By the time Murata Shaozo returned to Zhouzhuang with two brigades of tired divisions, it was already two days later, and at this time, Zhouzhuang no longer had the excitement when he set off, and he was full of pessimism everywhere.

After counting the number of troops, Major General Sakai, as the commander-in-chief of the army, sadly found that he now had less than 6,000 troops left. And that's not all, the most important thing is that their heavy weapons are almost gone, and the troops only have enough food to last less than two days...., however, thankfully, the soldiers have enough ammunition to last for a while. Otherwise, Major General Sakai would really be going to see Amaterasu.

"Chief of Staff, now that the food supply of the troops is so tight, what can you do next?" After several days of fighting, Major General Sakai looked very tired.

"Brigade commander, what I mean is that we will be stationed in Zhouzhuang for the time being, and let the imperial army in Jinzhong City quickly transfer food and other combat materials to us, and we will march after the troops recover." The chief of staff replied cautiously.

"Yo Xi, the chief of staff has a good idea, chief of staff, just arrange it according to your wishes! I'm tired and want to rest for a while, so don't bother me if I don't have anything particularly important...."After the brigade commander finished speaking, he lay down on his chair and began to close his eyes and recuperate.

"Hi..."

However, the barracks of the Rapid Reaction Brigade, deep in the mountains, are a different story. The soldiers happily chatted about the battle they had just passed, and some political cadres and prisoners of the security army explained the policies of our army back and forth, encouraging everyone to join the Eighth Route Army and fight devils...

"Staff Officer Wang, have all the troops been returned to the establishment?" Liu Hua asked.

"Yes, Commander, the 1st Battalion of the Guards Regiment has returned last night and is now resting..."

"Well, very well, this time the guard regiment and the first battalion of the first regiment have made great contributions, especially the first battalion, and the whole battalion has lost almost half of its strength. Alas..."Liu Hua said with a sigh.

"Staff Officer Wang, have there been any movements of the devils in the past two days, their security forces have been wiped out by us, and all the materials and ammunition have been seized by us, I think they should be about to retreat, right?" Liu Hua asked again.

"Commander, the Yue army has not retreated, the Sakai brigade is still entrenched in Zhouzhuang, and I suspect that they are waiting for the Yue army in Jinzhong City to send them supplies and supplies..."Staff Officer Wang replied.

"Damn, little devil, I really don't swear to give up until I reach my goal, what about the other armies of the army, are they still attacking?" Liu Hua scolded loudly and asked dissatisfiedly.

"Well, there are two of the main armies that have occupied Xiazhuang Township, the headquarters of the Third Army Division..."Seeing the angry Liu Hua, Staff Officer Wang replied in a low voice.

"It seems that we must give the army a little more ruthless, otherwise they will not retreat." Liu Hua quietly looked at the map and said, his eyes fixed on Jinzhong City, where the army stored supplies.

"What does the commander mean..."Staff Officer Wang followed Liu Hua's gaze and saw Jinzhong City, and couldn't help but ask.

"Well, order a few regiment commanders to come to the headquarters for a meeting right away." Liu Hua ordered the correspondent behind him. In a few moments, several regiment commanders gathered in the cramped headquarters.

"Commander, is there a new mission, the battle in the first two days was really boring, and before the battle started, those security forces surrendered, it's too boring?" Walking into the conference room, Wang Benqing, the head of the third regiment, asked with a big grin. Liu Hua smiled and didn't speak, "Comrades, I won't talk about the extra nonsense, a few days ago, we eliminated four regiments of the security army." I thought that the devil would stop and withdraw the army, but I didn't expect the army to not give us this face. Hehe, it's no wonder that we're going to do it now, and now, I've decided to give the Yue army a big one, rub their sharpness, and see if they can retreat. Liu Hua went straight to the point and said the intention of the meeting.

"Commander, give orders, we will all listen to you, where you say we will fight, we will fight?" After listening to the commander's words, Wang Benqing said excitedly.

"Of course, what I said about giving the army a big one is not a random call, it has a purpose. I don't know if you know the allusion to the sky, I plan that we will get into the belly of the army this time and open the meat well... What do you guys think? Liu Hua asked.

"I agree, since the devils have messed up our base, let's also go and mess up the rear of the devils, and when the time comes, see who suffers the most." Shen Qinghua, the regiment commander who has not spoken and is also the one who suffered the most losses in this battle, said.

"Yes, the other way to return the other......" the commander of the artillery regiment also agreed.

"Okay, since everyone agrees on this plan, I'll assign specific tasks now. A mountain artillery battalion of the Shen Qinghua Artillery Regiment attached to the regiment set out overnight, marching day and night, striving to rush to the outskirts of Taigu County the night after tomorrow and launch a strong attack on Taigu County at midnight the day after tomorrow, striving to break the enemy before dawn. However, it is necessary to keep in mind that before dawn, regardless of whether the county town is captured or not, the troops must be retreated to the mountainous area, so as to prevent the army from sending planes to help the battle after dawn..."Liu Hua ordered to the commander of the regiment.

