The cavalry led by Xia Lianshan hurried and hurried, and it was still late when they arrived at Ewhapo: the Japanese army had just finished sacking the small village and drove away in a car.

The soldiers of the second battalion who stayed behind angrily reported the situation to Xia Lianshan. More than 20 young men of the village protection team who retreated to the outside of the village had already rushed into the village and rushed back to their respective homes.

The cavalryman who remained behind shrewdly followed the Japanese convoy for a distance after the Japanese convoy restarted, and now he came back to report that five trucks were continuing downstream along the west bank of the Qinglong River.

Due to the establishment of a sentry post in the west of the village in advance, the Japanese automobile team that suddenly appeared in the afternoon was discovered by the sentry in time when it was whining and screaming from far and near, and the soldiers in charge of staying behind immediately gathered the village protection team, but he soon found that the comer was not good: the truck parked in the wilderness at the west end of the village, there were more than 100 Japanese soldiers wearing yellow military coats who jumped down at once! After getting off the bus, they gathered in several teams in an orderly manner, and several people who looked like commanders pointed to the village while gesturing to the team, apparently, they were deploying the route into the village.

The soldiers of the second battalion, who realized that something was wrong, immediately prepared to organize the retreat of the villagers, and at the same time sent cavalry to report to the battalion headquarters of Xiping Village. However, the Japanese soldiers advanced quite fast, and several soldiers of the 2nd Battalion had to take the lead in leading the village protection team to withdraw from the village and scatter in the northeast area of the village to wait for opportunities and reinforcements.

The Japanese soldiers who entered the village had a clear tactical move, they went door to door to inquire and search for the soldiers of the Chinese army, and when they found nothing, they began to plunder the villagers, and if they met resistance, they would go on a killing spree. When the orcs left, they left behind the corpses of more than a dozen innocent villagers. No less than four or five young women were subjected*, and one of them, who was about to be forcibly taken away by the Japanese soldiers, was stabbed to death with bayonets after being put up in desperate resistance, and the bodies of * were dumped at the west end of the village.

The cavalry who stayed behind was an experienced veteran, and according to his observation, he judged that the attacking Japanese should be the size of an infantry squadron, and their trucks were coming from far away from the direction of the Tongpu Railway to the west, but they did not retreat in the direction they came, but went straight to the lower reaches of the Qinglong River.

"Company commander, will the devils plan to attack the villages downstream?" The veteran looked anxiously at his cavalry company commander and asked.

At this moment, Xia Lianshan's thoughts were almost the same as this veteran, and he immediately thought that there were also a small number of infantry cavalry of the second battalion left in several villages south of Lihuapu, and he calculated the time, the 7th company led by the deputy battalion commander Wu Zijian was still on the way to the arrival, and it was obviously too late to wait until they arrived to make a decision. The cavalry company commander decisively ordered a cavalryman to report the latest situation, and he himself led the cavalry platoon to track in the direction of the Japanese trucks; Xia Lianshan knew very well that he was not able to fight against the Japanese army in front of him with only his 20 or so men, but at least he could bite the enemy's whereabouts, and wait for the further movements of the main force while receiving his comrades in the downstream villages.

The 7th Company, which was running out of breath, met the messenger cavalry sent by Xia Lianshan on the way, and Wu Zijian ordered to speed up the advance, and finally arrived at Lihuapu at about three o'clock in the afternoon. While arming defenses, they organized the rescue of the villagers who had been looted. After that, the cavalry platoon that drove out sent back several cavalrymen one after another to report on the follow-up actions of the Japanese automobile convoy - as expected, this fast-moving Japanese army ransacked several villages in the lower reaches of the Qinglong River one after another.

Looking at the tracks of the Japanese automobile convoy driving farther and farther on the map, Wu Zijian never gave the order to pursue. First, he understood that he couldn't outrun the wheels of Japanese soldiers' cars on two legs; Second, the total number of 7 companies brought by himself was less than 150 people, which was almost equal to the strength of the Japanese truck fleet; However, in the comparison of firepower between the two sides, their own side is undoubtedly at a significant disadvantage.

Wei Xin, the commander of the 7th company, was so anxious that he was at a loss, witnessing the tragic situation in Lihuapu, he couldn't wait to fight the devil who came to fight immediately. But the deputy battalion commander was holding his troops still, which made him dare not speak out.

The twilight approached, and Wu Zijian's heart gradually sank with the remnant sun, and just when he was about to despair, two more cavalrymen were sent back by the commander of the Xia company, and this time the news they brought shocked the deputy commander of the second battalion: after the Japanese truck team ransacked a village, it began to turn around, and it seemed very likely to return along the dirt road on the bank of the Qinglong River.

Wu Zijian jumped up all of a sudden: Damn! I'm worried that I can't catch up, will these turtle grandchildren send them to the door by themselves!? He shouted at the two cavalrymen with dusty faces:

"Quickly report back to inform Company Commander Xia that the cavalry platoon bit the rear of the Japanese truck fleet and constantly carry out shooting attacks and harassment, slowing down the pace of the Japanese!"

The coming night gave Wu Zijian great confidence - fighting on the plains during the day, the Eighth Route Army, which had equal forces but had an inferior firepower, had little chance of winning, but with the cover of night, he could fight a surprise ambush battle. As long as the timing of the attack and the terrain occupied are reasonable, the five trucks of the Japanese soldiers are not like five * coffins! No matter how bad the soldier is, he also has the ability to greet the bullet and *.

