Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

I have been dealing with the Eighth Route Army for two years and also studying its tactics.

Every time the Eighth Route Army launched a counter-mopping-up operation, most of the troops adopted this tactic of jumping the main force to the outer lines. So after the 16th and 18th Regiments broke through the Japanese blockade, the Japanese army quickly split up, and some troops began to pursue the main force of the Eighth Route Army. Originally, these main forces that broke through the encirclement needed to constantly ambush the Japanese and puppet army's transport troops on the outer lines to force the Japanese and puppet army to end the mopping-up operation. However, the few Japanese troops that broke through were caught by the Japanese and puppet army and were unable to fight on the outer lines.

The troops led by Zhang Zihua and Lei Jiabin were trapped by the Japanese Army's 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade.

It was Abe Nobuhide, commander of the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade, who was pursuing.

Abe Nobuhide's reputation as a "mountain warfare expert" was well-deserved. He had carefully studied both the Soviet and Chinese armies. Zhang Zihua and his men's breakout was aimed squarely at the defensive line of the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade.

As a result, he was raped by Abe Norihidecho.

The reason why Abe Nobuhide joined Zhang Zihua's troops was because he judged that there should be senior generals of the Eighth Route Army in this unit. That's why Abe Nobuhide personally led the troops to pursue Zhang Zihua.

Zhang Zihua and Lei Jiabin used many methods, including using small units to lure the enemy, etc. Although they were sometimes successful, they were not able to completely shake off the enemy.

Even if he was fooled for a while, Abe Nobuhide was able to quickly reorganize his troops.

Zhang Zihua even planned to find a place to ambush Abe Nobuhide, but Abe Nobuhide was very smart and never fell for it. He would come up and take a bite as long as there was a little chance.

The troops were already very tired, and the casualties and fall-backs were serious.

Zhang Zihua knew that if this continued, the troops would be exhausted in a few days. So Zhang Zihua and Lei Jiabin planned to lead a separate unit to break out. Lei Jiabin looked at the exhausted soldiers around him and said, "Commander, the Japanese are pursuing us so relentlessly. If we split up, we will most likely be defeated one by one."

"You take the headquarters and the cavalry battalion away, and I will lead the fourth battalion to lure the Japanese away."

"This won't work."

Lei Jiabin shook his head.

He said, "Now is the most important time to fight against the mopping-up operation. The entire detachment cannot do without you. So, I will lead the cavalry battalion to drive away the Japanese troops, and you will take the Fourth Battalion and the detachment staff to leave."

Lei Jiabin disagrees with Zhang Zihua taking risks.

Zhang Zihua was the soul of the Chanan Detachment. In terms of rank, Zhang Zihua was not only the commander and political commissar of the Chanan Detachment, but also the deputy commander of the 8th Column and the secretary of the Xuanzhuhuai County Party Committee. He was arguably the top leader of the Party, government, and military in the Xuanzhuhuai base area. If Zhang Zihua became in trouble, the impact would be enormous.

And now is the anti-sweep period.

If something happens to Zhang Zihua, who will lead the anti-mopping-up work of the entire Chanan detachment?

"Lao Lei, listen to me."

"tatter"

"Commander, Political Commissar, we've caught a spy. But he claims to be from the New 1st Regiment."

"A new regiment."

A long-lost smile appeared on Zhang Zihua's face.

Since the anti-mopping-up campaign began, the entire Xuanzhuohuai base has suffered tremendous hardships. The 18th Regiment's 1700th Battalion and the Cavalry Battalion, together with the detachment's direct troops and organs, had a total number of about people when they broke through.

But now there are only about 1100 people left.

It is conceivable how serious the casualties of the troops were within half a month of the start of the anti-mopping-up operation.

Zhang Zihua hadn't been able to sleep these days. With his own group in such dire straits, he knew the others wouldn't be much better either. He was terrified that a single mistake would ruin the entire Xuanzhuohuai base. He was naturally delighted to hear that the New 1st Regiment was approaching. Zhang Zihua was the deputy commander of the 8th Column, and he knew about some of its preparations.

