Out of fear of the bestiality of the Japanese soldiers, Sun Nier did not dare to go out of the Fengdian gate to participate in the burning and burial of the bodies of the male and female hosts.

She and the old servants of the family originally wanted to transport the bodies of the shopkeeper Wang and Xia Lily and his wife to the city alone to dig up the grave and set up a monument for burial, but the Japanese soldiers in the city suddenly seemed to be crazy, escorting the corpse transport team composed of young and strong people, collecting the bodies of the victims along the street and door to door. Of course, she didn't know that it was the high-ranking officials of the Japanese army who couldn't wait to destroy the corpses after discovering the atrocities of the Otsuka Wing's massacre of the city.

Helpless, the old servant had to hand over the corpses of the male and female masters to the team that came to collect the corpses, and followed the team to the west gate, and the old servant saw that the corpses piled up under the west gate were like a hill. According to the members of the team that collected the corpses, a large number of corpses were piled up at the east gate. Many of the female corpses collected from the streets and alleys were disheveled or even naked, apparently raped before their deaths.

The Japanese soldiers guarding the side, armed with big guns with bayonets, shouted at the onlookers (most of them were relatives and friends of the deceased who could not bear to leave) and dispersed, stabbing and kicking at the slightest disobedience.

Later, the east and west gates were suddenly opened, and the corpses were transported outward, and only a small number of people were allowed to follow; According to the people who returned, the corpses were set on fire and then hastily dug a pit and buried them.

Later, the devils opened the north and south gates during the day to allow people to enter and exit, but the search and interrogation were still very tight.

Sun Nier had already made up her mind to escape from the city and flee to the Xia family's hometown in Pingquan County, southern Jinnan. But now the Japanese are still guarding the city gate very tightly, she discussed with the old servant, the old servant stayed here to watch the house, she fled back to the Xia family's hometown to report the news, and then asked the old lady of the Xia family to arrange for his two sons, that is, Xia Baihe and Xia Lianshan's brothers, to come back to clean up the ruined house.

Sun Nier hides in the backyard all day. In the corner outside the wing, she and the old servant made a very practical staircase out of discarded water tanks and wooden boxes, and by stepping on this staircase, they could quickly climb up to the roof of the wing room and hide behind a chimney; The stairs are deliberately messy, giving the impression of clutter piled up in the corners. The old servant stayed in the front yard and was on duty, and whenever there was movement, Sun Nier would climb onto the roof with agility like a frightened cat. After the catastrophe, the poor girl knew that she must not be found in the house by the Japanese soldiers.

It was at this time that Zhao Mutou flashed into the mansion of Xia Lily's family.

The commander of the spy company did not heed the warning given to him by the regimental seat before coming, of course, he also wandered around Xia Baihe's house for a long time in advance, and was sure that there were no Japanese soldiers in this area, including Xia Baihe's house, before making this move. The old servant of the Xia family, who was dizzy, did not recognize the company commander of the Central Army who had been disguised, even though the company commander had been in and out of this courtyard for more than two months.

The old servant in the front yard deliberately asked loudly, which directly frightened Sun Nier who was unknown in the backyard and rushed out of the wing room to climb onto the roof, but in a hurry, Sun Nier actually stepped on the outer edge of the water tank, she desperately tried to stabilize her balance, but finally lost her center of gravity and planted herself from the water tank more than half a person high to the yard.

At that moment, the young woman had only one desperate thought left in her heart: it's over!

Sure enough, before she could get up and dodge again, a figure burst into the backyard like an arrow; Thinking that the person who came was a Japanese soldier, Sun Nier screamed hysterically.

But the comer quickly pounced on Sunelle's side, and covered her mouth with a strong hand:

"Nell, don't be afraid, it's me!"

The frightened maid finally recognized this tall and thin uninvited guest at a close distance, and another shock of ecstasy ensued, which made the young woman, who had exhausted her mental strength, faint at once.

Three days ago, Xia Lianshan, deputy commander of the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Eighth Route Army's Forestry Division, had already taken six soldiers to reconnoiter outside Fengdian City on horseback. Xia Lianshan sent back three groups of soldiers on the same day and returned to the foot of Guanmen Mountain to report the news. The first two reported the news that the county town was occupied by the Japanese army; The second group of two people reported that the Japanese army brigade set out from Fengdian and entered Little Elm Mountain, most likely to attack Wencheng on the other side of Little Elm Mountain; The third group of one person reported that he and a soldier were squatting on the periphery of Fengdian and continued to monitor Fengdian's movements.

The return of the first group of warriors caused the second camp at the foot of Guanmen Mountain to fluctuate, and most of the people were shocked that Fengdian had fallen so quickly; The return of the second group of soldiers made the hearts of some knowledgeable commanders and fighters heavy: these people knew that Wencheng was on the Tongpu railway line, and once it was lost, the Japanese army would open the door to attack Jinnan along the railway; In the direction, Guanmen Mountain is parallel to the Tongpu Railway Line, and the distance from its west foot to the Tongpu Line is only twenty or thirty miles at the farthest; This means that if the Japanese army sends troops along the Tongpu Road, it will only take one or two hours to reach the foot of Guanmen Mountain!

