under fire

The whereabouts of the 9th Battalion were not discovered by the pursuing Japanese, not because the confidentiality work was done well, but because most of the channels for the Japanese to obtain information were cut off through division.

So far, the Japanese still have not paid enough attention to the elusive Ninth Battalion.

Because the devils think they are invincible...

"…The security forces in the base said that a group of Eighth Route Army secretly swam across the canal last night…"

"Report, headquarters called, the air force launched an attack on the Eighth Route Army in the southwest, killing nearly 100 of them."

"Report, the detective team has sent a message saying that a group of Eighth Route Army attacked the security forces about 30 miles to the east."

"Report, a villager reported that a group of Eighth Route Army soldiers fled south along the canal."

"."

News continued to arrive and was summarized by the major who pursued the enemy to the Donggu Ferry stronghold on the canal.

The major looked at the map with a dark face.

The assistant kept marking on the map, chattering non-stop: "Based on the information collected so far, we can preliminarily judge that the target has split up several times. One part attacked the security forces thirty miles to the east, another part crossed the canal to the west and was attacked by the air force, causing nearly half of the casualties. Another small part fled to the south..."

"How many troops are there in the Eighth Route Army attacking the Security Army in the east?"

"More than a hundred, probably a company," the assistant said helplessly. No one knew how much of the information sent by the detective team was false.

The lieutenant standing on the other side of the map complained: "From yesterday to today, we have been running for a whole day, and the Eighth Route Army actually fought with the Imperial Army in the area we just swept. If we had known earlier, we should have left some troops in the east to wait and see."

"The combat effectiveness of the Security Army is not bad. Those who dare to attack them must be the main force of the Eighth Route Army!" the assistant muttered.

The lieutenant shook his head: "The group of Eighth Route Army soldiers in the east should be someone else, not the group of Eighth Route Army soldiers we are chasing..."

"They must have discovered that we were chasing this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers and attacked the security forces in an attempt to disrupt our sight!"

"The most urgent task is to find out which group is the main force of the Eighth Route Army!"

This group... that group, the lieutenant was confused and interrupted: "Your Excellency is wise, this group of Eighth Route Army has the ability to fight a positional battle with the Imperial Army. Although they set up false formations on the way to pursue us, they don't know that we have military dogs with us."

The assistant looked at the idiot's meaningless speech. The next battle depended on them. It was not easy to scold him at this time. He could only roll his eyes and nod: "You are right, they will definitely not be able to escape this time!"

The lieutenant continued to talk nonsense: "This group of Eighth Route Army soldiers can really run. They ran nearly a hundred miles in one night."

The radio operator suddenly ran over and said, "Report, a squad of the Imperial Army led a battalion of Guantao Guards and received an order from the commander to move in and encircle and wipe out the Eighth Route Army that crossed the river and headed west. They were ambushed just five miles out of the city and have been confirmed to be completely wiped out."

The major stood up suddenly.

A small team plus a battalion...annihilated?

It must be the main force of the Eighth Route Army!

He came to the embankment on the east bank of the canal, held his command knife in both hands and looked west.

His eyes were fixed on the ferry that had just been hastily dispatched. His elite men were boarding the boat and heading west across the river.

I suddenly felt a little uneasy...

I always feel like something is wrong...

The air force killed nearly a hundred people, and they still dared to look for trouble with the Imperial Army Guard?

Next to the major, several Japanese soldiers on guard were whispering.

"I have a feeling that there seems to be something wrong with these Imperial Army bases."

"What is the problem?"

“The way they looked at us seemed too enthusiastic.”

"What's the problem? It means they are slowly succumbing to the prestige of the Imperial Army."

"Well, I mean, although they are enthusiastic, they are not like the other imperial army who fawn on us like dogs."

"What do you mean?"

"From what I see, they don't seem to be the Imperial Army at all, but more like the Eighth Route Army."

"Are you scared by the ambush by the Eighth Route Army?"

"You're talking nonsense. From last night to today, I have always been at the forefront when chasing the Eighth Route Army. Do you dare to say that I'm afraid?"

"Charging ahead? We chased them last night and fought for half the night, but we didn't even see a single Eighth Route Army soldier."

"you"

Another corporal next to him sneered: "Do you know what it means to see enemies everywhere?" The major who was looking west suddenly turned his head.

The three Japanese guards quickly shut up.

The major directly asked his assistant: "Which troops are nearby that are sweeping the west bank of the canal?"

"The closest ones are Dashi Xiong Erlang's troops. They have just recaptured Qinghe County and should be carrying out a public security cleanup near the county." The assistant hesitated and said, "Dashi's troops were ambushed by the Eighth Route Army some time ago and suffered heavy losses. It is estimated that it will be difficult to spare any manpower."

"Who are the nearest security forces?"

"About 50 miles southwest of Guantao is the headquarters of the Alliance Autonomous Army. The closest is the Jianye Division of the First Brigade, which is about miles away. A little further is the Second Brigade, Chengqian, and the Third Brigade, Daohe..."

"Send a telegram to the headquarters immediately and order the Autonomous Army to send at least two regiments of troops to reinforce the west immediately!"

