"How far is it from Xiping Village?" The colonel of the Central Army took the walkie-talkie microphone away from his mouth and turned his head to ask the adjutant.

"At least a dozen miles away." The adjutant's answer was obviously not very sure, they were not familiar with this section of the road, the straight-line distance from the Tongpu Railway to Xiping Village, the officers of the Central Army had previously been more visual on a specially drawn map.

"First battalion commander, you lead the main force of the battalion to continue to move to Xiping Village with the regimental headquarters, without any hesitation and delay," Qin Zhongxiao finally made up his mind to copy the microphone and give an order: "At the same time, leave the third company of your battalion, led by the battalion deputy to stand by, waiting for the news from the front brought back by Deng Shoushan of the special agent company. ”

The commander of a battalion in the walkie-talkie was still arguing, but was decisively stopped by Qin Zhongxiao, and at the same time he reminded sharply that once Deng Shoushan led the brothers of the special service company to return, he must immediately catch up with the main force of the regiment headquarters and carry out the task of commanding the special service company.

After dropping the walkie-talkie, the colonel of the Central Army jumped back into a covered carriage that served as a command car. The command car is a "masterpiece" created by his adjutant, the carriage is pulled by four horses, the carriage is very wide, and a square kang table commonly used in the common people's homes is fixed in the center, and the two horse lamps hanging from the ceiling can be reflected on the entire desktop once turned on.

At this moment, Qin Zhongxiao was sitting at the kang table, looking down at the battle map spread out on the table. The carriage on the moor was still a bit bumpy, but it was fast, allowing the commander to maneuver without delaying the journey. The soldiers of the regimental guard platoon were distributed in front of and behind the carriage, running and accompanying them.

At the same time, two Krupp mountain guns, one Japanese Type 41 mountain gun, and one Type 92 infantry gun of the 391st Regiment Artillery Company, all of which were pulled by horses, galloped forward.

"Tuanza, the broken Eighth Route Army should be able to deal with the situation, right?"

The adjutant who jumped into the carriage with Qin Zhongxiao asked worriedly while helping his chief hold down the slightly trembling map. The colonel of the Central Army, who was staring at the map, did not speak, but his mind was spinning rapidly - before the war, he and Wu Zijian, deputy battalion commander of the Eighth Route Army, had deduced tonight's combat procedures and ending several times, although he did not expect that the two blocking companies dispatched by the Second Battalion of the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army would not fight, but at present, the two companies of the Eighth Route Army actually had a fierce exchange of fire with the Japanese army, which was still greatly unexpected to him.

Will the Japanese continue to send reinforcements from Bunjo?!

Pre-war intelligence showed that the Japanese Otsuka Wing had a field barracks on the eastern outskirts of Bunjo, and a complete infantry brigade was stationed there, which was supposed to be the mobile unit of the Japanese army in this area. If nothing else, the two reinforcements that have arrived from the direction of Wencheng tonight along the railway and then the road should be from this infantry brigade, which is about two infantry squadrons. In other words, the Japanese mobile troops outside Wencheng City have dispatched nearly half of their troops to rescue Lingshi County, and what is the probability that the two infantry squadrons left behind will continue to rush to the current firefighting battlefield?

The shaking map and body, and the light under the dim horse lamp, all made Qin Zhongxiao feel dizzy. He simply took off his hot cotton military hat, pressed the top of the hat down on the map, and rubbed his closed eyes with his other hand, and continued to think.

If the Japanese army had no follow-up reinforcements and only launched a counteroffensive with the strength of the two squadrons that had arrived before, the 5th company of Wu Zijian and Li Tianlin should still be able to support it for a while. It was a company that was obviously supernumerated by the Nationalist Army, and it had a Makqin heavy machine gun and a Czech-style light machine gun, and the individual weapons were all Type 38 and medium-formal, and an artillery platoon at their battalion headquarters was also strengthened, and the power of the three mortars should not be underestimated. More importantly, they fought the Battle of Pingxingguangou, and during the Battle of Xinkou, they also cooperated with the main force of the Nationalist Army to attack the Japanese army from time to time behind the flank, and they can be said to have rich experience in fighting against Japan. These are enough to rely on in tonight's battle.

"Inform the front team, speed up, and rush to Xiping Village as soon as possible!"

Qin Zhongxiao opened his tiger eyes and ordered his adjutant in a resolute tone - at present, only the main force of the 391st Regiment was safely transferred to Xiping Village and even Guanmen Mountain, and the two companies of the Eighth Route Army, which were responsible for breaking and blocking the attack, could withdraw with all their might. The Japanese don't have a lot of troops, so they shouldn't be in desperate pursuit; If the Japanese chief wants to retaliate, it will have to be a matter for the future.

"Also, try to contact the second battalion commander," Qin Zhongxiao continued to order: "If you can't get in touch, you will directly send someone to the direction of Hekou Village to see how the blocking battle is going there?" ”

However, what the colonel of the Central Army never expected was that at this time, the blocking position of the 7th Company of the Eighth Route Army in the direction of Hekou Village in Guanmenshan had been broken through by the Japanese puppet army, and the two companies led by the commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 391st Regiment, who did not know the situation and went to support, encountered the cavalry of the puppet Mongolian army head-on in the wilderness!

The blocking position of the 7th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade, which was broken through, can also be said to have been abandoned on its own initiative to a certain extent. On this position, they have repelled the Japanese puppet army's frenzied attacks four times one after another. The instructor and deputy company commander of the 7th Company had already hung up the lottery, and more than 30 soldiers of the company had been killed, and nearly a third of the remaining were wounded.

