Wu Zijian's motive for attacking Little Elm Mountain this time was to support the 391st Regiment of the Central Army. After all, the 2nd Battalion of the Lin Division had just formed an alliance with others, and Fengdian was attacked by the Japanese army in the blink of an eye, and the Eighth Route Army could not stand idly by. As for the seizure of equipment for the Japanese garrison, that is secondary.

The soldiers who led the way were the soldiers of the second battalion of the forest division when they walked out of the Little Elm Mountain before, and with the memory of the time, they touched the inconspicuous entrance at the southern foot of the Little Elm Mountain in the vast night, and the whole company of six platoons joined each other and entered each other.

However, they apparently underestimated the difficulty of marching on mountain roads at night. This trail, which had been reluctantly carved out by hunters and mountain pickers, had neither smooth paths nor obvious footprints, and the spearhead led the way for a short time before he lost his way. The whole company had to retreat in place and find the right path again when the road ahead was impassable many times.

Li Tianlin followed at the forefront and reprimanded the top soldiers in a panic, but it didn't have much effect.

Wu Zijian was in the middle of the group, and as he walked, he pricked up his ears to listen carefully to the movement from the direction of Fengdian County, but he could not hear anything, and he judged that the Japanese troops besieging the city should have begun to rest, in preparation for the resumption of the attack at dawn tomorrow. Until this time, the deputy commander of the second battalion still did not know that Fengdian had fallen into the hands of the Japanese.

They wandered around until the second half of the night, and then gradually went smoothly; Finally, the spearhead found the side of the only road in the mountains that runs east and west.

Little Elm Mountain is a north-south mountain range, which is more than 50 miles long from north to south and more than 30 miles wide from east to west. The mountains are stacked with mountains and valleys. And there are not many mountain passes that can enter and exit this mountain, the two largest and most conspicuous ones are located in the east and west feet of the mountain range respectively, the east mountain pass is adjacent to Fengdian County, and the outer ten miles of the west mountain pass is the Wencheng on the Tongpu railway line. It was also between these east and west mountain passes that there was originally a natural dirt road across the mountain, which was later widened by Yan Xishan into a road connecting Fengdian and Wencheng. In the center of this mountain highway is Songjiagou, because of the development of coal kilns, the railway tracks and small railway stations from Wencheng to Songjiagou were built.

The 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Forest Division came in from a very hidden mountain pass at the southern foot of Little Elm Mountain, and after that, they traveled all the way to the north. What the spearhead saw at this moment was this highway connecting the east and west mountain passes. During the Spring Festival, they once crossed the road and found Little Elm Mountain along the path. Now, they have followed the same path and found it again.

The night was still thick, and it was a long time before the moonlight reflected through the thick clouds, but it was fleeting. With the occasional moonlight, the sharp soldiers and Li Tianlin, the commander of the 5th company, who were lying behind the rocky slope, could see the road a few feet away.

They certainly remember the road. Li Tianlin let out a sigh of relief: I finally found it! According to the operational design of the deputy battalion commander and the enemy engineer captain, they would jump onto the road and advance eastward to the Higashiyama Pass, where the Japanese checkpoints and preset positions were located, and then attack.

But they were surprised to find a situation that they had not expected beforehand: on one side of the road, there was a wooden pole that was not too tall every dozen feet, and a wire was erected at the top. And every other wooden pole, there is a horse lantern hanging on the pole at the height of one person, like a street lamp in the city. As a result, the winding mountain road still looks lit on a cloudy night, and although it is dim, it is enough to illuminate the people walking on the road.

Li Tianlin realized that something was wrong: there was no concealment at all when a team of more than 200 people marched on such a road; According to the calculation of the terrain outside the mountain, it is at least five or six miles to jump on the road from here to reach the East Mountain Pass.

He asked a top soldier to immediately go to the back and still in the hidden team to find Wu Zijian.

Wu Zijian, who crawled over cautiously, was also very surprised when he saw this scene, there was no such scene in his deduction with Xiao Junping. The deputy commander of the second battalion immediately understood: when they passed through during the Spring Festival, the Japanese had just begun to attack Fengdian; Today, the Japanese army not only occupies Fengdian and Wencheng to the east and west of Little Elm Mountain, but also entrenches the entire Little Elm Mountain, and of course the road in this mountain.

"This is taking this as a strategic road," Wu Zijian scanned the highway with his binoculars and muttered to himself: "The little devil has not lost the capital, pulling so many telephone poles, and returning the damn hanging lantern." ”

"Deputy battalion commander, what should I do? To go up or not to go? ”

Before Li Tianlin's words for instructions fell, suddenly the roar of the motor came from the end of the highway, and soon, the dazzling headlights swept over, and Wu Zijian saw clearly that it was a three-wheeled motorcycle driving on the highway, and two Japanese soldiers in the car were driving, and the other was holding a rifle and curled up in the body.

Next, Wu Zijian saw an even more surprising scene: through the reflection of motorcycle lights, under a telephone pole on the road in front of the left, the image of a Japanese soldier with a rifle flashed on his back; Although the Japanese soldier melted into the night again as the motorcycle drove away, it was definitely a sentry standing there!

Li Tianlin also saw it. The two commanders broke out in a cold sweat in unison: It's dangerous! The Japanese even sent a sentry on this road!

How many such sentinels will there be?!

