Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 278 Three Ins and Three Outs
After nightfall, Chen Chengxing, along with the regiment headquarters and local comrades, quietly began to infiltrate.

"Everyone, please be careful not to make any noise when marching, and especially make sure to control the horses well."

"set off!"

The location chosen by Chen Chengxing was very dangerous, moving northward along the southern foot of Majiazhuang.

This place is less than a mile away from where the Japanese are stationed.

Once exposed, these old and weak people in local agencies will have no way to escape.

Fortunately, no accidents occurred during the infiltration, and the large army quietly passed through the blockade under the noses of the Japanese.

After being safe, Chen Chengxing breathed a sigh of relief.

"Speed ​​up the march!"

"Guards and Cavalry Companies, please take note. Don't let any local comrades fall behind!"

Chen Chengxing led a large army and marched non-stop, advancing 40 miles overnight and arriving at Xiagugou.

It was considered that we barely escaped from the heavy encirclement of the Japanese.

However, now is not the time to be careless, as there are the Japanese second and third line blockade troops ahead.

After daybreak, Chen Chengxing ordered the large force to disperse and rest in seclusion.

"Let the main force disperse and rest, and do a good job of camouflage, so as not to attract the attention of the Japanese aircraft."

Although they used the radio to trick the Japanese, their reconnaissance planes still posed a great threat to them.

If you travel in broad daylight, you are likely to be discovered by airplanes or Japanese scouts.

"Guard Company and Cavalry Company, do a good job of outer perimeter security." Chen Chengxing said.

"Yes!"

At this time, the Japanese soldiers who surrounded Mawei Valley had also discovered that they had been deceived.

"Baga! You are all idiots! Idiots! So many Eighth Route Army soldiers can run away!" Pinglu Yongfu cursed.

He heard that the Eighth Route Army had been surrounded, so he rushed here overnight.

As soon as he got off his horse, he learned that the Eighth Route Army in the encirclement had disappeared.

Wouldn't he have wasted the whole night? And he was also taking a huge risk.

Marching in the Eighth Route Army’s base at night is like putting your head on your belt!

"Sweep! Carry out a thorough sweep of this area!" Pinglu Yongfu said angrily.

Since we can’t catch the Eighth Route Army, we can only vent our anger on the civilians.

"Hai!"

The Japanese soldiers next to them stood at attention and then immediately retreated. They didn't want to continue being scolded here.

However, the people in this area had already hidden far away long before the Japanese appeared.

The Japanese mopping-up troops did not find a single person except for smashing a few bowls and burning a few houses.

However, all the devils tacitly chose to conceal this news.

According to their battle reports, several thousand civilians had been massacred that day.

I don’t know how so many people appeared in this remote mountainous area.

However, after seeing the battle report, Pinglu Yongfu breathed a sigh of relief.

In the evening, on the hilltop next to Xiagugou, Chen Chengxing looked around with a telescope and decided to continue on his journey.

"Lao Luo, it's getting dark now. We should set off. Let's gather the comrades."

Following Chen Chengxing's order, the large army began to gradually gather from the woods and grass on the mountain.

However, after the main force gathered and had walked less than three miles, someone from the cavalry company's vanguard platoon came back to report.

"Captain, we spotted four to five hundred Japanese troops ahead!"

"Looking at the direction, it should be coming from Sanhe Town, and is now heading west along the road!"

Upon hearing the Japs, Chen Chengxing immediately ordered: "The troops stop advancing!"

"Map!" Chen Chengxing stretched out his hand to the side.

After taking the map, Chen Chengxing gestured on it.

"We can't go any further! If we continue forward, we will definitely encounter the devils."

"Order the main force to return to Xiagugou and continue to hide and wait!" Chen Chengxing ordered.

Although with the military strength Chen Chengxing currently has, he is not afraid of a large group of Japanese devils.

But Chen Chengxing brought a big burden with him, so they tried to avoid an exchange of fire if possible.

After returning to Xiagugou, the large force lay in ambush for another day.

In the evening, the troops gathered again and set off.

But the situation has changed again.

The Japanese troops moving westward from Sanhe Town neither returned to Sanhe Town nor continued to advance.

Instead, they chose to camp in the villages of Zi'anling, Xiaguan and Xiaoxiaochang along the highway.

The large force of the New Second Regiment must pass through here to infiltrate.

Now that the Japanese have occupied this place first, we cannot act rashly as the situation is unclear.

"Damn it! Let's go back to Xiagugou!" Chen Chengxing's face looked a little ugly.

They are not on a picnic now, they are racing against time.

"Lu Ze, send a few more people to investigate and see if we can find a gap."

