The enemy of Quyang, who took the initiative to attack, rushed to the position of the fifth regiment with a gun howl, and the Japanese army in Tang County, which passively assisted, followed behind.

Commander Cui held the binoculars and found that the enemy's fourth attack was loosely formed, the enemy in front was very strong in combat and murderous, and the rear was passively following, and the alert field commander could see through it at a glance, and the attack of these two Japanese troops was a reluctant combination, and it could not form a greater combat effectiveness.

He ordered the battalions: "Concentrate superior forces and firepower, strive to completely annihilate the more than 200 little devils who are in the front, complete the task of annihilation, and block the enemy attacking behind with maximum firepower." ”

The battalions did not understand the true purpose of the order given by Regiment Commander Cui, but this was on the battlefield, and the order was a stick, and it was better to bend than bend, and there was no room for bargaining, only to firmly carry out the order.

The three battalions of the Fifth Regiment, which were holding on to the front and both flanks, were ready to annihilate the enemy rushing in front, and when the enemy was approaching the forward position, Regiment Commander Cui suddenly stood on the position with a machine gun and shouted: "With the most fierce firepower, destroy the enemy closest to the front of the position." ”

The soldiers of the Eighth Route Army saw their regimental commander Cui, bravely holding the machine gun, standing at the front of the position to strafe the enemy, and the soldiers took the lead one by one, giving full play to the weapons in their hands to the extreme, and destroying the attacking enemy with the most fierce firepower.

The enemy commander who rushed to the front of Quyang to reinforce him, but he didn't expect that the Eighth Route Army, which was guarding the hilltop position, would have such fierce firepower, killing the devils to the ground, and the devils behind were under the supervision of the commander, and then rushed forward.

The continuous fire strikes caused heavy casualties to the enemy in Quyang, and even the commander was seriously wounded.

The commander of the Japanese army in Tang County, when he saw the Quyang reinforcements, was shot and killed by the Eighth Route Army on a large scale, and when he saw that the Quyang commander was shot and fell to the ground, he ordered to concentrate fire to cover and take back the commander of the Quyang reinforcements.

The Fifth Regiment repelled the two Japanese troops in Tangxian and Quyang, severely dampened the arrogance and sharpness of the devils, and successfully completed the task of blocking.

Li Gang, acting commander of the only regiment that had set up an ambush in the north mountain of the military city, went to each battalion several times to inspect the positions and fortifications, and repeatedly stressed that it was necessary to ensure that the fortifications were strong, as this would directly affect the success or failure of blocking the enemy and was also the key to protecting the lives of the soldiers.

At 16 o'clock in the afternoon, the 5th Regiment, which was preparing to withdraw from its position from the west hill of the military city, found that the Japanese soldiers were operating in two directions.

Commander Cui was in a dilemma for a while, and he didn't know whether to withdraw or block the attack of this Japanese brigade.

At this time, Li Gang, who was holding on to Beishan, looked at Ma Mingshan and said: "According to the latest information from the Jinchaji Headquarters, the enemy's reinforcements from Baoding and Laiyuan are already approaching the military city. ”

"Yes, it is said that this time the Japanese army attacked the base area in the Beiyue District of Shanxi, Chahar and Hebei, not only gathered a large number of Japanese troops in the four cities to launch a sweep of the base area on the ground, but also the enemy planes in the air will also participate in the air attack at the appropriate time, and the task of holding the Beishan position will definitely be very difficult, cruel, and bloody."

Li Gang nodded and agreed with Political Commissar Ma's statement, and after the two commanders analyzed the situation on the battlefield, it was decided that the only regiment would be in the main position of Beishan, and that it would strike at the attacking enemy, and wait for the retreating Fifth Regiment to arrive, as a general reserve, hide on the back slope of Beishan, and then decide how to invest troops according to the progress of the enemy and us on the battlefield.

At nine o'clock in the morning of the 18th, the enemy reinforced from Baoding and Laiyuan arrived at the military city and implemented the murderous 'three lights' policy against the military city.

More than 1,000 little devils in the vanguard of the Japanese army burned and plundered in the military city, carried out the inhumane Qingxiang, crossed the west mountain of the military city at 11 o'clock, and marched to Beishan, seven miles away.

The reconnaissance squad of the only regiment that sent reconnaissance found that the enemy's vanguard was rapidly rushing to Beishan, and immediately ran back to report to Li Gang, who ordered the fourth battalion to block the enemy head-on, strengthen the fortifications and repair, and be ready to fight at any time.

The second and third battalions that were ambushed halfway up the mountain on both flanks were ordered to conceal and deploy their defenses on both flanks of the mountainside in accordance with the tactics of the commander of the Lei Jian Regiment to block the enemy at Tiehuo Mountain, put the attacking enemy's vanguard troops into the range of firepower, and then cut off the enemy's large force with the most intense firepower, block the enemy behind, and destroy the advancing Japanese vanguard troops.

