Okamura Neji, like other little devils, is a person who must take revenge.
Although it has been a long time since the Peking guerrilla detachment brought him humiliation, he still remembers it fresh. Every time he thinks about it, he is filled with anger. He wants to find those opponents immediately and peel off their skin and cramps to vent his hatred.
After learning that the Peiping guerrilla detachment was disguised as the Yizhong Eighth Route Army and had evacuated Peiping, I felt regretful for a long time. I felt that I was too cautious at that time, so I should have sent the returning troops directly into the mountains to pursue them. Maybe I would have left the Eighth Route Army in Peking and gathered them together to annihilate them.
But there is no regret in the world. He can only place his hope of washing away his shame on the Baoding Mixed Brigade, hoping that they will wipe out the Eighth Route Army in Yinzhong in the next big sweep and eliminate the culprits who once humiliated him in Peking.
As a result, before the big sweep even started, the mixed brigade participating in the sweep was severely damaged by the Yizhong Eighth Route Army and had to be temporarily terminated.
There are simply no words to describe the anger in my heart. I was about to send the five thousand elite reinforcements from Fangshan back to Baoding on the spot to continue sweeping the Eighth Route Army in Yinzhong, but I was stopped by the chief of staff on the grounds that Peiping did not have enough troops.
However, Okamura Neiji's desire to destroy the Eighth Route Army in the Wings and wash away his shame has never stopped. Instead, he has become more and more determined as time goes by.
When I learned that the Yizhong Eighth Route Army that had made a surprise attack on Peiping was likely to return to Fangshan, my first reaction was that they could not be allowed to escape again.
…………
At two o'clock in the afternoon, the brigade commander waited for the first scout to return to the city. The result was exactly as they predicted. Not only was there no soldier in the third brigade station, but there were many Eighth Route Army troops hiding there.
The scouts and messengers sent by the county were all trapped in the enemy's mouth. They entered the station and never came out again.
The captain of his reconnaissance team was very smart. He divided the team into two. Half of the investigators went deep into the station to conduct investigations, and the other half stayed outside to respond. If they found something wrong, they immediately retreated.
There were originally three people, but on the way back they encountered another group of Eighth Route Army soldiers, and he was the only one left to return to the county town alive.
There were dozens of people in the brigade headquarters, but only the brigade commander believed from the beginning that the third brigade had encountered an accident.
Now that there was definite evidence, everyone turned red with shame.
Especially the chief of staff. He had previously wanted to advise the brigade commander not to be too cautious. Facts have proved that there is nothing wrong with the brigade commander being cautious. On the contrary, they underestimated the enemy.
The brigade leader didn't give them much time to digest the news, and directly said with a dissatisfied expression: "It took so long to find out this bit of information, don't you think it's too slow?"
"More than a thousand imperial troops have been wiped out. The scale of the battle must be very large. However, our investigators and intelligence personnel have not yet found a single soldier's body, not even the battlefield. Don't you feel ashamed?"
"Your Majesty the Commander requires us to annihilate the enemy at all costs. If we don't even know who our opponents are and how many there are there, how can we win this battle and how can we give an explanation to Your Majesty the Commander."
Half an hour later, the chief of staff hurried to the brigade commander. Before he could stand still, he hurriedly reported: "Sir, have we found the battlefield where the third brigade was wiped out by the enemy?"
"One kilometer due east of the station, a fierce battle broke out there in the middle of the night yesterday, and the sound of gunfire lasted for half an hour before it stopped."
"A large number of explosions were also heard from the Third Brigade station, which lasted for ten minutes."
"The bodies of soldiers killed in the third group were hidden in the bushes near the battlefield. The investigators saw with their own eyes that the total number of corpses exceeded 400."
The brigade commander once again turned his attention to the sand table, locking the battlefield position and asking: "Have you found out the enemy's identity, strength, and equipment..."
"What's going on with the remaining half of the Third Battalion? There are also 500 imperial troops there. No matter how powerful the Eighth Route Army is, it's impossible for them to live without seeing people or die without seeing corpses."
The chief of staff shook his head: "The battlefield is far away from the town. Our intelligence personnel lurking in the town dare not approach the battlefield rashly. They can only judge the approximate number of enemy heavy weapons participating in the battle through the sounds of crossfire."
"The enemy used more than a dozen mortars, about ten heavy machine guns, and more than twenty light machine guns in the battle. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to end the battle in just half an hour."
The brigade leader took a deep breath and at the same time became more convinced of his previous inference and said with certainty.
"As far as I know, it is impossible for the most elite main force of the Eighth Route Army to be equipped with so many weapons."
"So the enemy who attacked the third brigade last night must have been more than three guerrillas. There must have been the main force sent by the Eighth Route Army in Yinzhong to participate in the battle."
"At least the main force of one regiment will be involved in the siege of the third brigade's station. If something happens to the brigade entering the mountains and they don't even have the chance to send people for help, there must be a regiment of the Eighth Route Army hiding in the mountains."
"Then our opponents will have two main groups."
"Fortunately, we did not rush to send troops to reinforce the Guanjiapu stronghold, otherwise the few troops sent by the county would probably have gone into the tiger's mouth and never returned."
"Immediately summarize the information we have found and report it to the headquarters."
"Others continue to investigate. They must understand the opponent's situation thoroughly, and then launch a precise attack, killing them with one blow. Instead of running around like a headless fly around the Guanjiabao stronghold, or being taken into the mountains by them to circle around. , use guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare to deal with us."
