On the top of the mountain, the guerrillas cheered when they saw the explosion of stone mines.
When the smoke cleared, people looked for Li Jinzhu but could not find him, and they couldn't help but worry about him.
However, the place where Li Jinzhu disappeared was very close to the Japanese and puppet troops, and it was not possible to send anyone to search for it for the time being.
In the cave, Su Xiaoyan was rescuing the wounded. Huang Wanqiu, Lin Xueying and Gao Youtian's daughter Gao Xiugu were helping. At this time, the stretcher members brought over another injured guerrilla. He was from the demolition team and was not seriously injured. , only his right arm was penetrated by a bullet from the Type 38 rifle.
After bandaging the wound, he rested aside.
Gao Xiugu and Li Jinzhu were childhood sweethearts. They had been close friends since they were young. When they grew up, they had secretly fallen in love, especially after Li Jinzhu joined the Eighth Route Army. Gao Youtian admired Li Jinzhu's growth and progress and agreed to their marriage.
Gao Xiugu was helping a wounded man clean his wound when he suddenly heard the demolition team member whose arm was injured whisper to another demolition team member: "Our captain disappeared after detonating the mine just now. He may have fallen under the cliff."
Hearing this, Gao Xiugu's heart trembled and her hands trembled. The guerrilla whose wounds were being cleaned couldn't help but cry out in pain.
Gao Xiugu quickly said: "I'm really sorry."
She said to Huang Wanqiu: "Sister Wanqiu, come and help me."
Gao Xiugu came to the guerrilla with an injured arm and asked nervously: "What did you say about Brother Jin Zhu just now? Is he injured?"
The soldier knew about the relationship between captain Li Jinzhu and this girl, but he hesitated and did not dare to say anything.
Gao Xiugu's tears suddenly flowed out. She was anxious and shouted: "Brother Jin Zhu." Then she ran towards the entrance of the cave.
Wang Xiaohu, who was guarding the entrance of the cave, saw Gao Xiugu running over and hurriedly stopped her. He comforted her and said, "Don't worry too much. Brother Jin Zhu must have found a place to hide. He will come back when the Japanese soldiers retreat." Yes, if he doesn’t come back, we will send people down to look for him.”
Wang Xiaohu tried his best to persuade Gao Xiugu.
At this time, the Japanese soldiers at the foot of the mountain launched another attack.
On the ridge to the west, a squadron of Japanese soldiers climbed up toward the entrance of the cave.
Guarding outside the cave were the guerrillas led by Wei Heping. They set up six light machine guns on the position outside the entrance of the cave. When the Japanese army reached a distance of about 120 meters, the two machine guns started shooting.
Today, the most indispensable thing for the guerrillas is machine guns and bullets. The reason why they only use two light machine guns is to paralyze the enemy so that they can better consume their physical strength. If the powerful firepower is exposed as soon as they come up, the little devils may not have the courage to rush up.
Despite this, the two light machine guns still caused a lot of casualties to the Japanese soldiers.
Under the cover of machine guns, the Japanese soldiers climbed up while fighting, and finally arrived fifty or sixty meters down the mountain.
Seeing the Japs getting closer and closer, the members of the demolition team pulled the fuse of the stone thunder and threw the stone thunder down the mountain. The structure of these stone mines is very simple. They stuffed a grenade inside the stone mine, filled it with black powder around it, and then compacted the outside with cotton wool or rags. When the Japanese soldiers rushed up, they fired it He picked up the fuse and threw down the stone mines.
These round stone mines were jumping on the hillside and rushing down.
The Japanese soldiers at the foot of the mountain saw rolling rocks falling from the mountain, and they all looked for places to take shelter.
They did not expect that these stones would explode violently. Many stone mines exploded in the air during the bounce. Their power was much greater than grenades. The Japanese on the hillside were blown up until they howled like ghosts.
At this time, the other four light machine guns at the entrance of the cave and the rifles in the hands of the soldiers also opened fire.
The Japanese soldiers suffered heavy casualties. The Japanese who were lucky to be alive ran down the mountain desperately and were knocked to the ground by chasing bullets.
The situation was similar on the ridge to the east, and the Japanese attack was repelled again.
Under the ridge to the west, the captain of the Japanese 83rd Regiment and the brigade commander of the puppet army had been observing the situation on the mountain with binoculars. Seeing that the attack had been repelled again, the Japanese commander cursed several times angrily. .
The commander of the regiment was in an extremely bad mood. From the night before yesterday when they were attacked by guerrillas, by this morning the Japanese and puppet troops had lost all their cavalry and a large number of infantry. The total number reached more than 800 people, among which the Japanese casualties were There were more than 500 people, and a captain died.
He really couldn't imagine that a small guerrilla army could be so difficult to defeat.
