Pingquan County in the south of Jinnan is located in the east direction of Hanxinling, an important town of Tongpu Railway, and the two are more than 40 miles apart, almost on a parallel horizontal line. Perhaps because of the distance between Pingquan County and the Tongpu railway line, the Japanese army has never sent a single soldier to this area since the beginning of the war in Shanxi.

The brigade headquarters of the 12th Brigade of the Jin Army and the main force of the 569th Regiment are currently stationed in Pingquan County, and the other 570th Regiment is entrusted by the brigade headquarters with the task of setting up a defensive line in the west and north directions outside Pingquan County; And due west is guarded against by Hanxinling Town of Tongpu Railway; Tian Mingda, the commander of the 570th Regiment, deployed the two battalions under his command in this direction: with the west gate of the county seat as the central axis, the third battalion on the left, and the second battalion on the right.

Of course, Tian Mingda hated the role of the brigade commander for letting his 570th Regiment act as a shield: a role like this had already been played once outside Wencheng. But the military order could not be violated, he asked the second and third battalions to build fortifications at the specified location, and at the same time personally led the most elite battalion, ran to a small village outside the north city gate, and set up his regimental headquarters - he didn't want to be a shield, it was clear that if the Japanese killed from the direction of Han Xinling, the distance in a straight line would only be thirty or forty miles, and the position of the second and third battalions in the west of the city would be the first target.

It is obviously much safer to the north of the city. From Pingquan all the way to the north, the nearest county seat is Fengdian, which is seventy miles away, there is no decent highway between Pingquan and Fengdian, and there are dozens of villages of different sizes along the rural dirt road on the bank of the Qinglong River. Although Fengdian was also occupied by the Japanese, if the Japanese army there wanted to rush to Hiraizumi, it would take half a day.

After the arrival of the brigade commander Zheng Yuan, he scolded Tian Mingda's 570th Regiment for its escape outside Wencheng; After scolding, everything has to go as usual -- now that the war is raging, no commander who leads the troops dares to destroy his arms, just like the phenomenon of Yan Xishan tearfully slashing Ma Jian and shooting Li Fu, the commander of the 61st Army who lost the defense area, at the beginning of the war last year, I am afraid that it will be gone forever.

"Li Fu faked death, and the formation of the 61st Army was also disabled, and then didn't Chief Yan give the title of commander of the 61st Army to Chen Changjie again?" In the regimental headquarters that had just been built outside Beicheng, Tian Mingda once shouted to his adjutant and chief of staff: "The Jin Suijun has just a few numbers, and a fool will kill his relatives and really take his own people." Chief Yan is shrewd, and he is not stupid as Brigade Commander Zheng. ”

The chief of staff of the regiment was most worried that the brigade commander would punish the 570th regiment on the grounds of fleeing from the battle, but after all these days, he was still safe, and he finally felt that the regiment seat was more old and calculating.

"Tuanzao, the brigade commander left our regiment outside the city to feed the wolves this time, obviously he still wants to use us as cannon fodder, if this habit is developed by the brigade commander, I am afraid that the life of the 570 regiment will become more and more difficult in the future."

Worried about the words were Tian Mingda's captain and lieutenant, who had now gained a foothold outside the city of Pingquan, but the whole regiment was frustrated and dissatisfied with the cruel reality of being expelled from the city.

"It's not good, but it's okay!" The commander of the Jin army was also upset by this, and raised his foot and kicked over a charcoal brazier with ashes in front of him: "As long as Lao Tzu keeps the more than 800 guns in his hand, he will not be able to live a bad life." Chief of Staff, you immediately draw up a plan for requisition of grain, and immediately send troops to the countryside to collect grain in the next two days. Grandma's, Lao Tzu is an anti-Japanese team, whoever dares not to support it will be punished for sabotaging the anti-Japanese war! ”

In the days when the Pingquan County Government was stationed, Tian Mingda had already learned that the county's wealth was not enough to allow Fengdian, and although the prosperity could not be compared with a railway city like Wencheng, there was still a lot of oil and water to squeeze. Now that the brigade commander has expelled himself from the county seat, I am afraid that the oil and water in the city will not be able to be fished, so I will have to fight the idea of the countryside.

was guessed correctly by Tian Mingda, and Zheng Yuan, the brigade commander of the 12th Brigade of the Jin Army, really did not dare to kill the fleeing regiment commander. He himself led the main force of the brigade all the way from the front line of Lingshi County on the Tongpu Railway Line to flee here, a brigade of more than 3,000 people, now only 2,000 people remain, the car is gone, and the baggage brought out from Wencheng is almost lost. At this moment, if there is some chaos among the people and horses, it is difficult to say how long he, the brigade commander, can be in the future.

