The battalion commander and instructors, with the men of the 6th and 7th companies, set off to Xiping, which was more than ten miles away.

Seeing the large group of people disappear into the south's field of vision, Wu Zijian breathed a long sigh of relief; The deputy commander of the second battalion has always disagreed with the instructor, and after graduating from the Wuhan branch of the Whampoa Military Academy, he is not very satisfied with the operational command ability of the battalion commander who was born in a reckless background, so at this moment, when these two people leave him, Wu Zijian feels inexplicably relaxed and excited. Looking at Li Tianlin, the commander of the 5th company next to him, Wu Zijian said proudly:

"The burden is gone, let's go 5 companies and do a big job here!"

"What the hell?!" Li Tianlin is a brave and unscrupulous general, and when he saw the old company commander (Wu Zijian was the commander of the 5th Company before he became the deputy commander of the 2nd Battalion), he was full of interest, and he suddenly became energetic.

Wu Zijian turned around and saw Xia Lianshan, the deputy company commander on the other side, he knew what was on the mind of this subordinate, so he walked over and patted him on the shoulder:

"Lianshan, don't worry, Fengdian's revenge, we must avenge the people. Your sister's side, I will grant you leave after settling down in the past two days, and you will go to Fengdian to find her. I don't believe it, a county town with tens of thousands of people, you won't find someone to find a home! ”

Hearing Wu Zijian say this, Xia Lianshan's tears instantly filled his eyes, and he choked up and replied: "Thank you, Deputy Battalion Commander......, I'm not in a hurry, I will stabilize the camp first......

In Xia Lianshan's view, the deputy battalion commander was supposed to be closer to people than the instructor who talked about the truth at every turn.

Wu Zijian made a plan for the defense area of the 5th Company, and the whole company had 6 platoons, of which 4 platoons lived in Hekou Village at the foot of the mountain, some of them lived in abandoned houses, and some of them lived in villagers' homes; The other two platoons were stationed in the mountain pass area, some of them borrowed the villagers' homes, and some of them hurried to build a new camp.

In addition, after discussing with the battalion commander, 25 of the 28 Japanese military horses captured in the last Dawangyu ambush were reserved for the 5th Company, and for the time being, Xia Lianshan, the deputy company commander who was proficient in horsemanship, formed and trained a cavalry platoon to prepare for the future cavalry company.

Wu Zijian and Xia Lianshan were in charge of the command of Hekou Village, and Li Tianlin was in charge of the command of the Shankou area. Every day the cavalry platoon sent three cavalrymen to patrol five miles away, and the infantry mobile posts cooperated. Wu Zijian emphasized that more than 20 miles to the west of this place is the long Tongpu Road railway line, and the garrisons along the line include both friendly troops and the main force of the Japanese army that is about to attack south; In addition, it is only thirty or fifty miles away from Fengdian County and Wencheng, so the vigilance task must not be sloppy.

After the arrangement, the whole company began to move; Wu Zijian brought Li Tianlin and Xia Lianshan to the staff of the Jin army and held a small meeting.

After learning that Wencheng was captured by the Japanese army and the whereabouts of the 12th Brigade were unknown, Xiao Junping's mood did not become too bad, first, he knew the combat effectiveness of the 12th Brigade very well, and he was psychologically prepared for them to lose Wencheng; Second, the thoughts of the staff officer of the Jin Army have changed further in recent days, and in his subconscious, staying in the Eighth Route Army is no longer an unacceptable choice.

This is, of course, because of Zhang Xiu!

Walking out of the mountains of Guanmen Mountain again, Zhang Xiu soon ran to Xiao Junping's residence (which was also the residence of the deputy battalion commander) to visit him. To a considerable extent, this made Xiao Junping's idea of staying in the second battalion of the Eighth Route Army clear. He didn't know what the officer setup of the Eighth Route Army was, and what position would he get in the second battalion with the rank of captain? But if you can get Zhang Xiu's love and lose the fame in front of you, it's okay - not to mention, the deputy battalion commander Wu has always attached great importance to himself.

In the few times they spent together with Zhang Xiu, they were more talking about their respective college careers, Xiao Junping studied in the physics department of Peking University before he went to study in Japan; Zhang Xiushang went to Nankai University in Tianjin, majoring in literature, and went to Yan'an after graduation. Whenever I recall my student days in Tianjin, Beiping, the two of them always have endless topics to talk about.

This time, Zhang Xiu went to Xiping with the battalion headquarters again, but it was only a dozen miles away from the mouth of the river, and the staff officers of the Jin army knew how to ride horses.

Just as he was fantasizing, Wu Zijian came in with Li Tianlin and Xia Lianshan. These are all people that Xiao Junping talked about in the second battalion, fortunately they worked together, if the Eighth Route Army was like Commander Liu Shu, then he would have to think about how to elope with Zhang Xiu - elopement, catch * back, will he be shot?

"Staff Officer Xiao, hurry up and heal your injuries!" As soon as Wu Zijian entered the house, he shouted angrily: "Our second battalion is going to do a big job in Guanmen Mountain, and you can't do without Zhuge Liang!" ”

Li Tianlin also echoed with a smile.

The honest and loyal Xia Lianshan couldn't help but be stunned, he stepped forward and shook the hand of the Jin army staff officer with some joy: "Staff Officer Xiao has finally decided to stay!" Great, I'll have to ask you for advice in the future! ”

Xiao Junping was a little embarrassed, he was vaguely supportive, but Wu Zijian immediately stole the conversation:

"Lianshan, you really have to ask Staff Officer Xiao for advice, this student who has stayed abroad is just different; Although Xiao Zhang of our battalion headquarters is also a college student, I think the level of Staff Officer Xiao is a little worse. I said Staff Officer Xiao, in the future, I have to rely on you to take Xiao Zhang and them well, and the future of the second battalion depends on you young people! ”

Li Tianlin on the side smiled crookedly: "Deputy battalion commander, the tone of your words is quite similar to being a brigade commander and a division commander." ”

Xiao Junping's heart thumped again, he was now completely sure that this seemingly serious Chief Wu was actually luring him to stay with the beautiful Zhang Xiu: he should have seen the clue a long time ago.

