Osashi Kawabe, chief of staff of the Hagiwara Brigade, once commanded a brother unit of the division, the Kato Brigade and Sasaki Wing Tyumen Infantry Brigade, to carry out an overnight attack on the base area of the Eighth Route Army in Xiping Village at the foot of Guanmen Mountain, so he still remembers the terrain and environment inside and outside Xiping Village.

The good news from Xiping Village just now shows that it was the implementation of the attack proposal of the chief of staff on the riverside, and the Nara Infantry Brigade of the Otsuka Wing, which rushed to the aid there, sent two squadrons, one left and one right, to cross the river from outside the village and sneak attack, which finally destroyed the stubborn defense line of the Shina Army.

According to Takagi Shosa's telegram, the position of the Shina Army, which was suddenly attacked by two flanks, was at first trying to increase troops on both flanks to support the defensive line, but then the Takagi Infantry Brigade began to cross the river from the front and attack, which eventually led to the collapse of its defenses.

Major General Hagiwara, the commander of the brigade, nodded his head frequently and approvingly, quite satisfied with the winning hand released by his chief of staff at the critical moment.

"Hebian-kun, telegraph to Nara Shaozo, immediately put the last reserve into it, and carry out a general attack on the Chinese army in Xiping Village, and strive to annihilate the enemy!"

The brigade commander said in a resolute tone. At this time, the troops invested in the battlefield of Saipei Village had a total of five infantry squadrons, three of the Nara Brigade of the Otsuka Wing, and two of the Takagi Brigade of the Saijo Wing; Among them, Nara Shaosa commanded the last squadron as a reserve, always sweeping outside the village. Now, the time has come to put this reserve team to use.

The chief of staff on the riverside nodded his head in agreement, and at the same time arranged for the staff officer to reply to the telegram. The last night attack on Xiping Village, he commanded a complete infantry brigade and the Eighth Route Army to fight fiercely all night, although the opponent was completely driven into Guanmen Mountain, but because the seconded Tyumen Brigade was eager to return to the front line in southern Jinnan, it did not occupy Xiping after conquering it, and hastily burned it and withdrew. So much so that soon after, the remnants of the Eighth Route Army, which had escaped into Guanmen Mountain, made a comeback, and the so-called base area in Xiping Village was revived.

Based on the above lessons, Hebian Daisa, who had just finished arranging the order for the general attack, turned around and reminded the brigade commander, Major General, that after conquering Xiping Village, it should consider stationing a force in the local area, so as to block the Guanmen Mountain Pass behind the village and prevent the Chinese army from coveting the outside of the mountain from there.

"Can't you achieve the goal of total annihilation?" Unexpectedly, Hagiwara Akira, who was full of ambition, asked a rhetorical question: "Even if you can't completely annihilate it, can't you deal a devastating blow to its main force in Xiping Village?" ”

The chief of staff of the river was a little embarrassed to be asked - after all, he was not at the front line at this time, and he could not know the development of the war situation in Xiping Village. If we talk too much here, once the tactical goal cannot be achieved, I am afraid that the brigade commander and major general will be blamed more in the future.

"Uh...... General, of course, it is best to be able to completely annihilate the army, but the Chinese army occupies a favorable geographical position, and there is night as a cover, and the two captains under our command on the spot are not familiar with the terrain of the village. ”

Hagiwara Akira, who was still full of joy just now, couldn't help but become gloomy again: a whole five infantry squadrons, plus an artillery squad and two machine gun squadrons, in the face of the Chinese army, which is obviously inferior to his own strength, he is not sure to propose total annihilation!?

"You must know that the Eighth Route Army in Xiping Village was attacked many times by the Saijo Wing's Takagi Brigade before dark, and there should have been some casualties;" The commander of the Japanese brigade angrily accused: "Later, it was confirmed that the main force of the Eighth Route in Xiping Village actually jumped to the outside line and attacked me from the flank, so Saijo Osa personally led two squadrons to chase and suppress." In this way, the Eighth Route Army remaining in Xiping Village is only three or five hundred people at best, even if they occupy a favorable location, can't the imperial army of thousands of people gather and annihilate them?! ”

Masao Kojima, the head of the secret service agency who was waiting on the side, saw that the brigade commander was aggressive and the chief of staff by the river looked quite embarrassed, so he spoke out to help him get out of trouble: "General, my men have gone to Xiping Village to reconnoitre, and the back of this village is directly connected to a large mountain pass in Guanmen Mountain, which is very convenient to enter and exit. Although our attacking forces were numerous, it was difficult to encircle them on all sides. Once the Eighth Route Army loses the riverbank defense line in the village, it will presumably choose to flee to the Guanmen Mountain Pass as soon as possible, and it is indeed not easy to gather and annihilate it. ”

Listening to the explanation of the head of the island, Kawabe Osa secretly exhaled, and the eyes that looked at the other party had a color of gratitude.

Hagiwara's dissatisfaction has not diminished in the slightest, but the objective situation that Kojima Masao talked about is indeed the same. The former rolled his eyes and looked at the latter, finally closing his mouth in frustration.

This episode made the chief of staff of the riverside no longer dare to mention the motion to leave a force to defend Xiping Village after the battle. In fact, he is also very aware of the current situation in which the entire brigade and regiment are overstretched, so the brigade commander and major general are undoubtedly not happy to see more troops to defend one place under the urgent situation.

