The cavalry battalion of the puppet Mongolian army was defeated in Hekou Village, a large amount of equipment was captured, and the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion was overjoyed. However, after the war, the battalion commander Feng Changzhi, who hurried from Xiping Village, was still worried, and under his repeated questioning, Wu Zijian admitted that he had transferred the only 82 mortar and 92 heavy machine in the whole battalion from Hongxingxia, and he did not shy away from telling the battalion commander that the 5th Company did indeed attempt to take the initiative to attack the puppet Mongolian cavalry in Fengdian.

"However, Lao Feng, you also saw that this was not me who went to Fengdian, but the puppet army of Fengdian sent it to the door by himself." Wu Zijian swore an oath.

Feng Changzhi looked at the proud deputy battalion commander and sighed: This dog thing has always done its own thing, as long as he sees it, it must be done.

"Remember what I said about buying a cavalry company for our second battalion?" Wu Zijian saw the battalion commander's worries, so he tried his best to pick a happy topic: "Look, I got forty more war horses today, counting the twenty-five horses won in Dawangyu, which is enough to equip two cavalry platoons!" ”

Sure enough, Feng Changzhi's brows loosened, and his mouth opened: "Sixty-five horses? That's enough for two platoons, and if there is another platoon, our cavalry company will really pull up. ”

Wu Zijian excitedly patted his old comrade-in-arms on the shoulder: "Isn't that fast?" One more month at most! Just look at it! ”

Unexpectedly, this made Feng Changzhi feel nervous again, he grabbed the hand of the deputy battalion commander, and said eagerly: "Old Wu, I have a word first, you must not take the initiative again!" A cavalry company is a small matter, but the safety of our base area is a big matter! Now, I finally opened up the situation at the foot of Guanmen Mountain, and the wings are not hard yet, so I don't dare to provoke right and wrong again! ”

Wu Zijian smiled faintly and looked at Feng Changzhi with some meaning: "Battalion commander, why do I think your tone and thinking are becoming more and more like our instructors?" It's really close to Zhu Zhechi. ”

Feng Changzhi responded seriously: "Don't say cool things. The instructor's proposition is also the proposition of the head of our regiment and the head of the division and brigade, and it can also be said to be the proposition of the headquarters of our Eighth Route Army. Without our own base and without expanding our own armament, what should we do to fight with the little devils? ”

"It's not a contradiction! The purpose of building a base area is to fight devils, and fighting devils can also do a better job of building a base area! Isn't that right? Wu Zijian spread his hands: "You see that after today's battle, our cavalry company will have a big appearance, and with the cavalry company, won't the strength of the base area be even stronger?" ”

The clumsy Feng Changzhi knew that he couldn't talk about his deputy, so he simply proposed to bring all the horses to Xiping, and the cavalry company would train in Xiping in the future. Wu Zijian rolled his eyes, and he happily agreed: Although there are horses now, it is not an overnight thing to train qualified cavalry, and at present, there are only twenty or thirty officers and soldiers in the whole battalion who can ride horses, and if the cavalry company wants to form a combat force on horseback, it will take time - when fighting with the puppet Mongolian army just now, it has to temporarily transfer the war horses.

"In my opinion, Lian Shan is the commander of the cavalry company, let's settle it today, let him take a cavalry platoon that has just started, and turn into the rear with horses, and recuperate and train in a down-to-earth manner." Wu Zijian also put forward his own suggestions.

Feng Changzhi really laughed happily this time: "Okay, Deputy Company Commander Xia was promoted to the commander of the newly established cavalry company, which is well deserved, I have no opinion." Turning back, I will immediately transfer a platoon from the 6th Company to supplement the 5th Company—there are now more than 200 recruits in Xiping—and send you a deputy company commander. ”

Hearing the dispatch of the deputy company commander, Wu Zijian's heart moved, and he asked tentatively: "Battalion commander, what do you think, what do you think of Staff Officer Xiao's ability to lead the troops?" In today's battle in the center of the village, Staff Officer Lian Shan Meng Kuaxiao was not afraid of danger, and he has been helping to command the battle. ”

"Oh, isn't Staff Officer Xiao an intelligence staff officer? Do you also know how to command on the spot? ”

Wu Zijian then told Feng Changzhi about Xiao Junping's performance in battle, and the second battalion commander pondered for a moment - why didn't he understand Wu Zijian's intentions? But the instructor there......

