Wang Suihua, the female major of the military commander who sat in the Great Elm Mountain, began to wait anxiously since she saw the 391st Regiment send away the reconnaissance team composed of special service companies--what kind of secrets the Japanese hidden in the Little Elm Mountain, which is separated by a county town, may be seen in the next few days. Of course, this made Wang Suihua excited.

According to the pre-formulated plan for the attack, Zhao Mutou and several other reconnaissance teams will first bypass the northern suburbs of Fengdian County, look for a mountain pass at the northern foot of Xiaoyushu Mountain, enter the mountain, and then gradually search and sneak out of the mountain highway located in the south-central area of Xiaoyushu Mountain. The road crossed the east and west ends of Little Elm Mountain, and according to the personal eyes of the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army, which had infiltrated the mountain, the road had been repaired and widened by the Japanese army and was heavily guarded. Moreover, a branch train line from the mountain to the Tongpu railway line outside the mountain, and its station Songjiagou is also located next to the highway. If the Japanese make a name for themselves in Little Elm Mountain, they must rely on the road and railway roads in the mountain; Therefore, that area will also be the key target of the 391st Regiment reconnaissance team.

After the pre-departure exercise, it will take at least three days to complete this reconnaissance mission, and it will take four days for the reconnaissance team to return to the Great Elm Mountain.

Qin Zhongxiao, the commander of the 391st Regiment, and Zhang Hong, the chief of staff, feared that the female military commander major, who was accustomed to city life, would not be able to adapt to the living conditions of the deep mountains and old forests during these few days of waiting, and specially arranged for her to hunt, stream fishing and other pastimes—the big elm mountain, which was close to mid-April, was less cold in spring and more birds and green branches—and Wang Suihua, who had nothing to do, readily agreed. However, this pastime with landscape characteristics came to an abrupt end the next day - the headquarters of the 391st Regiment in Xiaozhai suddenly received sudden messages from all sides one after another, which made Qin Zhongxiao and Wang Suihua fall into unprecedented tension.

First of all, the Shanxi Station of the Military Command relayed the enemy situation report from the Second War Zone's Wei Lihuang Commander's Headquarters to the radio station of the Second Intelligence Group in Wencheng, and considering that the leader of the Second Intelligence Group was still stranded on business in Da Yushu Mountain, Liu, the elder of the radio station, forwarded the full text of the enemy situation report to the 391 Regiment Headquarters.

According to the report on the enemy's situation, the First Army of the Japanese North China Front Army recently mobilized the strength of several divisions and regiments and began to encircle the Taihang Mountains in the southeast of Shanxi Province by nine routes, and had already invaded the hinterland of the Taihang Mountains and seized several county towns previously held by the Eighth Route Army. So far, the situation remains uncertain.

This report on the enemy situation transferred from the Second War Zone did not arouse the alarm of the 391st Regiment headquarters at first, because according to the direction of the Japanese army's dispatch and encirclement, at least the area of Great Elm Mountain was not within the range of attack.

"Look, the Tunlin (Tunliu to Linfen) highway in the south and the Zhengtai Road in the north are the main areas where the Japanese army will send troops this time," Chief of Staff Zhang Hong explained to the colonel of the Central Army and the female major of the military commander on the military map at the regiment headquarters: "In the area of Tongpu Road, which is closest to us, only a small number of Japanese troops set out from Linfen and went east to attack Qinyuan County. ”

Several people studied around the map for a long time, and unanimously came to the conclusion that the Great Elm Mountain is relatively safe at the moment, and they made some subjective analysis more about the attack and defense of the enemy and the enemy that are being carried out in the hinterland of Taihang Mountain.

"The little devil has just suffered a defeat on the Shandong front, and he wants to get back some face in Shanxi! Otherwise, there would not have been such a big movement. Qin Zhongxiao said this, his regimental headquarters had two ore radios, and in the open area of the mountain, he could listen to the radio broadcasts of the Nationalist government in Wuhan, so he already knew about the great victory of the Nationalist army in Taierzhuang, Xuzhou not long ago.

After all, the female major of the military commander was engaged in intelligence work, and in the end she had a careful eye, she asked the radio of the 391st regiment to reply to the second intelligence group in Wencheng, and ordered Li Yan, who stayed behind, to immediately step up the investigation of the movements of the Japanese troops inside and outside Wencheng to observe whether there was any change in them.

As a result, Li Yan called the next day, informing him that a barracks had just been built outside the Wencheng Railway Station and west of Tongpu Road, and a large number of Japanese troops from the Jinnan front were stationed; At the same time, in the past few days, trains loaded with munitions and baggage from the direction of Taiyuan have repeatedly entered the Wencheng Railway Station. According to the brothers of the special agent company who were lurking in the station's north freight yard, a considerable part of these arms were directly unloaded and transported to this huge barracks in the western suburbs.

After reading this telegram, Wang Suihua and Qin Zhongxiao suddenly had a bad premonition. The female major of the military commander immediately replied to the telegram and ordered the second intelligence group to make every effort to find out the inside story of the Japanese troops in the unit. As a result, the next day, when there was no new news from Wencheng, there was a flying pigeon at the western foot of Guanmen Mountain, and the Guanmenshan Detachment of the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army urgently informed that the Saijo Wing of the Hagiwara Brigade of the Sena Division of the Japanese Army dispatched a large force to attack the base area of the Eighth Route Army, and its main direction of attack should be Xiping Village; At present, the Guanmenshan detachment has been fully deployed, and at the same time, the non-combatants and civilians have been transferred to the Guanmenshan Mountain.

