After deploying the tasks of the combat troops, Wu Zijian did not bother to take the initiative to solicit the opinions of the political commissar, but directly explained to Liu Shu the preparations to be made by the non-combatants in Xiping Village: the detachment headquarters, the health team, the personnel of the field mobilization committee organized by Liu Shu and Zhang Xiu, and the artillery platoon without shells, immediately began to make evacuation arrangements - the last anti-night attack in Xiping Village was because it was seriously dragged down by non-combatants and material baggage in the process of retreat and transfer. Huge casualties were inflicted on the combat units carrying out the cover. This time, be sure not to repeat the mistakes of the past.

Although political commissar Liu Shu was full of resentment and frustration about another large-scale evacuation and relocation, if a strong enemy pressed the border, he would have no choice but to retreat into Guanmen Mountain. So he instructed Zhang Xiu to start preparing immediately.

"Let's just toss it like this," Zhang Xiu was sent away, and Liu Shu began to be ruthless towards Wu Zijian again: "The good situation in the base area has been formed again and again, and it has been destroyed by you again and again!" Sooner or later you will become a sinner of the revolution! ”

Since the last time he ran away in a negative mood and failed to get the strong support of the superior head in the Xu Brigade Brigade Headquarters, Liu Shu after returning to face Wu Zijian again has a lot less confidence - it is obvious that the head of the brigade headquarters relies on and trusts Wu Zijian, who was born as a military commander, and the second battalion of the Xu Brigade has been upgraded to the Guanmenshan Detachment of the Xu Brigade this time, and Wu Zijian has been directly promoted by the original deputy battalion commander to the third level and served as the detachment leader, which has explained everything. Today, although Liu Shu still disagrees with Wu Zijian in many aspects, it is often after a pinpoint confrontation with Mai Mang, it is he, the first political commissar, to die down, and the end of the dispute is more often the detachment leader has the upper hand.

At this moment, in the face of the heartbroken but helpless Liu Shu, Wu Zijian did not dwell too much; He was well aware of the feelings of the political commissar who attached great importance to the altars and jars, but in the current situation in which the enemy was strong and we were weak, it was obviously unrealistic to completely gain a firm foothold in a base area like Xiping Village, which was easy to attack and difficult to defend.

"Political commissar, I assure you, no matter how strong our team is, there will be no need to always transfer and transfer like this!"

The detachment leader sincerely comforted Liu Shu; The latter, on the other hand, responded with resentment and distrust. The two detachment leaders actually understood in their hearts that they were direct to each other, and neither could convince each other.

Bunjo, the chief of staff of the Hagiwara Brigade, Osashi Kawabe, personally signed the battle order: The 1st Infantry Brigade of the Saijo Wing was immediately dispatched to attack the base of the Eighth Route Army in Xiping Village, at the western foot of Guanmen Mountain.

In the small building of the brigade headquarters, when the brigade commander Hagiwara Akira saw the battle order signed by his chief of staff, Saijo Shigehei Osa had already personally led his troops from the barracks on the western outskirts of Bunjo Castle, crossed the Tongpu railway and road, and marched eastward.

"How is Saijo-kun's recovery from his injuries?" Hagiwara finally revealed his so-called concern for his subordinates at this moment.

"It will not prevent him from directing the battle," replied the chief of staff of the riverside, "this guy is confident that he will be over in three days, and then concentrate on recuperating from his wounds." ”

The brigade commander was not in a bad mood - the first unit of his side to participate in the "Nine-Way Encirclement Operation" had finally been dispatched, and if nothing else, the battle would start at the foot of Guanmen Mountain in a few hours, and at that time, the brigade headquarters would immediately telegraph to Lieutenant General Sena, who was far away in Yuncheng in Jinnan. He paced up to the military map on the wall and said to the chief of staff who had followed him:

"You know what? Two days ago, the division headquarters in Yuncheng temporarily asked the Kato Brigade to send an infantry brigade from Linfen to Qinyuan County. ”

"Qinyuan County?" Hebian Dazuo stared at the map and was stunned for a moment, and then understood: "The 84th Division of the Central Army of the Chinese Army is stationed, which is very good!" ”

The intelligence department of the Sena Division had previously ascertained that on the night of the recent attack on Nantongpu Road, the 84th Division of the Central Army also sent troops to participate in the attack on Huo County on the railway line.

"The division commander is very determined," Hagiwara continued with a smile on his face, "All the Shina troops who dare to jump onto the railway line to carry out attacks will be ruthlessly attacked by the Imperial Army to set an example!" ”

"It is necessary for the division commander to do this! Nam Tong Pu Lu is our supply lifeline, and we must not tolerate wanton destruction by the Chinese army, even if such destruction is insignificant! "Osa Riverside looked very excited.

The brigade commander, Major General, nodded: "In this way, the troops of our division participating in the nine-way encirclement operation will be expanded to two, and each of the two brigades will have a wing to dispatch troops. ”

Dazuo by the river picked up a command pole and poked at the points on the map, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "From Linfen to Qinyuan County, I'm afraid it has to be a hundred miles away?" ”

Unexpectedly, Hagiwara Akira retorted disapprovingly, when the 84th Division of the Central Army in Qinyuan County attacked Tongpuhuo County, didn't it also have to travel hundreds of miles? If the Chinese army can afford to run, the imperial army can also afford to run! After that, he changed his words:

"The Saijo Wing first sent out a brigade to fight the Eighth Route Army in Guanmen Mountain, and what next? How is the operation to attack the 391 regiment of the Central Army of the Great Elm Mountain progress? In this attack on Nantongpu Road, the Central Army was the main force and the main culprit. ”

"Brigade commander, please rest assured, I will start mobilizing the Second Infantry Brigade of the Saijo Wing, and in three days, the brigade will march to Fengdian and attack from Fengdian to the Great Elm Mountain."

