Xiping Village, at the foot of Guanmen Mountain, was completely enveloped in war this afternoon; Wu Zijian, the commander of the Eighth Route Army, personally commanded the strength of two companies and stubbornly resisted the Japanese soldiers who launched wave after wave of offensives from outside the village.

Wu Zijian did not have the luxury of hoping to be able to hold Xiping Village, and the number of invading Japanese troops that had been visually detected was definitely around 1,000 people, plus artillery fire and heavy machine guns, it should be an infantry brigade with strengthened firepower. On his side, there were only two companies of close to 300 men, and there was no artillery support at all. If it weren't for the frequent diversion of fire from the two Makqin heavy machine guns that had been carefully prepared in advance, I am afraid that the long and narrow position west of the village would have been lost long ago.

Of course, the unsheltered wilderness outside the west of the village also posed a potential threat to the attacking Japanese troops, and the Maxim heavy machine gun could easily catch the Japanese soldiers trying to pass through this large open area, and then lay them to the ground like wheat harvesting.

The commander of the Eighth Route Army found that this Japanese army was obviously not fighting to the death with all its might, and they did not try to surround the village from three sides, but only chose the tactic of breaking through on one side; And, whenever their tidal wave of offensive was met with heavy machine gun and infantry fire, including light machine guns, they tended to quickly retreat and be replaced by a new round of artillery fire – apparently the Japanese wanted to preserve their strength to a certain extent.

Wu Zijian, who saw this clue, simply played a cat-and-mouse game with the enemy: once the artillery fire on the opposite side began to cover, he ordered all the people to be deeply hidden, leaving only observation posts at key points; As soon as the Japanese stopped firing artillery and continued to attack on the ground, the observation post immediately called on their comrades to return to their positions and fortifications by various means, and dealt a head-on blow to the Japanese soldiers who rushed up.

This kind of repeated attack and defense was delayed this afternoon. However, Wu Zijian knew very well that the damage caused by the Japanese artillery fire to his side would become heavier and heavier, and it would definitely be the Eighth Route Army that could not support it in the end. And the reason why he still tried his best to persist was that he couldn't bear to give up the hard-working base easily, and secondly, he was also using this time and space to send people to persuade those villagers who were unwilling to leave their homes to flee and move to the Guanmen Mountain Pass behind him.

Wang Shuanglong's 1st Battalion, which had already jumped to the outer line, and Xia Lianshan's cavalry company, were also constantly attacking and pinning down the main Japanese army from the flanks and rear this afternoon, all of which Wu Zijian, the detachment leader, observed through a telescope. To his surprise, the Japanese camp that was attacked by the flanks only put on a defensive posture in that direction, using the heavy machine guns and mortars mobilized in the past to suppress the charge of the first battalion of the Guanmenshan detachment of the Eighth Route Army - and according to his previous predictions with Wang Shuanglong and Xia Lianshan, the Japanese camp will actively organize part of the troops to carry out a counteroffensive after being flanked, in that case, the first battalion and the cavalry company will fight and retreat, and use magnet tactics to lure this part of the Japanese army into the defense area of the 12th Independent Brigade of the Jin Army and muddy the waters.

Now it seems that this move is obviously in vain, and the Japanese are completely unmoved, concentrating the main forces to take Xiping Village wholeheartedly.

When the battle went on for more than an hour, Li Tianlin, the chief of staff guarding Hekou Village, once sent a communications soldier to ride over to understand the battle situation here-because the Japanese army did not encircle Xiping, people from Hekou Village could enter and exit unimpeded-Li Tianlin was always preparing for the Japanese army to attack Hekou Village simultaneously, but until he heard the sound of artillery in Xiping Village, not a single Japanese soldier was seen in Hekou: the chief of staff of the detachment immediately understood that the Japanese army was attacking Xiping Village alone this time, So I came up with the idea of sending troops to support. If it was in the past, the hot-tempered Li Tianlin would have sent a group of men and horses directly, but now that he is the chief of staff of the Guanmenshan detachment, his style of acting has changed greatly, and the concept of prudence and seriousness is always maintained in his mind; Therefore, this afternoon, he first sent a communications corpsman to express to Wu Zijian that he planned to send the 6th Company of the 2nd Battalion, which was stationed at the Guanmen Mountain Pass in Hekou Village, to sneak out of Xiping Village, and to return to the other side of the Japanese attack camp to launch an attack on it.

When Wu Zijian learned from the mouth of the communications soldier that the Japanese army had not attacked Hekou Village, he was happy and worried, happy that Hekou Village was safe and sound, and worried that this further proved that the Japanese army had come specifically at the Xiping Village base this time, and it should be regarded as a must-win.

However, the commander of the Eighth Route Army still categorically rejected his chief of staff's suggestion - at this moment, on the enemy's right flank, the most elite first battalion of the Menshan detachment, including the cavalry company, was desperately attacking and harassing, but with little success; Even if the 6th Company of the 2nd Battalion was pulled out and put on the left flank of the enemy, it would obviously not have much effect.

What's more, behind Wang Shuanglong and Xia Lianshan is the defense area of the 12th Brigade of the Jin Army, even if they can't get the support of friendly forces, at least they have no worries. However, if the 6th Company of the 2nd Battalion was sent out from the direction of Hekou Village, behind them was Fengdian County, and once the Japanese puppet army dispatched troops in that direction, the 6th Company of the 2nd Battalion would face a great danger of being cut off from retreat.

Wu Zijian asked the communications corps of Hekou Village to take the above situation and opinions back and report them to the chief of staff, and repeatedly warned Li Tianlin to hold on to him: If the Japanese army does not attack Hekou Village at this time, it may not be possible that there will be no action in the future.