"Yes, Commander, resolutely complete the task...", the head of the first regiment, Shen Qinghua, replied excitedly.

"Commander Luo Zhihui, you set off overnight tonight with a mortar battalion of the Second Regiment Attached Artillery Regiment, and operate between Jinzhong City and Zhouzhuang, the current military camp of the Yue Army, to test the ambush of the convoy of the Yue Army transporting supplies to the Jiujing Brigade, and you must not let the slightest bit of materials and ammunition be transported to the hands of the Jiujing Brigade, I will starve to death and trap this unit."

"Yes, Commander, I promise to complete the task..."Luo Zhihui replied with the same excitement.

"Wang Benqing, commander of the Third Regiment, you set off overnight with a field artillery battalion of the Artillery Regiment Attached to the Third Regiment, marching day and night, striving to rush to Shouyang County before the night after tomorrow, and launch a strong attack on Shouyang County that night. In the same way, whether or not you capture the county seat of Shouyang, you must withdraw your positions before dawn to prevent bombing by Japanese planes. ”

"Yes, Commander, I promise to complete the task..."Finally hearing his mission, Wang Benqing hurriedly replied, with a smile on his face.

"Commander of the cavalry regiment, Wang Hu, you also set off with the cavalry regiment overnight, aiming at the periphery of Taiyuan. I ask you to keep appearing in the eyes of the Yue army in Taiyuan during this time, so that they can think that our reading master has the idea of fighting Taiyuan again. Of course, if you encounter a small group of Japanese troops, I will allow you to eat them, but you can't pay too many casualties. When the time comes, I will give you the order to withdraw your troops. Liu Hua ordered the commander of the cavalry regiment, who had been silent.

"Yes, Commander." Wang Hu stood up and replied loudly.

"The task of the guard regiment is to stay in our camp to guard the large amount of supplies we have just captured and the security forces that have been captured, and at the same time, to train those security forces who are willing to join the reading division, so that they can recover their combat effectiveness as soon as possible and replenish the lack of soldiers in the troops."

"Yes, Commander, I promise to complete the mission." Although the commander of the guard regiment was not satisfied with the task given to him by the commander, who let himself have no troops under him, so he could only nod his head dissatisfied.

"When the time comes, I will follow the special operations team and go directly to the periphery of Jinzhong City. Let me tell you, our ultimate goal is not the county seat you want to attack, but the city of Jinzhong, where the army has stored a large amount of supplies. The reason why I asked you to temporarily disperse your forces and attack several county towns at the same time is to disrupt your field of vision, commander. Find a good condition for us to attack Jinzhong City. Therefore, comrades should try their best to ensure that the combat effectiveness of the troops is not lost when attacking fortified positions. In the same way, it is not possible for the devil to see the flaws, do you have confidence..."Liu Hua also asked excitedly.

"Yes. The crowd replied in unison.

In this way, shortly after the meeting was dismissed, the commanders of the regiments gathered their troops, went to the artillery regiment to take away the troops they should have taken, and drove out of the barracks. In less than an hour, the huge barracks was left with only a few thousand prisoners and a battalion of guards.

Of course, the most likely first of the four units to encounter the Yue Army could only be the Second Regiment of the Rapid Reaction Brigade led by Luo Zhihui.

Luo Zhihui, with the Second Regiment and a mortar battalion, took advantage of the night to march for eight hours at once, and finally arrived at a small ravine 20 kilometers away from Zhouzhuang in the early morning of the next day. The reason why Luo Zhihui chose the position here is because the convoy of the army entering Zhouzhuang must pass through here, and more importantly, the terrain here is narrow, and the entire road passes through the bottom of the ditch, as long as the devil's end and tail are cut off, even if it has wings, it is impossible to fly out.

Early in the morning, the reconnaissance platoon in the regiment was sent out by Luo Zhihui. And he and the political commissar, after taking the soldiers to rest for two hours, began to carry out civil engineering operations here and transform the position. Of course, in order not to make the devils suspicious and not to carry out deep transformation, all the fighters have to do is to strengthen their bunkers and measure their shooting data. In particular, the fighters of the mortar battalion, who had just arrived from the artillery regiment, had just finished breakfast and began to measure the coordinates of various firing back and forth between the positions.

Since there wasn't much work, it was around noon. Almost all the fighters had done their job, and the mortars were covered by leaves, and the freshly dug bunkers were covered by the fighters with leaves. There was not a single sign of the entire position being transformed. The warriors lay on the ground leisurely, enjoying the rare tranquility in the idle time of the battle, waiting for the devil to come to the door.

However, it seemed that the army did not want the soldiers to rest, and at almost two o'clock in the afternoon, news of the devil's convoy came from the reconnaissance platoon.

(To be continued)