The 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army and the 3rd Company of the 1st Battalion of the 391st Regiment of the Central Army, which alternately covered the retreating from near the railway line, gradually formed a tacit tactical understanding, echoed each other, and took turns to resist the Japanese army's cover; The cavalry company of the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade, under the command of Xia Lianshan, took advantage of the speed of the war horses to attack and harass the flanks of the Japanese pursuers from time to time. In this way, they fought and retreated, all the way to the direction of Guanmen Mountain.

The retreat, which had been relatively smooth, suddenly came to an abrupt halt in front of it. Wu Zijian, deputy commander of the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade, received a report from the deputy commander of the 5th Company, who had retreated in advance, and could not help but be taken aback when he learned that a large number of Japanese trucks had appeared in the front. At this moment, the deputy battalion commander of the Eighth Route Army also instinctively guessed: Could it be that the Japanese reinforcements dispatched from Fengdian County have been interspersed in place and intercepted their own retreat? ! Where is Wei Xin? What happened to the 7th Company?

A series of surprises surged into Wu Zijian's heart. At this time, the team responsible for alternate cover was the turn of the 391st Regiment 1st Battalion and 3rd Company, Wu Zijian almost rushed to the place where the Japanese truck fleet stopped with the main force of the 5th Company, of course, there were no more trucks left in front of him except for the wreckage that was destroyed and burned.

"What kind of troops are fighting with the devils over there?" The deputy battalion commander of the Eighth Route Army stared at the battlefield where the fierce battle was raging on the left flank and asked.

The deputy company commander of the 5th Company hurriedly replied that it was the main force of the second battalion of the 391st Regiment of the Central Army, which was originally ordered by the commander of Qin Zhongxiao to prepare to go to the direction of Hekou Village to assist the Eighth Route Army in blocking the Japanese reinforcements from Fengdian, but on the way it encountered the enemy and has been fighting until now; Zhang Hong, chief of staff of the 391st Regiment, led another company to join the battle just now.

"Doesn't look right!" Wu Zijian said to Li Tianlin, the commander of the 5th company beside him: "These devils drove out of Fengdian County in the north, how could they park their trucks in this area? ”

Li Tianlin touched his nose, and also pointed to the battlefield on the left flank and said: "It's wrong, when the deputy company commander and they withdrew, they saw the truck blocking in front, and there were not many guards guarding it." But the battlefield is in the north, but the devil drove the car in a circle here, and then jumped out of the car and ran to the battlefield two or three miles away to fight, which is a bit unreasonable. ”

Suddenly, Wu Zijian's heart suddenly moved: "Unless the Japanese soldiers in these trucks are not coming from Fengdian County in the north!" ”

At this time, Zhao Yejiao, the artillery platoon commander who had been gathering beside them, immediately responded: "Deputy battalion commander, you reminded me of this!" Before the bombardment of the little devil's truck, I took two assistants to the vicinity of the long line of cars to observe the firing range, and I remember very well at that time that the front of the little devil's car was parked towards the north! ”

As soon as the words fell, several commanders of the Eighth Route Army suddenly shook each other: I see! The nose of the car was facing north, indicating that the Japanese convoy was coming from the south - south? Then there are only towns along the Nam Dong Pu Railway! Which town? Han Xinling, Huo County, and Hongdong, the previous intelligence showed that there were no heavy Japanese troops stationed; And Zhao Yejiao made it clear that there were more than a dozen Japanese trucks that were attacked just now! More than a dozen, that should be carrying hundreds of Japanese troops, such a huge reinforcements, where did the Japanese transfer them from? And it's so fast!

Wu Zijian already had an ominous premonition, it seems that the Kuomintang and Communist armies, who were fighting together tonight, had underestimated the intensity of the reaction of the Japanese command! At best, it was thought that the Japanese Hagiwara Brigade Headquarters sitting in Wencheng would mobilize some reinforcements from the local area, and at most add the troops that might be dispatched from Fengdian County, and move closer to Lingshi County together. However, now it seems that at least the dozen or so troop trucks coming from the south are not from Wencheng and Fengdian. This group of Japanese reinforcements, which can be called a new force, did not realize its true origin until they arrived on the battlefield and joined the battle, and the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade and the 391st Regiment did not realize their true origin.

