Throughout the morning, the Taiyuan headquarters of the Yue Army was constantly enveloped by the sound of these explosions. In the face of landmines that came out of thin air overnight, the whole of Taiyuan immediately imposed martial law on the whole city, preparing for a large-scale search.

"Report to Your Excellency Commander, not only our headquarters, but also near the barracks outside the city found a mine planted by the people of China, and this was also discovered." As he spoke, a staff officer handed the commander a strip of cloth with words written on it.

"Blood debt and blood taste." The commander who was proficient in Chinese slowly read these four words. "Baga, it must be Liu Hua's reader, they are taking revenge, they are retaliating. And they are making noise, they want to use their revenge to attract our attention and distract us. This is the method used by the Eighth Route Army. ”

"Order, soldiers in the various barracks are not allowed to leave the camp at will. Send a report to the garrisons of the various counties, in addition to leaving the necessary forces to defend the city. Lead all the troops that you can lead, and immediately assemble to the edge of the Jindong base area of the Eighth Route Army. The commander looked at the map on the wall and said with his back to the chief of staff.

"Hey, Your Excellency, I'm going to send the report. Your Excellency, what should the people in the city do, do you want to continue the search? The chief of staff asked.

"No, as soon as we attack the base area in China, they will automatically retreat. Go and send it now. The commander said, waving his hand.

As a result, the garrison of the army in Shanxi mobilized after receiving the order from the Taiyuan headquarters. In each county, in addition to leaving a squadron to defend the city, the remaining armies were assembled in Taiyuan under the leadership of their respective commanders. Slowly, many places in Taiyuan showed a state of emptiness. The remaining troops, except for barely being able to defend the city, simply did not have any extra troops to go out of the city.

"Divisional Commander, Divisional Commander, good news." The chief of staff excitedly ran into the ward where Liu Hua lived.

"Chief of Staff, what kind of happy event, so happy?" Liu Hua asked with a smile, because he had already vaguely guessed what it was?

"Jinbei is empty, Jinbei is empty," the chief of staff said excitedly.

"Well, tell me the details!" Liu Hua was also excited, after all, he had been waiting for this good opportunity for several days, and now that the opportunity had come, could he not be happy?

"Chief of Staff, according to the report of the special operations brigade near Taiyuan, the army has recently withdrawn a large number of troops from the garrison troops in various places and assembled in Taiyuan, as if it is going to launch a new round of attacks on our base area in the cave again. According to reconnaissance, 20,000 troops had already been gathered in the vicinity of the army. The chief of staff looked at Liu Hua who was smiling and continued.

"Just now, I received information from our comrades in northern Shanxi, saying that the army's defense in northern Shanxi is very empty. A county town generally has only one squadron of garrisons, and many strongholds have only one squadron of troops left for symbolic defense. It can be said that now the door of Jinbei has been opened to us. ”

"Good, very good, Chief of Staff, record the order:

The 2nd Brigade of Reading Li went north to Yuanping County, established a stronghold in Yunzhong Mountain, centered on Yuanping, and spread to the surrounding areas, and must occupy all the rural areas around the plain before the army reacted.

The 3rd Brigade of Reading Force went straight to Fuping County, took Fuping County as the center, launched a struggle, hammered a nail into our own at the junction of Hebei and Shanxi, turned the Fuping area into our base area as soon as possible, and laid the foundation for the development of the main force in Hebei in the future.

The troops set out this evening, and they were asked to march in concealment when they were inserted into their destinations. After reaching the operational objective, the specific actions are decided by the political commissars of the respective brigade commanders, and the division headquarters does not participate too much.

Division commander, Liu Hua. ”

"Commander, is there anything else?" The chief of staff and the document on which the order was recorded asked.

"Hehe, it's over, what the rest of the situation can develop into depends on the courage of the two brigade commanders, and also, notify the first brigade to be ready to counter encirclement and suppression at any time, after all, our Jindong base area can't be lost!" Liu Hua said.

"Okay, division commander, I'll go and send the report."

"Brigade commander, division commander telegram." Chen Dazhong, the political commissar of the Second Brigade, hurriedly ran into the headquarters hidden in the woods with a telegram. And just around the headquarters, there were also more than 3,000 troops of the Second Brigade of Reading Force.

"Quick, show me, we've been hiding here for three days, and we're going crazy." As he spoke, he snatched the telegram from the commissar's hand.

"Haha, political commissar, now we have a task, with the plains and clouds as the center, to open up a new base area. It turns out that the commander asked us to hide here all the time, just to advance north. Correspondent, map. Soon a map was on the table in front of him.

"Yunzhongshan, here." Brigade Commander Gao Yuan said, pointing to a mark on the map.

"By the way, brigade commander, just now Chief of Staff Li explained by phone that he wanted us to go to the cavalry regiment or special operations brigade to find a few soldiers as guides for our army, they are very familiar with the terrain of Yuanping County, especially the soldiers of the special operations brigade, who almost know Yuanping well." Political Commissar Chen Dazhong reminded.

