General Yoshimaru Kiyotake, commander of the 9th Independent Mixed Brigade, was very dissatisfied with the reply of General Hino, the commander of the 180th Division.

He wanted to call and pleaded: "General Hino, the 581st Wing of my 9th Brigade Regiment is an elite unit of the Imperial Army with very effective combat effectiveness, and on the way to the west, it destroyed the blocking force of a regiment of Tuba Road in Lao Ye Mountain, and now it is fighting fiercely with the Tu 8 Road of a brigade reinforcing Lao Ye Mountain, if we do not send fighter planes to support it in time, I am afraid it will ......." ”

"Yoshimaru-kun, do you know that the railways and highways in North China and the bridges, culverts, stations and other imperial strongholds along the line have been attacked by the Tuba Road Army, and the imperial army troops along the railways and highways are fighting fiercely with the Tuba Road and are in urgent need of fighter air support.

At this time, the 581st Wing was requested to support the air in the area of Lao Ye Mountain, but there was really no fighter to send, so the 581st Wing was ordered to break through the Tuba Road blocking position and move westward quickly, do you understand? ”

The commander of the Yoshimaru Kiyobu Brigade was extremely angry, and he was so angry that he just wanted to refute it, but he controlled the dissatisfaction in his heart and pleaded again: "General Hino, you are inconvenienced, I can only ask the commander of the North China Front Okamura to send fighter planes for reinforcements." ”

The commander of the Hino Division heard that the commander of the Yoshimaru Brigade actually threatened him to ask General Okamura for help directly, this division commander who was cautious and had been very unhappy recently, had to procrastinate and said: "Yoshimaru-kun, Commander Okamura has been ill recently, it is better not to disturb, since the 581st Wing of Lao Ye Mountain is in an emergency, I will find a way to solve it, you wait for my reply, don't be impatient." ”

At this time, the commander of the 581st Wing, Iizuka Osa, was waiting patiently, as long as Shangfeng replied to the fighter air reinforcements, he would immediately organize the most powerful ground attack, and try to break through the position on the east bank of the Tiechuan River of the Eighth Route Army in one go, and blow up the reinforcements of the Eighth Route Road that suddenly emerged from the peak of Lao Ye Mountain.

Lei Jian held a telescope and kept staring at the several commanders in front of Iizuka Daisa on the ground, intending to find clues from their abnormal behavior, so as to relieve the main force of the 'One Regiment' that was holding the position, which might be killed and injured very dangerously.

He swept his telescope to the peak of Lao Ye Mountain, and saw the cavalry battalion on the peak, which had already entered into a stalemate with the attacking 16th Brigade of the enemy, and the enemy and us carried out repeated attacks and blocking battles in order to compete for the position of Lao Ye Mountain.

Lei Jian's mood at this time was very complicated, according to the order of Commander Nie of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, the 'only regiment' must be in the area of Lao Ye Mountain, blocking the enemy's 581st Wing at 6 o'clock tomorrow before withdrawing from the battle. There are still more than ten hours until six o'clock tomorrow, and by that time, he is very uncertain whether the only regiment can withstand the attack of the Japanese army and the large forces that continue to reinforce him

Now the sunset hangs in the western sky, and a few rainbows like blood set off the sun that is about to set. In just over an hour, it will be dark, and as long as we hold out until dark, it will be absolutely impossible for the main force of the Japanese army to launch an attack in the night, so that the 'only regiment' will hold out until 6 o'clock tomorrow, and at most it will be possible to launch two or three major offensive and counteroffensive battles with the enemy.

Just when Lei Jian quickly moved the telescope to the commanders of the devil, he found that these Japanese officers were laughing and talking about something, and they were not looking up to the southwest.

Lei Jian, who was quick to think, was conjecturing for a while, these Japanese officers looked up at the sky, could it be that they were looking at the sky, but looking at the sky, they should be looking at the sun that is about to set in the west, and what will appear in the southwest direction of the sky?

He mobilized his lively brain cells with all his might, trying to accurately judge what the enemy was going to do from the devil commander's actions of looking up at the sky.

Zhang Ping, who was standing under the tree, raised his head and looked up, looking at the thunder sword on the canopy, staring motionlessly in one direction, the whole person was like a clay sculpture, and he couldn't see any signs of life, he not only shouted below: "Captain Lei, Captain Lei——。 ”

After a few calls, Lei Jian was indifferent, neither answering nor making a gesture, which made Zhang Ping anxious.

Just as Zhang Ping raised his voice and shouted again, Lei Jian leaned back and ordered Zhang Ping: "Start the communication equipment and wait for my order at any time." ”

Lei Jian's sixth sense told him that the Japanese army was about to carry out a major military operation, and this strange operation would be a fatal blow to the 'only group'.

He resolutely shouted to Zhang Ping: "Order Deputy Commander Li Gang, who is sticking to the peak of Lao Ye Mountain, to immediately send someone to connect the untied leggings into a rope, and use the kudzu vines and leggings on the mountain to tie them to the roots of the cliff wall, ready to evacuate the peak of Lao Ye Mountain at any time."

The reconnaissance platoon and assault company were ordered to withdraw from the battle and return to this wood.