If you can't find the gap, you'll have to hit it.

But fighting in this place is not a good choice.

The Japanese were defending their position in a dangerous place. If they wanted to achieve a breakthrough in a short period of time, they had no other choice but to sacrifice human lives.

"Yes!"

After daybreak, Lu Ze personally led a platoon of soldiers and quietly approached the blockade line.

We began detailed surveillance and reconnaissance of various locations occupied by the Japanese.

However, the soldiers found nothing throughout the entire day.

The Japanese blockade was very tight, and they occupied all the commanding heights.

All possible places for travel are also monitored.

With this density, a large force would definitely be exposed even at night.

Lu Ze was so anxious that he was sweating in the middle of winter.

Their current situation is not very good. If there is no chance, the troops will definitely suffer heavy losses.

In the evening, just when Lu Ze was feeling a little discouraged, a soldier beside him suddenly shouted in a low voice.

"Captain, Captain, look over there, those devils seem to be retreating."

"Where? Let me take a look." Lu Ze quickly raised the telescope.

Following the direction of the soldier's finger, Lu Ze saw the Japanese squad in the direction of Yelugou suddenly began to reorganize their troops and then returned to Zi'anling.

"Captain, what's going on? Didn't these devils arrive early in the morning?" asked the soldier next to him.

When they started reconnaissance in the morning, they found that this group of Japanese troops came down from Zi'an Ridge and set up a defense line at the entrance of the Yelugou Valley.

Why do you want to go back now?

"The Japanese are probably only here during the day and will retreat at night." Lu Ze said after thinking about it.

There was no terrain in Yelugou for the Japanese to defend, and at night, the Japanese firepower advantage was relatively small.

For safety reasons, the Japanese chose to retreat to Zi'anling, which was easy to defend, at night. Lu Ze was not particularly surprised.

"Let's go ahead and see if there are any Japanese soldiers after we pass Yelugou."

After the Japanese squad walked away, Lu Ze led the soldiers towards Yesulugou.

This involves the safety of the large army, and Lu Ze must investigate it clearly.

"Great, there really is a gap!" Luo Ping said excitedly.

After finding out the truth, Lu Ze immediately rushed back to Xiagugou to report.

"There is no time to lose. Gather the troops immediately and we will get out through this opening." Chen Chengxing ordered decisively.

Now the mopping-up troops of the 4th Brigade are getting closer and closer to Xiagugou, and they don't have much time to waste.

"Yes!"

The troops began to gather in a silent emergency. Then, taking advantage of the night, the New Second Regiment and nearly 2 people from local agencies quietly jumped out of the Japanese encirclement.

Of course, breaking out of this encirclement does not mean that everything will be fine.

There is one last blockade line at the junction of the first and fourth battalions.

And in the meantime, the Japanese's small-scale mopping-up forces were still active.

Therefore, even though it was night, the large army did not take the main road, but continued to travel through the wild mountains and wilderness.

It was not until after three in the morning that the large force reached the outskirts of Shezhuang.

This is the last blockade line. We will be safe as long as we pass through it.

"Report! According to reconnaissance, there should be only puppet troops defending Shezhuang, but the number is unknown and no Japanese troops have been spotted yet." The scout reported.

"That's great." Luo Ping relaxed.

According to experience, if there are no Japanese soldiers standing guard in a place, then there is an 80% chance that there are no Japanese soldiers in that place.

The Japanese were well aware of the level of the puppet army, and they dared not put their lives in the hands of these guys.

"Lao Luo, I will lead the guard company to take over Shezhuang in a while, and you will lead the cavalry company to continue escorting comrades from local agencies." Chen Chengxing said.

The breakout does not end once you leave this blockade line, as the Japanese will surely pursue you at that time.

Therefore, Chen Chengxing needed to stay in Shezhuang to buy some time for the large army.

"Just leave it to me, but you have to be careful." Luo Ping said seriously.

The New Second Regiment can leave anyone, including Luo Ping, but it cannot leave Chen Chengxing.

After making preparations, Lu Ze led two infantry platoons and began to move forward.

Chen Chengxing followed with the remaining two infantry platoons, and the machine gun platoon and artillery platoon.

If Lu Ze's attack is blocked, Chen Chengxing needs to provide fire support immediately.

On the outskirts of Shezhuang, the bored puppet army sentry suddenly stopped moving.

"Look, is there anything moving outside?"

"Don't scare me, I'm a timid person." The puppet soldier next to him said fearfully.

Growing up, he was most afraid of ghosts.

"Why would I scare you? See for yourself."

The timid puppet soldier opened his eyes cautiously and looked outside.

This sight almost frightened him to death.