"Immediately find a way to notify the nearest Central Army troops," Wu Zijian gave an order to the people in the battalion headquarters around him: "The Japanese army has increased its troops, and a large number of new reinforcements are coming from the south, and it is very likely that the balance of forces between the enemy and us has changed fundamentally, and the evacuation progress must be accelerated!" ”

"Is it unbearable for the seventh to be there?"

Li Tianlin, the commander of the 5th Company, looked at the general direction of Hekou Village from afar, and said worriedly that he was worried about the situation of Wei Xin's 7th Company: the 391st Regiment rushed over to support the troops of the 7th Company and encountered the Japanese army head-on halfway, and it was very likely that the blocking position near Hekou Village had been broken through.

The deputy commander of the second battalion nodded: "Send someone to the area of Hekou Village again, give Wei Xin an order, and ask him to act with a camera and lead the 7th Company to withdraw into the Guanmen Mountain Pass at any time; At the same time, let Wang Shuanglong's troops defending Hekou Village also be ready to withdraw into Guanmen Mountain - the Japanese suffered a loss tonight, and they will send troops to carry out a sweep and retaliation! ”

The sound of gunfire from the west gradually began to approach again, and it was the first battalion of the 391st Regiment that resisted the Japanese pursuers in three consecutive companies. Li Tianlin confessed to his deputy battalion commander, waved the pony pistol in his hand, and took the four platoons of the 5th Company back to replace the Central Army.

Wu Zijian ordered the deputy company commander of the fifth company to separate the two platoons at hand and immediately cover the advance of the artillery platoon in Zhao Yejiao to Xiping Village in the front: The artillery platoon just now showed its might and destroyed the Japanese army's automobile fleet. At present, it is necessary to ensure that they are safely withdrawn from the base area with their men and artillery.

As soon as Zhao Yejiao and the others left on their front feet, Deputy Battalion Commander Liu of the 1st Battalion of the 391st Regiment withdrew panting with his third company, and Wu Zijian immediately informed him of the enemy situation and changes on the battlefield. When Deputy Battalion Commander Liu heard that the entire second battalion of the regiment had fallen into the battlefield on the left flank at this moment, and the regimental chief of staff had also personally thrown himself into it, he couldn't help but burst into a burst of fire. He thought that he was the last force on the battlefield tonight with the 3rd Company of the 1st Battalion and the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Eighth Route Army, and the main force of the regiment should have withdrawn into Xiping Village a long time ago; Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, half of the troops of the whole regiment actually started a melee with the Japanese army here again!

In a hurry, Deputy Battalion Commander Liu wanted to take the third company to the battlefield on the left flank, but was persuaded by Wu Zijian in time, and he suggested that the other party should be deployed on the spot, and at the same time quickly contact the head of Qin Zhongxiao to ask for an idea: the Japanese army chasing from the direction of the railway line will arrive in a blink of an eye, and it is very important to support this position under the feet, if it is lost here, the retreat of the second battalion of the 391st Regiment on the left wing will be completely closed, thus falling into the encirclement of the Japanese army.

The deputy battalion commander of the Central Army suddenly felt that the deputy battalion commander of the Eighth Route Army was reasonable, so he began to arrange the defense line in a hurry, he knew that Wu Zijian only had one platoon of troops left, and the defense line here could only be dominated by the Central Army.

"You put the light machine guns in front as much as possible, I left a Makqin, wait for Li Tianlin to retreat for a while, and use machine gun fire to suppress the Japanese pursuers first!" Wu Zijian hurriedly said to Deputy Battalion Commander Liu. The latter secretly gave the other party a thumbs up, admiring Wu Zijian's meticulous scheming.

Kosuke Otsuka's command knife flashed a faint cold light in the night, and the blade was pointed, and the two infantry squadrons under his command charged towards the opposite Shina Army position.

