None of the officers and men of the 2nd Battalion of the Lin Division expected that after moving into the depths of Guanmen Mountain, the whole battalion would soon fall into a serious predicament.

Guanmen Mountain, from the geographical point of view, belongs to the kind of relatively barren mountain range, the area of stones in the mountain is much more than the area of soil, so the number of plants and trees is also scarce, and the mountain is steep, can accommodate a large number of people and horses stationed in the gentle terrain is relatively difficult to find.

The main force of the 2nd Battalion, under the leadership of a villager in Hekou Village, traveled all the way, and finally found two wide valleys adjacent to each other and prepared to set up camp; But they soon discovered that there were very few trees in the area, and that the rocks were too close to be dug up, which meant that there were no basic materials for building barracks. At night, the mountain breeze is bitter, and it is much colder than camping at the foot of the mountain outside the mountain.

The battalion commander and instructors were dumbfounded, if this continued, the whole battalion might freeze to death in this barren mountain range, so how could we talk about establishing a development base area?

At this time, the battalion commander Feng Changzhi began to reflect on whether the decision to pull the whole battalion into the mountains so hastily was overkill? At that time, I only heard that the Japanese army had occupied Fengdian, and there was a danger that the Japanese army would follow the clues of the ambush at Dawangyu and trace it to the foot of Guanmen Mountain. Although it is not easy for the enemy to detect it when it is hidden in the mountains, it is obviously a big problem to survive and develop in this barren valley where rabbits don't.

Feng Changzhi thought of Hekou Village at the foot of the mountain, and another village that continued more than ten miles south along the foot of the mountain: Xiping. Xiping is located in another mountain pass at the western foot of Guanmen Mountain, and the village is several times larger than the estuary, and the Qinglong River, which originates from Hekou Village, also flows there. The situation in Xiping Village was also obtained after Wu Zijian sent the 6th Company to search all the way; At that time, the deputy battalion commander once excitedly said that the troops could be stationed in these two villages separately, echoing each other at the foot of the mountain; Once something happens, both villages are located in the mountain pass of Guanmen Mountain, and they can retreat into the mountains at any time, which is definitely a good situation for attacking and retreating.

Feng Changzhi regretted it, and he discussed with the instructor, who was also at a loss, whether to pull the main force back to the outside of the mountain first and camp near the two villages and the mountain pass; As for the camp in the deep mountains, you can wait until the winter goes to the spring to warm up, and then slowly build it.

Liu Shu insisted that the whole battalion should be hidden in the mountains, after all, he could not risk being chased and killed by a large Japanese army - this battalion was the revolutionary fire of the Eighth Route Army to Jinnan, and there was absolutely no room for failure before the fire of the prairie was ignited. However, at the moment, Liu Shu has nothing to do about the desperate situation in the mountains. However, he also knew that the deputy battalion commander Wu Zijian was very contemptuous of his view of pushing to go into the mountains, and ridiculed him for being afraid of the enemy like a tiger and making a big fuss; Now, if the team is pulled out of the mountains and returned to the foot of the mountain, it will make Wu Zijian see the joke, and the instructor is very entangled.

At this time, Wu Zijian sent people to the battalion headquarters and requested that Li Tianlin, the commander of the 5th Company, and the rest of the 5th Company, which accompanied the main force of the battalion, be transferred to Hekou Village and Shankou to garrison. In his statement to the battalion commander, Wu Zijian did not mention Xiao Junping's analysis of the Japanese army's movements, which he feared would touch Liu Shu's nerves even more; He only said that there was a lack of sufficient troops for the defense of the village of Kawaguchi and the mountain pass.

Feng Changzhi was very happy, of course he also knew the instructor's embarrassed state of mind, so he shook off the note written by Wu Zijian to explain the situation, and said:

"It just so happens that the strength outside the mountain also needs to be strengthened, I think, let's leave one even here, and pull the rest back!"

Liu Shu was also reluctant to stay here, after all, the conditions in the village at the foot of the mountain were much more ideal. He nodded, in agreement.

Eventually, they left behind the 8th Company and half of the heavy weapons, as well as most of the battalion's tents, which were barely enough for a company of the 8th Company, so that they could not afford to build barracks for a while and had to sleep in the valley.

Wu Zijian received a notice from the battalion commander to send someone back in advance, and couldn't help but slam the table in front of him, an enamel jar filled with leftover water, which fell to the ground with a bang, startling Xiao Junping on the side.

"Staff Officer Xiao, this time I'll let you see if the Eighth Route Army is passive and avoids war!"

The deputy battalion commander looked happy, so that the half-lying Jin army staff officer was also infected; Although the two of them did not know the real purpose of the second battalion in pulling the main force back, they still felt relieved to think that the garrison at the foot of the mountain had increased from two platoons to three companies.

"Did you tell Chief Feng the news of the Japanese army's massacre of the city in Fengdian? Otherwise, how could he have changed his mind so quickly? What is your army's next step, and has Commander Wu already made a plan? ”

Wu Zijian looked at Xiao Junping with great ambition: "I can't talk about the plan yet, I have to wait for the reconnaissance team in Lianshan to bring back the information; However, since the heavy troops are in hand, next, isn't it for me to run rampant?! ”

Before the main force of the second battalion left the deep mountain camp, instructor Liu Shu gave this nameless valley that the local mountain people couldn't name: Hongxingxia; The valley of the Red Army—although he accepted the reorganization of the Nationalist Government, Liu Shu never admitted in his heart that he was a soldier of the Kuomintang—he told the commander of the 8th Company who stayed behind that he would build and defend this place, and Hongxingxia would become the revolutionary base camp of the 2nd Battalion in the Guanmen Mountain area.

