The officers and soldiers of the Independent Regiment were forced to guard their positions. Under the bombardment of Japanese bombers, they suffered heavy casualties. So far, they have lost more than one battalion.
At this time, the Japanese army began to fire on the mountain again, which heralded that a new round of attack was about to begin.
Sure enough, the Japanese army once again rushed towards the independent regiment's defensive position.
Li Yunlong and others stood firm on the ground, staring at the attacking enemy, but their ears were perked up, paying attention to the roar of the engines of enemy bombers in the sky.
The Japanese troops approached step by step. When they moved to about 150m away from the independent regiment's defensive position, they suddenly stopped and then withdrew.
Li Yunlong was wondering what tricks the little devil was playing.
At this time, the operator held up the telegram he had just translated and shouted excitedly: "Commissioner, Commissioner Zheng, the Japs' plane can't come. The Japs' airport has been destroyed by Captain Xu and others."
It turned out that after the brigade commander received the telegrams from Xu Dalong and Li Changshui, he informed all the troops participating in the war of the good news.
Hearing the good news, Zhao Gang couldn't help but clenched his fist, waved it hard in the air, and said, "Xu Dalong and the others are really good."
Li Yunlong laughed loudly and said: "The little devils don't have planes, I see how they can still be arrogant, hahahaha."
The independent regiment was well-equipped and had strong combat effectiveness. The Japanese army suffered heavy casualties in front of the independent regiment's position. Now without the cooperation of aircraft, the Japanese army in front of the independent regiment lost the confidence to capture the only regiment's position.
They left a small number of troops to monitor the independent regiment, and the main force turned to attack the positions of other Eighth Route Army troops.
Li Yunlong was good at catching fighter planes. When he saw the Japanese troops withdrawing, he immediately commanded the officers and soldiers of the independent regiment to rush down the hill and eliminate a squadron of Japanese troops monitoring them.
Then, they rushed towards the back of the large group of Japanese troops.
After successive battles, the Japanese army suffered heavy casualties and failed to capture the Eighth Route Army's positions.
Now that there was no cooperation from the air force, Li Yunlong gave them another hard blow from behind. The Japanese commander also had no intention of fighting, so he led a large group of troops to evacuate.
The Eighth Route Army successfully completed the task of blocking the enemy and ensured the safe transfer of logistics for the headquarters.
Headquarters.
In the war room, the boss, chief of staff and division commander were studying the next move of the Japanese army. A communications staff officer sent a telegram and handed it to the chief of staff.
The chief of staff took a glance and said: "Boss, the underground party in Yucheng sent us information on the damage to the Japanese airport.
During the attack launched by Xu Dalong and others, the Japanese Yucheng Airport lost 76 military aircraft, 319 Japanese casualties, and the buildings on the airport were basically destroyed. It will take at least two months for the airport to be restored to use. . "
The boss said with emotion: "Xu Dalong and his guerrillas are indeed very powerful in combat. No matter what task they are given, they make people feel reassured."
After the chief of staff expressed a few emotions happily, he began to worry about Xu Dalong and others.
He said: "The Japanese army has suffered such heavy losses, and they will definitely intensify their retaliation against the Mawushan guerrillas. Xu Dalong's life will probably be very difficult next."
The division commander said: "According to intelligence, the Japanese army has deployed a large-scale attack plan on the Mawu Mountain base area. Now that the Taihang Mountain base area is experiencing a large-scale attack by the Japanese army, we cannot help Xu Dalong and the others. They will definitely have a difficult battle with the Japanese army.
However, I think the boss is right. I also feel very reassured about Xu Dalong and the others. I believe they will be able to defeat the massive attack by the Japanese and puppet troops and protect the Mawushan base area. "
The chief of staff said: "Despite this, I think we should send a telegram to Xu Dalong and others so that they can ask for help from the headquarters in the most difficult time. The headquarters should provide them with support as much as possible."
The boss and division commander both agreed with the chief of staff's opinion, so the division commander called the brigade commander and asked him to convey the spirit of the headquarters' instructions to Xu Dalong.
Xu Dalong quickly responded to the telegram, saying that he was grateful to the head of the headquarters and the brigade commander for their concern. On behalf of the Mawushan guerrillas, he assured the leaders that the Mawushan guerrillas would definitely defeat the enemy's attack and preserve the Mawushan base area.
Independent regiment headquarters.
