At ten o'clock in the morning, the Japanese army left the road where the blockade ditch and blockade wall had been built, entered the hinterland of the blockade area, and began to collect grain from village to village.
Entering the first village went smoothly. In less than twenty minutes, they left the village dragging fifteen grain carts. Eleven carts were loaded with heavy grain, and four carts were loaded with corpses and wounded people.
Zhang Cheng did not take action. He wanted to wait for the Japanese to continue deep into the hinterland of the blockade area before taking action.
He is waiting for the opportunity to become famous without making a fuss.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, there were already more than 40 large vehicles escorted by the Japanese army.
Without large vehicles, the formation of the puppet troops for more than two hundred days was only more than a hundred meters long.
Now that there are large trucks, the queue has been stretched to nearly 500 meters.
In order to ensure the safety of the convoy, the Japanese army had to divide its troops.
An infantry squad takes the lead, another infantry squad rears, and the remaining infantry squad, artillery squad, and heavy machine gun squad are in the middle to protect the convoy. It is a very standard escort formation.
Two kilometers ahead of the convoy is a winding mountain road, with rolling hills on both sides, covered with thatch, bushes, and protruding rocks as tall as a person. It is very steep.
This is a natural ambush battlefield and the only way for the Japanese army to go to the next village.
"Company Commander, I suggest that the troops attack the Japs here and form an ambush." The instructor reminded him with his eyes shining as he looked at the terrain below.
Zhang Cheng did not deny it: "I intend to fight here, but not an ambush!"
"Why?" the instructor asked in confusion.
"This is a natural ambush battlefield. The troops are lurking on the hillside. Waiting for the Japs to get into the pocket formation and launch an attack from a high position. They will definitely be caught off guard and severely damage the Japs' attacking troops."
Zhang Cheng shook his head and replied: "Instructor, if we can think of this, the Japanese will definitely think of it too."
"Their forward troops have an infantry team, which will definitely search along the way, and the ambush troops will simply avoid it."
"So a big fight will definitely not work."
"It's still the old rule, add up a little and make a big thing, and use guerrilla warfare to slowly wear down the Japanese."
"The troops fought in divided units, using infantry squads as units to attack the Japanese forward troops."
"One infantry squad killed three Japs. When they completely passed this mountain road, the forward infantry squad was almost wiped out by us."
"Bang bang..."
After the first gunshot broke the peaceful atmosphere here, gunshots rang out one after another in the hills.
The Japanese walking on the road were very safe, and not a single bullet flew towards them.
Japs walking through bushes and grass are in bad luck.
No one knows where a bullet suddenly flies and takes away his life in an instant.
"Sir, the entire Eighth Route Army hid in the nearby bushes and grass and attacked the search team, causing heavy losses. I humbly request you to give the order for the search team to retreat to the road."
"No!" the squadron leader refused without hesitation.
"The Eighth Route Army is active around us. If we withdraw the search team now, they will definitely prepare a pocket formation in front of us, waiting for us to drill into it. The casualties of the troops will be even greater by then."
"The search team continues to move forward. Although the casualties are a bit high, at least it can ensure that the main force is not ambushed by the Eighth Route Army."
Half an hour later, the Japanese troops finally walked out of the hills.
The leader of the search team was on the verge of tears.
Their casualties were not as simple as the squadron leader said, but almost the entire army was wiped out.
The squadron leader was also frightened, but the troops had already reached here, and the village was right in front of them. It was impossible to return without success and lose so many people in vain.
In the end, I can only be dumb and eat Coptis chinensis and move on...
At three o'clock in the afternoon, the size of the convoy exceeded 70 vehicles and stretched for 600 to 700 meters.
In order to avoid marching at night, the squadron leader decisively ordered the troops to retreat to the nearest stronghold in Zhouzhuang.
After walking less than a kilometer, the convoy stopped, and a captain rushed over, breathing heavily, his face full of anger.
"Sir, the road to our stronghold in Zhouzhuang has been damaged and large vehicles cannot pass."
The squadron leader rushed to the front of the convoy: more than an hour ago, the road was flat, but now it was filled with large holes and deep ditches that had just been dug out, with no end as far as the eye could see.
"The Eighth Route Army must have done this!" The squadron leader clenched his fists and cursed through gritted teeth with anger rising out of him.
"Destroy the road so that the imperial army's grain transport trucks cannot pass through, and the grain cannot enter the stronghold!"
"What are you still doing? Repair the road immediately."
"The purpose of our attack is this food. If we can't bring it back, the imperial soldiers who died in today's battle will have died in vain."
"The artillerymen and heavy machine gunners put the equipment on the grain trucks for transportation, and then rushed to the front to build the road to ensure that the grain trucks passed smoothly."
"The second team, immediately send two action teams to the nearest village to arrest people. Only young and strong, not old and weak, bring tools to build our roads."
"The road ahead must have been destroyed by the Eighth Route Army. The Imperial Army alone would not be able to complete even half of the road before dark."
"Other troops are on standby to prevent a sneak attack by the Eighth Route Army."
Nearly thirty Japanese soldiers quickly broke away from the convoy, held their guns, and marched towards the village they had just left.
All the Japanese soldiers knew that the Eighth Route Army was good at night fighting and was as elusive as ghosts, so they all wanted to return to their stronghold before dark and did not want to stay in the wild and be beaten.
A company of scouts rushed into the village five minutes ahead of the Japanese troops.
"Company Commander, your judgment is correct. The Japanese have drawn two squads and fought back. We still have five minutes to reach the village entrance."
Zhang Cheng answered confidently: "There are not many Japs. If we want to build the road as soon as possible, the only option is to arrest the people. This village is the closest to them, so they will definitely come here to arrest people. You can tell through more analysis."
Then he turned his attention to the instructor next to him: "The troops are all arranged."
The instructor nodded and replied: "The first platoon, the heavy machine gun platoon, is guarding the entrance to the village. The second platoon, the guard platoon, is lying in ambush nearby. When the Japanese are approaching, the first platoon and the heavy machine gun platoon will fire first, catching the Japanese by surprise, and then the second platoon of the guard platoon will
Outflank them and annihilate them all."
"Just do it!" Zhang Guo ordered decisively.
"The troops will fight quickly and deal with these two detachments first. If the little devil still dares to send troops over, we will continue to eat them."
One kilometer away, the squadron leader walked anxiously up and down the road, occasionally glancing at the road being repaired in front of him, and then looking at the time.
His frown deepened, and he complained dissatisfiedly: "No, the speed of road construction is still too slow."
The deputy captain quickly comforted him: "Sir, please calm down. Once the attacking troops capture the common people, the speed of road construction will be accelerated. We will definitely be able to reach the stronghold before dark."
"Da da da……"
The sound of gunfire rang out at the entrance of the village, reaching the ears of the squadron leader directly.
"No..." The squadron leader's face suddenly turned pale and he cried out.
"I made a mistake. The attacking troops are in danger. The Eighth Route Army is watching around us. We must not divide our troops and give the Eighth Route Army every opportunity to defeat us, but I divided my troops..."