Early the next morning.

The Japanese troops swept up their troops and dispatched them one after another.

The 37th Division set out from the vicinity of Xiangyuan and Licheng.

The 2nd Guards Division set out from the area of Xiyang and Heshun.

The 14th Brigade set off from Qi County and Taigu area.

The 18th Brigade attacked from the area of Changhan Road.

The total strength of the Japanese puppet army was close to 50,000, and it swept towards the base of the Eighth Route Army with great momentum.

As for the other 20,000 Japanese troops, they stood still in various positions and hid all in the barracks.

Because the intelligence department of the Japanese army did not get the specific battle plan of the Eighth Route Army.

The Eighth Route Army was divided into pieces and scattered where the troops that broke through the encirclement had to wait for the feedback of the sweeping troops.

After the sweeping troops feedback the direction of the Eighth Route Army's breakthrough, the devils on the outer line will be dispatched and ambush on the route of the Eighth Route Army's retreat or the retreating assembly point.

However, what Yoshio Shinozuka and Hideyoshi Kusuyama didn't know was that the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army had already changed the battle plan.

Even the Eighth Route Army had already assembled troops to fight a frontal battle with the 37th Division.

"Kill the chicken and give it!"

Wuxiang County, Liujialing Village.

Looking at the village in front of him, Yoshiro Ejima, the leader of the devil squadron, took out his command knife and pointed it forward, and his tone was full of murder.

Behind him, there were about two squadrons of devils, and of course, one of them was a puppet army in disguise.

Liujia Village is a small village next to the winding mountain road, which is already the sphere of influence of the Eighth Route Army.

Yoshiro Ejima was originally a squad leader in the Kwantung Army, but after being transferred to the 225th Wing of the First Army, he was promoted to squadron leader.

The order he received this time was to burn, rob and kill.

Seeing the village in front of him, Ejima Yoshiro's eyes lit up and he immediately gave the order to attack.

With his attack order, the Japanese army did not move, and the puppet army pretended to be a squadron with rifles and slaughtered into the village with a fierce spirit.

While the puppet soldiers were running with rifles, they were also scolding Yaga and the like in Japanese, and their expressions were also extremely arrogant.

They had no idea that the weapons they were holding in their hands, such as the Hanyang-made, Liao-13 rifles, and Jin-made rifles, had betrayed their identities.

The devil still can't do a full set, although he has changed his military uniform, but the weapon has not been changed, because once the weapon is changed, the combat effectiveness of the more than 5,000 devils will have to be reduced.

Not long after, the company commander of the puppet army came to report: "Jiangdao Taijun, no villagers have been found in the village, and there is no food or livestock." ”

A translator next to him simultaneously translated the words of the puppet army company commander to Jiang Dao.

"Yaga..."

A hint of disappointment flashed in Ejima's eyes.

Obviously, the people of the village ran away in advance, taking their livestock and grain with them.

"Burn down the village!" Yoshiro Ejima's tone was cold.

The 10,000-strong devil puppet army troops from Xiangyuan and Licheng were divided into more than 20 roads and swept along the main roads and small roads.

The plan for how many villages to sweep each day and where to camp at night was all set in advance.

And the distance between the troops on each road is only 1 or 2 kilometers, and if one road is attacked, the sweep of the other roads can also be immediately supported by the troops.

The north of Xiangyuan and Licheng is almost all mountainous terrain, and as long as you sweep along the main roads and small roads, it will be difficult for the Eighth Route Army to slip away.

"Hey!" The company commander of the puppet army hurriedly paused.

With the issuance of the order of the company commander of the puppet army, the puppet soldiers set their houses on fire one after another, and it didn't take long for the entire Liujialing Village to burst into flames.

"Keep going!"

Ejima Yoshiro retracted his sword, turned over his horse, and with a wave of his right hand, the devil puppet army continued to sweep north along the road.

An inconspicuous dirt bag 500 meters away from Liujialing Village moved slightly.

Only a slight voice was heard:

"Call the command center, call the command center, a force of the enemy has passed Liujialing Village, and 2 squadrons of troops are advancing along the road to Xinzhuang Village."

After finishing speaking, a figure carrying a high-powered walkie-talkie jumped up from the dirt bag, and disappeared under the dirt bag in a few breaths.

The cold wind blew as if no one had ever passed by.

The figure just now was a member of the Sword Squadron.

The scene of the devil's burning of the village is also going on in other places, and all the sweeping troops of the devil are also under the supervision of the sword team.

