The enemy cavalry in the encirclement fled in all directions, hoping to break through the Eighth Route Army's encirclement, but they were all beaten back by fierce firepower.
When the encirclement was completely formed and no gaps were left, Sun Desheng ordered the attack to be stopped to avoid unnecessary casualties caused by chaos and causing the enemy to take advantage of the chaos to escape.
King De knew that he could not escape, so he thought of asking Fan Zhao for reinforcements.
Fan Zhao didn't bother to pay attention to him at all. In addition, he was now facing pressure from the Eighth Route Army and could not protect himself, so he didn't even bother to reply to him a telegram.
At dawn, Sun Desheng commanded the Eighth Route Army troops to slowly narrow the encirclement, gradually compressing King De and his men into a small area.
Knowing that the situation was over, King De finally chose to surrender to the Eighth Route Army. In this way, King De's decades-long rule over this grassland was completely ended.
King De still had great influence on the grasslands, so Xu Dalong gave him a chance to make atonement by making meritorious service and asking him to lead the Eighth Route Army troops to persuade other Mongolian tribes to surrender. In order to make atonement for his crimes, King De worked very hard. With his efforts, he won more than 20 small tribes to surrender to the Eighth Route Army.
The few Mongolian tribes that refused to surrender were wiped out, and only a small number of Mongolian cavalry fled to Baotou.
After the first phase of the battle, the coalition troops killed, wounded and captured more than 46,000 enemy soldiers, and won 70,000 Mongolian cavalry to surrender to the Eighth Route Army.
Through mobilization, Xu Dalong secured more than 30,000 Mongolian cavalry to cooperate with the Eighth Route Army.
After cutting off the wings of the Japanese army, Xu Dalong led the reinforcements to Baotou, preparing for a decisive battle with the Chahar dispatched troops.
The troops that Fan Zhao could mobilize were only two cavalry brigades, with a total strength of more than 15,000 people, and some local garrison troops of more than 5,000 people, plus a small number of Mongolian cavalry.
He knew very well that he was no match for Xu Dalong. In order to preserve his strength, he sent a telegram to the North China Front, requesting that Baotou be abandoned. After the telegram was sent, he waited for the response from the North China Front.
However, he waited for a day and did not receive a reply. When he received a report that the forward of the Eighth Route Army was approaching Baotou, he made up his mind and no longer waited for a reply from the North China Front Army, and fled directly towards Chifeng with his troops.
This move was beyond Xu Dalong's expectation, because the little devil had always been very tough, so he never thought that Fan Zhao would be so cowardly.
Xu Dalong immediately ordered the troops to march quickly to catch up and intercept the fleeing enemy troops. However, the enemy's cavalry ran too fast, and the coalition forces did not catch up. They only intercepted all the infantry and the Japanese and puppet personnel who fled with them.
These Japanese and puppet troops were surrounded on a grassland, and Xu Dalong just happened to test the actual combat effectiveness of the two rocket launchers they brought.
The two rocket launcher trucks fired four rounds of rockets respectively. The powerful power made the officers and soldiers of the coalition forces applaud. However, the Japanese and puppet personnel were directly stunned. Most of them chose to surrender directly. A small number of those who resisted stubbornly The Japanese army suffered another round of rocket bombardment and was immediately wiped out.
The coalition forces quickly occupied Baotou. After General Fu learned the news, he was very happy. He made a request to Xu Dalong, hoping to return Baotou to him. After all, he used to be Zhu Xi of Suiyuan Province, and this is his hometown. , being able to return here is his biggest wish.
Xu Dalong understood his mood and sent a telegram to the commander, hoping that his superiors would agree to General Fu's request. He believed that this would enhance unity with friendly forces and be conducive to the overall situation of the war of resistance.
Si Ling had always supported Xu Dalong. He agreed with Xu Dalong's opinion and reported to his superiors. In the end, the superiors adopted Si Ling's suggestion and returned Baotou to General Fu.
General Fu was very happy and personally led his troops to take over Baotou, and sent troops to various places in Chahar to restore his rule over Chahar.
Of course, he would not treat Xu Dalong badly and provided Xu Dalong with a large amount of funds and a large number of war horses.
Sun Desheng has always been worried about leaving a large number of war horses outside the pass. This time he came to Chahar just for the war horses. He didn't have much ambition at first. He only hoped to restore the original number of horses in the cavalry brigade.
