There must be brave men under the heavy reward. Under the temptation of the ocean, the spirit of the puppet soldiers was greatly boosted, and they accelerated their pace to pursue the mountains ahead.
The puppet soldiers only carried some guns, ammunition and dry food. Although it was night, they were marching at a fast speed.
On the other hand, Zhang Liechen's team seemed bloated and huge. Many people had to trek with their families and their families. Although some factory machines in Huaiyin were disassembled and packed, they were still heavy.
Deputy Captain Zhang Liechen and some officers continued to boost morale in the team and urged everyone to move forward quickly, but the effect was very little.
In the middle of the night, the reconnaissance officers and soldiers from the rear team who were responsible for monitoring the pursuers caught up with them sweating profusely.
"Sir, the puppet army is less than five miles away from us!"
After hearing the report from the scouts, deputy captain Zhang Liechen was also frightened and led a group of officers to climb a hill beside the road to observe the enemy's situation.
Looking around, in the distance of the dark and silent mountains, a long dragon with torches was approaching them quickly from behind.
"Sir Zhang, what should I do?"
At the current speed, it is difficult to get rid of the pursuers of these puppet troops, and the faces of all the officers are particularly solemn.
"Now we can only send people to stop it, otherwise we will be overtaken sooner or later."
Deputy Captain Zhang Liechen glanced over the faces of these dusty officers and asked: "Who is willing to lead the troops to block the attack and buy time for retreat?"
Everyone knew that there were quite a lot of puppet troops chasing after them. Interruption and blocking were always a life-and-death battle, and they might even lose their lives. It could be said to be extremely risky.
"I'll go."
"I go."
...
After everyone was silent for just a few seconds, they all started asking for a fight.
"Let's do it, Battalion Commander Zheng, Deputy Battalion Commander Wang, you lead two companies to stop these puppet troops and buy some time for the big guys to retreat." Finally, Zhang Liechen focused on the faces of Battalion Commander Zheng Gang and Deputy Battalion Commander Wang Dongming.
On the body.
Now Yang Ling has taken away all the troops capable of fighting, and now the only battalion-level officers beside deputy commander Zhang Liechen who can command the battle are Zheng Gang and Wang Dongming.
"Yes! Guaranteed to complete the mission!"
Battalion Commander Zheng Gang and Deputy Battalion Commander Wang Dongming spoke in unison and agreed.
"Remember, don't be reluctant to fight, retreat after repelling the puppet troops." Deputy Captain Zhang Liechen was worried and warned him one more time.
They only have so few troops in hand now. If they are entangled by the puppet troops behind them, they will be unable to deal with the bandits' attack.
After receiving the order, Battalion Commander Zheng Gang and Deputy Battalion Commander Wang Dongming quickly led two companies of more than 200 guerrilla officers and soldiers to build blocking positions on the spot relying on the mountains.
Zheng Gang is the battalion commander of the Patriot Battalion, and Wang Dongming is the deputy battalion commander of the combat battalion. The two once fought side by side to kill the Japanese, and now at this critical moment, they join hands to kill the enemy again.
"Old Zheng, we only have two companies, and the puppet troops are more numerous than us. If we resist forcefully, we won't be able to hold on for long, and the casualties will be heavy."
The deputy battalion commander Wang Dongming was also from a combat battalion. When the two were discussing blocking tactics, they were the first to express their opinions.
"Old Wang, how do you want to fight?"
Although Zheng Gang was the battalion commander, he had been serving as a guard at the rear. When he heard what Deputy Battalion Commander Wang Dongming said, he immediately humbly asked for advice.
"The puppet troops are chasing in a hurry, and they will not have much time to conduct effective reconnaissance in the dense forests on both sides of the road. What I mean is that instead of passively defending, we should attack proactively and use the cover of the dense forests to ambush them first and weaken their
There is vitality.”
"Okay, let's do it!" Battalion Commander Zheng Gang agreed without thinking.
