The loud sound of the artillery of the Eighth Route Army firing and bombarding the Japanese truck fleet reached the ears of the colonel of the Central Army at the first time, Qin Zhongxiao had already approached Xiping Village at that time, and his front team even began to transfer heavy artillery and other baggage carried out into the village.

On this night, the two platoons of the 6th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade who were waiting in Xiping Village were always tense, and the deputy company commander of the 6th Company and several of his subordinates rode horses around the village from time to time to inspect the guard posts and fortifications at various key points. On the eve of this railway line raid that shook central and southern Shanxi, Wu Zijian, deputy commander of the 2nd Battalion, ordered the adjustment of the defense forces of the two village base areas at the foot of Guanmen Mountain, and unified Wang Shuanglong's 6th Company to be in charge, with two platoons stationed in Hekou Village and two platoons stationed in Xiping Village.

Just now, when the signal corps of the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade and the 391st Regiment of the Central Army came to inform them that the main force of the 391st Regiment would withdraw from the battlefield of the railway line to Xiping Village, the deputy company commander of the 6th Company personally led people out to a place about two miles outside the village to respond. The deputy company commander knew very well that the main force of the 391st Regiment was suddenly transferred from Xiping Village to Guanmen Mountain, indicating that the momentum of the Japanese counterattack came quickly and fiercely, forcing the Central Army to no longer follow the original route to return to the camp at Big Elm Mountain. And what made the deputy commander of the 6th Company hang his heart was that the faint and continuous gunfire from the direction of Hekou Village in the north - that was the area where Wei Xin's 7th Company was responsible for blocking, there was no doubt that the garrison Japanese army in Fengdian County was dispatched, and Company Commander Wei was resisting with all his might. Will they be able to withstand it?

The successive arrival of the front team of the Central Army made Xiping Village, which was silent in the night, gradually lively. Many villagers and families who had been mobilized in advance by the garrison of the Eighth Route Army prepared extra food and water on this cold night, lit candles, and opened their doors to greet the officers and soldiers who had just left the line of fire.

The "Xiping Village Field Mobilization Committee" led by female soldier Zhang Xiu exerted tremendous energy at this moment. Among them, the stretcher team and the sewing and washing team played an obvious role: many wounded soldiers of the 391st Regiment who had just been wounded on the firing line and had time to be treated in the future were quickly provided with field-level services in the village to clean wounds, bandage and escort on stretchers. The village protection team has tightly guarded the main road leading to the pass of Guanmen Mountain in the village to ensure the smooth transfer of heavy baggage, including the artillery trucks of the Central Army, to Guanmen Mountain.

Xiping Village, as a large village that was once attacked by the Japanese army at night and survived the catastrophe, has already empathized with the cruelty of war; Although many villagers have always privately opposed the entry of the Anti-Japanese War troops into the village, there are also a considerable number of villagers who are committed to the Anti-Japanese War and are willing to do their part under the unified command of the Eighth Route Army.

At first, when he learned that the main force of the first battalion and the artillery company were advancing smoothly and were entering Xiping Village for a short rest, the colonel of the Central Army, who was dragging behind, was very pleased, and immediately ordered to send people to the direction of the railway line to inform the troops to retreat quickly. At the same time, the walkie-talkie was used to call the main force of the second battalion, preparing to let its camera leave the battlefield and move towards Xiping Village.

Unexpectedly, the situation changed dramatically in an instant. First, there was a rumbling sound of artillery from behind Qin Zhongxiao (it was actually the artillery platoon of the second battalion of the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army, which found the truck team of Linfen to reinforce the Japanese army and bombarded it), the distance was very close, and the colonel of the Central Army suddenly felt bad; Immediately afterwards, after calling the commander of the 2nd Battalion, he learned that the 2nd Battalion had called the regimental headquarters for a long time, and the blocking position they had temporarily set up was suddenly attacked from behind by a large number of Japanese troops, and the situation was critical, and the regimental headquarters was requested to send troops to support.

Qin Zhongxiao felt alive for a while: he and the chief of staff had just retreated from behind the main force of the second battalion with the sixth company of the second battalion, why did a "large number of Japanese troops" suddenly appear behind the second battalion commander Chen Hao, could these Japanese soldiers fall from the sky!? Also, what about the earth-shattering sound of artillery behind him? Listening to the sound seems to be a mortar, is it the Japanese firing artillery? What are they targeting?

A series of questions gave the colonel of the Central Army a headache, and the only way to make a clear deployment at the moment was to quickly send troops to rescue the main force of the second battalion that was caught in a two-sided attack. Of course, he only had the strength of the sixth company of the second battalion Zhu Xingyun at hand.

"Tuanzao, the situation is critical, I will personally take the six consecutive runs! Try to figure out what is going on," Chief of Staff Zhang Hong said decisively to Qin Zhongxiao: "This is not far from Xiping Village, you take your entourage into the village quickly!" ”

Qin Zhongxiao thought about it, but he really had no other choice, if he needed to further help, he could only mobilize the main force of the first battalion that had entered Xiping Village; So he nodded and asked the chief of staff to be more careful: "You bring the walkie-talkie of the regiment headquarters, after I enter Xiping Village, I can use the walkie-talkie of the first battalion headquarters to keep in touch with you." ”

As soon as the words fell, the sound of horses' hooves came from the front, and the deputy company commander of the 6th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army personally led people out to welcome the 391st Regiment Commander Colonel Qin Zhongxiao and his party.