Hearing this, Hagiwara Akira suddenly frowned - it will be three days before it will be pulled?! So it will take five days at the earliest, and the attack on the Great Elm Mountain will start? It's too slow! Why such a procrastination?

The chief of staff of the brigade was a little embarrassed, and he hesitated for a moment before he cautiously explained: "The heavy equipment of the Saijo Wing suffered serious losses during the operation in the southwest of Shanxi, and the ammunition replenished by the headquarters of the First Army from Taiyuan has not yet been fully arrived. This time the 1st Infantry Brigade attacked Guanmen Mountain, and I have ordered the heavy firepower of the entire wing to be concentrated to strengthen the operation of this brigade; In this case, the Second Infantry Brigade has no heavy firepower at present, and it needs to wait for the supplies from Taiyuan to be in place before it has the conditions to attack the Central Army of Great Elm Mountain. ”

Although he was very angry, Major General Hagiwara still held back and did not have a seizure - the Saijo Wing was indeed fighting very hard in the southwest of Jin, and although the chief of staff of the river side favored them out of personal feelings, and ignored the overall situation of the First Army's nine-way encirclement operation, it can be regarded as helpless and excusable.

"Five days is too long, I can give you three more days at the end, the battle to attack the Great Elm Mountain must begin!" Hagiwara Akira bit his lip and gave a death order: "After the second brigade of the Saijo Wing arrives at Toyoden, you can ask the Otsuka Wing for support in terms of heavy firepower, and you personally arrange for Otsuka Kosuke, asking them to do their best to help Saijo Shigehei's troops without affecting the defense of the county." ”

The chief of staff of the riverside was bitter in his heart, but seeing that there was no room for maneuver in this order of the brigade commander and major general, he had no choice but to agree to it.

At this moment, the wing captain Shigehei Saijo had already moved his army to a place less than three miles away from the target of the attack, Xiping Village.

Due to the execution of the order of the brigade chief of staff Kawabe Daisa before the expedition, the heavy weapons of the entire wing were concentrated and delivered to the 1st Infantry Brigade, so the brigade has basically returned to the conventional heavy firepower configuration at present:

four infantry squadrons, each armed with two mortars; The artillery squad and machine gun squadron directly under the brigade headquarters were respectively equipped with two Type 92 infantry guns and 12 Type 92 heavy machine guns. In addition, an artillery squadron under the direct jurisdiction of the wing headquarters, equipped with five (missing one) Type 92 infantry guns, was also temporarily strengthened and assigned to the 1st Infantry Brigade.

In terms of troops, the three infantry battalions of the whole wing had been seriously damaged by the time they arrived in Wencheng, and the chief of staff of the riverside simply ordered the existing personnel of the three infantry brigades to be concentrated and temporarily organized into the first and second brigades to ensure the immediate offensive operation.

The Hagiwara Brigade Headquarters dispatched the trucks of the automatic vehicle squadron of the military station to transport the 1st Infantry Brigade to the battle. The truck dropped them directly five or six miles away from their destination, and Saijo Shigehei Osa set up his own headquarters at the drop-off point.

One of the four infantry squadrons remained at the headquarters as a mobile force, and the remaining three were laid out at the front; 12 heavy machine guns of the machine gun squadron, all of which were dispersed to various infantry squadrons; The artillery squadrons directly under the brigade headquarters and the artillery squadrons directly under the wing headquarters were merged to prepare for the centralized use of artillery fire.

Near noon, the two infantry squadrons that took the lead searched and advanced to the outside of Xiping Village and completed the tactical deployment; Seven Type 92 infantry guns lined up behind them, and the captain of the 1st Infantry Brigade, Takagi Shaosa, looked at his watch and gave the order to attack.

Every move of the Japanese Saijo Wing did not escape the sight of the Eighth Route Army -- Xia Lianshan's cavalry was ordered to go out behind a small barren hill in the southwest of Wencheng a day and a half ago, and stood on the top of the barren hill dozens of meters high, and could clearly see the Wencheng Castle in the distance and the Tongpu Road Highway and Railway with binoculars.

This is a very risky forward plan, this area is already the sphere of influence of the Japanese army in Wencheng, and this small group of cavalry of the Guanmenshan detachment of the Xu Brigade is very easy to expose the target. But it is related to the safety of the base area at the foot of Guanmen Mountain, and it is the only way to monitor it from the front.

Xia Lianshan, the commander of the cavalry company, brought a cavalry platoon, and he divided the whole platoon into three groups according to the plan, and arranged them in echelons about three miles apart. The group at the front, led by him personally, hid behind this small barren hill and monitored the movement in the direction of Wencheng around the clock.

They also connected with the underground intelligence station in Wencheng. Earlier, Xiao Junping, the captain of the enemy engineer team lurking in Wencheng City, had received an order from the detachment headquarters to focus on monitoring the movements of the Japanese barracks in the western suburbs of Wencheng. Now, the spies of the enemy engineering team joined forces with the scouts of the cavalry company.

It was precisely with this hand that the Eighth Route Army observed it at the first time when the 1st Infantry Brigade of the Japanese Saijo Wing was riding a large truck across the Tongpu Highway and Railway and was just heading in this direction. After confirming it through the binoculars, the cavalry company commander Xia Lianshan ordered Pegasus to return - he was to report urgently to the detachment commander before the wheels of the Japanese car.