Ever since he learned that the Japanese Saijo Wing had strangely returned to the western suburbs of Wencheng and began to replenish arms on a large scale, Wu Zijian prepared for the worst, not only sending the enemy's engineering team and cavalry company to monitor around the clock, but also quickly informing the 391st Regiment of the Central Army in the Great Elm Mountain and the 12th Brigade of the Jin Army in Pingquan County. At the same time, the two base areas of Hekou Village and Xiping Village were prepared for the transfer of troops and baggage.

As it turned out later, all this was necessary.

Just now, after receiving the Pegasus report from the Xia Lianshan cavalry, the non-combatants of the Xu Brigade Detachment immediately began to move to the Guanmen Mountain Pass behind Xiping Village with relevant supplies, and the people in the village who did not want to experience the war also fled one after another.

At the same time, Qi Biao, deputy commander of the 3rd Battalion, commanded the 8th Company, and Wei Xin, the commander of the 2nd Battalion, commanded the 5th Company, and all of them had already pounced on the fortifications west of the village.

Wu Zijian's order to Qi Biao and Wei Xin was to defend it if it could be held, and retreat to the mountains if it couldn't be held.

The commander of the Eighth Route Army really relied on the first battalion led by Wang Shuanglong and the fourth company of the second battalion temporarily assigned to them this time——— at this moment, this new force had already marched to the lower reaches of the Qinglong River, and was preparing to turn west in the area of Lihuapu, and detour back to attack the flank of the main force of the Japanese army in Xiping Village, looking for fighters.

The cavalry company was one step ahead.

After learning from Xia Lianshan's mouth that some of the invading Japanese troops were riding in large trucks, Wu Zijian made up his mind: According to past war examples, the trucks transporting Japanese soldiers often left them in place after dropping them into place, and only small groups of troops were responsible for the truck guard.

"Lianshan, your men must find the location of the Japanese truck team as soon as possible, that is their weakness;" Wu Zijian hurriedly instructed the cavalry company commander in the detachment headquarters: "Don't rush to attack after discovering the target, hurry up and coordinate Wang Shuanglong's battalion, and the specific combat plan will be finalized by the two of you on the spot." ”

"No problem, I'll lead the team!" Xia Lianshan responded energetically.

"Remember, regardless of whether the attack is successful or not, the first thing to do is to ensure the safety of the troops' retreat - you and the first battalion are fighting in the plains, and you must not be bitten by the heavy Japanese troops."

The commander of the Eighth Route Army gave a parting advice with a stern expression. He had already drawn up an emergency plan for Wang Shuanglong and Xia Lianshan, and once the flank detour was ineffective, they would all retreat to the south—that is, along the lower reaches of the Qinglong River, and that direction would lead directly to Pingquan County and its outlying areas. A day ago, the liaison officer of the Guanmenshan Detachment of the Xu Brigade sent to the 12th Brigade of the Jin Army had already eaten the soft nail of the other side: Tian Mingda, the commander of the 570th Regiment of the brigade, made it clear that he had not received the order from Shangfeng to fight against the local Japanese army, so he could not take the initiative to attack the Japanese army that might come to sweep Xiping Village at the invitation of the Eighth Route Army.

"Fuck, what the hell is the runaway army, it deserves its name!" Wu Zijian was furious at the performance of the 12th Independent Brigade shrinking its head and turtle, but at the same time he had a plan: "It doesn't matter if they don't help, when the time comes, let's set ourselves on fire and jump to the troops fighting on the outside line to fight and retreat in the direction of Pingquan County, the Japanese will not chase them, if they chase, they will be led to the defense area of the 12th Independent Brigade to see if they will fight at that time!" ”

Both Wang Shuanglong, the commander of the first battalion, and Xia Lianshan, the commander of the cavalry company, applauded the detachment commander's clever plan at that time. Now, there is a good chance that this plan will be put into practice.

Outside Xiping Village, patches of yellow figures appeared in the unobstructed wilderness, and the first brigade of the Japanese Saijo Wing launched an attack formation; Behind them, seven 92 infantry guns, also in yellow colors, lined up, and the artillerymen had already corrected the firing range.

At this moment, Wu Zijian rushed to a fortification in the west of the village, and as soon as his telescope found the artillery commander holding the red flag on the opposite side, he saw the other party waving the red flag and giving the order to open fire.

The muzzles of the guns were apparently aimed directly at the long defensive line to the west of the village, and after a round of shelling, several fortifications and bunkers built on the walls of houses and courtyards were knocked down one after another, and the dust raised obscured the sky and the sun.

Immediately after, the second round of shelling began, adjusting the shells through the muzzles, hitting a new batch of targets, stirring up a larger area of dust to fly in the air.

The commander of the Japanese wing, Saijo Daisa, who was watching the battle at the artillery position, tried to check the effect of the strike with a telescope - before leaving, the chief of staff of the river had warned him that he must concentrate artillery fire to destroy the defense line of the Eighth Route Army in the outermost part of the village. The last time the chief of staff personally commanded an infantry brigade to attack Xiping Village at night, he failed to destroy the narrow defense line on the west side of the village first, so that the Eighth Route Army relied on this defense line and used light weapons to stop the infantry ground attack for a long time.

"Dazuo, the dust raised is too thick, and the artillerymen can't see the target at all!" The squadron leader of the artillery squadron directly under the wing ran over and asked the captain of the Saijo wing, who was close at hand: "Do you want to wait for the dust and fog to clear before carrying out the shelling?" ”

Saijo Shigehei nodded in agreement——— there is no need to rush this battle, the chief of staff of the riverside just asked for it to start as soon as possible, but there is no need to rush forward after the start, and it is necessary to use artillery fire to kill and wound the living forces of the Eighth Route Army as much as possible, and ensure that the casualties of your own infantry are minimized during the ground attack.