Hurriedly bidding farewell to his regimental seat and the deputy company commander of the friendly army, Chief of Staff Zhang Hong led the Zhu Xingyun Company, and immediately turned around and stabbed into the position where the main force of the second battalion was currently located. At the same time, Zhang Hong asked Zhu Xingyun to send another squad to attack in the direction of the artillery just now, find out the specific situation, and then chase after the company headquarters to report.

Could it be that after the Japanese army in Fengdian County defeated the blocking forces of the Eighth Route Army, they went around to the flank of Chen Hao's second battalion and launched a flank attack? During the rapid march, Zhang Hong's mind was spinning rapidly, analyzing the origin of the sudden appearance of the Japanese army. But what is just as incomprehensible as the regimental seat is: who is the person and what target is being hit by the sudden rumbling of artillery just now? It should have been empty!

The sound of gunfire coming from the diagonal front became clearer and clearer, and listening to the sound, it seemed that there were two firefights, one near and one far away. Zhang Hong ordered the whole company to quickly move towards the nearby battlefield, make preparations for battle, and send sharp soldiers to advance. Now the night is dark, there is no visibility to speak of, and the situation on the battlefield will only become clear after contact.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for the top soldiers to run back to report that they found that the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the friendly Xu Brigade was exchanging fire with a large group of Japanese troops in front, and it would soon be unable to support it.

5th Company of the Second Battalion of the Xu Brigade! The chief of staff of the Central Army was shocked when he heard this, this is the team that served as a blocker near the railway line, why did it get here at this moment?

But the situation could not be thought about too much, Zhang Hong ordered Zhu Xingyun to immediately lead the team forward to attack, and strive to assist the friendly forces to drive the enemy back first, and then ask the specific reason after the two sides met.

At this moment, the walkie-talkie brought out from the regiment headquarters contacted Chen Hao, the commander of the second battalion, again, and Chen Hao reported angrily on the walkie-talkie: The two companies of the second battalion have now been divided by the Japanese puppet army, and the fifth company is trapped in the original position with the support of heavy machine guns, and the fourth company under his own leadership is being forced to jump to the outside line to fight.

"Chief of Staff, Chief of Staff, did you lead someone to copy the back path of the Japanese?" In the walkie-talkie receiver, Chen Hao's voice was very weak against the background of the roar of gunfire, but the excitement was difficult to hide.

At this moment, Zhang Hong instantly understood that the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army, which appeared in front of him, may have attacked the Japanese army that was attacking Chen Hao's 2nd Battalion just now, so there was a statement that the commander of the 2nd Battalion "copied the back road of the Japanese". He quickly communicated with the other party on the walkie-talkie about the general position of the two armies, and made a decision to let Chen Hao gather the main force of the second battalion and go all out to assault this side: "I will launch signal flares regularly as a reference target for your military headquarters!" ”

As the chief of staff, the regimental staff officer who followed Zhang Hong carried a flare gun with him, and he played an unexpected role at this moment.

Zhu Xingyun had already led his company to attack bravely and made horizontal contact with the Eighth Route Army, which was close at hand: this was a platoon of the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade. In a fierce battle with them, it was the commander of the Japanese reinforcements from Linfen, Kikuchi Shaosa.

Kikuchi Shaosa, who found that the convoy was being bombarded, was anxious to command an infantry squadron to come back, and the Chinese army that suddenly blocked them just now was not very numerous, and it was gradually losing its support. Unexpectedly, another wave of enemy troops was killed in the oblique stab, and Kikuchi Shaosa's people were pushed back at that time.

The furious Shaozo brandished a pistol that had not fired a single bullet so far, and ordered the squadron leader under his command to immediately organize a strong counterattack and be sure to return to the convoy as soon as possible. Now, there is no more artillery in that area, but the fire from the car that was shot is still faintly visible. Trucks are a valuable resource for the division's baggage wing, and if he suffers serious losses, I am afraid that he, the staff officer of the brigade headquarters, will find it difficult to explain to his brigade commander and even Lieutenant General Sena himself! Kikuchi Shaosa, who once felt that he had won the game when he got off the truck, thought of this, and he was completely out of order.

Syllable!

A signal flare suddenly rose in the night sky, and the red shotgun emitted dazzling streamers, and the scene was very gorgeous. Kikuchi Shaozo was stunned for a moment, and immediately understood that this should not be the work of his own troops - what is the intention of the Chinese army to send signal flares? This sudden episode made Kikuchi, who was already out of order, more and more nervous. He now regretted that he had thrown all his main forces into the battlefield at once, so that there was no room for manoeuvre after an accident.

"Retreat, retreat!"

After some painful hesitation, the staff officer of the brigade headquarters gave the latest order, he decided to abandon the convoy for the time being, and all moved closer to another squadron behind him - the Chinese army came with reinforcements, and there was artillery to help the formation, and under the premise of not knowing the total number of enemy forces, the safest thing was to gather his main force first.

As soon as the Japanese squadron commanded by Kikuchi retreated, it immediately made room for deployment adjustment for the two units of the Eighth Route Army and the Central Army, which had already joined forces; At the same time, the 2nd Battalion of the 391st Regiment, which was fighting hard at the other end, also made the action of gathering the main force under the guidance of the signal flare, and desperately attacked in the direction where the signal flare was raised!