The assistant quickly asked the radio operator to draft a message: "Send a message to the headquarters immediately, requesting the headquarters to issue an order to the East Asian Allied Forces: Gather the two regiments closest to here and set out immediately to encircle and suppress the group of Eighth Route Army remnants that attacked the Guantao Imperial Army and the Guard!"

In the assistant's opinion, attacking a squad of Imperial Army troops and a battalion of security forces would definitely cause heavy casualties to the Eighth Route Army!

"This time, let's see where you can run!" The lieutenant next to him grinned. The west of the canal was too far, and he had his eyes on the group of Eighth Route Army running south.

With a military dog ​​leading the way, no matter how the Eighth Route Army goes around in circles, it is a road to death...

The Allied Forces Headquarters’ headquarters in Wei County is not far from Guantao.

The junction of two counties.

A small village that looks deserted is actually crammed with nearly a thousand people.

In a dilapidated courtyard in the village.

More than a dozen middle-aged people were crowded around two tables put together for a meeting.

The front-line commander said solemnly: "The following information is top secret.

Commander Wang of the East Asian Allied Forces is our friend. In recent years, he has provided a large amount of supplies, guns and ammunition to the mountains.

The Japanese discovered through spies planted in the mountains that the Autonomous Army was suspected of collaborating with the Eighth Route Army. In order to protect Commander Wang from being exposed, Li Chenghua, commander of the First Brigade of the Autonomous Army, took the initiative to admit that these supplies were provided by the First Brigade, and was later killed by the Japanese.

Since the reorganization of the 1st Brigade, the diehard traitor Shi Jianye has been appointed as the brigade commander, Cheng Haibo as the 1st regiment commander, and Cheng Haibo... is one of ours.

The commander of the Second Brigade is Cheng Qian, and the regiment leaders are Cheng Kun and Guo Dehui.

The brigade commander of the 3rd Brigade was Cheng Daohe, and the regiment commanders were Cheng Xinghua and Cheng Daosheng.

The commander of the 4th Brigade is Yang Faxian, and the regiment leaders are Wang Wenxiang and Lu Jingwen.

At present, almost all military power of the Allied Forces is in the hands of die-hard traitors, and the Second, Third and Fourth Brigades are all very close to the reactionaries.

Our mission this time is to defeat the 234th Brigade and allow Commander Wang to smoothly take control of the entire Autonomous Army."

A middle-aged man stood up and said, "Let me emphasize that if we win this battle, the Eighth Route Army can control the East Asian Alliance Autonomous Army through Commander Wang, and thus establish a base in Hebei, Shandong and Henan. We may even have a chance to split the devils in North China in two! At the same time, we will foil the devils' plan to attack Chongqing."

A regiment commander who was attending the meeting suddenly stood up and said, "There is one thing I don't quite understand. The reactionaries are currently trying to attack northern Shaanxi, but we are going to help them hold back the Japanese and prevent them from attacking Chongqing?"

The middle-aged man looked around and pointed at the map: "Comrades, I know what you are thinking, but we party members have to see the overall situation. Friction with the reactionaries is an internal contradiction. The superiors have already transferred more than a dozen main regiments to the west, and have exposed Chongqing's conspiracy to sabotage the war of resistance. At present, Hu Zongnan has withdrawn his troops. Our current task is: we must not let the Japanese succeed in their conspiracy to attack Xi'an from the west and then threaten Chongqing from the south!"

"The dozen or so regiments we have assembled now are almost all the troops left by the main force of the Eighth Route Army in Hebei, Shandong and Henan. If something unexpected happens, we will no longer have the capital to fight the devils on a large scale behind enemy lines!"

"The international situation is favorable to us. Haven't you noticed that the number of Japanese soldiers is decreasing?"

"That's true. The number of puppet troops in the enemy-occupied areas far exceeds that of the Japanese..."

"Report. Emergency!" A communicator rushed into the conference compound.

The commander of the front line took the letter with chicken feathers stuck on it, tore out the note and took a look at it, then flew into a rage: "Hurry up and find out who attacked the Guantao garrison!"

The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment: "Guantao was assigned to the third division of Hebei, Shandong and Henan. They developed a base in this area."

"That's just nonsense. The Guantao Guard has always been our target!"

The commander of the Third Division who was attending the meeting quickly stood up and explained: "The Security Division not only surrendered to the devils openly, but also cooperated with the reactionaries in secret. Moreover, after the devils swept the Eighth Route Army headquarters last year, these bad guys who sold their country for fame and fortune kept hunting down our underground comrades and beating them... I think it's right!"

The middle-aged man followed up with his advice: "No matter which team attacked the guards, they didn't know that we were about to launch an attack on the allied forces, so this can't be blamed on them."

The commander of the Third Division looked at the middle-aged man with gratitude and said, "I think that their chaotic fighting not only disrupted the Japanese puppet army's autumn sweep plan, but also tied down a large number of enemy forces, which is good for the upcoming battle."

The frontline commander stared at the division commander and said, "Then tell me, who did it?"

"I really don't know about this..." the division commander said truthfully. (End of this chapter)