In the afternoon, by talking with the people of the village protection team, Wu Zijian had roughly clarified the topography of the area around Lihuapu; According to the veteran of the cavalry company, the Japanese truck fleet came from a dirt road to the west of the village, and that dirt road led directly to Lingshi, an important town on the Tongpu railway line. Regardless of whether the attackers were from Lingshi or from other counties and towns on Tongpu Road, it was quite possible that they would pass through here again: after all, the Japanese army rarely came to attack in this area, and the path should not be very familiar, and once selected, it would not be easily changed.

However, the dirt road facing west of the village was almost unobstructed in the wilderness, which was not conducive to ambush. If you want to fight the Japanese truck fleet, the dirt road along the south of the village leading to the lower reaches of the Qinglong River is undoubtedly the best choice. The banks of the Qinglong River are densely dotted with clumps of small trees, which are ideal ambush shelters at night.

The deputy commander of the 2nd Battalion pulled the main force of the 7th Company to the west bank of the Qinglong River, south of Lihuapu.

The dirt road runs parallel to the direction of the Qinglong River, less than a zhang away from the bank, and most of the groves of small trees are also distributed on the side of the dirt road near the river. In order to avoid being killed, Wu Zijian arranged all the ambush troops into the side of the dirt road near the river bank, ready to launch a one-sided attack. In this way, if the attacked Japanese truck team jumped off the infantry to meet the attack, it could only choose the other side of the uncovered dirt road.

Moreover, behind the ambusher is the Qinglong River, which has thawed in spring at this time, but the river is only a shallow layer, and it is easy to wade across the opposite bank. This also leaves room for the rapid withdrawal to the other side of the bank and the establishment of a second line of defense in the event of an unforeseen event.

Night began to fall, and gunfire grew clearer and clearer at the far end of the dirt road! It seems that the Japanese convoy is really turning back, and the gunfire should be the cavalry platoon carrying out the orders of the deputy battalion commander to the letter, chasing after the Japanese army to carry out the attack, buying time and space for the main force - Lianshan is good!

"Prepare for battle!"

When the car lights appeared in the ambush soldiers' field of vision, the sound of pulling the bolt of the gun sounded in the groves of groves by the river. The weary birds, which had already perched on the branches of the trees, opened their vigilant eyes at this moment, and let out a soft, but uneasy, low chirp.

The commander of the Japanese army who led this truck fleet was Lieutenant Ushijima, the squadron leader of the 1st Squadron of the Nara Brigade of the Otsuka Wing. Since the rear of the convoy reported the discovery of a small group of cavalry of the Shina Army and launched an attack, Lieutenant Ushijima did not pay much attention at first. He led a nearly complete infantry squadron, and although he did not carry mortars or heavy machine guns, he was confident that he was mobile by car, and the lieutenant was not worried about the threat of enemy troops. A small force of cavalry? It's ridiculous: Is the flesh and blood of the Chinese army on horses going to collide with the steel cars of the imperial army?

Ushijima judged this to be a routine return fire by the local Chinese army, and ordered the convoy not to stop, and finally the truck set up a machine gun at the rear of the car and fired at the harassing cavalry.

Next, Lieutenant Ushijima, who was sitting in the second car, continued to receive reports that the cavalry of the Shina Army did not get very close, but used the cover of the woods on both sides of the dirt road to chase after them, and the firing power was not strong, judging that it was a 38-style cavalry spear. Soldiers have already been shot in the truck.

Lieutenant Ushijima felt a burst of annoyance: the hateful Shina soldiers, who did not dare to confront each other head-on, knew that they were hiding in the shadows and shooting cold shots. Halfway through, he ordered the convoy to stop and organized a small squad to attack backwards; But seeing the infantry attacking, the cavalry immediately reined in their horses and retreated. Ushijima's team couldn't keep up with the speed of the war horses, so they had to go back in a huff.

However, not long after the Japanese convoy continued to move forward, the truck behind reported again: the hateful cavalry of the Chinese Army followed again, still keeping a distance, still cold shots. Looking at the already dark sky from the wheelhouse, Lieutenant Ushijima shook his head and told the convoy to ignore the tail behind it and focus on returning. He knew very well that his men had swept through five villages along the Qinglong River in the afternoon, and although they did not encounter decent armed resistance, the indulgence in looting and the fatigue of the boat and car had also made the officers and men of the entire squadron feel tired and unwilling to fight.

Keep them for later! The squadron leader of the Japanese muttered hatefully, trying not to listen to the gunfire echoing at the rear of the convoy.

At this moment, the roar of an explosion suddenly sounded! The roar came from a*, but it was particularly thrilling in the already quiet night of the wilderness. The * exploded in the truck compartment behind Lieutenant Ushijima, and before he could react, several more* were thrown into the truck convoy in the dark night, some hitting the trucks, and some exploding in the gap between the cars.

All the Japanese soldiers realized that they had been effectively ambushed, and one after another officers and soldiers jumped from the trucks that never stopped moving to the ground and prepared to resist. However, they could not hold their feet almost immediately when they heard the sound of machine guns, which were fired from the riverside jungle on the side of the road, and there were two of them, one at the middle and one at the rear of the convoy. As the machine guns fired, more dense rifle bullets rained down like locusts.