But what he was worried about now was not that he couldn't get it, but that he was a little overwhelmed because there were too many captured horses.
In the battle against various Mongolian tribes, the coalition forces captured more than 30,000 war horses, and countless other untrained horses.
General Fu also agreed to provide no more than 100,000 horses, and Xu Dalong could choose as he pleased. The Eighth Route Army simply couldn't digest so many horses. The hinterland was no better than the grasslands and didn't have such good grazing conditions. There were too many horses and they simply couldn't afford them.
In the end, Sun Desheng brought back 14,000 horses, of which 5,000 were kept by the Mawushan Military Division, and the remaining horses were distributed to the Daqingshan Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Column and other units of the Eighth Route Army. Xu Dalong originally lent Chu Yunfei 500 horses, but this time he returned 1,000 horses.
With Xu Dalong's help, Chahar's underground party organization also formed a 15,000-man cavalry unit.
In short, this time when he entered Chahar, Xu Dalong won a great victory and once again won the Red Star Medal, the Eighth Route Army's highest honor.
Xu Dalong's dormitory was similar to the dormitories of other Eighth Route Army cadres. There was not much furniture and it looked empty. There is a large wooden box in the corner, and a smaller box is placed next to the wooden box. This wooden box is made of sandalwood, antique and looks very expensive. This is an old object. It was Lin Xueying's mother's dowry back then, and now it was given to Lin Xueying.
Lin Xueying cherished this box very much. All the medals placed in this box were medals obtained by Xu Dalong. Even Xu Dalong couldn't remember how many medals there were.
At this moment, Lin Xueying opened the box and put the Red Star Medal she had just received inside. She stared at these medals, knowing that these medals embody Xu Dalong's hard work and record his contribution to the anti-Japanese war.
After a long time, she carefully closed the lid of the box and covered it with a red cloth to prevent dust.
She sat on a chair, holding her cheeks in her hands, thinking silently about her own thoughts, with a hint of resentment in her eyes.
Xu Dalong is a capable man, and those who are capable work hard. Lin Xueying doesn't have much objection, but Xu Dalong often goes out on missions and stays for a long time, leaving her alone to guard the empty room, which makes her feel lonely and unbearable, and she has to worry about him all the time.
It's really hard to spend this kind of day. Lin Xueying now misses the time when she was not married to Xu Dalong. Even though Xu Dalong often went out at that time, she could always be by his side. Later, her position was promoted and she served as the director of the confidential office of the Mawushan Military Division. This job required guarding every day, and she was unable to act together with Xu Dalong.
Xu Dalong came back this time and said that he would accompany Lin Xueying well to make up for her waiting for him. However, Xu Dalong had just returned to the base area for a day when he received a telegram from the military district, asking him to report to the military district headquarters.
Lin Xueying had a premonition that Xu Dalong might have to go out on a mission again, which made her feel a little sad.
Xu Dalong really didn't plan to go out after returning to Suiyuan this time. He wanted to devote his energy to his own work in the Mawushan base area and spend time with his lover.
Unfortunately, his superiors did not give him this opportunity. A telegram was sent, and Xu Dalong got on the transport plane and reported to the military region headquarters.
The person who received Xu Dalong was Li Changshui. He told Xu Dalong that the commander and the chief of staff should attend an important meeting, and asked Xu Dalong to stay at the military region headquarters on standby.
Xu Dalong asked: "Minister Li, can you tell me what task my superiors are going to give me?"
Li Changshui shook his head and said, "I don't know. Commander Sir asked me to accompany you before he left. We will wait until he comes back to tell us everything."
Xu Dalong thought about various possible surnames, but there was too little information for reference, and he couldn't think of what tasks he would be asked to perform.
Since he couldn't figure it out, he didn't bother to think about it anymore. He thought that since he had nothing to do, he might as well go to the logistics department and go to the arsenal with Zhang Wanhe.
After Xu Dalong proposed this idea, he was dissuaded by Li Changshui.
He said: "Commander Sling told you to wait here. He will be back soon."
Xu Dalong had no choice but to ask Li Changshui to help him find a book to pass the time.
Commander Si Ling and the Chief of Staff did not make Xu Dalong wait any longer, and came back at 5 o'clock in the afternoon.
After washing and resting for a while, he sent someone to notify Xu Dalong to have dinner with them.
They did not go to the canteen, but simply cooked a few dishes in Member Sling's room.