After arriving in Pingquan, the 12th Brigade of the Independent Army re-contacted the Yan Commander's Department in the Second War Zone, and the other party ordered the 12th Brigade to temporarily stand by in Pingquan and wait and see what happened.

It is said that after the loss of Lingshi, Wei Lihuang, the former commander-in-chief of the enemy in the Second War Zone, once wanted to lead the remaining elite of the Central Army: Li Mo'an's 14th Army and Liu Maoen's 15th Army, preparing for a decisive battle with the main force of the Japanese Sena Division that was pursuing south in Hanxinling Town, south of Lingshi, but in the end it failed. The Wei commander then retreated south along the Tongpu Road, and soon after the news of the loss of Linfen came. It is rumored that Commander Yan has taken the remnants of the main force of the Jin army and retreated into the mountainous area on the border between southwest Jin and Shaanxi, ready to cross the Yellow River west to take refuge in Shaanxi at any time. In these days, the news that the Japanese Sena Division had conquered Quwo, Wenxi, Houma and even Yuncheng came one after another, which meant that the Central Army of Chief Wei had retreated to the line of Zhongtiao Mountain, the southernmost point of Shanxi, and if it retreated again, it would also cross the Yellow River and withdraw from Shanxi.

Looking at the military map, the brigade commander of the 12th Brigade of the Jin Army broke out in a cold sweat - if Chief Yan went to Shaanxi and Chief Wei went to Henan, Shanxi would be equivalent to declaring a complete fall. As an independent brigade, he will not even have a backing to rely on in the future, and he will completely become a lone wolf in the lonely and occupied area.

Will the Japanese who have their hands free next clean up their lone wolf? After all, Pingquan County is only a few dozen miles away from the Tongpu Railway to the west!

Where will you run again? It is definitely not possible to go west to the north, Han Xinling, Lingshi, and Fengdian are already the world of the Japanese; To the east, there is the southern foot of Guanmen Mountain and the Taihang Mountains, and the poor ravines can't support their own 2,000 people; You can only continue south. However, according to the previous intelligence of the Commander's Department of the Second World War Zone, the Xiayuan Division of the First Army of the Japanese North China Front Army was transferred to form a mixed detachment and attacked along the highway from Handan, Hebei Province into Shanxi.

The position of the 12th Brigade of the Jin Army has actually become an urn for the Japanese to catch turtles!

Zheng Yuan thought desperately. The headquarters of Chief Yan ordered the 12th Brigade to hold on to Pingquan in place, and now he finally understood the meaning: he could only hold on "where he was".

Recently, however, the scouts sent by the brigade headquarters kept coming back to report, and finally let him know that there were two other friendly armies in the vicinity that were connected with the same fate: the remnants of the 17th Army of Gao Guizi, the "Central Army" from Shaanxi, were currently stationed in Qinyuan County, southeast of Pingquan County, about 60 miles away; The main force of the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army Forest Division was active in the Wuxiang and Qinxian areas of the Taihang Mountains that he was unwilling to go east, about 100 miles away.

Gao Guizi's Seventeenth Army? Forget it, they are nominally the Central Army, but in fact they are the Shaanxi Army, last year's Battle of Pingxingguan in Northern Jin, the 17th Army lost an important regimental entrance, which indirectly led to the collapse of the entire campaign, and was angrily reprimanded by Sun Chu, the general of the Jin Army of Chief Yan; In this regard, the 12th Brigade of the Du, which was still stationed in Wencheng at that time, was well aware of it. According to the information obtained by the scouts this time, the 17th Army that is currently in Qinyuan County is nominally an army, but in fact there is only one 84th Division; They are neither the descendants of the Central Army with strong combat power, nor the soldiers on the ground in Shanxi, and they may not be able to be entrusted at this time of crisis.

