Wu Zijian's correspondent finally found Xiao Junping and Zhang Xiu, who were chatting warmly on the glacier, and the twilight at this time had completely enveloped the Qinglong River.

Knowing that the battalion commander and instructor were waiting to see him at the battalion headquarters, Xiao Junping felt more and more uneasy; Zhang Xiu persuaded him nonchalantly: the instructor was not as difficult to get along with as he imagined. So, the two of them followed the correspondent and came to the land temple as the battalion headquarters together.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Liu Shu saw Xiao Junping and Zhang Xiu walking in side by side, his face, which had been softened, became difficult to look at again. Here, the battalion commander Feng Changzhi shook hands with the newly promoted enemy engineer captain and greeted him, but over there, the instructor asked Zhang Xiu with a straight face - of course, he asked the deputy director about the work as the director of the Xiping Village Mobilization Committee.

When Liu Shu and Zhang Xiu's work matters were finally exchanged, Feng Changzhi, Wu Zijian and Xiao Junping, who were on the side, had been waiting for a long time. Wu Zijian was about to interrupt the instructor's words for a while—because to his ears, what Liu Shu asked and confessed to Zhang Xiu at the moment was really not an urgent matter, and there was no need to keep talking in a tone when several people were waiting for him—but the battalion commander stopped the deputy battalion commander's impulsiveness with a look.

"Okay, hurry up," Liu Shu finally said to Zhang Xiu, "You can go." ”

Zhang Xiu's face was no longer the smile when he entered the door, and he could only listen seriously and respectfully, occasionally glancing at several commanders on the side with uneasy eyes. Then, she gave a military salute to everyone, including the instructor, and took her leave with a little hesitation.

After Zhang Xiu walked out of the door, Liu Shu still didn't take the initiative to pay attention to the others, but took out a small notebook from the document bag he was carrying, and took out a pen to write and scratch on it.

It was still the battalion commander Feng Changzhi who took the lead in opening his mouth before Wu Zijian had a seizure: "Instructor, are you done?" Captain Xiao has been here for a long time. ”

Liu Shu raised his head in some surprise, and then made a gesture of sudden realization: "Oh, you see, I forgot about this matter when I was so busy!" ”

Xiao Junping had already stood up and saluted Liu Shu: "Xiao Junping, captain of the enemy engineering team of the second battalion of the forest division, report to Instructor Liu!" ”

Liu Shu returned the salute more casually, and was about to open his mouth to say a few words, but Wu Zijian suddenly dragged Xiao Junping, who was standing straight, and almost dragged the other party to a stumble, and then said to Feng Changzhi with his face: "Okay, okay, the new enemy captain has already reported to the two of you, you are all very busy, and we are also in a hurry to rush back to Hekou Village to get down to business, so let's say goodbye." ”

As he spoke, he pulled Xiao Junping, who was at a loss, to walk outside.

Liu Shu originally wanted to use his identity as an instructor to instruct Xiao Junping, who had just joined the Eighth Route Army, but was unceremoniously dismissed by Wu Zijian, and he was immediately annoyed.

Feng Changzhi also felt a little embarrassed, hesitated a little, but left Liu Shu alone and chased him out.

On the empty field outside the Land Temple, Wu Zijian began to tell the soldiers of the artillery squad. Zhao Yejiao had already learned that they were going to stay in Xiping for training, and when they saw the deputy battalion commander, they couldn't help but be reluctant. Since Wu Zijian knew that there was no room for recovery in this matter, he simply and generously let Zhao Yejiao and the artillery squad stay and train with peace of mind, and strive to cultivate an elite soldier who can operate artillery as soon as possible.

"We must pay close attention to training, the number and types of our artillery will soon increase," Wu Zijian deliberately shouted loudly: "In the future, the second battalion will set up an artillery platoon and an artillery company, and you will be the backbone of the artillery in the future!" ”

In the empty field that had already darkened, the figure was longing, and Xiao Junping, who was dragged out of the land temple in a daze, looked for Zhang Xiu's figure with wide eyes, but he didn't find it.

"Captain Xiao, on behalf of the enemy engineering team, collect the gun!"

Wu Zijian suddenly shouted at him, Xiao Junping was stunned, and then saw a soldier holding a freshly lit torch, standing next to a cart, in the carriage of the cart, two empty sacks, piled with short guns that had just been collected.