What appeared outside was scarier than ghosts!
"Eighth Route Army! The Eighth Route Army is coming!"

A terrible scream was heard in Shezhuang.

Following this scream, the village, which had been relatively quiet, suddenly seemed to explode.

Many puppet soldiers put on their clothes in a disorderly manner and started to run outside.

But before they could enter the position, they heard a burst of intensive gunfire.

"Snap!" "Snap!" "Snap!".
More than a dozen puppet soldiers were knocked to the ground in an instant.

Seeing that they would die if they went out, the remaining puppet troops collapsed all of a sudden.

"Run! The main force of the Eighth Route Army is coming!"

With this density of firepower, there must be at least one or two thousand eighty troops.

This is just the vanguard, plus the middle and rear guard troops.

At least five or six thousand, maybe seven or eight thousand.

By this calculation, there must be more than 10,000 Eighth Route Army soldiers!

With so many Eighth Route Army soldiers rushing over, we can trample them to death.

Hearing the shouts, the puppet soldiers who had rushed out to enter the position turned around smoothly and started running wildly out of the village.

The gunshots in Shezhuang have already been heard, and they have done their best to deal with the Japanese.

As for who fired the gun, they have no control over it.

Just tell me whether it made a sound or not?
At this time, whoever runs faster can survive, and if you run slowly, you can only wish for good luck.

Therefore, all the puppet soldiers began to compete with each other, running faster than each other.

Looking at the puppet troops who did not even turn their heads back, Chen Chengxing directly ordered the cavalry company to pursue them.

No matter how fast they run, they can never be faster than the cavalry.

When these fleeing puppet soldiers heard the sudden sound of dense horse hooves, they immediately felt as if they had lost their parents.

"Surrender without killing!"

"Surrender without killing!"

The cavalry company shouted as they chased.

It is night time now, and if these puppet soldiers flee in all directions, it will be difficult to catch them.

Hearing the sound of horse hooves and shouts getting closer, the puppet soldiers dropped their guns and knelt on the ground.

This was not the first time they had dealt with the Eighth Route Army, so they naturally knew what to do and when.

Looking at the puppet troops being driven back like sheep, Chen Chengxing said:
"Sun Desheng, take your weapons and ammunition and go meet up with the political commissar. They may be useful on the way."

"yes!".
The cavalry company immediately joined the main force and began to break out.

Chen Chengxing ordered that all the puppet soldiers be tied up and locked up in the yard.

After the fight, whether they can survive depends on their luck.

There are about 1 households in Shezhuang, which is about kilometer long and divided into two parts, north and south.

The village as a whole is shaped like a gourd, large in the north and small in the south, with the distance between the two sides being only 50 meters.

The houses in the village are all brick houses, and they have independent adobe walls, which is very conducive to village warfare.

Chen Chengxing placed three infantry platoons, an artillery platoon and two heavy machine guns in the larger Shezhuang North.

Another infantry platoon and a heavy machine gun were placed in the south of Shezhuang.

Everyone worked together until early morning, and a firepower deployment system from inside the village to outside the village was initially completed.

"Captain! There's a situation!"

It was a little after seven o'clock, when everyone was busy making final preparations.

A row of positions in the northeast corner discovered the enemy.

Chen Chengxing hurried to the position to check the situation.

"The Japs are really fast, they are coming right now."

I saw more than thirty Japanese cavalrymen advancing towards this side along the road leading from Beian Village to She Village.

Moreover, he was pointing and talking along the way, and seemed to be carrying out a reconnaissance mission.

"Order the troops to prepare for battle!" Chen Chengxing commanded while holding up a telescope:

"Move the heavy machine guns on the second platoon's position here, and the artillery platoon prepares for shelling!"

After more than ten minutes, the Japs were getting closer and closer.

Chen Chengxing looked at the Japanese soldiers getting closer and closer and felt something was wrong.

This doesn't look like cavalry carrying out a reconnaissance mission, but rather like a picnic.

But there is no time to worry about anything else at this moment. Since I'm here, I might as well shoot first.

"Did you see that Japanese officer?"

Chen Chengxing pointed at the middle of the cavalry and spoke to the heavy machine gunner next to him.

"I saw it."

"You will beat up the Japanese officers in a moment."

"Yes!" The heavy machine gunner nodded, and the muzzle of the gun began to move with the Japanese.

When the Japanese were 50 meters away from the position, Chen Chengxing fired the first shot.

"boom!"

"Da da da" "Da da da".
One heavy machine gun and three light machine guns fired simultaneously.

The Japanese soldiers and their horses suddenly fell to the ground.

Those who were still alive immediately jumped off their horses and hid in the ditch.

(End of this chapter)