"Lianshan, it seems that I just came up with a bad idea - the Japanese in the village are much more difficult to deal with than I thought," the commander of the second battalion of the Eighth Route Army said to the cavalry company commander without shame: "Now that we have lost for a while, we have been driven out by the little devils, how to withdraw next, I want to hear you come up with a plan." ”

Of course, Xia Lianshan could hear the sincerity of his old comrade-in-arms Wei Xin's words, so he no longer was polite, and proposed that everyone immediately wade across the Qinglong River and move downstream along the east bank of the river, so as to avoid the flanking attack of the two Japanese troops from Lihuapu and Xiping Village. At the same time, the first battalion of Ssangyong, south of Ewhapo, was notified to move in in coordination.

Wei Xin readily agreed, and only proposed one point: How to settle the team of the Black Rock Cliff Cottage? It is necessary not only to let them move in with the Eighth Route Army, but also to avoid retaliation after re-entering the defense area of the 12th Brigade of the Jin Army.

Xia Lianshan had already roughly learned the story of the female bandit leader earlier this night in Longwan Village, where the headquarters of the 570th Regiment of the Jin Army was located, and he was both angry and funny in his heart about Liu Wumei's practice of using a beauty trick to get rid of the golden cicada. And thinking that this lawless female bandit leader was the sworn sister of her old comrade-in-arms after all, she couldn't help but stand on her side; What's more, in the final analysis, it was because of the lustful behavior of Tian Mingda, the head of the 570 regiment, that caused this self-inflicted trick.

"Old Wei, you don't have to worry too much about this, there is still a period of time before dawn, we marched along the east bank of the Qinglong River, wrapped the men and horses of the Black Stone Cliff in our team, and quickly passed the Jin army defense line near Longwan Village before dawn, and then made a sharp turn and went straight to the southern foot of Guanmen Mountain - there should not be the territory of Tian Mingda of the 570th regiment."

These words made the commander of the second battalion of the Eighth Route Army suddenly enlighten: he was far less familiar with the terrain of the villages in the lower reaches of the Qinglong River and the southern foot of Guanmen Mountain as the cavalry company commander. This option is clearly feasible. It seems that the only way to enter the mountain is from the pass at the southern foot of Guanmen Mountain, but after comparing the many benefits, this plan is undoubtedly the safest.

After about ten minutes, the mixed team was once again reunited. People crowded on the east bank of the Qinglong River in the darkness of the night, and many people were still looking back with palpitations on the operation that had just been carried out to attack the north of Lihuapo Village.

Liu Wumei's expression was confused, and in front of the two commanders of the Eighth Route Army, she tried her best to blame her subordinates for their incompetent performance just now.

Wei Xin showed generosity in a timely manner, and comforted his sister-in-law that the opponent was the elite soldiers of the Japanese army's permanent division, and even veteran troops such as the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army's Forest Division fought against them, and it was difficult to take advantage.

In his opinion, since he escaped from the regimental headquarters of the 570th Regiment of the Jin Army in Longwan Village tonight, he has been letting this group of Eighth Route Army coerce and forced to fight against the strong Japanese, and has lost many brothers for no reason. He didn't dare to vent these angers in front of the big boss and the commander of the Eighth Route Army, but when he heard that the whole team was going to turn around and go to the lower reaches of the Qinglong River, the master finally complained impatiently:

"The big boss, the Eighth Route Army is a soldier, we are bandits, since ancient times, soldiers and bandits are not all the way, I think let's not make trouble for the Eighth Route Army, let's leave it alone!"

Up to now, this gang of bandits has been tossing along the Qinglong River for half a night, people are sleepy and tired, and they are frightened, and at this moment, hearing the master's proposal so loudly, more than a dozen bandits nearby immediately responded with their mouths.

The commander of the second battalion of the Eighth Route Army, who had dealt with this stubborn bandit several times, had long expected this change, and without thinking about it, he tried to state the facts and warn the bandits that this place was extremely dangerous, and that there were heavy Japanese troops in the north, and the only way to get out safely was to go south to the lower reaches of the Qinglong River.

"Our purpose is to enter Guanmen Mountain, after entering the mountain, you go back to your Black Stone Cliff, and we go back to our Red Star Gorge; But now we must join forces and act together! ”

Hearing a series of familiar place names such as Guanmen Mountain, Black Stone Cliff, and Hongxing Gorge from the mouth of the commander of the Eighth Route Army, a group of bandits finally settled down - the thirty-six plans are the best, and it is indeed the most important thing to leave the land of chaos and return to the nest of the nest as soon as possible.

This mixed team finally started again, and the people showed their last strength to run, in order to pass safely through the 570th regimental defense area of the Jin army near Longwan Village before dawn.

Xia Lianshan sent two small groups of cavalry to dispatch in advance, and one small group went to the south of Lihuapu to find and inform Wang Shuanglong's first battalion to move in in coordination; The other small group went straight to the front line of Zhaojia Village, informing the friendly Jin army that the first part of the Eighth Route Army would pass through its defense area and drive to the southern foot of Guanmen Mountain.

Everything was really under the control of the commander of the Eighth Route Army - the defense line of the 12th Brigade of the Jin Army in the area of Zhaojia Village had withdrawn the heavy troops that had just been ambushed, leaving only a company of the 2nd Battalion of the 570th Regiment. Tonight, at the front of the defense zone, they "calmly faced the battle and defeated the large invading Japanese army in one fell swoop." The officers and men were all overjoyed, and the brigade headquarters was already drafting a report to the headquarters of the commander of the Second World War Zone. The troops were immersed in joy, so they agreed to the request of the First Division of the Xu Brigade Detachment of the Eighth Route Army, which had just assisted in the battle, to return to Guanmen Mountain through the defense area.