Under the cover of torches, the two carts started their wheels, and with the sound of bells and hooves on the horses' necks, they drove out of Xiping one after the other, heading in the direction of Hekou Village.

Feng Changzhi, who had been persuading Wu Zijian to leave after dinner, had no choice but to stand in place at the moment, watching their backs, feeling very uncomfortable.

"Battalion commander, we still have to keep an eye on Deputy Battalion Commander Wu," Liu Shu didn't know when he came out, and stood beside Feng Changzhi: "We must not let him set up trouble anymore." If you can hide from the first day of the new year, you can't hide from the fifteenth, once the Japanese army sends heavy troops to retaliate, the Guanmen Mountain base will be wasted! ”

"Probably not," the battalion commander's tone was light: "Didn't Fengdian just be recovered by the national army, and the main forces of the Japanese were withdrawn." ”

Feng shop.

In the 391st regiment headquarters of the county government, Wang Suihua, a female major of the military commander, was frowning, listening patiently to Qin Zhongxiao's analysis of the situation.

During the day, Qin Zhongxiao ordered the 1st Battalion to send 3 companies out of the south gate of the county town and make a tentative search in the direction of the Xiaoyushu Mountain Pass; As a result, at a distance of less than two miles from the pass, there was a sudden artillery fire from the direction of the pass. Since there was no concealment to hide, the company of the 1st Battalion quickly retreated according to the advance plan, but the commander of the 3rd Company made a judgment based on the artillery fire at that time and basically concluded that the Japanese army was using the 94-type 75-mm mountain artillery.

This kind of 75 mountain artillery was relatively commonly equipped in the field troops of the Japanese army at that time, and generally speaking, most of the divisions and regiments under the control of pack horses and artillery wings directly under the division were equipped with them; Not to mention the fact that there were many separate mountain artillery wings armed with this artillery. The 391st Regiment had a bloody battle with the Japanese Shangang Division in the peripheral battle of the Taiyuan Defense Battle, and it had suffered from this kind of mountain artillery at that time, so it was familiar with it.

Qin Zhongxiao and the chief of staff were confused by this sudden appearance of the Seven Five Mountain Cannon.

Since the beginning of the confrontation with the Otsuka Wing at Fengdian during the Spring Festival, the main artillery fire faced by the 391st Regiment was the 91-type 105mm field artillery, which was also the 12 field guns that the Otsuka Wing placed in the northern suburbs of Fengdian when it attacked Fengdian; At that time, the officers and soldiers of the 391st Regiment saw it clearly on the city wall, and it was also bombed to the bone; Later, Zhao Mutou's spies even went out of the city to attack at night, and they were the targets.

According to the intelligence, these 12 Type 91 field guns were all from the field artillery wing directly under the jurisdiction of the Sena Division, which was the size of a brigade, and was temporarily strengthened by the Sena Division to attack Fengdian by the Otsuka Wing.

After retreating to Fengdian last year, Qin Zhongxiao did his homework on the Sena Division, whether it was for the Sena Division stationed on the outskirts of Taiyuan, or the Otsuka Wing (garrisoning the Junling), which was the farthest forward of the division. In terms of artillery fire, in addition to the field artillery wings directly under the division and regiment, the guns at all levels of the infantry brigades and regiments equipped with were either Type 92 infantry guns or mortars of various calibers. There is no such figure of this kind of 94-type 75 mountain cannon at all.

However, the commander of the 3rd Company and a considerable number of officers and men of the company all insisted that the artillery fire coming from the Little Elm Mountain Pass was the Japanese 75 Mountain Artillery! Since there were many officers and men of the original mortar company and the anti-aircraft artillery company in the company (after the guns of the 391st Regiment were lost and lost, the men of the artillery company were incorporated into the infantry company), so the judgment of the Japanese artillery fire was even more convincing.

"The Sena division is a horse-pulling system, that is, it mainly fights on the plains, so the artillery wings directly under the jurisdiction are equipped with large-caliber field artillery, and the horses are used to pull the wheels of the whole artillery to march," Qin Zhongxiao explained to Wang Suihua the characteristics of the Japanese division's horse-pulling system: "But the 3rd company of my battalion just bombarded was a 94-type 75 mountain cannon, which is usually equipped with a packhorse division to fight in the mountains; The wheels and body of the cannon were to be removed and the horses were to carry them on the march. ”

"What do you mean by all this?" Wang Suihua had become impatient with the colonel of the Central Army because of the inactivity of the 391st Regiment in attacking the Little Elm Mountain Pass.

