The commander of the devil brandished his pistol and shouted angrily: "To launch the last attack, you must destroy the position of the village in front of you in this attack, you are all warriors of the Imperial Japanese Army, you must firmly believe that the Imperial Japanese Army will always be invincible, kill me and give ——。 ”

The little devil was forced to be helpless, anyway, it was all a death, it was better to die decently, the males of these bastards were aroused again, howling and pounced on the three walls of Mohetan Village, with great courage not to destroy the position of the Eighth Route Army and never retreat.

At this time, the soldiers of the second company of the Eighth Route Army, only 29 of them could continue to fight with guns, and these 29 soldiers had to confront the three or four hundred retired devils head-on.

The battle of Niangzi Pass alarmed the commander of the Japanese North China Front Army Okamura Ningji, who was attacked by the Eighth Route Army at the same time on the seven trunk lines of Zhengtai, Pinghan, Tongpu, Jinghan, Baijin, and Deshi, and the North China Railway Network was paralyzed, especially the loss of Niangzi Pass on Zhengtai Road, Okamura Ningji was greatly enraged, and he knew very well in his heart that once Zhengtai Road was devastated, and the construction was not timely, resulting in a large number of resources not being transported out of the country, he would be held accountable by the military department.

Commander Okamura ordered the Japanese troops along the various railways to rush to reinforcements.

The Japanese army reinforced Niangziguan, and the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army ordered nearby troops and guerrillas to also reinforce the Niangziguan campaign in the shortest possible time.

At this very critical moment, a group of more than a dozen soldiers of the Eighth Route Army who rushed into the village, the squad leader who took the lead jumped in front of Commander Chen in a few steps, and hurriedly reported: "Report to Commander Chen, Commander Guo of the right column ordered that at this time, the Japanese army is pressing the border, quickly reinforcing Niangzi Pass, ordering our regiment to withdraw from the battle immediately, and forcibly cross the Mianhe River to move closer to the right column." ”

Commander Chen said to Company Commander Deng: "We have repelled the tenth attack of the Japanese army, but we have also suffered heavy casualties, the casualties of the devils are greater than ours, you see the pond in front of the village, are filled with floating corpses of devils, the little devils will definitely fight back like crazy, and order the troops to repel the devil's attack with the most fierce firepower and quickly cross the Mianhe River." ”

When Company Commander Deng heard that the Mianhe River was going to roar strongly, he shouted: "Commander Chen, if the soldiers retreat from the Mianhe River and really reach the other side alive, they will die for life, and this waterway will not work, Regiment Commander." ”

"Company Commander Deng, you see that we have been surrounded by devils on three sides, and the devils' large army is gathering towards Niangzi Pass at full speed, we can't break through from other directions at all, if we want to return to the right column alive, we can only take a risk."

Commander Chen decisively ordered: "Immediately withdraw from the position, rush to the bank of the Mianhe River as quickly as possible, and forcibly cross the Mianhe River." ”

There were 29 soldiers left in the second company, some of whom were seriously wounded, and with the support of the soldiers, they quickly retreated to the Mianhe River.

When they arrived at the bank of the Mianhe River, the soldiers looked at the turbulent and roaring water, and were afraid, and under the decisive order of the regimental commander Chen, they supported the seriously injured and bravely jumped down the Mianhe River, and were immediately submerged by the roaring river.

Captain Chen swam to the other side of the Mianhe River, saw the soldiers who climbed ashore one after another, and waited for nearly half an hour, but did not see a single soldier emerge from the water. Of the 150 cadres and soldiers of the 2nd Company, plus the 13 soldiers who broke through the blockade of the devils and conveyed the order, and the 163 children of the Eighth Route Army, only 17 of them reached the opposite bank at this time.

Most of the soldiers who did not come back died honorably in the battle of attacking Niangzi Pass, and some soldiers were forcibly crossing the Mianhe River and sacrificed themselves gloriously.

At dawn, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region first issued a battle report, announcing the occupation of Niangzi Pass, the main contents: From the evening of 20 to the early morning of 21 July, the two regiments of Chen and Lin in our right column, Lianke Niangzi Pass and Niangzi Pass Station, destroyed several pillboxes and turrets, scrapped two trains, broke more than 40 kilometers of roads, and annihilated more than 300 enemies.

In addition, Lei Jian led the 'only regiment' to destroy the new mine in Dongwangshe, Jingcheng Coal Mine, and received an order to quickly march towards the Zhengtai Road Tiger Leaping Gorge Bridge, and ordered the 'only regiment' to destroy the Tiger Leaping Gorge Bridge before the arrival of Japanese reinforcements.

The Tiger Leaping Gorge Bridge is one hundred and twenty miles away from Shijiazhuang in the south and seventy miles away from Yangquan in the north. A quick march from the Jingcheng Coal Mine will take up to two hours to reach the Tiger Leaping Gorge Bridge.

This bridge is located at the entrance of the Taihang Mountains, the altitude is more than 300 meters higher than the territory of Jingcheng, the distance of more than 20 miles, the railway slowly climbs to a height of 300 meters, you can imagine how big the slope is.

