Realizing that something was wrong, the Maori captain immediately revised the order to ask the locomotive to retreat at full speed and strive to temporarily get out of the ambush circle of the Chinese army; At the same time, both the infantry in the passenger cars and the heavily armed troops in the wagons immediately opened heavy fire on the Chinese troops on both sides of the tracks. All of a sudden, the windows of the passenger car compartment were opened, and light and heavy weapons began to condescendingly return fire.

The 391st Regiment of the Central Army, which carried out the active attack, was certainly not vegetarian, and at this moment the rifles and light machine guns in their hands swarmed towards the slowly moving and retreating behemoths on the railroad tracks, and from time to time some people threw them*, although most of them smashed on the walls of the carriages and bounced back to explode.

Taking advantage of the time lag between the infantry to launch the charge and siege, the artillery company of the 391st Regiment had hastily pulled four heavy guns from the original preset position to the road - the concept of Tongpu Road is actually a mixture of road and railway, the two are less than two feet apart, and they are laid and extended in parallel - the reason why the artillery company's position is located on this side of the road is to prevent the Japanese army in Wencheng from using the road to transport reinforcements instead of taking the railway.

Now, the wheels of the heavy artillery have been pushed by the artillery and rolled onto the road, and the muzzle of the gun is gradually moving away from the Japanese army column on the railroad tracks, Qin Zhongxiao personally followed the side of the commander of the artillery company, demanding that he be sure to aim accurately. On the other hand, he gave an order to the commanders of the two battalions that were pursuing the army to retreat to a distance of ten zhang on both sides of the railroad tracks to prevent accidental artillery fire.

Taking into account the width of the railroad tracks and the width of the train, the commander of the artillery company decided to use only two Krupp mountain guns to strike, one for the front of the locomotive and the other for the rear of the column.

The Japanese soldiers in the military column, when they first found that the Chinese troops on both sides of the railroad tracks had begun to retreat, thought that they were forced by their own powerful firepower, and the deputy captain, Captain Maori, was ecstatic for a while; Unexpectedly, it didn't take long for the shells to whizz from the front of the car.

In the first round of shelling of the 391st regimental artillery battery, two Krupp mountain guns fired a total of four shells, but due to poor visibility at night and the fact that the Japanese military columns were always moving, only one shell hit the outer wall of the carriage of the third passenger car, two of the other three missed, and the last hit the roadbed of the tracks.

Nevertheless, the effect of the shelling was still significant: the shell that hit the carriage not only directly blew a large hole in the carriage, but also caused the wheels under the carriage to twist and deform and leave the tracks, instantly causing the entire column to lag backward; The shell that hit the roadbed blew up a section of railroad tracks, inadvertently blocking the retreat of the Japanese military column.

Dozens of seconds later, the small train finally stopped at the sound of the piercing wheels rubbing against the track, and became the target of the 391st Regiment of the Central Army. Immediately afterwards, the second round of artillery bombardment was launched and completed, and some carriages were hit one after another, Qin Zhongxiao waved his hand and ordered the four companies of the first and second battalions to start charging again.

The Maori captain in the carriage finally realized that he was in a desperate situation, and he was extremely shocked that the Chinese army actually had large-caliber heavy artillery, and in the darkness and confusion, he could no longer count the battle damage caused by the shelling in time; Under the critical situation, the head of the Japanese deputy brigade commander was not panicked, and he ordered a part of the infantry to jump off the car one after another, build a skirmish line with their backs to the roadbed and the army column to resist, and on the other hand, he ordered half of the heavy weapons to unload and set up fire points to prevent the heavy artillery of the Chinese army from hitting the army train again.

In this way, the infantry of a squadron of Japanese troops set up temporary positions back to back inside and outside the carriages, and six 92 heavy machine guns (four from a squad reinforced by the machine gun squadron directly under the Nara Brigade, and the other two were deployed in the columns) were fired one after another; The infantry squadron's own nine light machine guns also opened fire long ago; The firepower network woven by these light and heavy machine guns finally helped the Japanese to hold down in a short period of time.