Seeing the dejected look of the commander, the brigade commander of the puppet army hurriedly comforted him: "Your Excellency, commander, the terrain on this mountain is really bad. It is not an option to attack like this. We need to change our offensive tactics."
The captain asked: "What can you do?"
The puppet brigade commander said: "Although the Eighth Route guerrillas occupy favorable terrain and have strong firepower, their numbers are small after all, and their ammunition reserves are also very limited and cannot withstand consumption.
My opinion is to continue to send people to attack, but instead of sending out large troops, small groups of troops will be sent to continuously attack, with large troops following behind, putting pressure on the enemy.
Small groups of troops took turns attacking, making the defenders on the mountain restless and constantly consuming their ammunition. I don't believe it. How long can their ammunition last? "
The puppet brigade commander said this because he knew the Eighth Route Army very well and knew that their ammunition was always short and could not withstand consumption. Even if they had some homemade stone mines, they would probably be almost used up.
Under normal circumstances, this tactic adopted by the puppet brigade commander should be very effective.
But little did he know that the weapons and ammunition stored by the guerrillas on the mountain were enough to eliminate these thousands of Japanese and puppet troops several times.
He never thought that after hearing what he said, the captain would regret what he said.
The Japanese commander thought that what the puppet brigade commander said made sense. He said happily: "Xinxi, you have a great idea. The task of harassing the guerrillas will be completed by your people."
When the puppet brigade commander heard this, he wanted to slap himself. Who told him to talk so much? Now he could only send his puppet soldiers to die. However, the words had already reached this point, and he had no choice but to hold his nose and admit it.
Soon after, the puppet troops were dispatched on the two mountain ridges on the east and west sides. They sent a platoon of people to spread out and climb up the mountain, followed slowly by a large group of puppet troops.
The puppet troops rushed forward, and the guerrillas opened fire with machine guns and rifles.
The puppet troops had already received orders from their superiors. They just feigned an attack. After losing six or seven puppet troops, they retreated.
Soon they replaced another platoon of puppet troops and continued to attack the mountain.
Wang Chengzhu and others had been following Xu Dalong for a long time and had rich experience. When they saw the puppet troops engaging in wheel warfare, they quickly saw through their intentions.
The offensive formation of the puppet troops was too scattered, and the machine guns could not play much role, but the attack of the puppet troops did not pose much of a threat.
Wang Chengzhu and others simply let the new recruits use rifles to deal with the puppet troops, which not only achieved the purpose of training troops, but also saved bullets.
The puppet brigade commander had actually been observing the situation on the battlefield. Although the puppet troops did not lose many people in each attack, only ten or eight, they could not stand it if it continued like this, and it did not achieve the purpose of consuming the guerrilla ammunition. , he couldn't help but also started to feel discouraged.
He said to the captain: "Your Excellency, captain, these guerrillas on the mountain are too cunning, and the terrain here is too bad. If we continue to fight like this, we will only lose men and horses in vain.
I think it's better to suspend the attack and surround the guerrillas in the mountains. I don't believe how long their food can last. They will starve to death by then. "
The Japanese commander had no good solution for the moment, so he ordered the guerrillas to besieged on the mountain. He went down the mountain with the puppet brigade commander and returned to Qiligou Village.
Wang Chengzhu and others on the mountain saw that the Japanese and puppet troops no longer attacked. They also left a small number of personnel to monitor the movements of the Japanese and puppet troops, and then returned to the cave.
This morning's battle wiped out a large number of Japanese and puppet troops. The guerrillas suffered a total of 12 casualties, four of whom were killed, and one Li Jinzhu was alive and dead. Overall, the casualties were very small.
Wang Chengzhu and others visited the wounded and then went to rest.
At this time, Li Yinzhu also knew that his brother's life and death were unknown, and he decided to rescue his brother. But at this time, there were many Japanese and puppet troops below the mountain ridge watching the top, making it impossible to get down.
Wang Xiaohu persuaded them to wait until dark before thinking of a solution.
The Japanese commander returned to the temporary headquarters in Qiligou Village, washed his face, rested for a while, and then sent a telegram to report the situation here to Chiba Xunyi, the division commander of the 32nd Division.
Chiba Xunyi agreed with their strategy of besieging the guerrillas for a long time.
It was time to have lunch, and the Japanese commander said while eating: "Your Excellency, the division commander, has agreed to the plan to besiege the guerrillas. If we want to besiege these guerrillas on the mountain for a long time, the supplies we have brought are not enough. You will do it this afternoon." Send someone back to the county seat."
The brigade commander of the puppet army knew that they must be the ones doing the hard work. Who told them to call them Huang Xiejun?
He did not refuse. After eating, he called a regiment leader and asked him to send an infantry battalion back to Guancheng County to collect food.
Since the radio station is still unavailable, Xu Dalong and others outside the mountain cannot contact Wang Chengzhu and others, but he believes that Wang Chengzhu and others will be able to defend Mantou Peak.
