Show the sword, start from the guerrillas

In the high ground northwest of Yangyi Town, in the west of Wu'an, the Japanese were leading the puppet army to attack. They went up along the valley of Nanming River, attacking one village and one hilltop at a time, with the goal of naturally encircling Matian.

Just when the Japanese attacked Guantao Township, the main forces of the independent regiment and the new regiment, which had just fought an annihilation battle in Songyan Town, rushed to Baicaoping in the north with some baggage at a rapid march. Then, Li Yunlong shouted in a loud voice, arrogant and insolent!
"Li Yunlong, you are so arrogant..." A calm and steady voice sounded from behind Li Yunlong, which made Li Yunlong shudder.

"Hello, Commander... ×2!" Li Yunlong and Ding Wei quickly raised their hands to salute. There was nothing they could do, as the person who was speaking was their own commander, looking at them through the lenses with an intimidating look.

"Well, that's good. You two come with me!" The division commander looked at the two of them, then looked at the excited soldiers around him, waved his hand, and took the two of them towards the village in the west.

"Sit down, everyone!" In a house in the village, the commander said in a gentle tone to the two regiment leaders who were standing like good boys.

"Yes, Commander!" Li Yunlong and Ding Wei answered in unison, then sat upright on the stool, waiting for the commander to assign them tasks.

"Because we are short of troops, and the Japanese have also launched an attack on the Pingshun area in the south, so the only ones who are blocking the Japanese are the 1st Regiment of the Third District Local Regiment and the Wuxi Guerrilla Brigade! Comrades, we have been fighting against the Japanese in every village and every hilltop, and we have suffered heavy casualties. We can't hold on any longer!"

"I have only brought some troops directly under the division. Our manpower is limited, and we also have to support the battle in Matan to the west. We cannot guarantee safety along the way! Look..." The division commander took out a map and pointed, saying, "This is Baicaoping where we are. Go north along the river valley, pass Chaoyanggou, and you will find our Naogou Arsenal, which is 20 miles away from us!"

"More than ten miles northwest of here is Shizilin Village, which is the retreat passage for our headquarters! Although the headquarters has not retreated yet, this is our retreat route. We must not let the Japanese get through, not even a single squad! We can't let the Japanese get through Shizilin, and we can't let the Japanese get through the Naogou Arsenal. What do you think we should do?" After the division commander finished speaking, he looked at Ding Wei and Li Yunlong.

"Division Commander, there is nothing to say. Our independent regiment will be stationed on the Baicaoping. No matter how many Japanese soldiers come, our independent regiment will never retreat a single step! If a Japanese soldier sends a battalion, we will fight a battalion; if a regiment comes, we will fight a regiment; if a brigade comes, even if we fight to the last one, we will not let a single Japanese soldier go! Unless, we are all dead!" Li Yunlong expressed his position immediately.

"And there is our New 10st Regiment! I can't say anything else, but as long as the size of the Japanese does not exceed a regiment, we can hold off their attack for at least days! If the size of the Japanese does not exceed a battalion, Lao Li and I can turn around and annihilate them!" Ding Wei's words were full of momentum, and of course, he had the confidence to say this.

"Division Commander..." After expressing his opinion, Li Yunlong asked in a low voice, "How many Japanese puppet troops are there on the other side of us? Do you have a count?"

"We are across from each other..." The division commander did not say anything, but directly threw a document to the two men for them to read. "Only two battalions of Japanese? Are they from the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade? And another battalion of the Imperial Army? Why don't they stay in Handan City and come here to die?" Ding Wei said.

"No problem, division commander. These devils are handed over to our independent regiment! Lao Ding, you guys just lie in ambush in the northern ravine and serve as our reserve. Our independent regiment will guard the northern mountain. Let's see if they dare to come over. No matter how many come, I, Li, will destroy them all!" Li Yunlong directly assigned the task to himself.

“Ahem…” The division commander coughed and said, “I’ll leave this to you two. 5 kilometers north and 5 kilometers northwest of Baicaoping is your combat zone! I don’t care how you fight, but the requirement is what I just said, you must not let a single devil get away! Well, Li Yunlong, you will be the main force this time!”

After the division commander finished speaking, he stood up and walked outside, saying as he walked: "The headquarters artillery regiment supported one platoon of yours, and later gave you another platoon, which means six 6mm heavy mortars! I won't treat you unfairly, the division artillery regiment will allocate a heavy mortar company to you, and give you 120 heavy mortars, and each gun will come with 15 shells! The shells are extra, and the ones you already have don't count!"

"With these heavy weapons, I think your next battle will be much easier! Okay, I'll go to Matan to provide support, you two can discuss it! I've left a communications squad and a reconnaissance company for you, responsible for delivering intelligence and news to you! Officer Sun from the division headquarters will stay and tell you the most detailed situation!"

The division commander left in a hurry because the Japanese were still attacking near Matan, and he was worried about the headquarters. Otherwise, he would not have urgently transferred the independent regiment and the new regiment here! In fact, after the independent regiment and the new regiment annihilated the Japanese in Heshun, the only Japanese facing the headquarters were those coming from Lucheng, Yuanqu, Wuxiang, and Liaoxian!
Shexian and Licheng are still in our hands, so the Japanese did not plan to attack Shexian and Licheng. Instead, they went in the direction of Panlong Town, intending to cross the hills on the Xijing side and go directly to Matan.

The troops guarding the west side of Xijing Town were the main force of the 385th Brigade and the Special Forces Regiment that had come to support the town. As for the headquarters artillery regiment, it was split into several companies and dispersed to various battlefields, leaving only one battalion near the headquarters as the last means of defense.

After understanding the whole situation, Li Yunlong and Ding Wei looked at each other and realized the importance of their location! This place is very important. In addition to what the division commander said before, there are also things that the division commander did not say, but they can analyze! For example, if they block this road of devils, even if the main force of thousands of devils on the west road passes Xijing Town, the headquarters will have a huge area for rotation.

If their two regiments could fight better and wipe out the Japanese here - then the entire battlefield could change from strategic defense to strategic offense, and they could even encircle and annihilate the Japanese in the west.

In fact, the pressure on the Japanese side was also very great! Especially after several attacking teams were wiped out in succession, Ningji Okamura frowned and focused his eyes on the Pingdong base and its surroundings.

Although the Japanese were destroyed around the Pingdong base, no matter how far-sighted Okamura Neiji was, he did not expect that this was actually caused by the Beishan Detachment! In Okamura's view, the Eighth Route Army must have deployed important forces in these places, which is why they achieved such results! After all, the main force of the Eighth Route Army was outside, which was in line with the Eighth Route Army's previous strategy. (End of this chapter)