Once the two sides formed a spot to shoot at each other, the numerical superiority of the 391st Regiment of the Central Army became less prominent, on the contrary, the inferiority in firepower was gradually exposed. What's more, the Japanese army had train carriages to rely on, but the officers and soldiers of the 391st Regiment could only lie on their stomachs and shoot on the bare wasteland. Both armies quickly suffered some casualties.

At this time, Captain Maori had already reported the situation to Wencheng in the rear by radio, saying that it was very likely that the Chinese army had adopted the tactics of besieging the city and sending reinforcements, and that a large army with heavy artillery was besieging his military train in the northern suburbs of Lingshi County.

The Hagiwara Brigade Headquarters, which received the telegram, was equally shocked, and the brigade commander, Major General Hagiwara Akira, had an urgent telephone conversation with Kawabe Osa, the chief of staff sitting at the railway station, and had a brief exchange of views; The two high-ranking commanders of the Japanese army had a trace of remorse in their hearts at this moment, thinking that they had underestimated this sudden operation of the Chinese army near Lingshi County. If the Maori Captain, who led the rescue, was right, the situation would have become very dire.

Where did this large army come from? If it was the 391st Regiment of the Central Army in the Great Elm Mountain, when did they sneak out near the railway line in the plains? How did they, armed with heavy weapons, escape the sight of the Fengdian defenders who were close at hand? A series of questions came to the mind of the commander of the Japanese brigade, Major General.

If the siege and reinforcements are really the tactical purpose of this Chinese army, it shows that its appetite is quite large: an elite infantry squadron of the imperial army, reinforced by the artillery squad and machine gun squad of the brigade headquarters, and supported by military columns, this is a quite powerful tactical unit; With the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army, more than five times the strength of the army is simply not able to confront it head-on. But now, this head-to-head showdown has actually happened! Although Captain Maori did not explicitly ask for help in his telegram, there was also a hint of cowardice in his tone.

"General, the matter has come to this, and sending another reinforcement army has become a situation where there is no other choice," the chief of staff of the river said hurriedly on the phone: "I suggest that this squadron of the independent infantry brigade guarding the railway station be mobilized, and then take the train immediately and rush to the direction of Lingshi!" ”

Hagiwara Akira immediately gave a denial: "The railway station and the military station belong to the top priority of the rear of the division and regiment, and the only infantry squadron responsible for defense must not move!" ”

After a moment of silence, the commander of the Japanese brigade decided to send the infantry squadron in the temporary barracks in the southern suburbs of Wencheng to rush to Lingshi by car along the highway to carry out rescue. The infantry squadron, which also belonged to the Nara Brigade, was specially used as a cover for the "Wind Plan" that secretly recruited comfort women. At present, there is a consensus in the minds of the commanders and chiefs of staff of the Japanese brigade that the remaining two squadrons of the Nara Infantry Brigade stationed between the eastern suburbs of Wencheng and the western pass of Xiaoyushu Mountain cannot be easily deployed in any case—these two squadrons are the last mobile forces to ensure the safety of the outer perimeter of the comfort women's secret camp in Songjiagou in Xiaoyushu Mountain.

"I think that this fierce Zhina Army that attacked Lingshi County should have come towards the Nantongpu railway line, and its purpose is likely to try to cut off the railway supply lifeline of our division and regiment, so as to prepare for the final battle of the remnants of the Central Army in Jinnan."

During the phone call, the chief of staff of the river made such an analysis. Hagiwara was noncommittal for a while, and he was reluctant to believe that the remnants of the Shina Army in this area would still have the courage and strength to make the above tactical moves; However, the chief of staff's analysis suddenly opened up his thinking: Assuming that the enemy force is to fight in response to the main force of Jinnan, then why not send a force to quickly return to reinforcements from the main force of our division in Jinnan?! After all, the division commander, Lieutenant General, has now waved his troops to the foot of Zhongtiao Mountain, and it is only a matter of time before Wei Lihuang's remnants are resolved; Rather than being stretched thin when mobilizing troops in the rear, it is really better to ask for troops to be drawn back from the Jinnan front.