Li Yunlong and others learned from the brigade commander that the Mawushan base area was about to be attacked by the Japanese and puppet troops, so they sent a telegram to Xu Dalong. First of all, they affirmed their determination to defeat the enemy, and at the same time complained to them that they should not carry it themselves if they have difficulties. Be sure to ask for support from your superiors.
The three regiment leaders said that if Xu Dalong and others are in need, they will lead the independent regiment to go for reinforcements.
Not only that, Li Yunlong and others also told Xu Dalong in the telegram that now that the Japanese army is aggressively attacking the Mawushan base area, the guerrillas will definitely have various difficulties. If there are more seizures within half a year, they will not have to hand them over and keep them all. Give it to the guerrillas and grow your own strength.
Xu Dalong was very touched by the concern of the regiment leaders. He sent a telegram to express his gratitude and said that he would seek help from the three regiment leaders when necessary.
On the highway leading to Lingao City from the northwest of Jincheng, the soldiers supplemented by the Japanese 32nd Division were marching.
Chiba Xunyi put a lot of effort into the safety of this group of supplementary soldiers. First, he made a noise in the east and attacked in the west. Then he also adopted a method of hiding in the day and night to avoid being discovered by the Mawushan guerrillas as much as possible.
In order to ensure the arrival of this batch of supplementary troops, he sent an experienced combat captain from the 81st Regiment of the Japanese Army to lead an infantry squadron to escort them.
In order to enhance the combat effectiveness, the captain was also asked to temporarily form an infantry brigade with the 1,000 veterans who were supplemented by them. The recruits were also issued ammunition according to the prescribed ammunition base, ready to go into battle at any time.
The captain of the Japanese army learned the lesson from the last attack on the military column. He knew that the Mawushan guerrillas were good at sneak attacks and ambushes. In order to avoid causing heavy casualties, during this march, he requested that each squadron be divided into squadrons. With a distance of 300m, even if one of the Japanese squadrons was attacked, it would not cause heavy casualties.
At this time, Xu Dalong and others had arrived in this area and were secretly monitoring the actions of the Japanese army.
Seeing how careful the Japanese army was and how wide the formation was, Xu Dalong and others also felt a headache.
If they adopt ambush tactics, it will be difficult for them to eliminate a large number of enemy troops at once. Moreover, when the Japanese army is on high alert, they will be easily besieged by the Japanese army in the event of a firefight, which may cause heavy casualties.
Sun Desheng said angrily: "These little devils are getting more and more cunning now. It's really difficult to deal with them."
In order to find a way to deal with the enemy, Xu Dalong still held the Zhuge Liang Meeting before the war.
He asked Sun Desheng and the squadron leaders to express their opinions, hoping to get inspiration from them and then form a final combat plan.
After discussion, everyone agreed that an ambush method would not work. The only way was to use the Japanese troops' centralized accommodation to carry out sneak attacks during their rest time.
That day Xu Dalong and others saw the enemy camp and prepared to launch an attack.
When they came to the Japanese army's camp, they discovered that the Japanese army still used the old method, with each infantry squadron staying together and keeping a distance of more than 100 meters between each accommodation point. Even if the guerrillas launch a surprise attack, it will be difficult to annihilate the Japanese army in large numbers.
Seeing this situation, Sun Desheng couldn't help but cursed again. He said: "These little devils have become sperm and are becoming more and more difficult to beat."
Wang Pao also felt it was difficult to take action. He said: "Captain, it seems that the Japs have stepped up their precautions while camping in the wild. Even if we launch an attack, we won't be able to eliminate many Japs. It's better to wait until they live in villages or towns before taking action." , their accommodation must be relatively concentrated at that time, and it will be convenient for us to start."
Everyone agreed with Wang Pao's opinion and decided to find another opportunity to take action.
Unexpectedly, the Japanese army was determined to avoid sneak attacks by the guerrillas this time. They did not stop when passing through villages and towns, insisting on camping in the wild.
Sun Desheng and others became a little impatient and suggested that they simply use the old method of using artillery fire to attack the Japanese camp from a distance and destroy as many as they could.
In fact, Xu Dalong had no better way, so he agreed with everyone's opinions and prepared to launch an attack on the Japanese army at two o'clock in the afternoon.
The time came to 1:30 noon, and the guerrillas were ready to fight, but Xu Dalong suddenly ordered to stop the action and wait until night.
That night, the guerrillas quietly followed the Japanese marching group, but Xu Dalong still did not order an attack.
It was not until 5 a.m. that he informed the guerrilla commanders of his combat intentions.