Everywhere the devil arrived, the sword team members would report the devil's whereabouts to Li Yunlong's headquarters.

……

Xiying Town.

Li Yunlong's general headquarters.

Everybody's busy.

In charge of wiring is Li Yunlong's guard Huang Erhu.

Because Li Yunlong's command lacked operational staff officers, Zhao Gang, Liu Dali, Huang Erhu, and others temporarily took over the posts of operational staff officers.

"Political commissar, the 12th Road Devil Sweeping Force has passed through Liujialing Village." Huang Erhu reported to Li Yunlong.

For the sake of record-keeping, each path of devils is marked.

Zhao Gang hurriedly drew an arrow on the map, and then marked 12 on the arrow.

Li Yunlong walked over and saw that the various sweeping troops of the devils showed a trend of advancing in unison.

Zhao Gang said: "Lao Li, the devil's advance speed is too slow, the first day of the advance is less than 15 kilometers, the sky is about to get dark, it seems that you can't get along with the devil today." ”

Close combat and night combat are the forte of the Eighth Route Army, and at night the devils will definitely not dare to continue to sweep.

After a pause, Zhao Gang suggested: "Otherwise, let's send a small force to sneak attack the devil at night, so that the devil doesn't have a good night's sleep." ”

"There's no hurry." Li Yunlong stared at the map and shook his head, his eyes calm: "Don't startle the snake first." ”

The area around Wuxiang is mostly mountainous, and most of the devils will set up their camps on the anti-slope and send scouts to guard them.

Most of the mountain artillery can't hit the devils, and the method of shelling the devil's camp with mountain artillery first, and then sending infantry to attack the devils will not work.

This would have worked well on the plains.

If every Devil Sweep Force sends a small force to attack, the Devil will definitely sense that something is wrong.

One might even guess that every sweeping force was under the watchful eye of the Eighth Route Army scouts.

"But if you don't strike at it, you can't do it." Zhao Gang said: "The devil's sweeping force did not encounter the Eighth Route Army all day, and there was no attack at night, which would make the devil feel abnormal." ”

Li Yunlong thought for a moment, and then said, "Lao Zhao, what you said makes sense. ”

Then Li Yunlong turned his head and said to Huang Erhu: "Inform Ding Wei, Kong Jie, and Cheng Shifa to send small units to attack the 3rd, 12th, and 21st road devils." ”

"Yes!" Huang Erhu hurriedly picked up the high-power walkie-talkie and called the headquarters of the three attack groups one by one.

……

"Your Excellency, Division Commander, the sweeping units are progressing well, destroying 43 villages, and none of the units has met with resistance from the Eighth Route."

Quang Tri Town.

The headquarters of the 37th Division of the Japanese Army.

The communications staff officer held the operational reports from the various sweeping units in his hand and reported to Kenyoshi Hirata.

"Yo Xi!" Hirata Kenkichi perked up and said, "Immediately forward the report to Commander Shinozuka." ”

"Hey!" The communications staff officer bowed his head and walked briskly to the communications room next door.

On the map in front of him, the operational staff drew the direction of advance of each sweeping force, as well as the position for tonight.

At the same time, the communications team of the division headquarters also synchronized this situation to the headquarters of the First Army.

Kenkichi Hirata stared at the map, a sneer on his lips.

At this rate of advancement, in three days at most, the 37th Division's sweeping troops will be able to compress the Eighth Route in a small area together with the sweeping troops in three other directions.

Of course, the premise is that the Eighth Route Army will continue to be a shrunken turtle during these three days, and will not resist or run away.

However, Hirata Kenyoshi knew that it was impossible, and it was estimated that from tomorrow, the sweeping troops would exchange fire with the Eighth Route one after another.

By the third day, almost all of the sweeping troops would engage in fire.

After the eighth road is harvested, it will break through to the outer line, and it will be harvested again.

Suddenly, Hirata Kenji's heart jumped, and he suddenly thought of the new regiment of Li Yunlong, the ace unit of the Eighth Route Army.

This new regiment fought really fiercely, and almost wiped out his 225th Wing with the strength of one regiment.

Hirata Kenyoshi only hoped that Li Yunlong's new regiment would not break through from his direction, otherwise the 37th Division would inevitably suffer heavy losses.

……

Night.

Taiyuan, the headquarters of the First Army.

"Your Excellency, Commander."

