While the 391st Regiment of the Central Army in Great Elm Mountain was in full swing to arrange the forward defense, the Xu Brigade Detachment of the Eighth Route Army was nervously adjusting the marching direction of each unit in Guanmen Mountain, which was not far away.

Since he was driven into the Guanmen Mountain Pass behind Xiping Village by the heavy Japanese troops at night, Wu Zijian, the leader of the detachment, immediately made arrangements for the division of troops.

Prior to that, political commissar Liu Shu had already worked with Zhang Xiu to command the personnel and materials of non-combat units such as the detachment headquarters and the "General Mobilization Committee of the Guanmen Mountain Area" to move into the mountain.

The troops that have always been stuck on the defense line of Xiping Village include: all the 8 companies of the three battalions of the Xu Brigade Detachment, led by Deputy Battalion Commander Qi Biao; The 4th and 5th companies of the second battalion of the Xu Brigade Detachment were originally commanded by Wei Xin, the commander of the second battalion, but Wei Xin's whereabouts were unknown later, and they were commanded by their respective company commanders; In addition, there was also the 6th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 391st Regiment of the Central Army who rushed to help in the battle, and the leader was Captain Zhu Xingyun, the company commander.

In the night battle, Wu Zijian certainly did not plan to defend to the death, he knew very well how many devils had come outside Xiping Village.

However, the whole battle was still tossed and turned, and the offensive and defensive postures of the opposing sides changed several times.

At first, it was Wang Shuanglong's main battalion and the Xia Lianshan cavalry company that flanked the Japanese on the outer line, and finally attracted a Japanese army to leave Xiping Village and launch a pursuit to the south. Wu Zijian seized this favorable opportunity and concentrated the forces of three companies to counterattack, compressing the devils who had broken into the village to the western edge of the village.

Subsequently, Japanese reinforcements arrived in Xiping by truck from Wencheng, and the Eighth Route Army was forced to return to the defensive.

Later, a company supported by the 391st Regiment of the Central Army, under the leadership of a platoon of the Eighth Route Army in Hekou Village, secretly infiltrated Xiping to participate in the battle, which once caused chaos in the Japanese army's position.

However, the overall strength of the Japanese was strong after all, and the scale of the battle of the five infantry squadrons plus the machine gun squadron was far from comparable to the four companies of the Eighth Route Army and the Central Army, and the defenders were soon expelled back to the east bank of the Qinglong River in Xiping Village.

What's even more fatal is that in the final stage, in addition to carrying out a frontal cross-river attack, the Japanese army also sent two infantry squadrons to secretly wade through the upper and lower reaches of the Qinglong River at the far end of the Qinglong River, and then launched a north-south flank attack.

Seeing that the general trend had gone, Wu Zijian immediately made a decision, commanded his three companies and a company sent by friendly troops, and quickly retreated into the Guanmen Mountain Pass. Finally, the troops were safely evacuated before the Japanese army completed the final encirclement.

After entering Guanmen Mountain, when the departments were counted, they found that Wei Xin, the commander of the second battalion, was gone. According to some officers and men of the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion, the battalion commander personally commanded the 5th Company to block the large force of Japanese troops pouring in from the direction of the village, and led some of them to reverse the enemy formation at the most critical moment. Therefore, it is quite possible to rush out of the village from the end of the village.

Wu Zijian didn't have time to think about it, so he first arranged for Qi Biao, deputy commander of the third battalion, to command the 8th company of the third battalion to establish a defensive line in the dangerous area in the Guanmen Mountain Pass, preparing to intercept the devils who might enter the mountain to pursue. At the same time, he personally commanded the main force of the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion, which was placed behind the 8th Company of the 3rd Battalion as a reserve to form a second line of defense.

Then, he ordered the 4th Company of the 2nd Battalion to guide the 6th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 391st Regiment of the Central Army to move closer to Liu Shubu, the political commissar who had entered the mountain in advance, and temporarily marched slowly in the direction of Hongxingxia.

The reason why the march was slow for the time being was because Wu Zijian had doubts about the further movement of the main force of the Japanese army - in view of the fact that after the last time the Japanese army attacked Xiping Village at night, it did not occupy it but quickly withdrew as a whole, and the commander of the Eighth Route Army still had luck this time, hoping that the devils who fought with them in the middle of the night would also quickly collect their troops and return to the camp.

However, the reality disappointed him, and the Japanese army that captured Xiping Village not only did not withdraw, but even invested two forces one after another, entering the Guanmen Mountain Pass to try to pursue and kill the Eighth Route Army; After being violently blocked by the 8th Company of Qi Biao's 3rd Battalion relying on the terrain, he was very unwilling to recover near the mountain pass. At dawn, Wu Zijian observed the area around the mountain pass with a telescope from a high place, and found that the Japanese army had sealed it tightly, and the posture was quite dependent on signs of not leaving.

Only then did Wu Zijian realize the seriousness of the situation - it seems that it is unlikely that he will make a comeback in Xiping Village at least in the short term.

He then sent someone to inform the political commissar Liu Shu of the situation, changed the original plan of slow marching, and asked the other party not to wait in the mountains and forests anymore, but to clearly start to turn into the Red Star Gorge. Among them, the Zhu Xingyun Company, which was supported by friendly forces, followed and transferred to the base camp of Hongxingxia first.