"Send a telegram to the division headquarters immediately!" The brigade commander, Major General, turned his head and gave instructions to the telecommunications staff officer beside him, and then explained to his chief of staff in the telephone receiver. Kawabe Osa was quite excited to hear this, and was able to kick the ball to the division and regiment headquarters, and the chief of staff of the brigade was of course happy to see it.

One order after another was given with great vigour: the squadron of the Nara Infantry Brigade in the temporary barracks on the southern outskirts of Bunjo was immediately mobilized and marched along the road to Lingshi County in nine trucks; At the same time, the cavalry regiment of the Mongolian Xinjiang Army in the garrison of Fengdian County, and an infantry squadron of the Nomura Brigade of the Otsuka Wing were also dispatched overnight, marching from the direction of Guanmen Mountain to Lingshi County, preparing to copy the rear road of the Zhina Army; The Lingshi County garrison and Captain Maori, who was fighting on the railway line in the northern suburbs of the county, were told that they had to stay put, hold back the footsteps of the Chinese army, and wait for reinforcements to arrive to counter-encircle and annihilate them.

Soon after, the division headquarters in Yuncheng, Jinnan, telegraphed back that in view of the importance of the railway transportation line, Lieutenant General Sena had ordered the commander of the Kato Brigade to transfer two infantry squadrons from the Linfen defenders and immediately rush north by train to relieve the siege of Lingshi County.

Hagiwara Akira, who was sitting in the Wencheng Brigade Headquarters, breathed a sigh of relief, he raised his hand and patted his forehead, and there were words in his mouth: Providence is like this, and it is just this opportunity to gather and annihilate most of the remnants of the local Chinese army!

Of course, Colonel Qin Zhongxiao of the Central Army had no way of knowing about the series of deadly deployments that the Japanese army was implementing, but he also knew very well in his heart that the action of besieging the Japanese army column must be fast, and now the time has passed midnight, and there are at most five hours before the dawn of the day, in these five hours, his troops must not only end the battle and withdraw from the battlefield, but also leave enough time to return to the camp of the Eighth Route Army at the foot of Guanmen Mountain, of course, it would be more ideal if they could directly return to the old nest of Big Elm Mountain.

But the situation on the battlefield is much less than it could be!

The Japanese troops up and down the ranks were extremely stubborn in defense, and the firepower was beyond their imagination. The four infantry companies that had thrown themselves into the attack had not been covered by the darkness of the night, and they were afraid that they would have suffered heavy casualties at this time. And the enemy's battle damage is still unknown! Judging from the eight carriages carried by the military train, the enemy who will come to the aid will definitely not exceed one infantry squadron, but it can have such a powerful firepower, which should be based on the infantry unit, and the equipment of heavy weapons has been additionally strengthened.

"Tuanza! Let the brethren stand down again, and I'll keep bombarding these shit! ”

The commander of the artillery company also apparently saw that his attack was blocked, and shouted eagerly from the sidelines.

Qin Zhongxiao has his own plan, that is, to strive to capture more light and heavy weapons and equipment to aid the Japanese army, this plan has been buried in the battle plan, and now he finds that the besieged Japanese army really has a lot of good guys, and he has strengthened the determination of the colonel of the Central Army; At this time, if Krupp artillery is allowed to pass, it is obvious that the jade will be burned, which he does not want to see.

"Report, the second battalion of the Xu Brigade of the friendly army on the left flank sent a liaison to ask about the battle situation of our unit and whether we need assistance!"

An operational staff officer at the regiment headquarters suddenly ran up and said to Qin Zhongxiao. On the latter's face, a trace of anxiety suddenly passed imperceptibly: It's really a pot that can't be opened! The battle to besiege the Japanese army is at a stalemate, and the Eighth Route Army, which is fighting in a joint operation, is coming to the door again!