Until this moment, the brigade commander still had no intention of sending troops immediately.
The chief of staff originally wanted to encourage the brigade commander to seize the opportunity to send troops to prevent the enemy from escaping. After listening to the brigade leader's analysis, he was also frightened.
If there is really an ambush of elite Eighth Route Army regiments near the Guanjiabao stronghold, the troops must not rush to send troops before they have a clear understanding of the enemy's situation, otherwise they will follow in the footsteps of the Third Brigade.
Little did he know that what Zhang Xuan wanted was for the little devil to be cautious.
The more cautious they are and the less they dare to send troops rashly, the more space the guerrilla brigade has to maneuver.
If the mixed brigade was a little impulsive and sent troops directly to reinforce the Guanjiapu stronghold, the guerrilla brigade would have nothing to do with them and would have to retreat to the mountains again.
The Japanese could not even imagine that they would be beaten to death. They had repeatedly suffered losses at the hands of the Eighth Route Army because they underestimated the enemy and took risks.
After finally learning a lesson, I tried to be as cautious as possible when facing the Eighth Route Army, but in the end I fell into the trap of my opponent.
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In a village not far from the headquarters of the Japanese Third Battalion, except for the troops who went out to intercept Japanese scouts and messengers, the remaining more than 200 fighting troops of the guerrilla brigade were hiding here.
Looking at the increasingly dark sky around him, Zhang Xuan's nerves that had been tense all day finally relaxed for the most part.
Five cavalrymen suddenly appeared at the entrance of the village, galloping on horseback until they reached the headquarters before stopping.
Zhang Xuan glanced at the few soldiers and hurriedly greeted them: "They are from the security company. There must be news from the county."
"Report to the Chief of Staff, Company Commander Guo asked us to come back and report: There is no movement from the Japanese and puppet troops stationed in Fangshan County... The troops captured thirteen war horses during the day. If there is new enemy information, they will immediately send someone back to report." The leader of the squad leader reported while saluting. .
"The company commander also asked five of us to stay at the headquarters as correspondents to help the chief of staff convey orders, and then return to the team after the battle."
Zhang Xuan's tense nerves were completely relieved. He patted the squad leader who had just spoken and said with emotion: "You guys came back just in time. From now on, you will be the squad leader of the cavalry communications squad of the guerrilla brigade. You will directly follow my orders. You don't need to return to the squad. I will go to Company Commander Guo." explain."
"You must not only take on the communication tasks of the guerrilla brigade, but also practice riding skills and become a qualified cavalry commander."
"We don't have many war horses now. When we capture enough war horses in the future, you will be the cavalry communications platoon leader or even the cavalry company commander."
The leader of the team did not expect that he would encounter such a good thing as a return order soldier. He was so happy that he almost jumped up from the ground and quickly accepted the order: "Chief of Staff, please rest assured. I have been in the cavalry unit before, otherwise I will learn from this." Can’t ride a horse.”
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"As long as there are war horses, I guarantee to train a qualified cavalry platoon for the guerrilla brigade."
Zhang Xuan answered confidently: "There will definitely be war horses. There is a cavalry brigade stationed in Fangshan County. There are more than 400 war horses. Sooner or later they will become ours."
"Now I give you the first combat mission: notify the troops of the 147th Company who are performing blockade missions to return to their formation immediately. The headquarters has new missions for them."
"Arrange another correspondent to inform Company Commander Guo, and leave a security squad to continue to monitor Fangshan County. If there is any situation, report it to me as soon as possible, and other troops will gather here immediately."
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The Meiling stronghold is a small stronghold six kilometers southwest of the Guanjiapu stronghold. Although it is not large in scale, it guards another road for the Eighth Route Army to enter and exit the mountain. There are more than 180 Japanese and puppet troops stationed here, which is more than the Guanjia Fort. There are many strongholds in the fort. In addition to the most common light and heavy machine guns, the county has specially strengthened them with two mortars.
The stronghold is located on the crest of Meiling Mountain, overlooking the road at the foot of the mountain. A heavy machine gun is mounted upstairs. Not even a bird can enter or exit the mountain under the nose of the stronghold.
Also because the stronghold occupies the topographic advantage of Meiling, it is easy to defend but difficult to attack. No matter how rampant the guerrillas are in the mountains, it has never been attacked.
At one o'clock in the morning, the stronghold was enveloped in darkness as usual, with only the lampposts from the searchlights dangling around the stronghold.
Several Japanese and puppet troops were guarding the top of the turret. Except for the two soldiers operating searchlights, the others were either leaning on the battlements with their eyes closed to relax, or squatting in the corners to keep warm. Some even sat directly in the corners and fell asleep. ...without any vigilance.
It’s not their fault. From the moment the Meiling stronghold was established, there has never been a war here.
The long period of comfortable life has long worn away the vigilance and fighting spirit of the garrison.
"Bang...boom..."
The sound of gunfire and artillery suddenly rang outside the stronghold. The searchlight on the top of the turret was instantly extinguished. Two explosions also sounded under their feet. The solid turret actually trembled twice during the explosion.
Several Japanese and puppet soldiers were awakened at the same time, like a group of frightened rabbits, with panic on their faces: some were hiding behind the battlements, raising their rifles and shooting aimlessly outside, some were so frightened that they even fired the safety of their rifles. If it doesn't open, there are still people rushing to the alarm bell...
