As soon as the words of the first battalion commander Wang Shuanglong fell, the cavalry company commander Xia Lianshan was anxious - before leaving, the detachment commander gave the order to the two commanders to move to the flank of the Japanese army in a roundabout way, waiting for an opportunity to launch an attack, focusing on the enemy's weakly defended rear team (such as the truck team, the baggage team, etc.), and leave with one blow and not fall in love. However, at this moment, Wang Shuanglong actually asked the cavalry company to attack the truck team alone, while he himself planned to lead the whole battalion to attack the main force of the Japanese army, which was absolutely impossible!

"Dalong, don't be reckless!" Xia Lianshan called out the nickname of a battalion commander: "You and I have seen it, there are almost a thousand Japanese troops in front, I am almost certain that this is an infantry brigade, you take a battalion to fight them, where is there a chance to come back alive!?" ”

Wang Shuanglong's first battalion was formed with the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade of the former Lin Division (the then company commander was now Li Tianlin, the chief of staff of the detachment) as the main team, and it can be called the most elite trump card of the entire detachment at present. But even so, in terms of overall firepower, this elite of the Eighth Route Army, which has more than 300 people, still cannot compete with an infantry squadron of less than 200 Japanese troops. What's more, there were as many as several squadrons of Japanese troops facing the front at this time, and they had obviously been reinforced with artillery fire.

Unexpectedly, in the face of the dissuasion of the cavalry company commander of his comrade-in-arms and brother, Wang Shuanglong, the commander of the first battalion, was unmoved: "Lianshan, this devil is attacking the forward position of Xiping Village, you should know that the strength of the detachment leader and his two companies will not last long; If you and I don't do anything here, our base will be over! ”

Xia Lianshan also refused to budge, he pointed to the wilderness outside the forest and said: "In such a large open field, the distance between the enemy and our army is at least two miles in a straight line, and the Japanese will find out before you are halfway through the charge, if they set up crane guns to strafe them, won't you and the brothers of the first battalion be sent to death in vain!?" ”

Wang Shuanglong was also anxious, and forcefully broke Xia Lianshan's hand holding half of his arm, and roared: "Don't you see that the front team of the devils has begun to charge?" We're running out of time! The detachment commander deployed a main battalion plus your cavalry company in this direction, not for us to attack a single truck team, which would have no effect on the whole situation! I don't care if you can't get on it, I have to take the whole camp with me! ”

After shouting at this, Wang Shuanglong no longer paid attention to the cavalry company commander, and instead began to make tactical arrangements for the company commanders of the three companies of the first battalion gathered around him.

Xia Lianshan, who had no skills to return to the sky, sighed: "Okay, originally Captain Wu asked the two of us to discuss, since you have made up your mind, I have nothing to say - but you must promise me that my cavalry will attack the Japanese truck fleet first, cause chaos to their rear team, and attract their attention, and then you will be surprised by the side!" ”

"That's it!" The commander of the first battalion only patted Xia Lianshan on the shoulder sincerely at this moment: "Be careful, although the cavalry is fast, the target is also big, I don't want to watch you become the target of the Japanese!" ”

"Don't worry, let's continue to run west for a while, completely go around the back of these devils, and attack their truck directly, there won't be too many Japanese soldiers guarding there."

After a brief mobilization, the cavalry of the Xu Brigade detachment all led their horses by hand and carefully sneaked out of these woods on foot, and walked dozens of meters before they got on their horses and began to gallop in the direction of Tongpu Road.

Seeing the cavalry company gradually moving away, Wang Shuanglong gave an order: all the infantry of the three companies moved forward into the woods and prepared to charge. He noticed that the artillery bombardment had completely stopped in the camp of the Japanese army in front of him, and it was obvious that the devil's infantry was attacking the forward position in Xiping Village.

He leaned against the side of a tree trunk, anxiously waiting for the start of Xia Lianshan's cavalry.

Bunjo, the headquarters of the Hagiwara Brigade of the Japanese Army, has just received a telegram from the battlefield of Xiping Village from the commander of the Saijo Wing: Our Wing has arrived at the outskirts of Xiping Village, the artillery has completed the attack on the forward positions of the Eighth Route Army, and the Takagi Infantry Brigade is carrying out a ground offensive.

Brigade commander Akira Hagiwara instructed his operational staff officers to immediately inform Chief of Staff Osa, Kawabe, who was sitting in the barracks of the Saijo Wing on the western outskirts of Bunjo, by telephone the contents of the telegram.

The Eighth Route Army in Xiping Village really had no artillery support—the brigade commander, Major General, muttered with satisfaction, which came from two aspects: first, Saijo Shigehei's troops were spared from being subjected to artillery fire from the communist forces; The second is that this important information was learned and reported in advance by Hosaku lurking in Xiping Village: this is obviously due to the hard work of the head of the secret service, Masao Kojima.

On the wide table of the commander of the Japanese brigade, there are also reports on the battle situation from the headquarters of the First Army of the North China Front (Taiyuan) and the headquarters of the Sena Division (Yuncheng), all of which are related to the Fourth Master Regiment of the First Army to encircle the Zhina Army in the Taihang Mountain area in the southeast of Shanxi Province by nine routes.

Looking at these battle reports on the table, Major General Hagiwara fell into meditation for a moment - although it was nominally a joint attack by the four master regiments, in fact, the Yamaoka Division dispatched from Zhengtai Road, the Nakajima Division dispatched from the junction of Hebei and Shanxi, and the Sena Division dispatched from Tongpu Road on his own side only sent a small force to give momentum cooperation; The real main force of the attack was only the Xiayuan Division that had recently entered the Hanchang Highway and the Lintun Highway in the southeast of Shanxi Province as a whole. Therefore, the so-called Nine-Way Encirclement is nothing more than a fancy battle plan, and whether or not this campaign, which was personally instigated by Lieutenant General Xiangyue, commander of the First Army, can achieve its campaign objectives depends entirely on the success or failure of the Xiayuan Division, the main force of the attacking force.

