The first thousand two hundred and seventieth chapters
The bright moon is high, and the black mountains are as majestic as wild beasts. A fully armed army is walking through the dense forest of thorns in the dark.
There were dozens of bandits, big and small, around Yang Ling's camp in Xiaoqingshan. Although the battle a month ago had severely damaged the vitality of the bandits, they could not allow others to snore beside their couches. These bandits were always a huge threat to them.
After a month of training and replenishment of troops, the strength of the two combat battalions under the Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps has been restored to 1,200, with 600 in each battalion. Continuous brutal training has restored the combat effectiveness of the officers and soldiers to a certain extent.
But Yang Ling's opponents are young Japanese with fierce combat capabilities. They are much higher than Yang Ling and others in terms of scale and military quality.
They want to counterattack Huaiyin and regain the previously contiguous guerrilla zone, and strengthening their own strength is the only way.
Now that the training on the training ground has reached a bottleneck, the combat effectiveness of the officers and soldiers has been limited, so Yang Ling decided to train in actual combat and eliminate harm to the people.
Hutou Village is the largest group of bandits in a radius of dozens of miles. Previously, there were more than 800 bandits who could only fight, and their family members numbered as many as 2,000.
The battle at Xiaoqingshan resulted in the loss of more than 400 people in Hutou Village, which was a serious loss of vitality, but they were still the strongest force in the vicinity.
Yang Ling's first choice for surgery was the bandits in Hutou Village. As long as they were eliminated, the bandits in other places would not be afraid.
The leader of Hutou Village overturned his boat in the ditch of Xiaoqingshan. Instead of plundering a large amount of wealth from the Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps to develop and expand himself, he stole the chicken but lost the rice. It can be said that his intestines were filled with regret.
The combat effectiveness of the officers and soldiers of the Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps frightened him, so after he fled back to Hutou Village in embarrassment, he was so scared that he could not get out.
They were also worried that the Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps would take advantage of the victory and pursue their Hutou Village and destroy them. While being frightened, they mobilized everyone in the village to repair fortifications, strengthen defenses, and actively prepare for war. Additional sentries were posted at every intersection.
The bandits in Hutou Village lived in turmoil for a month, but did not wait for the revenge of the Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps.
After many inquiries, we found out that the Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps was seriously injured in the battle with the Japs. The reason why they defeated them in Xiaoqingshan was just a fluke, and now they have no ability to deal with them at all.
After Wang Laohu, the head of Hutou Village, learned about this situation, he realized that it was a false alarm, and the stone hanging in his heart fell to the ground.
Although the Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps was busy recuperating and unable to attack them, Wang Laohu had seen the fierce fighting power of the Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps and was very afraid of them.
Therefore, Wang Laohu posted sentries at all the hilltop intersections leading to Xiaoqingshan. If the Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps showed signs of attacking them, they could give early warning.
Moreover, after this period of active defense preparations, Hutou Village has been managed and impregnable. It will not be easy for the Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps to defeat them.
Yang Ling naturally knew that Hutou Village was a tough guy now. If he went there in such a swagger, he might have been discovered by the outposts of Hutou Village from a long distance away.
Once the people of Hutou Village are prepared and rely on the built bunkers and trenches to resist, even if they can successfully capture Hutou Village, the losses will not be small.
Yang Ling and the others have not yet recovered their vitality. Although they have now recovered to two combat camps, he does not want to be disabled again.
Therefore, with the various efforts of the intelligence department, Yang Ling and the others decided to bypass the front roads leading to Hutou Village to avoid alerting the enemy.
The troops responsible for attacking Hutou Village, led by intelligence personnel, made a surprise attack on Hutou Village along the trails used by medicinal farmers in the mountains to collect herbs.
This time, Yang Ling's purpose was to train troops and suppress bandits, so he did not go out in full force. He only sent out the Blacksmith's 1st Battalion and the two special operations teams of the Lieyan Special Operations Brigade to carry out the attack mission.
Wu Changqing's Second Battalion and the headquarters' security forces still stayed in Xiaoqingshan for training, firstly to protect the safety of Xiaoqingshan, and secondly to confuse the bandit sentries.
The camp and training grounds of Blacksmith's battalion are surrounded by military restricted areas. The sentries on duty have serious faces and no one is allowed to approach.
But no one knew that the blacksmith and the others had quietly left the camp after nightfall, got into the dark mountains, and marched in the direction of Hutou Village.
Although the bright moon was high in the sky, the dense tree canopy almost blocked the light, and the thorny forest still blocked the view.
In order to prevent falling behind in such a dark night, the brothers who crossed the mountains in a column held a rope in their hands and followed the pace of the people in front.
But walking in the mountains is too difficult. This mountain trail used by farmers to collect herbs sometimes goes through thorny jungles, and sometimes goes through mountain streams with rugged rocks. The ups and downs are not a human path at all.
There were thick, rotten leaves under their feet. Although the brothers were extremely careful, there were still bloody marks on their arms from the thorns.
"Damn, what kind of way is this?"
One brother stared at the bottomless mountain stream about a foot away, his legs trembling. If he fell, he would be shattered to pieces.
"Shut up and stay silent."
This brother's low-pitched complaint immediately attracted low-pitched scoldings from the officers in the company, and the brother wisely shut his mouth.
Blacksmith and his battalion of 600 fully armed brothers kept moving forward in silence. Although there were people from the intelligence department leading the way, they could not go very fast while climbing over mountains and ridges at night.
"How far is it?" Seeing the sky getting brighter and looking at the unfamiliar mountains around him, the battalion commander Blacksmith called an officer from the Intelligence Department to ask about the situation.
"There's at least one day's journey left," the intelligence officer replied.
Although the blacksmiths and the others walked almost all night, the mountainous areas were not as good as the plains, and crossing mountains and ridges was very time-consuming, so they did not go very far in a straight line.
"Stop moving forward and rest in the woods."
Seeing that daybreak was approaching, the brothers who had marched all night were exhausted and worried about being exposed during the day, so the battalion commander Blacksmith issued an order to rest.
"First company commander!"
"have!"
"You are responsible for the security. The sentry post is placed five hundred meters away."
"yes!"
The brothers, whose bodies were scratched by thorns and scarred by thorns, rested in a forest full of dead branches and rotten leaves. They couldn't light a fire. They just ate dry food and fell asleep with their clothes on. Soon, snoring could be heard in the forest.
After the brothers had slept well, they started marching towards Hutou Village again at dusk. The intelligence officer led two Lieyan special warfare teams in front, followed closely by the 600 officers and soldiers of the first battalion.
Everyone walked for another night, and at ten o'clock at noon the next day, they arrived in a jungle just a few miles away from Hutou Village and hid in it.
The battalion commander Blacksmith asked the troops to rest in hiding in the woods. Two Lieyan special operations teams arrived at Hutou Village for investigation with a simple map drawn by the enemy.
The spies they broke into Hutou Village were bandits from the prisoner camp who were instigating rebellion. Although they provided some information to Yang Ling and the others, the blacksmith did not dare to put the lives of hundreds of his brothers on the bodies of a few spies, so during the attack