"Captain, there seems to be no Eighth Route Army on this road..." A captain walking next to the Japs commander said with admiration on his face.
It has been twenty minutes since the troops left the initial mountain road without being attacked by cold fire, which was completely unimaginable before.
From the moment everyone left Taiyuan, cold guns were always surrounding their ears, making everyone nervous.
Although these cold guns do not threaten the safety of the reinforcements, if someone is targeted by these cold guns, it only takes one bullet to lose their life.
During the march, every little devil prayed in his heart that the Eighth Route Army would not target them the next time they launched a cold attack.
My heart strings were always stretched in this tense mood.
The past twenty minutes were undoubtedly the most comfortable for them.
All you need to do is move forward and pass through the independent regiment's defense area as quickly as possible. Don't worry about the cold guns that may appear at any time on both sides of the mountain road.
The commander of the regiment said directly with a smug expression: "The Jinzhong Independent Regiment of the Eighth Route Army has limited troops and hastily responded to the battle due to its advantages, and even fewer troops can be mobilized."
"If we guarded the mountain road we just walked through, we definitely wouldn't have the troops to defend the mountain road below us."
"Even if they temporarily send troops to attack us on this mountain road, it will be too late."
"Our marching speed was very fast. The Eighth Route Army could only follow us and eat ashes, but had no chance to overtake us and set up the battlefield."
"And setting up the battlefield also takes time. As long as we march fast enough, they won't have this time."
After saying that, he did not forget to add another order to his subordinates: 'Our marching speed must be accelerated.'
"The independent regiment will not easily let us pass through their defense area. Now they must be thinking of other ways to intercept us, slow down our march, and buy time for them to mobilize their main forces to attack us."
The analysis of the Japanese captain is sound and well-founded.
If he was not facing the Eighth Route Army, and with limited troops, he would have no choice but to passively change the marching route and chase after the Japanese and puppet troops.
But his opponent today is the Eighth Route Army.
The strength of the Jinzhong Independent Regiment is indeed very small, with less than 1,500 soldiers in total.
He can mobilize all local armed forces, guerrillas, and ordinary people in the base area to help fight together.
In order to trap the little devils from Taiyuan in the base area for two days, Captain Huang mobilized more than 10,000 people to join the battle.
Although most of the people participating in the war were not even equipped with cold weapons, on the rugged mountain roads, hot and cold weapons may not be as useful as a stone.
The mountain road the Japanese army was walking was not without an Eighth Route Army ambush, but it was because they had not yet entered the Eighth Route Army's activity range.
In order to ensure that the Japanese troops had no way to escape, Captain Huang deployed five companies to block every mountain road and trail that could pass through his defense zone.
Arrange one platoon on mountain roads with rugged terrain, and place two platoons on trails that are easier to walk.
It seems that the number of troops is very small, and it would not be enough for them to fight against the Japanese reinforcements, but there are many local troops, guerrillas and ordinary people who cooperate with their actions.
Almost every main platoon has nearly a thousand people as assistants to cooperate in operations.
Their mission was to use the terrain to consume the Japanese troops through various means, slow down their march, and buy time for the main force to mobilize.
"Rumble..."
A crashing sound suddenly sounded in front of the mountain road. Before the captain of the Japanese team could react, he heard a scream coming from the front of the team.
The messenger ran towards the commander of the regiment at the same time and reported directly with a frightened expression: "Sir..."
"Just now, five stones rolled down the hillside and along the mountain road. At least 20 soldiers were killed and injured..."
The captain heard this in confusion.
After so many years of fighting, this is the first time I heard that the troops suffered heavy casualties after being attacked by stones.
I quickly rushed to the front of the queue to see what was going on.
The mountain road ahead extends along the mountain to the top of the hillside. Several round boulders stopped at the foot of the mountain, stained with the blood of soldiers.
More than 20 soldiers fell on the mountain road. Some were smashed into pulp by boulders, and some had their legs and feet broken. They were lying on the ground wailing. The sight was full of bloody scenes, which was very tragic.
Seeing this, the commander knew what had just happened here without listening to the report.
The troops marched quickly along the mountain road. As they approached the top of the mountain, several boulders rolled down the mountain road at an increasing speed.
The troops were caught off guard, and many people were hit by boulders rolling down from the top of the mountain...and then this tragic scene appeared in front of them.
"Sir, I'm worried that there are still rocks on the top of the mountain, so I don't dare to let the troops continue to advance..." The squadron leader looked at the commander as if he saw a savior, and quickly asked for instructions.
The commander of the regiment did not answer immediately. He looked at the hillside in front of him with a sullen face, and made a decision after half a minute: "Send two squadrons to abandon the mountain road and climb to the top of the mountain from both sides of the mountain road. After occupying the top of the mountain, the troops will continue to advance on the mountain road."
"The terrain here is very suitable for blocking. If the enemy deploys a platoon of troops here and uses rifles and machine guns to block the front, the casualties caused to our army will be at least doubled."
"But the enemy who just attacked us only used rocks and not even rifles. This shows that the opponent's combat effectiveness is very poor, and they are probably not equipped with rifles and machine guns. At most, a local army is blocking the road and sending two squadrons to rush to the top of the mountain.
It can be taken easily."
The brigade captain unconditionally trusts the co-captain's judgment.
Two squadrons were immediately dispatched to go around the mountain road and climb up to the top of the mountain.
The initial results were very good.
The troops climbed halfway up the mountain without encountering any attacks.
The captain couldn't help but laugh, feeling that he was right again.
Just when the attacking troops were about to rush to the top of the mountain, an accident happened.
"Rumble..."
Countless stones were thrown down from the top of the mountain. A small number of them hit the ground and made no movement. Most of them hit the ground and rolled down to the foot of the mountain. The speed became faster and faster.
Dozens of soldiers were caught off guard and were hit by stones, falling on the mountain in various postures.
"Rumble..."
The commander of the regiment was stunned. He thought that at most one round of rocks would fall from the mountain. However, the first round of rocks was still tumbling halfway up the mountain, and the second round of rocks had already fallen from the sky and hit the two squadrons again.
Round after round, the rocks on the mountain seem to be inexhaustible, rolling down continuously.
More and more soldiers were hit by stones and fell screaming on the attack road.
After being hit, many Japanese soldiers fell to the ground and turned into corpses without even letting out a scream.
The unlucky kid was hit by a boulder and was crushed into a pulp, without even a complete body left.
"Retreat... We have been fooled. The attacking troops must retreat quickly." The commander of the unit was frightened and ordered with a panicked look on his face.