The 391st Regiment of the Central Army quietly threw the troops of two infantry battalions, an artillery company, a heavy machine gun company, and a special service company to the two base areas of the Second Battalion of the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army Forest Division at the foot of Guanmen Mountain under the cover of night for two consecutive days.

This is part of the operational plan for the two armies to jointly attack the South Tongpu railway line. The combat units of the 391st Regiment were assembled here in advance from Da Yushu Mountain, with the aim of shortening the time for maneuvering forward to Lingshi County on the railway line on the day of the operation, and whether it was from Hekou Village or Xiping Village, it was only more than 20 miles away from the Nantongpu Railway Line, and it only took more than an hour to arrive at the rapid march. At the same time, the dispatch of large forces in two batches can also minimize the risk of being detected by the Japanese garrison in Fengdian.

The two base areas of the Second Battalion of the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army have now entered a state of high alert, and in addition to Wang Shuanglong's 6th Company, which is responsible for the vigilance of the two defense areas, the local villagers who support the War of Resistance have also been mobilized.

Qin Zhongxiao, commander of the 391st Regiment, personally led his first battalion, artillery company, and special service company into Xiping Village, and established a joint command center with Wu Zijian, deputy commander of the second battalion of the Eighth Route Army. Wu Zijian led the 5th Company and the cavalry company in Xiping Village, and the 7th Company had been sent to Hekou Village, ready to set up a blocking line in the direction of Fengdian after the battle began, so as to prevent the Japanese army in the county from attacking from the rear.

The artillery company of the Central Army caused quite a stir in Xiping Village: two Krupp mountain guns, one Japanese Type 94 mountain gun, and one Japanese Type 92 infantry gun. Such sophisticated artillery equipment amazed the commanders and fighters of the Eighth Route Army, whose weapons had always been backward. Among them, the officers and men of the artillery platoon directly under the jurisdiction of the Second Battalion of the Xu Brigade of the Forestry Division felt their eyes hot, and their platoon commander, Zhao Yejiao, who was originally an artillery soldier of the 14th Army of the Central Army, was almost about to stare out of his eyes.

The 14th Army is the elite descendant of the Central Army, and the regimental headquarters of each regiment has two artillery companies directly under its jurisdiction, one is a mortar company, and the other is a combat defense artillery company, which was already quite powerful at that time, but compared with the 391 regimental artillery company at this moment, it still seems outdated - after all, the power of the mortar and the small-caliber artillery of the war defense artillery cannot be compared with the mountain artillery of 75 caliber. Although the barrel of the 92 Infantry Gun does not look large, the caliber of the gun is also 70 millimeters, and the destructive power of the shells is only slightly inferior to that of the 75 Mountain Cannon.

Just a few days ago, the artillery platoon commander of the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade of the Lin Division was still rejoicing that he had three mortars at once, and now looking at the equipment of the artillery company of the 391st Regiment, his envy and jealousy were uncontrollable.

Wu Zijian found an opportunity when no one was there to pull Zhao Yejiao aside, first criticizing him for not having too shallow eye sockets, and in front of friendly troops, he still had to maintain some demeanor; Immediately, the deputy commander of the second battalion patted his chest on the chest of his artillery platoon commander and said that in the near future, he would also get a few large-caliber heavy guns from the Japanese. Zhao Yejiao, who has always admired and trusted Wu Zijian, did it stupidly.

The commanders of the two armies set the time for tonight's sortie: the main forces began to move at 9 p.m.; Prior to this, the cavalry company of the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade dispatched at 8 p.m. to cruise along the Nantongpu railway line, and was responsible for monitoring the Japanese troops who might be reinforced from the Tongpu railway line five or six miles south of Lingshi County. The special agents of the 391st Regiment of the Central Army were dispatched in advance at 8 p.m. to monitor the movement of the railway line between Lingshi County and Wencheng.

At 9 o'clock in the evening, this joint combat operation, codenamed "Mountain Eagle," began to be divided into three routes from the foot of Guanmen Mountain and officially dispatched the main force:

On the left road, Wu Zijian, deputy commander of the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade of the Eighth Route Army, led Li Tianlin's 5th Company and the battalion's artillery platoon to sneak out from Xiping Village to the south of Lingshi County, an important town on the Tongpu Railway, and set up a temporary defense line to block the enemy from the south and protect the flank of friendly troops.

In the middle of the road, Zhang Hong, chief of staff of the 391st Regiment of the Central Army, led a company of the 2nd Battalion with two mountain artillery pieces to penetrate directly from Xiping Village to Lingshi County, and launched a feint attack on the county seat at 11 o'clock in the evening.

On the right road, Qin Zhongxiao, commander of the 391st Regiment of the Central Army, led the entire 1st Battalion, two companies of the 2nd Battalion, a heavy machine gun company, and an additional mountain gun and a 92 infantry gun, starting from Hekou Village to set up an ambush near five miles north of Lingshi County, preparing to attack the Japanese reinforcements from Wencheng.

Wu Zijian's men and horses arrived at the predetermined location at about half past ten in the evening, accompanied by eight carts filled with stones and sacks of sand and dirt, which were used to build makeshift bunkers in the bare wasteland. With the faint light of the moon, which was faint and faint, the makeshift shelter was quickly erected, less than ten feet away from the railway line, and spread out at an angle of about thirty degrees. Emphasis was placed on three mortar emplacements, as well as points for light and heavy machine guns.

