Songjiagou is an abandoned small railway station, when the station was built, it was considered that this was a freight station, so there was no waiting room (box office), only a small station room was built. A narrow, single-track track leads to the bare platform, which is both the end and the starting point.

The reason why Kosuke Otsuka let the main force of the wing camp overnight at this small station in the ravine was because of the tempering of the troops.

Through the just-concluded battle of Fengdian, Otsuka saw the slackness of this elite team of his subordinates, including himself, after more than two months of living in the camp, the former fierce and stoic style has almost been corroded by half.

He remembered a series of bloody battles before and after the capture of Niangzi Pass last year. At that time, the United Force was really a passionate field force. At that time, Kosuke Otsuka was only a captain of the wing.

At that time, because the army commanded by Itagaki Seishiro was in the frontal battlefield of Shanxi, and the Chinese army was desperately pushed at Xinkou, and it was difficult to move an inch, and the North China Front Army Headquarters decided to open Niangzi Pass along Hebei and attack Shanxi from the flank to support the Itagaki Division.

This task was given to the Hagiwara Brigade of the Sena Division, and the striker fell on the head of Otsuka's wing. From the beginning of the capture of Jingcheng, the whole team attacked with all their might, storming Xuehua Mountain and Jiuguan, their opponent was Sun Lianzhong, the ace general of the Chinese army, and Huang Shaohong, the deputy commander of the second theater of operations, personally supervised the battle; From the beginning of the battle to the middle of October, the wing repelled repeated counteroffensives of the Central Army, but also paid a heavy price, including the death of the deputy wing commander; Kosuke Otsuka was promoted to deputy wing captain for his bravery in battle.

Subsequently, the main force of the Hagiwara Brigade and the entire Sena Division followed up as a whole one by one, and launched a general attack on Niangzi Pass, in the fierce battle, Otsuka Kosuke's wing captain was also seriously injured, Otsuka Kosuke took over as the wing captain on the line of fire, and led the team to smash the Niangzi Pass defense line, and drove straight into the land of Shanxi.

This is by far the most glorious resume of Kosuke Otsuka's military career, and he himself has always been proud. Therefore, when he found out that the combat effectiveness of the wing had declined, it was absolutely intolerable. After the Battle of Toyoden, the courage of the soldiers was restored, and Otsuka also indulged them after the war to get inspiration from the flesh of the Shina woman. But this should be a shallow taste, the battle to attack Wencheng is just around the corner, and these warriors cannot be lost in the land of gentleness.

At night at the small ravine station, it is colder than the wilderness outside Fengdian City. The men and horses of the Otsuka United, centered on the small station, covered this ravine.

At this time, Kosuke Otsuka began to turn his attention to this abandoned station: why did the brigade commander ask him to bring a squadron of sappers and indicate that this sapper should stay at this ravine station? Topographically, it is located in the mountains, and behind the platform of the small station is an equally abandoned mine: Shanxi is rich in coal, and that mine was once a rich coal mine.

Certainly not for the sake of digging coal - Otsuka himself was amused by the idea. So for what? From a military point of view, this place is easy to defend and difficult to attack, but sending a squadron of sappers to guard here is to prevent anyone from attacking?

The captain of the wing, who has rich combat experience, can't help but be full of suspicions.

The sound of clattering horses' hooves interrupted Kosuke Otsuka's meditations; In the ravine where the cold wind howled, the sound was still clear. Otsuka knew that it was Iwata Shaozo who had returned with the cavalry. As soon as he arrived at the small station and set up camp, Dazuo ordered the cavalry squadron to send a small team to patrol and reconnoiter along the railway line outside the mountain, but it stopped when it entered the area of the mountain pass, and it was not allowed to go out of the mountain, let alone get close to the city of Wencheng. After Iwata received the order, he personally led a team to carry it out.

