Ma Mingshan patted Li Gang on the shoulder and said: "Acting Leader Li, don't worry, Jiren has his own natural appearance, and Captain Lei has a great life, as long as the superiors have not officially notified and determined the life and death of Captain Lei, we should firmly believe that Captain Lei is still alive."

Don't think too much, as soon as the morning dawns, a fierce battle will begin, and we will definitely fight the first battle of Regiment Commander Lei leaving the army. ”

It's getting darker and darker, it's as black as the bottom of a pot, and it's not a description to see your fingers. In this pitch-black mountain forest, the only group of soldiers hidden in the position took turns to sleep for a while, and the soldiers who were on guard duty lay halfway up the mountain, staring wide-eyed, pricking up their ears, and paying close attention to the wind and grass under the mountain.

The commander of the Japanese Katayama Brigade, who was camping on the spot at the foot of the mountain, lay on the marching bed in the tent, frowning and looking outside the tent, and could not see anything in the dark, only the slight footsteps of the sentries walking back and forth.

He wanted to sleep for a while, but he couldn't sleep on the marching bed, and his eyes kept appearing at the North China Military Conference, Commander Okamura Ningji's stern reprimand, before leaving the war room, the commander left the commander of the Katayama Brigade behind, and said in a heavy tone: "Katayama-kun, the Fourth Independent Mixed Brigade is the unit of General Abe Norihide, the 'flower of the famous generals withering in Taihang Mountain', as the successor of Abe-kun, in this operation, I hope you can make new contributions, don't disappoint me." ”

When he took over as the commander of the Fourth Independent Mixed Brigade, he was very dissatisfied with the fall of Lieutenant General Abe Norihide, and sometimes showed contempt for thoughts, but after several battles with the Eighth Route Army in Jinnan, Laiyuan, Lingqiu and other places, and several times he was almost surrounded by the Eighth Route Army and suffered a heavy defeat, which slightly restrained his arrogance.

Today, he led the troops to sweep the border areas of the Eighth Route Army's base areas in the military city, Chengnanzhuang, and Fuping, and was blocked in the first battle in the military city, and at this time he stayed at the foot of the mountain in the north of the military city, and attacked the position of the Eighth Route Army at five o'clock in the morning tomorrow.

Just when Katayama couldn't sleep, the combat staff officer groped his way to the entrance of the tent and reported in a low voice: "Report to General Katayama, Commander Okamura is in an emergency." ”

"Don't light the lamp, read."

The operational staff officer had memorized the telegram and immediately recounted it: "The Katayama Brigade and Regiment order your unit to completely occupy the Chengnanzhuang and Fuping lines, where the front headquarters of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region of the Eighth Route Army is located, by 29 September, eliminate the command organs of the Eighth Route Army, rapidly infiltrate the base areas of the Eighth Route Army, and expand the results of the battle, in an attempt to eliminate the main force of the Eighth Route Army's Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region. ”

Huo Di, the commander of the Katayama Brigade, sat up, got up too violently, the tent was too dark, there was no need for strength under his feet, the marching bed was sitting, and the whole person fell to the ground.

The combat staff officer heard the sound of something heavy falling in the tent, followed by a "Oops, Yaga." ”

He was so frightened that he didn't know what was happening to the commander of the Katayama Brigade, so he hurriedly touched the place where he made a sound from falling, and stepped on General Katayama's hand on the ground, and the injured Katayama Brigade Commander scolded: "Bastard, you stupid pig." ”

The combat staff officer was suddenly exclaimed and scolded by the commander of the Katayama Brigade, and he was so frightened that he hurriedly retreated, knelt on the ground, and groped for General Katayama, who was about to stand up, and quickly held on.

The commander of the Katayama Brigade scolded in a very bad mood: "What bastard order, today is the 29th, and the old general of the North China Front Army actually ordered me to occupy the front line of Chengnanzhuang and Fuping before the 29th and annihilate the main force of the Eighth Route Army. ”

Startled and falling, the commander of the Katayama Brigade was completely sleepless, he called the chief of staff Inada and asked in the dark, "What time is it?" ”

"Report to the brigade commander, I looked at my watch ten minutes ago, and it was 4:15 a.m. on the 29th." The chief of staff of Inada hurriedly replied.

"You say it's 4:30 a.m. on the 29th?"

"Yes, General Katayama."