Therefore, some people, including instructor Liu Shu, have already advocated that the Second Battalion immediately leave the western foot of Guanmen Mountain and enter the mountain from the mountain pass to find a station. In particular, when the third group of soldiers (only one person) sent back by Xia Lianshan brought back the news that Deputy Company Commander Xia and a soldier were staying outside Fengdian City to monitor, Liu Shu immediately asked the battalion commander to give an order to recall them.

Wu Zijian was noncommittal, he didn't want to quarrel too much with the instructor before the battalion commander made up his mind, so he found an excuse to sneak out of the camp tent and went straight to Xiao Junping's tent.

The captain of the Jin Army, who learned the news, was also taken aback, he looked directly at the deputy battalion commander of the Eighth Route Army, and was speechless for a long time. After a long while, Xiao Junping shook his head and said bitterly:

"Lips and teeth are cold! Now, your army should understand the consequences of fearing the enemy and avoiding the enemy, right? Yesterday, Sir Wu, I asked you to send someone to send the information I obtained from interrogating the Japanese prisoners to the headquarters of the 12th Brigade of Wencheng, if you did this at that time, then the strength of the Japanese army that set out from Fengdian today and attacked Wencheng could be grasped in advance by our 12th Brigade - but what about the facts? Your army didn't even know about it! ”

Wu Zijian's face was ashamed and he didn't dare to say anything - it was not that he didn't suggest to the battalion commander that he should act according to Staff Officer Xiao's wishes, but the battalion commander vetoed the matter after discussing the matter with the instructor.

"Also, when the battle in Fengdian was in full swing, your whole battalion left the battlefield and did not send reinforcements there, but hid at the foot of this mountain, which led to the loss of the Jinnan Gate. All this, your 18th Group Army, as one of the units in the Second Theater of War, should explain this clearly to the Commander Yan Command! ”

"Staff Officer Xiao, don't worry, I can send someone to Wencheng on horseback to report now!" Wu Zijian said with some anger that he was indeed ashamed and annoyed by the second battalion's move of not reporting it

"It's too late!" Xiao Junping lamented to the deputy battalion commander of the Eighth Route Army, who had already expressed remorse: "Actually, the brigade headquarters knew that Fengdian was attacked by the Japanese army, and Brigade Commander Zheng sent me to Fengdian with the radio in order to obtain first-hand information on the front line. The disappearance of me and the radio station will certainly arouse vigilance at the brigade headquarters. If the Japanese wanted to attack Wencheng, it was almost impossible. ”

Hearing what the staff officer of the Jin Army said, Wu Zijian secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm just curious, Fengdian has two regiments of troops guarding, in addition to the Tian regiment of our 12th Brigade, the Central Army also has a 391st regiment, which is a strong force in the descendant corps sent by the chairman to Shanxi. With their participation in the defense of the city, how could Fengdian be occupied by the Japanese so quickly? ”

"Staff Officer Xiao, I should not ask something," Wu Zijian said cautiously: "Based on your understanding of the Jin army, do you think the 12th Brigade can hold Wencheng?" ”

Xiao Junping didn't protect his shortcomings: "To tell the truth, Brigade Commander Zheng has the grace of knowing me, I was originally in the 33rd Army of Chief Sun Chu, just a lieutenant, after the rout to Wencheng last year, Brigade Commander Zheng took me in and promoted me to captain." But I still have to say that the 12th Brigade of Brigade Commander Zheng is not at the same level at all compared with the main force of the Central Army. If the 391st Regiment can't hold a county seat, then don't expect the 12th Brigade to hold a big railway line station like Wencheng! That's exactly what I've been most worried about for a few days. ”

"Well, this little devil is quite capable of fighting," Wu Zijian's demeanor gradually returned to normal: "The battle where our second battalion fought with their cavalry in Dawangyu, Staff Officer Xiao, you also saw it, we have an absolute advantage in numbers, but in the end it can only be said that it was a draw." ”

"Speaking of this Sena Division, it can be regarded as a great enemy in the World War Zone!" The staff officer of the Jin Army suddenly gritted his teeth and said to the deputy battalion commander of the Eighth Route Army: "Last year's Battle of Xinkou, Chief Yan and Chief Wei (author's note: referring to Wei Lihuang, who was the deputy commander of the Second World War Zone) confronted Itagaki at Xinkou, and there was already a chance to annihilate the opponent, but at the most critical moment, this Sena Division and another Shangang Division suddenly joined forces to kill from Niangzi Pass into Shanxi and copied our back road. Yan and Wei fell short, and since then they have been out of control! ”

The correspondent of the battalion headquarters hurriedly ran in and said that the battalion commander and the instructor were waiting for the deputy battalion commander to have a meeting. Wu Zijian frowned, and asked the correspondent to report that he would be over in a while. Then, he asked Xiao Junping how the hand-drawn map of Jinzhongnan that Zhang Xiu brought in the morning and asked him to help him see was done?

The intelligence staff officer of the Jin army couldn't help but laugh dumbly when he heard this, he took out the "map" from the side of the half-lying stretcher, held it in his hand and shook it towards Wu Zijian, and asked in disbelief:

"You eight ways, just rely on this thing to fight?!"