At the western foot of Taihang Mountain, more than 10,000 commanders and fighters of the 33rd Division were trekking the mountain road. Zheng Weiguo looked around, only to see that this area was full of small hills, one after another with no end in sight, and couldn't help asking: "Director Xiong, look at the map, how far do we have to go?" ”

Marching on terrain like this is the most boring, and the physical exhaustion is also fast, and Zheng Weiguo is worried that the troops will not be able to hold on. In fact, there have already been deserted soldiers, but fortunately, the cohesion of the officers and veterans is not bad, and there will be no large-scale rout.

Director Xiong wiped his sweat and said, "Come on, Shizuo, over the hill in front of you is the road leading to Changle Village (now Shanxi Provincial Highway 322)." Then go south along the road, and then turn a corner to Changle Village, about 30 kilometers away. ”

Zheng Weiguo breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Grandma's, it's finally almost here." Inform the news immediately, so that the soldiers can be happy! ”

The soldiers set out from Ping'an County and walked hundreds of miles of mountain roads in a row, which was really too hard. Now they heard that it was almost to the ground, and they all cheered happily. Some militants are still gearing up, just waiting to fight the devil to the death. With this momentum, the troops climbed over the hill and rested on the side of the road.

Many units have been disorganized because of the number of soldiers who have fallen behind. Obviously, such a state cannot go to the battlefield, so I have to stop and rest. Many officers could not find their own soldiers, and soldiers could not find their superiors, so they were in a hurry to run around, but this made the scene even more chaotic.

Zheng Weiguo couldn't cry or laugh when he saw this, so he had to order all ministers to be sent down layer by layer to supervise the restoration of the system of various ministries. He also led his division to inspect everywhere, so as to rush to Changle Village as soon as possible to enter the battle.

Chief of Staff Zhou said: "Our 33rd Division is now a large force, and its strength is much stronger than before. It is a pity that there are too many recruits, and there are too few qualified officers, and the troop mobilization is not as agile as before. ”

Zheng Weiguo nodded and said, "That's true, as soon as there are more troops, the sheep will be herded." However, in this battle alone, the combat effectiveness of our 33rd Division will inevitably be able to reach several steps. Looking at the world, I dare to call it a strong army! ”

Chief of Staff Zhou said with a smile: "Yes, there are not many troops who can fight hundreds of miles on foot!" ”

As they talked, they walked and arrived at the artillery camp. Relative to the infantry, the order of the artillery units was much better. They were assembling the cannon in squads, which was a lot of hard work. Director Guo went into battle in person, rolled up his sleeves and was very busy.

A soldier picked up a cannon barrel and didn't match it for a long time, and couldn't help complaining: "This cannon assembly is really troublesome, I knew that it was better not to dismantle it!" ”

The artillery squad leader said angrily: "Aren't you talking nonsense? Such a big guy, how can he transport it without dismantling. "Because you have to walk on mountain roads, it is impossible to push, pull, and lift, so you can only disassemble them into parts and carry them on your shoulders.

The soldier hurriedly said, "Hehe! That's what I said, squad leader. ”

The squad leader said, "You talk a lot, don't hurry up and work." If the artillery squad was assembled faster than us, we would really be a joke in the artillery battalion! ”

The soldier said, "How can you?" As he spoke, he hurriedly quickened the movements of his hands.

At the front of the road, the cavalrymen were inspecting their horseshoes and horsebacks for any wear and tear. Night owls were very good at managing cavalry, and the troops soon formed columns on the road.

When the cavalry were in order, they looked back and saw that the infantry was still in disarray, so they shouted: "Brothers, infantry, you can't do it!" Let's just let our cavalry take the lead! "Looking at the triumphant appearance of the cavalry, the infantry were almost not.

The troops were busy for a long time, and finally all the troops were put in order, but they did not go on the road until an hour later than expected. Fortunately, after taking to the road, the speed of the march of the troops was noticeably faster.

Zheng Weiguo suddenly felt that something was wrong while riding on the horse, and hurriedly called Director Xiong Taiyu, who was in charge of marching matters, and said, "Look at this highway, is there a problem?" ”

Director Xiong said, "Do you feel as if there is a large army walking by?" ”

Zheng Weiguo nodded and said, "Well, I suspect that the enemy army in Liao County has reinforced Changle Village, you should contact the 129th Division immediately, so as not to catch them off guard." ”

Director Xiong said: "But isn't there a third army in Panlong Town? ”

Zheng Weiguo sneered: "Hmph, if Zeng Wanzhong can be reliable, the sows will all go up the tree!" We're not far from Beaulie, can you hear the gunfire? ”

Director Xiong came to his senses at this time, but before he could go to the communications battalion, the communications staff officer hurriedly ran over with a telegram and said: "Report, the 129th Division said that the Japanese army had reinforced a brigade from Liao County, and now it has been handed over. They are determined to eat this enemy army, and they demand our army to rush to help! ”