Zheng Gang pointed to both sides of the road and said: "I will lead a company to ambush in the dense forest on the left side of the road. You lead a company to ambush in the pile of rocks on the right side. When the puppet troops come, we will give them a showdown!"
"Well, send an infantry squad with a machine gun to control the mountain."
"Gather our grenade groups and use them together, and shoot out all the grenades later."
...
Battalion Commander Zheng Gang and Deputy Battalion Commander Wang Dongming finalized the details of the ambush in a few words and quickly arranged it.
The officers and soldiers of the two companies quickly divided into several groups. The machine gun firepower group seized the commanding heights on the roadside, while the riflemen and others formed squads and platoons and got into the dense forest beside the road to ambush.
"Turn off the safety of all guns. Whispering and making noises are strictly prohibited. Otherwise, battlefield discipline will be enforced!"
After all, the number of puppet troops was large, and whether the ambush was successful or not was related to the length of the blockade, so Zheng Gang and the others repeatedly told the ambush officers and soldiers to maintain absolute silence.
After everyone laid the ambush, they didn't wait long. Under the light of torches in the distance, crowds of puppet soldiers wearing big-brimmed hats appeared in sight.
The puppet soldiers all wanted to get the reward of Dayang. Although they were all out of breath running on the mountain road, and some people fell down from time to time, no one complained and they ran very fast along the mountain road.
Seeing that these puppet soldiers didn't even send out their top soldiers, and just went deep into the mountains to pursue them all night long, Zheng Gang, who was lying in ambush in the dense forest, had a sneer on his lips.
Xie Zhengxiang, the leader of the puppet army who wanted to claim credit and rewards from his new master, had already received information that the remaining guerrillas they were chasing belonged to a logistics unit and did not have much combat strength.
Most of the fighting troops were on the other side, being chased all over the mountains and plains by the little Japs, so he became bolder.
After all, he has more than 500 people under his command. If he can't defeat the logistics unit of the Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps, he can just buy a piece of tofu and kill him.
The puppet soldiers ran staggeringly along the mountain road. The team of more than 500 people stretched for nearly two miles. Many puppet soldiers could no longer run and fell behind.
The puppet troops who wanted to catch up with the retreating Zhang Liechen and others never thought that in the dark dense forest on both sides of the mountain road they ran through, countless black holes of gun muzzle were already pointed at them.
Seeing that the puppet soldiers were almost out of the ambush circle, the ambush brothers turned on the safety, gently pulled the bolt, pushed the bullet and loaded the gun, and began to take aim to find their target.
"Boom-boom-boom!"
When most of the puppet troops had entered the ambush circle, streaks of red light suddenly appeared on the dark hillside.
The bandits who were marching along the mountain road subconsciously looked up and saw the red light continuously enlarging in their pupils, and their faces turned pale in an instant.
"There's an ambush! There's..."
"Boom! Boom!"
The shouts of the puppet army officers were soon drowned in the deafening explosions, and bursts of explosive fireballs rose up on the mountain road. The puppet soldiers holding torches were immediately blown to pieces.
Suddenly encountered a grenade attack, the puppet troops on the mountain road suddenly exploded, and they scattered towards both sides of the road to avoid it.
In the darkness, scorching fragments and gravel were flying everywhere, the injured puppet soldiers let out shrill wails, and in the thick smoke, countless figures were running around and bumping into each other.
"beat!"
Taking advantage of the chaos of the puppet army, the guerrilla officers and soldiers who were ambushing in the dense forests on both sides of the mountain road opened fire one after another at the command.
"Teng Teng Teng——"
The unique dull roar of the Type 92 heavy machine gun rang out, and strings of scarlet bullets licked the ground, sweeping out clouds of blood mist.
Shortly after, the light machine guns and rifles also sprayed out tongues of fire, and the hail of bullets poured down on the mountain road. The puppet troops who encountered the surprise attack suddenly suffered heavy casualties.