On this cold spring night, an increasingly fierce battle broke out in the area of Lingshi County of the Nantongpu Railway, and it was immediately learned by the former enemy headquarters of the Second Theater of the National Army.

Of course, a few hours before the battle began, the Shanxi Station of the Military Command had already informed the former enemy headquarters of the Second World War of the joint operation plan of the 391st Regiment of the Central Army and the Second Battalion of the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army.

At that time, the second theater of operations had actually been divided into two parts: the headquarters of the commander of the theater was transferred to the mountains and mountains in the southwest of Shanxi, led by the commander Yan Xishan; The headquarters of the former enemy in the theater was transferred to Zhongtiao Mountain, the southernmost part of Shanxi, and was commanded by General Wei Lihuang, deputy commander and commander-in-chief of the former enemy. Needless to say, Yan Xishan led the remnants of the Jin army, and Wei Lihuang led the remnants of the Central Army.

In the previous period, when it was learned that the main force of the 391st Regiment of the Central Army was still in the area of Da Yushu Mountain in the enemy-occupied area in central and southern Jin, the former enemy command in the Second World War Zone was both surprised and gratified; However, due to the fact that the radio station of the 391st Regiment was completely destroyed at that time, and the former enemy headquarters in the Second War Zone, which had retreated all the way to Jinnan, also changed the telecommunication codes of the subordinate Central Army units, the former enemy headquarters was never able to get in direct contact with the 391st Regiment, but carried out information relay through the radio of the intelligence group operating in the area of the Shanxi Station of the Military Command.

According to the situation of the 391st Regiment at that time, the main force of the regiment was still complete and the equipment was well preserved; As a result, this elite regiment of more than 1,000 guns has since been registered with the former enemy command in the theater.

Also registered was the 84th Division of the 17th Army, a miscellaneous army of the Central Army that was not a descendant of the Central Army, which was fighting guerrilla operations in the vicinity of Qinyuan County, and like the 391st Regiment, it belonged to the enemy-occupied area in the central and southern part of Jin.

Except for these two forces behind enemy lines, the rest of the Central Army had all retreated to the Jinnan area supported by Zhongtiao Mountain, and was struggling to support it on the edge of Shanxi, facing the final general attack of the main force of the Japanese Sena Division and a detachment of the Shimoto Division at any time.

It was also against such a dangerous background that the former enemy command in the Second War Zone suddenly received information that the 391st Regiment was going to carry out a sabotage operation in the area of Lingshi County on the Nantongpu Railway Line by tonight (the intelligence also mentioned that the 391st Regiment would act together with a small unit of the Eighth Route Army near the station).

This will undoubtedly be an operation to boost the morale of the army, and if the attack is successful, it will cut off the transportation and supply lines of the main forces of the Sena Division gathered in Yuncheng and Linfen in one fell swoop, and threaten the security and garrison of the entire Nantongpu Railway. As a result, the Sena Division, which was likely to attack the Nakajo Mountain defense line at any time, had worries and delayed the pace of its attack.

Therefore, after receiving this information from the Shanxi Station of the Military Command, the command of the former enemy in the Second War Zone immediately expressed serious concern about the battle that would start a few hours later. At the same time, they naturally thought of another lone brigade that was fighting in central and southern Jin: the 84th Division of the Seventeenth Army. The unit is currently stationed in Qinyuan County, and maintains radio communication with the former enemy command in the theater. After several deliberations, the former enemy command finally made the decision to order the 84th Division to attack the Nantongpu Railway at the same time that night, and the target of the sortie was Huo County, which was more than 60 miles south of Lingshi County.

The former enemy command in the theater believed that Lingshi County and Huo County were both important towns on the Nantongpu Railway Line, and if they could both be attacked in tonight's battle, the deterrent effect on the main railway artery on which the Japanese army depended would be even stronger.

The order was given urgently. Qinyuan County, where the 84th Division of the 17th Army was stationed, was more than 100 miles east of Huoxian on the Nantongpu Railway Line, and there was no deployment of Japanese puppet troops along the way, so the former enemy command asked the 84th Division to send a strong force, secretly dispatch after dark, and rush to Huoxian County around midnight to launch an attack, and destroy the nearby Tongpu Railway tracks and telephone lines along the line.

The 84th Division, which received the order, decided to send a main regiment under its command to carry out this task. And out of a variety of considerations, the division sent a telegram to the former enemy command in the theater and suggested that the 12th Independent Brigade of the Jin Army in Pingquan County could be considered to simultaneously attack Hanxinling on the railway line. Han Xinling is located between Lingshi County and Huo County, and if it is attacked synchronously, it can achieve the scale of attack with three arrows and three points.

However, this suggestion was ultimately not adopted. The reason is very simple, the 12th Independent Brigade of the Jin Army belongs to the command of Commander Yan Xishan, although it nominally belongs to the second theater, but in fact it is not under the control of Commander Wei Lihuang. After the division fled all the way from the Fengdian and Wencheng defense areas that were responsible for the town guard, it is currently stationed in Pingquan County in the south-central Jin Dynasty, which is only a few dozen miles away from Qinyuan County; According to the 84th Division, the two armies had previously had limited contact, but there had been little communication.