"Major Wang, the meaning of the regimental seat is that the one defending Little Elm Mountain may no longer be the Otsuka United, or even the Sena Division." Chief of Staff Zhang Hong relieved Qin Zhongxiao from the siege, and he looked embarrassed when he saw that the regiment commander was robbed of his white by the female major of the military commander.

The words of the chief of staff really shocked Wang Suihua: It's not the Sena Division! Could it be that the Japanese army sent new troops to carry out the "Wind Plan"?

Li Yan, who was on the side, had some understanding of the Japanese army's combat sequence and weapons and equipment, and he interjected: "Can this be deduced just by the type of artillery fire?" ”

"It should be." Zhang Hong was actually not particularly sure in his heart, but he really didn't want Tuanzuo to involve the whole regiment in the whirlpool of attacking Little Elm Mountain again - Fengdian was only recovered by luck at present, and it was still unknown whether the troops at hand could hold it. What's more, in the battle to recover Fengdian, the 391st Regiment has already suffered a lot of casualties; And in the unsheltered wilderness to storm the Little Elm Mountain Pass, the defenders have heavy artillery, which is really unlucky.

Qin Zhongxiao further elaborated: "In last year's Taiyuan Defense Battle, our regiment was ordered to contain and intercept the Japanese army attacking Taiyuan from the east in the mountains east of Taiyuan. But this year, after fighting with the Otsuka Wing of the Sena Division for so long, it was the first time that the Seven Five Mountain Cannon was discovered. ”

"Does this mean that the troops of the Yamaoka Division have appeared in this area?" Wang Suihua asked sensitively.

"Very likely," the chief of staff hurriedly replied, and at the same time, he looked at Wang Suihua's face and asked, "What secrets are the Japanese army hiding in Little Elm Mountain?" Heavy artillery was actually placed in the mountain pass, which shows the degree of its vigilance. ”

"This is the task of the military commander, and it cannot be leaked casually." Li Yan stared at Chief of Staff Zhang Hong dissatisfiedly, and responded coldly in place of his female boss.

Wang Suihua was also impatient, and she just stared at Qin Zhongxiao: "Qin Tuanzuo, could it be that if Wang does not reveal the secrets of the military command, you will not let your people attack Little Elm Mountain with all their might?" ”

Qin Zhongxiao was naturally unwilling and unwilling to offend the female major of the military commander, not to mention that Wei Lihuang's prefect in the Second War Zone had instructed the 391st Regiment to fully cooperate with the military commander's operation in a telegram. But Qin Zhongxiao did not support the situation of Little Elm Mountain at all, and under the grim situation of knowing that the Japanese army had heavy artillery to guard the mountain pass, he was absolutely unwilling to easily take the lives of his subordinates to fight hard.

In fact, the real situation is that the Japanese artillery deployed in the two main mountain passes east and west of Xiaoyushu is indeed the 94-type 75-mm mountain artillery, but these two mountain guns not only do not belong to the Sena division of the horse-pulling system, nor do they belong to the mountain-mounted mountain division. They are the independent mountain artillery wing sent to Shanxi by the Japanese North China Front not long ago, a total of 24 guns, and the front army headquarters plans to assign this wing to the troops attacking the western China Army in Shanxi, and Lieutenant General Sena transferred two of the artillery squads (each with one mountain artillery) to stationed in Xiaoyushu Mountain, which are respectively deployed in the two main mountain passes in the east and west. At this moment, in view of the fact that Fengdian was occupied by the Chinese army, which seriously threatened the safety of the Songjiagou comfort women's secret camp, the Japanese army had already transferred the 75 mountain artillery deployed in the Xiaoyushu Mountain West Pass near Wencheng to the Xiaoyushu Mountain Pass near Fengdian. Therefore, the 391st Company of the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Regiment was actually hit by a joint attack of two heavy guns.

These changes, neither Wang Suihua's Second Intelligence Group of the Shanxi Station of the Military Command, nor Qin Zhongxiao's 391st Regiment of the Central Army, were not. As a result, they made a lot of miscalculations in the deployment of troops in the Japanese army's Little Elm Mountain.

As a result, the 391st Regiment could not make up its mind to launch an all-out attack on Little Elm Mountain as soon as possible, which gave the Japanese "comfort women" secret camp, which was already empty, a precious respite.

And their reinforcements are coming in the starry night!