They did not drink or talk about the next tasks. Instead, they asked Xu Dalong to briefly report on his previous work.
Both the commander and the chief of staff spoke highly of Xu Dalong's achievements.
After eating, Commander Siring, Chief of Staff, Xu Dalong and Li Changshui came to Commander Siring's office.
Mr. Si Ling has the habit of drinking tea. When Xu Dalong came to his place before, he would definitely serve him with good tea. But this time, Commander Sling directly asked the orderly who came to make tea to go out, and his face looked a little gloomy.
Xu Dalong looked at the chief of staff again and found that his face also looked a little bad. He realized that something must have happened, and it must not be good news.
The commander was silent for a long time, and then he told not one, but two bad news.
The first bad news came from outside the customs. After the underground party organization outside the customs took over the Songshan guerrillas, they reorganized the Songshan guerrillas, with Su Zhenning as the column leader, Guan Zhenshan as the deputy column leader, the underground party leader as the column's Zheng committee member, and Gao Zhiyong as the deputy Zheng committee member. The main force of the guerrillas in the Songshan base area was organized into three detachments, and the special detachment near the border was organized into the fourth detachment.
At the beginning, their work was carried out very effectively. The attack launched by the Kwantung Army was repelled and certain results were achieved.
However, the Kwantung Army mobilized heavy troops and besieged the Songshan guerrillas and the Fourth Detachment on the border. As a result, the Songshan Guerrilla Column suffered heavy losses. The Fourth Detachment only had a small number of troops and relied on the secret camp in the mountains to persist in fighting. . The main force of the fourth detachment once again withdrew from the country, and most of the base areas developed by the Songshan guerrillas were lost. The main force of the Songshan guerrillas also had to retreat into the pass.
The worse news is that Gao Zhiyong was attacked by the enemy while commanding the troops to retreat and died heroically for his country.
Hearing the news, Xu Dalong felt extremely sad and couldn't help but shed tears.
Gao Zhiyong is Xu Dalong's old comrade-in-arms. He is young and vigorous, has a cheerful and unrestrained personality, works hard and does not complain, and treats others with enthusiasm and sincerity. He is Xu Dalong's very good friend. Unexpectedly, since we said goodbye outside the customs, it would become an eternal farewell.
The atmosphere in the office was extremely dull. After all, Xu Dalong is a responsible commander and cannot be immersed in his own emotions.
He knew that when his superiors called him here, there must be an important task assigned to him, so he quickly wiped away his tears and regained his composure.
He asked: "Commander Sling, what is the mission? Please give me instructions."
Commander Sir did not speak and nodded towards Li Changshui.
Li Changshui also had a serious look on his face. He said: "I just received a telegram from northern Shaanxi. It was sent by the former person in charge of the Chongqing office. He has changed the password there, so he cannot contact you directly. He A task was assigned.”
Li Changshui told Xu Dalong in detail the tasks assigned by the person in charge.
It turned out that when the Chongqing office was evacuated, the person in charge left a secret liaison group in Chongqing. This group is mainly responsible for the united front work of the Sichuan Army. It is an independent working group in parallel with the Chongqing underground party. Up to now, the superiors had lost contact with them for two days, and the telegrams they sent out were like mud in the sea.
The work of this group has been carried out very effectively and is very important to the underground party.
The person in charge appointed Xu Dalong to find out the situation of this group. If danger is already encountered, let him try to organize a rescue.
After Xu Dalong heard this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly. To be honest, these two things are not what he is good at. Xu Dalong was not familiar with Chongqing and knew nothing about this working group. Moreover, Xu Dalong has just returned from Chongqing. If he is allowed to return to Chongqing, it will definitely arouse the vigilance of the military and central commanders, and it is very likely that he will be assassinated.
Xu Dalong was not afraid of danger, but he was not good at underground work and felt like he had no idea where to start.
What troubled Xu Dalong about the matter outside the customs was not how to fight, but that the relationships within the Songshan guerrilla column were too complicated, and the person in charge of the underground party was not very expert in military work. Xu Dalong also has no decision-making power on major issues, and his actions will be restricted. In this case, he also found it very difficult to deal with the powerful Kwantung Army.
Xu Dalong spoke frankly about his thoughts and clearly stated that he felt powerless. But he said that no matter what decision the organization made, he would resolutely obey it.
(End of chapter)