However, Masao Kojima picked up the topic again, and in view of the special situation faced by Xiping Village, the head of the secret service proposed that it was indeed necessary to keep a unit to guard Xiping Village after the expulsion and elimination of the Chinese army, so as to meet the plainclothes squad that had already infiltrated Guanmen Mountain, which was the plainclothes squad of the captured officers and soldiers of the cavalry wing of the search division.

This really caught the attention of Major General Hagiwara. The unprovoked expansion of the battle situation tonight made the brigade commander himself almost forget that there was still such a plainclothes squad. He frowned and asked the head of the secret service, "Is there any news from the team?" ”

"So far, they haven't, and although they have a radio station with them, they are afraid that they will not dare to use it unless they have to."

The search for several prisoners of war, including Warrant Officer Takamatsu of the Cavalry Wing, is now a heavy burden on the shoulders of the Hagiwara Brigade. Just as Major General Suzuki, a senior staff officer of the North China Front Command, directly supervised the "Wind Plan" that secretly forcibly recruited comfort women, there were also people from the Front Army Command who directly inquired about the progress of the search for prisoners of war from time to time.

When this section was mentioned again, the good mood of the Japanese brigade commander just now completely disappeared. After a moment of silence, he sighed and confessed to his chief of staff: After the battle in Xiping Village, he ordered the Takagi Brigade of the Saijo Wing to leave an infantry squadron to garrison until it reached the plainclothes squad that infiltrated Guanmen Mountain. If the whereabouts of warrant officer Takamatsu and other prisoners of war are found and further use of troops is necessary, additional troops will be dispatched as appropriate.

"How's the situation going over there with Daisa Saijo?"

Hagiwara Akira suddenly came up with such a sentence. And it wasn't until this moment that the three Japanese chieftains in the headquarters realized almost at the same time that they hadn't received a battle report from Saijo Shigehei from the lower reaches of the Qinglong River for a long time!

When Saijo Shigehei commanded his subordinates to fiercely fire at the Eighth Route Army fleeing south along the opposite bank across the Qinglong River, and chased them all the way, an infantry squad he sent in advance to advance in trucks had already begun to retreat.

The infantry squad leader reported that in the process of chasing and killing the cavalry of the Eighth Route Army, he was suddenly hit by an enemy mortar group in front of him, and in order to prevent damage to the vehicle, he was forced to temporarily retreat to get out of the range of the enemy's artillery.

Shigehei Saijo suddenly became suspicious: Where did the mortar group come from? Could it be that he really fell for the Eighth Route Army's dragging plan tonight?

However, before he could think about it, the attack on the other side of the river suddenly intensified. The captain of the Japanese army did not know that the Eighth Route Army, which he was chasing all the way across the river, had entered a preset position of his own, and on that position there were not only cavalry of the Xu Brigade Detachment of the Eighth Route Army, but also a civilian armed force - the Black Stone Cliff Bandit Gang of Guanmen Mountain.

But the sudden intensification of the firepower from the flanks was enough to arouse the vigilance of Shigehei Saijo; Thinking of the mortar fire on the front, Osa realized that something was wrong. He immediately ordered an infantry squadron to occupy the west bank of the Qinglong River nearby, suppress the enemy troops on the opposite bank across the river, and prevent them from crossing the river to launch an attack. At the same time, the artillery squadron was mobilized to fire directly in front of the enemy, first, to test the enemy's artillery fire, and second, to deter the enemy ambush that might be pressed from the front.

The staff officers around him were already nervously marking the map, trying to find the names of the terrain and places directly ahead. But the chaos yielded no results.

After a while, the squadron leader of another infantry squadron suggested to Saijo Daisa: It is not appropriate to hold the west bank of the Qinglong River for the time being, in case there are heavy enemy ambushes on the opposite bank: "We might as well make a big move to the west and see what the enemy forces on the east bank of the river do?" ”

Saijo Shigehei felt that his subordinates were reasonable, and the sky was dark at present, and the enemy situation on the other side of the river had changed suddenly, so he really should not continue to entangle with him at close range. If we can take a step back to the west, that is, in the direction of the Tongpu Railway, it is possible to lure the enemy on the other side of the Qinglong River out. And the retreat of their own side in the direction of the Tongpu railway can also ensure that there are no worries.

So, the order was quickly given. The infantry squadron that had just rushed to the bank of the Qinglong River and exchanged fire with the Hu army on the opposite bank quickly got up and left. The whole force began to slowly retreat westward.

On the other side of the river, there was no chasing soldier crossing the river for a long time.

And the artillery squadron, which had just fired due south, also reported that it had not been returned fire from the enemy. The commander of the Japanese wing then ordered the artillery squadron to move westward with the main force, and at the same time sent the infantry squad that had just been chasing the cavalry of the Eighth Route Army in a truck, and all of them got out of the car and continued to monitor the direction due south.

However, the Japanese never imagined that they were slowly retreating in the direction of the Qinglong River and the Tongpu Railway with their backs to them, but from behind them, they were extremely relieved, and a thrilling and dense gunfire rang out.

It was a battalion under the ambush of the 570th Regiment of the 12th Brigade of the Jin Army, and suddenly launched an attack from the other flank of the preset position tonight. At that moment, the backs of the Japanese soldiers were approaching them undefendedly.