He ordered Wang Xiaoliang, deputy regiment commander on the east bank of the Tiechuan River, to quickly move the heavy weapons, ammunition and seriously wounded men through the erected Tiechuan River pontoon bridge to the west bank, and the three main battalions were ready for a decisive battle with the enemy and were ordered to quickly withdraw from their positions.

Ordered Song Chun, commander of the fourth battalion on the west bank of the Tiechuan River, to do a good job of reinforcing the trenches and fortifications in a concealed manner, and to put all the heavy weapons in the forward position.

Ordered the artillery company to retreat to the east bank of the Tiechuan River in concealment, and once the devils moved, when the main battalion was fighting fiercely with the enemy, they would take the opportunity to withdraw to the west bank, quickly deploy artillery positions, and cover the retreat of the troops with artillery fire. ”

After Lei Jian gave the order, his heart was still unsteady, and he ordered Zhang Ping: "Your task of following me has been completed, and you lead the telecommunications squad that moves with me in the battlefield, under the cover of the assault company, to quickly withdraw to the west bank of the Tiechuan River. ”

Zhang Ping, director of the interrogation department, saw that Lei Jian had given several orders in a row that made his heart tremble without any signs of major changes on the battlefield, and he had already touched the unexpected danger that might occur, and said paranoidly for a while: "Commander Lei, the telecommunications squad can first withdraw to the west bank with communication equipment, but I can't." ”

"Bastard, why?"

When Zhang Ping heard Lei Jian rudely scold him, he felt the seriousness of the matter even more, he shook his head and looked at Lei Jian on the canopy and shouted: "Commander Lei, if you want to withdraw and I will withdraw with you, if you insist on staying on the east bank of the Tiechuan River, I would rather be shot by you than leave you." ”

"My good brother, I don't evacuate because of my duty, it's my burden for you to stay, once the enemy launches, none of us can expect it, a big military action, or ask the devil fighter to ...... in the air, in the air, yes, it must be the little devil who is about to send fighter planes to implement air reinforcements, my God, I can touch the lifeblood of the little devil."

Lei Jian shouted in ecstasy for a while: "Director Zhang, you immediately retreat to the west bank with the assault company, I have a reconnaissance platoon and a guard squad here to protect you, you can put a hundred hearts on it, and nothing will happen." ”

When Zhang Ping heard Lei Jian shouting that the devil might carry out the bombing of air fighters, he was so frightened that he hurriedly shouted: "Commander Lei, if the enemy planes you said are reinforced in the air and carry out firepower strikes, then it will be very dangerous for you to stay on the east coast, you said that the reconnaissance platoon and the guard squad will stay by your side to protect you, you can lie to the children, but I don't believe that once the war is urgent, you will take them to risk the most difficult and deadly mission, you come down quickly and retreat with me." ”

Just as Zhang Ping raised his head and reasoned with Lei Jian, the reconnaissance platoon and assault company rushed to the woods to ask about the situation, and nearly 100 soldiers raised their heads and shouted at the canopy of the big poplar tree: "Commander Lei, you come down quickly, once the enemy plane flies over the sky, we will not be able to withdraw even if we want to." ”

The soldiers shouted one after another, but they could not shake Lei Jian's determination to stay on the east bank of the Tiechuan River to command the battle, he could not leave the first line of fire, and he wanted to kill the enemy with the soldiers on the front line, and never evacuate the position on the east bank first.

Zhang Ping knew that time was pressing, and he shouted to Lei Jian: "Commander Lei, Lei Jian, Lei boy, you come down for me, I, Zhang Ping, will kneel under this tree today, if you don't come down and retreat with me, I, Zhang Ping, will never leave you one step, otherwise you will shoot me." ”

Qu Jiaming and Fang Liqiang followed Lei Jian from birth to death, they were comrades-in-arms and brothers who killed the enemy together on the battlefield, and they knew that the enemy planes bombed in the air.

Qu Jiaming especially remembers vividly, that time to rescue the New Seventh Brigade and the New Ninth Brigade of the East Column, Lei Jian led the guard squad to modify three combat vehicles, lured the fire bombing of twelve enemy fighters in the air, and covered the withdrawal of the New Seventh Brigade and the New Ninth Brigade from the position, but was seriously injured by the bomb explosion, and was buried in the ground by the blasted soil.

After not returning for three days, the independent regiment and the commander of the East Column Chen thought that Lei Jian was heroic and reported to the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region Headquarters, and as a result, the head of the Lei Jian Independent Regiment was dismissed. came back desperately, and the post of regiment commander was relieved, but fortunately, the new independent regiment of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region was reorganized.

Lei Jian took a large group of peasant children who had just joined the Eighth Route Army, so recklessly westward, fighting and killing all the way, and finally brought this army up, now the enemy is present, indicating that the enemy plane is about to bomb in the air, how can Qu Jiaming not be afraid, Lei Jian, the regiment commander who did not want to die in the battle, once he encounters danger again, what should the 'only regiment' do? What to do with the enemy's troops blocking the positions of the enemy?

Thunder Sword can't have an accident, this is the unshakable will of all the warriors under the big poplar tree.

(End of chapter)