Bright Sword: Develop alone, bring back an artillery regiment

At 5:[-] p.m., the south gate of Jinzhong County opened.

First, hundreds of imperial association troops filed out of the city in a neat line, followed by tricycles and military trucks drove out one after another.

Behind them are thousands of devil infantry, running forward, and finally hundreds of imperial association troops.

When the Japanese army is marching, the Imperial Association Army usually opens the way and cuts off the rear. In this way, whether it is ambushed or cut off from the rear, the Imperial Association Army will act as cannon fodder in front to attract firepower, instead of using it yourself Bear the brunt of being killed by the opponent.

Thousands of Japanese and puppet troops marched in the direction of Pingtou Town, rolling up a cloud of dust on the ground like a yellow dragon flying close to the ground.

This Japanese and puppet army is none other than the 15th Infantry Regiment under Naoto Hattori and the Jinzhong Security Regiment.

In order to avenge his shame, the old devil led the team himself.

At this moment, he was riding in a three-wheeled cart with a saber in both hands, looking majestic.

……

Two hours later, Li Yunlong's New First Regiment, Ding Wei's Independent Regiment, and Kong Jie's New Second Regiment also left the base area and headed straight for Pingtou Town.

Of course, there is also the instigator of this incident, Wang Chengzhu, who also led the main force of the Second Independent Regiment to attack Pingtou Town at about 7 o'clock in the evening.

It is worth mentioning that because the artillery is quite cumbersome, it is not suitable for rapid march.

Therefore, prior to this, the Artillery Battalion was stationed in Zhaojia'ao along with the First Battalion and the Second Battalion in advance.

……

Pingtou Town is located at the junction of Jinzhong and Shouyang, 40 kilometers away from Jinzhong County.

Coupled with the rugged road, it was night again.

Among them, the puppet troops all traveled on two legs, and the treatment of the devils was slightly better, but the vehicles of the 15th Infantry Regiment were not enough to carry the devils of the entire regiment on the road together, so they had to take turns in vehicles to ensure their physical strength.

Therefore, the marching speed of the Japanese and puppet troops was not fast. By the time they arrived in Linpingtou Town, it was already 9 o'clock in the evening.

The infantry has been marching continuously for a long time, and the speed can be maintained at 10 kilometers per hour, which is already quite slow.

When they came to a fork in the road, the troops suddenly stopped advancing.

Naotomi Hattori frowned, and was about to ask why he stopped.

At this time, the devil Shao Zuo, who was in charge of collecting intelligence, suddenly ran over from the front in a hurry. He gave Hattori Naotomi a sudden pause, and reported: "Reporting to your Excellency, brigade commander, Pingtou Town is 5 kilometers ahead on the left. Although this area is still controlled by the imperial army, the imperial army's forces are mainly concentrated within 10 kilometers along the Zhengtai Railway.

Therefore, the imperial army has limited control over this place.

There is only one security team of the Imperial Association Army in the town to maintain law and order, and there may be eyeliners of the Eighth Route Army nearby.

In order to avoid alarming the enemy, we have to advance the infantry next. "

Naotomi Hattori nodded, expressing his understanding, this is exactly his battle plan, otherwise he would not have chosen to attack at night.

He asked, "How far is this place from Zhaojiaao?"

Guizi Shaozuo: "Zhaojia'ao is on a different road from Pingtou Town, take the fork in the front right, about 10 kilometers away.

According to the marching speed of the imperial army, they can arrive in an hour at the latest. "

"Yo Xi!"

Hattori Naotomi showed a cruel smile on his face, and then he took out the general's sword in his hand and swung forward vigorously, saying: "Leave a squadron to guard the vehicle, and the rest run forward, aiming at Zhaojia'ao!"

When the order was issued, thousands of devils and puppet soldiers immediately gave up their military cards and Biansanlun and other means of transportation, and rushed forward on foot.

In order to be sure, Hattori Naotomi also dispatched a reinforced squadron to open the way ahead.

……

Naotomi Hattori thought his actions were flawless, but he didn't know that when he led his troops out of Jinzhong County, he was already seen by the scouts of the Eighth Route Army.

At this moment, on a small hill not far away, several scouts from the Second Independent Regiment were silently watching.

When it was determined that Naoko Hattori's target was Zhao Jia'ao, a scout immediately went down the mountain, and then took a shortcut and rushed towards Zhao Jia'ao.

He didn't ride a horse. The reason was simple. There was already a storm and undercurrents in the vicinity. There were not only scouts from the Second Independent Regiment, but also many scouts from the devils.

Riding too much noise can easily expose the target.

About 20 minutes later, the scouts returned to the front post, picked up the phone and passed the news back to Zhaojiaao.

"Report to the deputy commander, the Japanese army arrived at Sanchakou 20 minutes ago, and it is estimated that they will arrive at Zhaojiaao in half an hour!"

Xu Hailang nodded to show that he knew, then hung up the phone, and evacuated Zhaojiaao according to the plan, and boarded the temporary command post in the back mountain.

More than two hours ago, just after dark, the first battalion, second battalion, and artillery battalion of the Second Independent Regiment left Zhaojia'ao under the cover of night and deployed on the surrounding hillsides.

Only one headquarters and one infantry company were left behind to lure the devils into the trap.

As Xu Hailang and the others withdrew, Zhaojiaao had become a huge trap at this time, and the stockade and the company left behind were the bait.

About half an hour later, Naoko Hattori led his troops to successfully arrive at a distance of 1 kilometer to the west of Zhaojiaao.

However, the old devil did not order to attack directly.

Quiet, too quiet, quiet is a bit tricky!

According to normal circumstances, even if the Eighth Route Army didn't know about their attack at the beginning, it is absolutely impossible for them not to know by this time.

There are only two explanations for their march so smoothly.

Either Zhaojiaao is an empty stockade, or Zhaojiaao is a trap set by the Eighth Route Army.

Regardless of the situation, it is not a good thing for Naotomi Hattori right now.

The old devil's face immediately darkened.

Xia Chuanxiu, the captain of the 15th Infantry Regiment next to him, also realized this. He said: "Your Excellency, Commander of the Brigade, did we fall into the trap? There is no China Tuba Road in the stockade, or this is China. A trap set by Eight Road?"

Hattori Naotomi did not deny Shimokawa Hideo's guess, nodded and said: "These two possibilities are not ruled out, but there is another possibility."

Xia Chuanxiu subconsciously asked: "What is possible?"

Naotomi Hattori did not answer but asked instead: "Shimogawa-kun, have you read "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" by China?"

Xia Chuanxiu shook his head: "I haven't read it, but I have heard some allusions in it."

Hattori Naotomi: "Then do you know the empty castle plan?"

"I've heard of it." Shimokawa Hideki reacted abruptly: "Your Excellency, Commander of the Brigade, are you saying that this may be an empty city plan by the China Tuba Road?"

Naotomi Hattori: "This possibility cannot be ruled out, you must know that Wang Chengzhu has always been cunning and cunning, and we cannot figure out his thinking with common sense.

I speculated that maybe Wang Chengzhu knew we were attacking, so he played an empty city plan for us! "

……