At the stronghold of Guanshan Town, Captain Yoshida stood on the top of the central turret, looking at the direction of the troops, looking forward to it.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, no news came back from the attacking troops.

By five o'clock, no one had returned, and no news had come back.

This is a very critical point in time that he and the attacking troops have agreed upon.

In order to avoid night fighting, the attacking troops had to return to their stronghold by five o'clock.

The leader of the team is his absolute confidant, and his execution is definitely no problem.

If you don't withdraw to the base within the stipulated time, you will either be delayed by something or something will happen.

Captain Yoshida had a vague feeling of bad premonition in his mind.

"Sir, do you want to take a combat detachment out to have a look!" The squad leader who stayed behind in the stronghold suggested.

Captain Yoshida hesitated and replied, "Wait another hour." ”

By six o'clock in the afternoon, it was already dark, and there was still no shadow of the attacking troops at the end of the road.

The bad feeling in Captain Yoshida's mind was even stronger.

He said to himself: "Eighty percent of them have an accident, if the attack force is delayed by something, they will definitely send someone back to report, but now we have not received any news, they seem to be missing." ”

"Sir, take a detachment out now and find them at all costs." Squad leader, please fight.

Captain Yoshida did not hesitate this time, and directly vetoed: "No, if something really happens to the attacking troops, you will be in the mouth of a sheep if you take a detachment out." ”

"Wait until dawn tomorrow to order all the maintenance teams in the blockade area to assist us in our search and find the attacking troops."

The next morning, news began to reach the base.

"Sir, the Dawangzhuang Maintenance Council has reported: The attacking troops entered the mountain from them yesterday afternoon, and then they never came out." Battalion Commander Zhang of the puppet army told the news he had just received.

"Order the nearby maintenance committee to immediately enter the mountain to search, I want to see people in my life, and I want to see corpses in my death!" Captain Yoshida ordered with a calm face.

Now he was quite sure that something had happened to the attacking troops.

But as a commander, he had to figure out what had happened to the attacking troops and how many of their enemies had killed.

Battalion Commander Zhang didn't move to give an order, but hesitated and replied: "There has been an escort team of the Maintenance Association into the mountain, but they have all been beaten out by the Eighth Route Army hiding in the mountain, and many people have been lost. ”

"Sir, you also know that only a small number of the soldiers of those escorts were sent by us, and they have some combat effectiveness."

"The others are all improvised stragglers, it's okay for them to scare and scare the people, but they can't get on the stage when they encounter the real Eighth Route Army."

"After the casualties of the escort team, the remaining escort team was so frightened that they fled from the mountain, and no matter how much we threatened them, they did not dare to enter again."

"Bage Yalu, are they all stupid pigs?" Captain Yoshida scolded.

"Won't you find a way to solve such a simple problem?"

"Order the nearby maintenance guard team to organize the young men of each village to search the mountain, find the imperial army entering the mountain, and find out what happened to them."

"Taking the people into the mountains together, the Eighth Route Army hiding in the mountains will definitely tie their hands and feet in order not to accidentally injure the people, and they will not dare to shoot casually."

At five o'clock in the afternoon, a convoy appeared at the end of the road.

There were ten carts in total, each of which was littered with corpses.

In order to show their loyalty, the battalion commander of the puppet army Zhang personally led a platoon to escort these corpses back to the stronghold.

"Sir, there are a total of 76 corpses of the Imperial Army, 21 corpses of the Imperial Army, and I have brought them all back." Battalion Commander Zhang lowered his head and reported respectfully.

Captain Yoshida's face turned blue and he wanted to get angry, but in the end he held back.

The person is already dead, and the order to attack is also given by himself, no matter how big the fire is, it is useless, and it will make people laugh.

Staring at Battalion Commander Zhang, he asked, "Have you found out how many people are in the Eighth Route Army hiding in the mountains?" ”

Battalion Commander Zhang shook his head and replied: "The corpses were all brought out of the mountain, and I didn't go to the scene and didn't know the situation on the battlefield." ”

"I asked several captains of the escort team, and they said that the battlefield was completely destroyed by the Eighth Route Army, and all the weapons, ammunition, bullet casings, were taken away."

"There was nothing left but the corpses, so there was no way to tell how many Eighth Route Army troops participated in the ambush battle."

Yoshida couldn't hold back this time, and scolded Camp Commander Zhang: "Bastard, I asked you to go to Dawangzhuang just to let you figure out how many Eighth Route Army troops are hidden in the mountain, and now I haven't found any useful news, what's the use of bringing back these corpses, they can't speak." ”

"Also, if I don't know how many Eighth Route Army there are in the mountain, how can I report to my superiors and ask for reinforcements."

The news of the appearance of a large number of Eighth Route Army troops in the blockade area of the Japanese military headquarters in Taiyuan was like snowflakes floating over in a steady stream.

In the past month, the good mood brought to him by the attacking troops has disappeared all at once.

If only one or two blockade areas appear in the Eighth Route Army, you can still treat it as an emergency.

Now the Eighth Route Army has emerged in all the blockade areas, with unknown strength and unknown equipment, and they have not attacked the imperial army by surprise, destroying the big situation that the imperial army has built up with great difficulty in the blockade area.

It's a bit self-defeating to treat it as an accident again.

The commander had a calm face, and after reading more than a dozen telegrams, he replied with great certainty: "This is a conspiracy. ”

"The reason why the front-line offensive troops were able to win successive battles must also be deliberate on the part of the garrison regiment."

"Their main forces have not all retreated to Lingqiu, and many troops are lurking in our blockade area. When the main forces are all withdrawn and the blockade area is empty, they will fight again, take the imperial army by surprise, and consume our troops. ”

The chief of staff said: "Commander, wise! ”

"This is the data that the humble post has just counted: in a total of nine blockade areas, the loss of the imperial army has exceeded 1,000 people, and the imperial army has exceeded 1,300 people."

"To be able to eliminate so many of us in such a short time, they must have a lot of troops."

"In addition, nearly a thousand people were captured among the more than 1,300 imperial allies."

"With the political mobilization ability of the Eighth Route Army, at least 700 people will choose to join them, and the strength of the Eighth Route Army in the blockade area will increase at that time."

"It is recommended that troops be transferred from the front line immediately to reinforce the blockade area."

"First kill the Eighth Route Army in the blockade area, stabilize the rear, and then attack Lingqiu."

The communications staff officer hurriedly walked in: "Sir, urgent report from the front: Last night, many blockade ditches and blockade walls were destroyed by the Eighth Route Army in the nine blockade areas. ”

"The blockade areas are seriously understaffed, so they can only hold strongholds and dare not attack."

The chief of staff hurriedly said, "Sir, we can't wait any longer. ”

"Your judgment is right, this is the conspiracy of the garrison."

"First consume the troops of the blockade areas, and take advantage of their lack of troops to destroy the blockade ditch and the blockade wall."

"If they are allowed to continue, our blockade will exist in name only, and the efforts and sacrifices of the Imperial Army for two whole months will be in vain."