Li Mancang, the second lieutenant of the Jin Army, originally wanted to guard against the fact that the Black Stone Cliff bandits in Guanmen Mountain would come to Maicun to retaliate, but what he never expected was that this gang of bandits was actually wrapped up in the ranks of the Eighth Route Army and came to Maicun with a "return gun".

The first to identify the bandits' faces was a few villagers. Knowing that there was another anti-Japanese war force outside the village, some good people came to see the excitement, and found that among the many officers and soldiers of the Eighth Route in uniform gray military uniforms, there were dozens of people dressed in civilian clothes but armed with weapons, and they quickly recognized them with sharp eyes, including the members of the Black Stone Cliff bandit gang who attacked Mai Village a few days ago!

At this time, the calm morning atmosphere of Maicun suddenly became noisy, and the local people had hardly heard of the name of the 18th Group Army in the national army sequence, and they only recognized the Jin army with the familiar nature of the hometown soldiers; What's more, the bearded second lieutenant Li Mancang did lead his subordinates to thwart the bandits in time and save the lives and property of the people in the village. However, that gang of bandits actually got involved with another anti-Japanese army, which of course aroused a lot of public indignation.

As soon as it was spread ten, ten and hundred, before the team of the Eighth Route Army could start again, the villagers who got the news flocked to the outside of the north end of the village, and some people even reported the Jin army stationed in Mai Village.

Together, they blocked the way of the Eighth Route Army.

Wei Xin, commander of the second battalion of the Xu Brigade Detachment, and Xia Lianshan, commander of the cavalry company, who were caught off guard, hurriedly explained to Li Mancang, claiming that this group of bandits had agreed to accept the reorganization of the Eighth Route Army and would no longer do any activities in the future that would rob homes and rob houses and harm the heavens and reason.

The second lieutenant of the Jin army will be suspicious - Li Mancang is convinced of the Eighth Route Army in front of him, after all, the cavalry squadron of the Japanese who had fought together bloodily a few months ago. But when it comes to the bandits of the Black Stone Cliff in Guanmen Mountain, it is difficult for him to associate these guys who were still burning and killing and looting in this village a few days ago with the War of Resistance against Devils!

"What about the bandit leader named Iron Hand?" Suddenly, Li Mancang blurted out to Wei Xin and Xia Lianshan. That big boss was the culprit who attacked Mai Village, and the platoon commander of the Jin army was deeply impressed.

The two commanders of the Eighth Route Army glanced at each other, and finally Xia Lianshan answered: "He was killed in the night battle. ”

This dry reply suddenly caused a shock among the surrounding Jin officers and soldiers and the people of Mai Village.

"Killed by the Japanese?" Li Mancang asked in a tone of disbelief.

Now, in order to temporarily calm the people's anger and the doubts of friendly forces, Xia Lianshan had to nod his head, saying that Tie Shou did die at the hands of the Japanese.

The people of Mai Village were greatly harmed by the bandits led by Tie Shou, and naturally they hated the leader especially and couldn't put it to death, but now that they heard that he was killed by the devils, they couldn't help but be in an uproar and at a loss.

Liu Wumei knew what kind of crimes her subordinates had committed in this village, although she was a woman, she was not lacking in a heroic spirit, she did not dare to do it, nor did she want to embarrass the commander of the Eighth Route Army, including her sworn brother, so she saw the opportunity and suddenly stepped forward, arched her hand towards the Jin officers and soldiers and the villagers of Mai Village, and said loudly:

"Master Jin Jun, fellow villagers and elders, Liu Wumei, who is the big boss of the Black Stone Cliff Cottage, here I will make amends to you! The Black Rock Cliff Cottage has decided to listen to the advice of the Eighth Route Army, stop robbing homes and houses, and concentrate on fighting the war of resistance against the little devils! In the past, the scourge was a serious sin, and Liu Wumei was willing to fight to the death with the Japanese with her brothers in the cottage, so as to atone for the sins of her hometown fathers! ”

These words were spoken impassionedly, and the listeners were silent for a while. Seeing this, the commander of the second battalion of the Eighth Route Army lost no time in standing beside his righteous sister, and also loudly declared that what Liu Wumei said was true, and asked the friendly army and the old folks to wait and see in the future.

In this way, whether it is the Jin officers and soldiers or the people of Mai Village, it is difficult to continue to pull down their faces and ask the gangs for their crimes.

Like most people, the bearded captain Li Mancang did not witness the appearance of the famous female bandit leader until this moment, and he was secretly speechless - even at night, the 570th Regiment of the brother army kept sending people to ask him to fortify in Maicun and intercept Liu Wumei and his party, who might return to Guanmen Mountain: I don't know what kind of Lou Zi this beautiful female bandit leader stabbed out in Longwan Village!

But the second lieutenant of the Jin Army absolutely refused to go into this troubled water for the domineering commanders of the 570th Regiment, not to mention that the famous female bandit leader was still standing next to the main force of the Xu Brigade Detachment of the Eighth Route Army - the sentries just reported that when this Eighth Route Army team mixed with bandits arrived outside Maicun Village to rest, hundreds of people followed it, all of whom were Eighth Route officers and soldiers in gray uniforms. With a platoon of troops at hand, it is difficult to say whether he can stop the dozens of bandits armed with fast guns, and in the face of hundreds of friendly Eighth Route Army, it is undoubtedly becoming more and more lonely.

Fortunately, Wei Xin and Xia Lianshan did not want to delay, and when they learned that the first battalion of Wang Shuanglong of the rear team had approached, they immediately ordered the front team to set off and turn to a large mountain pass at the southern foot of Guanmen Mountain, which was less than two miles away.