The commander of the Katayama Brigade immediately tidied up his military uniform in high spirits and ordered the chief of staff of Daotian: "Order the troops to assemble secretly, and launch an attack on the position of the Eighth Route Army in Beishan of the military city at five o'clock in accordance with the organization of the troops in Tangxian, Laiyuan, Baoding, and Quyang. ”

The cunning Chief of Staff Inada suggested: "General Katayama, the Imperial Army troops launched an attack on the position of the Eighth Route Army in Beishan at five o'clock in the morning, and it is not yet dawn, and it is afraid that rapid action will disturb the Eighth Route Army, so that the Eighth Route Army will be ready for battle, my proposal, can the troops covertly touch the peaks of Beishan, suddenly attack the enemy, and catch the enemy by surprise, so ......." ”

"Shouting Xi, your order, at five o'clock in the morning, quietly touch the peak of Beishan, don't shoot, once you exchange fire with the Eighth Route Army, you must use the fiercest firepower to break through the Tu Eighth Route position, occupy it in one fell swoop, leave the Quyang Imperial Army troops to cover, and the large army will quickly march to Chengnanzhuang." The commander of the Katayama Brigade nodded and ordered in the darkness of the night.

The time passed little by little, and it was already five o'clock in the morning, and the Japanese army began to attack the position of the only regiment in Beishan in a covert manner.

Li Gang, who was sitting at the front of the position, looked at the blurred mountain with uncertainties, the sky was still so dark, the clouds in the sky were still so thick, and the depression of the dark clouds had been lingering.

Li Gang felt a drizzle in the sky, and soon his clothes were wet, located in North China in the Taihang Mountains, at the end of September, especially at dawn, the cold made people can't help but chatter their teeth.

Ma Mingshan, who was sitting on the side, said in a low voice: "Acting Commander Li, it's raining, the Japanese troops under the mountain, I don't know if they are starting to act now, the scouts we arranged close to the enemy camp have not returned to the news yet, and the troops are afraid that they will catch a cold when they sleep in the rain." ”

Li Gang whispered to the communicator who was standing a few steps away: "Xiao Liu, pass on my order, order the commanders of each battalion to lead the soldiers to do slight activities in the position, and enter the position in ten minutes to prepare for battle." ”

At this time, the only group of scouts hidden more than 30 meters away from the enemy camp saw that it was already raining lightly, and the enemy camp did not move at all.

Just when the scouts were uncomfortable in the rain, they seemed to find the enemy camp more than 30 meters away, and black shadows began to appear one after another, without noise or whispering, and sometimes they could hear the moving black shadows making the sound of weapons clashing.

Guo Tianming, the clever reconnaissance squad leader, immediately realized that the enemy was secretly operating, and he whispered a few words to Xiao Liao, a scout beside him.

Xiao Liao turned to leave, and quickly groped his way to the peaks of Beishan in the dark night.

Li Gang found that the black shadow from the bottom of the mountain was moving quickly to the top of the mountain, and he ordered the commander of the fourth battalion in the forward position: "Pay attention to the bottom of the mountain, there is a black shadow quickly approaching the forward position. ”

Approaching the forward position, Xiao Liao shouted in a low voice for fear of causing a misunderstanding: "Acting Commander Li, I am Xiao Liao of the reconnaissance squad, don't shoot." ”

Li Gang ran into the forward position out of breath, caught up with Xiao Liao, who was unsteady on his feet, and asked, "Xiao Liao, what's the situation down the mountain?" Say it. ”

"Report to Acting Regiment Commander Li, the enemy camp under the mountain has begun to move, and in the blur, I found a large number of black shadows gathering together, without a sound, and the squad leader ordered me to come back and report immediately."

Ma Mingshan grabbed Li Gang's arm and said: "Acting Commander Li, it seems that the cunning Japanese commander is going to launch a sneak attack on our position in the darkness before dawn. ”

Li Gang ordered Song Chun, the commander of the fourth battalion: "You lead the three companies of the fourth battalion to hold the position, and I will take one company down the mountain secretly, teach the little devils a hard lesson halfway up the mountain, retreat while fighting, lure the enemy into the front line of the ambush position set up by our only regiment, and then each battalion will block the attacking enemy with maximum firepower." ”

Ma Mingshan grabbed Li Gang and said eagerly: "Acting Commander Li, your combat post is in the forward position of the only regiment on the mountain peak, not to lead a company to engage the enemy head-on, I will lead the ......." ”

"Political Commissar Ma, I am the military commander of the position, I have the right to order you to command on my behalf, rest assured, my good political commissar, when I come back, nothing will happen."

Li Gang led the 13th Company of the 4th Battalion to quickly touch the mountain under the cover of dense clouds and light rain.

Some of the soldiers slipped and fell to the ground under their feet, making a loud noise, and Li Gang ordered in a fierce low voice: "Hold each other, be careful under your feet, do not touch the woods and shrubs in the dark shadows, arrive at the designated position and listen to my orders, and be ready to fight at any time." ”

(End of chapter)