The 391st Regiment of the Central Army in the Great Elm Mountain passed a message through flying pigeons and learned that the heavy troops sent by the Japanese army from Wencheng were attacking the base of the Eighth Route Army at the foot of Guanmen Mountain. The last news Qin Zhongxiao received was that the Japanese advance had begun to attack Xiping Village, and there was no sign of fighting in the direction of Hekou Village.

When the 391st Regiment had just received this news, it was greatly shocked - after the joint attack on Tongpu Road, Qin Zhongxiao had judged that the Japanese army was very likely to send troops to retaliate, but the enemy's reaction was so fast and the troops were so swift that it still exceeded expectations. The colonel of the Central Army even had the idea of sending part of his troops to the foot of Guanmen Mountain to reinforce the Eighth Route Army, but it was strongly opposed on the spot by Wang Suihua, a female major of the military commander, and Zhang Hong, chief of staff.

It wasn't until the flying pigeon sent a message again - the Xu Brigade Detachment of the Eighth Route Army had been fighting fiercely with the invading Japanese army for an afternoon, and was ready to be forced to abandon the Xiping Village base area, and part of the troops withdrew into Guanmen Mountain; The other part was withdrawn to the defense area of the 12th Brigade of the Jin Army in the lower reaches of the Qinglong River. At the same time, the 391st Regiment was informed that in view of the imminent withdrawal of the Eighth Route Army from Xiping Village, the transmission of flying pigeons between the two sides was suspended to prevent the carrier pigeons from falling into the hands of the Japanese troops occupying the village.

This last news made Qin Zhongxiao feel heartache and blame himself - the Eighth Route Army in Xiping Village fought alone and was defeated by the heavy Japanese army, but during this period, his 391st Regiment never moved! Thinking about the previous joint attack with Pulu and the Xu Brigade Detachment of the Eighth Route Army, it was too ruthless and unrighteous to fight as a friendly army this time.

"Chief of Staff, I order the second battalion to be dispatched immediately!" The colonel of the Central Army, who had learned from the pain, finally made up his mind: "Two companies launched a feint attack on Fengdian County, and one company took the opportunity to drive to Hekou Village at the western foot of Guanmen Mountain - the intelligence sent by the flying pigeons of the Eighth Route Army shows that Hekou Village has not yet been attacked by the Japanese army, but if the Japanese army attacks there next, we will send a company to help the field." ”

When Qin Zhongxiao gave this order to his chief of staff in the regiment headquarters, the female major of the military commander who was a guest was not present. Zhang Hong tasted the face and resolute tone of Lord Tie Qing of the Tuanza, and did not dare to directly oppose it for a while, but only proposed a feint attack on the scale of two companies, I am afraid that it may not pose any threat to Fengdian County, which is a strong city. Unexpectedly, this further aroused the anger of the colonel of the Central Army, who stomped viciously on a low wooden bench next to the charcoal brazier with his leather boots, and shouted: "If the two infantry companies are not a threat, then pull the artillery company out!" When we were sending reinforcements at the Tongpu Road Siege Point, our heavy artillery was embarrassed and arrived home, and now it's time to correct the name - let them aim at the Fengdian city wall for me, and hit it to the death! ”

When the second battalion and the artillery company began to mobilize nervously, Wang Suihua, who discovered this abnormal movement, hurriedly found Qin Zhongxiao, questioned the reason, and immediately advised Qin Tuanzuo to think twice - wait for his men to go out to Fengdian City and rush to Hekou Village, but he is afraid that the Eighth Route Army has withdrawn into Guanmen Mountain, and this move may not be able to help the other party.

The colonel of the Central Army, who had made up his mind, patiently explained to Wang Suihua: This is a plan to kill two birds with one stone, and it is best to indirectly help friendly troops, even if it fails to do so, then the heavy fire attack on Fengdian County will also play a covering role in the special service company team that is conducting reconnaissance in Little Elm Mountain at this moment.

Hearing the Tuanzuo adults mention the reconnaissance of Little Elm Mountain, the female major of the military commander couldn't help but move in her heart, and then looked at Qin Zhongxiao with quite complicated eyes, wondering whether the other party's so-called statement of killing two birds with one stone was true.