As for the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army, it is not worth mentioning, they are not even as good as the 17th Army of the Shaanxi Army. What's more, as early as when Wencheng was stationed, the headquarters of Chief Yan warned the 12th Brigade Headquarters of the Independent Brigade to pay attention to the infiltration and expansion of the Eighth Route Army in the local area; This is clearly an intention to distrust or even restrict. At that time, I heard that the Eighth Route Army's Lin Division Xu Brigade was still active at the junction of Shanxi and Hebei on Zhengtai Road, but I didn't expect that they would now be interspersed in the South Taihang area. But what kind of fame can a single brigade make?

Zheng Yuan, who was in a hurry, thought about it left and right, but did not come up with a foolproof strategy. It seems that the only way to resign yourself to this Pingquan County is for the time being! I hope that Chief Wei can still resist to the death at the end of Tongpu Road, after all, the central army has many guns, as long as they do not retreat across the Yellow River and withdraw from Shanxi, their own side will still be dependent. I also hope that the hand of the Japanese will not be so long, and they will not think of coming to capture Pingquan County for a while.

He called a staff officer at the brigade headquarters and marked on the map the location of the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army Forest Division in the Taihang Mountains, and at the same time marked the location of the 17th Army of the Central Army. It is gratifying to note that judging from the map, the activities of these two friendly armies are due east and southeast of Pingquan County, and if the Japanese Army's Xiayuan Division, which is currently occupying southern Jinnan, turns around and covers the kill, the Eighth Route Army's Forest Division's Xu Brigade and the Central Army's 17th Army will be able to stand behind their flanks and take the lead in fighting the Japanese army. It's kind of a barrier.

Similarly, if the main force of the Sena Division of the Japanese Army along the Tongpu Road came from the direction of Han Xinling, then the two battalions of the damned Tian Mingda 570 Regiment were now placed in the western suburbs of the county seat, and they could also resist bullets and artillery fire for themselves first. It's a big deal, I will take the main force of the 12th Brigade to run into Taihang Mountain or Guanmen Mountain to fight guerrillas; I don't believe that the Japanese are willing to endure hardships and chase into the poor ravine!

Thinking of this, the Jin Army Brigade Commander's nervous mood was relieved, and a slight smile appeared on his face. The brigade staff officer, who had just been hunched over and busy on the map for a long time, watched Zheng Yuan's brows go from frowning to stretching, and mistakenly thought that the brigade master was satisfied with his clean and neat work on the map, and he grinned proudly.

"What the fuck are you smirking at?"

Zheng Yuan, who didn't know what was going on, frowned again, looked at the staff officer who was poking in front of the table and didn't move, and reprimanded. The staff officer was startled, put away his smile awkwardly, and slipped away in embarrassment.

Looking at the back of this staff officer fleeing, the brigade commander of the Jin army couldn't help but sigh. He once again remembered the shrewd and capable right-hand man beside him in the past: Captain Xiao Junping. Since he was lost to the front line in Fengdian together with the telecommunications squad of the brigade headquarters, staff officer Xiao Junping has not been heard from. The officers and soldiers sent to escort insisted that Staff Officer Xiao was wounded and taken away by the Eighth Route Army who rescued them.

The second battalion of the Lin Division Xu Brigade!

This is the number of the Eighth Route Army that was remembered by the remnants of the soldiers who fled back later and rescued them and Staff Officer Xiao. Damn, isn't the Eighth Route Army that went out to Wuxiang County, Taihang Mountain, the Lin Division Xu Brigade!? Could it be that Staff Officer Xiao was with them?

"Report," Suddenly, the platoon commander of the brigade headquarters stood at the door: "The commander of the 570th regiment sent someone to report that the first battalion of the department had just intercepted a small unit of the 18th Group Army north of the county seat, and the officer leading the team claimed that there was a letter written by their commander to present to the brigade commander. ”

Zheng Yuan was taken aback: The Eighteenth Group Army? Isn't that the Eighth Route Army, I really say Cao Cao, Cao Cao is here!

"What part are they? What level of prefect's handwritten letter? ”