The Xia Lianshan Cavalry Company, which arrived along the railway line in advance, had already sent someone to report the sneaking situation: the entire railway line was quiet in the night.

Li Tianlin, the commander of the 5th company, once made an analysis of the outcome of their preset blockade in this area, and in his opinion, it is very likely that it was a waste of effort - only a small number of Japanese garrisons were stationed in several railway station counties and towns along the way to the south, and there was no time to take care of himself, and the possibility of sending troops to help Lingshi County was very small; And when Linfen, which was stationed with heavy troops, sent reinforcements over, Qin Zhongxiao had already finished his work at that time.

"Deputy battalion commander, I still suggest leaving two platoons here to fortify, and the remaining four platoons plus artillery platoons, leaning outside the south gate of Lingshi County, and waiting for the Central Army to start feints to attack the east gate of the county, we will take the opportunity to attack the south gate with all our might, strive to break the city, and go in and capture some equipment for the garrison of the Japanese army, which is not worth the trip!"

Listening to Li Tianlin's repetition of the old tune based on the latest intelligence of the cavalry company, Wu Zijian was not moved. With the firepower currently possessed by the artillery platoon, it is not unrealistic to smash open the gate of Lingshi County and break into the city. Intelligence has repeatedly confirmed that there is only one Japanese infantry squad stationed in the entire county seat of Lingshi County, and when the artillery fire of the central army's feint attack hit its east gate fiercely, I am afraid that most of this squad will rush to the east city gate and the city wall, leaving the defense force of the south city gate almost negligible.

However, for a county with only one infantry squad, how much additional weaponry can there be? Even if they broke into the city, the seizures should be limited, and it was not worth the risk: after all, the security of Qin Zhongxiao's flanks was the top priority. Even if there are no Japanese reinforcements in the direction of Linfen, as long as the 391st Regiment successfully completes the goal of destroying railways and communication facilities and besieging the city for reinforcements, the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade of the Forest Division will be considered to have completed its mission.

Stop talking nonsense! Wu Zijian resolutely gave the final order, and he warned his subordinates that the coordinated operation of large troops is different from fighting guerrillas, and it is very dangerous to unilaterally change the battle plan temporarily; Qin Zhongxiao's Qiwu Mountain artillery is going to bombard Lingshi County, once we break into the city, maybe we will be hit in the head by friendly shells!

Li Tianlin closed his mouth in despair. Looking at the long bunker that was set up in a hurry, I secretly screamed in my heart that it was a pity. As soon as there was no fighting here, the most elite company of the 2nd Battalion of the Xu Brigade, together with all the mortars and the carts pulling stones and sandbags, would move the army in vain; As a result, the Eighth Route Army was reduced to an out-and-out companion to the prince in this joint operation codenamed Mountain Eagle.

Just when the commander of the fierce Eighth Route Army sighed, the sudden sound of cannon fire pierced the silence of the night sky, and Wu Zijian saw the dial of his watch clearly: at eleven o'clock at midnight, every second is not bad!

Of course, the two Krupp 75 mountain guns of the 391st Regiment were fired.

Zhang Hong, the chief of staff who commanded the feint attack, used a walkie-talkie to get in touch with the regimental seat five or six miles away, and after receiving Qin Zhongxiao's order to open fire, the two heavy artillery pieces immediately fired as pre-planned.

Zhang Hong divided the three platoons of a company in his hand into three positions, one of which was placed at a distance of 100 zhang outside the east gate of Lingshi County, and the other two platoons were less than 50 zhang away from this platoon; And the two Krupp 75 mountain guns were erected a hundred feet behind them. At the beginning of the shelling, the muzzles of the two guns were aimed at the gate tower and the gate of the eastern city respectively.

Rumble! Rumble!! Rumble!!!

With a few loud bangs, Kruber's cannonballs had hit the towers and gates with relative accuracy, and the gates had been blown open with a large hole, and half of the gates had been blown apart; The roof of the gate tower was completely cut off.

In the light of the artillery fire, the Japanese soldiers who were busy at the head of the city could be faintly seen, some people blindly fired with rifles from the battlements of the city wall, and the light machine guns and 92 heavy machine guns also spit out tongues of fire, but they were also blind and aimless. And the gunners of the 391st Regiment Artillery Company quickly captured the firing point of the light and heavy machine guns, adjusted the muzzle of the gun and bombarded it, knocking them out in turn.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Chief of Staff Zhang Hong gave an order, and the infantry of the three platoons in ambush in front of the gun emplacement jumped up, shouted loudly and began to charge towards the east city gate.

It's a well-cooked battle. As soon as the garrison Japanese troops in Lingshi County were attacked, they immediately sent a distress message to the Hagiwara Brigade Headquarters in Wencheng, claiming that the eastern part of the county was under heavy artillery fire and that the enemy was organizing infantry to storm the eastern gate; Although the strength of the attacking enemy is unknown, based on the current level of artillery bombardment and the number of infantry storming the city gate, it can be judged that it is a regular unit of the Chinese army!

The headquarters of the Hagiwara Brigade in Bunjo, which was almost awakened from its sleep, immediately began to operate nervously. The commander of the Hagiwara Akira Brigade personally went to the war room to begin coordinating and commanding, and after a brief discussion with the chief of staff of the riverside who was sitting at the railway station, he immediately made combat arrangements to prepare for the aid of Lingshi County.

Everything is developing in the established direction of Qin Zhongxiao and Wu Zijian.