As soon as he repelled the enemy's fourth attack, Wang Shuanglong, the commander of the 6th Company, who came to help in the battle, once again found Wei Xin, the commander of the 7th Company, and put forward a bold plan of his own: He could no longer be so stubbornly defending, and he should take advantage of the night to send a surprise army to attack the Japanese rear from the flank and rear to disrupt and delay the opponent's offensive deployment.

"Old Seven, do you remember when our deputy battalion commander made a summary of the battle against the night attack in the base area, he once talked about the cavalry company sneaking up on the Japanese position outside Hekou Village?"

Wang Shuanglong's words instantly evoked Wei Xin's memories. In fact, the two company commanders of the 6th and 7th companies were not present at the scene of the anti-night attack in Hekou Village, but Wu Zijian's review and summary of the company-platoon commander after the battle vividly restored the scene at that time, which left a deep impression on all the participants. The cavalry company was attacking a convoy of Japanese trucks parked in the open field outside the village of Hekou, where the Japanese army's temporary headquarters were. Coincidentally, at this moment, opposite the blocking position of the 7th Company, there was obviously a row of trucks parked behind the Japanese attack formation.

"You mean to say that we, like a cavalry company, send men to attack their truck fleet?"

Wei Xin's sword eyebrows were raised, and there was obvious excitement in his voice, obviously, Wang Shuanglong's proposal sounded very interesting.

"Yes, I have a lot of lamp oil stored in the fortifications of the mountain pass, so I'll send someone to bring a bucket over, and let's pour lamp oil on little Nichiko's truck, and set it on fire! Once they are busy fighting fires, the attack on the position here will definitely lose sight of the other. Wang Shuanglong said through gritted teeth.

Wei Xin immediately agreed, and was about to prepare to organize a commando; Wang Shuanglong stopped him, claiming that the platoon he had just mobilized from Hekou Village would arrive soon, so he simply let them carry out a sneak attack.

The commander of the 7th Company hesitated for a moment, feeling that Wang Shuanglong's subordinates were stationed in this area, and the terrain was much more familiar than that of the 7th Company, so he gritted his teeth and agreed. But at the same time, he also insisted that Wang Shuanglong stay in the position and not personally lead the assault team to attack.

"Move quickly, try to catch up with the next round of attacks by the Japanese puppet army on the opposite side, and take advantage of the chaos to send commandos; At that time, the attention of the opposite side was focused on attacking our position, and it was easy to neglect the defense of our own rear. While analyzing, the commander of the 6th company looked sideways at the direction of Hekou Village from time to time, and the person who took the lamp oil had been sent away by him; Finally, the platoon that remained in Hekou Village trotted first.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, behind the Japanese position opposite, there were faintly visible lights in the distance, and the lights moved towards this side in a series of bright and dark moments, becoming more and more clear. The two company commanders of the Eighth Route Army almost simultaneously let out a low exclamation: the enemy has increased its troops again!

Looking at the long list of car lights moving forward, Wang Shuanglong, who was still a little ambitious just now, suddenly felt cold for most of the time - the car was undoubtedly sent from Fengdian County, and the car should be equipped with heavy weapons in addition to Japanese soldiers!

Wei Xin's fist slammed into the bunker made of a big tree in front of him, it seems that it is unlikely that the 7th Company will retreat tonight! However, the fact that the Japanese sent reinforcements to the Nam Tong Pu railway line one after another shows that the fighting there was crucial to the Japanese; In this sense, it is equally important to stay here with a company of brothers - just fight with the little devils!

But Wang Shuanglong's thoughts are very different from Wei Xin at this moment, he feels that the next battle should not be like Wei Xin's hard top, because it is clear that after the Japanese army has increased its troops, the current blocking position, even if it strengthens a platoon that he has just supported, will never be able to support it for too long, and it will even collapse earlier than originally expected. Rather than making heavy sacrifices and not being able to hold the line, it is better to get out of the way, avoid the enemy's edge, and then follow behind the enemy's flank and fight to the death. As long as the enemy army is not allowed to advance smoothly and delays their time to reach the battlefield of the railway line, it is equivalent to faithfully carrying out the task of blocking the enemy army.

"Lao Qi, the more extraordinary the moment, the more we need to be sober-minded as commanders, if a company of soldiers are sacrificed here with you, and then let the Japanese truck run over their corpses to reinforce Tongpu Road, what is the meaning of this sacrifice?!"

Listening to the almost mournful persuasion of the commander of the brother company, Wei Xin's mood became more and more anxious. In fact, in the depths of his consciousness, he was always looking forward to the communication troops sent to the direction of the railway line in Lingshi County just now to return as soon as possible and bring back good news, such as the battle on the railway line has ended, such as the deputy battalion commander Wu Zijian has issued a new order to give up the blocking position, and so on; In that case, as the company commander of the blocking company, he would be able to withdraw the team with peace of mind. Unfortunately, the good news he was expecting was not available for a long time, but the pressure exerted by the enemy army was increasing. This is also the reason why he has not been able to agree with Wang Shuanglong's suggested style of play.

The lights of the cars approaching behind the enemy positions on the opposite side suddenly went out one after another, which meant that the newly reinforced enemy convoy had arrived at the location of the existing Japanese truck convoy. Seeing that he still couldn't convince the commander of the 7th company, Wang Shuanglong stomped his foot and threw a sentence at the other party: Okay, if you want to die, you will die together, you sit in command of the position, and prepare for the final fight; I'll take a platoon and touch it first, and I'll break the net with the Japanese truck team!