Chapter 561 Encounter

Under the city of Wuxiang, the mountain pass that confronted the Jin army had already had the idea of retreating, looking at the form of the surrounding area, several main attack troops had already retreated, leaving his lone army here, thinking about it made him chill, and he didn't have the courage to retreat privately, so he could only wait for the order of the dispatch army headquarters.

A sudden heavy snowfall made him even more annoyed, the wind and snowflakes rushing in from the tent curtain, he couldn't help but shiver, the little heat obtained by burning the stove disappeared in an instant, for this reckless guy who broke in, Yamaguchi was annoyed, and opened his mouth to say "Yaga"

The people who came in were not much better, covered in snow, and did not care about Yamaguchi's scolding, they threw themselves directly in front of the stove, stretched out their stiff hands, and started a fire, Yamaguchi was even more angry, and wanted to slap him directly, but he found that it was his chief of staff, so he retracted his outstretched hand, and looked at him with blank eyes, knowing that the chief of staff was coming against the heavy snowstorm and snow, and there must be something important.

His chief of staff roasted the fire for a while, relieved the sun, took out a telegram from his pocket, Yamaguchi took it and looked at it, so excited that he almost cried, God has eyes, the old bastard of Kazuki Kiyoji finally got kind, and ordered Yamaguchi's troops to immediately evacuate the battlefield of Wuxiang, however, he was not ordered to assemble in Shijiazhuang, but asked him to return to Pingjin and be the strategic reserve of the dispatch army, Yamaguchi was not surprised at all, as long as he could withdraw from the damn mountainous area of China, the troops could assemble there.

The chief of staff reported another bad news, the heavy snow blocked several roads leading from Wuxiang to the Pingjin area, and the troops could only retreat by waiting for the snow to stop and clear the roads, moreover, in the heavy snow last night, hundreds of soldiers had already froze to death, frostbitten hands and feet, more than 1,000 people, if effective measures were not taken, there would be more and more non-combat attrition.

Needless to say, Yamaguchi understood that he still felt cold around the stove, not to mention those ordinary soldiers who did not have warmth, so they had to evacuate as much as possible, and he ordered the chief of staff, without waiting for the snow to stop, immediately send troops to clear the snow on the road from Wuxiang to Licheng, and the troops immediately prepared to set off to clear a section of the march.

The chief of staff was taken aback, and couldn't help but ask, "Li Cheng?" Looking at the sly gaze flashing in Yamaguchi's eyes, he seemed to understand, he couldn't help but shudder, ruthless enough, the soldiers of the three wings were thrown out as bait like this, if the Chinese army intercepted in the middle, they would definitely not let go of the route from Wuxiang to Yushe.

At the same time, he also secretly admired that he could climb to the position of chief of staff of the North China Dispatch Army in one fell swoop as an ordinary staff member, and Yamaguchi-kun really had something extraordinary, but this method was enough for that or something.

Fortunately, the troops of the Independent Division had a complete logistics supply system, and they were close to the supply center of the Taihang Mountains in Huangyadong, so the soldiers were not only well fed and warmly dressed, but also had warm tents to live in, which was no less different than the Japanese soldiers.

Tang Qiuli was troubled by how the troops could arrive on time from Wuxiang to Yushe and set up an ambush on time, and several troops were trapped around Licheng by heavy snow.

Before that, he kept receiving reports that the troops building the bridge were often attacked by the cavalry units of the Independent Division, and the bridges that were originally intact were also damaged, and he asked for additional troops.

For two days and two nights, the heavy snow finally stopped, a white world in the Taihang Mountains for thousands of miles, no wind, only the cold after the snow, the sun rose, reflecting the snow light, stabbing people can not open their eyes, there is nowhere to forage for birds and birds, and they are not afraid of people, they rise and fall frequently in populated places, hoping to find something to eat a little belly.

According to the old people, the heavy snowfall in January 1938 had not been encountered for decades, and if it had been left in the past, I don't know how many people would have died of freezing and starvation, but fortunately it was the base of the independent division, and the people did not lack food and clothing, and they stayed in warm rooms, thinking about the good times of next year.

Tang Qiuli didn't have such a good fortune, as soon as the snow outside stopped, he took the soldiers of the guard brigade to leave the old county on horseback and hurried in the direction of Licheng, where was the headquarters of the annihilation mountain pass located, and the company guard unit took a part of the command personnel, a total of more than 1,800 cavalry teams, and stepped on the vast snowy field, leaving a string of deep horseshoe prints behind him.

The air after the snow is fresh and abnormal, so that Tang Qiuli, who has been stuffy in the house for two days, is in good spirits, his mind is clear, the distant mountains are like white beasts, crouching on the boundless wilderness, green pines and cypresses, and the branches are low hanging by the heavy snow, but it is a touch of dark green in the white, dotted with the monotonous world.