"Bring him here."

Soon a short man was brought over.

When he saw Zhang Zihua, he said happily, "Secretary Zhang, it's me."

"Xu Daobing?"

"Yes."

Zhang Zihua recognized the person at a glance.

He stepped forward and asked, "Are you in the New 1st Regiment now?"

"Yes. The new First Regiment just added the Third Battalion in March, and I went there as the instructor. Commander Jiang knew that I knew you, so he sent me here to contact you.

Zhang Zihua and Xu Daobing did know each other.

When the Pingxi Detachment established the Huailai base, they dispatched around fifty work teams to Huailai, and Xu Daobing was one of them. Later, when Xiahou Wen established the Longyanchi base, Xu Daobing also went with him. He later served as a company instructor in the New Third Regiment. When the New First Regiment added the Third Battalion, he again served as the battalion instructor.

Among the cadres and soldiers of the New 1st Regiment, Xu Daobing and Zhang Zihua were the most familiar.

So it was Xu Daobing who came to contact Zhang Zihua.

"Where is the new regiment now?"

"Secretary Zhang, the New 1st Regiment is currently located here. We've been lurking here for almost three days since we crossed the Pingsui Road and entered Lu. We've been sending people to scout the surrounding area these days. We discovered your whereabouts yesterday, so I've been following you from a distance."

"How many of you are there?"

“The new regiment currently has three battalions with a total strength of over 1500 personnel.

Almost everyone had a gun. There were four grenade launchers, two heavy machine guns, and six light machine guns."

"it is good."

Zhang Zihua perked up.

He currently had about 1100 men, with about 900 still combat-ready. Together with the New 2500st Regiment, there were about men. More importantly, the New st Regiment had been lying in ambush here for three days without being discovered by the Japanese.

In other words, the Japanese army had no idea that there was such a force here.

"What does Captain Jiang mean?"

"What our commander meant was to surprise attack the Japanese troops following behind us.

After a day's observation, we have determined that the Japanese troops following behind are only about 700 people. However, this unit has many high-ranking officers.

We've already spotted one major general, two colonels, and five lieutenant colonels. Furthermore, these Japanese troops possessed a handful of mortars and ammunition canisters, but not many heavy machine guns, let alone any heavy weapons like infantry guns. We were afraid of being spotted, so we didn't get close enough to investigate. But our regimental commander believed that our two units could easily catch them off guard.

Except for those heavily armed troops, the other Japanese troops chasing the main force of the Eighth Route Army rarely carried heavy weapons such as infantry guns, because carrying these cannons would affect the marching speed.

The Eighth Route Army troops in particular liked to hide in mountain valleys, and when the Japanese army was pursuing them, they also had to go into the mountains.

On mountain roads, it is difficult to carry infantry guns and the like.

Soldiers could still carry mortars, grenade launchers, and heavy machine guns. However, if there were too many of these heavy weapons, it would also slow down the Japanese army's marching speed. This was not only true for the Japanese army, but also for the Eighth Route Army.

When you escape, you can't take many heavy weapons with you.

Affects speed.

Therefore, heavy weapons were often hidden somewhere, and the troops advanced lightly. Just like Zhang Zihua, when he broke through, he still had a lot of mortars, Zheng bomb tubes, and heavy machine guns.

But now most of them are hiding on the road, and they have fewer mortars and heavy machine guns.

"Ah."

Zhang Zihua nodded.

The Japanese army had been pursuing Zhang Zihua and his men, and they were severely beaten. Within a few days, more than one-third of the troops were reduced.

If it were the warlords or bandits of the past, the troops would have disbanded long ago if they had lost more than one-third of their men. Only the Eighth Route Army was able to maintain its organization despite such severe casualties.

The Japanese army certainly could not have imagined that the Eighth Route Army, which had suffered such heavy losses, would give them a surprise attack.

