Seeing the scarlet flames that suddenly rose from the enemy's attack position in front of him, Xu Hailang was stunned on the spot.

Zhao Hong, who was about to deliver the order, also stopped.

"That is?"

Both of them looked as if they had seen a ghost, and then they raised their hands and wiped their eyes fiercely to confirm that they had not seen it wrong.

"Could it be that the Japanese artillery exploded?"

Zhao Hong muttered to himself, then shook his head to deny his ridiculous guess.

The explosion just now seemed to be just an appetizer. Immediately afterwards, several more red lights suddenly rose from the ground, and then the sound of explosions reached their ears.

At this time, the two finally saw the situation clearly.

Some shells landed on the enemy's attack position.

In the light of the fire, I saw many Japanese soldiers and their weapons being thrown away.

Some Japanese soldiers were dismembered in the air by the blast wave, and even their men and their guns were blown away.

"It's the battalion commander. The battalion commander must be back!"

Xu Hailang reacted and was immediately ecstatic. He then instructed Zhao Hong on the side: "Tell the brothers that the battalion commander is back, and ask them to hold on and be ready to launch a counterattack at any time!"

"yes!"

Zhao Hong promised, then turned and left.

…

The other side.

Japanese troops attack position.

Kasahara Koizumi was paying close attention to the battle ahead. Seeing that the independent battalion could no longer hold on, it was about to be completely defeated.

The corners of his mouth couldn't help but raise, revealing a sinister smile like a wild wolf.

However, at this moment, several violent explosions suddenly came from behind him.

The smile on Kasahara Koizumi's face suddenly froze, and then he turned around and asked: "Baga! What's going on? Where did the explosion come from?"

Next to him, Chief of Staff Shimono Jundao: "Captain, it seems to be the artillery position of the Imperial Army."

"Artillery position? Did the artillery explode?"

Kasahara Koizumi asked back, but quickly shook his head, denying his conjecture: "Even if the chambers are exploded, it's impossible for several artillery to explode at the same time, right?"

At this moment, a Japanese second lieutenant suddenly ran over in a hurry and reported to Kasahara Koizumi: "Captain, something serious has happened. The reinforcements from the China Eighth Route Army are here!"

Kasahara Koizumi had a cold face and said indifferently: "The reinforcements of the Eighth Route Army? They are just a group of militiamen, a ragtag group of people, nothing to worry about at all!"

The second lieutenant explained with a sad face: "No! Captain, the main force of the Eighth Route Army is here this time. They are all wearing the uniforms of the Eighth Route Army and are extremely well-equipped!

And it has already exchanged fire with the Imperial Army's security forces. The explosion just now was caused by the Chinese artillery bombarding the Imperial Army's position."

Kasahara Koizumi finally felt something bad in his heart: "Why is there still the main force of the Eighth Route Army here? Could it be that Wang Chengzhu is back?"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! The main force of the independent battalion is still in Lingyang, how could it be possible to come back so soon?"

After Kasahara Koizumi finished speaking, a communications soldier rushed over and reported to him: "Captain, something bad happened! Your Excellency, the brigade commander just sent a telegram! He said that he had just received the news this morning, saying that Wang Chengzhu had died.

Yu led the independent battalion to leave Lingyang early yesterday morning and is expected to return to Wangjiacun this afternoon at the latest.

The brigade leader also said that he has personally led the 3rd Regiment to come to the rescue, telling you to stop the attack immediately if Wangjiacun has not been captured, and if you do, rely on favorable terrain to defend.

Then, together with the 3rd Regiment, we will attack from the front and back, and annihilate the main force of the independent battalion that came back in one fell swoop!"

Hearing this, Kasahara Koizumi's face suddenly darkened, and then he yelled angrily: "Baga! What does your communications team do for food?"

"It's already past one in the afternoon. Since the brigade commander got the news this morning, he will definitely send us a telegram immediately, but why did you only receive the news now?"

The communications soldier explained with a grimace: "Captain, because the terrain here is remote, there is no signal in many places, so we only received the news now."

"Bagayalu! What a bunch of useless idiots! If this battle fails, your communications team will be the culprit..."

Kasahara Koizumi continued to scold, but was stopped by Chief of Staff Jun Shimono: "Captain, calm down! Although the communications team is at fault in this matter, the matter is now over. It is meaningless for you to accuse us anymore. Let's think about it."

If only we could save the current situation."

Upon hearing this, the Japanese communications soldier immediately cast a grateful look at Shimono Jun.

Kasahara Koizumi thought so, so he temporarily suppressed the anger in his heart and asked: "Shimono-kun, in your opinion, what should we do now?"

Shimono Jun thought for a moment and said: "Right now, the main force of the independent battalion has returned. With the battles shown in places such as Huting and Jiangjunling, our 22nd Regiment alone may not be able to defeat it.

What's more, we are still in the embarrassing situation of being attacked from both sides by the independent battalion."

"So, in my opinion, we should break out immediately before the encirclement of the independent battalion is formed, and then find a dangerous place to defend. After the brigade commander arrives, we can cooperate with the brigade commander

Let’s destroy the Independence Camp together!”

"Shimono-kun is right!"

Kasahara Koizumi nodded in agreement, then looked at the communications soldier on the side and asked: "Where is the brigade commander now, and how long will it take for him to arrive at Wangjia Village?"

Japanese Communications Corps: "Reporting to the regimental commander, the brigade commander is on his way and is expected to arrive at Wangjiacun in another three hours."

Kasahara Koizumi: "You call back the brigade commander immediately and tell him that Wang Chengzhu has returned with the main force of the independent battalion. We will break out immediately and then find a dangerous place to defend."

"Hiyi!"

The Japanese communications soldier nodded heavily, then turned and left.

Kasahara Koizumi shouted to the messenger on the side: "The messenger!"

"Hiyi!"

Several Japanese messengers heard the sound and immediately ran over quickly: "Captain!"

Kasahara Koizumi: "Send my order and tell the 2nd and 3rd Battalions that Wang Chengzhu has led the main force of the independent battalion back, and tell them to stop the attack immediately! And turn towards the mountain col to the north!"

"Order the 1st Battalion to resist the main force of the independent battalion and provide cover for the artillery brigade to move in!"

"Hiyi!"

Several Japanese soldiers who ordered the Japanese to order the soldiers nodded heavily, and then quickly left.

As soon as several Japanese messengers left, Kasahara Koizumi, under the cover of the guard squadron, led the engineer squadron directly under the wing commander and the artillery brigade to take the lead and withdrew towards the mountain col to the north.

It is worth mentioning that originally the 22nd Japanese Infantry Regiment did not have an artillery brigade, only a mortar squadron.

This artillery brigade was temporarily transferred to Kasahara Koizumi by brigade commander Nishiyama Masao. The purpose was to enable the 22nd Regiment to quickly capture the base of the independent battalion.
Chapter completed!