Zheng Weiguo and his entourage didn't wait long in the suburbs before being personally welcomed into Changzhi City by Li Jiayu. The two sides were greeting each other, and before their buttocks were hot, an urgent telegram for help suddenly came from Shexian County, Hebei.

Li Jiayu's face sank after reading the telegram, and he handed the telegram to Zheng Weiguo and said, "Brother Zheng, the Japanese army has already started in Shexian County. In my opinion, Sun Laodian's troops are afraid that they will not be able to withstand it. ”

On February 14, 1938, on the morning of Zheng Weiguo's arrival in Changzhi, the Japanese puppet army suddenly launched an attack on Shexian County, Hebei Province under the cover of aircraft artillery. Garrisoned in Shexian was the Sun Dianying Department of the National Army, and hundreds of soldiers of the Sun Department suddenly mutinied as soon as they were engaged. The defense line of the national army was suddenly in chaos, and the war was precarious. In desperation, Sun Dianying urgently called Li Jiayu for help.

Shexian is the gateway to Licheng. If Shexian is lost, Licheng will be completely exposed to the guns of the Japanese army. Zheng Weiguo originally hoped to deploy defenses on the front line of Dongyang Pass in Licheng before the Japanese army started, but now he doesn't know if he will have time to do it. He was deeply concerned about this.

Without further ado, Zheng Weiguo said: "His brother (Li Jiayu's character), the situation is critical, I have to rush to Lucheng immediately, and then lead my troops to reinforce Dongyang Pass." ”

Li Jiayu said: "There is no need to be in such a hurry, I have ordered the Dongyang Pass garrison to send a battalion to aid Shexian County. Brother Zheng still has lunch and then leaves! ”

The adjutant in charge of the reception also persuaded: "Chief Zheng, Chief Zhou, you have come all the way and sent so many things, you have to let us do our best to be a landlord!" ”

Zheng Weiguo said with a smile: "When we return triumphantly, just set up another table of celebration wine." ”

Li Jiayu saw that Zheng Weiguo had made up his mind, and it was difficult to persuade them again, so he had to send them out of the city again. After the supplies supporting the 47th Army were unloaded, the cart was empty, so the soldiers either rode horses or rode carts, and the speed was very fast, and they arrived at Lucheng in the afternoon of the same day. The main force led by Duan Shuanghu has been waiting here for a long time. There was no time to rest, and the troops rushed to Licheng again, and arrived at Licheng that night.

As soon as the troops arrived in Licheng, Li Zongfang, commander of the 178th Division, who had already received a notice, hurriedly came to visit.

There was no time to greet him, and after Zheng Weiguo announced his name, he hurriedly asked, "Division Commander Li, how is the battle situation on the front line?" ”

Master Li also seemed very anxious and said, "Ahem, don't mention it!" I sent a battalion of the Ying Regiment to rush to the aid of Shexian County, but I didn't know that I lost contact with Lu Dao as soon as I went. Until now, I can't even contact Sun Laodian! ”

Zheng Weiguo was worried when he heard this, the Japanese army would not have sent a large army to annihilate the defenders of Shexian in one fell swoop! He thought for a while, asked the night owl standing aside, and said, "Battalion Commander Ye, can the horses of the cavalry battalion still run?" ”

The night owl patted his chest and said, "Master, don't worry! If I can move, the horse can move! ”

Zheng Weiguo was amused when he heard it, and said, "What are these words?" He then asked Division Commander Li Zongfang to send several liaison officers to Shexian County with the cavalry battalion to inquire about the enemy's situation. In order to be able to contact him in time, Zheng Weiguo also specially sent two telegraph operators to bring a small 5-watt radio station with him. This kind of piggyback radio station is also dialed from above. Siemens' brand, as well as the function of shouting at close range, is much more advanced than the radio station of the Japanese army.

After the cavalry battalion opened, there was no news until midnight, and Zheng Weiguo couldn't sleep and stayed here in the communications battalion. Master Li Zongfang went back and rushed over, and when he learned that there was still no news, the expression on his face was very disappointed. How can a battalion be lost before the official start of the battle?

Just when the two division commanders were impatient, the cavalry battalion finally had news. The night owl had already led his troops back to Xiangtangpu in the east of Dongyang Pass, which was the outpost position of Dongyang Pass.

Zheng Weiguo hurriedly asked, "Night owl, what's the situation over there?" Are there many casualties? Did the Sichuan Army brothers get rescued? ”

The night owls had been running around for nearly a day and a night, and they had just fought with the devil again, and they were so tired that they were panting, and said, "No, it's okay!" Division, we and the 1st Battalion of the 1O 62nd Regiment of the Sichuan Army have returned, and the casualties are not large. ”

As he was talking, the battalion commander of the Sichuan army, Luo Gongliang, grabbed the intercom and cried inside that Sun Laodian was not righteous, saying that if the cavalry battalion arrived in time, they were afraid that they would not be able to come back.

It turned out that after receiving the order, Luo Gongliang's battalion rushed to the rescue, walked nearly 30 kilometers and arrived at the county seat of Shexian County that night. Who would have thought that when Sun Laodian's headquarters saw the reinforcements arriving, he immediately flashed without even saying hello. As a result, the front and left and right flanks of the battalion were all exposed to the guns of the Japanese army. Of course, the Japanese army would not let go of such a good opportunity, and quickly outflanked and surrounded the battalion.

