned over and surrounded them before they arrived at Xiao Jiaji"

"Let's go, let's go, too" Zhao Zhi found suspicion in the direction and distance of the Ono squadron, and hurriedly packed up his things and urged the mercenaries to set off. The 200 mercenaries were divided into 6 teams by Zhao Zhi according to a team of 30 people, and the remaining 20 people followed him as a direct team, he only used three squads to surround the Ono squadron, and the remaining squads were ordered to assemble in Hekou Town, Zhao Zhi wanted to play a siege point for the Japanese army in Hekou Town, and the Ono squadron that was rushing to Xiaojiaji was the bait, and the remaining Japanese troops in Hekou Town were Zhao Zhi's real target.

The first squad, which had circled to the front of Ono's squadron, had the advantage of being on the high ground, their sniper rifles firing first, and before the next two mercenary squads arrived, they could only use long-range precision fire to delay the opponent's march. There were three sniper rifles in the first squad, but the mercenary commander who led the first squad only ordered one sniper rifle to fire, and the other two sniper rifles had to be used as hidden fire before the Japanese could charge in impatience.

"Bang" Another gunshot rang out, and one of the gunners in Ono's squadron fell to the ground, and the two bullets fired in a row came so suddenly that the soldiers of Ono's squadron had no time to be on guard, and the first shot knocked Ono Jiro off his horse, who was riding on a tall horse, and killed a gunner with the second shot. "Squadron Leader, Squadron Leader" Jiro Ono, who was shot and turned over and dismounted, was dragged off the roadbed by his men, and the bullet only hit Ono Jiro in the chest, except for breaking one of his ribs, it didn't seem to hurt any important organs, the gunner was not so lucky, and the bullet directly shattered his head.

"Fire, mortars fire" Seeing that the Japanese troops under the roadbed began to set up their heavy machine guns to counterattack, the mercenary commander of the first squad ordered the two mortars assigned to them to open fire. The opposing gunners had been suppressed by three sniper rifles, and mortars were the best way to deal with the Japanese heavy machine guns. The first test-fired shell of the "boom" exploded a cloud of smoke under the roadbed, and the heavy machine guns hastily erected by the Japanese began to fire, knowing that the shell that had just fallen was just a test shot of the opponent, and the heavy machine gun shooters tried in vain to suppress the opponent with the heavy machine gun to avoid being bombarded.

"Idiot, hurry up and transfer the heavy machine gun, hurry up" Ono Jiro, who had just stopped the bleeding, shouted loudly, the other party's shelling must be aimed at the heavy machine gun on his side, these idiots don't know how to find a suitable cover before firing, so stupidly put the heavy machine gun on the roadbed, isn't that rushing to provide the other party with a position and target? "Boom" and "boom" two shells fell, and Ono Jiro watched as a heavy machine gun was overturned to the ground, and the machine gunners who were hit by shrapnel rolled on the ground screaming, and the blood splattered from them instantly stained the ground red.

"Boom" "Boom" The mortar shells from the opposite side unhurriedly chased the only two heavy machine guns left in Ono's squadron to bombard, and the machine gunners who had been invincible in Xiao Li Zhuang carried the heavy machine guns around like rabbits, but no matter where they moved, the opponent's shells would fall towards their side, and the accuracy became more and more accurate. Ono Jiro, who was dragged down the roadbed by his subordinates, also thought about using mortars to bombard the other side, but unfortunately at the beginning of the attack, his own gunners were shot over on the road by the opponent's sharpshooters, and the soldiers who wanted to go to the road to retrieve the mortars were also killed and wounded, and his long-range firepower was gone.

The heavy machine guns of the Ono squadron finally fired, and the machine gunners who desperately fled found a suitable position to avoid the artillery fire and fired, but unfortunately, the bullets fired by the Japanese heavy machine guns would not turn after all, and how could the mortars marked with curved fire be hit by their heavy machine guns. "Let's go, let's go, the mortar goes to the flank" The mercenary commander who commanded the first squad scolded the gunners who were very enjoyable, when the first squad came out, it was just according to the firepower of ordinary encounter equipment, and the mortars were only equipped with 30 shells, and if they continued to fight at this speed, there would be no shells after a few more rounds.

The purpose of blocking the enemy and waiting for reinforcements is to concentrate forces to encircle the opponent, once the opponent is scattered, it is very dangerous to pursue the opponent in the case of unequal forces, this is what Zhao Zhi said when teaching the mercenaries battlefield experience in the Yangon training camp. Most of the mercenaries who participated in the Taiyuan operation had been personally taught by Zhao Zhi in the Yangon training camp, and they all understood the difference between siege and pursuit, and they would not be arrogant enough to use 30 men to pursue a group of more than 300 Japanese troops.

The heavy machine guns of Ono's squadron were still firing, but the mercenaries who were supposed to be in front of them had already begun to retreat, and the mortars of the mercenary squad had already moved to their flanks, leaving only two observers and the three snipers in place. The timing of the sniper's shooting was well chosen, both at the same time as the Japanese heavy machine guns were firing, and now it was daytime, and without exposing the gunfire, it was difficult for the soldiers of Ono's squadron to spot the mercenary snipers hiding opposite them.

"Open the cannon, blast off their heavy machine guns, the noisy old man has a headache" The mercenary troops who came after were rapidly advancing here, and the first mercenary squad had been blocking Ono's squadron for almost an hour. According to the speed of the mercenaries' usual weight-bearing training marches, there will be a maximum of another hour and a half, and the follow-up mercenary teams will be able to arrive here, before that, the first team must destroy the heavy firepower weapons of the Ono squadron as much as possible to lay a good foundation for the smooth encirclement operation.

Ono Jiro looked at the soldiers screaming and crying under the roadbed, and opened his mouth in disbelief, is this still the same army that slaughtered the village in Xiaolizhuang yesterday? Are these Imperial soldiers who shrank their heads and didn't dare to get up and fight back are still their own subordinates? Ono Jiro coughed several times in a row, until he coughed up the blood clot in his throat, and he felt a little relieved. "Shrink, shrink the troops, organize the defensive line on the spot, send a telegram to the town of Kawaguchi asking for reinforcements, and immediately" Ono Jiro, who had recovered a little, gave a series of orders, which eased the already somewhat out of control situation of the Ono squadron.