Show the sword, start from the guerrillas

"We can't fire within the bombardment range. What if they run away once we fire? So we have to wait for the Japanese to get close to us before we can bite them! Comrades, let's analyze it. The Japanese are heading east. Will their next step be to pass through Baiyu Village or the back ditch in the south?" Hu Lanzhou put down the map and looked at the platoon leaders.

"Let me analyze it. The Japanese are most likely to take the road to the south because it is flatter and straighter there. When the Japanese turn to the east, they will reach the Triangle River!" said a row of Chang Fuquan.

"I agree with the first platoon leader's opinion. The Japanese will not go this way. Although it is closer, the road is not easy to walk on. I guess the Japanese would rather take ten steps than take one risky step!" said the second platoon leader Ma Quanyou.

"As for me, it doesn't matter which way the Japanese go, they will go north along the Triangle River anyway. We are in a good position, so all we have to do is block the road to the north!" said Luo Zhaodi, the third platoon leader.

"Well, even though our artillery platoon only has two mortars, if we set them up on the ridge south of the village, we can kill the Japanese no matter how they move!" said artillery platoon leader Zhao Yuanbao.

Looking at the speeches of the four platoon leaders, Hu Lanzhou and Xiao Liang looked at each other and said, "Since everyone is analyzing that the Japanese will go from the south, let's analyze it according to the Japanese route."

"The Japanese came from Shiquan and took the road to the south. They are quite far from the mountain ridge to the south of Baiyu Village. The straight-line distance is more than 800 meters, which is not suitable for us to set up an ambush! Therefore, we have two choices. One is to deploy part of the troops to the south and set up an ambush on the mountain road to the south to block the Japanese!"

"Another way is to do what the third platoon leader said, just let the Japanese go, let them turn north from the corner more than 400 meters north of the back ditch, and then enter our position. We can set up blocking positions in the east of the village to block the Japanese from going north and wait for the main force to kill them from behind. What do you think we should choose?" After Hu Lanzhou finished speaking, he looked at several platoon leaders.

"Be safe, let the Japanese move north before you attack them!" Third Platoon Leader Luo Zhaodi looked at the map, then looked up at the mountain road, and continued: "There are more than 1000 Japanese soldiers, dragging two Type infantry guns and a heavy machine gun squadron. They can't move very fast, and the team will definitely be stretched out because of the mountain road!"

"We have implemented scorched earth and cleared the fields in all the villages that the Japanese passed through. The people have either evacuated eastwards or stayed in the tunnels in the villages. In fact, there is a tunnel from Baiyu Village to Shiquan. Ahem, I'm talking too far. I mean, there are more than 1000 Japanese soldiers. If they are lined up, the length of their team must be more than 2 kilometers, right?"

"So, let the Japanese go from the south and then turn north, and we will block them on the small hill east of Baiyu Village! Judging from the length of the terrain, by then about half of the Japanese will be on the north-south mountain road, while the other half will still be heading east. This is a disjointed rhythm. And this is our chance!"

"Haha, Zhaodi is right, but we still need to consider one issue, that is Hougou Village in the south. We need to arrange some people to defend Hougou. Defending the direction of Hougou can prevent the Japanese from breaking out from the south, and can also attack the Japanese troops from different angles. But in this way, the troops stationed in Hougou may be hit hard by the Japanese! So, who of you will go?"

Hu Lanzhou looked at the three platoon leaders, waiting for them to choose their own tasks. In fact, this blocking battle, whether it is the blocking or the guarding in the back ditch, once the fight starts, no one will have an easy time! After all, with 182 people fighting against the Japanese reorganized 1100-man brigade, it is a fierce battle no matter how you look at it.

"I'll take the third platoon with me! And bring a heavy machine gun team, more bullets, and some directional mines, that's about it!" Luo Zhaodi said.

"Lao Luo, your mission is not easy. Why don't we take over? That position is right behind the enemy's waist. It's our job to poke the enemy's waist!" Fu Quan said. "Don't argue with me. When we helped here, our platoon lived in Hougou for a while. We are familiar with the place! Besides, there are tunnels there. We are the one who led the militia. It's convenient!"

"Then let the third platoon leader take the men over! Speaking of the militia along the way, we have temporarily recruited about a hundred people. Should we give them some tasks to do?" Xiao Liang asked.

"The militiamen are brought here to help us with the blocking operations! So, the third platoon leader will bring 30 militiamen to help you carry the ammunition boxes and increase your firepower!" Hu Lanzhou said.

"Okay, let's not delay any further. There is black smoke over there in Shiquan. The Japanese have burned down another village. We have to act quickly!" said Luo Zhaodi.

After the simple task was arranged, Luo Zhaodi took 45 soldiers from three rows, a 6-man heavy machine gun squad, and 30 militiamen carrying ammunition, and ran towards Hougou.

The 182-man quick reaction company originally had no heavy machine guns, or rather, the heavy machine guns had always been placed on trucks, and did not require special personnel to take care of them, only machine gunners, assistant machine gunners, and ammunition handlers were needed. This time, they only rode war horses instead of cars or motorcycles, so they reluctantly brought 4 Civilian heavy machine guns, which was already their limit.

This time, because they were afraid that the cavalry would be too big a target, the quick reaction company decisively placed their horses in a village near Shouyang, and took the second half of the journey on foot. Fortunately, they were familiar with this area, and found local militia in a village south of the railway line. They temporarily recruited more than 100 militiamen as a baggage team, which brought enough weapons and ammunition.

It can be said that for this battle, the Quick Reaction Company gave up their war horses, took on equipment, recruited militiamen, and fully utilized the experience they had gained from working here in the past.

On the hill east of Shiquan, Japanese Major Morita looked at the burning and smoking Shiquan Village with satisfaction, and the smile on his lips became a little ferocious.

"Yoshi, when facing such a disobedient Chinese village, we should burn it down completely and not let it continue to exist on our map! All right, the team speeds up and we will take a temporary rest in Baiyu Village tonight! I just hope that this time, we can capture some people in the village so that we can better understand the situation here!"

After Morita expressed his wish, he watched the Japanese soldiers at the front of the line walk far away, then he rode his horse and headed east. However, when he reached a fork in the road, Morita pointed to a lieutenant officer behind him, waved and crossed his hands, and then followed the main force to continue east.

The lieutenant he had pointed out led a temporary team of two squads of Japanese soldiers and took a small path to Baiyu Village. (End of this chapter)