Seeing that Kojima Masao looked full of confidence, the Japanese brigade commander waved his hand, signaling that the other party could make arrangements on his own - the brigade commander himself was not thinking about whether he could catch a few more women, and the progress and results from the three different battlefields tonight were the focus of his greatest attention.

With the approval of Major General Hagiwara, the head of the secret service also turned around and went to the telecommunications room and called Captain Hiraiji to make arrangements.

It was not until the chief of staff of the riverside and the head of the island office returned one after another, and the three Japanese chiefs sat there silently for a while to drink tea, that the latest battle report came - the captain of the Saijo Wing reported from Ewhapo that his headquarters had broken through the outer positions of the Eighth Route Army and broken into the village of Ewhapo, and the enemy was still relying on the terrain in the village to make stubborn resistance, but basically the general trend had gone, and defeat and withdrawal from the village were inevitable.

Chief of Staff Kawabe Dazuo immediately ordered that once the remnants of the Eighth Route Army withdrew from Ewhapo, they must be pursued and annihilated, and if necessary, they could consider quickly interspersing a part of the troops in advance to the south, and then turn back to cut off the enemy's retreat.

Hagiwara praised the improvised strategy of his chief of staff—the automatic convoy (author's note: that is, the truck transport team) assigned to the Saijo Wing by the brigade and regiment depot on this expedition to Kanmon Mountain should obviously not only be used as a means of transport, but should play a greater role in the actual combat mobile projection of troops.

Seeing that the brigade commander, Major General, finally showed a look of relief, Kojima Masao also echoed it, saying that if Saijo Osa could solve the Eighth Route Army flowing in the lower reaches of the Qinglong River as soon as possible, he would be able to quickly stop the unfavorable trend of the war spreading infinitely to the south and control the battle on the line from Xiping Village to Fengdian County. The head of the secret service has always been afraid of the Pingquan County area in the lower reaches of the Qinglong River, where an independent infantry brigade of Yan Xishan is entrenched, and to some extent it is no small threat.

"Immediately contact the Nara Brigade on the way out, make it clear that the destination of its march is Xiping Village, and after arriving, cooperate with Takagi Shaosa to complete the complete sweep of Xiping in one fell swoop!" The commander of the Hagiwara Brigade decisively added that in his opinion, since the battle in the Ewhapo direction was going well, the Nara Brigade, which had just sent reinforcements from Bunjo, should focus on the direction of Xiping Village, which had not been attacked for a long time.

However, the slightly relaxed atmosphere that had just emerged in the brigade headquarters did not last long before it was destroyed: the latest news came from the battlefield near Fengdian, and the 391st Regiment of the Central Army, which had been desperately defending the last mountain pass of Little Elm Mountain, suddenly began to evacuate on its own initiative. Kosuke Otsuka commanded his troops to send two infantry squadrons to pursue the enemy on the basis of occupying all the mountain passes, but they continued to be bombarded by enemy heavy artillery and moved slowly; At present, the 391st Regiment of the Central Army has the possibility of leaving the battlefield with the help of heavy firepower.

This battle report brought new anxiety and frustration to the three Japanese chiefs in the brigade headquarters - the Chinese army from stubbornly defending the mountain pass to voluntarily giving up may only confirm the fact that they received a small force in the small elm mountain that attacked Songjiagou! If this is really the case, all the blocking plans for Little Elm Mountain are tantamount to abortion.

"Kosuke Otsuka's actions are too muddy!" After a while, the chief of staff of the river finally broke out in anger: "I ordered them to block all the mountain passes at the eastern foot of Xiaoyushu Mountain as soon as possible, but they easily fell for the feint attack of the Chinese army, and hastily withdrew their troops to Fengdian County......"

"There's no time to complain about these useless things!" The brigade commander, Major General Major, interrupted the riverside anxiously: "If the small group of Chinese forces that attacked the military blockade area of Little Elm Mountain has been taken out of the mountain, then they must now be caught up in the main force of the 391st Regiment that is engaged in the exchange of fire with Otsuka's troops - tell Otsuka that the Kameda Brigade, which was scheduled to search for Little Elm Mountain at all costs, will change its mission and hand it over to him to command, and devote itself to the operation of attacking the Central Army!" For a specific combat plan, you immediately contact and guide the formulation of the fire line with Yasuke Otsuka! ”

Hearing that the brigade commander, Major General Major, had made such an urgent adjustment to the deployment, Masao Kojima on the side faintly felt that something was wrong -- after all, it was not possible to fully confirm that the small group of Chinese forces that had attacked the military blockade area of Little Elm Mountain had been taken out of the mountain, and it was considered rash to completely abandon the dragnet search of Little Elm Mountain before that. But looking at Hagiwara Akira's face, which had been deformed by anger, the head of the secret service still swallowed back the words of persuasion that came to his lips.

