The sky was still dark, and Kosuke Otsuka ordered the five trucks parked behind him to drive up, and the bright headlights shone on the dark wasteland, making them look more and more solemn.

It was about three miles away from Hekou Village, and the Eighth Route Army that had just exchanged fire had apparently run into the village, leaving behind dozens of corpses on the two battlefields.

Du Dongqiang once led the Mongolian Xinjiang army to fight here, and he was very clear about the hidden murderous motives ahead: the small village on the plain of Hekou Village and the condescending mountain pass of Guanmen Mountain formed a mutual leaning trend, and there were strongholds and fortifications of the Eighth Route Army in both places. They had not only heavy machine guns, but also artillery.

It was precisely when Kosuke Otsuka learned that the Eighth Route Army here had artillery and that it was very accurate, so he did not let more trucks come over in case the precious cars were damaged by shells—the trucks that Otsuka and his subordinates were riding in were also from the Hagiwara Brigade's automatic convoy of military stations.

The plan to attack the camp of the Eighth Route Army in Hekou Village at night was undoubtedly aborted, and a grim reality was placed in front of the Japanese commander: it was originally a sneak attack at night, and the night was a good cover; But at present, the Eighth Route Army's preemptive strike has announced that the people have long been fortified; In this case, the night has instead evolved into a magic weapon for the defense side. Can this battle be fought in the dark?

Du Dongqiang resolutely asked to wait for the dawn. The cavalry commander of the Mongolian Xinjiang Army swore to inform Otsuka Kosuke that the outskirts of Kawaguchi Village and the bottom of the Guanmen Mountain Pass were unobstructed plains, and even if the superior forces were concentrated to launch a charge, the Eighth Route Army would rely on the light and heavy weapons in the fortifications and bunkers, inflicting great casualties on the attackers.

"It's different when it's dawn," Du Dongqiang said: "When it's dawn, the opponent's fortifications and bunkers can be seen at a glance, and the imperial army can pull up all the big and small cannons and bomb the damn one." As long as the defensive positions of the Eighth Route Army are destroyed, and then the cavalry and infantry charges are put in, the result can be twice as effective with half the effort. ”

For the first time, the commander of the Japanese army expressed his approval of the commander of the Mongolian cavalry, who was half a cut taller than himself. What he worries most about is also war damage. At present, one of the three infantry brigades of his wing has lost more than half of it and entered Little Elm Mountain to rest, and the other is responsible for guarding the railway and storming Wencheng; The brigade led by himself is now divided into two, half of which is garrisoned in Fengdian County, and half is here. If there were any more casualties in the battle against the Eighth Route Army, the troops would be more and more overstretched.

Since the first attack on Fengdian County by leading the team from Junling during the Spring Festival, the Otsuka Wing has lost nearly 600 people in battle so far, accounting for 20% of the entire wing's strength.

The commander of the Hagiwara Brigade told him a few days ago that the two infantry supplementary brigades dispatched from the North China Front Headquarters were preparing to leave for Shanxi from Hebei and would be supplemented by the Hagiwara Brigade and the Kato Brigade of the Sena Division respectively (this was also the second time that the Sena Division had used the Supplementary Brigade since it entered Shanxi from Niangzi Pass last year). Rear Admiral Hagiwara promised that this supplementary brigade of the brigade would give priority to the needs of the Otsuka Wing, much to Otsuka's relief. Of course, he knew very well that the reason why the brigade commander did this was entirely out of consideration for the safety of the comfort women camp in Songjiagou.

Therefore, he could not rashly put the forces at hand into the struggle with the Eighth Route Army - defending the Songjiagou comfort women's secret camp was the first priority given to him by the brigade and even the division.

But what makes Otsuka Kosuke difficult to let go is that the Eighth Route Army in the village in front has repeatedly offended the tiger power of the imperial army: the Iwata Cavalry Squadron was attacked in a ravine in Little Elm Mountain, and there is enough evidence that they did it. And when Fengdian was lost, it should have been that they sent a force to attack the imperial army from behind. These so-called communist troops always hide in the shadows and sneak like rats to pick up tiger whiskers!

"Osa, General Hagiwara called from Wencheng to inquire about the battle situation!"

The telecommunications staff officer of the wing headquarters ran out of the shadows and reported to Kosuke Otsuka. It turned out that the chief of staff of the brigade, Kawabe Daisa, who launched the night attack on the Xiping Village side, had immediately telegraphed to the brigade commander that the plan on the Kawaguchi Village side had been exposed, and complained bitterly about the poor performance of Otsuka Yasuke's department. After Hagiwara Akira received the report, he couldn't clarify the reason for a while, so he called Otsuka to question.

Otsuka Kosuke was embarrassed, although the cavalry of the Mongolian Xinjiang Army who served as the vanguard was caught off guard by the Eighth Route Army, but in the end, it was the road under his own command that went wrong - Otsuka didn't know at the moment that it was precisely because of the early exchange of fire in Hekou Village that caused the vigilance of Xiping Village, which was more than ten miles away, and caused the night attack of the chief of staff on the riverside to be destroyed in one fell swoop - the matter had come to this point, and Otsuka simply reported the adjustment plan for preparing to launch an attack after dawn to the brigade commander.

