Starting from the eastern suburbs of Lingshi County, Xia Lianshan's cavalry company nervously listened to the movements of the left flank - Wu Zijian, deputy battalion commander, specially instructed them to pay attention to maintaining horizontal contact with Li Tianlin's 5th Company, which had retreated, during the march.

As a result, there was no need for any more contact: the gunfire of the left wing, which had been silent, suddenly resounded and quickly turned intense. Xia Lianshan understood that this must be the deputy battalion commander and Li Tianlin who were entangled by the pursuing Japanese army when they retreated. It's just that he didn't know that it was not the Japanese army that entangled the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade, but the 5th Company took the initiative to turn around and fight back, trying to pick up the alternate cover with the 3rd Company of the 1st Battalion of the 391st Regiment of the Central Army.

The commander of the cavalry company of the Eighth Route Army immediately ordered to move closer to the left flank. The cavalry company and the 5th company were now two parallel retreat routes, about four or five miles apart from each other, and the cavalry galloped on horseback and quickly attached them. Even though it was night, Xia Lianshan, who was running at the front, could distinguish the enemy and our camp from the direction of the warring sides' shots; What made him secretly excited was that at this moment he and the cavalry were exactly on the pursuing side: the flank of the Japanese army.

"Hit!"

Xia Lianshan, who was on horseback, shouted violently, and the pony pistol that had already been drawn from the pouch was held in his right hand and fired at the Japanese army team with a long view of the black shadow. The veterans of the cavalry company have been trained and practiced, and now they can make the action of grasping the reins in one hand and holding a cavalry gun in the other; After firing a shot, you can also spread the reins, pull the bolt with both hands to reload the bullet.

Although there were only about 30 horsemen, due to the suddenness of the attack and the fact that it was from the flank of the Japanese army, it still caused panic for the opponent: the Japanese squadron Ushijima. Several cavalrymen were thrown out of their horses* and exploded in the ranks of the Japanese soldiers who were intensively pursuing, causing a lot of damage.

The weapons and equipment of the cavalry company of the Eighth Route Army were mainly captured from the cavalry wing of the Sena Division, while the cavalry of the Japanese army carried the 38-type cavalry rifle on their backs, so their horses did not have long bags for guns. However, the cavalry company of Xia Lianshan mainly relied on the cavalry prisoners of the puppet Mongolian army in training, while the Mongolian cavalry was accustomed to inserting the cavalry in the pouch, which was placed at the front end of the saddle side, so that the cavalry could take the gun with one hand and collect the gun. Therefore, Xia Lianshan later ordered the cavalry company to be uniformly equipped with gun bags.

The few cavalrymen who had just dropped bombs on horseback actually benefited from the way their pistols were collected, and when they inserted their pongies into the pouches, their free right hands could immediately be pulled from their waists* to twist the cap, pull the string, and throw. It's all in one go.

As a result, this sortie of the cavalry company was a great success, and in just a minute or two, the flank and rear flank of Ushijima's squadron collapsed. Xia Lianshan, who won the first blow, did not like to fight, turned the horse's head to the right, and left with the team like a whirlwind.

Until this time, neither the cavalry company of the Eighth Route Army nor the Ushijima squadron of the Japanese army realized that the two sides had actually made a second move - not long ago, the Ushishima squadron went out by car to the nearby villages in the middle and lower reaches of the Qinglong River to carry out a sweep, and the cavalry company of the second battalion of the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army was ordered to attack it. The difference was that the cavalry was mainly engaged in cold gun attacks, with the aim of delaying the return of Ushijima's car convoy. And this time it was very different, the fierce cavalry charged close and opened fire, and the infantry of the Ushijima squadron, which had no car as a cover, was directly exposed to the rapid attack of the cavalry, and the casualties were immediate. By the time Lieutenant Ushijima, who had come to his senses, organized his forces to rush to this side, the cavalry company of the Eighth Route Army had already run away.