Chief of Staff Zhou sighed and said: "During the Battle of Taiyuan, Zeng Wanzhong still contributed, but I didn't expect that half a year has passed, and he will do this. ”

Zheng Weiguo waved his hand and said, "Leave him alone!" The 3rd Army is not up, our 33rd Division is up! Director Xiong, quickly check how far it is from here to Changle Village, and what routes are available? ”

Director Xiong took out the map and compared it, and said, "Shizuo, look at the village in front of you, called Hebuling, the terrain is high and stable. Walking the path from Hebuling Village can go straight to the east of Changle Village, about 10 kilometers away. If you continue to take the main road, you will make a big bend and you will reach the southeast direction of Changle Village, which is about 14 kilometers. ”

Zheng Weiguo said: "Okay, everyone takes action. The General Staff immediately contacted the 129 to inquire about the situation of the battle, draw up a plan for the battle, and strive to get the troops into battle as soon as possible. ”

Chief of Staff Zhou hurriedly said: "Yes, division!" ”

Zheng Weiguo asked again: "Has Director Yang arrived?" After all, Professor Yang was a little older, and he couldn't walk fast on a donkey, so he fell behind. But this is just enough to appease the soldiers who have fallen behind.

A staff officer said: "I just saw that Director Yang has arrived, and he is chatting with the soldiers in the back!" ”

Zheng Weiguo said: "Well, it's good to come, you go and ask Director Yang to do pre-war mobilization for the soldiers!" ”

The staff officer smiled: "How can we still mobilize to fight devils, we can't wait!" ”

Zheng Weiguo said with a smile: "It's good to have this kind of spirit, but the mobilization work still needs to be done." You stop by the logistics department to have a look, so that the stretcher team and the medical team are ready to start! ”

The staff officer hurriedly said: "Yes! As he spoke, he was about to salute, Zheng Weiguo hurriedly stretched out his hand and held it down. Although there are no enemies here, it is already a battlefield.

Chief of Staff Zhou and Director Xiong led a large group of staff officers to quickly draw up a battle plan. Ji Lu planned to let the 331st Regiment take a small road to the east of Changle Village, and attacked the Japanese army on both sides with the 129th Division, forcing the Japanese army to flee south; The division headquarters and the 332nd and 341st regiments took the main road and set up an ambush on the way of the Japanese army's southward escape, taking advantage of the chaotic state of the Japanese army to flee and annihilate them in one fell swoop.

Zheng Weiguo frowned and said, "What if the Japanese army resists stubbornly on the spot?" ”

Director Xiong said: "Then we will implement the backup plan and let the main force go directly north along the highway to directly attack the Japanese army." ”

Zheng Weiguo thought for a moment and said, "Okay, do it!" Order the ministries to act immediately! ”

Chief of Staff Zhou said, "Then do you want to go and see Commander Zeng of the Third Army?" ”

Zheng Weiguo said: "I won't go, you can go for me!" I don't expect him to send troops, as long as he doesn't mess around! ”

Regarding Zeng's behavior of sitting back and watching the success or failure, Chief of Staff Zhou also felt speechless. However, they both belong to the national army, and it is not easy to be too stiff in terms of face. At present, the 33rd Division, except for Zheng Weiguo, has the most important chief of staff for a few weeks, so it is most suitable for him to go.

So Chief of Staff Zhou went to Zeng's department to liaise, and Zheng Weiguo led his troops to continue south. When the troops arrived at the village of Carambola Bay (where the road made a big turn, turning from southwest to north-west, so the main road could appear south of Changle Village), the communications battalion suddenly reported that someone from the 129th Division was shouting into the radio. Zheng Weiguo ran over and heard that it was Brigade Commander Chen shouting inside! So he hurriedly told him that the troops were advancing according to the plan and were about to meet the enemy.

Brigadier Chen was so unhappy and said, "Damn, you're finally here!" However, the hard bones and meat have been eaten by us, and you are a soup drinker when you come at this time! ”

Zheng Weiguo said with a smile: "Drink some soup to moisten your stomach first, and then it's our turn to eat meat and gnaw bones!" ”

Although the 129th Division now has a slight upper hand, the new reinforcements of the Japanese army are already on the way, a reinforced brigade led by the commander of the 4th floor brigade of Tomamidi. Historically, it was this reinforcement that forced the 129th Division to spit out the fat in its mouth again. Not only was the hard-captured weapon snatched back by the Japanese army, but he also caught up with the general Ye Chenghuan. The reason why Zheng Weiguo insisted on going south to fight together was that he didn't want this tragedy to happen again.

Of course, in any case, the 129th Division dared to fight a wing of the Japanese army with four regiments (the 117th Wing lacked a brigade, but a brigade of the 105th Wing came to help, which was considered to be a supplement), and it had a slight upper hand, which was very remarkable at that time! It was also the period when the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army (not the overall strength, but only the troops) was the strongest in history, after which the Eighth Route Army divided its troops and plundered the land, and the old companies were constantly scattered, and the combat effectiveness never reached this level again.

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