Li Mancang, the second lieutenant platoon commander of the 8th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 569th Regiment, was directly called to the brigade headquarters of the 12th Brigade of the Jin Army to be interrogated by the commander.

As soon as the brigade chief of staff came up, he first asked about the whereabouts of Captain Xiao Junping, a former intelligence staff officer at the brigade headquarters. To this day, the second lieutenant platoon commander who personally participated in the battle of Dawangyu in Xiaoyushan can only truthfully tell everything that happened on the battlefield at that time, although he still has a deep prejudice against the Eighth Route Army, but when it comes to rescuing the officers and soldiers of the Jin Dynasty from the iron hooves and sabers of the Japanese cavalry, Li Mancang still expressed considerable awe.

"After the battle, didn't you see the people of the Eighth Route Army carrying Staff Officer Xiao away?" The question was asked by the brigade commander Zheng Yuan himself, a major general of the Jin Army, who was particularly fond of Xiao Junping, an intelligence staff officer who was born in a university and had a background in Japan, and is still haunted by his bizarre disappearance.

The platoon commander of the second lieutenant with a beard on his face subconsciously touched one of his missing ears—that was the wound left by the sharp saber of the Japanese in the tragic infantry and cavalry battle at Dawangyu—and replied with a slight hesitation: I didn't see it with my own eyes, but when I found that Staff Officer Xiao was gone, the people of the Eighth Route Army had already withdrawn. In order to prevent accidents, he himself personally led his subordinates to search the battlefield and determined that there was no Xiao Junping.

"The facts are clear!" The chief of staff of the 12th Brigade couldn't help but shoot the case: "It was the Communist Eighth Route Army that took advantage of Xiao Junping's unconscious to abduct him and abscond." At that time, they already knew that the young man was an intelligence staff officer of our brigade headquarters and had important value, so they carried out kidnapping and abduction in an attempt to commit misdeeds. ”

The brigade commander of the major general nodded and agreed with the chief of staff: "No matter what the motives of the Eighth Route Army are, hijacking friendly officers without authorization is a rebellion." Platoon Commander Li, after returning to Wencheng, why didn't you know about it, and what did you want? ”

Seeing that Zheng Yuan suddenly turned his head to himself fiercely, Li Mancang was startled, and he was speechless and speechless for a while. It wasn't until Lord Brigade was about to have another attack that he eagerly explained: "I was already exhausted from fighting with devils at that time, and I had to beware of the Eighth Route Army taking advantage of the fire to rob and snatch our guns and ammunition when cleaning up the battlefield, so I didn't bother to pay attention to Staff Officer Xiao for a while—besides, our department did not send a military doctor to accompany him that day, and after Xiao Shen fell into a coma, it was the Eighth Route Army that took the initiative to send medical soldiers to rescue him; Unexpectedly, they hid a knife in their laughter and took the opportunity to take him away...... It's just that he didn't see it with his own eyes at that time, so he didn't dare to talk nonsense after returning to Wencheng. ”

Hearing the other party's words, the brigade commander Zheng Yuan's anger decreased slightly, and he immediately turned his head and instructed the chief of staff: immediately record a testimony for Li Mancang and send it to the headquarters of Chief Yan by telegram.

"Brigade seat, should we directly send someone to Guanmen Mountain to find the Eighth Route Army to ask for Staff Officer Xiao back?" The commander of the 569th Regiment Zheng who was present was Li Mancang's unit commander, so he interjected and asked.

Zheng Yuan glanced at his own nephew, then looked at the chief of staff, and finally made a denial: "It's useless, since the Eighth Route Army dares to hijack it, it is expected that it will not admit it, let's go to the door to ask for it, we will only touch the nails, and we will take the humiliation in vain!" ”

The chief of staff also echoed his remarks, saying that the only way to negotiate this matter was to negotiate with Zhu De (author's note: at that time, as the commander-in-chief of the 18th Group Army, and also the deputy commander of the Second Theater of Operations) through the headquarters of the commander of the Second Theater of Operations.

"I'd love to know first, how did the Eighth Route Army place Staff Officer Xiao?" Zheng Yuan continued to vent with a dark face: "He was already a captain with us at that time, and with his qualifications and ability, it was only a matter of time before he was promoted to major. What benefits can that group of dirt eight roads give Staff Officer Xiao and make him die to stay effective? Presumably it's just hijacking and intimidation! Pity that young man in the prime of life, I am afraid that he is now suffering a living sin. ”

Wencheng, Dongguan Street on the Cheng Ruixiang Silk Village, the business at the moment is quite prosperous, a morning of time, before and after more than a dozen customers, there are still three or five people in the store with great interest to choose the goods. And the female partner Sun Nier, who accompanies them, is already very busy.

At the same time, the shopkeeper surnamed Chen of the Silk Village stood in the corner of the store most of the time, and never stepped forward to entertain - Chen Xuanzhu, the deputy captain of the enemy labor team of the Xu Brigade Detachment of the Eighth Route Army, was obviously not a qualified cloth businessman.

Chen Xuanzhu's eyes rarely paid attention to the customers in the store, but frequently stared at the door of the silk village, he was waiting for someone. Xiao Junping, the captain of the enemy engineering team, went out early in the morning to give gifts to Meng Longsheng, the man of the hour in Wencheng and the captain of the detective team, and has not returned yet.

As long as the names of Meng Longsheng and Xiao Junping are connected, the deputy captain Chen of the enemy engineering team of the Eighth Route Army is troubled by Yousheng - the former Wencheng was born as a ruffian, and became more and more insatiable after becoming the leader of the traitors; The latter is a big deal, spending the ocean like flowing water. As soon as these two people come into contact, it means that the Xu Brigade Detachment of the Eighth Route Army will be very bankrupt again!

