Wu Zijian, the commander of the Xu Brigade detachment who was stuck on the east bank of the Qinglong River, was actually ready to abandon this line of defense and retreat into the Guanmen Mountain Pass - before that, the non-combat team and material baggage of the entire detachment had been completely withdrawn into Guanmen Mountain under the personal command of political commissar Liu Shu, so it was of little significance to desperately defend Xiping Village, which had already fallen halfway.

However, after retreating across the riverbank, the Eighth Route Army gradually found that the Japanese soldiers pursuing to the opposite bank were not in a hurry to attack, and they initially tried to charge from several improvised bridges, but after being blocked by the fire of the Eighth Route Army, they quickly stopped moving. And in the face of the shallow Qinglong River, there is no intention of wading and crossing.

As a result, the two armies launched fierce fire on the bank of the river more than two miles long across the river more than a dozen zhang wide. A small number of soldiers on both sides hid behind groves of groves on the shore, while many more relied on the courtyards of houses along the shore for cover. Of course, the vicinity of the four small bridges on the river is a natural place where both the offensive and defensive sides focus their troops.

At this moment, there are four chief officers of the Guanmenshan Detachment of the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army commanding operations on the east bank of the Qinglong River, Qi Biao, deputy commander of the third battalion in the northernmost part near the head of the village, Wei Xin, commander of the second battalion in the south, and Wu Zijian, the leader of the detachment, and Liu Shu, the political commissar of the detachment, in the center.

The reason why Liu Shu, who had already retreated to Guanmen Mountain, returned was to supervise Wu Zijian not to risk fighting to the death, and this Xiping Village would be defended if it could be defended, and abandoned if it could not be defended, and the most important thing was to keep the fire of the entire detachment and leave it for a comeback in the future.

But with the beginning and continuation of the offensive and defensive battle on the riverbank, not to mention Wu Zijian, even Liu Shu sensed the weakness of the Japanese offensive. Compared with the waves of fierce attacks launched on the outer defense line of Xiping Village in the afternoon and evening, the Japanese army at the moment is simply a cloud. One of the important signs is that there is no artillery fire, and the heavy fire coming from the other side of the river, only the heavy machine guns roar and breathe fire at several points!

The officers and men of the Guanmenshan detachment of the Xu Brigade had no way of knowing that the seven Type 92 infantry guns that had been bombarding indiscriminately all afternoon had already followed another group of invading Japanese troops and pursued the first battalion of Wang Shuanglong and the Xia Lianshan cavalry company along the lower reaches of the Qinglong River. The Japanese soldiers on the other side of the river, who had lost artillery support, also seemed to have become less brave and ferocious, and cautiously cowered behind all kinds of cover, firing one shot after another at the other side of the river.

The commander of the Eighth Route Army was jealous of this unusual situation, and he guessed that the Japanese might be making a feint to attract our attention by making a frontal feint, and then organizing another force to quietly cross the river from both ends of the Qinglong River outside the village, and then sneak attack the head and end of the village. But this speculation also fell through, and Qi Biao and Wei Xin, who were ordered to urgently strengthen the defense force at the head and end of the village, were later reported to be safe.

The exchange of fire continued across the river, and the Japanese abandoned the move after several more attempts to strike from the bridge and were thwarted. This undoubtedly gave the commanders and fighters of the Eighth Route Army on the other side of the river stronger and stronger self-confidence.

It wasn't until the cavalry company commander Xia Lianshan sent people to report the battle situation - the first battalion and the cavalry company were pursued by a large number of Japanese troops, and retreated to Lihuapu Village to establish a defensive position, and is currently relying on the terrain of the village to block the pursuing soldiers - Wu Zijian suddenly woke up:

"Damn, no wonder the Japanese here don't shoot artillery, the dog's day is used in the direction of the lower reaches of the Qinglong River!"

While scolding, the commander of the Eighth Route Army took advantage of the moonlight that had just emerged from the clouds, and struggled to observe the opposite bank: the reason why the Japanese offensive suddenly became negative was also found, and their main force was chasing Dalong (the nickname of the first battalion commander Wang Shuanglong) and Lianshan's men and horses, fantasizing that they could annihilate them in one fell swoop in the unobstructed plain, and then return to Xiping Village. The Japanese troops on the other side did not dare to launch a general offensive across the river at will due to insufficient troops and the loss of artillery cover, and their tactical intention was to contain and wait for the return of the main force before making a big move.

"Old Wu, according to your analysis, then what are we still doing here?" Liu Shu, the political commissar who has never left the left and right, also glanced at the other side through his glasses: "Waiting for the main force of the Japanese army to come back to deal with us?" Isn't this a matter of sitting back and waiting to be killed? ”

Wu Zijian pondered for a long time and did not answer, and he was very conflicted in his heart. Unwilling to give up the base area, he felt that with the strength of the three companies at hand, he could hold the Hedong defense line, that is, half of Xiping Village. But if the main force of the Japanese army, which was pursuing the lower reaches of the Qinglong River, turned around and killed, the situation could turn sour.

