Takagi Shaoza commanded his infantry brigade and fought with the Eighth Route Army on the opposite line of defense for an afternoon, and finally pry the opponent's position before dark. Seeing the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army wearing gray cloth uniforms getting up from behind the fortifications that were about to become ruins and retreating towards the depth of the village, Takagi Shaosa laughed cruelly: No matter how tough you are, you cannonballs made of steel cannonballs!

He consulted the wing commander Saijo Daisa, who was sitting in the back, and received the reply that he would first occupy the positions abandoned by the Eighth Route Army, and the camera would advance cautiously. Takagi then ordered an infantry squadron to charge, and as a result, he pounced on the opponent's defensive line that had been held for an afternoon with great ease.

Struggling to climb the rubble of a bombed-down house, the Japanese captain observed the situation in the village in the dim light, and he noticed the Qinglong River, which ran through the middle of the village, and showed signs that the retreating Eighth Route Army was withdrawing to the other side of the river, and began to build a new line of defense on the bank.

"The second team stayed where it was, and the first and third teams searched and advanced in the direction of the riverbank!"

Takagi gave the order, and immediately reported to Captain Saijo through the walkie-talkie, asking for permission to transfer another squadron to follow up.

The news of the capture of the periphery of Xiping Village did not make Wing Commander Shigehei Saijo excited: the Eighth Route Army had been holding on to the west defense line of the village for so long, and it was unlikely that it would retreat or even retreat into Guanmen Mountain in a big way, and the river in the village reported by Takagi was very likely to become the second line of defense for the Eighth Route Army's retreat - the battle in Xiping Village was far from over.

And what is irritating is that the attack of the Eighth Route Army from the flank of the headquarters has never stopped. The commander of the Japanese wing, who was experienced in combat, was keenly aware that the Eighth Route Army, which was active on the flank, seemed to be more powerful than the troops guarding the village, and seemed to be more numerous; They even had a cavalry detachment.

- Could it be that the enemy made arrangements in advance and moved the main forces outside Xiping Village in advance? If that is the case, we have to be vigilant: to avoid throwing too many troops into Xiping Village, but to let the living forces of the Eighth Route Army copy their own back road.

Fortunately, the assault search and rescue team sent by the brigade headquarters had already entered the village with the advance of Takagi Shaosa, which could be regarded as the completion of a task by the wing - before the expedition, the chief of staff of the river side had explained that this battle needed to open the gap in Xiping Village and assist the assault search and rescue team to enter the village as soon as possible.

Of course, with regard to the operation of Warrant Officer Takamatsu of the cavalry wing of the rescue division, there was no high expectation that it would succeed in Xiping Village, and intelligence showed that several prisoners of war, including Warrant Officer Takamatsu, were no longer held in the village. The members of the assault search and rescue team were all dressed in civilian clothes, so that after entering Xiping Village, they could continue to sneak out of the Guanmen Mountain Pass, and strive to blend in with the ranks of the fleeing people to enter the Guanmen Mountain and take advantage of the chaos to find relevant clues from there.

After much hesitation, Wing Commander Saijo still sent a second infantry squadron to Takagi Shaosa, but he clearly emphasized that the infantry squadron must be firmly guarded in the west of Xiping Village to control and observe the situation; And the only one used to advance along the river in the village is the squadron that entered the village in advance.

"Shao Zuo, you must pay attention to maintaining the rhythm of the offensive, step by step, steady and steady," the Japanese wing commander told his captain on the walkie-talkie: "Don't rush forward in order to rush to occupy the entire village, and minimize casualties." ”

At the same time, he revealed his judgment of the Eighth Route Army in the southern wasteland to Takagi Shaosa, and reminded the other party to beware of the Eighth Route Army inside and outside the village using the cover of night to collude with each other.

Subsequently, Shigehei Saijo telegraphed the Hagiwara Brigade Headquarters in Bunjo to report on the current progress of the headquarters. However, he was surprised by the telegram from the brigade headquarters, and the chief of staff of the riverside demanded that the flanks be quickly cleared, and that a powerful force be sent to attack the Eighth Route Army, which was harassing the southern wasteland; If it can be confirmed that it is the main force of the enemy entrenched in Xiping Village, it will be pursued and annihilated.

Savoring the telegram from the chief of staff of the brigade, Shigehei Saijo couldn't help but shake his head: Kamito obviously underestimated the strength of the Eighth Route Army and the ability of his own infantry brigade (plus an artillery squadron and a machine gun squadron)!

He was about to state his reasons and request that the scope of the operation not be expanded after nightfall, but unexpectedly a second telegram from the chief of staff of the riverside came one after another:

Lieutenant General Xiang Yue, commander of the First Army, had just sent a telegram from Taiyuan to the commander of the Hagiwara Brigade in Wencheng, asking with concern about the progress of our unit's participation in the Nine-Route Encirclement Operation; Your wing Takagi Brigade must intensify its attack, and in addition to occupying Xiping Village, strive to completely wipe out the remaining remnants of the local Eighth Route Army as soon as possible. Kameda's brigade is already intensifying its mobilization and will soon be sent to the Great Elm Mountain to attack the 391st Regiment of the Central Army.

Reading this telegram, Wing Commander Saijo gasped, it seems that the headquarters of the First Army attaches great importance to the two operations launched by the Hagiwara Brigade, and Lieutenant General Kazuki personally called to supervise the battle, showing that the siege of the Nine Roads is imminent and cannot be missed. The Kameda Brigade mentioned by the chief of staff of the riverside, that is, the 2nd Infantry Brigade formed after the temporary reduction of the wing, the captain of the brigade, Kameda Shaosa, was slightly wounded like himself, and now it is obvious that he will immediately enter the battle.