Fortunately, it was night, and the Japanese did not want to pay too many casualties and did not attack. If it was daytime, the battalion would have been finished long ago, and there would have been no way to wait for the cavalry battalion to come to the rescue. Since the Japanese army made up its mind to annihilate the battalion after dawn, its main forces were withdrawn, and the puppet army under Wang Ying of Inner Mongolia was responsible for the siege. This group of puppet soldiers also gave a very burying nickname, called the "Great Han Righteous Army".

When the night owls arrived, the Japanese puppet army focused on the besieged Sichuan military camp, and did not expect that the Chinese army would arrive so late. The soldiers of the cavalry battalion, led by night owls, quietly approached the defense line of the Japanese puppet army, and then took advantage of their unpreparedness to launch a fierce attack.

Wang Ying's puppet army was originally composed of bandits from all over the country, and there was no discipline at all, and this surprise attack immediately exploded, and the defense line collapsed instantly. It was useless for the Japanese officers to shout desperately, and a few unlucky people were also shot black by their puppet soldiers. Battalion commander Luo Gongliang saw the chaos of the Japanese puppet army surrounded outside, so he rushed out with his troops to take advantage of the situation. The Japanese puppet army position was suddenly in chaos, and many people were trampled to death by themselves.

Originally, he could have taken the opportunity to fight a devil, but the night owl saw that the enemy army was strong, and he didn't dare to fight, so he ran away when he picked up the Sichuan army brothers. The puppet army had already bombed the camp, and they were powerless to catch up, but the Japanese troops stationed in the distance quickly rushed over. Fortunately, the night owl had been prepared, and the Japanese army had no temper at all after an ambush. Coupled with the darkness, the Japanese had to abandon the pursuit and watch the Chinese army disappear into the night.

When Master Li Zongfang learned that Sun Laodian actually asked his subordinates to take the cylinder for him, he was half angry, and couldn't help but scold. Zheng Weiguo couldn't laugh or cry when he learned the truth. If you are not afraid of a god-like opponent, you are afraid of a pig-like teammate, and many defeats of the national army were killed by "friendly forces" in this way.

Considering that the Japanese army would probably retaliate after suffering a big loss, Zheng Weiguo ordered Wu Quanfu to lead the 341st Regiment out of Dongyang Pass and go to the outpost position Xiangtang to lay out defenses. The predecessor of the 341st Regiment was the third battalion of the main force, although it was established early, there were not many veterans, and it did not fight any tough battles. Zheng Weiguo wanted to take this opportunity to refine them.

Early the next morning, Zheng Weiguo inspected the defense lines of Dongyang Pass with Division Commander Li Zongfang. Dongyang Pass is Hukou Ancient Pass, called Wu'er Yu in ancient times, it is the soldier's key pass since ancient times, the inner Great Wall built in the Ming Dynasty is based on this, the terrain is very dangerous. Zheng Weiguo took a look at the terrain here and gained a lot of confidence.

The brothers of the Sichuan Army were very curious about the soldiers of the 33rd Division, and they inquired about the origin of this group of "flower military uniforms". Zheng Weiguo happened to hear it and said: "We are from the 33rd Division, and then we will fight side by side with your army here!" ”

The soldiers of the Sichuan Army didn't know Zheng Weiguo's rank, and said with a big grin: "Fellow, why are you dressed so strangely? ”

Zheng Weiguo explained: "This is easy to disguise! As he spoke, he demonstrated to the soldiers the effect of the snow camouflage suit.

When the soldiers saw it, they said, "I want it!" ”

One soldier said enviously: "If only we had such a body." ”

Zheng Weiguo said: "This is no problem, I'll get you a batch later." ”

The soldiers said that it didn't matter what they were wearing, as long as they could get a good gun, and that the guns they were using now were "hard to do." Zheng Weiguo took the rifles in their hands and looked at them, they were all Sichuan-made singles, shoddy, and there was not even a magazine for them, so the Eighth Route Army would not want this kind of weapon. He thought for a moment and ordered the baggage troops to send a thousand rifles and ten Czech light machine guns.

Division Commander Li Zongfang was arranging the defense line, and hurriedly came to thank him after hearing the news.

Zheng Weiguo said with a smile: "It's all your own people, don't be so polite." ”

Later, he saw that the trenches of the Sichuan army were not well dug, so he transferred the engineer battalion and several auxiliary battalions to help the Sichuan army strengthen the fortifications. The engineer battalion had sapper shovels imported from Germany, which were really a sharp weapon for digging trenches. The Sichuan army brothers watched from the side for a while, and felt that the soldiers of the engineer battalion were not doing their jobs well, so they took the sapper shovel and did it themselves. I have to admit that the Sichuan people are very capable in this regard, and soon dug zigzag trenches according to Zheng Weiguo's requirements, and added anti-artillery holes.

This kind of trench was improved by Zheng Weiguo by absorbing the advantages of the volunteer army trenches and European-style trenches, as long as it is not bombarded by heavy artillery, it is difficult to cause large casualties in one shot.

These Sichuan soldiers are all veterans, so they can naturally distinguish the good from the bad, and they say happily one by one: "This trench must be won, and the shovel must be won!" ”

Zheng Weiguo smiled when he heard this, and asked the engineer battalion to give these shovels to the Sichuan army, after all, the fortifications also need to be constantly repaired in battle.

PS: I have been reading the materials of the Sichuan Army's Anti-Japanese War these days, and I am deeply moved, I have not written the previous chapters, and I feel ashamed of the martyrs. I will definitely write the next few chapters, please wait and see.