Within three consecutive days, the situation could be said to have taken a drastic turn from the time it was learned that the Japanese First Army had launched a nine-way encirclement of Taihang Mountain to the time when the Japanese Sena Division began to attack the Eighth Route Army at Guanmen Mountain, which was dozens of miles away. In the end, Li Yan finally sent a telegram from Wencheng, and this time the information he touched was basically the same as the content of the flying pigeon transmission of the Eighth Route Army's Guanmenshan Detachment that day.

The entire 391st Regiment of the Central Army, and even the entire Great Elm Mountain, immediately felt that they pricked up their ears - Qin Zhongxiao was not sure whether the Japanese army in this area would launch an attack on the headquarters next, but the Guanmenshan Detachment of the Eighth Route Army was really facing a big enemy.

"Guanmen Mountain, do you want to consider sending a battalion over to support it first?" The colonel of the Central Army said to his chief of staff for the first time. Now they and the Guanmenshan Detachment of the Eighth Route Army are not only friendly forces but also coalition forces, and the previous joint operation with Pulu was rewarded by the Second Theater Wei Lihuang Commander's Department. Now that the other party is in trouble, it is reasonable to lend a hand.

Of course, Chief of Staff Zhang Hong was very aware of the calculations in the hearts of the adults in the regiment, and asking himself was just a formality, and it was very likely that he had already made up his mind. Even if I, as chief of staff, speak out against it, I am afraid that he may not be able to influence the final course of action.

Unexpectedly, just when Zhang Hong was hesitating, the female major of the military commander on the side stood up and expressed her opposition: "Tuanzuo, I advise you not to act rashly for the time being, now it seems that the devil's first army launched this nine-road siege, in addition to the Zhengtai Road and Tunlin Highway one north and one south, the Tongpu Road in the west is by no means a standby!" ”

Seeing Wang Suihua come forward to oppose it, Zhang Hong was secretly happy in his heart, and immediately started the cooperative analysis of the map again. He said that based on the new information that has been coming in the past three days, it can be judged that the Sena Division along the Tongpu Road will also send troops to sweep eastward in a targeted manner: In the past, one Japanese army left Linfen and attacked the 84th Division of the Central Army in Qinyuan County, and now another Japanese army left Wencheng and attacked the base of the Eighth Route Army in Guanmen Mountain; Obviously, these attacks should fall within the scope of the First Army's Nine-Way Siege Operation.

"Tuanzao, please think about it, what other national army units exist east of Tongpu Road?" The female major of the military commander took over the words of the chief of staff in a timely manner: "In addition to the 84th Division of the Central Army and the so-called Guanmenshan Detachment of the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army, is there only your 391st Regiment left?" Do you think the Japanese will let go of Big Elm Mountain this time when they are surrounded by nine roads? ”

Qin Zhongxiao was stunned for a moment, and then fell into deep thought at the map. Indeed, if the Japanese troops on the Tongpu Road had launched a campaign of the Nine Roads to the east, his 391st Regiment would almost inevitably become one of the targets of the Japanese attack and sweep. Moreover, the facts show that the two friendly armies in Qinyuan County and Xiping Village in Guanmen Mountain have been attacked by devils, and if the order of this attack is from south to north, then it is very likely that Da Yushu Mountain will be the next target for the heavy Japanese army.

"Will it be Otsuka United?" The colonel of the Central Army muttered to himself in a low voice: "We are next to Fengdian County here, if the Japanese want to trouble us, Kosuke Otsuka, this bastard, is obviously the closest to this." ”

"Therefore, Tuanzao, it is not appropriate for us to consider sending troops to reinforce the Eighth Route Army in Guanmen Mountain at this time, but we should step up our efforts to guard against the Japanese entering the mountain." Chief of Staff Zhang Hong sang a duet with Wang Suihua very tacitly.

Speaking of the Japanese entering the mountain, the colonel of the Central Army couldn't help frowning - this is undoubtedly a new kind of battle situation, before this, their whole regiment was driven into the Great Elm Mountain by the Japanese army, although they went out of the mountain several times to fight, but they really did not face the battle scene of resisting the Japanese offensive in the mountain.

Thinking of this, a thought suddenly flashed in Qin Zhongxiao's mind, and soon, his confidence also rose all of a sudden, he swept his chief of staff and the female major of the military commander with his gaze, and said with a mysterious expression:

"Have you ever thought that the Japanese army really dares to send troops into this big elm mountain? Our regiment survived a winter in this deep mountain and dense forest, and never saw a single Japanese soldier step into the mountain pass. However, during this period, the devils attacked the Eighth Route Army village at the foot of Guanmen Mountain several times, but once the Eighth Route Army retreated into Guanmen Mountain, the Japanese followed closely and died down. What does this mean? The Sena Division is indeed the standing elite division of the Japanese army, but they belong to the horse-pulling system, and they lack sufficient ability and confidence in mountain warfare, both in terms of experience and equipment! Therefore, I am here to boldly assert in front of the two of you that the Japanese army will not enter the Great Elm Mountain this time! ”

Of course, Chief of Staff Zhang Hong understood what the regimental group was talking about, and although Wang Suihua was not from a combat unit, because he had taught and studied the Japanese army very systematically, he also knew that it was the formation of the Japanese army division that was better at fighting on the plains. For a while, the two of them couldn't help but feel a little impressed by Qin Zhongxiao's analysis.

"But we must not be careless, at least we should not send troops to support the Eighth Route Army in Guanmen Mountain before the situation is clear." Zhang Hong finally said what he wanted to express the most, and at the same time, he carefully observed Qin Zhongxiao's facial expression with his eyes.

At this moment, the female major of the military commander suddenly raised an urgent question: Will the reconnaissance team of the special service company touch the operation of Little Elm Mountain to be affected!?

The colonels and chiefs of staff of the Central Army, who had been thinking about other Central Army before, were suddenly stunned.