Baoding is very mountainous, and there are stretches of mountains less than two kilometers away from the county seat.
More than three hundred Japanese soldiers led mules and horses, carried rifles and machine guns, and marched all the way to the Nanyan Town stronghold.
Because Baoding is an important military town with a large number of Japanese and puppet troops stationed there, there has never been a large-scale Eighth Route Army activity in the territory.
Although it is unclear where the Eighth Route Army in Nanyan Town came from, the idea that there is no large-scale Eighth Route Army in the territory has been deeply rooted in the bones of the Japanese army.
So the reinforcements marched with little vigilance.
Just send one squad of infantry as the vanguard and charge forward.
When we were still four kilometers away from Nanyan Town, everyone could already hear the sound of gunfire coming from the battlefield.
"Speed up, the Eighth Route Army is still attacking the Nanyan Town stronghold. After we kill them, we will attack directly from the back of the Eighth Route Army and catch them off guard!" the Japanese deputy captain who led the team ordered with excitement.
Everyone was walking faster and faster, completely unaware that the forest next to the mountain road was getting denser and the terrain was getting more and more rugged...
"Da da da……"
A string of heavy machine gun fire suddenly sounded, instantly breaking the tranquility of the night.
On a high ground less than fifty meters away from the forward troops, a string of flames suddenly appeared, which was very dazzling.
Bullets flew towards us like a rain of bullets, and the twelve Japs in the van were caught off guard. They were instantly killed and three others were injured.
He fell to the ground before he could even scream.
"Da da da……"
The sound of heavy machine gun fire was like a signal. The woods on both sides of the mountain road, which had just been pitch black, immediately erupted into at least thirty tongues of flame, some long and some short.
Like bullets and meteors, they flew towards the mountain road in dense numbers...
At the Japanese Army Brigade Headquarters in Baoding, the phone rang urgently again.
The communications officer put down the phone and walked quickly to the brigade commander, nervously reporting: "General, the call is from the Nanyan Town stronghold."
"More than half of the troops stationed at the stronghold have suffered casualties. Two-thirds of the bunkers and gun towers have been destroyed by thunder cannons. The Eighth Route Army's offensive is becoming more and more fierce. They can hold out for at most one hour. Ask us when reinforcements will arrive."
The brigade commander turned to look at the deputy chief of staff: "What's going on with the reinforcements? Why haven't they arrived on the battlefield yet?"
The deputy chief of staff frowned and analyzed: "It shouldn't be!"
"We are only so far away from Nanyan Town. The reinforcements are all marching like mules and horses. They are marching very fast and they should have arrived by now!"
"Immediately call the Nanyan Town stronghold and tell them that the reinforcements are coming soon. The troops must hold the stronghold and hold back the attacking Eighth Route Army and don't let them slip away when the situation is bad."
Less than five minutes after receiving the order, the communications staff officer returned to the brigade commander, his serious face obviously showing a hint of solemnity.
"General, we have lost contact with the Nanyan Town stronghold..."
The deputy chief of staff's first reaction was disbelief, and he immediately asked questions.
"How could this happen? A few minutes ago, didn't they say they could hold on for another hour? They lost contact just a few minutes later. Could it be that they were lying about the military situation just now. The stronghold has been taken down by the Eighth Route Army!"
The Nanyan Town stronghold cannot be contacted, and no one in the headquarters knows the real situation there.
Faced with the chief's question, everyone did not know how to answer, so they could only lower their heads and remain silent.
The brigade commander should be more sensible and stare at the communications staff order: "Can we contact the reinforcements?"
The communications staff officer shook his head and replied: "It takes time! In order to ensure the speed of the march, the reinforcements did not carry radios. If you want to contact them, you can only temporarily send messengers to find them on horseback."
"Then why are you still stunned?" the brigade leader ordered with a stern face.
"Immediately send people on horseback to contact the reinforcements and ask them to speed up the reinforcements on the battlefield. We must protect the Nanyan Town stronghold and kill the Eighth Route Army there."
"Remember to bring a radio station with you. If you have any news, report it immediately."
After giving the order, the brigade commander turned to look at the chief of staff and continued: "Immediately transfer a brigade of the Imperial Army and a battalion of the Imperial Army from the garrison in the city and be on standby at any time."
"It is impossible for the Eighth Route Army to attack the Nanyan Town stronghold for no reason. There must be a conspiracy here, and we have to guard against it."
The chief of staff quickly accepted the order: "Sir, don't worry, my humble position will be arranged now."
"If the Eighth Route Army really wants to extend its tentacles into Baoding and establish a base in Baoding, I will definitely let them lose their wives and troops, and there will be no return."
A road that would take infantrymen more than two hours to complete would take less than half an hour for cavalry.
So the brigade commander directly stayed in the war room waiting for news.
The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment...
Half an hour passed quickly, and there was still no news coming back from Nanyan Town.
The radio station and the phone were all silent.
At this time, the fool also realized that something happened on the front line.
The brigade commander's expression became more and more serious, the deputy chief of staff paced back and forth in the war room, venting his inner tension and uneasiness, and the chief of staff frowned, staring at the map and thinking about strategies.
"General, the troops you just asked me to prepare have been assembled. How about I personally take them out of the city and go to Nanyan Town to see what happened there?" the chief of staff suggested.
"No!" the brigade leader refused immediately.
"If something happens to the Nanyan Town stronghold and reinforcements, it means that the Eighth Route Army entering Baoding is very strong."
"If you attack rashly before you have a clear understanding of their specific strength, you may end up in the tiger's mouth and lose your troops in vain."
"Immediately dispatch scouts from the garrison in the city and enter the battlefield separately to find out what happened in Nanyan Town?"
"The intelligence agencies all took action to find out at all costs how many Eighth Route Army soldiers entered Baoding, what kind of equipment they had, and what their purpose was."
"It's half past three in the morning, and there are still three hours before dawn."
"Contact the aviation force and send a plane to Nanyan Town for low-altitude reconnaissance at dawn."
"After we understand all the situations, we will decide whether to send troops and how many troops to send to reinforce the battlefield."
In Nanyan Town, all the people were frightened by the sound of gunfire last night and hid in their homes.
At seven o'clock in the morning, it was already broad daylight, and the gunshots coming from the stronghold had stopped for more than three hours. Out of fear, the people still locked themselves in their homes and did not dare to come out.
"Bang bang bang..."
The big bell hanging at the entrance of the town suddenly rang three times, and then dozens of Eighth Route Army troops entered the town separately.
A group of five or six people held gongs and shouted while beating the gongs.
"Bang bang... Hello fellow villagers, we are the Eighth Route Army. The Japs in the stronghold have been eliminated by us. From now on, our Eighth Route Army will build a base here to protect everyone so that everyone will no longer be oppressed by the little Japs..."
"Hello, fellow villagers... Our Eighth Route Army has returned from the battle. We will never leave again. We will establish a base here and fight the Japanese together with the villagers..."
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