The morning had passed, and Little Elm Mountain was still immersed in the bone-chill of the night; The glow from the clouds on the horizon could not wake up the sleeping phase of the mountain. However, the murderous aura brought by more than 200 commanders and fighters of the Eighth Route Army with live ammunition has quietly spread.

When the day dawned, the lanterns hanging on the road poles were extinguished; In the morning light, the sparse sentries of the Japanese army scattered on the side of the road were clearly visible.

Wu Zijian was drawn to the attention of the sound of car motors on the highway from far and near—before, like the others, he had eaten some dry food that he had brought with him for breakfast, and then continued to huddle under the rocks and close his eyes to recuperate—the fifth company lay in ambush behind a rocky hill, about ten feet from the road, less than five feet above the road. At this moment, they were condescending, cautiously poking out half of their heads, watching a small car whining and driving over. Soon, behind the car, another group of Japanese cavalry appeared, riding their horses and trotting.

This was actually the car of Major General Akira Hagiwara, the commander of the Japanese brigade who was preparing to return to Bunjo from Fengdian, and there was also Masao Kojima, the head of the Bunjo secret service, sitting in the car. They were moving so fast that by the time Wu Zijian realized that it might be a senior commander of the Japanese army and was hesitating to risk a strike, the black car had already driven past their surveillance front.

As a result, Wu Zijian and Li Tianlin's telescopes could only scan the cavalry that followed behind; Moreover, the two of them recognized the identity of this group of cavalry almost at the same time - isn't this the Japanese cavalry who once pursued the Jin army's communication team in Dawangyu and was ambushed by the second battalion!

The Iwata cavalry squadron running on the road now has less than a hundred horsemen left, and the rest of the men and horses have been killed by a team of the Eighth Route Army. Iwata Shaosa, the leader of the team, never dreamed that the Eighth Route Army, which had killed a third of his squadron, was lying in ambush behind the stone mound on the side of the road, staring at them.

After exchanging a few glances with Li Tianlin, Wu Zijian finally did not give the order to attack. This team of cars and horses came and went quickly, and the soldiers of the 5th Company, who had been frozen all night and were in a sluggish state, had no time to make adjustments to their combat posture. In addition, the most important thing is that there is still no movement in the direction of Fengdian, which makes Wu Zijian extremely hesitant and entangled.

"It looks like a big official," Li Tianlin, who was beside him, stared at the highway and whispered: "It's still from Fengdian, what's going on in the county?" No one alive or dead! ”

Wu Zijian was silent. The question of the commander of the 5th company is also his question. The reason why they refused to withdraw last night was to bet their treasure on the fierce battle on Fengdian's side today. If Fengdian doesn't start, they won't find an opportunity to raid here.

Of course, if the deputy battalion commander of the 2nd Battalion of the Lin Division knew that the identity of the passengers in the car that had just passed by was the local supreme commander of the Japanese army and a brigade commander, Major General, he would definitely give it a go.

"It seems that this highway has become an internal passage for the Japanese. Their cars, horses, artillery, infantry, and even baggage soldiers could travel back and forth between Wencheng and Fengdian unimpeded. Wu Zijian stared at the distant back of the Iwata Cavalry Squadron and said with a gloomy face.

Li Tianlin nodded: "So, the Central Army captured Fengdian, and the devils in Wencheng came to support along the Dashan Road." But why did it take a few days to provide support? ”

Wu Zijian shook his head thoughtfully and did not answer. When Fengdian and the 391st Regiment of the Central Army were discussing a joint operation, Qin Zhongxiao and his chief of staff were also puzzled by the sudden unknown whereabouts of the main force of the Japanese army garrisoning Fengdian. If the information sent by Xiao Junping last night to chase after him is true, it may mean that the main force of the Japanese army that was originally guarding Fengdian has returned.

But what is the colonel of the Central Army doing? Is it really weak in strength and defeated the county, or is it luring the enemy to go deeper as Wu Zijian hoped?

If the 391st Regiment had indeed retreated from Fengdian and re-retreated into the Great Elm Mountain, then his current situation Wu Zijian would be quite dangerous, a company of more than 200 people, without carrying heavy weapons, went alone into the hinterland of the Japanese army's tight defense, and once it was detected, it would immediately be surrounded and annihilated by the opponent's superior forces.

Wu Zijian's spine was cold: this operation was too reckless. Before the Fengdian battle was ascertained, he hurriedly intervened, and fell into the dilemma of being in a lost position now!

The deputy commander of the second battalion, who had the idea of retreating, immediately began to plan how to evacuate safely. Unless absolutely necessary, do not act during the day; Because even if they take the path, there is still a danger of being discovered. It's better to wait until dusk, it's no longer possible to steal chickens, and this handful of rice can't be eroded out again anyway.

He did not convey this meaning clearly to his subordinates, fearing that it would affect morale. Just ordered: continue to hide in place and wait for the fighters.

In the following day, two more major events happened.

First of all, at about ten o'clock in the morning, a convoy of Japanese trucks suddenly appeared on the Yamauchi Road, still driving from the direction of Fengdian, and it was mighty; Wu Zijian and the others counted silently, all of them were Japanese 94-style trucks, some had carriage tarpaulins, and some did not; In the truck compartment without tarpaulins, you can see that it is crowded with Japanese soldiers in yellow military coats, about thirty people. The loud and sustained roar of the motor disturbed the birds in the nearby mountains and forests.

