Show the sword, start from the guerrillas

Chapter 232 Chapter 131, It's Hard to Fight
Dong, dong, dong... The heavy footsteps stepped on the rocks, and the sweat flew several meters away in the mountain wind, and finally fell into the grass and disappeared.

The running soldier was a scout from the 4th Battalion, responsible for observing the enemy situation on Woniu Mountain.

Just 10 minutes ago, he saw a long Japanese convoy appearing on the mountain road coming from Ping'an County, so he asked his comrades to knock down the message tree and send the message back to the main force.

Now, after 10 minutes of observation, he finally determined the approximate number of the Japs and their equipment, so he gave up observing further and decided to pass the information back.

Panting... In the scorching summer, he was running on the mountain ridge. Even with the mountain breeze, it still couldn't take away the burning heat on his body! When he finally ran to Yin Jiulang Village, panting like an ox, his comrades were already waiting for him.

"Shizhu, what's the enemy situation like? How many Japanese soldiers are there?" The anxious voice reached Shizhu's ears. Shizhu's head, which had been a little confused due to running too fast, finally became a little clearer.

"The Japanese have more than 1600 people, with about a hundred puppet soldiers in front and nearly a thousand puppet soldiers following behind! The Japanese have artillery, 4 mountain guns, and 6 infantry guns! Quick, go tell the battalion commander!" Shi Zhu said as he handed a piece of paper with intelligence written in pencil to his comrade. Before handing it to his comrade, he deliberately glanced at the paper, thankful that it was not soaked by sweat.

"Okay, you take a rest and drink some water first, I'll go first!" The soldier who spoke took a look at the intelligence, carefully put it into a small cloth bag tied with a rope, then picked it up in his hand and ran away.

A piece of intelligence containing the number and equipment of the Japanese was passed back to the headquarters of the 4th Battalion in Jigongling by the soldiers one station at a time in a relay manner.

"So many devils are coming at once?" Captain Fan stood up after reading the intelligence and exclaimed, "Hurry up, call the replacement battalion and the guerrillas and tell them..."

Soon, the phone call was made to Liangjia Village and Tianjia Village, letting both sides know the general strength and equipment of the Japanese. Then, the 4th Battalion made a special call to the independent detachment to let the brigade commander who was still in the independent detachment know the movements of the Japanese. This is very important. The brigade has a radio station that can contact several main regiments. Knowing this situation, they can mobilize troops at any time.

Bang... In the temporary joint command post of the independent detachment and the 386th Brigade, the brigade commander slammed the table and said, "The last thing I wanted to see has finally happened! The Japs have gone to the direction of Jigongling. Liangjia Village is in danger!"

"What should we do? Although there is only one battalion of Japanese soldiers going this time, they have artillery with them, and they are the main force of the Sakata Regiment! It will be difficult to fight them..." said Captain Qin.

"What should we do?" The brigade commander's mouth twitched slightly, and then he smiled bitterly and said, "What else can we do? The New 1st Regiment and the Independent Regiment have already transferred two battalions of the Sakata Regiment, and they also ambushed the Sakata Regiment before, causing hundreds of casualties. Therefore, these two regiments are unable to provide assistance to Liangjia Village. Moreover, they have to get rid of the pursuit of the devils, and it would be great if they can avoid being caught up."

"The only one I can mobilize is the 772nd Regiment... Let's do this, signalman, call Liangjia Village and the 4th Battalion of the New 4st Regiment, and tell them to contain Sakata's attack as much as possible while ensuring their strength! Tell them to move to Tianjiazhai immediately if casualties exceed %. Then, fight in the tunnels of Tianjiazhai! One more thing, if you find a trend of being surrounded, break out immediately!"

"After delivering the order to the 4th Battalion, call the Liangjia Village guerrillas and ask them to use the fortifications inside and outside the village, on the ground and underground, to try to delay the enemy! Without orders, fight to the end!"

"Give the 772nd Regiment an order to immediately withdraw from the vicinity of Nanguan and assemble in the direction of Ping'an County overnight! Tell them to get to the vicinity of Ping'an County within two days, and then hit the Sakata Regiment hard from behind! Well, send another telegram to Li Yunlong to tell him the current situation, telling him not to return to Tianjiazhai and take the devils for a stroll in the mountains!" After the brigade commander finished speaking to the signalman, he turned to Captain Qin and said, "Originally, our plan was to use the 772nd Regiment and your 2nd Battalion to jointly attack the Nanguan stronghold. This time, we can only let the supplementary regiment help you!"

"Haha, it's okay! It's true that you are the main brigade, and our independent detachment has also been developing for more than a year, and we are still okay! So, don't worry about us!" said Captain Qin.

"Well, what we can do is to try not to make mistakes and use the existing forces to deal with the devils. Then, choose a suitable time and concentrate our forces to attack them! At least so far, we have gained the upper hand in the battle! By the way, send a telegram to the headquarters to inform them. Maybe the headquarters will transfer other troops!"

After the brigade commander finished speaking, he went to the communications squad to send a telegram. However, Captain Qin was still sitting at the table, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan, looking like he had everything under control.

Jigongling, the main force of the Japanese Sakata Regiment finally arrived here after several hours of marching. At this time, the sky was getting dark, the sun was setting in the west, and its height just blocked the direction of the Japanese army.

"Yo, the Eighth Route Army is still here!" On the top of Mianyang Mountain, two kilometers away from Jigongling, Sakata Nobutsu put down the telescope and said with satisfaction.

"So, can our team attack now?" asked the regiment adjutant who had been following him.

"Well, that's all. Let the squadron of the Imperial Army attack and test the firepower of the Eighth Route Army! Let the artillery observer follow up to understand the firepower deployment of the Eighth Route Army. Let the signalman immediately build a telephone line. Make sure my orders can be transmitted to the front line and the artillery observer can pass the orders back to the artillery position!"

Sakata finished speaking, then pointed at the sun behind him and said, "Look back, the sun is right behind us, in front of the Eighth Route Army! At this height, it shines right into the eyes of the Eighth Route Army, causing pain in their eyes and causing glare on the sight, thus affecting their shooting accuracy!"

"There is a book in China called Mencius, which contains a very reasonable statement: the weather is not as important as the location, and the location is not as important as the people! And now, we have the weather, the location, and the people! Therefore, we will definitely win this battle!"

"Ha Yi, the captain is right. We will definitely win this battle and wipe the surrounding villages off the map!" the adjutant said quickly.

"Yoshi, you understand me!" said Nobutsu Sakata.

While Nobutsu Sakata was talking, the Japanese signalman quickly extended the telephone line to the front line, and the artillerymen lowered the artillery from the tractor and set up the artillery positions on the spot.

On Jigong Ridge, Battalion Commander Fan, facing the sun, looked at the Japanese puppet soldiers busying themselves there, and couldn't help but say: "This battle is not easy to fight... But, so what?"

(End of this chapter)