When the last soldier was lying on the dry ground under the bright sun, Lei Jian shouted: "All the soldiers of the Independent Regiment, listen to my orders, take off their wet clothes, dry them on dry ground, lie on the spot, and give me a good rest." ”

The warriors were exhausted at this time, and even the last bit of panting strength was used, quickly tore off the wet clothes on their bodies, threw them around, and lay on the dry land with their limbs stretched, enjoying the sun, the breeze and the warmth of the dry land, they felt the happiest at this time, and there was nothing else to ask for.

Lei Jian looked at the soldiers lying on the ground, his eyes were full of tears, he really felt at this time that the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army during the war not only had to fight the enemy to the death on the battlefield, but also fought for their lives on the march, what did they fight for? In order to defeat the little devil, even if he throws his head and spills blood, he will not frown.

Luo Jinchuan walked to Lei Jian's side, pulled Lei Jian and sat on the dry land, he gasped and said: "The soldiers have worked hard this way, and it is really not easy to run eighty or ninety miles in the rainstorm in one breath. ”

Lei Jian said with a 'hi' sound: "Yes, such a large team of the Independent Regiment, the goal is very big, if you want to avoid the eyes and ears of the enemy, it is best to march on a rainy day, but it is enough to make the soldiers tired, I see that our soldiers are tired like this, and I really feel a little painful in my heart." ”

He continued: "The march on a rainy day, avoiding the strongholds of the enemy and puppet armies along the way, the troops have a lot less trouble, if they can keep marching so smoothly, I think that in less than a month, the independent regiment will arrive at the location designated for us by the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region in advance." ”

At this moment, three war horses rushed over from the front, and when they came to Lei Jian, Wang Xiaoliang, who was saddle and dismounted, reported loudly: "Report to the regiment commander and political commissar, Ming Town, six or seven miles ahead, found the central turret of the devil, and also found several nearby villages, thick smoke and flames, it must be the enemy slaughtering the village again, for the safety of the large army, I ordered the reconnaissance squad in front to monitor on the spot, do not act rashly, and wait for the regiment headquarters to issue an order before acting." ”

Wang Xiaoliang didn't wait for Lei Jian to speak, and asked anxiously, "How is it?" Shall we fight? ”

Lei Jian looked at Luo Jinchuan and asked, "Political Commissar Luo, what is your opinion?" ”

Luo Jinchuan said cautiously: "Our people were burned and looted by the enemy, and the lives were destroyed, since the independent regiment encountered the little devils who were committing murder, and sat idly by, I feel sorry for the title of the Eighth Route Army, Commander Lei, what do you say?" ”

Lei Jian tightened his eyebrows, his eyes were on fire, he couldn't wait to immediately lead the troops to wipe out all these enemy puppet troops who carried out atrocities, but his independent regiment had a more important task, once it was entangled with the enemy here, it would definitely attract the attention of the Japanese brigade stationed in Weifang City, and the independent regiment of the Eighth Route Army advancing west would completely expose the target, and even the equipment and personnel of the troops would be penetrated by the enemy.

If the Devil Brigade concentrates its superior forces to encircle and intercept the enemy, the independent regiment will not be able to escape the enemy's encirclement at all, and it will inevitably fight to the death, and the task of advancing west to the new battlefield will be a complete failure.

Lei Jian didn't know if Political Commissar Luo Jinchuan had taken this into account, if the two commanders of the Independent Regiment disagreed on the issue of whether to fight the devils or not, and whether to save the villagers, it would directly affect the mood of the soldiers.

He didn't have time to think too much about time, at this time, the villagers in the village were killed by the enemy **** and under the thick smoke and fire, every minute and every second was a moment of life and death for them.

Lei Jian no longer thought about it, and ordered decisively: "Order the large army to gather immediately, bypass the villages and Mingcun towns in front, and go straight to Shouguang in the northwest, hide in the large woods there, and continue to march in the direction of Dezhou after resting." ”

Wang Xiaoliang asked anxiously: "Commander Lei, are you really so ruthless, seeing that the villagers in the village in front of you were killed by the little devils?" That's not your way of doing things, I'll ...... it. ”

Lei Jian ignored Wang Xiaoliang's shouting, and continued to Luo Jinchuan: "Political Commissar Luo, the large force of the Independent Regiment will be handed over to you, I will take the cavalry battalion of the Independent Regiment to protect you within a radius of seven or eight miles from the large army, and if you encounter the enemy, you can fight it, and if you can't fight it, you will withdraw, the little devil in front of you is slaughtering the villagers, since the independent regiment of the Eighth Route Army has encountered it, you can't ignore it." ”

"Captain Lei, is this okay? Isn't it too reckless? Once entangled with the enemy, if the large army of nearby devils concentrates superior forces and surrounds the cavalry battalion, it will be difficult to jump out of the enemy's encirclement, this is too dangerous, right? ”

Lei Jian saw that Luo Jinchuan also recognized this problem, and his heart was much more open, so that he should get strong support from the political commissar for the next step to carry out various action orders.

