In the past afternoon, Xia Lianshan's cavalry company risked their lives to assault the truck convoy of the Japanese Saijo Wing parked in the wilderness. They swept away with a single blow, earning minor battle damage in exchange for the bullets of several Type 94 trucks—long handles* thrown on horseback—and at least one of them caught fire on the spot.

These trucks transporting infantry and heavy weapons from the Hagiwara Brigade Station were deliberately parked three or four miles away from the front of Xiping Village, in order to avoid being attacked by the Eighth Route Army. Unexpectedly, he was still copied to the flank by the cavalry company of the Guanmenshan detachment of the Xu Brigade and was caught off guard. After hearing the news, the commander of the Japanese army, Saijo Osa, was so angry that he was thunderous.

Although Xia Lianshan has a desperate heart every time he goes into battle, he is not reckless and reckless; He knew how to accept what he saw, and he knew that if he succeeded, he would not repeat his old tricks: the Japanese, who had suffered this loss, were likely to put their machine guns in the truck bed, and if they tried to get forward again with the cavalry, what awaited them might be a killing. Therefore, after the completion of this attack, although many subordinates repeatedly asked for battle, Xia Lianshan resolutely refused to allow it.

Eventually, he made the move of leading the cavalry to continue to penetrate westward (i.e., towards the Tongpu Railway), preparing to first break away from the heavy Japanese forces attacking Xiping Village, and then turn to the rear of this enemy force and seek an opportunity to attack from the other direction.

Of course, the operation to the west was still very risky, and if there were new Japanese troops on the Tongpu Road line during this period, Xia Lianshan and his cavalry company would be exposed to the plains, and there was even a danger of being surrounded and annihilated. Thankfully, the Japanese troops attacking Xiping Village at the foot of Guanmen Mountain were an isolated and prominent enemy, and there were no successors behind them. The cavalry of the Eighth Route Army was running on the unsheltered wilderness so brightly, and what alarmed and attracted attention was nothing more than the sparse farmhouses scattered across the wilderness.

But then, they pounced!

In the evening, the Takagi Brigade of the Saijo Wing, which broke through the forward position of Xiping Village, divided into two routes and began to operate separately under the instruction of Wing Commander Osa, half of which attacked Xiping Village, and half of them began to pursue and kill the first battalion of the Guanmenshan Detachment of the Xu Brigade retreating to the lower reaches of the Qinglong River, and the trucks of the automatic convoy were also divided into two, and part of them drove to the edge of Xiping Village with Takagi Shaosa's team and stopped; The other part followed behind Saijo Daisa's pursuers and drove slowly south.

In this way, the temporary position of the Japanese army, which was still yellow in the afternoon, was already empty by the time Xia Lianshan and his cavalry crept up from the northwest flank.

The horizontal knife immediately fell on the empty Japanese army's original position, and the cavalry company commander of the Eighth Route Army was a little hesitant for a while: Xiping Village, which was facing west, was still bursting with gunfire, indicating that the detachment commander who had taken the initiative to abandon the forward position in the west of the village was still leading his troops to resist one by one; The groves to the south were dark and silent, but the sound of gunfire could be heard from farther away in that direction.

Xia Lianshan analyzed that the first battalion led by Wang Shuanglong should have been oppressed and pursued by the Japanese army and retreated southward, otherwise, they would definitely continue to attack the main force of the Japanese army that had occupied Xiping Village from the flank and rear, and cooperate with Wu Zijian's detachment leader to resist in the village one by one.

After much hesitation, the cavalry company commander made a decision and ordered all of them to immediately penetrate southward, rush to the vicinity of Wang Shuanglong's first battalion, and cooperate with it in the battle - this is also the layout that the detachment commander made clear before the battle: once Xiping Village is abandoned, the defenders of the inner line will retreat into Guanmen Mountain, and the first battalion and cavalry company that jumped to the outer line of combat will immediately move to the lower reaches of the Qinglong River. No delays!

So, after a few last glances at the war-torn Xiping Village, Xia Lianshan reluctantly and resolutely led the cavalry and galloped south.

The cavalry was fast, and after running for a while, they approached the enemy and our armies as they walked, and the sound of guns and cannons through the night became clearer and clearer. After a while, the sharp soldiers in front rode back and reported: Behind the Japanese pursuing troops, there were many large trucks slowly following with their headlights.

Xia Lianshan was stunned, and immediately understood that this was a move made by the Japanese army because they did not dare to leave the truck fleet alone in the daytime position. However, now he no longer wants to fight the idea of trucks - the truck fleet that has been attacked once will undoubtedly take strict precautions, and it will be difficult to say it lightly; What's more, the sound of firefighting in front of the truck team has been incessant, proving that Wang Shuanglong's first battalion has never been able to get rid of the enemy's pursuit, so it is now even more necessary to directly launch a surprise attack on the Japanese army's pursuing front team, delay its pursuit and kill, and create a favorable time and space for the first battalion.

As soon as he said it, the cavalry company commander gave an order, and more than 60 horses did not rush to the rear of the Japanese army, but stuck to their flanks and plunged down. The earth-shattering roar of guns and cannons well covered the sound of the iron hooves of the war horses, so that when the cavalry company of the Eighth Route Army appeared on the right flank of the Japanese front line, the other side was still unaware.

And so a new battle broke out.