Tian Mingda, commander of the 570th Regiment, only asked the Second Battalion to send company-sized troops to monitor the Eighth Route Army's passage through the defense area along the way and "escort" it to the pass at the southern foot of Guanmen Mountain. At this time, Tian Tuanzuo's main mind returned to the search for Liu Wumei, the female bandit leader, and had already sent two groups of signal soldiers to Maicun at the southern foot of Guanmen Mountain to inquire about the news from the 569th Regiment grain collection team of the brother army.

At dawn, in the wheat village at the foot of Guanmen Mountain, the sound of chickens and dogs is heard, and the smoke rises. The village, which had just been plagued by bandits, had almost returned to its former tranquility.

However, the second platoon of the third battalion of the 8th company of the 569th Regiment of the 12th Brigade of the Jin Army, which was temporarily stationed in the village to collect grain, showed a rare nervousness in the past night, and the second lieutenant platoon commander Li Mancang, who had a bearded face, even slept in his clothes, ready to respond at any time - the 570th Regiment of the brother troops, who had previously sent someone to pick up the captured bandits from the Black Stone Cliff of Guanmen Mountain, thought that this matter had nothing to do with him, but the 570th Regiment suddenly sent people over at night to inform the captured bandits that they had taken advantage of the chaos to escape, It is very likely that they will flee towards Mai Village, and they will find a way to set up a card to intercept them.

Li Mancang, the bearded platoon commander, was extremely dissatisfied with the 570 Regiment's practice of interfering in the issue of prisoners of bandits, mainly because the other party was afraid that it was the regimental chief of staff who came forward and the banner of the 570 Regiment, so he agreed to let go. Now, I don't know what happened in it, that gang of bandits actually escaped from the hands of the 570 regiment, which can be regarded as retribution.

The second lieutenant of the Jin Army with this mentality did not take seriously the news brought by the 570th Regiment Communication Corps at night, nor did he plan to let his subordinates wipe the butts of Regiment Commander Tian Mingda all night. However, another piece of news brought by the other party's communications troops aroused Li Mancang's great concern, that is, on the front line of Zhaojia Village, the northernmost part of the defense area of the 12th Independent Brigade, there was an emergency situation of the Japanese army's heavy troops pressing the border. It has been learned that the brigade headquarters has ordered the 570 Regiment to dispatch its main force overnight to strictly guard against the forward positions.

This unexpected enemy situation made Li Mancang nervous - if it was really the Japanese army attacking with heavy troops, he didn't believe that Tian Mingda's regiment could hold the front line of Zhaojia Village. Once the forward position is broken through, the entire 12th Brigade of the Jin Army will be contained, and the brigade headquarters that wants to come to Pingquan County will soon be ordered to fight.

Li Mancang then ordered the whole platoon to be mentally prepared and wait for the latest instructions from the battalion headquarters at any time. At present, the entire 3rd Battalion of the 569th Regiment has infiltrated many villages east of Pingquan County, including the southern foot of Guanmen Mountain, as a platoon, to carry out the task of requisitioning grain. As soon as the war began, the whole battalion would inevitably face an urgent concentration.

However, to the surprise of the second lieutenant platoon commander of the Jin Army, after a night of silence, it was not the herald of the battalion headquarters or even the regimental headquarters and brigade headquarters who were waiting for him at dawn, but a small cavalry unit of the Eighth Route Army, and the leader was none other than Xia Lianshan, the commander of the cavalry company of the Xu Brigade Detachment who had dealt with him.

Facing his old acquaintance, the bearded second lieutenant platoon commander of the Jin Army, Xia Lianshan was humble and respectful, and expressed his intention in a few words.

Knowing that a large group of men and horses of the Eighth Route Army, who had just participated in the night battle, were going to cross the border and return to the camp from the mountain pass at the southern foot of Guanmen Mountain, Li Mancang was at a loss - he didn't expect that the battle on the front line of Zhaojia Village, which he had been concerned about all night, had ended! Moreover, according to the statement of the commander of the Eighth Route Army, this night battle was far more than just Zhaojia Village, and the villages of Lihuapu and Xiping in the north were involved in the war.

If it weren't for the fact that he had seen this Eighth Route Army team face to face with the Japanese cavalry in Little Elm Mountain, Li Mancang could not believe that the 18th Group Army (i.e., the Eighth Route Army), which was more miscellaneous than the 12th Brigade of the Jin Army, would be inseparable from the main force of the Japanese army's permanent divisions. And now, this large army with the smell of gunpowder is about to appear in front of you.

When the cavalry company commander of the Eighth Route Army reported, he made it clear that the transit of the Jin Army defense area had been approved by Tian Mingda, the commander of the 570th Regiment. But he didn't know that the second lieutenant platoon commander of the 569th Regiment in front of him had just had a grudge with Tian Tuanzuo and his subordinates.

Although he had an unpleasant experience dealing with this Eighth Route Army, Li Mancang still showed due enthusiasm for the sake of the other party's bloody battle with the Japanese for the sake of the night's bloody battle, and on the one hand, he welcomed the commander of the cavalry company into his temporary command post, and on the other hand, sent people to find the patriarch of Maicun to arrange matters to welcome the friendly troops in the War of Resistance.

Unexpectedly, the commander of the cavalry company of the Eighth Route Army immediately said that the troops were only stationed outside the village and would not enter the village to disturb the villagers; After a short rest, immediately turn to the mountain of Guanmen.

This move couldn't help but impress the second lieutenant platoon commander of the Jin Army again. In his mind, his impression of the Eighth Route Army tended to change for the better. However, the next unexpected discovery made the two troops who were originally shaking hands and talking happily instantly tense up - the Black Stone Cliff bandits wrapped in the ranks of the Eighth Route Army were recognized by the villagers of Mai Village!