"Chief Wu, have you sent out all the swimming posts?"

The staff officer of the Jin Army, who was terrified in his heart, hurriedly changed the topic, but unexpectedly, this topic was completely said in the tone of an insider in the second battalion.

"Lianshan, report to Staff Officer Xiao." Wu Zijian said happily. It was Xiao Junping's suggestion to send a mobile post a few miles away from the camp, and he felt that there was no danger to defend Hekou Village, and once the enemy attacked, there must be enough warning so that there was time to transfer the troops to the mountain pass.

"Three directions have been dispatched, respectively targeting Fengdian, Wencheng and Lingshi, and the deputy battalion commander has also sent a cavalry patrol group from today to patrol and liaise between the mobile posts in these three directions." Xia Lianshan said respectfully, in his opinion, the Jin army staff officer, whom the deputy battalion commander highly respected, was indeed very set.

"Cavalry patrols? Okay, that's a good idea. The Japanese cavalry was mainly responsible for patrolling, searching, and communications, which was an excellent way to compensate for the lack of radio stations. Xiao Junping said while meowing Wu Zijian in admiration.

Next, the four of them gathered around the hand-drawn map—a copy had been copied and handed to the battalion commander to take to Xiping—and began the first military meeting after the 5th Company was officially stationed in Hekou Village.

Wu Zijian invited Xiao Junping to first introduce the current military situation.

The main force of the Sena Division of the Japanese Army, now gathering at the Wencheng Railway Station and along the nearby railway, was obviously going to attack south along the Tongpu Road immediately. According to the information he had at the headquarters of the 12th Brigade of Wencheng, Xiao Junping determined that the three Central Army units under Wei Lihuang, deputy commander of the Second Theater of Operations, were deploying in front of the Japanese attack. But although these three troops are nominally the Central Army, they are actually very different, only Li Mo'an's 14th Army is the descendant of the Central Army; Liu Maoen's 15th Army belongs to the Henan Army, and Gao Guizi's 17th Army belongs to the Shaanxi Army, both of which are miscellaneous cards in the Central Army, and their combat effectiveness is average.

"It's not optimistic to say that once the elite of the Sena Division begins to attack, these three central armies of Chief Wei may not be able to resist for a few days and will retreat."

Xiao Junping said with a heavy heart. He experienced the war against Japan in northern Shanxi, and when he was in Pingxingguan and Xinkou, the national army's defense line had the advantage of relying on the mountains, and it was still broken by the Japanese army one by one; Now along the Nantongpu Road is a flat river, and the mechanized troops of the Japanese army will collapse the national army that has no danger to defend in an instant.

And once the Japanese army broke through these three lines of defense of the Central Army—that is, Lingshi, Hanxinling, and Huoxian, all on Tongpu Road—Yan Xishan's headquarters of the Second World War Zone Governor's Department: Linfen, was exposed. According to intelligence, it was the Jin army, Chen Changjie's 61st Army, and a division of Guo Zongfen who defended Linfen.

"Guo Zongfen I know," Wu Zijian interjected: "When our Lin Division set up an ambush at Pingxing Pass, Yan Laoxi bragged that he would send eight regiments to cooperate with us in attacking, and Guo Zongfen would lead the army; As a result, we all cleaned the battlefield of Shiliguangou, and we didn't see a single hair of the eight regiments of the Jin army. ”

The Jin Army's staff officer blushed, he was serving in the Jin Army under Sun Chu at that time, and he knew very well that this matter was extremely humiliating in the eyes of the Jin Army.

This time, it was Li Tianlin who relieved Xiao Junping: "Staff Officer Xiao, don't listen to the deputy battalion commander, he is not aiming at you." ”

Wu Zijian realized that his mean words really made the staff officers of the Jin army a little unable to get off the stage, and hurriedly played a round: "Yes, yes, I am talking about the officers who lead the troops on the front line, and it has nothing to do with you Staff Officer Xiao." You go ahead and give us an analysis! ”

Xiao Junping adjusted his mood and continued: "When I was in the 12th Brigade of the Independent Brigade, I once heard that Chief Yan had sent people to Shaanxi to build a rear camp, preparing to cross the river to Shaanxi once Shanxi was not defended. Therefore, whether it is the determination of the Governor's Department or the defense capability of the Jin army, I am afraid that Linfen and even more places south of it will be abandoned. ”

Xia Lianshan, a native of Shanxi, asked in shock and anger: "Yan Xishan is from Shanxi, and he doesn't even guard his hometown?" ”

Xiao Junping bit his lip and did not answer.

"It's not that you can't keep it, it's that you can't keep it." Wu Zijian sighed and said.

Li Tianlin suddenly said: "Okay, let's not worry about the affairs of the World War Zone, it's far away from us." Let's talk about the devils in these nearby places, Fengdian, Wencheng, shall we fight or not? ”

As soon as the words fell, all three of them went to see Wu Zijian.

The deputy battalion commander said: Attacking the county seat and the towns on the railway line is not something he can do with a company, and the whole battalion must take action. However, then you have to go and discuss with the battalion commander and the instructor, and the battalion commander can still say, the instructor, will it work?

"I know," Xiao Junping stretched his waist and said with a faint expression: "Your Chief Liu left a message before leaving, and you must not take the initiative to attack the Japanese army." ”

Several people present looked at each other, and no one could say a word.