When the Japanese puppet army aimed its blade at Guanmen Mountain, in the big elm mountain on the side of Fengdian, the 391st Regiment of the Central Army was not idle.

The spy company of the 391st Regiment has already arranged a number of eyeliners in Fengdian County, and when Qin Zhongxiao was forced to retreat under the pressure of the Japanese army's heavy counterattack on Fengdian, these eyeliners still remained in the county town under various cover identities. Therefore, the Japanese puppet army easily reoccupied Fengdian and quickly withdrew the heavy troops, which was seen by the spies of the spy company.

Of course, they did not know where the main force of the Japanese army (in fact, the Tyumen infantry brigade) had gone after leaving the city; Later, the cavalry regiment of the puppet Mongolian army actually opened the southern city after nightfall and set out; Immediately, the Japanese wing commander Kosuke Otsuka also began to assemble two squadrons of Japanese troops in the county to board a big truck and follow in the footsteps of the puppet Mongolian army out of the city. The spies of the spy company finally understood that this should be a military operation carried out by the Japanese puppet army, but the target was not yet clear.

It certainly wouldn't be going to their own 391 regiment - the spies quietly gathered in the beef and mutton shop in Xiguan, the county seat, to exchange information. On this night, the Japanese puppet army dispatched cavalry and truck teams, and its destination was obviously not close; The 391st Regiment is located in the mountains, which is not suitable for these two troop transport tools.

Because after the Japanese counterattack on Fengdian succeeded, the gates of the four cities were always closed and the people were strictly forbidden to enter and exit, so the spies of the spy company could not send this important information back to the Great Elm Mountain. But they were all aware that after the Japanese puppet army drove away these two large groups of men, the garrison in the county became empty again, even more empty than last time. Visually, there are only a few infantry squads left guarding the four city gates and the old site of the county government.

In fact, they were right, at present, in the city of Fengdian, there are only two squadrons of the Nara Brigade of the Japanese Otsuka Wing, a total of six infantry squadrons, of which four squadrons each guard a city gate and set up posts on the city wall, and a squad is responsible for patrolling the main streets and alleys in the county; The last team was led by Deputy Wing Captain Aso Nakasa and sat in the county government - Nakasa will not forget that it was in this county government that he was driven out by the Central Army in embarrassment some time ago. However, after recapturing Fengdian this time, the wing commander always ordered the city to be closed, and the city was not allowed to open until the main force of the Eighth Route Army returned to the division in Guanmen Mountain. Dazuo believes that the reason why the 391st Regiment of the Chinese Army succeeded in attacking and occupying it last time was related to the imperial army's too benevolent opening of the county gate and allowing the people to enter and exit. Otherwise, the Chinese army would not have had a chance to blend into the city gates, and the inside and outside should be combined.

The spies of the 391st Regiment Special Service Company could not get out of the city, but Qin Zhongxiao's regimental headquarters in the Great Elm Mountain still quickly grasped the movement of the Japanese puppet army, thanks to the fact that after he escaped into the deep mountains, he immediately sent a fine work to the Fengdian area. As soon as the meticulous workers discovered that a large number of Japanese troops (in fact, the Tyumen Brigade) drove out of the south gate of Fengdian and into the Xiaoyushu Shandong Pass in a mighty car, they immediately reported back to the regimental headquarters.

Qin Zhongxiao and the 391st Regiment were almost ignorant of the Japanese army's transfer of troops on the Nantongpu Road. Therefore, the Tyumen infantry brigade has always been in the dark since the arrival of the Central Army colonel. However, after receiving the urgent report from Xizuo, Qin Zhongxiao judged from the details of the Japanese army driving into the East Pass of Little Elm Mountain in a truck, and judged that this group of Japanese troops was not stationed in Little Elm Mountain, but went to Wencheng through the road in the mountains.

"So, the devils sent by Wencheng to support the counterattack on Fengdian have now completed their mission and gone back?" Zhang Hong, chief of staff of the 391st Regiment, looked at the sand table and said thoughtfully: "The action is so fast, it can be called a hurry." ”

Qin Zhongxiao raised his sword eyebrows: "Come and go in a hurry?" Chief of Staff, this sentence sums it up perfectly! ”

Zhang Hong couldn't help but be stunned, looked up at his group seat, and didn't understand his meaning for a while.

"What does this group of devils mean by coming and going?" The colonel of the Central Army said, holding a slender command pole, poking and pointing at the location of Wencheng and Tongpu Road on the sand table: "At the same time that the Japanese army counterattacked the northern city of Fengdian from Junling this time, a large number of devils emerged from the small elm mountain and attacked the southern city of Fengdian. I can almost conclude that they came from the direction of Bunjo on the fly, just to retake Fengdian. ”

In addition to the chief of staff, several staff officers and the commander of a battalion who happened to be present also gathered around the sand table and listened intently to Qin Zhongxiao's analysis:

"Now, Fengdian has been reoccupied by them, and these devils have hurried back to Little Elm Mountain in a truck, and there is no doubt that they will rush back to Wencheng. So, what are they so desperate to rush back? ”

"I remember that Major Wang of the military command said a few days ago that the main force of the Sena Division of the Japanese Army is now fighting against the Central Army in the second war zone on Pulu, will these devils go to support the front line over there?" It was Zhang Hong, the chief of staff, who spoke, and as he spoke, he stretched out his finger and struggled to reach Nantongpu Road on the sand table. The commander of the first battalion and the staff officers did not say anything.

