In Pingquan County, Major General Zheng Yuan, the commander of the 12th Independent Brigade, had no way of knowing what his subordinate regiment commander Tian Mingda was doing outside the city, and his attention was all focused on the two telegrams from the headquarters of Chief Yan of the Second War Zone.

The first telegram was a secret telegram, informing the headquarters of the 12th Independent Brigade a piece of information that had just been learned: The exact channel confirmed that a certain battalion of the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army Forest Division, which was mentioned in the reply telegram, had changed its number to the Guanmenshan Dispatch Detachment of the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army Forest Division without authorization; For this reason, Commander Yan's headquarters reiterated to the 12th Brigade the main points of the previous secret telegram, and seriously concerned about and restricted the expansion of the so-called Eighth Route Army's Guanmenshan Detachment in the local area.

Dispatch detachment - what a name! The brigade commander of the Jin Army, a major general, pondered over the telegram, and the sources indicated that this detachment of the Eighth Route Army seemed to be at the regimental level at present, with three battalions under it; However, Zheng Yuan, who was familiar with the military sequence, sensitively judged that the expansion of the detachment to the corresponding brigade level again was just a matter of form!

A few days ago, the Eighth Route Army, which was entrenched at the western foot of Guanmen Mountain, sent a cavalry company commander to visit the door and brought a letter from Rauschzi, and the identity of the person who wrote the letter was only a deputy battalion commander - he was still very dismissive at that time. Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, the old hen turned into a duck, and he was promoted to the captain of the detachment overnight!

Thinking of this, the brigade commander of the Jin Army angrily crumpled a piece of telegram into a ball and threw it into the charcoal brazier not far away, while muttering to himself viciously: "The Eighth Route Army is so bold, why don't you just profess your rank again!" This detachment leader surnamed Wu, do you want to add a star to your shoulder!? ”

After asking the reason, the deputy brigade commander was also quite speechless, saying that this kind of unauthorized act of changing the number was no different from a rebellion, and then thinking of the old incident of the Eighth Route Army's hijacking of Xiao Junping, the intelligence staff officer of the headquarters, it became more and more evident that his lawless style was more and more obvious.

"Looking at the meaning revealed by the Yan Commander's Department in the theater, it should be that they have been aware of and vigilant against the disobedience of the Eighth Route Army in the entire Shanxi, but because of the current crisis of the War of Resistance Against Japan, they do not dare to openly implement effective military punishment against the Communist Army;" Zheng Yuan said worriedly: "The determination of the Governor's Department is unclear, and in the end, it is our subordinates who are in trouble, and in the face of the wanton expansion of the Communist Party, we can say that we cannot fight or not. ”

At this time, the deputy brigade commander noticed the second telegram on Zheng Yuan's desk that was not burned, which was also sent by the Yan Commander's Department in the Second War Zone, and the content was to report an operation on the Nantongpu Railway Line: The 391st Regiment of the Central Army and the Second Battalion of the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army Forest Division in Guanmen Mountain adopted the tactics of besieging the city and sending reinforcements, and successfully attacked the area around Lingshi County of the Nantongpu Railway; The 84th Division of the Central Army attacked the area of Huo County of the Nantongpu Railway at the same time. For this reason, the Commander's Department of Wei Lihuang in the theater specially commended the three units participating in the war.

The deputy brigade commander carefully looked at the date of the joint operation on the telegram, looked up and said to Zheng Yuan: It was just a few days ago, but we haven't heard any news here.

The face of the brigade commander of the major general of the Jin army was a little ugly, and he replied coldly: "We are nested in the county town, and there is no difference between the deaf and the blind. This time it was the actions of friendly forces, we didn't notice it, and if the Japanese killed us next time, don't block us in the county town and catch Wang Ba! ”

The deputy brigade commander suddenly became embarrassed and cramped, and the intelligence investigation of the brigade headquarters fell within the scope of his command.

Zheng Yuan didn't want to embarrass his deputy too much, so he changed his words: "After Fengdian was lost, the 391st Regiment of the Central Army was said to have run into the Great Elm Mountain, but I didn't expect that their commander Qin Zhongxiao was still so showy - not only jumped to the railway line to fight, but also mixed up with the Communist Eighth Route Army." ”

"Brigade seat, what does Deputy Chief of the Guard mean, you appreciate this sabotage battle very much?" The deputy brigade commander said that Deputy Commander Wei is the current Deputy Commander of the Second Theater Wei Lihuang.

The brigade commander of the Jin Army, the major general, shook his head slowly, and did not clearly express his attitude. In fact, he knew very well that Shanxi, as the second theater of the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government, was a semi-open secret that there was a disagreement between Commander Yan Xishan and Deputy Commander Wei Lihuang. In the past, it was okay to say that the headquarters of the theater commanders were tied together, but since the loss of Linfen in February this year, the headquarters of the commanders of the second war zone has been divided into two: Commander Yan took the main force of the Jin army to hide in the mountains and mountains in the southwest of Shanxi, and on the one hand, he was trapped and guarded, and on the other hand, he was ready to cross the Yellow River west to Shaanxi at any time; Deputy Commander Wei led the rest of the Central Army to retreat along the Nantongpu railway line and occupy the line of Zhongtiao Mountain, also trapped on the one hand, and ready to cross the Yellow River south to Henan at any time.

As a result, the entire Second Theater has become a situation in which the two chief and deputy commanders are fighting separately and each has their own words. The battle of Tongpu Road mentioned in the telegram was apparently launched by Deputy Commander Wei, two of the three participating troops were the remnants of the Central Army, and the third was the Eighth Route Army; And Deputy Chief Wei himself had a very good personal relationship with Zhu De, another deputy commander of the Second War Zone. Zhu De is well known and is now the commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army (18th Group Army).