"Platoon Commander Li, the green mountains do not change, the green water flows for a long time, we will leave!" Xia Lianshan said polite words that were almost like rivers and lakes, but he saluted a military salute in his hand.

Li Mancang hurriedly returned the salute, and at the same time politely said that he would accompany the friendly army forward for a ride.

"Your army has dispatched a lot of troops in this night battle." The second lieutenant of the Jin Army, who looked at the size of the Eighth Route Army as he walked, couldn't help but sigh.

Xia Lianshan, who led his war horse to walk side by side with him, did not hide it, and bluntly said that there were nearly two infantry battalions and a cavalry company here. Since yesterday afternoon, the Japanese army has carried out retaliatory sweeps in villages around the western foothills of Guanmen Mountain, with more than 1,000 troops.

"Platoon Commander Li should know that not long ago, the Guanmenshan Detachment of the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army and the 391st Regiment of the Central Army jointly jumped to Tongpu Road and fought a battle, which caused a lot of trouble to the Japanese. So now, the devils have come to take revenge on us! ”

Listening to Xia Lianshan mention the battle of the attack on Tongpulu, the bearded second lieutenant of the Jin army felt as if he had overturned a five-flavor bottle - the Wei Lihuang Commander's Department in the Second War Zone issued a commendation order to the participating troops for this battle a few days ago, not only the Xu Brigade Detachment of the Eighth Route Army and the 391st Regiment of the Central Army in front of him, but also the 84th Division of the Central Army stationed in Qinyuan County, southeast of Pingquan County. In other words, the national army troops in the defense areas on the left and right sides of Pingquan County participated in this battle, but the 12th Brigade of the Jin Army was absent! is also an army of resistance against Japan, and it is difficult not to be ashamed.

The cavalry company commander of the Eighth Route Army said that he had no intention, and when he found that Li Mancang's face was red and white, he immediately understood where the other party's heart was sick - when he ambushed the cavalry wing of the Sena Division in Dawangyu in Xiaoyushu Mountain, this bearded second lieutenant of the Jin Army with a machete in his hand was quite brave, and after the war, he was greatly valued by Wu Zijian, who was then the deputy commander of the second battalion of the Xu Brigade, and he was bent on subduing him to the Eighth Route Army, but unfortunately it was unsuccessful.

"Platoon Commander Li, since your army left the Wencheng Defense Area and retreated all the way to Pingquan County, I am afraid that there are not too many chances to fight with the Japanese again, right?" Xia Lianshan asked tentatively in a tactful tone, and in his heart, he was also deeply influenced by Wu Zijian, the former deputy battalion commander and today's detachment leader, and deliberately enveloped Li Mancang.

The second lieutenant of the Jin Army, who was originally very uncomfortable in his heart, heard the other party ask such a question, and he felt more and more embarrassed. But it was also at this moment that he once again remembered Xiao Junping, the intelligence staff officer of the 12th Brigade Headquarters who mysteriously disappeared in the battle of Dawangyu, so he simply avoided Xia Lianshan's question, and asked in a low voice: "Chief Xia, there are no outsiders here today, can you tell me the truth?" Staff Officer Xiao of our brigade headquarters, did you let the prisoners go? ”

The cavalry company commander had already taken precautions against this problem, but he didn't expect Li Mancang to use the word "prisoner", his brain was hot, and he blurted out: "Joke! Staff Officer Xiao is an anti-Japanese hero, both civil and military, and the Eighth Route Army can't respect him, how could he capture him!? ”

After being stunned by the sudden loss of the commander of the Eighth Route Army, Li Mancang suddenly realized: The words and deeds of the other party are tantamount to confirming the suspicions he has always had, and it seems that the intelligence staff officer of the 12th Brigade Headquarters has indeed changed to the Eighth Route Army!

The cavalry company commander, who also realized that he had leaked his horse's feet, regretted it in his heart, but he knew that the more he depicted, the darker it would become, so he turned his heart sideways and said coldly: "Platoon Commander Li, please go back, let's set off!" With that, he flew on his horse and trotted away with the front team of the cavalry company, leaving the bearded second lieutenant of the Jin army in the morning light outside Maicun Village.

The plan of the Eighth Route Army and the bandits was to enter the mountain from the southern foot of Guanmen Mountain, north of Maicun, cross the entire Guanmen Mountain Range, and return to the Hongxingxia camp and the Black Rock Cliff Cottage respectively. Wang Shuanglong, Wei Xin, and Xia Lianshan all judged that if nothing else, Wu Zijian, the leader of the detachment who entered the mountain from the mountain pass behind Xiping Village, should be heading towards the Hongxingxia camp soon, and would arrive earlier than them today. Therefore, the headquarters had to speed up the march and meet the detachment commander as soon as possible.

At the mountain pass at the southern foot of Guanmen Mountain, the black donkey of the three masters of the Black Stone Cliff Cottage has been waiting for a long time. They were originally a rescue army arranged by Liu Wumei, the purpose of which was to pick up Liu Wumei and Master who might have escaped from the 570th Regiment headquarters of the Jin Army.

The black donkey, who had always been apprehensive, breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the safety news from the minions sent by Liu Wumei just now. He knew that this disaster was not small, and he connived at his henchmen to quietly go out to the mountains to rob, stealing chickens and not eating a handful of rice, and the big boss would definitely not spare him.

However, the scene in front of him first stunned the black donkey: several stretchers carried by the Black Rock Cliff team, on which lay the brothers who had lost their lives on the night just passed, among them, the corpse of the henchman Iron Hand, the big boss, was impressive!

The black donkey of the three masters, who didn't care about the people present, cried heartbreakingly.

"Who killed my brother? Lao Tzu wants to redeem his life with him! ”