At this time, Chief of Staff Zhang Hong suddenly proposed that it was already dark, and it was best to change the actions of the Second Battalion and the artillery company to tomorrow at dawn, so that the heavy artillery of the artillery company could have a clear firing range, otherwise, once the bombardment of the Fengdian city wall was inaccurate, the shells would fall into the city and injure innocent people.

This proposal really made the colonel of the Central Army hesitate. He knew that his artillery company was not skilful in manipulating the heavy guns that had been captured not long ago, and this weakness had been exposed during the previous attack on Tongpulu; If there is another mistake in the bombardment of the Fengdian city wall at night, it will indeed pose a threat to the civilians in the county. However, at present, the Japanese army is attacking the base of the Eighth Route Army at the foot of Guanmen Mountain, and if you wait until dawn, I am afraid that the daylily will be cold!

"Tuanza, we might as well compromise," the chief of staff quickly put forward his new suggestion: "The second battalion first sent a company, took advantage of the night to go out of the mountain, and rushed to Guanmenshan Hekou Village overnight to support the Eighth Route Army there; The main force of the second battalion and the artillery company, tomorrow after dawn will go out of the mountain to launch a feint, what do you think? ”

After hearing this, Qin Zhongxiao not only secretly cursed the sleek cunning of the chief of staff, this proposal not only satisfied part of his desire to reinforce the Eighth Route Army, but also lightly avoided the action of launching an attack on Fengdian County overnight. Zhang Hong, who is known for his golden mean, let him understand his profound skills this time.

The female major of the military commander on the side immediately echoed her words, praising the chief of staff's suggestion for being bold and relaxed, which is the safest way to play at present.

A helpless wry smile appeared on Qin Zhongxiao's face - on the issue of dealing with the Eighth Route Army, Major Wang and Chief of Staff Zhang can be regarded as a perfect match.

In the end, he had to take Zhang Hong's advice. At the same time, he explained to Wang Suihua, stating that he did not blindly want to support the Eighth Route Army regardless of it, and the action against Little Elm Mountain was always put in the first place by him; The reason why the second battalion was dispatched was to leave the most elite first battalion in the direction of Little Elm Mountain.

The beautiful female major of the military commander smiled at this moment, expressing her great affection and gratitude.

However, the situation has changed.

At night, a small group of scouts of the spy company that had been secretly roaming in the northwest suburbs of Fengdian County for the past few days, before Qin Zhongxiao was about to fall asleep, hurriedly reported an emergency: the Japanese soldiers and the cavalry of the puppet Mongolian army in Fengdian City had just suddenly opened the west city gate in the night and swarmed out, and the number of people was quite large, and they went straight to the eastern foothills of Xiaoyushu Mountain, seeing that the situation was blocking several mountain passes located in the eastern foothills!

This sudden situation suddenly made a group of people, including Qin Zhongxiao, Zhang Hong and Wang Suihua, unprecedentedly surprised and nervous - the four teams led by Zhao Mutou, the commander of the spy company, are now reconnoitring in Little Elm Mountain; The Japanese puppet army in Fengdian County suddenly made this big move in the middle of the night, could it be that Zhao Mutou exposed his hiding and caused trouble!?

The scouts of the spy company cruising in the northwestern suburbs of Fengdian were the size of a squad, and they were in position to follow Zhao Mutou's reconnaissance teams into the mountains, the purpose of which was to wait and respond in that area, and at the same time monitor the movements of the enemy troops in Fengdian County. As a result, on this night, they waited for it.

The headquarters of the 391st Regiment quickly convened an emergency meeting.

At that time, the 6th Company of the Second Battalion had quietly gone out of the mountains to Hekou Village, Guanmen Mountain, under the leadership of the company commander Captain Zhu Xingyun - Zhu Xingyun was the first liaison officer of the 391st Regiment and was in charge of exchanges with the Eighth Route Army, and was quite familiar with the battalion and company-level commanders of the other side.

At the same time, the main force of the second battalion has also been mobilized by the battalion commander Chen Hao and is ready to feint to attack Fengdian County the next day; The artillery company's preparations were also deployed, just waiting for dawn.

But the ghost thing is that Fengdian has not been attacked by their own side, and the Japanese puppet army in the county town actually ran out first, and they blocked the various mountain passes at the eastern foot of Little Elm Mountain, and now it seems that it is almost certainly against the reconnaissance team of the 391st Regiment Special Service Company - although it is not yet known what happened to Zhao Mutou and them.