"General, the 391st Regiment of the Central Army has heavy artillery to help it, which poses a great threat to our army, so I request that the Independent Mountain Artillery Squadron defending the Qingshikou of Little Elm Mountain be temporarily called in order to strengthen the heavy firepower of the Otsuka troops!"

The Qingshikou mentioned by the chief of staff on the riverside, that is, the largest mountain pass at the eastern foot of the Little Elm Mountain, has been tightly sealed by the Otsuka Wing for a long time, and on weekdays, in addition to the infantry assigned by the Xiangchuan Brigade to guard the town, an artillery squad of an independent mountain artillery squadron is also deployed, and two 75-caliber mountain guns are erected.

In the face of this request from the chief of staff, the brigade commander, Major General General couldn't help but hesitate -- this independent mountain artillery squadron was specially assigned to this brigade by the North China Front, and the purpose was to strengthen the defense capability outside the military blockade area of Little Elm Mountain, that is, the comfort women's secret camp. There are a total of four 75-caliber mountain guns, two of which are erected at the Qingshi Pass, and two are also erected at the Xiaoyushu Mountain West Pass near Wencheng. Now, Kawabe Osaku suddenly offered to expropriate it, and even though it was only half of it, it also made Hagiwara quite embarrassed.

"General, the 391st Regiment of the Central Army is not intending to seize control of Little Elm Mountain tonight, so I implore the general to rest assured that I will mobilize the two mountain artillery pieces in Qingshikou and devote myself to the pursuit and annihilation of this stubborn enemy!"

"Okay," after being repeatedly urged, the commander of the Japanese brigade glanced at the mahogany table clock standing against the wall, and finally made up his mind: "Kawabe-kun, you quickly and urgently negotiate with Captain Otsuka on the plan to pursue and annihilate the Shina army." I will personally call Aso Nakasa at Songjiagou Station and order him to transfer an infantry squad from the Aikawa Brigade to cover the two mountain guns at Qingshikou and put them under Otsuka's command. It is necessary not only to suppress the firepower of the Chinese army, but also to ensure the safety of the artillery. ”

Aso Nakasa, mentioned by the commander of the Hagiwara Brigade, was the deputy wing commander of the Otsuka Wing, who was assigned to sit at the Songjiagou Railway Station in Xiaoyushu Mountain, and lead the Aikawa Infantry Brigade to defend the military blockade area in the mountains; Therefore, the Independence Mountain artillery squadron was also under his control in peacetime.

It wasn't until he witnessed the chief of staff hurriedly walking out to deploy, and it wasn't until Hagiwara Akira finished the call with Aso Nakasa at the Songjiagou Railway Station that Masao Kojima, who had been idle on the sidelines, put forward his opinion very cautiously: "General, although the operation to pursue and annihilate the Shina Army outside Fengdian County is the first to bear the brunt, but is it not appropriate to cancel the search and arrest operation inside Little Elm Mountain?" ”

The commander of the Japanese brigade, who was sitting on a chair and gasping for breath, suddenly heard this calm suggestion at this moment, and his heart couldn't help but be shocked, he looked at the head of the secret service across the table, and began to realize that there was a major omission in the emergency deployment he had just made: "Damn! Why didn't you alert me sooner? ”

Kojima Masao's face showed embarrassment, and he couldn't find the words to deal with it for a while. Fortunately, Major General Hagiwara immediately took the mistake on his head, admitting that he had just been in a hurry, and was bent on reuniting and annihilating the 391st Central Army that had rushed to the outskirts of Fengdian City, so he ignored Little Elm Mountain. At the same time, they consulted the secret service for remedial measures.