The co-captain, who understood the idea, also instilled these requirements in the first brigade captain Takagi Shaosa.

As a result, the officers and men of the Eighth Route on the defense line of Xiping Village, after being shelled by two rounds of shelling, did not wait for the next artillery fire or the charge of the Japanese soldiers.

Not far from the bunker that Wu Zijian entered, a cannonball exploded, and the volleys of earth and rocks rained down and splashed on their bodies. The 92 infantry gun is a direct-aiming type, and the shells fired are more powerful and destructive than the curved mortars.

Wu Zijian shouted loudly to the officers and soldiers on the left and right to pay attention to concealment, and at the same time ordered to immediately check the place hit by the shells, rescue the wounded, fill the troops, and prepare to deal with the charge of the devils.

However, there was a sudden silence on the battlefield, and the earth-shattering cannon sound just now was not continued. As a rule of thumb, after the Japanese have completed their artillery preparations, the infantry will soon swarm and focus on the points where the artillery fire hits.

However, the scene of the Japanese soldiers charging did not appear. In Wu Zijian's binoculars, he could see patches of Japanese soldiers wearing yellow military coats, carrying rifles, squatting on the ground, staring ahead, not moving.

The commander of the Eighth Route Army was puzzled: The Japanese have changed their sex? After the shelling, they didn't even organize a charge! Fortunately, this may prolong the confrontation between the two sides, and the non-combatants and civilians in the village should have almost withdrawn by this time; Xia Lianshan and Wang Shuanglong were leading the team to quietly detour to the flank of the Japanese army in front.

In addition, the carrier pigeons that delivered the message to the Great Elm Mountain were also released just now, and they brought the latest enemy situation here to the 391st Regiment of the Central Army. Wu Zijian didn't expect Qin Zhongxiao to send troops over to help him immediately after receiving the news - of course, it would be best if he could send reinforcements, even if there was only one battalion! ———However, the news of the Japanese army's attack on the base area of the Eighth Route Army must be notified to the friendly forces as soon as possible.

There seems to be a rumbling cannon sound in his ears just now, the commander of the Eighth Route Army is particularly missing the artillery of the Central Army at this moment, Qin Zhongxiao has three mountain guns of 75 caliber and an infantry gun, if it is placed in Xiping Village now, you can immediately organize artillery fire to return fire ——— the Japanese soldiers outside the village, and now they are standing so clearly on the unsheltered wilderness, if they are sent a cannonball, the effect of the blow will be amazing.

Grandma's! Thinking of this, Wu Zijian, who was holding a telescope in one hand, clenched his fist with the other hand and slapped the earthen wall in front of him heavily, his heart was full of regret: not to mention the artillery of the Central Army, even the mortars and grenadiers of his own artillery platoon had run out of ammunition, and he could only watch the Japanese troops outside the village, helpless.

What Wu Zijian didn't expect at all was that the Japanese army standing opposite him at this moment actually knew everything about the artillery of the Eighth Route Army in the village!

The reason why the commander of the Japanese wing, Shigehei Saijo, dared to unscrupulously deploy in the wilderness was precisely because he had already learned that the opponent's artillery had lost its combat effectiveness due to the lack of shells. This important information was reported by the Xiping Village to the plainclothes team members sent by Wencheng to reconnoitre. The meticulous workers found that the artillery platoon of the Eighth Route Army, which was stationed in a high-altitude house in the village on weekdays, had no shell reserves. And just before the imperial army reached the outskirts of Xiping Village, the artillery platoon even swept away the equipment, accompanied by the non-combatants and baggage of the Eighth Route Army, and hid in the Guanmen Mountain Pass behind the village.

You must know that in the last night attack on Xiping Village under the personal command of the chief of staff on the riverside, it was the artillery of the Eighth Route Army in Xiping Village that dealt an extremely heavy blow to the attacking troops of the Imperial Army.

But now, this sharp weapon of the opponent no longer exists, thus reducing the pressure on your own defense; Otherwise, it is necessary to consider placing the infantry brigade outside the range of enemy artillery fire, and not to concentrate too much, which will undoubtedly greatly affect the subsequent charge: if the infantry charge is too long, it will definitely reduce the effectiveness of the previous artillery strike.

Now, his three infantry squadrons were just over a mile away from the outermost forward defense line in Xiping Village, and from here they would charge and occupy the positions of the Eighth Route Army within minutes. This made Saijo Osa secretly proud——— perhaps it was providence to contribute to the success of his offensive operation! In the past month or so, his wing has endured the hardships of the Zhina Army in the Luliang Mountains in the southwest of Shanxi, and today, it is time to raise his eyebrows!

The dust that covered the sky and the sun finally fell, and the Xiping Village in the field of vision became clear again.

"Keep firing!" The Japanese wing commander let out a low roar, and the seven 92 infantry guns suddenly roared again.

It was still two rounds of shelling at an interval of time, still patiently waiting for the dust on the opposite position to be scattered, and Saijo Shigehei's telescope scanned it carefully, and he saw the collapsed courtyard walls of the houses, and saw the figures of the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army who were squirming carefully behind the ruins.

"Infantry attack!" This time, the Japanese wing commander opened his voice and shouted. Soon, the Japanese soldiers of the three infantry squadrons, with the same strange screams in their mouths, began to charge.