Lei Jian ordered Li Gang to lead a platoon of a company out of Liugong Town to the east, Niu Dali to lead the second platoon to the south, and Wang Xiaoliang to lead the third platoon to the north to find out the movements of the nearby enemy as quickly as possible, while he led the other three companies to hide in the woods and secretly conduct troop training to deal with the next combat operation.

A day passed, and at noon the next day, the three reconnaissance platoons returned to the woods after a short interval and returned to the woods respectively, Wang Xiaoliang said with sweat on his head: "Battalion Commander Lei, I led the reconnaissance platoon to the north to investigate, and found that in Heliu Village at the foot of Ao Mountain, there was at least one brigade of devils stationed in it. ”

"Simply the Japanese army is stationed, and there is no puppet army?" Lei Jian asked.

"Battalion Commander Lei, yes, the puppet army has at least one battalion of troops, and I saw that the enemy puppet army was escorting the captured young and middle-aged people, and they were stepping up the construction of the road, which was too amazing, it could be one zhang high from the ground, and the road was much wider than the original."

Niu Dali didn't wait for Wang Xiaoliang to finish speaking, and interjected: "What you are talking about is just the enemy puppet army escorting the people to build the road, I led the second platoon of reconnaissance to bypass Liugong Town to the south to investigate, and found that the enemy puppet army forced the people to repair the road, that is called the formation." ”

"Don't even describe it to me, hurry up and say it's useful." Lei Jian urged eagerly.

Niu Dali pouted and shook his head: "The highway built by the enemy puppet army is more than one zhang above the ground, the road surface is seven or eight zhang wide, the ditch on both sides is nearly eight feet deep, and the ditch is six or seven feet wide. ”

When Lei Jian heard this, he looked at Li Gang, and Li Gang answered: "I led a platoon of reconnaissance to the east, approaching Shahe, this road is full of enemy and puppet army grabbers to repair the road, and the road is similar to what Deputy Battalion Commander Niu and Deputy Battalion Commander Wang said, but the more east, the wider the road surface, crossing the Shahe Bridge, the road to the east has been repaired, and from time to time there are infantry, cavalry and motorized patrols of devils, and it is quite scary to see that formation." ”

Wang Xiaoliang, Niu Dali, and Li Gang, who led the reconnaissance platoon to reconnoiter in the east, south, and north directions, finally said that along both sides of the highway built by the enemy, there were one or two miles nearer, and three and a half miles apart, and the enemy puppet army forced the people to repair the turrets.

Wang Xiaoliang asked puzzledly: "Battalion Commander Lei, what do you say the little devil is so hard to toss?" ”

Lei Jian didn't say a word, spread the map on the ground, and looked at the small curved road network drawn on the map, his brows furrowed more and more.

In the second year of the Anti-Japanese War, in the strategic stalemate stage, in order to expand the blockade of the anti-Japanese forces, the Japanese army wantonly built roads, set up trenches, and rushed to repair artillery towers, and vigorously promoted the 'cage plan' with 'railways as pillars, highways as chains, and pillboxes as locks', so as to block the entry and exit of materials into and out of the base areas of the Eighth Route Army, so as to achieve the goal of trapping and eliminating the Eighth Route Army.

Lei Jian realized that in the North China Theater, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army would launch the 'Zhengtai Road Raid' in North China, and then took the initiative to launch the largest, longest-lasting, and historically significant strategic battle in North China, which was also known as the famous 'Battle of the Hundred Regiments'.

When he thought of this, his heart was full of blood and he was determined to participate in the 'Battle of the Hundred Regiments'.

Lei Jian is not a half-haired child who thinks about things and does things on impulse, after crossing the experience of his youth and the tempering of more than ten years of joining the army, whenever he encounters major events, difficult things, and dangerous things, he will quickly stabilize his emotions and calm down.

He is well aware of what the main combat mission of the independent battalion he is leading at present is, and he cannot ignore the safety of the Jiaodong base area because of his enthusiasm; only by leading the troops to destroy in a timely manner the devils' 'cage plan' with the highway as the main axis can he disrupt the enemy's blockade and encirclement of the Jiaodong base area, and he can also apply for the commander and political commissar of the detachment to lead the independent battalion into the anti-Japanese battlefield in North China and participate in the world-famous 'Hundred Regiment Battle' that smashed the Japanese army's 'cage plan'.

