Urgently calling the captain of Saijo Wing through a walkie-talkie, Takagi received a reply that the large force of infantry cavalry of the Eighth Route Army, which had pursued and fled, had arrived at the village of Ewhapo in the lower reaches of the Qinglong River, and was attacking the enemy troops who had fled into the village with all their might.

Knowing that the Shina army defending Xiping Village suddenly launched a strong counterattack, Saijo Shigehei hurriedly snatched the walkie-talkie microphone from the telegraph soldier and asked for the details of the battle situation.

The head of the Japanese wing commander instantly swelled: how many troops are hidden at the foot of this Guanmen Mountain?!

"Your troops must hold the defense line west of the village to the death, and organize a counter-charge as soon as possible, and strive to drive the Chinese army back to the east bank of the Qinglong River!" Shigehei Saijo held the microphone in his hand and shouted: "The brigade headquarters just called, the main force of the Nara Infantry Brigade of the Otsuka Wing is dispatching in a vehicle, and it is planned to carry out reinforcements for me. Before the reinforcements arrive, the last support position in Xiping Village must not be lost! ”

Hearing his own wing commander say that the main force of an infantry brigade was on the way to the brother wing, Takagi Shaosa was overjoyed and immediately expressed his determination to hold the existing defensive line - of course, he knew that if he took another step back, he would retreat into the wilderness outside the village, in that case, the troops who had already lost artillery support would be difficult to re-attack from outside the village.

However, the Japanese captain did not realize that the enemy troops who appeared on his left flank were no longer the Xu Brigade Detachment of the Eighth Route Army, which had been competing with him for most of the day, but the 391st Regiment of the Central Army from the Great Elm Mountain. Fortunately, your own backup is coming! All he needs to do now is hold on to this narrow line of support and wait for Otsuka United's men to arrive before launching a counterattack.

As a result, more than 300 Japanese troops from nearly two infantry squadrons crowded the edge of Xiping Village, desperately resisting attacks from three directions at the same time, southeast, south, and north.

The commander of the Eighth Route Army, who commanded and instigated this three-sided counteroffensive, had a tactical purpose of driving out all the Japanese soldiers who had invaded the village in one go. Constrained by nightfall, Wu Zijian did not observe that the Japanese army still retained an infantry squadron on the western edge of the village; His counteroffensive plan was mainly aimed at the Japanese soldiers who were firing on the west bank of the Qinglong River.

At first, this sudden counteroffensive was indeed as he had deduced, and the Japanese troops on the banks of the river had to leave their temporary positions and retreat outside the village. However, when the infantry squadron remaining in the west of the village was brought in, the Japanese gradually supported the pace of defeat.

The ensuing battle almost evolved into a scene similar to street fighting—the three companies of the Eighth Route Army and the Central Army, using the familiar terrain cover (the 6th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 391st Regiment of the Central Army was also guided by a platoon of the Eighth Route Army), advanced step by step; Two squadrons of the Japanese army leaned on the courtyard of the house and stubbornly resisted the resistance. In fact, judging from the comparison of the forces of the two warring sides, the Eighth Route Army and the Central Army did not have any advantages, but first, they had a geographical advantage, and secondly, they suddenly launched a multi-faceted attack, which caught the Japanese by surprise; By the time Takagi finally stabilized his position, the defense area they could control was very limited.

Wu Zijian, who organized a siege on three sides, hurriedly ran to the position of the 391st Regiment of the Central Army and met with Captain Zhu Xingyun, the commander of the 6th Company of the 2nd Battalion; While thanking the friendly troops for their help, he asked whether the county seat of Fengdian and the area around Da Yushu Mountain had been attacked by the Japanese army.

When Zhu Xingyun was ordered to lead the team to the expedition, the station of the 391st Regiment was still peaceful, and Captain Zhu himself knew that under the planning of the female major of the military commander, Qin Tuanzuo was organizing a reconnaissance and attack on the Japanese stronghold in Xiaoyushu Mountain. But until he left, no news came back. He didn't know anything about the upheaval that had taken place there.

Fearing that Xiping Village would fall into the hands of the Japanese army, when the afternoon battle had reached a certain level, Wu Zijian ordered the communications platoon to carry out the last flying pigeon message, informing the 391st Regiment headquarters to suspend this form of communication between them. So, now there is no effective communication between their two armies. And at this moment, the situation of the Great Elm Mountain that he heard from Zhu Xingyun had already passed through the times.

However, there has been no fighting in the direction of Hekou Village, but it can be confirmed by the latest news. The commander of the Eighth Route Army was quite confused on this issue, and he couldn't understand why the Japanese army didn't have the idea of attacking Hekou Village this time?

It was also at this moment that Wu Zijian suddenly came up with a bold idea - since the area around Hekou Village was safe and sound, it was enough to only stay in the 7th Company of the 3rd Battalion, and if the 6th Company of the 2nd Battalion stationed there was transferred out at this moment, quickly maneuvered to the outside of Xiping Village, and launched an attack from the west, it would be possible to besiege this Japanese army on all sides; At that time, the three battalions and 8 companies defending the east bank of the Qinglong River in the village were ordered to cross the river and deal the final fatal blow to the Japanese army.