"Forget it, Lao Wu, the two base areas are full of problems at the moment, and we need the three main officers to be in lockstep, and the instructor has always had an opinion on the staff officer of the Jin army, so let's put it aside for the time being. Wait for him to recover from his injuries, and when our recruit company matures, as long as he is willing to stay in the Eighth Route Army, he will not worry about losing his place! ”

Wu Zijian saw what the battalion commander said, so he had to give up. But he immediately demanded that the 82 mortar and the 92 heavy machine gun be officially left in the Hekou Village Defense Area: "What a good thing, it will be moldy when it is placed in Guanmen Mountain!" Feng Changzhi also agreed to push the boat down the river. As for the three Japanese-made crooked machine guns that had just been captured, one of them was damaged and had to be repaired, and there were not many children, and Wu Zijian, who was born in a firearms class, really couldn't look down on this strange-looking Japanese-style machine gun, so he handed them over to the battalion commander and took them back to Xiping together.

Feng Changzhi was very satisfied. Before coming, the instructor was furious, fearing that Wu Zijian would cause trouble in the front line and invite the Japanese army to attack the base area; But now, it seems that the attack is only a puppet army, and there is not necessarily a main force of the Japanese army in the future. Returning with a cavalry unit and three machine guns is also easy to shut the instructor's mouth. The biggest headache for the battalion commander now is the repeated contradictions between Wu Zijian and Liu Shu, which makes him caught in the middle.

Wu Zijian also reported to Feng Changzhi about the confrontation between the 8th Company of the Red Star Gorge in Guanmen Mountain and the Black Stone Cliff Bandits, which couldn't help but make the battalion commander who had just improved frowning again, he knew the importance of the Red Star Gorge as a retreat for the entire second battalion; However, Wu Zijian asked him to rest assured that the bandit gang was obviously more afraid of the regular army and did not dare to entangle with the 8th Company for too long. Knowing that Wu Zijian also left a Czech machine gun in Hongxingxia, Feng Changzhi gave a thumbs up, he felt that although his partner was addicted to guns, he was obviously very important in front of the overall situation.

"Lu Dajiang's company is the weakest in strength, and the number of guns is insufficient, you equip them with light machine guns, and it will not be easy to suffer losses if they encounter bandits in the future." Feng Changzhi thought for a while, and then said: "There are so many bandits in that group, can you consider subduing them?" A good transformation can also be regarded as adding a force to the war of resistance. ”

Wu Zijian rolled his eyes and shook his head: "I'm afraid it's not easy to do, that female bandit leader, what is Liu Wumei's, actually mixed up in front of me in a big way, it doesn't seem to be a fuel-efficient lamp!" However, I had some impressions in a trance that the female bandit looked quite thoughtful. ”

Seeing Wu Zijian showing a wicked smile while reminiscing, the battalion commander hurriedly said: "Old Wu, in front of the instructor, you must not make this joke, and provoke criticism for no reason. ”

Hearing this, Wu Zijian's evil smile was suddenly replaced by a wry smile: "I really don't understand, the instructor has a serious face all day long, can't he talk and look at problems like a normal person?" ”

Feng Changzhi ignored his old partner's provocation and announced his resignation, he had to go back early, so that the instructor could rest assured about the war that happened here. At the same time, he asked Wu Zijian to strengthen vigilance to prevent the Japanese puppet army from coming back to retaliate. In order to communicate with each other quickly, three cavalry were specially left from the already established cavalry platoon for communication.

Knowing that Xia Lianshan was promoted to the commander of the cavalry company and was about to lead the men and horses to Xiping to command the training, Li Tianlin, the commander of the 5th company, was both happy and sad, and was reluctant to let him go. He complained to Feng Changzhi: "Battalion commander, Lian Shan is a rare general, he took one of my platoons with him when he left, and the 5th Company suffered heavy losses." You'll have to make it up to me. ”

Feng Changzhi agreed, and immediately after returning home, he transferred a platoon of elite soldiers from the 6th Company to the 5th Company to complete the formation.

"Also, the cavalry platoons that were transferred away have all been reequipped with pony guns, and I have to keep the 38 big cover and the middle official they originally used." Li Tianlin did not relent.