Qin Zhongxiao smiled slightly, slapped the command rod in his right hand on the palm of his left hand one by one, and said: "No matter where these devils go in the truck, one thing is absolutely certain - the Japanese in this area are already very short of troops and are exhausted. ”

The room was completely silent, and everyone was smacking the connotation of Tuanza's words: Ah! Doesn't this mean that the Japanese army has begun to take care of one thing at the expense of the other?

Qin Zhongxiao was also attracted by the judgment he had just made. This completely answered his question that began during the Spring Festival: the first time the Otsuka Wing came to attack Fengdian on a large scale, Qin Zhongxiao extremely questioned the ability of the Japanese army to restart the Shanxi battlefield - with the strength of one and a half divisions (three brigades) in Shanxi, the Japanese dared to try to level Shanxi?!

Sure enough, the Japanese army, whose battle line was too long, was now forced to tear down the east wall and make up the west wall. With such a scale of 1,000 people (maybe an infantry brigade), but you have to run around at both ends of Little Elm Mountain in a short time, what can it be if you are not overstretched?!

"Chief of Staff, go to Guanmen Mountain to inform the people of the Eighth Route Army, have you come back?" Qin Zhongxiao, who was excited, stared at Zhang Hong with his eyes like a torch, he knew that his chief of staff was reluctant to deal with the Eighth Road.

"Not yet," Zhang Hong said the truth: "Since I sent them out, there has been no movement until now." ”

Qin Zhongxiao's mind was already reimagining a joint operation with the Eighth Route Army. But at this moment, not only him, but also the rest of the 391st Regiment headquarters had no way of knowing: the few people they sent to Guanmen Mountain had not had time to contact the second battalion of the Eighth Route Army Forest Division at the foot of the mountain, and the Japanese puppet army launched a night attack there.

An order from the Bunjo Brigade Headquarters that the men and horses of the Otsuka Wing outside Kawaguchi Village must attack overnight as planned. Kosuke Otsuka, who had no room for maneuver, had no choice but to execute it head-on.

The Wing Commander ordered the artillery squad of the Nara Brigade to be transferred, and the two 92 infantry guns, unloaded from the truck, were pushed to the forefront of their prescribed positions in the dark. In fact, the two infantry squadrons of the Nara Brigade also brought a total of four mortars, but in view of the fact that under the dark night, the success rate of the curved mortars (including the dozen grenadiers owned by the two squadrons) to hit the target was very small, so Otsuka Kosuke directly chose the flat-firing 92 infantry guns to take the lead.

Du Dongqiang and several cavalry officers of the Mongolian Xinjiang Army under his command roughly described the shape and direction of the village in front to the artillery squad artillerymen, and they all participated in the last battle of Hekou Village and were deeply impressed.

Kosuke Otsuka's attack plan was to first carry out a rapid attack with two infantry guns, and strive to make sure that the shells penetrated into the village in the dark, and strive to kill and injure a part of the Eighth Route Army, and at the same time, observe the reaction of the firepower in the village -- the Japanese wing commander still did not know that the Eighth Route mortar, which had destroyed the Mongolian Xinjiang Army last time, had been transferred to Xiping Village, which was more than ten miles away. He was worried that the other side would use artillery shells to fight back, after all, in terms of the terrain in this area, the Eighth Route Army was obviously more familiar.

Next, the commander of the Japanese wing prepared to convert one of the two cavalry battalions of the Mongolian Xinjiang Army into infantry and make a tentative attack on the head of Hekou Village. Kosuke Otsuka had already decided that the air artillery fire would carry out the front attack alone, and after observing the aftereffects, he would decide on the ground action of the infantry. Now he doesn't have many trump cards in his hand, and he can't play them easily.

Of course, what made the commander of the Japanese army wary was the Guanmen Mountain Pass. Du Dongqiang's people said conclusively that there were perfectly camouflaged fortifications on the mountain pass, and the fortifications were equipped with heavy machine guns, which were condescending and easy to defend and difficult to attack. In this regard, Kosuke Otsuka's calculation is to take the village of Kawaguchi, which is not in danger, while taking advantage of the darkness first, as for the Kanmon Mountain Pass, as long as there are no reinforcements rushing down, he can try not to provoke its heavy machine guns. Wait until dawn to mobilize artillery fire to launch a heavy blow to its fortifications and destroy them.

He ordered the captain of the group, Nara Shaosa, to send an infantry squad and reinforce the machine-gun squadron of the brigade, to touch the foot of Guanmen Mountain, and to lay an ambush along the foot of the mountain.

After all this deployment was completed, Kosuke Otsuka issued an attack order to the commander of the cavalry regiment of the Mongolian Army, and Du Dongqiang's two cavalry battalions, one of which was dismounted, prepared to advance covertly in the direction of Hekou Village.

At this time, Otsuka received a report from the brigade chief of staff, Kawabe Osa, that the Tyumen Brigade's sneak attack on Xiping Village was unsuccessful, and the Eighth Route Army used mortars and grenadiers to force it away from the village. Kawabe Osa warns Kosuke Otsuka to be on guard in advance.

Mortars and grenadiers!

Otsuka scolded in shock and anger. The matter has come to this point, and the overlord can only make a bow.

"Shaoza," the Wing Captain called Captain Nara, "Order your artillery squad, open fire!" ”