A few days ago, in this storefront, "cousin" Xiao Junping ignored the opposition of his cousin, the shopkeeper, and feasted Meng Longsheng with a sumptuous hot pot. And got a piece of information from it, and the next day he hurriedly sent it back to Xiping Village at the foot of Guanmen Mountain.

So far, this information about the transfer of an infantry wing from the Japanese Hagiwara Brigade from the front line in the southwest of Shanxi Province has not yet been confirmed, and whether it has any important help to the Xu Brigade Detachment dozens of miles away, Xiao Junping once again took the initiative to find the Japanese traitor captain to inquire about the situation.

Of course, this time the inquisition was not in vain, and the two large jars of good wine from a time-honored Fenjiu winery in the city must have been accepted by Meng Longsheng at this time.

Undoubtedly, it is a lot of money! Chen Xuanzhu, who was patrolling the corner with his hands behind his back, silently recited with annoyance. If it weren't for Wu Zijian, the leader of the Xu Brigade Detachment, who had explained in advance and agreed to use the funds at his own discretion as an underground intelligence point in Silk Village, then he would have strictly stopped Xiao Junping's spending behavior, even if the other party was his top boss.

Several customers in the store obviously bought the goods they wanted, and at this time, they were walking out of the door with large bags and small wraps, and several guys, including Sun Nier, were courteously delivered to the door. It is said that out of politeness and rules, he, the shopkeeper, should personally send off the guests, but Chen Xuanzhu, who was in a state of confusion, did not move his steps.

And almost at the moment when the guests disappeared from the door, the curtain was lifted, and a young figure flashed in. The appearance of this figure finally made the shopkeeper of the silk village move, and he took three steps and two steps to rush forward. But when the two were more than a foot apart, Chen Xuanzhu saw the other party's signaling eyes, so he swallowed back the words that came to his mouth, turned around and walked to the inner hall first.

The young man glanced at the storefront of the silk village again and confirmed that there was nothing abnormal, so he followed in the footsteps of the shopkeeper and followed in - Xiao Junping, the former intelligence staff officer of the Jin Army 12 and now the captain of the enemy engineering team of the Xu Brigade Detachment, was vigilant all the time.

"Two jars of good wine have been given away? That Meng head won't get up early in the morning and start drinking, right? ”

In the inner hall, Chen Xuanzhu, who was the deputy captain, asked Xiao Junping without respect, and his face was also very ugly.

The young enemy captain did not respond to his deputy at this moment, not because it was commonplace, but because he already had something important to report: "Old Chen, it seems that the devil has already made a move, the Japanese Saijo Wing in the western suburbs of Wencheng was dispatched a few days ago, and the target was the base of the Eighth Route Army in Guanmen Mountain!" ”

The expression on Chen Xuanzhu's face suddenly froze, and he was stunned for a moment before he asked a little sneeringly: Where did you know that? Meng Longsheng told him? Is his message reliable?

A few days ago, in addition to quickly informing the detachment leader Wu Zijian of the information that the Saijo Wing was transferred back to Wencheng and the western suburbs of the garrison, Xiao Junping also arranged for two enemy engineers lurking in the silk village to go out of the city to investigate the movements of this enemy army, but no abnormal movement was found at that time.

However, just this morning, at the headquarters of the Chinese Detective Team, the Japanese secret service agency in Wencheng, Meng Longsheng, who was the captain, personally told him that almost all the Japanese in the barracks in the western suburbs had been dispatched a few days ago to fight the Eighth Route Army in Guanmen Mountain. To this day, the barracks should be empty.

"Not only the Saijo Wing, but also the Otsuka Wing's barracks in the eastern suburbs of Bunjo Castle also dispatched a lot of troops, and it is said that they also aimed at the foot of Kanmen Mountain." Xiao Junping's fair face revealed anxiety: "It's been a few days, if the Japanese army makes a move, our Hekou Village and Xiping Village base areas, including several villages in the lower reaches of the Qinglong River, may have become one." But we are living in the lair of the Japanese, and we don't know anything! ”

"That traitor captain surnamed Meng can know so much confidential information? He was just a dog raised by the Japanese, and would his master tell him about the military operations? Chen Xuanzhu asked suspiciously.

Xiao Junping's head shook slowly, but he said affirmative words in his mouth: "Don't underestimate this Meng Longsheng, whenever the Japanese army has a big action inside and outside Wencheng, Kojima Masao's secret service will participate, and now Kojima relies on the detective team composed of traitors, so he almost revealed all the big and small things to the detective captain, so that he could organize his subordinates to cooperate." ”

The deputy captain of the enemy engineering team seemed to want to argue, but was stopped by his own captain in an almost stern tone: "Old Chen, now is not the time to argue about these senseless questions!" We must take immediate action and send separate people to the barracks in the western and eastern suburbs to inquire in order to obtain solid information; At the same time, I sent people back to the foot of Guanmen Mountain to reconnoiter and find out how far the battle was going on there - I have a very bad premonition that the total strength of these two barracks of the Japanese army on the outskirts of Wencheng is more than a wing, and if they are all dispatched to attack Guanmen Mountain, Captain Wu will not be able to withstand it at all! ”

Chen Xuanzhu was a little dumbfounded: "Okay, you are the captain, you make the decision." But I still have reservations—bribing a traitor to gather intelligence is simply unreliable—"

"Execute the order!" The enemy captain's patience finally reached the limit, and he lowered his voice and roared. Sun Nier, who had just walked in the door, was frightened, and the tray full of broken tea cups in her hand suddenly tilted, and one of the teacups fell to the masonry floor, "pop", and shattered.