Feng Changzhi, who was angry and smiling, pointed at Li Tianlin and Wu Zijian and said: "It's really black who is close to ink, you follow your old company commander, you haven't learned anything else, rely on guns and equipment, and learn a lot!" ”

When the Guanmen Mountain side was busy cleaning up the battlefield, the Tongpu Railway, which was parallel to it and dozens of miles away, was burning all the way. The Kato Brigade of the Sena Division, which had occupied Lingshi County, continued to move forward, and with the assistance of the Field Artillery Wing, it had already launched an offensive against Han Shinling.

The commander of the Hagiwara Akira Brigade, who constantly received reports on the front, sat in Wencheng and paid close attention to the movements of the main force of the division. At the same time, another wing under the command of his brigade was also ready to attack southwest of Jin Province in the operation assigned to the Honkawa Brigade of the Yamaoka Division.

Hagiwara Akira, who seemed to have become the commander of the light pole, once again felt that his troops were stretched. Not only their own hands, but also the entire imperial army in Shanxi were facing a lack of troops before this great battle. At this moment, this hawkish general, who has always advocated radicalism, also began to silently reflect: Is the current campaign launched in the whole territory of Shanxi a little too extravagant?

Although there are a part of the harem division of the Kwantung Army in the direction of the northern part of the Jinbei and a part of the Mongolian Xinjiang Army of King De to fight together, there are too many targets to target. Yan Xishan, Wei Lihuang, Fu Zuoyi, Zhu De, the remaining forces of the Chinese army in Shanxi should not be underestimated. Will the journey of the First Army (author's note: the Sena Division and the Yamaoka Division belong to the First Army of the North China Front) be part of the North China Front? Once the war is stalemate, the First Army will not even be able to come up with decent reserves to support!

I hope that Lieutenant General Xiangyue (author's note: referring to the commander of the First Army of the North China Front, Xiangyue Qingsi) promised to send a part of the Xiayuan Division stationed in Hebei and reinforcements from Handan to Changzhi, Shanxi, can arrive as scheduled; In that case, the pressure on himself to defend Jin Zhongnan will be reduced.

Staring at the military map on the wall, Hagiwara squinted and calculated.

At the moment, General Sena personally supervised the Jinnan direction of the Kato Brigade, and was the first to start the battle, and they were facing the Central Army deployed by Wei Lihuang along the Tongpu Road. In the western direction of Jin, a wing of the Benchuan Brigade of the Shangang Division was assembling, and they were facing the 35th Army of the Suiyuan Army deployed by Fu Zuoyi in Lishi and Zhongyang counties, and the follow-up target was to directly aim at Jundu and Mokou on the east bank of the Yellow River.

Hagiwara turned his gaze to the southwest of Jin, and in that direction, the Saijo Wing under his brigade and another wing of the Motokawa Brigade would join forces to attack Yan Xishan's Jin army. This is the direction that Hagiwara Akira is more worried about, first, will his own wing and Major General Motokawa's wing have a tacit understanding in coordination? Second, Yan Xishan's Jin army is the largest in the entire Shanxi Chinese army, with no less than three whole armies, and they are local snakes who are familiar with the environment, so I am afraid it will be more difficult.

The rest is the Communist Eighth Route Army. The tricky thing is that the Eighth Route Army is blooming everywhere in Shanxi at the moment, they are not concentrated in a certain direction like the Central Army, the Suiyuan Army and the Jin Army, they are stationed in the northwest of Shanxi, in the southwest of Shanxi, and even in the central and southern Jin, where they are seated, there is this armed figure; And out of nowhere, advance and retreat are impermanent.

The commander of the small island has already sent capable intelligence personnel to reconnoiter the Eighth Route Army in the area of Guanmen Mountain, and suddenly appeared; Hagiwara Akira had a hunch that the Eighth Route Army, which had defeated a cavalry battalion of the Mongolian Army, would not be the main force; And it turns out that this kind of small group of enemy troops that have broken up the formation is the most headache.

He had just sent a telegram to Kosuke Otsuka, who rushed to Fengdian to command the clean-up operation, to temporarily stop sending troops out, and to make unified arrangements after the information on Kojima was gathered. At present, the Otsuka Wing at hand is distributed on the "three points and one line", and considering that the safety and security of the secret camp of the comfort women in Songjiagou is the first priority, there are not too many troops to see it for clearing and suppressing.

Damn eight ways!