"Saijo Shigehei, is there any new battle report coming from there?" After giving the desperate order, the commander of the Hagiwara Brigade remembered the battle at the foot of Kanmon Mountain—the battlefield in that area had been divided into two parts, and the 1st Infantry Brigade of the Saijo Wing was split into two and was fighting separately.

An operational staff officer at the brigade headquarters immediately reported that Takagi Shaosa, commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade of the Saijo Wing, commanded two squadrons to attack Xiping Village, and that they were currently facing the Eighth Route Army across the Qinglong River, and had not yet been able to achieve a further breakthrough. Wing Commander Saijo himself personally commanded two other infantry squadrons, artillery, and automobile units to pursue and kill the First Division of the Eighth Route Army that was fighting in the field outside Xiping Village, but there was no report of the battle for the time being.

The brigade commander's face couldn't help but flash a trace of anxiety: a fully equipped infantry brigade, with an additional artillery squadron and automobiles, could not complete the combat goal of the Eighth Route Army for a long time - even if the enemy had thousands of people, the Imperial Army should have the upper hand with one-on-one troops!

"Report to the general," a telecommunications staff officer of the brigade headquarters hurriedly came: "Captain Saijo has called, the division is pursuing the Eighth Route Army along the lower reaches of the Qinglong River, and has just arrived in the area of Ewhapo; The enemy occupies the village of Ewhapo, and the two sides are engaged in an offensive and defensive battle. ”

Ewhapo!

This name was familiar to the three Japanese chiefs in the room, and they immediately walked to the military map on the wall, and the chief of staff of the river pointed out the location on the map at once.

"This Eighth Route Army actually fled to Lihuapu Village to build a line of resistance defense, has it really become another den of the Eighth Route Army?" Brigade commander Hagiwara Akira looked at the three characters of Rika Ura on the map angrily and asked angrily.

Masao Kojima on the side nodded slowly: "There is this possibility." The last time Hirai Teraichi's capture team was when they marched to Ewhapo, they encountered the cavalry of the Eighth Route Army. ”

"Also, the Ushijima Squadron of the Nara Infantry Brigade, which was later sent to sweep the lower reaches of the Qinglong River, was ambushed by the Shina Army on the way back from completing the mission, and the ambush site was also quite close to Ewhapo." The chief of staff of the riverside added: "The men of the Ushijima squadron recalled after the war that there was a small group of Shina cavalry that always attacked them; In today's battle report submitted by the captain of the Saijo Wing, it was also mentioned that there were cavalry haunts of the Eighth Route Army. None of this should be a coincidence. ”

"Don't hesitate any longer!" Hagiwara Akira roared again: "Immediately order the Nara Brigade to dispatch in a vehicle, and contact the commanders of the Xiping Village and Rihuapu Village battlefields at any time during the journey, and choose the direction of reinforcement according to the needs of the two battlefields." ”

With the final dispatch of the Nara Infantry Brigade, the Hagiwara Brigade of the Sena Division was almost exhausted in this day:

- The three infantry brigades of the Otsuka Wing, the Nomura Brigade fought fiercely with the 391st Regiment of the Central Army on the front line of Fengdian and Xiaoyushu Mountain; The Nara Brigade went to the area around Kanmon Mountain for reinforcements; Only the Aida Brigade remained in the military blockade area of Little Elm Mountain, and it was strictly defended.

- Two infantry battalions of the Saijo Wing (temporarily reduced to two battalions due to severe attrition during the battle in the southwest of Jinxi), the Takagi Brigade divided its forces in the area around Kanmon Mountain, and the Kameda Brigade prepared to carry out a dragnet search and arrest operation into the Little Elm Mountain.

Even the co-captain of the two wings, Dazuo, also went into battle and went to the front line of fire to personally command.

"General, now we have really played the last hole cards," the deployed chief of staff of the river muttered in a heavy mood: "Do you want to report the situation here to the division commander and lieutenant general first?" The commander of the First Army can urge us very tightly......"

