In the fierce battle at the village of Hekou and the mountain pass in Guanmen Mountain, at dawn, Wu Zijian, who had already withdrawn into the mountain pass, personally commanded the two 92 heavy machines in the heavy machine gun fortifications to block the last crazy attack of the Japanese puppet army from the bottom of the mountain.

But the attack of the Japanese puppet army actually took the initiative to stop - the feint attack of the 391st Regiment of the Central Army on Fengdian successfully touched the sensitive nerves of the Japanese wing captain Kosuke Otsuka, of course, Osa wanted to attack the mountain pass in one fell swoop and completely annihilate the Eighth Route Army, but the desperate request for help by the deputy wing captain Aso in Fengdian finally made him give up.

Standing at the pass of Guanmen Mountain, Wu Zijian's telescope clearly saw the whole process of the Japanese puppet army's collection, formation, and promotion. The deputy commander of the second battalion secretly screamed ashamed, just now, he had already begun to arrange the deputy commander of the 8th company to lead his people to prepare to transfer to Hongxing Gorge, because he knew that if the Japanese puppet army continued to attack like this, the mountain pass could not be defended here; However, the men of the 8th Company had not yet set off, but the Japanese puppet army retreated first.

The Eighth Route Army on the mountain pass, of course, did not understand why the enemy troops had withdrawn. Xiao Junping also observed with a telescope, and he noticed that the speed of the whole team after the Japanese puppet army collected troops was very fast, and it could even be said that it was very urgent.

"Deputy battalion commander, could it be that the enemy suddenly received a new combat order?" He asked Wu Zijian.

Wu Zijian shook his head and did not speak.

Li Tianlin's telescope was also on the bridge of his nose, and he said while observing: "Lianshan took a part of the cavalry to stand out before dawn, they should have run in the direction of Fengdian, could it be that Lianshan commanded the cavalry company to attack Fengdian?" ”

Xiao Junping immediately denied: "Impossible, when Company Commander Xia went from here to sneak attack the Japanese truck, he said that he brought forty or fifty people, and there were no heavy weapons, even if he ran to the city of Fengdian, he couldn't help the Japanese army defending the city." ”

The scene of Xia Lianshan forcibly breaking away with the last cavalry from the rain of interception bullets of the Japanese army returning to the defense was seen in the shadow of the mountain pass. Everyone is praying that the remnants of the cavalry company can get out of danger safely - if there is no surprise attack by the cavalry, I am afraid that Wu Zijian and Li Tianlin, as well as the main force of the 5th company, will be lost at the bottom of the mountain!

"All units count the battle losses, and the 5th Company is ready to go down the mountain and enter the village!"

Wu Zijian gave the order. He didn't expect that Hekou Village would be lost and recovered one morning, and the deputy commander of the second battalion, who had already been about to withdraw into the deep mountains and hibernate for a while, was quite fortunate that he would not die.

However, the fate of Xiping Village is still uncertain. After a night of fighting, the battalion commander and instructor did not send anyone to Hekou Village to contact him, which could only mean that there was more luck than luck. In the quiet and cold air of the early morning, if there is a gunfire in Xiping Village, which is more than ten miles away, it should be faintly heard here in Hekou Village. However, at this moment, only the chirping of chickadees can be heard.

The men of the 5th and 8th companies began to count the number of people. The results of the count soon came out, the five companies of six platoons, one of the platoons was almost completely formed, only a few remained, the remaining five platoons suffered varying losses, the whole company still has 142 people, nearly half of them are wounded; Two platoons of the 8th Company came from Hongxing Gorge this time, and there are currently 51 people left, and more than half of them are wounded. The number of enemy engineers is complete, and the cavalry company is unknown.

Wu Zijian, Li Tianlin, Xiao Junping and the deputy company commander of the 8th Company gathered together and looked at the casualty figures in silence. Everyone's mood can only be described by the word "heavy".

The Japanese came too suddenly. Once upon a time, Wu Zijian could also take people into Fengdian County to discuss the military situation with the people of the Central Army, but in a blink of an eye, the Japanese army not only recaptured Fengdian like lightning, but also showed its saber to Guanmen Mountain non-stop.

Xiao Junping stood in the cold wind and first made a review: "Deputy battalion commander, this defeat is directly related to the ineffective intelligence work of the enemy engineering team, and I ask for the blame and resignation. ”

Wu Zijian looked at the enemy captain with an embarrassed expression and did not speak for a while. However, Li Tianlin couldn't hold his breath and said to Xiao Junping: "That's what I said!" What are the enemy workers you sent to Fengdian for? People have stolen to our doorstep, let's be good, we don't know the news at all! ”

As soon as the commander of the 5th company complained like this, Xiao Junping's face couldn't hold it anymore. But he still stammered and explained: Vice Captain Chen Xuanzhu has not returned yet, but Deputy Captain Chen has sent several people to deliver letters to Hekou Village.

Wu Zijian took over the conversation at this time, and he glared at Li Tianlin dissatisfied: "Don't be full of nonsense!" You and I took the 5th company into Little Elm Mountain this time, if it weren't for Captain Xiao's people chasing into the mountain to urgently send us information, how would we know that Fengdian had been lost? Where did Captain Xiao's information come from? Didn't the bolt send someone from Fengdian to send it back in a hurry?! ”

Li Tianlin retorted equally unconvinced: "What's the matter!" The Japanese puppet army in Fengdian went out to attack us overnight, why didn't he report the news in advance? ”

This time, several people were speechless. Of course, the commanders of the 2nd Battalion of the Forestry Division who were present could not know that Chen Xuanzhu, the deputy captain of the enemy engineering team, had never been able to find a chance to infiltrate Fengdian County, so in the end they had to stay in a farmhouse in the eastern suburbs outside the city; When the cavalry regiment of the puppet Mongolian army and the two infantry squadrons of the Otsuka Wing set out overnight, they walked through the southern city gate, which was quite far away from the peasant houses in the eastern suburbs where Chen Xuanzhu was staying. So he didn't know about it at all.