"Well, I suggest that since a squad of the Aikawa Brigade has been mobilized to protect the two guns of the Independence Mountain Artillery Squadron from the mountain, then it is better to transfer another unit of its forces and continue to dispatch along the site of the armed attack of the Chinese army into the military blockade area tonight, to the Little Elm Mountain, and take on the task of searching and clearing the people in the mountain." As he said this, Captain Kojima stared intently at Major General Hagiwara, ready to stop abruptly as soon as the other party became angry.

Hagiwara's tired face was filled with uncertainty, but he didn't show any anger until Masao Kojima's advice was over—tonight's situation had deteriorated far beyond the local commander's expectations. The Songjiagou comfort women's secret camp in Little Elm Mountain, which can be called the most sensitive and core secret, is on the verge of being exposed on this eventful night; Now, any redeployment of its garrison from outside the Songjiagou station would undoubtedly further put the comfort women camp in an even more dangerous position. However, in the face of the leaky defense system, the strength of the entire brigade has been almost exhausted, and the heavy task of searching for Little Elm Mountain can only fall to the head of the Xiangchuan Infantry Brigade to carry out!

"Make sure that at least one infantry squadron is stationed near Songjiagou Station, and the rest will be arranged by Aso Nakasa as appropriate......"

In the end, the brigade commander, Major General, reluctantly and powerlessly gave this order - I hope the emperor will bless the comfort women camp and survive this catastrophe safely!

While the brigade commander of the Japanese army was huddled in the headquarters of Wencheng to pray, the colonel of the Central Army, who was exposed to the northern suburbs of Fengdian County, was also praying for God to open his eyes and let his troops out of danger.

As several Japanese chieftains of the Hagiwara Brigade had guessed, Qin Zhongxiao's 391st Regiment finally met the reconnaissance team led by the spy company commander Zhao Mutou after struggling to support the last mountain pass of Little Elm Mountain several times. That's why there was a big retreat next.

A reconnaissance team of the spy company broke into the old site of the Songjiagou coal mine by mistake and almost advanced to the door of the Japanese comfort women's secret camp - of course, this small group of Chinese soldiers would not know that there was an inside story of the so-called comfort women. Until they were driven out of the wall by the Japanese soldiers who arrived one after another, it was not clear what kind of sensitive area they had just stepped into.

Zhao Mutou, as the commander of the spy company, has recently been mixed up with the agents of the Shanxi Station of the Military Command, and his sensitivity is far better than that of his subordinates. Despite the revelation of his reconnaissance whereabouts, he initially decided to venture into Little Elm Hill for further spying.

However, the situation has undergone a series of drastic changes. First, a large number of Japanese soldiers poured out of the unfathomable military blockade area, apparently rushing to track their own side; Then, in the silent night, there was a continuous and fierce exchange of guns and artillery from the direction of Fengdian, and at this time, Zhao Mutou had faintly realized that something was wrong and ordered to evacuate; In the end, they met Brother Lian, a special agent who came to meet them, on a small road in the eastern part of the mountain, and learned the whole situation, so they rushed to the last mountain pass that Qin Zhongxiao personally commanded and defended, and followed the main force without danger.

However, the next evacuation operation was desperately pursued by the Japanese army. Although it was impossible to accurately know the enemy's strength in the night, the regiment commander Qin Zhongxiao and the chief of staff Zhang Hong both judged that the enemy army on the opposite side numbered in the hundreds, and they were also supported by fire from the city wall of Fengdian County.

The reason why the two main battalions of the 391st Regiment of the Central Army plus one artillery company did not fall significantly in the fierce battle at the foot of the mountain just now was not only supported by four large-caliber heavy guns, but also benefited from the narrow trend of the western suburbs of Fengdian County, that is, the area between Fengdian and Little Elm Mountain; It was this narrow terrain that made it impossible for the Japanese to carry out a large tactical deployment, although they had five squadrons from two infantry wings, resulting in a maximum of two squadrons or so attacking forward.

This enabled the colonel of the Central Army not only to successfully hold the mountain pass that kept the reconnaissance team of the special service company retreating, but also to retreat from there.

However, once they broke away from the narrow strip of land in the western suburbs of Fengdian and moved into the vicinity of the artillery positions in the northern suburbs, the Japanese heavy troops who were tracking them also entered a relatively open terrain, and their pursuit and killing intensity instantly surged. Moreover, two seven-five-caliber mountain guns that have just been launched from Qingshikou are also being hurriedly transferred here-

The grim moment to test the 391st Regiment of the Central Army has arrived.