There must be more than one!

Wu Zijian's heart couldn't help pounding, and all the plans were in vain! He knew very well that his men could not silently eliminate all the sentries along the highway at the first time, and as long as they were alerted by a sentry, as soon as the gunshots rang out, the surprise attack turned into a strong attack. On this empty mountain road, his company, once attacked by fire, was almost indistinguishable from slaughter.

"Isn't the little devil crazy?" Li Tianlin, who was in touch with Wu Zijian at this moment, gritted his teeth and cursed in a low voice: "A broken dirt road in the deep mountains and old forests, with three steps and one post, five steps and one sentry, the bastards are full of food?" ”

The deputy commander of the second battalion had his mind spinning rapidly, and once he realized that the original combat plan was scrapped, he began to nervously think about the next step: fight? Apparently the goal has been lost; Remove? After all the hard work to get in, if he withdrew without letting go of such a shot, not only he and Li Tianlin, but also the soldiers of the whole company who were already frozen enough to choke would die.

The motorcycle just now came from the side of Dongshan Pass and drove in the direction of Wencheng. Messenger? Or patrolling? In addition, telephone lines should have been erected on the top of the telephone poles one by one, which meant that the Japanese troops inside and outside the mountain could quickly use the telephone to report the enemy's situation.

Before the expedition, Wu Zijian estimated that there would not be many Japanese soldiers in Dongshankou, and their attention must have been all aimed at Fengdian outside the mountain pass. However, what they did not expect was that the Japanese army had set up a tight guard post on this main road in the mountain, and there was a telephone line to connect it. Based on these two points alone, the original estimate of the strength of the Japanese army in the Little Elm Mountain must be overturned - if you don't know, there will be a large number of Japanese soldiers in the mountain! A rash attack will not only not help the central army defending the city, but will also cause the whole company to suffer heavy losses.

However, what are the Japanese doing with so many soldiers stationed in the deep mountains where rabbits don't? This question flashed through Wu Zijian's mind, and before he could discuss it with his subordinates, Li Tianlin suddenly spoke:

"You can't do it tonight anyway, listen, there is no movement of guns and cannons on the side of Fengdian City, which means that the defenders and besiegers are sleeping. Now that we're firing, more than a thousand devils will definitely be coming at us. If you want to fight, you can only wait until tomorrow, when the Japanese are busy attacking the city, let's take the opportunity to do it again, get a vote and leave! ”

Wu Zijian listened quietly, feeling that if he was not willing to retreat now, he would have to do this: "However, the troops did not bring the equipment for camping, and if they spent the night in this mountain, they would not freeze tomorrow morning?" ”

"What then? Overcome it, everyone huddles together to keep warm. Otherwise, you will have to return to Hekou Village the same way you are! ”

In this way, more than 200 people from the 5th Company quietly began to camp. During this period, the three-wheeled motorcycle roared back from the direction of Wencheng. Wu Zijian judged that this should be a patrol car - since there is a telephone line, there is no need to send a motorcycle to run around in such a short time to deliver the news.

Good guys, not only have fixed sentry posts along the way, but also mobile patrols with motorcycles, and it is not too much to describe it as heavily guarded.

The commanders and fighters looked for a place to be as leeward as possible, and rested in a daze for less than an hour, but there was a slight commotion at the end of the team: two enemy workers who were ordered by Xiao Junping to rush from Hekou Village followed the hidden mountain pass at the southern foot and finally found the 5th Company.

The latest information they brought made everyone stunned: the Fengdian National Army had missed, and the Japanese army had entered the city in a big way!

Wu Zijian almost roared. One of the two enemy workers was sent back to Hekou Village from the southern suburbs of Fengdian by the deputy captain to report urgently, and he witnessed the scene of the Japanese troops entering Fengdian through the open south gate. This is not believed by Wu Zijian.

"Grandma's, isn't the 391st Regiment very capable of fighting, why can't it withstand it for even a day?!" Li Tianlin shouted indignantly and whispered: "Join forces and fight jointly!" Raise your ass and run away, and put Lao Tzu in this ravine! Deputy battalion commander, let's not suffer here, let's withdraw quickly. ”

Wu Zijian, who has calmed down, is still pondering the accuracy of this information. He must believe in his enemy workers; However, since he came into contact with the 391st Regiment of the Central Army, Wu Zijian has learned about several bloody battles between Qin Zhongxiao's lone brigade and the Japanese Otsuka Wing, and he believes that it is absolutely true. Why did the elite of the Central Army, who had fought bravely and well, give up Fengdian so quickly this time? Could it be Colonel Qin Zhongxiao's plan to delay the army and lure the enemy? If so, then the 5th Company must help!

"Can't be withdrawn!" Wu Zijian made up his mind: "Continue to camp in place and see if there is any battle in the direction of Fengdian during the day tomorrow." It is not easy for us to touch it once, and at the moment, we are in a position that the Japanese could not have imagined, and if we strike from here, we will definitely receive a miraculous effect. It's a pity to take the initiative to give up such a favorable fighter. ”

Wu Zijian let the two enemy workers who had just rushed to rest, and then sent two people from the top soldiers to return to Hekou Village immediately. First, he saved Xiao Junping from worrying, and secondly, he continued to get news of Fengdian.

In this way, the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Forest Division endured the cold wind in the mountains and fields, and waited for the day.