In the end, the 84th Division dispatched a main force and began to quietly advance to the Tongpu railway line to the west that night. Having already learned from the command of the former enemy in the theater that there was no hope of transferring the 12th Independent Brigade of the Jin Army, and that it was impossible to get in touch with the 391st Regiment of the Central Army, the 84th Division's operation was extremely cautious. The divisional headquarters and brigade headquarters all warned the attacking troops that they could reach the outside of Huoxian as soon as possible, but they must carefully reconnoiter the nearby enemy situation before attacking the county town and destroying the railroad tracks and telephone lines. The attack was chosen as late as possible after midnight, and the 391st Regiment should have already attacked Lingshi County at that time; Second, we can wait and see whether the Japanese army will mobilize troops from the front of Jinnan and the rear of Wencheng to help.

The sortie of the 84th Division can be said to have carried out the will of the commander very well. They quietly entered the city of Huo County, and under the premise that it was impossible to hear whether there were guns and cannons in Lingshi County, which was 60 miles away, the strength of a regiment lay in wait on the pitch-black wilderness for more than three hours, and it was not until nearly 3 o'clock in the morning that the regiment commander gave the order to attack.

The garrison strength of the Japanese army in Huoxian County was the same as that of Lingshi County, with only one infantry squad and the personnel of the Sena Division's baggage wing deployed here. This information was already reflected in the battle plan submitted by the 391st Regiment, so the 84th Division was also able to grasp it. They were relieved to dispatch one battalion to attack the outer city of Huo County, another battalion to dismantle railroad and telephone poles, and a third battalion to serve as a reserve to monitor possible Japanese reinforcements.

Unlike the fierce siege and reinforcement battles that broke out in Lingshi County, 60 miles away, the fighting here in Huo County was not alarming, and the Japanese troops guarding the county town resisted desperately on the one hand, and on the other hand, they quickly reported to the two brigade headquarters at the north and south ends, requesting that troops be sent for assistance.

But at this moment, it was the 391st Regiment of the Central Army, the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army and the main force of the Japanese army fighting the fiercest battle on the wasteland west of Guanmen Mountain! The battle delayed in Huo County completely changed the course of this wasteland battle.

After receiving an urgent telegram from the Huo County garrison, the Hagiwara Brigade Headquarters in Wencheng immediately fell into shock. Major General Hagiwara, the brigade commander, who originally thought that he was about to finish his work, couldn't believe his ears. Sure enough, it didn't take long for the Yuncheng Sena Division Headquarters, which was located in the base camp of the Jinnan Front, to make an emergency command, and ordered the reinforcements sent by the Kato Brigade, which was besieging the Chinese Army west of Guanmen Mountain, to immediately withdraw from the battlefield and turn around to aid Huo County; At the same time, the reinforcements sent by the Bunjo Hagiwara Brigade immediately withdrew from the battlefield and returned to Lingshi County.

The commander of the division, Lieutenant General Sena, personally emphasized that it was necessary to ensure the safety of the garrisons of Huo County and Lingshi County; Ensure the smooth operation of the South Dong Pu railway line and telephone lines along the way!

Hagiwara Akira looked up to the sky and let out a long sigh - there was actually a large force of the Shina Army in Huo County to carry out a sabotage attack, and the execution of the latest order of the division commander meant that it was too late to gather and annihilate the Shina Army that had been encircled with great difficulty.

Despite the reluctance of 120,000 people, the commander of the Hagiwara Brigade immediately forwarded the telegram to Captain Kosuke Otsuka, the supreme commander of the battle field, and strictly ordered it to be carried out.

Kosuke Otsuka's shock and frustration were no less than the brigade commander, Major General himself. Wing Commander Dazuo, who had already killed the red-eyed Wing, couldn't wait to freeze the time for half an hour so that he could complete the fatal blow to the encircled Shina army. But at this moment, he had to give orders to all the troops on the battlefield in turn to withdraw and retreat.

Right now, on the battlefield of the battle that appeared directly in front of him, the troops of the Imperial Army were distributed on three fronts. The southernmost line was the reinforcements from Bunjo led by Captain Maori; The northernmost line is that he personally led the reinforcements from Fengdian, and these two lines in the north and south completely encapsulated the Chinese army; The Linfen reinforcements led by Kikuchi Shaoza penetrated the center of the Shina Army in the encirclement and cut the enemy apart.

If the battle can continue, then before dawn at the latest, Wing Commander Osa is absolutely confident that he will completely destroy the enemy - what a pity!

After the order to retreat was conveyed, Otsuka Kosuke was most worried about the movement of the Linfen reinforcements wedged into the encirclement, after all, a considerable part of their two infantry squadrons had already been mixed up with the Shina army. Moreover, because of Kikuchi Shaosa's command error, the truck convoy carrying the unit was also attacked by the artillery fire of the Shina army, and the losses were serious; Even if they get out of the encirclement, I'm afraid there won't be enough vehicles to quickly drop them all into Huo County.

"Dazuo, if necessary, we can mobilize our trucks to support the troops coming from Linfen!"

Hearing the wing commander cursing the commander of the friendly forces for this, one of the squadron leaders under Kosuke Otsuka suggested.

Otsuka ignored the squadron leader on the surface, but in his heart he agreed: it seems that there is really no better way.

"Captain Maori was instructed that his troops must maintain a strong squeeze on the Chinese army in the encirclement, so as to cover the retreat of the Linfen troops first." Kosuke Otsuka had a gloomy face and ordered his subordinates around him.

"Dazuo, if the reinforcements from Linfen and Wencheng retreat first, will the Zhina army, which has not been completely wiped out, bite us in turn?" The squadron leader, who was still standing next to the wing leader, asked with some concern.

"What are you afraid of! The Chinese army in this so-called encirclement is only five or six hundred people at best, and the two squadrons we brought out from Fengdian can't deal with them! ”

Kosuke Otsuka roared viciously.