Seeing this, Ushijima didn't pay much attention to it, and turned his head to direct the confrontation with the Shina Army directly in front of him—the deputy captain, Captain Maori, repeatedly stressed that he must bite the retreating ranks of the Shina Army and wait for the main reinforcements to arrive to join the siege—but something happened that made him angry, and it didn't take long for the cavalry of the Shina Army to sweep over again, still attacking its flanks and rear flanks, shooting and throwing bombs, or leaving after a successful blow. Ushijima, who gritted his teeth with hatred, had no choice but to transfer two Type 96 light machine guns to reinforce the right flank of the team, and instructed the machine gun shooters to immediately strafe as long as they heard the sound of horses' hooves approaching again.

The main force of the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade, which was firing on the opposite side of the Ushishima squadron, of course would not let go of the good opportunity of the Japanese army's turmoil, and the commander of the 5th Company, Li Tianlin, took a Czech machine gun and personally controlled it, and the soldiers of the 5th Company shouted and rushed forward. Wu Zijian, deputy battalion commander, had criticized Li Tianlin many times before, and he should not go to the company with a machine gun at every turn: he was the commander of the 5th Company and must be responsible for the command of the whole company. However, tonight, when the red eye was killed, Li Tianlin threw the warning of the deputy battalion commander into Java again.

Wu Zijian, who was in charge of the 5th Company, vaguely heard the sound of horses' hooves coming from the periphery of the Japanese camp, and immediately guessed that it should be Xia Lianshan's cavalry company flanking the Japanese army. When Li Tianlin's front team took the opportunity to accelerate the attack, he also immediately ordered the rear team to follow closely, striving to push back the Japanese army in front of him, so as to re-align the battle line with the friendly forces on his right side, so that the two sides could resume the alternate cover retreat method agreed by the two sides.

Sure enough, Ushijima's squadron, which had been hit from both sides, retreated in the chaotic formation, and the team as a whole involuntarily retreated towards the railway line behind them.

The Eighth Route Army's return and fierce assault were quickly noticed by the 3rd Company of the 1st Battalion of the 391st Regiment, which was fighting its right flank. Deputy Battalion Commander Liu of the First Battalion was pleasantly surprised, and he couldn't help but secretly give a thumbs up to the Eighth Route Army. Inspired by this, he ordered the whole company to intensify the attack, and three machine guns and a dozen bombardiers suddenly attacked violently, and after some strafing and bombing, they began to retreat rapidly - it was the rapid retreat of the entire third company, which instantly opened up the distance between the Japanese troops in front of them.

At this time, the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade was less than half a mile away from the 3rd Company of the 1st Battalion of the 391st Regiment on the right, and he clearly felt the rapid retreat after the opponent's rapid attack.

In this way, the two main companies of the Eighth Route Army and the Central Army re-implemented alternate cover with each other and retreated in turns; Xia Lianshan's cavalry company roamed the perimeter of the Japanese pursuit team, attacking and harassing from time to time. The battle gradually progressed towards the situation hoped by the Chinese army.

At the same time, the two infantry platoons of the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade, under the leadership of the deputy company commander of the 5th Company, escorted the battalion's artillery platoon and the Makqin heavy machine gun and marched towards Pingcun in Guanmen Xi. The sound of gunfire from the direction behind them made them feel worried, lest the company commander and deputy battalion commander be bitten by the Japanese army. But there was no choice but to retreat, the main force of the Central Army had already withdrawn, and it was impossible for the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade and the cavalry company to carry it still.

Zhao Yejiao, the commander of the artillery platoon, repeatedly negotiated with the deputy company commander of the 5th Company on the way, hoping to send at least one mortar back to support his comrades after the break. Of course, the deputy company commander of the 5th company would not agree, and just before the retreat just now, the deputy battalion commander Wu Zijian had personally treated him: It was necessary to ensure that the three mortars of the artillery platoon and the Makqin heavy machine gun of the 5th company were safely withdrawn to the Xiping Village base as soon as possible. These pieces of heavy equipment are the treasures of the entire Second Battalion of the Xu Brigade, and they must not be missed.