Compared with the Fifth Regiment, the strength and firepower and combat capability of the only regiment should be more than six or seven times that of the fifth regiment, and the entire unit is all Japanese-style equipment, with heavy weapons equivalent to the equipment of a wing of the Japanese army, and relatively sufficient weapons and ammunition, so there should be no major problem in blocking the vanguard of the Japanese army of more than 1,000 elite troops in the front.

It was the first time that the head of the regiment led the main force of the only regiment to fight against the Japanese army, and he couldn't help but feel a little panicked.

Ma Mingshan, the political commissar of the regiment, saw that Li Gang was silent, his brows were always furrowed, and his heart was heavy, although his eyes were sharp, but he could also see the anxiety and uneasiness in his eyes.

He patted Li Gang on the shoulder and said: "Commander Li, master the eight words, you will calmly command how the campaign moves forward, that is, 'not impatient, decisive command', and then think more about the battle examples mentioned by the head of the Lei Jian regiment, as well as the independent regiment of the five detachments in Jiaodong on the way west, the formation of the new independent regiment of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region in the Peacock Valley, until now, under the leadership of the commander of the Lei Jian regiment, we have adopted tactics such as sneak attacks, surprise attacks, holdings, blocking, active attacks, and forced transfers, and have learned more lessons from them. Then when you command, you will be bold and calm, calm and unchaotic, and lead the only regiment with wit and courage to complete the blocking task assigned by your superiors. ”

Li Gang looked at Ma Mingshan gratefully, held Ma Mingshan's hand tightly and said: "Political Commissar Ma, with your encouragement and support, I, the acting regiment commander, will have the bottom in my heart, and when commanding the operation, I will take the command of the battle with the idea of the head of the Lei Jian regiment, and I believe that the only regiment will defeat the enemy and complete the task." ”

After he finished speaking, he walked to the forward position, hid behind a big tree, and observed the enemy situation with a telescope.

The commander of the Japanese army was the commander of the 4th Independent Mixed Brigade Katayama Brigade, and the predecessor of the commander of the 4th Independent Mixed Brigade was the former commander of the Japanese army who was killed, the "flower of the withered famous general" Abe Norihide, and after Lieutenant General Katayama took over, he vowed to take revenge on the Yang Commander of the Jin-Cha-Ji 1st Division who killed General Katayama.

This arrogant guy has repeatedly proposed that the First Army Division of the Eighth Route Army, which had injured the 'flower of famous generals' of the Imperial Japanese Army, should be wiped out with the most powerful combat power, and all the soldiers of the First Army Division of the Eighth Route Army should be captured and killed.

This time, the commander of the Katayama Brigade gathered nearly 10,000 Japanese troops from Baoding, Quyang, Laiyuan, and Tang counties to implement the brutal 'three lights' policy along the way to the anti-Japanese base area in Beiyue District, where the organs of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region are located, and frantically pounced on Fuping.

When the enemy attacking in Tang County and Quyang marched to the west mountain of the military city and was hit by the fierce fire of the Fifth Regiment of the Eighth Route Army, and the troops caused casualties without progress, the commander of the Katayama Brigade who rushed to the military city immediately convened a military meeting.

At the meeting, it was sternly ordered that all units should treat each unit as an independent operational unit, but they should obey the unified command of the brigade and regiment, coordinate operations, and not preserve their strength, and if they slacken in battle, those who violate the order will be dealt with by military law.

After more than an hour of repairing and deployment in the military city, the 4th Independent Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Army, under the order of the commander of the Katayama Brigade, quickly rushed to the Beishan position held by the only regiment.

When Li Gang learned that the vanguard of the Japanese army had left the Xishan position and marched to the Beishan, he immediately prepared to meet the battle calmly.

The only regiment to hold the Beishan Mountain, which is more than 500 meters high, is the only passage from the military city to Chengnanzhuang in Fuping County and the front-line command post of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region of the Eighth Route Army; once the position is broken through by the enemy within the specified time limit, it will endanger the military region organs and the military and civilian security of Fuping City that has not yet had time to be transferred.

Political Commissar Ma stood beside Li Gang and gave Li Gang spiritual support.

Zhou Peng, chief of staff of the regiment, ran over and asked: "Acting regiment commander Li, now that the ambush troops in the position are ready for battle, and the mortar positions have also been adjusted, we are waiting for your order to launch fire at any time to block the attacking enemy." ”

Li Gang still asked Ma Mingshan and Zhou Peng unsteadily in his heart: "Political Commissar Ma and Chief of Staff Zhou, if our Regiment Commander Lei is here to command this blocking battle, can he also send troops to deploy troops like this?" ”

(End of chapter)