At the same time, Wu Zijian first sent a signal corps through Guanmen Mountain and rushed to another mountain pass position near Hekou Village to learn about the enemy situation there from Li Tianlin, chief of staff of the detachment. If there is still no Japanese attack force in the vicinity of Hekou Village, then consideration can be given to placing the 6th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 391st Regiment of the Central Army there alone, so that they can wait for an opportunity to return to Da Yushu Mountain to rebuild.

Liu Shu, the political commissar who received the report, can be described as extremely frustrated and angry: with a large number of altars and jars, he rushed to Hongxing Gorge through the rugged Guanmen Mountain. How could this not make him sad and angry!

For this reason, Liu Shu, who was unwilling, personally rushed back to Wu Zijian's blocking position after dawn, and asked for the necessity of transferring all the people to the Hongxingxia base camp in person -- this was a move that affected the whole body, in addition to a large number of personnel and materials of non-combat units, there were also hundreds of villagers who fled from Xiping Village overnight wrapped up in the queue of troops. If it is certain that it is going to Hongxing Gorge, then such a large and bloated marching team will have to catch up with the journey of at least three or four days or even longer in the Guanmen Mountain. In this regard, the political commissar of the Eighth Route Army detachment was of course afraid of difficulties.

Wu Zijian grasped Liu Shu's thoughts, so he didn't go into details, and directly asked the political commissar to raise the telescope issued by the Xu Brigade Brigade Department and scan the area around the Guanmen Mountain Pass.

In the field of vision of the telescope, Liu Shu saw that the Japanese army was building fortifications at the mountain pass - the mountain pass fifty or sixty meters wide, the terrain was gentle, and now it was completely blocked by simple fortifications more than half a person high piled up with stones and tree trunks, and dozens of Japanese soldiers were hiding behind the improvised fortifications, staring at the direction where Liu Shu was now.

Just as the telescope raised by Liu Shu was about to be put down, he saw two Type 92 heavy machine guns being lifted up and erected behind the long fortifications - there is no doubt that even if the devil no longer sent troops into the mountains to pursue and kill the Eighth Route Army, there was no sign of retreating to Xiping Village at all, but was preparing to block the mountain pass from there and block the passage in and out of Guanmen Mountain from there.

The heart of the political commissar of the Xu Brigade detachment suddenly cooled for most of the time, and he understood why the detachment leader Wu Zijian would give the order to all of them to move towards the Hongxingxia base camp.

"What about the people who fled from the village? They are now almost completely mixed with our ranks, and if the march is opened, do you want them to follow? Liu Shu asked disheartenedly.

Wu Zijian was obviously also trapped by this problem - the devils who sealed the mountain pass, of course, not only against the Eighth Route Army, they also would not let these ordinary people go back to Xiping Village; No, those two 92 heavy machines that have just been erected will cause a fatal killing of civilians. However, if these hundreds of Xiping villagers were to be transferred together, it would not only slow down the speed of the march, but more importantly, Hongxingxia would not have the conditions to accept these people. It was late spring, and if a large number of fleeing villagers competed with the troops for food, the prospect was very terrifying.

"Political commissar, you are good at doing mass work, what do you think should be done?" The commander of the Eighth Route Army, who had nothing to do, had no choice but to return the problem to Liu Shu.

At this point, Liu Shu no longer dared to sing high-pitched, he gritted his teeth and replied, it is better to leave these villagers in place, even if they follow to Hongxing Gorge, it is impossible for them to stay in the military camp, only to build a shelter outside the military camp. In that case, it is better not to toss them and let them rush to build temporary houses in the current location. Once the Japanese are gone, it is also convenient for them to return to their homeland.

Wu Zijian stared at his political commissar and did not speak for a long time. In fact, in his heart, he had already agreed with the other party's plan, but he couldn't bear to leave the people in the mountains and forests. The political commissar's decision seems ruthless, but it can be called the best policy among the next strategies.

"If you let these fleeing villagers stay where they are, then the defense line I set up here will also stay," Wu Zijian said calmly: "On the one hand, I can monitor the movements of the devils in Xiping Village, and on the other hand, I can also protect the villagers." ”

When Liu Shu heard this, he couldn't help frowning: "Do you want to leave the two companies here?" Will it drag down and affect the combat effectiveness of the entire detachment? ”

"Since it has been decided to stay, then leave both companies behind, this is also to ensure that the devils are not allowed to enter the mountains from this. In addition, the first battalion and the cavalry company have not yet been contacted, and they should have retreated to the lower reaches of the Qinglong River, but what actions they will take next, I, the detachment leader, have countless thoughts on my mind. There is also the second battalion commander Wei Xin with a small force that has been broken up, and his whereabouts are unknown, and we can't leave him alone. ”

Seeing that Wu Zijian had made up his mind, the political commissar of the detachment no longer raised objections.

The order was quickly followed. The 4th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade Detachment took the lead, the detachment headquarters and non-combat units followed, and the 6th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 391st Regiment of the friendly army was placed at the end of the queue.

Instead of running dozens of miles of mountain roads to a strange place, it is better to stay near their homes and wait for an opportunity - the commander of the Eighth Route Army promised them that he would drive away the devils who occupied the village as soon as possible and let the villagers return home as soon as possible.

This is not an empty sentence said by Wu Zijian, at this moment in his mind, the battle plan for counterattacking Xiping Village has begun to brew.