Zheng Yuan, who was preoccupied, paced to the local military map, pointed to several key points and said to his deputy brigade commander: "See, in this so-called Tongpulu sabotage battle, the troops participating in the battle went forward with one south and one north of our station, the 84th Division of the Central Army sent Qinyuan County, the 391st Regiment of the Central Army and the Eighth Route Army sent to Da Yushu Mountain and Guanmen Mountain. In Pingquan Prefecture, where we are located, although no troops were sent to participate in the battle, once the Japanese launched a retaliatory counteroffensive, it was difficult to say that they would not aim at us at the same time. ”

Staring at the map, the blood on the face of the deputy brigade commander of the Jin army suddenly turned pale, and he couldn't help grinning in a daze, and then muttered nervously: "Isn't this unlucky!" After the Central Army and the Eighth Route Army have caused trouble, they will cause us to be beaten by the Japanese together? ”

"You can't help but guard against it," the brigade commander of the Jin Army gritted his teeth and responded: "Qin Zhongxiao and them, as well as the Eighth Route Army, have enough of the limelight, and then hide in the mountains, it will be difficult for the Japanese to find them!" As for Qinyuan County, where the 84th Division was stationed, it was also about 100 miles away from Tongpu Road. It's different here for us, more than 40 miles away, if the Japanese really send troops from Tongpu Road, will Pingquan County still be able to hold it? ”

The two regiments under the 12th Brigade had abandoned Fengdian County and Wencheng, an important town on Tongpu Road, due to cowardice. With such morale and combat effectiveness, it is nothing more than wishful thinking to hold the current Pingquan county seat.

"Brigade seat, if we can't hold it, which direction should we retreat? Do you want to enter Guanmen Mountain too? ”

Zheng Yuan rolled his eyes, glanced at the location of Guanmen Mountain on the map a few times, and a wry smile appeared on the corner of his mouth - in this green and yellow season, if the team of 2,000 people really pulled into Guanmen Mountain, would they be trapped inside?! What's more, it is said that one mountain cannot tolerate two tigers, and the current Guanmen Mountain has infiltrated the Eighth Route Army in addition to the Black Stone Cliff bandits, and if the 12th Brigade inserts another bar, I am afraid that without the Japanese army to encircle and suppress, the Chinese themselves will kill each other and leave no armor!

Seeing that his brigade seat did not answer, the deputy brigade commander asked tentatively: Has Commander Yan's headquarters instructed us to retreat? Even if it is agreed that we should retreat to the mountains southwest of Jin and go to join the main force of the Jin army, it is better than being alone behind the enemy here and full of dangers.

The major general and brigade commander of the Jin Army, who was in an irritable mood, finally couldn't help but have a seizure when he heard this, he slapped the map on the table, glared at his deputy and shouted: "Is there a pig's head on your neck?" Also go to the southwest of Jin to meet the main force! Don't you know that you need to cross the Tongpu Road to the southwest of Jin? As long as our 2,000 men and horses lean near the railway and highway, the Japanese artillery, chariots, and even airplanes will not tear us to pieces? Don't think about those useless things, tell Tian Mingda that his 570 regiment must strictly defend the western suburbs of the county, and once the Japanese army comes to attack in a big way, their regiment will resist me for at least an hour to ensure that the brigade headquarters and the main force retreat to the east! ”

While the cowardly Jin Army Major General was thinking about retreating, the colonel of the Central Army in the Great Elm Mountain began to plan an attack - of course, a small-scale attack of a touching nature, and the target was the Little Elm Mountain.

The female major of the military commander, who has been sitting in the regimental headquarters of the 391st regiment, personally participated in the relevant deployment of the raid operation. In order to prevent giving up halfway, Wang Suihua even decided to be nailed to the Great Elm Mountain before the action came to fruition, and did not return to Wencheng for the time being.

Qin Zhongxiao was still based on the officers and soldiers of the special service company, and formed four reconnaissance teams, each with five people, each carrying one Bergman* and one Mauser*. After the operation begins, the four reconnaissance teams will first take advantage of the darkness of night to sneak into the mountains from the northeast of Xiaoyushu Mountain, where there are currently no Japanese troops, and then search and advance towards the area of the mountain road where the Japanese army is heavily armed.

Prior to this, the 391st Regiment had secretly recruited four guides, who were either the aboriginal mountain people in Little Elm Mountain, or people who had been in and out of Little Elm Mountain all year round to hunt and collect mountain goods, and they had a certain understanding of the internal topography of the entire mountain. These four guides are assigned to the four reconnaissance teams in turn.

Since the female major of the military commander did not return to Wencheng for the time being, Zhao Mutou, the commander of the spy company who came with her, took the opportunity to strongly request to participate in the reconnaissance operation. After Qin Zhongxiao communicated and discussed with Wang Suihua, he decided to give him this opportunity. This made the commander of the spy company, who had not led troops to fight for a long time, ecstatic.

However, his two superiors, a man and a woman, warned him at the same time: This operation is mainly reconnaissance, and it is best not to disturb the Japanese army unless it is absolutely necessary.

"What I want is that you can find out the secrets of the Japanese in Little Elm Mountain! As for whether and how to launch an attack next, it will have to wait until the situation becomes clear. ”

In front of the colonel of the Central Army, the female major of the military commander solemnly instructed Zhao Mutou, lest this spy company commander, who had been holding back in the underground of Wencheng for a long time, go to the Little Elm Mountain to kill and startle snakes.

Zhao Mutou, who couldn't help but be overjoyed, agreed with a hippie smile. However, looking at the tall and thin guy who was eager to try, Wang Suihua secretly sweated in private.