The wing commander was afraid that the cavalry squadron would encounter something unexpected. Iwata, after all, was temporarily assigned to him by the division and regimental headquarters, and he had already lost his troops in an accident, and dozens of cavalry corpses were cremated in Fengdian County. Otsuka did not want to develop to the point where he could not explain to the brigade commander or even the division commander.

"Report to Dazuo, the cavalry has been carefully searching near the mountain pass, and nothing has been found." Iwata entered Kosuke Otsuka's field tent to report.

"Good work, Shaozuo," Kosuke Otsuka said kindly, and asked the other party to sit down: "I have decided that after the main force of the wing will be drawn to Wencheng tomorrow, your cavalry squadron will stay here to guard along with the engineer squadron. ”

The cavalry squadron leader couldn't help but be stunned: "Dazuo, why is this?" The cavalry should be the vanguard, and they should have entered the city of Wencheng in advance to investigate. Besides, what is the value of guarding this small and dilapidated railway station with rusty railroad tracks? ”

Kosuke Otsuka laughed - the descendant of this Hokkaido rancher, there is no shortage of humor.

"Iwata-kun, frankly, I don't think this place has any military significance, but the brigade commander was instructed by Lieutenant General Sena to guard Songjiagou Station. So, follow orders. ”

Kosuke Otsuka deliberately brought out the division commander, Lieutenant General Sena, because the Katsura Palace Cavalry Wing, to which the cavalry squadron belonged, was directly under the division headquarters, and in a sense, even the commander of the Hagiwara Brigade had no right to command.

"Dazuo, did you lose confidence in me and my subordinates because of the defeat of the cavalry squadron a few days ago?" Iwata was rather unconvinced and said, "Could it be that the knights with swords are going to perform the same task as the sappers with shovels and pickaxes?" ”

Hearing such a question, Otsuka couldn't help but be a little annoyed in his heart: these self-righteous cavalrymen always felt that they were a head above the infantry (not in terms of the height of the horse compared to the ground, of course), and they did not take the lowest-ranking sappers seriously. But after all, the cavalry is the darling of the division and regiment, and they are used to being arrogant, and the wing commander is not easy to refute strongly.

"Shaozuo, don't get me wrong. The occupation of Songjiagou and the stationing of sappers this time obviously have profound significance. Since the division and regiment headquarters did not say it explicitly, you and our soldiers should obey unconditionally. Leaving your squadron is also considered to be quick and convenient to communicate back and forth. Tomorrow, I will leave another squad of infantry, and I will be under your command at that time, and I hope Iwata-kun will do his best! ”

"Hey!" The commander of the cavalry squadron accepted the order unwillingly, but helplessly.

While Iwata's cavalry was searching along the mountain railway line in the twilight, outside the mountain, Zheng Yuan, the commander of the 12th Independent Brigade, also ordered the 570th Regiment deployed on the outskirts of the city to send troops to patrol along the railway line from Wencheng to Songjiagou.

The regiment commander Tian Mingda sent a platoon, of course, this platoon only inspected a place more than a mile away from the mountain pass, and then returned; They did not enter the mountains at all, otherwise, they would have run into a cavalry squad of the Japanese; It is even possible to find that in that abandoned railway station, there is already a wing of devils stationed.

After receiving the platoon commander's routine inspection report, Tian Mingda took the adjutant and his party and rode into Wencheng with a swagger.

Wencheng, located on the Tongpu Railway Line, has a population of more than 200,000, which is a big city in Shanxi in 1938. The city is densely populated with houses, shops, and commerce.

The purpose of Tian Mingda and his entourage into the city was to eat, drink and have fun, because it was already dinner time, so they went straight to the famous Baoyuan Restaurant in the city.

Baoyuan Restaurant is located in the east of the city, a street with more than 20 tables, leaning on the corner of the street, with two floors above and below, scattered seats and private rooms. The chef of the restaurant, it is said that he was a popular case in the time-honored brands of Datong and Taiyuan, and won the true inheritance of the cuisine of Jin cuisine North Road and Middle Road. Every noon and evening dinner, the restaurant is full of friends and noisy.