Thinking of this, Lei Jian immediately convened a military meeting of cadres above the company level, at which he said simply: "According to the information obtained by the three reconnaissance platoons, the enemy is carrying out a sinister 'cage plan'. ”

Wang Xiaoliang and a few people didn't understand and asked at the same time: "Battalion Commander Lei, what kind of dragon plan are you talking about, what is it?" ”

Lei Jian shook his head and said, "I'm telling you now, it's not that I can explain it to you in three or two sentences, but I want to ask you, do you want to participate in a hundred regiment battle with me?" ”

"Battalion Commander Lei, the more you talk about it, the more evil it becomes, what is the 'Hundred Regiment Battle'? Can you make it clear that the clouds and mountains are always covered with clouds and mountains and fog to say things that we don't understand, and the more I listen to these children of the village, the more confused they become. Niu vigorously shook his head like a rattle, looked at Lei Jian and asked.

Lei Jian smiled indifferently: "I don't want to say much now, as long as you want to participate in this big battle with me, then you must complete the sabotage battle of destroying the enemy's highway as the axis in the shortest possible time. ”

"Okay, we don't understand what you say too much, as long as you can fight bigger battles and eliminate more little devils, these brothers will follow wherever you go." Niu vigorously stood up and clenched his fists and said firmly.

Wang Xiaoliang and the other battalion and company commanders all stood up, clenched their fists and said in unison: "Battalion Commander Lei, you can give an order, as long as you can kill more little devils, the battle will get bigger and bigger, and we will follow you." ”

"Okay, I order that each company of the independent battalion make a major readjustment and redeploy the combat backbone of the unit in each company, so that the combat effectiveness of each company can be brought into full play in individual battles."

Lei Jian shouted as he spoke: "Correspondent Xiao Zhou, come here." ”

"Report to Battalion Commander Lei, report to Xiao Zhou."

"Okay, you lead the two soldiers, return to Santougu in concealment, convey my order, and order Instructor Dong to arrange a platoon to stay in the cave, and the other companies will immediately rush to this forest to rendezvous."

"Yes, Battalion Commander Lei, I promise to complete the mission." Correspondent Xiao Zhou turned and left.

Lei Jian and the battalion and company commanders present carefully studied the next step of the battle plan, when everyone heard the battle plan said by Lei Jian, one by one, they said excitedly: "Don't worry, Battalion Commander Lei, our companies will definitely complete the task excellently at the specified time, and go to North China with you to fight a big battle as soon as possible." ”

A day later, Instructor Dong brought the five companies of Santougu to the woods, and Lei Jian immediately convened a military meeting to deploy the next stage of combat missions.

Each company was assigned a task, left the woods after midnight, and rushed to the combat range of each company, preparing to launch a large-scale, long-front, and arduous attack on the enemy's lines of communication with the enemy, disrupting the Japanese army's operational plan of blockading and dividing the base areas of the Eighth Route Army.

Lei Jian led Li Gang's company to quickly leave the woods in the night, bypassing Liugong Town, with the stars and moonlight above their heads, like a black dragon, rushing towards the Sand River.

The day was about to dawn, and if the Shahe Bridge could not be crossed before dawn, the only way to do so was to conceal the troops on a high ground south of the west bank of the Shahe River, and wait until night to force the Shahe Bridge.

After a long and rapid march, the soldiers were a little hungry and sleepy, and it seemed that it was impossible to cross the Shahe Bridge before dawn.

Lei Jian immediately ordered the troops to run and occupy the high ground south of the west bank of the Shahe River, do a good job of camouflage, and hide it so as not to expose the target.

The dawn has broken in the east, and a round of morning sun rises from the mountains in the east, radiating light that radiates the earth, and the earth comes out of the darkness and ushers in a new day.

At this time, a group of five or six people seemed to be coolie men, followed by a girl, walking quickly towards the Shahe Bridge, there were still more than 20 steps away from the Shahe Bridge, and the tall thin man who walked in front of these people whispered: "There are enemy puppet troops guarding both sides of the bridge, it seems that the vigilance is not strict, we must find a way to mix it up, once an accident occurs, we must be calm, and I will come forward to settle it." ”

Four or five men nodded in agreement, and three or three walked towards the bridge.

When the enemy puppet army on the bridge on the west bank of the Shahe River saw five or six people coming over, they immediately raised their guns and shouted: "What are you doing? ”

The tall and thin man who walked in the head took a big step, nodded and said: "Boss, my aunt is Zhao Zhuang on the east bank of the river, the old man in the family has passed away, please ask these nephews to come over to help, please raise your noble hand, just let us go." ”

A puppet soldier's bayonet was pressed against the chest of the tall and thin man, and he scolded with a sloppy mouth: "Little bastard, you can cross the bridge if you want to?" Are there any rules? ”