Wu Zijian felt that now was not the time to pursue this, and the top priority was to get in touch with the battalion headquarters in Xiping Village as soon as possible. Xia Lianshan's cavalry is all gone, and there is no horse left in Hekou Village and Shankou here.

"Captain Xiao, your people didn't participate in the battle at night, and now they should be the most physically strong, I want you to arrange people immediately, and go to Xiping Village, Fengdian and Wencheng separately to find out the news!"

Hearing Wencheng, Xiao Junping, who was already about to turn around and leave, couldn't help but be stunned: "Deputy battalion commander, what are you sending someone to Wencheng to do now?" ”

Wu Zijian was about to take Li Tianlin's 5th Company to sneak into Little Elm Mountain this time, and told the enemy engineer captain that the Japanese army had now secretly controlled the only road in Little Elm Mountain, and he saw with his own eyes that there were car, cavalry, and truck teams along that road, coming from the direction of Fengdian and rushing to the direction of Wencheng.

"Alas, people are poor and short-minded!" Wu Zijian lamented: "I watched the car drive over the road, the car is good, it seems to be made in Germany, and the person sitting in it must be a big guy!" The car was followed by the cavalry. But I, I had only 200 men at hand, no artillery, no heavy machine guns, so I didn't dare to give the order to fight immediately, and with such hesitation, the car and the cavalry ran away. ”

The captain of the enemy engineer smacked Wu Zijian's words and pondered: Forty-seven troop transport trucks! That's right, the size of an infantry brigade. As for the car, it should not carry lieutenants and adjutants, it is a general!

Wencheng is located on the Tongpu Railway, and it is the Sena Division of the Japanese Army that is currently attacking and occupying the Tongpu Railway, and if the general is sitting in the car, it must undoubtedly be at the level of brigade commander and division commander.

As soon as Xiao Junping said his analysis, Wu Zijian was even more choked: "That's it, it's a good opportunity!" Therefore, we have to send people to Wencheng to get a good feel for the details of the Japanese army. A county town in Fengdian District actually alarmed the Japanese army's senior officials and heavy soldiers to come to support, what is the article here? As soon as this senior official left, the Japanese puppet army in Fengdian attacked us overnight, what is the connection here? You intelligence person, you have to find out for me this time! ”

Xiao Junping secretly admired Wu Zijian's mind while admitting: In the end, it was the origin of the Huangpu Wuhan Branch!

The enemy team immediately divided into three ways and set off. Wu Zijian and Xiao Junping specially instructed the way to Xiping Village to find out the movement of the battalion headquarters, and if the battle in Xiping is not over (this possibility is already very small), they should also try to find the battalion commander or instructor, report the situation on this side of the estuary, and ask for instructions on the next move. Xiao Junping was going to personally lead this way to Xiping, but the deputy commander of the second battalion categorically vetoed it on the grounds that his injuries had not healed.

On the way to Fengdian, we must first contact Chen Xuanzhu, the deputy captain of the enemy engineering team, and strive to find the Xia Lianshan cavalry company that broke through in that direction; Then, monitor the enemy troops stationed in Fengdian nearby, and report to Guanmenshan at any time if there is a situation. If conditions permit, we will strive to get in touch with the 391st Regiment of the Central Army that has retreated to the Great Elm Mountain. This time he failed to cooperate with friendly forces, Wu Zijian was always angry, and he especially did not understand why the 391st Regiment, which was strong in combat, gave up Fengdian easily. So much so that he took people on a trip to Little Elm Mountain in vain and returned in vain.

On the way to Wencheng, it is necessary to focus on ascertaining the scale of the Japanese garrison in Wencheng and the current enemy movements on the Tongpu Railway Line.

After a fierce battle all night, the commanders and fighters of the 5th Company had already been running around in the Little Elm Mountain before, and now they had reached the end of the crossbow. Wu Zijian simply ordered Li Tianlin to lead the team to rest first, and Hekou Village was not in a hurry to go down for the time being. At this moment, another platoon rushed from Hongxingxia, and it was Lu Dajiang, the commander of the 8th Company, who received a letter sent by Wu Zijian and ordered him to come urgently to help in the battle. Xiao Junping proposed that he take the platoon of the 8th Company and the last three enemy workers who stayed with him to go down from the mountain pass to Hekou Village to reconnoiter the situation in the village.

Wu Zijian, who was tired and sleepy, thought about it and finally agreed, he told Xiao Junping to be vigilant that there were still enemy troops stranded inside and outside the village, search for the bodies of his comrades, and at the same time send people to the woods south of the village to find the villagers who had fled and take them home.

Wu Zijian divided the team gathered around the mountain pass into four echelons, and arranged the time to take turns to guard the fortifications and rest. The wounded were treated promptly. He predicted that the Japanese army and the puppet Mongolian army that had withdrawn from here to Fengdian would not be able to make a comeback for a while. On the one hand, I must get in touch with the battalion headquarters as soon as possible, and on the other hand, I must also start regrouping!