After the convoy disappeared from the view of the 5th Company, Wu Zijian and Li Tianlin exchanged numbers: forty-seven.

It's an infantry brigade!

Perhaps, they have completed their attack on Fengdian and achieved their goal, and now they have returned to Wencheng.

The commanders and fighters of the Eighth Route Army only guessed half correctly, this was indeed an infantry brigade of the Japanese army, and it was the Tyumen brigade of the Sena Division that urgently reinforced from the Nantongpu Road front line to defend the comfort women's secret camp; But they did not want to return to Wencheng at this moment, but to carry out the battle plan just approved by the commander of Hagiwara Akira's Brigade: wave their division to Tongpu Road, and then attack the base of the Eighth Route Army at the western foot of Guanmen Mountain from the direction of Tongpu Road.

That is, the base of the second battalion of the forest division!

The trucks transporting the Tyumen brigade were a squadron of the automatic convoy of the baggage wing of the Sena Division. After the heavy infantry wing of the Sena Division went south to Tongpu Road in Taiyuan, it established a military station based on two brigades and regiments under the jurisdiction of the division, and each of the military stations was equipped with an automatic convoy containing two squadrons. This squadron of automatic vehicles, which now transports the Tyumen Brigade, is the military station to which the Hagiwara Brigade belongs.

Wu Zijian's regiment fought the famous Battle of Pingxingguanguangou, and he himself witnessed the scale of the automatic convoy of the Miura Brigade of the Japanese Army's Itagaki Division (author's note: that is, the Xinzhuang automatic convoy, the commander of the Xinzhuang Junzhongzao, was killed in this battle), and there were more than 100 large trucks, carrying Japanese officers and soldiers; This shocked Wu Zijian, who had rarely seen a car before. Later, Wu Zijian had just met Xiao Junping, who was then the intelligence staff officer of the Jin Army, and consulted the other party about such a large truck fleet of the Japanese army; However, even Xiao Junping, a Japanese expert, did not know much about the baggage and heavy army structure of the Japanese army's divisions. But they were all shocked by the Japanese army's powerful ability to maneuver and project troops.

Time has passed, at this moment, Wu Zijian and his subordinates once again witnessed the size of the Japanese army's huge truck fleet this morning, unfortunately, they were ambushed in favorable terrain, but they only had a company of troops, and in the face of the truck cluster marching swaggering on the road, they could not and could not kill the killer like Pingxingguangou.

For this reason, the mood of the deputy commander of the second battalion was extremely depressed. As early as the eve of the division of troops from the Wutai area in northeastern Shanxi Province, Wu Zijian and some other middle-level commanders strongly advised the regiment commander and political commissar: A powerful unit like the Lin Division should never be divided into a regiment of less than one size, because that would greatly weaken its combat effectiveness and lose the ability and courage to confront it head-on in the face of the heavy Japanese troops.

But the regiment commander and political commissar said at that time that they must obey the overall situation of the Yan'an Party Central Committee to reduce the Red Army into parts: military is military, and politics is politics!

The Japanese trucking fleet was finally over. Li Tianlin, who was relaxed, stabbed the deputy battalion commander with a blue face uninterestingly: "The fat meat in the mouth is not eaten." He ate so-so breakfast, and while talking, he smacked his mouth.

Wu Zijian was in a very bad mood, and he glared at the commander of the 5th company with disgust: "What? Take off the soles of your shoes and take a look at your big cherry mouth, and still eat fatty meat, do you have that tooth?! ”

The bad mood in the morning has not yet dissipated, and Wu Zijian was hit again in the afternoon.

Xiao Junping sent someone to chase the news for the second time, which was also the follow-up response made by the captain of the enemy engineer after Wu Zijian sent two sharp soldiers back to Hekou Village last night to resume his life: the latest information from Fengdian further confirmed that the county town was reoccupied by the Japanese army, and the 391st Regiment of the Central Army withdrew after a little resistance, and there was no fighting there at present. Xiao Junping warned the deputy battalion commander that the 5th Company would never attack the Xiaoyushu Mountain Pass again, otherwise it would attract the full strangulation of the nearby Japanese army.

Wu Zijian sat down on the rough stone floor.

Bullshit Central Army, Bullshit Elite! The rhetoric shouted at the wine table is all braggart! Qin Zhongxiao, Qin Zhongxiao, you, a colonel named Zhongxiao, with two main battalions and two special companies, are so vulnerable in front of the Japanese army! The chief of staff of the regiment surnamed Zhang, who spoke with a gun and a stick, satirized the Eighth Route Army but did not attack, and now where is your 391st Regiment "hit"?! In vain, I violated discipline and took a company of brothers to fight against the battalion commander and instructor, and went here hungry and cold to prepare to attack and cooperate with you to defend the city!

Li Tianlin understood the frustration and anger of the deputy battalion commander at the moment, and he was also extremely annoyed that he had run in vain - he was bent on grabbing the equipment of the Japanese. And now, there is only the withdrawal of troops.

Of course, they wouldn't know that the Japanese army that appeared outside the southern city of Fengdian did not come to rescue Fengdian at all; Nor would they have known that the small station of Songjiagou, which was five or six miles away from their ambush along this road, was hiding a shocking scandal that the invading Japanese army was desperately trying to cover up.