"The results of the first day of the battles of the various units have been reported one after another."

Kusuyama Hideyoshi held a stack of telegrams in his hand and reported to Yoshio Shinozuka:

"The 2nd Guards Division advanced 13 kilometers, destroyed 42 villages, and there was a skirmish between the 3rd Route Sweeping Force and the 8th Route, with casualties on each other."

"The 18th Brigade advanced 11 kilometers and destroyed 26 villages, one of which was ambushed by the sweeping troops of the Eighth Road, and the nearby sweeping troops arrived in time and fled from the Eighth Road."

"The 14th Brigade advanced 12 kilometers, destroyed 39 villages, and there was a skirmish, with casualties on each other."

"The 37th Division advanced 14 kilometers, destroyed 43 villages, and did not engage in an exchange of fire with the Eighth Road."

After Hideyoshi Kusuyama finished the last sentence, Yoshio Shinozuka's brows furrowed slightly.

He seemed to smell something unusual.

"Nanshan-kun, the 2nd Guards Division, the 14th Brigade, and the 18th Brigade all exchanged fire with the Eighth Route to varying degrees, but the 37th Division did not have an exchange of fire with the Eighth Route?"

"What is the Eighth Route Army doing?"

Yoshio Shinozuka said in a puzzled tone.

"It's a bit suspicious." Nanshan Hideyoshi's eyes narrowed: "Maybe the Eight Roads don't plan to escape from this direction, maybe the Eight Roads are brewing some conspiracy." ”

Yoshio Shinozuka said: "No matter what the Eighth Route is doing, the 37th Division should be reminded that the sweeping troops should strengthen their vigilance at night to strictly prevent the Eighth Route from sneaking up at night." ”

"Hey!" Kusuyama Hideyoshi bowed his head, "I'll order the communication room to send a telegram." ”

……

The next day it was not yet dawn.

Yoshio Shinozuka and Hideyoshi Kusuyama woke up almost at the same time, and both slept for only a few hours.

At this time, a communications soldier walked in with a telegram, shouted the report, and handed it to Kusuyama Hideyoshi.

Nanshan Hideyoshi said: "Your Excellency Commander, you guessed right, the Eighth Route really attacked the sweeping troops of the 37th Division last night. ”

"Oh?" Yoshio Shinozuka's expression moved, "How many troops have been attacked, what are the losses?" ”

"There are 3 troops that have been attacked by the Eighth Route."

"Because of your order, the commander's cabinet, all the troops have increased their vigilance at night, so the losses are small."

Kusuyama Hideyoshi put away the telegram.

Yoshio Shinozuka was relieved and snorted coldly.

Nanshan Hideyoshi said in a disdainful tone: "The Eighth Route is still the same old-fashioned, I don't dare to fight head-on with the imperial army, and I like to engage in sneak attacks." ”

"Don't be careless." Yoshio Shinozuka waved his hand and instructed, "From today onwards, the small units of the Eighth Route may have to break through one after another, and order all the troops to kill and wound the small units of the Eighth Route as much as possible, and continue to sweep forward and attack!" ”

"Hey!" Kusuyama Hideyoshi turned around and began to prepare a telegram.

……

Xiying Town, Taihang Column Headquarters.

Li Yunlong almost didn't sleep all night, and only lay on the chair and squinted for a while when it was almost dawn.

As the sky grew brighter, the radio station of the headquarters began to sound dripping, and the temporary combat staff officers began to get busy.

Huang Erhu answered a few calls with a high-power walkie-talkie.

They were called by 3 attack groups, and at this time, the devil's sweeping force began to go out again.

Huang Erhu turned around and walked towards Li Yunlong, who was lying on a chair and snoring like thunder.

He was about to wake up Li Yunlong, but Li Yunlong's snoring suddenly stopped, his eyes hadn't opened yet, and his mouth moved first: "Huzi, did the devil start to sweep?" ”

"Yes, Captain!"

"Just now, the detachment leaders of the three attack groups called, and the devils from all walks of life began to sweep again."

Huang Erhu replied truthfully.

Hearing this, Grand Master Li's eyes suddenly opened, and he lifted his gray tweed coat and jerked up from his chair, his gaze like lightning.

Li Yunlong's expression was grim: "Pass my order, all attacking troops, enter the attack position according to the plan, and prepare to attack the enemy!" ”

"Yes!" Huang Erhu stepped forward in response, turned around and walked towards the high-power walkie-talkie.