The wing commander had no choice but to put aside his thoughts and begin to deploy an attack against the Eighth Route Army to the south. But he still kept an eye on it, and did not inform Takagi Shaosa of the change of plan - at least the troops were now in Xiping Village, and the occupation was considered to have been achieved in nature.

The commander of the Japanese wing decided to adopt the tactics of grasping and releasing on these two fronts, and the two squadrons in Xiping Village could stabilize their positions and form a confrontation with the enemy forces on the other side of the river; He will personally command the other two squadrons and heavy firepower, and suddenly launch a fierce attack to annihilate the main force of the Eighth Route Army in the south.

The 1st Battalion of the Guanmenshan Detachment of the Eighth Route Army, which was deployed in those groves, always deployed no less than two companies to attack forward this afternoon to harass the flank of the Japanese camp.

When the commander of the first battalion, Wang Shuanglong, later discovered that the Japanese army was taking a defensive position in this direction, he became more and more bold and encrypted the frequency of the forward rush. The only thing he was afraid of was the Japanese artillery fire and heavy machine guns, after all, fighting on the plains, the lethality of heavy weapons was quite terrifying. Therefore, the commander of a battalion of the Eighth Route Army ordered the troops who repeatedly charged to widen the distance between individual soldiers and minimize casualties.

This is also the price that must be paid - the Japanese advance is storming Xiping Village, and only by posing a considerable threat to the Japanese flank can their own side effectively contain their offensive.

As early as more than two hours ago, after a brief discussion with him, Xia Lianshan had led the cavalry company to fully move to the rear flank of this Japanese army, which also belonged to the wasteland lacking concealment, and the cavalry was ready to attack the rear of the Japanese camp with wheel warfare at any cost.

"Lianshan, you and the brothers take care," before bidding farewell to each other, Wang Shuanglong told the cavalry company commander with a heavy heart: "Behind you is the Tongpu railway line, and you must always be on guard against reinforcements sent by the Japanese from that direction......

Less than an hour after sending off the cavalry company, Wei Xin, the commander of the second battalion, suddenly sent someone to convey the order of the detachment commander, and the 4th company of the second battalion, which had been fighting with the first battalion, immediately returned to Xiping Village from the south entrance of the village. At the same time, the commander of the first battalion was informed that the forward defense line of Xiping Village was about to be abandoned, and the troops would move to the bank of the Qinglong River to establish a second line of defense, and may eventually retreat to Guanmen Mountain. The first battalion and cavalry company of the outer line of operations were ready to move downstream along the west bank of the Qinglong River at any time, and if they were pursued by heavy Japanese troops, they would be dragged into the defense area of the 12th Brigade of the Jin Army on the outskirts of Pingquan County.

Wang Shuanglong understood that the final moment was coming—in the next few hours, Xiping Village was likely to be abandoned; But as long as there is still fighting in the village, his first battalion will be resolutely riveted here and fight the Japanese army to the end.

However, the commander of the first battalion of the Eighth Route Army still miscalculated!

Wang Shuanglong, who was planning to take advantage of the arrival of the vast twilight to intensify his attack on the Japanese troops in front, never expected that the Japanese, who had been on the defensive all afternoon, would suddenly turn from defense to attack. Two flares instantly rose in the sky above several groves, illuminating the already dark groves; The commanders and fighters of the Eighth Route Army, who were exposed to the flares, were surprised to find that the Japanese soldiers began to charge towards their side shouting.

It was an infantry squadron under the command of the Japanese wing commander Saijo Daisa, and they swarmed out under the intense fire of several light machine guns in front.

Almost in a short time, a situation of confrontation was formed, and the forwards of the two armies were closest to less than 100 meters apart, and locust-like bullets rained down on each other, and both sides suffered numerous casualties in an instant.

After all, Wang Shuanglong was a veteran commander of the Red Army, and when he saw the sudden change in the situation, he immediately made adjustments, and ordered the 3rd Company, which was hiding behind the woods, to rush forward with all his might, and at the same time, the 1st Company and the 2nd Company fought and retreated, each turning around and dividing into the left and right wings to retreat, so that the 3rd Company, which had advanced from the center, could complete the tactical deployment and assume the task of blocking the front.

At the same time, Wang Shuanglong made a judgment based on the weakening of the artillery sound in the direction of Xiping Village, the detachment leader Wu Zijian should have ordered to abandon the forward position, so the Japanese troops in the rear team would suddenly change their faces and divide their troops to attack these woods - it was time to evacuate!

In fact, under the mapping of the flares just now, the commander of the first battalion of the Eighth Route Army also saw clearly the approximate scale of the attacking enemy, which should not be more than the strength of a battalion led by himself. However, this is not the time to act rashly after all, not to mention that the detachment commander also had an order first, so he had to lead the team to withdraw first.

The 3rd Company of the 1st Battalion, which quickly drove up, used those groves as a backing and fired fiercely, finally suppressing the menacing Japanese squadron. The Japanese soldiers who were blocked had no shelter to cover, so they had to lie down on the wasteland and return fire on the grove.

This scene was quickly discovered by Wing Commander Osa, who was supervising the battle in the back, so he ordered the infantry squadron to temporarily retreat, concentrate mortars and grenadiers, and strike at those groves.

Soon, the flares also re-entered the sky above the groves, Saijo Shigehei seized the opportunity to observe with a telescope, he saw the Eighth Route Army hurriedly fleeing along the periphery of several groves, one left and one right, the Japanese wing commander sneered, and immediately decided to put the last infantry squadron at hand into it and launched a pursuit!