Hagiwara Akira couldn't help but be annoyed when he received the telegram: The Tyumen Brigade of the "guest army" on the other side of the riverside chief of staff will withdraw from the battle by tomorrow morning at the latest, take a truck back to Wencheng at noon, and then take a small train from Wencheng Station to Linfen on Nantongpu Road to return to the division. Therefore, the pursuit is to maximize the effect of tonight's attack. Now Otsuka, this bastard, actually wants to change to an offensive plot at dawn tomorrow! It's dawn, where is the time for the Tyumen brigade!?

The brigade commander, Major General General immediately replied to Kosuke Otsuka: The attack must be launched as originally planned!

Kosuke Otsuka was dumbfounded.

In Hekou Village, Wu Zijian, who was like a knife because he abandoned a platoon, has completely calmed down. Behind the tightly drawn cotton curtain window, there were several bright horse lanterns, and the deputy commander of the second battalion was in the light, deploying one order after another. At the same time, under the cover of night, the movement of troops between Kawaguchi Village and Guanmen Mountain Pass was also carried out secretly and rapidly.

The deputy company commander of the 5th Company went to the mountain pass to join the company commander Li Tianlin, where there were still three platoons of the 5th Company. Wu Zijian later sent Xiao Junping and the enemy engineer team over, first, he asked the resourceful Xiao Junping to help Li Tianlin defend, and second, Wu Zijian was also worried that Hekou Village might not be able to hold it, so he took away the enemy engineer captain who was still unfavorable in advance.

The deputy company commander of the 8th Company led a platoon to rush down to Hekou Village from the Guanmen Mountain Pass, and Li Tianlin also handed over a Czech machine gun to them to bring to the deputy battalion commander to increase the firepower in the village. At present, Wu Zijian and the deputy commander of the 8th Company jointly command the two platoons of the 5th Company and the two platoons of the 8th Company.

In view of the fact that the enemy situation outside the village was still unclear, in addition to sending a messenger to the camp headquarters in Xiping Village to report the situation, Wu Zijian also sent people to the Hongxing Gorge in Guanmen Mountain, asking Lu Dajiang, commander of the 8th Company, to prepare for battle: he was ready to send troops to support the outside of the mountain at any time, and he also had to strengthen the vigilance of the female bandit leader Liu Wumei's gang at all times, and strictly prevent bandits from taking advantage of the fire to rob.

The head of Hekou Village is in the northernmost part of the village, which is the opposite of the direction of the front door of all the villagers' houses facing south, and the head of the village is in the northernmost part, probably mainly because there is the largest county town in the area: Fengdian to the north. Today, a house at the head of the village has long been secretly converted into a fortification of the 5th Company, and the north window of the middle room is very covertly set up with the fire port of the Makqin heavy machine gun. The second battalion, which crossed the Yellow River from northern Shaanxi, was actually not made by the original German factory, but an imitation of it by the Jinling Arsenal: the 24-type heavy machine gun of the Republic of China; It was named because it was produced in the twenty-fourth year of the Republic of China (author's note: that is, 1935). But the Red Army soldiers were so obedient that they still habitually called him Makqin.

At this moment, Wu Zijian came to this Makqin firepower port to inspect.

Since the last time a Japanese 92 heavy machine and a large number of bullets were captured outside Fengdian City, Wu Zijian set up a heavy machine gun squad. The 2nd Battalion originally had a 92 heavy machine, and now these two Japanese heavy machine guns are deployed in the concealed fortifications of the Guanmen Mountain Pass, which is convenient for unified ammunition supply and maintenance. The Makqin, also known as the 24th heavy machine gun, was moved from Shankou to Hekou Village. At that time, Wu Zijian personally presided over the design of Makqin's firepower port.

The house where this fire port is located may be the owner to prevent the flooding of the Qinglong River that washed down from the mountain pass on one side, so the foundation was built very high, more than three feet higher than the courtyard wall. Looking out of the north window, not far away is the Qinglong River flowing around the courtyard wall, and in the distance is the flat wasteland outside the village. The view is wide and condescending.

According to the operational requirements, in the vicinity of the firepower port of Makqin, once the war starts, two squads of troops will be deployed for coordination and protection. Now, that's it.

Through the scuffle on the wasteland outside the village just now, they can basically conclude that the enemy is from Fengdian, so next, they are very likely to choose the village head as the main direction of attack. Therefore, the defensive position at the head of the village will undoubtedly bear the brunt. And one of the keys to determining the success or failure of the battle at the head of the village is this Makqin.

"Deputy battalion commander, you can't see anything outside!"

When the shooter and deputy shooter of the Makqin heavy machine gun saw Wu Zijian coming, they immediately said anxiously. They seldom fiddle with Makqin in the dark night when they can't see their fingers.

"Don't panic," Wu Zijian patted the deputy shooter on the shoulder: "If there is any movement, there are still six or seven of us lying on the side of the courtyard wall outside, and they will be the first to warn." When they're sure they're hostile, you two open fire. ”

Speaking of this, Wu Zijian suddenly had an idea, he called a squad leader who was responsible for defending this courtyard, and asked him to immediately find strips of cloth and wrap them around a few short wooden sticks, make them into a torch-shaped, and soak the strips of cloth with lamp oil, and put them near the courtyard wall fortifications; As soon as he sensed that there was something outside and could not see clearly, he lit a torch with a match and threw it straight ahead.

"You two, condescendingly, keep an eye on the place where the torch was thrown," Wu Zijian continued to instruct the heavy machine gun shooter: "Observe quickly by the light of the fire, and if you find that it is a devil or a pseudo-Mongolian army coming up, give me a beating!" ”

Wu Zijian just had a whim, but unexpectedly, this method really played a big role in the upcoming battle