This was an attack launched by another combat group, and their target was also the Japanese army.
At this time, the Japanese army's attention was focused on Xu Dalong and others. The sudden attack from behind caused them greater casualties. This time, more than a dozen people were injured.
This combat group also had only ten seconds to launch the attack. When the Japanese army counterattacked them, they had already mounted their fast horses and left.
In order not to directly drive away this group of Japanese and puppet troops, Xu Dalong and others did not launch continuous attacks, nor did they use mortars.
The Japanese and puppet troops lay on the road for a long time, and when they saw that there was no movement, they continued to move forward. However, this time they were much more careful, and sent out sentries dozens of meters on both sides of the marching brigade to prevent another incident.
Encountered enemy attack.
The Japanese and puppet brigade continued to march, and soon after, they were attacked by a guerrilla fighting group.
This time the attack location was further away, a full 300 meters away. Their shooting could be said to be blind, but due to the large number of Japanese and puppet troops, they once again caused several Japanese casualties.
After these attacks, Tanaka understood clearly that those attackers were specifically targeting Japanese troops. So he mixed the Japanese troops into the ranks of the puppet troops.
When the puppet soldiers saw that the attackers were specifically targeting Japanese troops, they thought that the attackers were showing mercy to them because they were all Chinese.
Originally, they were there to rejoice in their misfortune, but they did not expect that these Japanese devils were so shameless that they would use them as cover, which deepened their hatred of the Japanese devils.
Sure enough, when they were attacked again, the attackers, regardless of whether they were Japanese or puppet troops, fought together. Since the puppet troops were more numerous, the casualties were greater.
Xu Dalong and others formed a total of 16 combat groups, each of which had a light machine gun. If these combat groups launched an attack together, they would cause more casualties to the Japanese and puppet troops.
But Xu Dalong did not intend to do this. He did not use mortars. He only sent a small number of guerrilla groups to carry out attacks sporadically, just because he was worried that the Japanese and puppet troops would lose confidence and retreat directly to the county town.
Despite this, the puppet soldiers were frightened by the beating.
The commander of the puppet army thought that these attackers were too difficult to deal with. He already wanted to retreat, so he said to Tanaka: "Captain Tianzhong, these Eighth Route Army troops are cavalry and difficult to deal with. Why don't we go back first and request to our superiors?
Send cavalry to deal with them."
The goal of Tianzhong's coming out this time was to destroy the Eighth Route Army's base in Qiligou Village. He had already suffered dozens of casualties before he even entered the mountains. He was furious and refused to give up.
He reprimanded the commander of the puppet army and insisted on continuing to Qiligou Village.
Along the way, Xu Dalong and others continued to launch sporadic attacks on the Japanese and puppet troops, and only eliminated a few enemies each time.
This piecemeal combat method had the effect of boiling frogs in warm water. Unknowingly, the Chinese and Japanese puppet troops had lost nearly a hundred people. However, since the number of people lost each time was very small, they could bear it.
Finally, the Japanese and puppet troops arrived at the mouth of Qiligou.
After all, the commander of the puppet army was a long-time soldier with rich combat experience, and he was already scared of being beaten. He looked at the long valley in front of him and felt very worried, fearing that he would be ambushed in it.
He reminded Captain Tanaka again, hoping to abandon this combat operation.
Tanaka was already furious, and he stubbornly ordered the troops to continue marching into the valley.
The commander of the puppet army was more thoughtful and sent a company of troops to take a detour and climb the hillside to cover the troops marching in the valley.
Tanaka saw the actions of the puppet troops and thought it was reasonable, so he sent a squad of Japanese soldiers to follow the puppet troops in this company.
Zheng Xirong and two soldiers had been following the marching group of the Japanese and puppet troops. They saw the Japanese and puppet troops entering the valley, and then joined Xu Dalong and others who were coming over.
Since the first combat unit had been managed by Zheng Xirong before, they were more familiar with Zheng Xirong.
So Xu Dalong temporarily handed over the command of the first combat detachment to Zheng Xirong. After discussing with Sun Desheng and others, he decided that Sun Desheng and Wang Chengzhu would lead the main force of the first and second combat detachments as well as the artillery detachment and follow the Japanese and puppet troops in.
valley, waiting for an opportunity to rob the supplies transported by the Japanese and puppet troops.
Xu Dalong led eight warriors who were good at climbing up the mountain from the side to coordinate the actions of Sun Desheng and others.
Although Li Jinzhu and the militiamen of Qiligou Village had fought with the guerrillas before, they did not directly participate in the battle.
This was their first time to participate in actual combat. At the beginning, they were very nervous and excited, hoping that the Japanese and puppet troops would come over quickly.
They waited for several hours, but still did not see the Japanese. However, they were a little tired from their own nervousness. When they started to rest, they discovered that Japanese and puppet troops appeared in the valley.
Due to the dangerous terrain in the valley, the Japanese and puppet troops moved very carefully. They sent a vanguard squad in front of the large group of people, and the large group of people followed at a distance.
Seeing the Japanese and puppet troops approaching, the militiamen were very nervous. When they saw that the enemy's leading soldiers were about to reach the mines they had laid, their hearts were in their throats.
After encountering attacks along the way, Tanaka was no longer so arrogant. He mixed the Japanese soldiers with the puppet troops in the brigade, and even the vanguard soldiers sent to the front were all puppet troops.
The leading soldiers of the puppet army were very careful. They looked around as they walked, and held their rifles in front of their chests, ready to fire at any time.
Suddenly, a puppet soldier walking in front felt something hit his feet. It turned out to be a wooden board. The wooden board sank under his step, and he almost fell down.
With a "boom", a stone mine exploded violently under his feet. The strong shock wave and the flying gravel killed several puppet soldiers on the spot.
The top soldiers of the puppet army who were lucky enough to survive were so frightened that they all fell to the ground.
The marching brigade of the Japanese and puppet troops also became nervous. They aimed their guns at both sides of the valley to prepare for an enemy ambush.
However, after the mine exploded, the valley returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.
Seeing that there was no movement, Tanaka directed the Japanese and puppet troops to continue to move forward. Soon they came to the place where the mine exploded. He ordered the engineers to go forward and clear the mine.
The marching group of the Japanese and puppet troops was originally very long. The people in front stopped, and the people behind slowly caught up. The queue became shorter and shorter, and the people became more and more dense.
What they didn't know was that a large number of stone mines had been laid under their feet, and they were already sitting on the crater.
Xu Dalong already knew that the enemy would send advanced troops in front, so he only planted pressure-fired mines in front, while a large number of other mines used pull-fire detonations.
Qin Yu saw that most of the Japanese and puppet troops' marching brigade had already stood on top of the minefield, so he gave Li Jinzhu and others the order to detonate.