He said decisively: "Political Commissar Luo, as long as you bring a large army, I will cover from all sides, as for cleaning up the enemies in these villages, I will do it secretively, try not to alarm the Japanese brigades and regiments stationed in the Weifang theater, and after solving the battle, I will quickly keep up with the large army." ”

Lei Jian ordered Wang Xiaoliang beside him: "Order all the cavalry battalions to hide in the crops on the side of the road, and be ready to set off at any time." ”

He said to Luo Jinchuan again: "Political Commissar Luo, the soldiers are too tired, and as soon as they rested on the spot, they had to march in a hurry, but for the safety of the troops, they had to give an order, order the troops to set off immediately, and tell the soldiers to march cautiously and not to make a noise and alarm the enemy." ”

Lei Jian said emphatically: "Political Commissar Luo, the cavalry battalion does not follow the actions of the large army, it is best to use Zheng Tie's first battalion as the vanguard army, search and advance, Niu Dali leads the second battalion as the rear guard army to prevent the enemy from sneaking up behind him, and the third battalion as the two wings to protect the regimental organs and logistics departments of the large army, as well as the safety of weapons, ammunition and military supplies, this is up to your brother, rest assured, I will take the cavalry battalion and catch up with the large army soon, take care." ”

As he spoke, he jumped on his horse and ordered Wang Xiaoliang, "Follow me." ”

A group of more than a dozen war horses galloped forward, and soon disappeared in the dust and mist behind them.

According to Lei Jian's proposal, Luo Jinchuan immediately issued an order to convey it, ordering the troops to assemble quickly and march in the direction of Shouguang in a concealed hurry.

The cavalry battalion of the independent regiment of the fifth detachment of the mountain column of the Eighth Route Army quickly assembled in a crop field, and it was the beginning of July at this time, and the corn in the western countryside had grown to a person's height, and the corn fields were connected together, like a continuous green gauze tent, and the war horses were hidden in the corn fields.

Wang Xiaoliang approached Lei Jian's side and asked in a low voice: "Commander Lei, let's hide the war horse in this green gauze tent, and sneak attack the little devils in the village in batches and kill the people, right?" ”

"If you are smart, that's what I plan, you send people to the three nearby villages that are being slaughtered by devils to investigate, you must find out the enemy's equipment and soldiers in the village, only by finding out the enemy's situation, can you succeed in one blow."

Wang Xiaoliang led three reconnaissance teams to approach the three nearby villages in disguise, and about half an hour later, the three reconnaissance teams returned and made a detailed report to Lei Jian on the enemy situation they had detected.

Lei Jian took out the marching map prepared in advance, pointed to Xiao Nanzhuang on the map and ordered: Wang Xiaoliang led a company of cavalry, and hiddenly leaned into Xiao Nanzhuang in front, there is a squad of devils in the village, a platoon of puppet soldiers, and it is best not to shoot to alarm the nearby enemy puppet army, and take a plan of action to kill.

Li Gang was ordered to lead the second cavalry company to approach Xiaobeizhuang, northwest of Xiaonanzhuang, and adopt the same combat method to destroy the enemy steadily and ruthlessly.

Ordered Zhou Peng, the combat staff officer, to take the soldiers who stayed behind, to use the cover of the green gauze tent to lead the war horse to the vicinity of Xiaobeizhuang, and to pick up the soldiers who returned from completing the task at any time and preparing for evacuation.

Lei Jian led three companies of cavalry, disguised as devils, and swaggered towards the largest village in front of him, Mingwang Village.

Mingwang Village is near here, except for Mingcun Town, even if this village is the largest, there are more than 200 households in the village, including four or five wealthy families, this village is a large grain household, but the people living in this village are surrounded by four walls, hungry, and often eat the last meal without the next meal.

On this day, the captain of the devil squad stationed in Mingcun Town ordered the Japanese army to lead the puppet army to three villages to grab grain, and he ordered the enemy puppet army who were preparing to set off: "This time, the Japanese Imperial Army went to the countryside to collect grain, and the grain of the big households should be robbed, and the grain of the poor people should also be robbed. ”