Xu Dalong and the others stopped outside the valley, preparing to go up the mountain to attack the Japanese and puppet troops at night.
At this time, a guerrilla came to report that a group of puppet troops came out of the valley, numbering about a battalion.
When Sun Desheng heard this, he immediately became happy and said: "Captain, let's take action on these puppet soldiers."
Monk Wei also said: "Yes, Lord Long, let's deal with these puppet soldiers first."
Xu Dalong shook his head and asked, "What do you think the purpose of these puppet soldiers is for coming down the mountain?"
After Sun Desheng thought for a while, he suddenly realized. He slapped his forehead and said with a smile: "There are so many Japanese and puppet soldiers in the mountains. They have to eat a lot of food a day. The food they brought must not be enough. These puppets must have to transport food."
Monk Wei also said happily: "Master Long, I also understand. Let's let these puppet soldiers pass. When they bring the food back, we will go and snatch it from them."
Waiting is the most unbearable thing. Li Yinzhu and Gao Xiugu looked at the bright sun in the sky, but their mood was very dark. They hoped that the sun would set quickly, and then go down the mountain to find Li Jinzhu.
It finally got dark. Zheng Xirong sent a member of the intelligence team who was good at climbing, brought some medicine and bandages, and quietly went down the mountain with Li Yinzhu.
They did not dare to walk on the top of the mountain ridge. They just followed the edge of the mountain ridge, climbed on the rocks and slowly moved towards the place where Li Jinzhu disappeared.
Gao Xiugu stood guard at the entrance of the cave, watching the disappearing figures of Li Yinzhu and others. She was very nervous, clenching her fists tightly, and her heart was clenching tightly.
At this time, Lin Xueying came over, held her hand, and comforted her, saying, "Xiugu, don't worry, he will be fine."
Below the mountain ridge, the puppet army's surveillance posts have been vigilantly observing the situation on the mountain. It was quiet all the time on the mountain. He couldn't help but feel a little tired. He rubbed his sore eyes and yawned.
Suddenly there seemed to be a noise coming from ahead, and he immediately became alert.
It turned out that Li Yinzhu and others had arrived at the cliff where Li Jinzhu disappeared. They climbed down slowly with the help of the faint starlight. Because he couldn't see clearly, he accidentally kicked down a stone. The stone hit the cliff and made a crisp sound.
After the puppet army sentry heard the noise, he stood up hurriedly. He wanted to take a look ahead, but he did not have the courage, so he stared straight ahead, his eyes were sore, but he never heard any noise again.
He looked at the top of the mountain ridge and saw no one. He didn't want to be troublesome, so he sat down again.
At this moment, gunshots and explosions suddenly came, and the puppet sentry stood up again involuntarily.
The sound of gunshots and explosions rang out, but they did not come from the mountains, but from outside the blockade built by the Japanese and puppet troops, and they came from three directions.
Not long ago, Xu Dalong, Sun Desheng and Wei Monk each led a group of guerrillas into the mountains to harass the Japanese and puppet troops.
Xu Dalong and others climbed up a hillside and saw many fires lit in the valley below, with figures shaking next to the fires.
They quietly went down the mountain and stopped 70 to 80 meters away from the fires. With the help of the firelight, they could clearly see that there were many Japanese and puppet troops sleeping next to the fires.
Xu Dalong used hand gestures to assign tasks to the guerrillas and let them choose the targets to attack.
After the guerrillas were ready, Xu Dalong picked up a grenade and threw it at a few Japanese who were resting next to the fire. Other guerrillas also threw grenades or grenades at the Japanese and puppet troops.
The sudden attack caused heavy casualties to the Japanese and puppet troops. They could not clearly see the enemy's position, quickly looked for cover, and fired in panic. The muzzle flash exposed their position and provided the guerrillas with another opportunity. Target.
The guerrillas didn't fire, they just kept throwing grenades and hand grenades.
The guerrillas led by Sun Desheng and Wei Monk also attacked the Japanese and puppet troops and achieved considerable results.
Xu Dalong and others were not willing to fight. After launching a wave of attacks, they quickly evacuated and found a place to sleep.
Since the guerrillas did not fire a shot, and the Japanese and puppet troops did not even know where they came from, the guerrillas disappeared. This kind of blow was even more terrifying. The Japanese and puppet soldiers felt that the attackers were like ghosts, and they were all frightened and held on until dawn with their eyes wide open. They were all exhausted.
Just when Xu Dalong and others attacked the Japanese and puppet troops, the sound of gunfire and explosions successfully attracted the attention of the Japanese and puppet troops. Li Yinzhu and the intelligence agent seized this opportunity and climbed the rope down to the bottom of the cliff. Finally, they found the Li Jinzhu.