"The Japanese army's current position is here. Have you observed the terrain here?"

"Have."

Zhang Zihua was trying to escape, so he only needed to know how far away the Japanese were. He wasn't particularly concerned with where the Japanese were camping. However, since the New 1st Regiment intended to ambush the Japanese, they would definitely observe their situation.

"The Japanese army stationed in this village, which seems to be called Heishan Village."

"Heishan Village, I'm familiar with Heishan Village.

Zhang Zihua slapped his thigh.

Zhang Zihua had previously led troops in this area and was very familiar with the situation. As soon as Xu Daobing mentioned Heishan Village, Zhang Zihua knew exactly where it was. However, Zhang Zihua was quite surprised and said, "How arrogant of the Japanese to camp in Heishan Village! Tell Commander Jiang to have the New 1st Regiment quietly occupy the east and north sides of Heishan Village. The specific battle plan will be discussed with Commander Jiang when I meet."

"Yes."

Chapter 255: Black Mountain Village Ambush 2

Heishan Village is a place that an army on the march would never choose to camp.

Because it is a sunken village.

If attacked, there's nowhere to escape. Not only is there nowhere to escape, the entire mountain village is flat. Aside from the houses, there's no natural cover. It's a classic example of a place easily attacked but difficult to defend. Yet, Abe Nobuhide, known as a "mountain warfare expert," chose to camp here.

It’s actually human nature, something no one can escape.

Since the mopping-up operation began, the Japanese army has been chasing the main force of the Eighth Route Army everywhere.

To put it bluntly, it was like rolling a rabbit. Abe Nobuhide led a 900-man army and pursued Zhang Zihua all the way. During this process, the two sides also had constant small conflicts, and were even ambushed by the Eighth Route Army. However, the result was that Zhang Zihua's casualties increased rapidly, while the casualties on the Japanese side were very few.

From the beginning of the pursuit, the total casualties of the troops led by Abe Nobuhide were only about 140.

This victory fostered the pride of the Japanese army.

Of course, another reason was that Zhang Zihua was exhausted. The troops were very tired from marching and fighting at the same time. The Japanese army was not invincible. They chased Zhang Zihua's troops all the way and were of course very tired.

After all, the Japanese army is not currently pursuing unarmed civilians.

Zhang Zihua's side was a military force after all, and they harassed the Japanese troops from time to time, and even ambushed them in some places.

So the Japanese army chose to camp and rest their troops.

Camping outdoors can be very tiring. There happened to be a village here, and camping in the village could completely relieve fatigue. So Abe Norihide knew that Heishan Village was not a suitable place for camping, but he still chose to camp here.

Abe Norihide didn't think that Zhang Zihua, who was being chased all over the mountain by him, could do anything.

"Commander."

"Is there any tunnel or something like that in Black Mountain Village?"

Since we are going to attack the Japanese army, Zhang Zihua must be prepared.

Found the district team here.

Zhang Zihua's militia was highly successful. Whenever the Japanese army showed up, the local troops would take the local people into hiding. Because they'd done this so many times, the locals knew exactly how to hide their food and valuables.

Moreover, the local forces not only did this, they also had to cooperate with the main force. The main force could find the local forces almost anywhere they went. They could get more intelligence from them and avoid the Japanese troops. Fortunately, they had the help of the local forces during this period, otherwise, they might not have been able to escape the Japanese pursuit.

"No. We never thought the Japanese army would come here, let alone camp here.

The district team leader scratched his head.

Zhang Zihua nodded, understanding Team Qu's approach. Heishan Village was a truly dangerous place militarily. Even the Eighth Route Army wouldn't camp there, fearing they'd be blocked by the Japanese. Once blocked, the troops would have no chance of escape.

"But there's a small mountain trail that takes you to the northern side of Heishan Village. From there, you can have a clear view of Heishan Village, and you can look down from a high vantage point."