After hearing Xu Dalong's plan, everyone felt very excited.
In order to keep it secret, the Japanese army marched day and night along the way, and started camping at 5 a.m.
It was already winter, the sky was getting late and the visibility was very low.
The Japanese officers and soldiers, organized into squadrons, began to set up tents and prepare to camp.
The Japanese army was still very vigilant. Just when the Japanese officers and soldiers began to camp, there were still several Japanese patrol teams patrolling throughout the entire station.
The Japanese officers and soldiers did not notice that an additional patrol team quietly appeared.
One class of special forces members disguised themselves as a Japanese patrol and entered the Japanese camp.
This group of Japanese soldiers were originally drawn from various units. They were not familiar with each other. When the guerrilla disguised patrols patrolled inside, no one paid attention to them.
The Japanese troops were numerous and built dozens of camping sites. The guerrillas arrived at the center of the Japanese camp area and took advantage of the darkness to launch attacks on the Japanese troops on both sides.
This is Xu Dalong's plan. He believes that the Japanese troops are not familiar with each other and there is a certain distance between the campsites. This can be exploited to cause the Japanese troops to bomb the camp by means of attacks.
Sure enough, the Japanese army was suddenly attacked. Since the officers were always reminding them to be on high alert along the way, when they were attacked, they immediately fired in the direction of the muzzle flash.
At this time, the Japanese troops on both sides started fighting each other. The Japanese troops on both sides were about the same number and strength, so the fighting was very fierce.
After provoking a firefight with the enemy, the special forces members took advantage of the chaos and quickly evacuated.
The battle between the two sides of the Japanese army was extremely fierce and caused heavy casualties.
When the Japanese officers and soldiers saw that their comrades suffered heavy casualties, they became more and more convinced that the other party was the enemy, so they beat them harder.
As a result of the fighting, soldiers from both sides began to concentrate, and the Japanese troops on both sides became increasingly dense.
After all, the captain of the Japanese army had a brain. He quickly sobered up from the initial confusion. He knew that the opposite side was also a Japanese camp. It was impossible for many Japanese officers and soldiers to be wiped out by the enemy in such a short period of time. It was very possible that those who were shooting at this side were also Japanese officers and soldiers, but they were just talking to each other. A misunderstanding occurred.
The Japanese captain first ordered his troops to stop shooting and prepared to shout to the other side to inquire about the situation.
Xu Dalong and others had already been divided into two teams, and the troops quietly came to the rear of the Japanese troops on both sides.
They did not rush into the battle, but hoped that the Japanese army could continue to fight. The harder they fought, the longer the delay, the better.
Seeing that the Japanese army stopped shooting, Xu Dalong knew that his plan would soon be seen through by the Japanese army, so he ordered his troops to attack.
The guerrillas had already set up artillery and machine guns. During the fierce exchange of fire between the Japanese troops, the muzzle flashes had revealed their position. When Xu Dalong gave the order to fire, the guerrillas launched an attack on the Japanese troops.
Groups of mortars opened fire at the same time, and a large number of mortar shells roared into the enemy group, causing the Japanese soldiers to flip over and suffer heavy casualties.
At this time, the Japanese officers and soldiers were still confused. They thought they were surrounded by enemy troops.
While they continued to fire at the Japanese troops on the opposite side, they also divided some troops to fight back against the guerrillas.
The battle lasted for two full hours. Seeing daylight, the Japanese army had eliminated the misunderstanding and began to deal with the guerrillas with all their strength. Xu Dalong and others withdrew from the battle.
The Japanese captain felt very depressed when he saw the battlefield littered with corpses.
When the casualty figures were tallied up, he was even more surprised.
Two hours of fighting, self-inflicted wounds by the Japanese troops and guerrilla attacks caused a total of more than 1,600 casualties among Japanese officers and soldiers, losing almost half of their troops.
The captain of the Japanese army had to send a telegram to Chiba Xunyi and report what happened to him.
Chiba Xunyi knew that the plan to replenish the troops was leaked. He was worried that these Japanese officers and soldiers would be attacked by the Mawushan guerrillas again, so he gave an order to the Japanese army captain to quickly find a town to hold out for reinforcements.
The Japanese army captain also had the same idea. After receiving the order from the division commander, he immediately ordered the whole team to prepare to go to a village 8km away to wait for reinforcements.
Just as the Japanese army gathered their troops and prepared to set off, they saw guerrilla cavalry appearing all around.