After receiving a report of the sudden appearance of the cavalry of the Shina Army on the right flank of the troops, the Japanese wing commander Saijo Shigehei reacted quickly, he knew very well that this cavalry was most likely the culprit of the sneak attack on the truck convoy in the afternoon, but the other party did not fall in love with the battle at that time, and left with one blow, so that the reinforcements who rushed over failed to catch it. Now, the wandering cavalry of the Chinese army took the initiative to send it to the door again, and it was just right to annihilate it in one fell swoop!

While he ordered an infantry squad on the far right flank to resist on the spot, and stuck to the cavalry at any cost, he drew another squad from behind and swooped down on it.

At this moment, the two infantry squadrons at the hands of Saijo Daisa, one was in front to cover the Eighth Route Army, which had been entangled with him for an afternoon, and the other was maneuvering behind the front team.

The captain of the Japanese wing was troubled by the fact that the fall of night had made his artillery lose a clear firing range, and as many as seven Type 92 infantry guns could only fire forward by feeling, advancing while pushing forward, and could not evaluate the effect of artillery fire.

In addition, the Eighth Route Army, which was fighting and retreating in front, never retreated quickly, which once aroused the vigilance of the staff officers around Saijo Daisa, and reminded the wing commander to be careful of the possibility of luring the enemy by the Shina Army.

Saijo Shigehei, who is familiar with the ancient Chinese art of war, has studied the famous "dragging knife meter", and in the vast night at this moment, he really can't see the formation in front of him. However, he later denied this inference for a very simple reason: according to the various information he had before the war, it was known that the Eighth Route Army in Xiping Village at the foot of Guanmen Mountain numbered only a few hundred, and there were many recruits who had just enlisted. At present, although there are many large and small villages in the front of the imperial army's pursuit to the south, there are no heavy troops of the Eighth Route Army; Therefore, the so-called theory of luring the enemy is difficult to hold.

What's more, the brigade headquarters in Wencheng issued a death order before dinner: be sure to occupy Xiping Village (at the same time, cover the assault team of Warrant Officer Takamatsu of the Cavalry Wing to successfully blend into Guanmen Mountain), and be sure to pursue and annihilate the main force of the Xu Brigade Detachment of the Eighth Route Army fighting on the outside line. From this point of view, even if there is really a sea of swords and fires in front of him, he Saijo Shigehei has to command the troops to wade through fearlessly!

"Report to Dazuo, the cavalry of the Shina Army that appeared on the right flank was routed by me and fled, and failed to surround it!"

The leader of an infantry squadron who personally commanded the battle on the right flank sent back the battle report by walkie-talkie.

"Baga!" Hearing the news, Saijo Daisaku suddenly became angry: "The right wing has been strictly ordered to stick to the cavalry of the Shina Army and wait for support here, can't you do this ability!?" ”

"Dazuo, the right flank reported that the cavalry of the Chinese army was extremely cunning, launching a horse-running swimming attack from the flank, and when the attack was not long, they turned their horses and withdrew, and it was difficult for the infantry to catch them."

The Japanese wing commander panted, wanting to continue to vent but couldn't find a target for a while - the tactics of the cavalry of the Chinese Army reported on the right flank sounded familiar, and it was undoubtedly one of the tactics of the cavalry of the Imperial Army! Previously, I heard a brief introduction from the chief of staff of the brigade and regiment, Hebian Dazuo, that the cavalry of the Eighth Route Army in Guanmen Mountain was equipped with captured imperial troops and Mongolian Xinjiang troops, and even the instructors were captured by the Mongolian Xinjiang army!

Thinking of this, Saijo Shigehei hated the roots of his teeth more and more:

"Order, the artillery squadron immediately contacted the right flank and asked for the direction of the escape of the cavalry of the Chinese army, and give me heavy artillery bombardment!"

Hearing this arrangement of the wing commander Dazuo, the commander of the artillery squadron quickly reported to him, pointing out that the night was too heavy and there was almost no visibility to speak of, and it was difficult for the ordinary infantry at the front of the right flank to accurately provide the orientation of the cavalry of the Chinese army, and it was difficult to evaluate the effect of artillery strikes.

But Saijo Shigehei, who was angry and anxious, couldn't take care of so much, and ordered to turn the muzzle of the cannon and fire the cannon again and again - this so-called pursuit battle that was forced to be carried out under the pressure of the upper peak, so far, the Japanese wing commander completely has the feeling of a blind man riding a blind horse and approaching the abyss in the middle of the night; I don't know where the Chinese army, which is fighting and retreating in front, is going to take itself. At this time, the wisest way to fight is to shrink the forces and stand by and wait for the arrival of the dawn, since the coefficient on both sides of the damn Qinglong River is a plain, the Zhina army has nowhere to hide after all; Such an engagement, if conducted in the daylight, could have been annihilated in less than two hours by a small opponent armed with a bunch of small arms; As for the cavalry, in front of machine guns and rifles, they are no less than trapped beasts on the hunting grounds!

However, the vast darkness of the night helped the people of China, and the shells fired by the 92 rifles and mortars were probably more than half of them hit the deserted wilderness. And the abominable cavalry of the Chinese army dared to blatantly pounce at close range and entangle and tear endlessly!

The commander of the Japanese wing, who was almost frenzied, did not dare to disobey the strict orders of the brigade headquarters after all, so he could only continue to command the troops to stumble and pursue in the night.

He feverishly awaited the dawn of the day, but he did not know that the Eighth Route Army, which was fighting and retreating in front, was dragging him and his troops into a new area, where an independent brigade of Yan Xishan's Jin Army was stationed; Nearly 2,000 guns were waiting for him.