The repeated losses at the hands of the Eighth Route Army made the Japanese realize the difficulty of the Eighth Route Army...≦...≦ In order to open up the strategic channel from Shanxi to Henan, the Japanese also began to implement the fortress and stronghold siege strategy, intending to reduce the space for the Eighth Route Army's activity.

The Eighth Route Army also realized the trouble of this tactic used by the Shanxi Expeditionary Army. However, seeing that the Japanese army had never advanced their fortress defense line, the Eighth Route Army did not launch a large-scale raid.

However, these established fortress strongholds still caused considerable trouble to the guerrillas operating in the local area. Now, seeing the strongholds that caused their headaches were removed, the guerrillas who cooperated with the war were excited.

According to the instructions made by the Eighth Route Army headquarters, this time, in conjunction with the Jinsui Army's combat plan, we launched from Lingshi and Jiexiu. The other main forces of the Eighth Route Army bordering the Japanese army were also ready for war.

There was a gap there, and these on-site troops attacked there. In short, the Shanxi Expeditionary Army should not allow the easy and smooth passage between Shanxi and Henan. Let them know that this road cannot be opened!

With Lizhuang, the Japanese army from the two strongholds in Chencun went to the defenders of the strongholds supporting Xiaowangzhuang. As the advance troops entered the first battalion of the Third Reconnaissance Regiment in the Lingshi area, they also began their first raid battle, taking the lead in distributing the two strongholds of Lizhuang and Chencun.

After the battle, the two company commanders led the team immediately said: "For cleaning up the battlefield, please ask the comrades of the guerrillas. You can keep some of these weapons and hand them over to the main force.

You can get some of the materials stored in the base, especially the grain you can get a few more bags. The rest can be handed over to the main force according to regulations. You will be left to the final task to you!"

‘Yes, please rest assured, the leaders, we will definitely clean the battlefield!’

‘Okay! Don’t delay too long here, be careful that the Japanese reinforcements will come back. Our large troops will come one after another. You should do the same as before, and you must do a good job of alerting and keep a close eye on the Japanese troops’ deployment.’

After explaining some things, two reconnaissance companies leading the team to attack the stronghold moved to the next location overnight. They didn't have to worry too much about the Japanese troops heading to Xiaowangzhuang to support them, as there were also troops waiting for the Japanese to come.

What they had to do at this moment was to go to the road from Laoliuzhuang to Xiaowangzhuang, and go there to wait for the Japanese who saw them from Laoliuzhuang. After all, in Laoliuzhuang, the Japanese were stationed in an infantry brigade.

If they wanted to send troops to support the three strongholds here, they would set out overnight. Therefore, the two reconnaissance companies that had fought the strongholds must rush there in advance to build an ambush position and eliminate the Japanese troops coming from Laoliuzhuang.

When the two reconnaissance companies broke through the Lizhuang and Chencun strongholds respectively, the Japanese troops who drove out of these two strongholds were not clear that their strongholds had been destroyed. They still seized the time to rush to the Xiaowangzhuang stronghold, which was ordered to support.

Even though the two Japanese troops who rescued Xiao Wangzhuang realized that their rescue path would not be easy. But when they entered the ambush position that the reconnaissance company had preset in advance, they also felt shocked when they looked at the mortar shells falling from the sky.

The Japanese squadron leader who led the team even shouted anxiously: "Do away, scatter and hide!"

Based on their experience in fighting with the Eighth Route Army, the Eighth Route Army units that can equip mortars are at least at the battalion level. With their reinforcements of more than a hundred people, they are afraid that there will be little chance of winning against the Eighth Route Army.

But they had no idea that the ambushed troops were not the Eighth Route Army they had contacted in the past, but the third reconnaissance brigade troops that they had specially arrived from Yulin. In the reconnaissance brigade, mortars had been dispatched to the first-level combat troops of the company.

Although most of them are 60-caliber mortars, they can still form a suppressive advantage in firepower against these Japanese infantry squadrons. The Japanese's grenade launchers are undoubtedly not enough!

Looking at the Japanese who were holding torches, they were knocked over by bullets shot from the dark, and soon a sergeant said, "Extinguish the torch, don't show up easily. The enemy's marksmanship in the secret are very powerful, be careful!"

The experienced Japanese, looking at the sound of these not-frequent but very accurate rifle shootings, realized that the Eighth Route Army that ambushed them was probably an elite regular army. This also means that what they were worried about still happened.

Although in order to recover Changzhi and Jincheng, Seishiro Itagaki sent reinforcements to North China were mostly assigned to guard strongholds in areas bordering the Eighth Route Army. Many more important villages were dispatched to garrison Japanese troops.