"We can't wait any longer!" The colonel of the Central Army yelled at his subordinates in the regimental headquarters in pain, and he now regretted that he did not insist on launching a feint attack on Fengdian tonight: "Chen Hao's second battalion will be drawn immediately, and the artillery company will follow!" ”

After undoubtedly giving this order, Qin Zhongxiao immediately asked Chief of Staff Zhang Hong and First Battalion Commander Li Jiayu to draw up another battle plan - since the Japanese puppet army blocked the Xiaoyushu Mountain Pass overnight, the 391st Regiment should not only consider launching a feint, but should immediately respond to this change and send the main force to attack the enemy troops blocking the Xiaoyushu Mountain Pass, so as to open the passage and receive the reconnaissance team of Zhao Mutou's special service company to return safely.

The female major of the military commander who attended the emergency meeting as an observer already had a strong sense of foreboding in her heart at this time, and she agreed with the possibility that the reconnaissance team of the special service company had exposed the possibility of hiding in the Little Elm Mountain, but she didn't know if that guy Zhao Mutou and his subordinates had found valuable information so far? Perhaps, the conspiracy of the Japanese hidden in Little Elm Mountain has been discovered by the reconnaissance team of the special service company, so there is undoubtedly only one step left before he and the Shanxi Station of the Military Command uncover the mysterious "Wind Plan"! Where are you now, O wood, and what have you found!?

While Wang Suihua's thoughts were surging, several officers of the 391st Regiment began to quarrel on the side:

-- Li Jiayu, commander of the 1st Battalion, strongly advocated an immediate attack on the Japanese puppet army blockading the eastern foothills of Little Elm Mountain, seizing at least one mountain pass on the one hand, and sending scouts to contact and receive the reconnaissance team of the special agent company in the mountain.

-- Chief of Staff Zhang Hong has a negative attitude towards this, on the grounds that it is not appropriate to capture the mountain pass at the eastern foot of Xiaoyushu Mountain too early without knowing the position prescribed by the reconnaissance team, so as not to incur a counterattack and competition by the Japanese army's heavy troops, and on the contrary, it will be unfavorable to Zhao Mutou and them.

-- The regiment commander Qin Zhongxiao then simply proposed that the main force of the second battalion, which had already set out, would no longer carry out the task of feint to attack the county seat, but work with the first battalion to flank the Japanese puppet army blockading the eastern foothills of Xiaoyushu Mountain. As for the feint attack on the county seat, the artillery company could provoke the girder, and if necessary, the third battalion would draw another company to cooperate with the artillery company.

Of course, Zhang Hong did not approve of throwing both battalions into the attack on the eastern foothills of Xiaoyushu Mountain, because in case he could not receive the personnel of the reconnaissance team of the special service company at the first time, he had to prepare for the worst plan for the Japanese army to continue to increase his troops, so as to prevent his main force from being surrounded and annihilated at the foot of Xiaoyushu Mountain!

When he heard that the regiment was going to transfer the company of the 3rd Battalion, which was responsible for the defense of the Great Elm Mountain, Li Jiayu proposed that the forces of the alert defense area should not be easily pumped to prevent the Japanese army from sending another troops to sneak attack—it was better to immediately recall the 6th Company of the 2nd Battalion, which had rushed to the foot of Guanmen Mountain to support the Eighth Route Army; As a result, Qin Zhongxiao categorically refused.

Seeing that several officers of the Central Army in full uniform were fighting over each other, the female major of the military commander who felt that she could not interject quietly instructed a telecommunications staff officer in the regiment headquarters to prepare a radio station, and she wanted to draft a telegram to be sent to the second military intelligence group in Wencheng, and asked the male agent Li Yan to immediately organize people to probe the movements of the barracks of the Japanese army's Saijo Wing in the western suburbs of Wencheng, and reply the telegram in time.

With extraordinary intuition, Wang Suihua faintly realized that if the reconnaissance behavior in Little Elm Mountain was really exposed, the Japanese would organize a counterattack at all costs, except for the Japanese puppet army in Fengdian County, which had just been dispatched overnight, it was more likely that heavy troops would be sent in the direction of Wencheng!

A few hours later, her instinct became a reality.