Hagiwara Akira didn't say anything for a while, but he slumped into his chair, tilted his head to the ceiling, closed his eyes, and pondered: Yes, Commander Xiangyue in Taiyuan City called Wencheng to supervise the battle several times, and his words already blamed the headquarters for not participating in the First Army's "Nine-Way Encirclement" operation. Speaking from the heart, this "Nine Roads Siege", I really plan to work to a certain extent; However, at this time, there was a crisis in Little Elm Mountain, forcing the headquarters to use all its strength to deal with it.

Kojima Masao glanced at the brigade commander's dejected posture, and said softly: "Commander Xiangyue himself, he should know all the contents of the 'Wind Plan', we might as well tell him about the unexpected situation that occurred in Little Elm Mountain tonight and our response; moreover, now that the 391st Regiment of the Central Army has taken the initiative to jump out, our brigade originally planned to attack their lair of Big Elm Mountain when the 'Nine Roads are encircled', but now it is just a change of combat location. ”

This analysis seemed reasonable, and finally Hagiwara opened his eyes: "Very good, why didn't I think of this!" Just do what Kojima-kun wants. ”

However, the commander of the Japanese brigade still decided to delay the call to the commander of the Sena division and Commander Kazuki until two hours later; He still hopes that in the next two hours, whether it is in the direction of Little Elm Mountain or Guanmen Mountain, there will be gratifying news. In this way, when he reported to Shangfeng, he had an explanation.

The first to call to update the battle situation was the Otsuka United. Wing Commander Kosuke Otsuka reported that after many bloody battles, the Nomura Brigade and the Mongolian Frontier Army Cavalry Regiment finally recaptured an occupied mountain pass at the eastern foot of Little Elm Mountain; But the 391st Regiment of the Central Army of China was still desperately guarding the last mountain pass; For this reason, Captain Otsuka even requisitioned the Kameda Infantry Brigade of the Saijo Wing, which went to carry out the search mission into the mountains, to participate in the battle for the mountain pass; and once occupied that last pass; However, the 391st Regiment of the Central Army immediately mobilized heavy artillery bombardment, and at the same time organized a stormtrooper to regain control of the mountain pass. At present, the fierce offensive and defensive battle between the two sides is still ongoing.

Upon learning of this situation, the chief of staff, Kawabe Daisa, was immediately dissatisfied - Kosuke Otsuka, an arrogant guy, actually requisitioned brother troops to change his mission without authorization! You must know that the only mission of the Kameda Infantry Brigade of the Saijo Wing in front of the Fengdian is to immediately enter the Little Elm Mountain to search for the small group of troops who attacked the Songjiagou comfort women's secret camp tonight, and this is related to the safety of the top-secret "Wind Project".

Listening to the chief of staff's repeated complaints, Hagiwara Akira did not echo it, in his opinion, it should be the most urgent to block the many mountain passes at the eastern foot of Xiaoyushu Mountain as soon as possible, and it is inferred from time that the small group of armed forces that infiltrated the Songjiagou military blockade area has not yet been able to escape to the outside of Xiaoyushu Mountain; As long as you seal the mouth first, make sure that the other party is trapped in the mountain, and sooner or later they will be captured by dragnet search.

"Kawabe-kun, you should be aware of this," Hagiwara got up and walked in front of the small sand table, pointing to the model of Little Elm Mountain in the center of the sand table and said, "The reason why the 391st Regiment of the Shina Army fought so hard to defend the pass of Little Elm Mountain at all costs was precisely to meet their small group of troops lurking in the mountain there. The more frantically they frantically fought, the more they proved the necessity of our army to take that pass. ”

Seeing that his brigade commander had expressed such an attitude, the chief of staff on the riverside could only give up. In fact, he still has one concern that he has not publicly stated, that is, he is worried that Kosuke Otsuka will favor one over the other and deliberately put too many troops of the Saijo Wing into the battle, if that is the case, the Kameda Infantry Brigade of the Saijo Wing is very likely to become a victim of Otsuka's bastard's tricks - in the mind of the brigade chief of staff, the two wing commanders under his command, he obviously admires and prefers Saijo Shigehei, and has a deep prejudice against Otsuka Kosuke.