In this way, after a few days of difficult entry into the hinterland of the mountains, the second battalion turned around and turned back.

Liu Wumei, the female bandit leader, found traces of the Eighth Route Army at this time.

Leaving the Black Stone Cliff Cottage this time, Liu Wumei kept an eye on it: since the minions saw the Eighth Route Army in the mountains, then she had to beware of encountering them in her trip. In the past, Liu Wumei went out of the mountains to Wencheng, and she was dressed in a rich and noble dress, and she was not afraid that this dress would arouse suspicion in the barren mountains: after all, she couldn't meet a few people. But this time, Liu Wumei and a few of her bodyguards changed into the rough clothes of a mountain goods dealer.

Therefore, when they really saw the officers and soldiers of the Second Battalion of the Eighth Route Army walking with difficulty on the mountain road, the female bandit leader secretly shouted "Luckily".

When the second battalion entered the mountain, it was guided by the villagers who picked mountain goods, and the officers and soldiers were almost accustomed to meeting hunters and collecting mountain goods in the mountains, and it was not surprising that they saw Liu Wumei and a few people. Seeing that these national troops did not take the initiative to harass, Liu Wumei became emboldened, and she asked a bodyguard to follow the team of the second battalion and ask why they entered the mountain.

The bodyguard didn't get a clear answer, but the Eighth Route Army politely asked him a lot about things in Guanmen Mountain. The first few female bandits followed the team of the second battalion and came to Hekou Village under the mountain pass.

In the past, the bandits of the Black Stone Cliff went out to the mountains to rob, and they always went to Hekou Village, and this village was naturally harmed a lot; Liu Wumei was worried that she and her subordinates would be recognized by the villagers, so she hid far away from the village, pretending to rest, and quietly observed the ranks of the Eighth Route Army.

There are no less than five or six hundred people!

The female bandit leader secretly estimated the number of the Eighth Route Army in her sight, and felt frightened: there were only more than 100 people under her command, and from the number of people to the equipment, they were obviously not at the same level as the Eighth Route Army. Speaking of equipment, Liu Wumei just saw a large number of 38 guns and Zhongcheng - it was Li Tianlin's 5th company——, Czech light machine gun she recognized, although Makqin couldn't name it, but she also knew that it should be a heavy machine gun.

Good boy!

This group of Eight Roads is definitely a strong soldier, and if they exchange fire with the brothers of Black Rock Cliff, I am afraid that it will not take more than a few hours, and they will be completely annihilated.

What are they doing in Guanmen Mountain?! According to the master, before being recruited by Chairman Jiang, Balu was also a bandit, but the word "deficit" was added before the bandit: *! So, are they coming to Guanmen Mountain to occupy the mountain? But why did you come out of the mountains again?

Liu Wumei was muttering in her heart, suddenly, she found that there were female soldiers in this Eighth Route Army, and there were several! The female bandit leader didn't know that it was mainly the health soldiers of the second battalion, but she immediately had an idea in her heart, and she was going to talk to the female soldiers to see if she could get something useful from their mouths.

The main force of the second battalion went and returned, and the village of Hekou at the foot of the mountain was lively again. Wu Zijian greeted Feng Changzhi and Liu Shu with a smile, and kept silent about the controversy a few days ago. The three of them had a meeting in Xia Lianshan's house, and the reason why they chose Xia's house was because Wu Zijian's house still lived in Xiao Junping, a staff officer of the Jin Army, and the contradiction between the latter and the instructor had not been reconciled so far.

Feng Changzhi got straight to the point and did not hide the desperate situation he faced in the mountains, and Wu Zijian understood the real reason why the battalion commander pulled the team back.

"That's right!" Wu Zijian shouted loudly: "What is the point of staying there in the deep mountains and barren mountains? Our troops have to develop towards a place where there are people - if you want to expand your army and get food, you can't do without people!"

Liu Shu followed unhappily: "How can you say that it is meaningless?" Hongxingxia is the base camp of our second battalion revolution, and when the winter passes, we still have to manage it well. ”

Wu Zijian smiled. He has no opinion on the naming of the Red Star Gorge, and the instructor's hard mouth is not a day or two. At the moment, he was in a very good mood and didn't want to quarrel again.

"Battalion commander, go further downstream along this Qinglong River, there are many woods along the way, and there are so many trees that you can't cut them down," Wu Zijian said happily: "Let's organize people from each company to cut down a batch of them, and set up the barracks on this gentle slope of the mountain pass." ”

"That village called Xiping, do you want to send a soldier over now?" Back at the foot of the mountain, Feng Changzhi's thinking also broadened, when he completed the reconnaissance of the foot of the mountain in this area, Feng Changzhi had discussed with Wu Zijian and sent troops to occupy Xiping.

"To occupy, and without further ado! Staff Officer Xiao analyzed that the Japanese army that Lianshan saw outside Fengdian City a few days ago may have attacked and occupied Wencheng, and if that is the case, they will continue to move south along Tongpu Road; At the foot of the mountain here, it is said that it is more than 20 miles away from the Tongpu railway line, and we must deploy defense as soon as possible. I have sent reconnaissance teams to all of these points, and news will come back in the next two days. ”

"Deputy Battalion Commander Wu," the instructor, who had not spoken for a long time, suddenly said coldly: "That Jin army staff officer, how long do you plan to keep him?" ”