The clear sky, blue like the bluestone after washing, under the sun, there are countless twinkling Venus jumping on the snow surface, in his eyes, this heavy snow, let him vaguely feel the taste of his hometown, cordial and slightly strange, he smiled to himself, Linhai Snow Field, Snow Plain, but the lack of green pines in the mountains, or the snow in his hometown is different.

The snow rolled up by the strong wind formed a wall of snow mounds on the road and leeward, deep into the horse's belly, and sometimes, he had to dismount and clear a road on the snow mounds so that the men and horses could continue to move forward, so that the speed of the march inevitably slowed down.

It turned out that he also wanted to leave Mei Ting in his hometown, because he took into account her body, which had not fully recovered, but Mei Ting said that she didn't agree to anything, and pulled a war horse, flew on the horse, and rode the horse for a lap, so that Tang Qiuli had nothing to say, at this moment, Tang Qiuli turned sideways and looked at his wife with concern.

Mei Ting, who was wearing a thick fur army coat and was forced by Tang Qiuli to put on a fox fur shawl, returned a smile in her husband's eyes, Tang Qiuli was still not at ease, patted the horse and leaned over, sorted out the leather collar on Mei Ting's coat, and wrapped Mei Ting's knees tightly with the hem of the coat, Mei Ting obediently let Tang Qiuli be at the mercy of her husband, and her husband's actions made her heart beat a warm flame in this ice and snow.

In order to rush to the headquarters of Licheng, Tang Qiuli took a short road, starting from the old county, through Qin County, Xindian directly into Xiangyuan, from Xiangyuan on a country road, this route, just and Wuxiang to Licheng Road is at a ninety degree angle, at noon, in the field for a short rest of two hours, because of the full preparation, carry charcoal fire and other heating utensils, but also have a different taste, the mountain tiger also accidentally hit a few hares, to let Tang Qiuli taste the snow everywhere, the fun of barbecue in the wild.

After the rest, the troops continued to set off, according to Tang Qiuli's estimate, at about four o'clock in the afternoon, they could reach Xiangyuan, and they could arrive at Licheng at noon tomorrow.

Against the snowfall rolled up by the strong wind, the troops who were struggling to advance did not march to the vicinity of the country road from Wuxiang to Xiangyuan until more than four o'clock.

The command to stop moving forward and conceal on the spot suddenly came from the front, and Tang Qiuli was still keenly aware of the faint sound of gunshots, he was stunned, what happened in front? Hurriedly turned over and dismounted, the war horse and the people were hidden in the snow, he tried to open his eyes wide and look forward, except for the snowflakes rolled up by the wind, he couldn't see anything, but he still protected Mei Ting behind him.

After a while, the figure of the mountain tiger appeared in front of him, covered with snow, and reported a news that surprised Tang Qiuli, on the road from Wuxiang to Xiangyuan, a large number of Japanese troops were found, and the avant-garde troops had exchanged fire with the Japanese army.

This is a typical encounter, more than 100 soldiers of the third division of the guard brigade of the independent division, as the vanguard of the brigade, left the brigade three kilometers away, they were the first to reach the fork in the road in the country, through the hazy snow and fog, there seemed to be a lot of people marching in front, the leader of the detachment led the team was greatly surprised, did not report that there were troops on this road? I can't help but be secretly vigilant.

He immediately sent a dozen soldiers to check and contact, watching the soldiers disappear into the snow and mist, he ordered the troops, ready for battle, and then, fierce gunfire came from the front, more than a dozen soldiers beat their horses and quickly retreated, behind, chasing hundreds of cavalry. The bullets kept passing overhead, and he suddenly understood, this is a Japanese devil, strange, where did these brutes come from?

He ordered two soldiers to immediately report the situation to the captain, and then, with the troops to meet up, the battle began in the case of an unexpected encounter between the enemy and us, in the vast wind and snow, more than 100 soldiers, can withstand the attack of hundreds of Japanese cavalry, the two sides in the heavy snowstorm, melee together, behind, and up I don't know how many Japanese cavalry.

The mountain tiger, who learned of the situation, was also surprised, and did not expect that he would encounter the Japanese army in this place, and immediately made a correct decision, sending reinforcements of more than 500 people in four detachments, to be sure to block the Japanese cavalry, and not to retreat without an order, and at the same time, order the brigade to stop advancing and hide on the spot.

Then, he hurried to the back and told Tang Qiuli the truth about the situation, at this time, the gunfire in front became more and more intense, and there was also the roar of heavy machine guns and the shouts of Japanese soldiers.

(To be continued)