The Tiger Leaping Gorge Bridge is more than 1,000 meters long, with mountains in front and back, and a canyon in the middle, stirring the turbulent Igawa River.

The Icheon River runs through the valley from the high place upstream, and the water is turbulent, washing the cliffs on both banks, flooding with waves, and pouring down all the way.

The river rushes to the Tiger Leaping Gorge, the river surface widens, the width of the water surface exceeds nearly 100 meters, and the river water that rushes down from the upstream falls directly on the wider river surface of the Tiger Leaping Gorge, and the river becomes relatively gentle.

The steep mountain in the south of Tiger Leaping Gorge is called Tiger Leaping Mountain, and the mountain across the river is called Tiger Leaping Mountain, and the grand canyon formed by the two mountains is called Tiger Leaping Gorge. The name of this canyon is like the rushing river water rushing down from the upper reaches of the valley, like a tiger leaping into the wide water of the canyon below.

This is the most dangerous canyon and river of the Zhengtai Railway, and the bridge across the river between the steep cliffs of the two tiger mountains is the longest bridge of the entire Zhengtai Railway Line.

Tiger Leaping Gorge Bridge, is in and out of the Shanxi Hebei important railway traffic artery, when the French built this span of large, design and construction difficult, cumbersome machinery can not be stationed in the construction site of the Tiger Leaping Gorge Bridge, all rely on manpower to carry the required materials, I don't know how many people in Shanxi and Hebei, died in the canyon, deep stream, Jingchuan River, the successful construction of this bridge, is the people of Shanxi and Hebei with life and blood donation, accumulated white bones little by little to build.

At this time, it was guarded by the First Army of the North China Front of the Japanese Army, the 9th Brigade of the 180th Division, and the 372nd Wing.

The 372nd Wing Lei Jian is no stranger, this devil unit, from Guangxing all the way to the Yellow River crossing, and then to the No. 1 and No. 2 highland blocking battles, has fought many times with the Lei Jian Independent Regiment, both sides have paid too much price, and in the hearts of the other commander, they have planted a deep impression.

As the commander of the Jinchaji Military Region and the 'One Regiment' of the Eighth Route Army, Lei Jian, who raided Tiger Leaping Gorge this time, when he learned that the opponent he was facing was the haunting 372 Wing, he couldn't help jokingly saying: "People have two dilemmas, one is to meet the enemy, and the other is to cut off the constant grievances, and now the 'One Regiment' is facing these two dilemmas. ”

Ma Mingshan asked, "Captain Lei, what do you mean by these two dilemmas?" ”

Wang Xiaoliang and Li Gang didn't understand Lei Jian's true intention when he said this, and when they heard Political Commissar Ma ask like this, they not only looked at Lei Jian. Wang Xiaoliang said with a smile: "Captain Lei, don't play dumb riddles, make your words clear, this is not clear, doesn't this make people anxious?" ”

Lei Jian asked with a solemn face: "Do you know which unit the Japanese army is guarding the Tiger Leaping Gorge Bridge?" ”

"Mind him, as long as he is a little devil, our 'only group' will still clean him up, hmph, since I joined the Eighth Route Army, I have never been afraid of any devil army, besides, with our Lei Regiment Commander in charge, no matter how fierce the devil army is, in the eyes of the 'only group', it is a fart."

"Deputy Regiment Commander Wang, don't brag about it, our 'only regiment' is a unit that has just been formed for a short time, and the combat effectiveness and military quality of the soldiers are still far worse than the old independent regiment, and we, as regiment cadres, cannot have a little arrogance, if we command this battle with this emotion, it is we who suffer, and those who fail are often arrogant."

Lei Jian looked at the cadres of the 'One Regiment' who were riding war horses and standing side by side, and then said: "Comrades, what I said is not to exaggerate the enemy's military strength, but only when we correctly face our own shortcomings, find out our own strengths, surprise the enemy before they are prepared, attack the enemy's weak links with superior forces, and know ourselves and the enemy, can we achieve the victory of the surprise attack on the Tiger Leaping Gorge Bridge." ”

Ma Mingshan saw that Lei Jian attached so much importance to this mission, and he continued Lei Jian's words and said: "I think these words that Regiment Commander Lei said just now, I think that the cadres of our 'only regiment' are in place, and we still don't know what the Japanese army troops guarding the Tiger Leaping Gorge are coming from. ”

Wang Xiaoliang felt that Lei Jian was right in advance before the battle, and he was embarrassed to defend: "Commander Lei, I know what you mean, what I just said is that in terms of strategy, we must pay attention to tactics to despise the enemy and really fight this battle." ”

"Hmph, I didn't expect you kid to know a strategy and tactics, and he has made a lot of progress, I propose that before the campaign begins, it is absolutely necessary to convene an enlarged meeting of regiment commanders, and carry out a pre-war mobilization of the entire 'independent regiment', and attach importance to it ideologically, so that we can fight bravely and win the battle." Lei Jian said solemnly.

(End of chapter)