It's really hard enough for Xia Yuan Xiong Mi! Hagiwara fiddled with the telegram on the table, and shook his head with a wry smile - the Xia Yuan Division only drove into the southeast of Shanxi with half of its troops (a mixed detachment) a month and a half ago, occupying strategic points such as Licheng, Lucheng, and Changzhi along the Handchang Highway, but soon after, in the Shentouling area near the county seat of Changzhi, it encountered the insidious calculations of the Xu Division of the Eighth Route Army, and lost more than 1,500 people after the tragic battle, which completely shocked the North China Front Army Headquarters.

Subsequently, the front army and the headquarters of the First Army ordered the main force of the Yuan Division to move into the Shanxi region as a whole, in addition to occupying the original counties and towns along the Handchang Highway in the southeast of Shanxi, but also advancing north to the Tunlin (Tunliu to Linfen) highway, pointing directly at the Zhina Army entrenched in the Taihang Mountains (focusing on the main force of the Xu Division of the Eighth Route Army, the Xu Brigade of the Lin Division, and the other part of the Third Army of the Central Army). Therefore, this time the Nine Roads were encircled, and the Xia Yuan Division became the vanguard of the emergency.

"I must be ashamed of the Snow God Touling!" The commander of the Hagiwara Brigade, who was hundreds of miles away, stared at the words of the lower Yuan Division in the telegram in his hand, and continued to talk to himself.

The battle reports so far show that the two brigades of the Xia Yuan Division, each dispatched a complete infantry wing, divided into left and right wings, broke through the defense line of Zeng Wanzhong's division of the Third Army of the Central Army of the Chinese Army, attacked the hinterland of Taihang Mountain, and are actively looking for the main force of the Xu Division of the Eighth Route Army and the Xu Brigade of the Lin Division for revenge.

Suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps sounded at the top of the staircase, interrupting the train of thought of the concentrating brigade commander, and with the report of his staff officers, the chief of staff, Kawabe Osa, hurried in.

"Shigehei Saijo has started at the foot of Kanmon Mountain!" The chief of staff of the river side walked straight to the table of the brigade commander, Major General, and said, "I hope they can successfully take Xiping Village." ”

"Just in time, Kawabe-kun," Hagiwara asked, handing the telegram in his hand to the other party as he asked, "How is the 2nd Infantry Brigade preparing for battle?" ”

"General, I am already doing my best, there will be a batch of munitions and baggage in the direction of Taiyuan later today, and I will check it when the military train arrives at the station to see if I can make up for the heavy equipment needed by the second brigade."

The second brigade mentioned by the two of them was the Second Infantry Brigade formed by the Saijo Wing, which was formed after the reduction and concentration of the broken formation, and was ready to be used to attack the Central Army of the Shina Army in the Great Elm Mountain; At present, although the troops are in order, mortars, heavy machine guns, and other equipment need to be further replenished.

"Soon, I have informed Kosuke Otsuka, who is stationed in the county seat of Toyoden, that they have replied that they can temporarily support the 2nd Infantry Brigade of the Saijo Wing with three or four mortars and two heavy machine guns. You can take this part of the heavy firepower into account. ”

The chief of staff of the river nodded in agreement, and at the same time read the telegram in his hand, and as he read it, he suddenly raised his head and asked: "General Tomamidi personally went out to command and kill into Taihang Mountain?" ”

General Tomamidi, the brigade commander of one of the two brigades under the jurisdiction of the Xiayuan Division, the fourth floor of Tomamidi, and the Gongteng Wing under his command were the right wing troops of the Xiayuan Division that attacked the hinterland of the Taihang Mountains. The battle report shows that Major General Tomamidi commands the Gongteng Wing, which is currently approaching Liao County.

Hagiwara Akira, who is also at the level of brigade commander and major general, did not speak, but nodded slightly sympathetically - compared to himself commanding in a big city on the Tongpu railway line, the situation of the commander of the Tomamichi brigade at the moment is undoubtedly much more difficult and dangerous!

"It seems that the Xiayuan Division has a heavy responsibility on its shoulders, and whether it can encircle and annihilate the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army and its main force in one fell swoop in the Taihang Mountains depends on the offensive of their two wings, one left and one right."

The chief of staff of the riverside, who was also watching the fire from the other side, also commented with emotion; However, he immediately read a telegram transmitted by the headquarters of the Sena Division, which said: An infantry brigade dispatched by the Kato Brigade of this division has entered Qinyuan County, a hundred miles east of Puluhuo County, and has encountered stubborn resistance from the 84th Division of the Central Army of China stationed there, and is making slow progress. This telegram finally made the chief of staff of the riverside frown. He knew that the attack on Qinyuan County was one of the tasks assigned by the First Army Headquarters to his division and regiment in the Nine-Way Encirclement Operation, and if the offensive there was blocked, it would undoubtedly seriously affect the overall offensive action of the division and regiment.

Perhaps, the responsibility that weighed on the shoulders of him, the chief of staff of the brigade, would be even heavier.

Sure enough, the commander of the Hagiwara Brigade projected a sharp gaze from across the table, as if urging him to make up his mind.

Riverside Osa couldn't help but feel his heart tighten, and he felt a cool breath emerge from his spine.