The first company of the independent battalion of Wei County was stationed, and the order from Guanshan Town to the Dawangzhuang Maintenance Association was sent here as soon as possible.

"Company commander, the little devil's trick is too ruthless, he doesn't send a single soldier, let the people send food by themselves, if they don't send it, they will collaborate with the enemy, and they will all be shot. The little devil has killed people here, and he has also slaughtered the village, and he must have done what he said. The instructor frowned and analyzed.

Zhang Cheng agreed: "The last time the devil killed people in the blockade area, the villagers must still remember it vividly. ”

"Now that the devil comes up to kill people, in order to save their lives, the villagers will definitely obey and obediently hand over food."

"No......" The instructor reacted violently and vetoed without hesitation.

"These grains are all used by the villagers to save their lives, and half of them were taken away by the devils, and everyone has no food for at least half a year. Even if the regiment headquarters tried to find a way to transfer grain from other places, it would not be possible to solve such a huge shortage at once, and there would certainly be a famine in the base areas at that time, and people would starve to death in a large area. ”

"Company commander, we must find a way to protect this food, and we can't let the devils rob it."

"And the villagers, while protecting the food, we must protect them, and we can't let the devils find an excuse to kill people."

Zhang Cheng thought for a long time before he spoke: "Instructor, rest assured, the order to protect the grain was issued by the regiment headquarters, and we will definitely carry it out." ”

"I thought about it just now: We must not only protect the grain, but also use the autumn grain as bait in accordance with the operational plan drawn up by the regiment headquarters, take the opportunity to kill more little devils, and reduce the operational pressure during the major counteroffensive."

"The little devil is clearly using Dawangzhuang to kill chickens and monkeys, so Dawangzhuang must send food over, otherwise the devil will definitely take advantage of the problem to kill people in Dawangzhuang and deter other people in the blockade area."

"We can't give little devils an excuse to kill."

"Instructor, you personally go to Dawangzhuang, do a good job in the ideological work of the villagers, let them take out food, stabilize the little devils in the blockade area, and avoid setting themselves on fire."

"Tell the villagers that these grains are temporarily borrowed by our garrison regiment, and we will return them in half a month at most, guaranteeing a lot of pounds."

The instructor reminded: "Company commander, don't blame me for not reminding you, this is tens of thousands of catties of grain, not hundreds of catties." ”

"When the time comes, what will you pay back?"

"Once this grain falls into the hands of the devils, it will definitely be hoarded in the stronghold, and the possibility of us snatching it back is almost zero."

"Even if we take out all the grain stored by the company, it will not be enough to return it to the villagers."

Zhang Cheng replied confidently: "I have already thought of a way." ”

"The grain in Dawangzhuang must be paid, and it must be maintained that the food will be delivered in person, if it is not paid, the Japanese army will have an excuse to kill chickens and make an example of monkeys."

"We can't intercept food halfway, the little devils will think that we and Dawangzhuang will direct and act on their own, collude with each other, and deliberately don't send them food."

"In this way, they still have an excuse to use Dawangzhuang to kill chickens and make an example of monkeys."

"Therefore, we can only snatch food from the hands of the little devils and snatch it from the tiger's mouth."

"Let them have nothing to say, and no excuse to trouble the villagers!"

"Order a platoon, four platoons, with a heavy machine gun and a mortar, to set off for the Zhouzhuang stronghold after dark, establish a defensive line at a distance of 500 meters from the gate of the stronghold, cut off the road for the Japanese puppet army to enter and exit the stronghold, block the ditch, and block the wall."

"I'm going to cut off the grain openly under the noses of the little devils."

"The little devils want food, you can, and send it directly to the door of the stronghold."

"However, if you want to enter the stronghold, it depends on whether our Eighth Route Army agrees or not."

"At that time, the little devils will only have two choices, either kill the stronghold, open a gap in our defense line, and cover the grain from entering the stronghold, or watch the grain be intercepted by us."

"Second platoon, fifth platoon, bring a heavy machine gun and a mortar to the Zhongcun stronghold."

"The others will follow me to block Guanshan Town."

"When will we force the Japanese puppet army out of the stronghold and send troops to transport food to the villages, and when will we withdraw our troops."

"Tell the comrades that we must build the defensive line stronger, dig a few more anti-artillery holes, and avoid shelling and aircraft bombing."

At three o'clock in the morning, the guard post of the Zhouzhuang stronghold found a sound outside.

"Shoot flares and figure out what's going on outside?" The second lieutenant squad leader nervously ordered.

If the stronghold was still the garrison of a few months ago, holding a reinforced squad and a company of the Imperial Cooperative Army, the squad leader was not only not afraid, but also looked forward to the attack of the Eighth Route Army.

Months of combat attrition, coupled with the fact that Squadron Leader Yoshida used the pretext of forming a reinforced squadron to draw a large number of Imperial troops from the stronghold.

Although the number of troops in his hand is not small, half of the imperial army has been replaced by the imperial army, and it is also a recruit drawn from the maintenance association, and there is almost no combat effectiveness.

As a result, the overall combat effectiveness of the garrison was greatly reduced.

In order to stabilize the morale of the army and ensure that the Imperial Allied Army, which accounted for the majority of the strongholds, was not chaotic in the battle, the squad leader had to take half of the manpower from the already small Imperial Army to supervise the battle.

In this way, there is only one combat detachment left of the Imperial Army available in hand.

Once the stronghold is attacked, he can't send a single soldier except to defend it.

"Boom ......"

The flare exploded over the stronghold, and the team leader quickly raised his binoculars and looked out of the stronghold.

Five hundred meters away, dozens of figures of the Eighth Route Army were faintly visible, wielding sapper shovels to dig trenches.

"The troops are on increased alert, and the Eighth Route Army is likely to attack our stronghold." The squad leader raised his eyebrows and began to give orders.

"Contact Guanshan Town immediately, there are activities of the Eighth Route Army outside the stronghold, and it is likely to attack us, please be ready to send troops to reinforce us."

Fortunately, until dawn, the Eighth Route Army did not attack.

If they don't attack at night, they won't dare to attack during the day, and the squad leader's nerves, which had been tense for half a night, finally relaxed.

Just as he was about to rest, the chief on duty Cao rushed over and reported with a shocked face: "Sir, the Eighth Route Army outside the stronghold has not retreated, and they are still digging trenches. ”

"And their trenches extend directly to the blockade ditch and blockade wall next to the road, and the road leading the stronghold to the outside, the blockade ditch, the blockade wall, all cut off."

"Nani?" The team leader got up from the bed, grabbed the binoculars and climbed to the top of the turret.

"Bage Yalu, can anyone tell me what the Eighth Route Army wants to do?" Looking at the prototype of the trench outside the stronghold, the squad leader's face instantly sank.

Cao Chang shouted: "Sir, this group of Eighth Route Army is too arrogant, and they dare to directly send troops to block the gate of our stronghold. ”

"If it weren't for the imperial army in the stronghold being transferred, I would definitely go out and kill them."

The team leader was silent, and the first sentence that came to his mind was that the tiger fell in Pingyang and was bullied by dogs.

But there is no way, who makes himself inferior to others?

With a long sigh, he ordered: "The troops are on increased alert, and no one can attack without an order!" ”

"Report to Guanshan Town: We are surrounded by the Eighth Route Army. They blocked the gates of the stronghold, built a defensive line, and seemed to be preparing to besiege us for a long time. ”