After receiving the order, the Eighth Route Army departments, county brigades and militiamen in the base area mobilized urgently, and thousands of people launched a search.
The captain of the Yangcheng County Brigade led people to the woods where Tian Guifen and his wife were killed. He judged that the Japanese army would continue to advance toward the hinterland of the base area, so they launched a search in this direction. The key areas of their search were mountains and woods.
A few hours later, they found the woods where Hirata Hiroshi and the advancing team were hiding.
The county captain was very cautious and worried about being attacked by enemy troops, so he sent two team members to search.
Soon after, two team members came out and said they found traces of people passing by in the woods.
The county brigade captain led people into the woods and saw traces of broken branches and a large amount of trampled thatch, indicating that the enemy army pretending to be the Eighth Route Army had passed through here. Based on the scope of the traces on the ground, it was judged that the number of people should be quite large, at least dozens of people.
He hurriedly sent another telegram to report to the military division headquarters.
Gao Zhiyong immediately organized his troops to search in the direction of Yangcheng County.
Hirata Hiroshi and others were originally hiding in this forest. He was a very cautious man, and while the tired soldiers were sleeping, he still sat there thinking hard. Due to his professional sensitivity, he always felt uneasy and worried that the couple's bodies would be discovered. If that's the case, the woods where they were hiding were relatively close to the scene of the accident, and the accident occurred in the woods, so the enemy's search must focus on the woods.
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt, so he simply kicked up the Japanese soldiers who had just fallen asleep and took them away. He did not go directly towards the county seat of Yangcheng County, but made a circle and headed to the mountainous area more than ten kilometers away. He planned to wait there until night before continuing the operation.
The captain of the Yangcheng County Brigade directed the team members to search everywhere with the woods as the center. Finally, they found traces of a large number of people passing by and the hoof marks of livestock in the fields.
He led the team to follow the traces left on the ground. The traces on the ground were intermittent. Although it was difficult to find, they could still be found. It wasn't until they tracked to a creek that they completely lost track of the enemy.
The county captain sent people across the creek and searched everywhere but found no trace of the enemy. After thinking carefully, he finally realized it. He knew that after the Japanese troops entered the creek, in order to hide their traces, they must have walked along the stream. The stream covered their footprints, and they were able to temporarily escape the tracking of the county brigade.
The county brigade captain could not tell whether the Japanese troops went upstream or downstream, so he simply divided his troops into two groups and searched upstream and downstream along both sides of the stream.
Hirata Hiroshi is very cunning. He also knows that many of the areas the advance team passed through are soft fields, making it difficult to cover up his traces. If the bodies of Tian Guifen and his wife were discovered, the enemy would definitely search everywhere and inevitably find the traces they left behind.
So, after arriving at the stream, he led the advancing team downstream. Even so, he was still worried. When the advancing team traveled about 1 kilometer downstream, they reached the other side.
At this time, they were not far from the hilly area ahead, so he left two soldiers behind and hid not far from the river to see if any enemy troops were catching up.
Hirata Hiroshi had people leave marks on the road so that the two soldiers could follow the marks to catch up with the advancing team in the future.
The county brigade leader led people to search both sides of the river. When some team members traveled 1 kilometer downstream, they finally found traces of the Japanese army. The Japanese army was heading towards the hills.
He could now basically conclude that the Japanese army was hiding in the hilly area ahead.
The captain wanted to take his troops into the mountains to search immediately, but now he brought less than 200 people. Judging from the footprints on the road, the number of Japanese troops was probably no less than 200. Judging from the combat effectiveness of the county brigade, it should not be the Japanese army. opponent.
He did not dare to move forward rashly, and immediately sent a telegram to the military division headquarters to report the situation here. At the same time, they slowly followed the tracks left by the enemy. Along the way they were very careful to avoid enemy ambush.
The two Japanese soldiers left by Hirata Hiroshi saw the members of the county brigade searching on both sides of the road, and they could conclude that the whereabouts of the advancing team must have been discovered by the enemy. When they saw the members of the county brigade stopped and gathered around the stream to search, they concluded that the enemy must know the whereabouts of the supporting troops.
The two of them immediately evacuated, went into the mountains to track the advancing team, and wanted to report the information that had been discovered by the enemy to Hirata Hiroshi.
It was daytime at this time, and although the two Japanese soldiers were far away from the stream, their figures were still discovered by the people from the county brigade.
When the captain of the county brigade saw the two Japanese soldiers fleeing in that direction, he guessed that they were surveillance posts left by the enemy.
He hoped to catch up with these two guys and prevent them from reporting to the Japanese army in the mountains. So he took the members of the county brigade and chased him.