However, in the past two days, because some of the people who fled from Fengdian flowed into Wencheng, the rumors of the devil's army attacking Jinnan began to spread in the city, and for a while, the restaurant was a little depressed, and the tense air fluctuated silently.

But after all, there are more than 50 miles between Wencheng and Fengdian, and there is still a big mountain in between, in that era when transportation and information are extremely underdeveloped, the people here in Wencheng are almost completely ignorant of the fall of Fengdian.

When Tian Mingda and his entourage arrived at Baoyuan Restaurant, it was brightly lit, the flow of people was endless, and the aroma of wine and food could be smelled a few steps away. Seeing a few officers of the Jin army riding a high-headed horse, they hurriedly asked inside, at this time on weekdays, the box should be full, but today there are just two empty rooms upstairs, Tian Mingda and they went all the way in and sat down.

The commander of the 570th Regiment is not a fierce general in battle, but he is definitely a good hand at drinking. In the past, when he was stationed in Fengdian, he had eaten and drunk several famous restaurants and taverns in the county. After the 391st Regiment of the Central Army retreated to garrison, Tian Mingda also repeatedly invited Qin Zhongxiao to drink, but except for the first few welcome banquets, the colonel of the Central Army later declined. For this reason, Tian Mingda was also quite dissatisfied, thinking that Qin Zhongxiao was putting on the stinky shelf of the Central Army.

In addition to eating and drinking in Fengdian, Tian Mingda occasionally wore casual clothes and led his entourage into Wencheng to have a good time; After all, this is a big city, and the specifications and grades of gold sales are not the same as those of the county seat. But as the commander of the garrison, it is obviously not possible to leave the garrison to have fun without the permission of Shangfeng, so Tian Mingda always goes late.

Now his 570th regiment is ordered by the brigade commander to move (in fact, escape) to the outskirts of Wencheng, so that he can justifiably enter the city and have a few drinks. Of course, he knew that Fengdian had been occupied by the Japanese army, but according to the scout report sent by the brigade commander, the four gates were closed after the devil occupied Fengdian, so there was no intention of attacking Wencheng. Whatever, little Japan really called, there is a brigade commander on top, and there is wine today and drunk today!

Tian Mingda ordered a table of dishes, ordered Fenjiu from Xinghua Village, and the door of the box was closed.

In the restaurant, someone secretly targeted this box. He is the shopkeeper of the restaurant, Bai Baoyuan.

Bai Baoyuan vaguely saw these military masters, but he couldn't remember them for a while. The officers who came to his house to drink in the city were all from the 12th Brigade of the Du, and the brigade commander and chief of staff had all come, but today, the lieutenant colonel, he was blind. The important thing is that since the gossip of the devil's attack on Fengdian began to circulate in the city two days ago, he has not seen any officers here, but tonight a few officers on horseback suddenly came up, and Bai Baoyuan paid attention.

There is a reason for Bai Baoyuan's attention, at this moment, in a box not far from those officers, there are several men and women who have just sat down for a short time, and the woman in the seat is wearing a luxurious leather robe and a very heavy makeup on her face, as if she is a rich Mrs. Kuo. Bai Baoyuan paced to the door of this box, looked at the noisy seat on the second floor, and then dodged into the door.

"In charge, they ordered a lot of wine and food, but they haven't heard it yet." Bai Baoyuan walked to the seat of the leather-robed woman and whispered in her ear.

"Let the guys who run the hall pay attention and go in a few more times to listen to the movement." The leather-robed woman also whispered to the shopkeeper of the restaurant, and as she spoke, she untied the placket of the leather robe, took out a shiny shell gun from her waist, and put it on the empty chair beside her.

This woman is the well-known bandit leader of Guanmen Mountain, Liu Wumei.