Holding the original shares, they fought all the way to the Korean War!

Until the fifth day.

That afternoon.

Zhou Tianyang was discussing the integration of the guerrilla forces with Deng Chen in the lobby.

Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps came from the direction of the village gate.

"Commander!"

A sentry ran in from outside, panting and sweating.

Zhou Tianyang raised his head.

"What's wrong?"

"We arrested someone on the outskirts of the village!"

The sentry's voice carried an barely suppressed urgency.

"Near that small path in the northwest direction, they were acting suspiciously, constantly looking towards the village."

"It took us quite a while to subdue him."

Zhou Tianyang's gaze darkened slightly.

"Where is he?"

"Commander Zhao is watching from the platform outside the village gate."

Zhou Tianyang stood up and strode out of the hall.

Deng Chen followed behind him.

The two quickly walked to the platform outside the village gate.

Zhao Wenlong was already there.

A man was squatting in front of him, bound hand and foot.

The man was in his thirties, of medium build, and wearing a worn-out gray cotton-padded jacket.

It was probably left behind during the struggle when it was captured.

He kept his head down, his gaze darting away, not daring to look at the people around him.

Zhou Tianyang walked up to the man, stopped, and looked down at him.

"Where was it caught?"

"About three miles northwest of the village, in the bushes beside a small road."

Zhao Wenlong answered.

"When the sentry spotted him, he was crouching behind a bush, looking towards the village, with a piece of charcoal and a piece of paper in his hand."

Zhao Wenlong took the paper out of his pocket and handed it over.

Zhou Tianyang took it and glanced at it.

Several rough lines were drawn on the paper with charcoal pencil, which roughly showed the terrain outline around Black Cloud Village.

The location of the village gate, the road up the mountain, and the direction of the back mountain were all marked.

Although the drawing is very rough, you can tell that the person who drew it was trying their best to remember what they saw.

Zhou Tianyang put the paper away and his gaze returned to the man's face.

"Wenlong, you are in charge of the interrogation."

After he finished speaking, he turned around and took two steps into the village gate.

He stopped again, turned around, and added a sentence.

"Find out which side they are from, how many people they are, and what their purpose is."

"Yes."

Zhao Wenlong responded and waved behind him.

"Take him to that empty room on the west side."

Two soldiers stepped forward, pulled the man up from the ground, and pushed him toward the west side of the village.

Zhao Wenlong followed behind.

Zhou Tianyang stood at the entrance of the village.

Watching Zhao Wenlong lead his men to escort the stranger into the empty room on the west side.

Deng Chen stood next to him, also looking in that direction.

"Commander, who did you say it was?"

"We'll know once the trial is over."

Zhou Tianyang's tone remained calm.

But there was a subtle coldness in his eyes.

"You go ahead and get busy. We'll discuss the guerrilla situation tomorrow."

Deng Chen nodded, turned around and left.

Zhou Tianyang walked back to the hall, sat down at the table, and took a sip of water from his teacup.

His gaze fell on the map of northwestern Shanxi on the table, his mind racing.

He had already made up his mind.

Judging from the clothes and belongings on that person, he was most likely a Japanese soldier in plainclothes.

Ordinary bandits wouldn't be so interested in the terrain of Black Cloud Village, and they wouldn't specifically draw a topographical map.

The villagers wouldn't crouch in the bushes to sneak a peek towards the village, nor would they carry charcoal sticks and paper.

Only one type of person would do this.

They were there to conduct reconnaissance.

A while ago.

The recruitment teams returned one after another.

Several reports have already come in about unidentified plainclothes officers gathering information in the surrounding villages.

The two men Zhao Wenlong encountered in Lijia Gou were those who had fled from Taiyuan.

The person Sun Shengli encountered in the eastern village who asked for directions was the same person Tian Chengjun encountered near Lan County.

The Japanese spies have already reached northwestern Shanxi.

He had anticipated this.

From the moment the Second Division was transferred, he knew this day would come sooner or later.

The Special Higher Police's intelligence system is not to be underestimated.

They will eventually trace it back to northwestern Shanxi.

But knowing is one thing, but when you actually catch someone...

The sense of urgency was much stronger than expected.

He stood up, took a couple of steps in the hall, then stopped and leaned against the doorframe.

My gaze fell on the training ground in the village, where the new recruits were still running, and slogans were being shouted in waves.

My mind was rapidly processing all the possibilities.

The fact that plainclothes officers from the Special Higher Police have reached the outskirts of Black Cloud Village indicates that the Japanese are intensifying their reconnaissance efforts in northwestern Shanxi.

Although it is currently just undercover reconnaissance, there is still some time before the main force can move out.

But this window of opportunity won't last long.

According to the Japanese's usual practices.

They first sent plainclothes officers to locate the target, and then mobilized troops to launch a sweep.

From reconnaissance to operation, it can take anywhere from half a month to a month.

In other words.

The new Second Division has at most one month left.

Although the defense system of Black Cloud Village has been set up, all twenty-four cannons have been deployed, and the defensive positions of each regiment have been basically completed.

However, the new recruits have not yet fully developed their combat capabilities.

Although those new recruits had been training for about ten days.

I also used the physique enhancement liquid and skill inheritance card.

But their foundation was too weak; many of them had never even touched a gun more than a few times.

Although the shooting results on the training field were quite good.

But those were results achieved on a stationary target, which is completely different from facing a living enemy on the battlefield.

He needs more time.

Even if it takes another half month, the new recruits will be able to complete the first phase of tactical training.

In another month, we can take them out to fight.

He needs to buy time.

The best way to buy time is to prevent the Japanese from knowing the exact location and troop deployment of Black Cloud Village.

Although the Japanese plainclothes officers managed to infiltrate the outer perimeter.

But if they only see some blurry outlines.

Without concrete evidence, their intelligence reports will be vague.

Without accurate intelligence, the Japanese army would not rashly launch a large-scale attack.

They will only continue to send more plainclothes officers to investigate, and investigation itself takes time.

That time difference is what he can take advantage of.

An hour later.

Zhao Wenlong walked out of the empty room on the west side.

He strode towards the division headquarters hall.

Zhou Tianyang was sitting at the table looking at a map when he heard footsteps and looked up.

Zhao Wenlong pushed open the door and walked in, sitting down opposite him.

"Commander, we've got the results."

Zhou Tianyang put down his pencil.

"explain."

"They were plainclothes officers from the Japanese Special Higher Police."

Zhao Wenlong's tone carried a suppressed sense of urgency.

"That man's name is Liu San. He was originally a local thug in Taiyuan City, but he was later bribed by the Special Higher Police and became their informant."

"I came to northwestern Shanxi this time with a Japanese soldier named Kobayashi."

"That guy named Xiaolin led five or six plainclothes officers, starting from Xinxian County and heading west."

"Their task was to scout out whether there were any large-scale Eighth Route Army troops operating in the Shanxi-Northwest region."

Zhou Tianyang listened quietly.

"How long have they been here?"

"That Liu San said they had already visited seven or eight villages."

"We had been operating in the area north of Kelan, but later we heard that there might be Eighth Route Army troops in the mountains to the south, so we made our way here."

How did they know there might be a force in the mountains to the south?

He said they met an old shepherd in a village near Wuzhai.

"The old man said he saw some people riding horses south a while ago, and that they were a group fighting the Japanese."