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There are two horses in the county brigade, one belongs to the brigade captain and the other belongs to the correspondent. In order to catch up with the two Japanese soldiers as soon as possible, the captain and the correspondent directly rode towards the two Japanese soldiers.
The Japanese soldiers are well-trained and have a tenacious will to fight. They saw someone chasing them on horseback, and knew that if they both ran away at the same time, neither of them would be able to escape. One soldier took the initiative to stay. He was determined to sacrifice himself and cover another Japanese soldier who went into the mountain to report the news.
He lay on the ground and took aim at the county captain who was rushing over.
The county brigade captain and the correspondent didn't know which one of them he was targeting, so they both leaned on their horses to minimize the enemy's shooting target.
The war horses were galloping and jumping, and the people on the horses kept shaking with the horses. The Japanese army could not accurately aim at the riders on the horses. He simply aimed at the county captain's horse and fired.
The bullet struck the horse in the chest. The war horse neighed, stood up, and then fell to the ground, knocking off the county captain. One of the county captain's thighs was still pressed under the horse's body.
The correspondent glanced at the captain and saw that there was no big problem, so he ignored him and rushed towards the Japanese on horseback.
The Japs fired another shot at the correspondent. At this time, the distance between the two was relatively close. The Japs were a little panicked and the shot missed.
Taking advantage of the opportunity for the Japanese soldiers to reload their bullets, the correspondent held the shell gun and pulled the trigger at the Japanese soldiers. A row of bullets swept past, and the Japanese soldiers were shot in the shoulder.
He gritted his teeth and fired another shot at the correspondent. Since he was already wounded, the shot missed even further.
Taking advantage of this time, the communicator had already arrived in front of him on flying horse. The correspondent could have killed the Japs with one shot at this time, but he thought that the Japs should be captured alive and learn from his mouth the situation of this enemy army disguised as the Eighth Route Army.
So he flew off his horse and pounced on the Japanese, trying to subdue him and capture him alive.
The Japanese were extremely brave. Although he was injured, he still struggled with the correspondent with all his strength.
After the Japanese struggled for a while, his strength was gradually weakened by the wounds, and he was about to be held down by the communicator.
He struggled hard with all his strength, brought his head close to the correspondent's head, and bit the correspondent's ear.
The correspondent screamed loudly in pain, but he also knew that he must not let go at this time. He ignored the pain in his ears and still hugged the Japanese tightly.
Soon after, the members of the county brigade finally caught up and subdued the Japanese.
However, the correspondent's ear had been bitten off by the Japanese. His face was pale from the pain, and there were big beads of sweat on his forehead. He covered his ears with his hands and angrily kicked the Japanese with his feet to express his anger.
Seeing this scene, the hygienist hurriedly bandaged his wound. Soon after, the captain was also helped and rushed over.
When he saw the Japs caught by the correspondent, he praised the correspondent, comforted him for a few words, and then sent him back to the hospital for treatment.
No one in the county brigade could speak Japanese, and they didn't know how to interrogate the Japanese soldier after he was caught. They bandaged the Japanese soldiers' wounds, tied him up with ropes, and carried him on horseback to the county seat, where they were preparing to find someone who could understand Japanese for interrogation.
Xu Dalong, who is on the front line, is very worried about the Japanese troops who have sneaked into the base area. They are in the dark. If they are not handled well, they may cause a catastrophe. Now the base area needs commanders who are proficient in special operations to track this group of Japanese troops.
Now that the main force of the special force has arrived at the front line, Xu Dalong wants to send Monk Wei to fly back to the base. Unfortunately, the road is still blocked, and it is too late to cross the mountains and ridges.
Xu Dalong thought for a long time and remembered Li Changshui and Li Qiulin's special team under the enemy's Ministry of Industry. Although they are far away from the base, they can get to the base faster if they take a transport plane.
So he prepared to send a telegram to Li Changshui, asking him to send Li Qiulin to take a transport plane to the Mawushan base area immediately. Li Qiulin would be responsible for unified command of the search for the enemy's supporting troops.
Zhao Gang said: "There is no need, we must believe in the combat effectiveness of the anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians in the base area, and we must also believe in Gao Zhiyong's commanding ability.
A small special agent team of more than a hundred people is nothing. Even if the Japanese go to a regiment, the soldiers and civilians staying in the base area can eliminate them. "
Zhao Gang is right. The anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians in the Mawushan base area have been fighting against the Japanese for many years. Not to mention the regular troops who stayed in the base area, even the county brigade and even the militia are all good. The devils really don't take them seriously.
