When the distant eastern sky revealed a touch of fish belly white, the pursuit battle, which lasted for several hours, finally ended.

The result was very lucrative for the Dragon's Tooth Column, and they almost completely annihilated the Japanese 109th Division and all the main forces of the puppet army in Shanxi.

The 108th Division took advantage of the chaos to disperse and break through, and most of the troops successfully broke through, but they also escaped and scattered, and the communication between the various wings and brigades was interrupted.

In a short period of time, it is difficult to gather, and it is even more difficult to form combat effectiveness.

After the battle, the sky brightened, and only then could you see clearly that the area south of the railway station, which was the main battlefield, and several kilometers in the direction of Lazikou, was full of corpses of Japanese puppet soldiers and traces left by various explosions and fierce battles.

After Qiao Youhua, Zuo Quan and others got the news of the victory, they sent a telegram to the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army and Chairman Mao of the Party Central Committee, and then returned to their respective bedrooms to rest.

The two of them hadn't closed their eyes for almost a day and a night.

Cleaning up the battlefield and taking prisoners in custody were the responsibility of several deputy division commanders and their regimental and battalion commanders, and these small matters could not be taken care of for the time being.

Because of a big victory, Qiao Youhua, Zuo Quan and others slept soundly, and it wasn't until one o'clock in the afternoon that they woke up one after another, washed up, and ate casually.

The two gathered in the command room again, and before they could speak, Wan Yinger walked into the command room with a telegram and saluted the two of them: "The two leaders, the headquarters and Chairman Mao called, and the head of the headquarters and the Party Central Committee ordered us to take advantage of the situation to continue to advance to the northwest of Shanxi.

There is no need to wait for the main force of our Eighth Route Army to arrive in Taiyuan, not to give the Japanese puppet army a chance to breathe, and to recover Xinzhou in one go. ”

Qiao Youhua and Zuo Quan glanced at each other when they heard this, and Zuo Quan opened his mouth and asked, "Comrade Youhua, what do you think?" ”

Qiao Youhua said: "I think so too, take this opportunity to wipe out all the Japanese puppet armies from the northwest of Jin to Suiyuan in one fell swoop, recover the lost territory, and sweep away our worries about going north to Pingjin in the future." Therefore, we resolutely carry out the orders and instructions of Chairman Mao of the CPC Central Committee and the head of the Eighth Route Army Headquarters. ”

General Zuo Quan nodded with satisfaction when he heard this: "Well, it makes sense, in this case, Deputy Director Wan will immediately call back Chairman Mao of the Party Central Committee and the heads of our Eighth Route Army Headquarters in the name of me and Commander Qiao, and say that we will resolutely carry out their orders and instructions, and immediately send troops to march to the northwest of Shanxi!" ”

Wan Yinger happily stepped forward and said, "Yes!" He saluted, then turned and took the order.

After Wan Ying'er was ordered to leave, Qiao Youhua said to General Zuo Quan: "Chief, how do you think we should deploy troops when we march into the northwest of Shanxi?" After all, Taiyuan can't give up for the time being, at least until our brother troops of the Eighth Route Army arrive, hand it over to them, and then we can transfer all our troops and send them to the front. ”

General Zuo Quan's sword eyebrows frowned slightly and he pondered for a moment, and said: "You are right, the future ownership of Taiyuan is a matter at the high-level political level of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and for the time being, we still have to control it in our hands, and we are responsible for maintaining law and order in Taiyuan City." However, after last night's battle, there were no Japanese puppet troops left in Taiyuan and its surroundings.

Therefore, we don't need to leave too many troops, in my opinion, one or two infantry regiments are enough, and when our brother troops of the Eighth Route Army arrive, we will alternate defenses with them.

The other troops can be used to march into the northwest of Jin, but I can use the two regiments I brought with me as the pioneer.

Because these two regiments were originally developed in the anti-Japanese base areas of our army in the northwest of Shanxi, they have a better understanding of the terrain and cultural conditions in the northwest of Shanxi than other units. ”

Qiao Youhua pondered for a while, nodded and said: "Well, the chief is reasonable, since this is the case, then I will leave a regiment of the First Division behind, and at the same time, the chief of staff, you will also be left to be responsible for the aftermath of the prisoners of the Japanese puppet army, as well as the handover of defense matters with my brother troops of the Eighth Route Army in the future."

I personally led the main force of our southward army to march to the northwest of Shanxi. ”

Zuo Quan nodded and said: "It's okay, we have captured tens of thousands of Japanese puppet army prisoners this time, especially the Japanese prisoners among them, there are 50,000 or 60,000 prisoners, this is unprecedented, and it must be properly handled.

Then I will stay, this time to march into the northwest of Shanxi, there should not be much difficulty, and it is estimated that there will be no big battles, but Comrade Youhua, you still have to be more careful. ”

Qiao Youhua nodded with a smile and said: "Chief, please rest assured, I will be careful in everything, it is not easy for you to stay in Taiyuan to work, don't be too tired, take care of your body, we will see you in the base camp in the future in the base area." ”

After speaking, Qiao Youhua took the lead in saluting, and Zuo Quan also saluted back, and the two said to each other to take care, and then began to deploy separately.

…………

The distance between Xinzhou and Taiyuan City is about sixty or seventy kilometers, and if you take the Tongpu Railway, you can arrive in a few hours at most.

However, most of the Japanese troops of the 108th Division who broke through from Taiyuan went into the dense mountains and forests southwest of Taiyuan in order to avoid the pursuit of the Longya Column.

Shuttling through such a rugged and difficult mountain forest, the speed of travel will be greatly reduced, and the distance will be much longer.

As a result, after the battle, the Longya Column rested in Taiyuan for eight hours, and the scattered troops of the 108th Division had not yet been able to get out of the mountains and forests full of steep and rugged mountain roads and even no roads, and arrived in Xinzhou.

This gave the Longya Column an extremely favorable condition for the raid on Xinzhou, and after planning with the chief of staff of Zuo Quan, Qiao Youhua immediately ordered the cavalry battalion of the guard regiment, two T tank companies, and Li Yunlong's regiment to form a mixed vanguard force.

Military trucks and other vehicles of the concentrated column transport team quickly advanced in the direction of Xinzhou along the Tongpu railway line.

This mixed vanguard force, which was far more mobile than the infantry, arrived in Xinzhou in less than two hours.

And launched a surprise attack on the empty garrison of Xinzhou City with lightning speed, and at this moment, there was less than one puppet military camp stationed in Xinzhou City.

In the face of the sudden attack of the Dragon's Tooth Tank, the fierce cavalry and a large number of infantry were all dumbfounded, and the Dragon's Tooth Tank fired a few shells, and they were so frightened that they hurriedly raised the white flag, opened the door and surrendered.

As a result, Li Yunlong and Zhao Tiezhu easily recovered Xinzhou, the northwest gateway of Taiyuan.

It didn't take long for them to recover Xinzhou, Qiao Youhua, Liu Yidao, Zhou Dasheng, Zhao Youde and others also led the main forces of the Dragon Tooth Column to catch up.

Qiao Youhua immediately ordered Li Yunlong and Zhao Tiezhu to continue to lead the mixed vanguard to set off, urgently march to Yuanping, Daixian and other places, and seize Yanmen Pass, one of the strongest passes in the world, with lightning speed, to open up the main road out of the fortress, and clear the way for the army to march through.

At the same time, it is also possible to close the door and fight the dogs, and reunite and annihilate the 108th Division, which is still fleeing for its life in the deep mountains and old forests, in Yanmen Pass.