"Okay, political commissar, I'll leave this matter to you, and at eight o'clock in the evening, let's leave on time. Let the troops seize the time to rest now, all the heavy weapons are dismantled, and they are carried on mules and horses or on the backs of people, I estimate that most of our marches in the past few days have been on small paths. The brigade commander said.

At eight o'clock in the evening, the fighters, who had rested for several days in a row, had dinner, and embarked on their own journey under the leadership of the soldiers of the special operations brigade. Since the troops are jumping to the outside line to fight, the amount of ammunition carried by the troops is very huge, almost three times that of peacetime and wartime. Almost every warrior carried something, so the pace of the march was not very fast.

It took six days for the troops to reach the plain. At the suggestion of the political commissar, the troops chose the camp in the position where the arms were last hidden.

"Communicator, map of the plains." In the proposed tent that had just been set up, the brigade commander Gao Yuan couldn't take a break, so he hurriedly wanted to understand the situation on the plain.

"Political commissar, has the reconnaissance company been sent out, we have been delayed for two days on the road due to carrying a large amount of baggage ammunition, so we must hurry. Otherwise, when the army reacts, we will be ashamed of our losses. Gao Yuan is also one of the people who know about this northward expansion plan, and he attaches great importance to this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so he is very anxious.

"Brigade commander, as soon as we entered Yuanping, the reconnaissance company was all dispatched, and now the soldiers have just set up camp, and the staff office is counting the baggage we have brought. It is planned to leave a part of the ammunition as an ammunition reserve for the establishment of our 2nd Brigade of Reading Force. The rest of the soldiers were resting, after all, the fighters were overloaded with six days of continuous marching, and everyone was tired. Political Commissar Chen Dazhong said.

"Well, commissar, it's good, let the commander of the reconnaissance company come to the headquarters as soon as he returns. Also, inform the cooking squad of each company that we will have dinner in the army tonight, and we will have a good rest in this valley for a good day. This evening, the brigade headquarters guard company will be on alert duty. Tomorrow night, we will start to act and take the army by surprise. "The brigade commander Takahara ordered.

"Yes, Brigadier Commander, I'll go deliver the order."

The next day, the fighters of the reconnaissance company began to return to the camp one after another. As the soldiers reported to the headquarters one by one, the brigade commander Gao Yuan also had a deeper understanding of the situation of the plain army. One by one, the strongholds of the army were marked on the map of Yuanping County, and slowly the map began to be perfected until the last soldier returned to the camp. The hostile situation in the entire Harahei area has been marked on the map in front of him.

"Correspondent, immediately notify all cadres above the battalion level to come to the headquarters for a meeting, as soon as possible." Brigade Commander Gao Yuan shouted loudly to the communicator outside the tent.

Soon, more than a dozen cadres were gathered at the temporary headquarters.

"Comrades, I think you are still very confused about why we are here day and night, and I will tell you today. We came here on the orders of the division headquarters to establish a new revolutionary base area centered on Yuanping County, and finally connected with the Jindong revolutionary base area to strengthen our strength. After listening to Takahara's words, everyone's faces were full of excitement.

"After yesterday's reconnaissance, we now have a complete grasp of the enemy situation in the entire Yuanping area. At present, there are less than 1,000 defenders in the entire Yuanping area, and this is an opportunity for our Second Brigade to show its strength. Now I command:

The 1st Battalion of the 3rd Regiment carried a platoon of a mortar company belonging to the regiment to attack Changlianggou Township, the 2nd Battalion carried a platoon of a mortar company to attack Yanzhuang Township, the 3rd Battalion carried a mortar platoon to attack Duanjiabao Township, the 1st Battalion of the 4th Regiment attacked Yangou Township with a platoon, the 2nd Battalion attached a mortar platoon attacked Zhongyang Township, the 3rd Battalion attacked Dongshe Township, the brigade headquarters guard company, the reconnaissance company, and the 82-mm mortar company attacked Wangjiazhuang Township. Do the battalions understand their tasks? ”

"Clear."

"Well, we'll leave at 6 o'clock this evening and start attacking at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. All units involved in the offensive must take the predetermined objectives in the shortest possible time. Then, each battalion, leaving a company of troops to maintain law and order, mobilize the masses. The main forces will advance together towards the county seat of Yuanping, and by tomorrow evening, all the main forces must attack the outlying areas of the county seat. This time, we will also give the devils a siege, but it is a seven-way siege, so that the devils know the strength of our Eighth Route Army. ”

"Yes, brigade commander, you must let the devils know how powerful our Eighth Route Army is." The crowd replied in unison.

"Well, I'm waiting for your good news. Commissar, do you have anything else to add? The brigade commander turned his head to look at Chen Dazhong next to him.

"Comrades, the brigade commander has already said it. I would say that this operation was the first time that our 2nd Reading Brigade had jumped to the outside to fight alone. Therefore, comrades must show the strength of our reading division and the prestige of our second reading brigade. Also, it is necessary to strictly abide by the discipline of our Eighth Route Army, otherwise, military law will be engaged. ”

(To be continued)