Not long after sending away the signal troops from the estuary, Liu Shu, the political commissar of the detachment, actually ran back to the village with a few people - the entire detachment's non-combatants, including the regional field mobilization committee and the transfer of baggage, had already entered the Guanmen Mountain Pass and marched in depth due to the early start of the operation. Liu Shu, who breathed a sigh of relief, was not worried about the front-line operation, so he braved the artillery fire that had already been in the sky and touched Wu Zijian's side.

Although he was extremely dissatisfied with the detachment leader and even resentful, at the moment of the great enemy, political commissar Liu Shu naturally shared the same hatred as Wu Zijian. Ignoring the dissuasion of his old comrades-in-arms, he personally went down to the position of the 8th Company of the 3rd Battalion to help the deputy battalion commander Qi Biao command the operation. During this time, a Japanese shot* exploded not far from him, and a flying stone hit his cheek, and half of his face was swollen; Qi Biao was afraid that the political commissar would lose, and desperately pushed the other party to evacuate several times, but Liu Shu resolutely refused.

When the battle in the afternoon was at its most intense, the communications platoon of the detachment headquarters also received a message from the flying pigeons in the Great Elm Mountain, and Qin Zhongxiao, commander of the 391st Regiment of the Central Army, inquired about the progress of the enemy's situation. At that time, Wu Zijian had already realized that Xiping Village was about to be defended, so he did not ask the other party for help, but only briefly described the battle situation and the next step of the Xiping Village troops of the Guanmenshan Detachment of the Xu Brigade, and then sent them back by carrier pigeons.

The commander of the Eighth Route Army did not know at that time that the friendly army of the 391st Regiment was brewing a big move against the small elm mountain where the Japanese army was entrenched.

Later, during a break in the battle, when Liu Shu, who was facing gunsmoke, found Wu Zijian, the head of the Eighth Route Army mentioned to the political commissar the flying pigeon of the friendly army. However, Liu Shu still reacted coldly, believing that it was impossible for the Central Army, which was shrinking in the Great Elm Mountain, to send troops to aid his side under such circumstances.

"Old Wu, I don't think we can go down so blindly anymore," the political commissar of the detachment changed his words: "The 8th Company commanded by Qi Biao has already suffered more than half of the casualties, and I estimate that the 5th Company commanded by Wei Xin is no better——"

"-The casualties of the 5th Company are smaller," Wu Zijian interjected: "I just ordered Wei Xin to send someone to contact the commander of the 1st Battalion who jumped to the outside line to fight, and the 4th Company of the 2nd Battalion fought with the 1st Battalion at the beginning, and now it is time to bring them back!" ”

Liu Shu was taken aback and blurted out, "What are you doing with the 4th Company?" The situation here is irreversible, and new troops can no longer be invested in unnecessary sacrifices! ”

The detachment leader couldn't help but look at his political commissar with approving eyes - he didn't expect that he would have the courage and courage to take the initiative to give up the base area:

"Commissar, don't worry, I won't fight to the death with the precious lives of my commanders and fighters; I brought the 4th Company back in order to immediately establish a second line of defense on both sides of the Qinglong River in the village, and once they were in position, I began to set about the two companies in the forward position to retreat one after another. ”

Liu Shu breathed a sigh of relief, but his face immediately revealed sadness, he glared at Wu Zijian who was facing him, and said in a low tone: "The good base area is going to be handed over to the Japanese again-haven't you learned a lesson this time?!" ”

The commander of the Eighth Route Army did not want to entangle old grievances with his political commissar on this knotted eye, and in his opinion, the War of Resistance was to have sacrifices, and it was normal for the enemy to switch between advance and retreat. There's no need to get emotional.

Of course, the most heart-wrenching thing in Wu Zijian's heart is the villagers of Xiping Village, those loyal people who work at sunrise and rest at sunset, but now they have to follow the Eighth Route Army to suffer the ravages of war, betray their homeland, and sacrifice their lives. They are innocent.

Thinking of this, Wu Zijian ordered to hurry up and persuade the villagers who did not want to leave their homes to hide in Guanmen Mountain for the time being. Japanese beast soldiers have always burned, killed, plundered, brutalized and inhumane civilian villages and towns; This time, they have exchanged fire with the Eighth Route Army for so long, and the casualties must not be too light, and once they occupy Xiping Village, they will inevitably carry out tragic and cruel retaliation.

Before the words fell, the Japanese troops outside the village launched a new offensive. Wu Zijian resolutely did not allow Liu Shu to return to the forward position of the 8th Company:

"Political commissar, the second line of defense involves our retreat, which is very important, I ask you to go to the Qinglong River in person now, and wait for the arrival of the 4th Company of the 2nd Battalion, and then the 4th Company will be under your full command and deployment until I lead the troops at the front to retreat."

The Qinglong River passes through the village of Xiping Village, dividing the huge village into two parts, east and west. The strategy of the commander of the Eighth Route Army was to let the 4th Company, which had not yet been engaged in battle, quickly occupy both sides of the Qinglong River with the attitude of a new force, complete the tactical development, and then respond to and cover the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion and the 8th Company of the 3rd Battalion on the western defense line of the village to move towards the Guanmen Mountain Pass.

Liu Shu, who received this order, thought for a moment and agreed. Before leaving, he still did not forget to tell Wu Zijian: There is no need to fight too fiercely at the front, once the 4th Company completes the deployment on both sides of the Qinglong River, he will send someone to inform Wu Zijian to retreat as soon as possible.

Stay in the green mountains, not afraid of no firewood - Liu Shu dropped the last sentence and hurried to the Qinglong River in the village.

More than half an hour later, the western defense line of Xiping Village was declared lost, and a large number of Japanese soldiers rushed into the village that had been blown beyond recognition by artillery fire, and a new fierce battle began on the bank of the Qinglong River.