"Platoon Commander Zhao, you have to be clear," the deputy company commander panted and admonished Zhao Yejiao: "Only if you withdraw safely, our 5th Company, the deputy battalion commander and the cavalry company can retreat in great strides with confidence." If you run to the deputy battalion commander with the artillery now, won't you cause chaos for the comrades after the break?! ”

Zhao Yejiao finally closed his mouth, and he also saw that it was precisely because of the heavy mortars and the Makqin heavy machine gun that the entire team was dragged down very slowly. He tried to make up his mind several times to disassemble the mortar, and carry the base, gun carriage and gun body separately, which would undoubtedly increase the speed of travel, but in the end he gritted his teeth and did not carry it out - the battle was not over yet, and he needed to put his cannon in a state of imminent combat at any time!

The perseverance and perseverance of the platoon commander of the artillery platoon of the Central Army quickly paid off. A few minutes later, there was a clearer and clearer exchange of fire in front of them, and the sharp soldiers sent by the deputy commander of the 5th company ran back to report that the battlefield of the exchange of fire was located on the left flank of the retreat route of the headquarters, and the identity of the belligerent troops was unknown, but in front of the retreat route, it was found that there was a long line of trucks parked, and armed sentries were on duty nearby, and it was not clear in the dark, and it was suspected that the Japanese convoy was missing.

A long list of trucks!

The deputy company commander of the 5th Company gasped: the 391st Regiment of the Central Army did not have a single truck, let alone the Second Battalion of the Xu Brigade. There is no doubt that this is the car fleet of the Japanese! Moreover, there was a fierce exchange of fire on the left front, and it was very likely that the troops of the 391st Regiment encountered the Japanese troops in trucks on the way back.

But where did this Japanese army come from?! Could it be the defenders of Fengdian County? It's not like ah, Fengdian is located in the northeast direction, how could the Japanese troops who went out from that direction park their trucks here? Also, the 7th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade was responsible for blocking the Japanese reinforcements from Fengdian near Zhanghekou Village, and it was unlikely that they would have let the enemy's convoy come over so quickly!

"Whatever he came from, let's bomb the dog's truck first!" It was the artillery platoon commander Zhao Yejiao who spoke, and when he saw that the deputy company commander of the 5th Company was still hesitating, he immediately became anxious: "Our retreat has been blocked by the Japanese, don't fight at this time, let alone when!" As he spoke, he ordered the artillery platoon to set up the cannon on the spot.

The artillery platoon is directly under the battalion headquarters of the second battalion of the Xu Brigade, so Zhao Yejiao does not care about the attitude of the deputy commander of an infantry company; He himself did not wait for the deputy commander of the 5th Company to express his position, and immediately took the two people of the artillery platoon to the front - the mortar is a curved artillery, and there must be a clear target position to estimate the firing range, and now it is the vast night, so he can only approach the reconnaissance target.

Looking at the back of Zhao Yejiao and his entourage leaving, the deputy company commander of the 5th Company stomped his feet with determination and ordered a squad leader to quickly take a few people to follow the artillery platoon commander to cover in case of accidents. At the same time, the two platoons at hand were deployed separately: one was led by himself, preparing to attack the Japanese convoy after the artillery bombardment and open the way to retreat; The other was led by the platoon commander and searched and advanced to the sound of fierce firefighting in the left front, trying to find out the situation on the battlefield and, if necessary, to assist friendly forces in combat.

After a short while, Zhao Yejiao and the others ran back first, and the artillery platoon commander was already convinced that there was no doubt that the truck team was Japanese. With his memories and feelings after observation, he began to direct the three mortars to line up and adjust the muzzles, and the loaders of the three guns each held a shell and stood next to the muzzles.

"Fire!"