Just when it was difficult to choose, the communication troops of Hekou Village suddenly arrived from the direction of the village, and unexpectedly brought a big surprise to everyone: The sixth company of the second battalion of the 391st Regiment of the Central Army, on the order of the regiment commander Qin Zhongxiao, sent reinforcements from the station, and at this moment had secretly arrived at the outskirts of the village head of Xiping Village, intending to launch a flank attack on the Japanese troops occupying the west of the village.

Wu Zijian and Liu Shu couldn't believe their ears - an entire infantry company of friendly reinforcements fell from the sky, which would play a decisive role as a counterbalance to the dreary battle situation of the confrontation at this time. The political commissar was still suspicious, but the commander of the Eighth Route Army had already begun to consider a new battle plan, preparing to use this support force to attack inside and outside, and in one fell swoop to expel the Japanese troops entrenched on the other side of the river from the village.

"Immediately quietly pull out the 4th Company of the 2nd Battalion from the defensive position, concentrate it at the end of the village and stand by, and let their battalion commander Wei Xin personally command!"

Wu Zijian decisively gave the order. At present, the 4th Company of the 2nd Battalion is divided into troops to guard the bridgeheads and left and right of the four small bridges on the Qinglong River to prevent the Japanese army from breaking through from the bridges.

"Old Wu, don't act rashly," Liu Shu pushed the glasses on the bridge of his nose with his fingers, and persuaded with a nervous expression: "You withdraw the troops on the defense line on the river bank, what should you do if the enemy takes advantage of this time to forcibly cross the river?" ”

"Political commissar, don't worry, the Japanese don't have the guts, if they want to cross the river, they would have crossed it a long time ago, how can it be delayed until now!"

The detachment leader ignored Liu Shu after perfunctory, and turned to the two communication soldiers from Hekou Village to teach them face-to-face, so that they could go back and explain to the commander of the Central Army's reinforcements - Li Tianlin, this guy couldn't hold back, and even sent a platoon of troops to guide friendly troops over without authorization! However, the first task now is to drive away the Japanese troops on the other side of the river, and to "settle accounts" with the detachment's chief of staff for violating military orders.

Twenty minutes later, the counterattack launched by the Eighth Route Army and the Central Army started from three directions at the same time!

First of all, Wei Xin, the commander of the second battalion of the Xu Brigade Detachment, led a company to quietly leave the village from the end of the village, wade through the Qinglong River, and detour back to the right flank of the Japanese army.

The officers and men of the Japanese Takagi Brigade, who were lying on the southern edge of the village on the opposite side of the river, did not expect to kill the enemy from this direction at all-Captain Saijo had already led his troops to drive away the enemy from the south before dark, and was still in pursuit.

The 4th Company of the 2nd Battalion commanded by Wei Xin made a clean and neat cut-off move, and was extremely familiar with the terrain of Xiping Village, so it only took five or six minutes for the whole company to sweep into the village from the south, quickly occupy a favorable position, and squeeze the Japanese army nearly 100 meters away. And controlled a small bridge in the southernmost part of the Qinglong River in the village, echoing the 5th Company of the Second Battalion on the opposite side of the bridge.

Takagi Shaosa, the commander of the Japanese army who was sitting in the center of the village, was also stunned by this sudden situation, and after withstanding the initial chaos, he immediately organized a squad of troops to prepare to launch a counterattack and recapture the lost area south of the village. At the same time, another squadron remaining in the far west of the village was called to reinforce an infantry squad.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, a dense firefight suddenly sounded in the direction of the village in the north - it was the 6th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 391st Regiment of the Central Army, under the guidance of a platoon of the Eighth Route Army, which rose from outside the village in the north, and also poured into the village like a bamboo, and also pressed the Japanese troops there to retreat to the central zone again and again.

For a while, the captain of the Japanese army had a feeling that he had seen a ghost alive - did these damn Chinese troops all fall from the sky!

"The two wings will be resisted to the death, and if you take a step back, you will be immediately court-martialed!" Takagi Shaoza roared hysterically, and the southern 14th pistol in his hand was even pulled twice in the sky to strengthen the effect of "military sanctions".

After all, the Saijo Wing was the elite of the Japanese standing division, and the two flanks that had been assaulted only experienced a short period of fluctuations before quickly stabilizing their positions and blocking the opponent's continued squeezing forward.

But at this moment, the commander of the Eighth Route Army launched a frontal offensive again, and he ordered Qi Biao, deputy commander of the third battalion, to lead the 8th company of the 3rd battalion to stay on the east bank defense line, and he personally commanded the 5th company of the 2nd battalion to wade and charge across the river.

This fierce charge from the front completely shook the Japanese defenses on the west bank, and in a short period of time, a squadron of the Takagi Brigade, which had been attacked from three sides, was forced to retreat along the route they had attacked into the village in the evening.

Fortunately, with the timely response of another infantry squadron left in the west of the village, Takagi Shaosa's troops were not completely expelled from the village, but they could only barely hold on to the narrow edge of the west of the village, and they could only barely hold on to the narrow edge of the village—half a step back, and behind them was the wilderness outside the village!

While commanding the resistance, Takagi Shaosa urgently called his wing commander: After so much time, what are the two infantry squadrons and one artillery squadron under the command of Saijo Osa rubbing!?