But the brigade commander, Major General, suddenly changed his words again, and shouted angrily: "The Nomura Brigade dispatched two squadrons from Toeden, and the Kameda Brigade drove three squadrons from Bunjo, and Kosuke Otsuka pinched them together in his hands, which is the size of five infantry squadrons with thousands of people, how can he not recapture a mountain pass!?" This is as weak and powerless as Shigehei Saijo! ”

"Well, General, the previous intelligence showed that the Shina Army was carrying heavy artillery, and in this regard, Otsuka Osa was far inferior to the enemy in terms of heavy firepower. Maybe the loss is the loss here. The head of the secret service cautiously explained.

At this point, the chief of staff of the river proposed that the three squadrons of the Kameda Infantry Brigade could be divided into two divisions, and the two squadrons would remain to cooperate with the men of the Otsuka Wing to continue the attack along the foothills; The other squadron immediately entered the Little Elm Mountain from the mountain pass controlled by its own side, looking for a way to flank the last mountain pass held by the 391st Regiment of the Central Army from the inside.

Hagiwara quickly agreed and proposed to set a timetable for Kosuke Otsuka to occupy all the passes at the foot of Mount Kokush in half an hour. At the same time, it is necessary to carry out a war of annihilation against the 391st Regiment of the Central Army to wipe out its vital forces to the greatest extent, especially to focus on destroying its artillery and equipment:

"The 391st Regiment of the Central Army has always shrunk in the Great Elm Mountain, so that we have no way to take it; This time, the ministry threw itself into the net, and asked Kosuke Otsuka to seize this opportunity and work hard to annihilate it! ”

The chief of staff of the river immediately went to the telecommunications room to convey the message to Captain Otsuka.

At this time, Kojima Masao looked left and right secretly, and then walked to Hagiwara Akira's side, lowered his voice and asked for instructions: Is it necessary to repeat the old trick and order Hirai Teriichi in the Songjiagou comfort women's secret camp to lead the arrest team out overnight, taking advantage of the fierce fighting in the area of Guanmen Mountain, to secretly capture the local Shina women?

The brigade commander looked at the head of the secret service with some suspicion, and couldn't make up his mind for a while—the night was too chaotic, including the chaos near the comfort women's camp in Songjiagou. Is it really appropriate to mess up in the midst of this chaos?

Kojima Masao changed his resolute tone: "Sailing against the current, if you don't advance, you will retreat, the more chaotic the situation, the more suitable it is for Hirai Teraichi's arrest team to start from it." Last time, taking advantage of the fierce exchange of fire along the Tongpu Road by the Chinese army, the Hirai Advance Team was dispatched in that area overnight and gained a lot. This night is definitely the best time to fish in troubled waters again! ”

"Is there still time for it?" Hagiwara Akira, who was persuaded by the suggestion of the head of the secret service, looked at the hands of the mahogany table clock standing against the wall, and still looked a little hesitant: "Saijo Shigehei's troops have already reached Ewhaura, and if the Hirai Advance Team is dispatched now, can they reach that area before the end of the war?" ”

Of course, Masao Kojima understood that the brigade commander, Major General, still hoped that the pursuit battle in the lower reaches of the Qinglong River would end as soon as possible, so he smiled slightly, saying that the Hirai Advance Team did not necessarily have to go out to the front line of the Saijo Wing's operations - from Xiping Village to Ewhapu, there are still many scattered houses and small villages, which have been swept by the flames of war tonight, and the people of Hiraiji Temple and others in that area are in the right place!