This bold and even arrogant battle idea could no longer be suppressed as soon as it appeared in Wu Zijian's mind. He looked around and wanted to find a competent high-level commander for specific discussions, but there was only Zhu Xingyun, the captain of the "guest army" Central Army, in front of him. The commander of the Eighth Route Army swallowed a mouthful of saliva, swallowed back the words that came to his mouth, and just encouraged Captain Zhu to fight carefully, and then left them and ran back to the central position.

He quickly gave an order and summoned Wei Xin, the commander of the second battalion, from the left flank position, explained his plan in a few words, and asked the other party for his opinion.

Although the temper of the second battalion commander Wei Xin is not as hot as Li Tianlin in the past, he is much more radical than Wang Shuanglong, who is old and serious, and he heard the detachment commander say this bold idea that is expected to encircle and annihilate the Japanese army in one fell swoop, and immediately became excited - the operation that began this afternoon, his second battalion was divided into three from the beginning, the 6th company stayed in Hekou Village, more than ten miles away, and the 4th company followed Wang Shuanglong's first battalion to jump to the outside line to fight (only later transferred back to the village to participate in the defense), only 5 companies have been in their own hands; This made him, the battalion commander, inevitably depressed. If Wu Zijian deploys like this, it means that the next siege and annihilation battle will be based on his second battalion!

"Detachment leader, if you want to do it, you have to do it immediately, take advantage of the first battalion and the cavalry company to contain the main force of the devil, let's have a quick battle!"

With the support of his subordinates, Wu Zijian became more and more determined in this idea, and he glanced back at the Qinglong River behind him, and the political commissar Liu Shu on the other side of the river was sitting on the defensive line - it was reasonable to report to the political commissar, but he knew that more than ninety percent of the other party would oppose it, so he simply gave up this plan.

He personally wrote a brief order for the transfer of troops, and assigned two communications troops, who had been going back and forth between Xiping Village and Hekou Village since this afternoon, to convey it to Li Tianlin, chief of staff of the detachment. He also specially instructed that only the 6th Company of the 2nd Battalion should be dispatched, and Li Tianlin must continue to guard the original position, and must not leave his post without permission and act recklessly. Wu Zijian knew this old subordinate too well, and when he heard that a defensive battle was about to be converted into an encirclement and annihilation battle, the former commander of the 5th Company and the chief of staff of the detachment today must have itched to bear it, and it was difficult to ensure that he would not take the opportunity to run over with the 6th Company of the 2nd Battalion to participate in the battle.

Since he had a new intention to encircle and annihilate the enemy, the commander of the Eighth Route Army was not busy expelling the Japanese from the village, but on the contrary, he wanted to create an illusion to the other side, believing that the offensive of the Eighth Route Army had reached the end of its strong crossbow and could not further squeeze the opponent's defensive space, so as to continue to defend the first line. Therefore, he successively ordered the companies in three directions to stop the fierce attack forward, and instead fire on the spot, forming a confrontation with the Japanese army and dragging the other side.

He secretly ordered Wei Xin, the commander of the second battalion, to immediately go to the north of the village to lurk, meet the 6th company of the 2nd battalion that was about to arrive from Hekou Village, and personally lead the company to the west of the village to complete the encirclement of the Japanese troops in the village.

After arranging all this, Wu Zijian began to look at his watch non-stop, eagerly waiting for the arrival of reinforcements. Time, what he needs most now is time!

Unexpectedly, he deliberately ignored the evasive political commissar Liu Shu, but from the offensive that became no longer fierce, he felt that something was wrong.

Liu Shu, who climbed to the roof of a village on the west bank of the Qinglong River, struggled to watch tonight's battle. When Wu Zijian took advantage of the arrival of friendly reinforcements and turned to launching a counteroffensive across the river, his opposition was not taken seriously by the detachment commander in the slightest. After the battle to cross the river, the condescending political commissar of the detachment saw the rapid advance of his side, and the Japanese troops were not only forced away from the river bank, but also retreated more and more towards the western edge of the village.

Liu Shu was very excited for a while, although this counteroffensive across the river was Wu Zijian's single-minded move, if he used this offensive to drive the Japanese troops out of the village in one fell swoop, it would completely change the situation of the battle tonight. In the final analysis, the political commissar himself has poured a lot of effort into the old base area of Xiping Village, and it is always a good thing that he can control it in his own hands without being occupied by the Japanese army.

But something strange happened next, with the help of a not very good vision, Liu Shu found that the offensive in the three directions weakened almost at the same time, and then, the attack was even basically terminated! And the troops that had advanced to a certain extent, whether they were the Eighth Route Army or the Central Army, showed no sign of withdrawing.

Liu Shu suddenly became anxious: this situation of no war and no harmony made the second monk puzzled. In a hurry, he took a few people along a small bridge on the river and ran directly to the opposite bank and found the detachment leader Wu Zijian.

"Old Wu, what's going on? If you want to fight, seize the time and fight quickly, if you can't attack, quickly withdraw the team to Hexi, so as not to kill the main force of the Japanese army and we will suffer the enemy on our backs! ”

Wu Zijian did not expect that the political commissar was so keenly aware of the change in the situation. The plan he originally wanted to conceal from him to encircle and annihilate the Japanese army had to be revealed to him at this point.

However, Liu Shu didn't listen, and after listening to the detachment leader's brief explanation, he immediately became furious.