Soon after the attack began, Otsuka received a call from the headquarters of the Hagiwara Brigade in Fumijo, informing him that the deputy captain of the Nara Infantry Brigade, Captain Mori, led the forces of nearly two squadrons, had left the railway line to pursue the Shina Army more than ten miles away, and should be approaching Otsuka's team from the county seat of Toyodian; The Linfen reinforcements were transferred to trucks and interspersed with the main battlefield. Major General Hagiwara asked Kosuke Otsuka to pay attention to these two friendly and neighboring forces at all times, and once they were in contact, they would take over the command in an all-round way and make unified arrangements for the encirclement and annihilation of the main force of the Shina Army.

Otsuka Kosuke was excited: The imperial army outflanked from three directions, together there are almost six infantry squadrons, that is, the total strength of the two brigades, no matter how arrogant the army that jumped out tonight is, it will not be able to withstand the combined attack of the two imperial army brigades after all!

According to the distance that the Maori captain is currently chasing out provided by the brigade headquarters, Kosuke Otsuka judged that the team that was fighting with the Shina army directly in front of him could not rule out that the Linfen reinforcements had arrived. However, to the confusion of the Japanese captain, the battle situation on the opposite side suddenly turned from fierce to dull, and it seemed that the Imperial Army was adjusting its ranks, but its tactical purpose was unknown.

"Attack through the gap in the positions of the Chinese army!"

Kosuke Otsuka noticed that the enemy forces on the opposite side had been split into two parts, so he ordered one squadron to concentrate on attacking the positions of the Shina Army supported by heavy machine guns, while the other squadron broke through the split zone and tried to join up with the friendly forces in front as soon as possible.

He did it.

The person who was mobilizing on the opposite side was indeed the Linfen reinforcements, and the commander Kikuchi Shaozo quickly came to report to Otsuka. Wing Commander Osa didn't look down on the staff officers who sat in the headquarters at all levels and talked about the troops on paper, but when he patiently listened to the report of the staff officer from the Kato Brigade Headquarters of the division and regiment, he was even more angry: the staff officer in front of him who led the troops to fight actually timidly turned the offensive into a defensive position on the premise of a successful sneak attack and superior forces, and abandoned the important truck fleet without authorization, disregarding its safety!

Kosuke Otsuka resisted the urge to slap the other party - Kikuchi Shaosa was not from the Hagiwara Brigade after all, and he always had to save some face for the commander of the Kato Brigade - and ordered Kikuchi to immediately lead a squadron to the area where the truck convoy was shelled (it was only two or three miles away) and make every effort to rescue the truck convoy. At the same time, another squadron of the Linfen reinforcements continued to attack the Zhina army that had just sneaked up from behind, they had been cut off by the imperial army, and their strength and firepower were not very strong. Otsuka ordered that it must be annihilated in one fell swoop.

The Japanese wing commander himself took a squadron and stayed where he was, nervously monitoring the battlefield. He was to use this squadron as a general reserve, waiting for Captain Maori to chase and drive more of the Chinese army to arrive; Only at that moment can the total number of enemy forces be estimated and then encircled and annihilated.

At this moment, Kosuke Otsuka has always been confident that the reinforcements he brought out from Fengdian County, and its forwards, have blocked the Shina Army escaping from the railway line in time - as for the situation that a battalion and artillery company of the 391st Regiment of the Central Army had already arrived at Xiping Village at the foot of Guanmen Mountain before that, the Japanese wing commander had no idea - finally, he heard the gunfire coming from the direction of the railway line and getting closer and closer, and soon, Captain Maori's telegraph was also connected, The opposing party reported to the wing commander that the headquarters was chasing the broken troops of the Chinese army, but was stubbornly resisted by them all the way, and was now approaching.

Broken Rear Troops?!

Kosuke Otsuka gasped: Why did Maori drive out the broken troops of the Shina Army? From the observation just now, it can be seen that the total strength of the enemy army in several local battlefields is about two or three hundred, and if the current Chinese army that is fighting and withdrawing against Captain Maori is only responsible for the broken rear troops, at best it is only one or two hundred people—is this the entire main force of the Chinese army tonight? The Hagiwara Brigade Headquarters had previously reported that the enemy attacking the railway line and Lingshi County had many heavy artillery, where did their heavy artillery go?!