In the view of Itagaki Seishiro, such a distribution of troops was also an emphasis on the Eighth Route Army. After several borders with the Eighth Route Army, the Shanxi Expeditionary Army gradually felt that the Eighth Route Army was more difficult to deal with than the Central Army they had contacted.

Looking at the ambushed Japanese army, extinguishing the torches in their hands one after another. The ambushed Eighth Route Army reconnaissance company commander also smiled and said, "It seems that the Japanese are so powerful, knowing that when they are fired, they will become our living target.

Let the commando go out and destroy them at close range! Signal soldiers, prepare for the flares. Get rid of them as soon as possible, so we can go and meet with the third and fourth companies. We dare to come out and wander around in the evening, aren’t we looking for death?”

As the reconnaissance company commander ordered, the reconnaissance company equipped with submachine guns began to snorkeletons from the ambush site, constantly approaching the Japanese hidden points that were already lying down and dared not move around at will, shortening the straight-line distance between the two armies.

During this process, the Japanese army also saw the Eighth Route Army operating in the dark. When they saw the figures swaying, they immediately lay in the hidden place and shot the figures they saw.

However, most of the commandos would not go straight when they moved forward. In addition to some of the bad luck being hit, the other commandos also fell down at the right time.

When the sight was not good, the Japanese army could see the commandos who were preparing to eliminate them in close combat, which meant that the distance between the two sides was not very far. The Japanese army's counterattack gunfire was also aware that the time for the assault was ripe.

‘Take a flare! Assault!’

With the command of the reconnaissance company commander, the signal soldiers who had already prepared the flares and immediately fired out the first light. As the flares soared into the air, the originally dark sky suddenly became lit.

The commandos who had heard the roar of the reconnaissance company commander closed their eyes and opened their eyes again when they felt light outside, pulling the submachine gun in their hands towards the Japanese who could see in their sight.

As for the Japanese who had been staring at the commandos in the dark, they didn't seem to have expected that the Eighth Route Army would fire flares. The light emitted by the flares could not help but feel discomfort, and they had to close their eyes and adapt to the process of darkness to light.

One is to close your eyes first and then open your eyes first and then close your eyes. The different choices of the two troops make the latter miss the most precious preemptive time, giving the former the best attack time.

A few seconds are enough for the commando to rush to the Japanese hidden place. Compared with the Japanese amphibious machine gun, the commando's submachine guns are undoubtedly more advantageous in such melee situations.

The commando rushed into the Japanese defensive formation and began to attack the Japanese army hidden on all sides. Seeing this scene, the reconnaissance company commander immediately said: "Comrades, rush!"

During this process, the signal soldiers did not forget to fire another signal flare. During this process, the other reconnaissance company officers and soldiers involved in the ambush also rushed out from the ambush point and encircled and annihilated the Japanese army on the road.

Until the last Japanese devils were wiped out, the reconnaissance company, which also cooperated with guerrillas, still handed over the cleaning of the battlefield to them. As for the casualties in this battle, they were also sent to the rear hospital for treatment as soon as possible.

The defenders at the Xiaowangzhuang stronghold, who were still looking forward to the arrival of reinforcements, were unable to wait for the reinforcements. From the moment the telephone line was cut off, the reconnaissance company surrounding them also launched an attack and soon captured it successfully.

The three strongholds were successively dismissed, which was undoubtedly the happiest for the guerrillas operating in this area. Even though it was night, these guerrillas seemed very excited and were busy cleaning the battlefield for the reconnaissance company.

Even if a large part of the weapons and ammunition they confiscated had to be handed over to the main force. But these guerrillas were still happy. After all, they could also get a lot of benefits in cooperating with the main force.

Some puppet troops used rifles, as well as food and supplies in their strongholds, could all be divided into a batch. With the supplies, their guerrillas' strength can be strengthened, and the scale of the guerrillas can also be expanded.

As these guerrillas returned to the rear one after another, they watched the guerrillas driving the cattle and carriages return, and the troops on standby behind were also happy. The removal of these three strongholds meant that the passage for attacking spirit stones was opened.

Compared with the troops on standby in the rear, they all hoped to receive combat orders from their superiors as soon as possible. The first reconnaissance battalion, which cleared three strongholds, rushed to the road between Laoliuzhuang and Xiaowangzhuang overnight, and began to dig out ambush fortifications at the ambush site.

One of the reconnaissance companies even walked along the road to Laoliuzhuang at night. For them, dividing the three strongholds was just a way to go on their mission. What the first reconnaissance battalion had to do was to break through the strongholds outside the spirit stone as quickly as possible.

Clear out these strongholds and open an offensive channel for the main force of the subsequent marching regiment. If these strongholds are not removed, the third reconnaissance regiment will have some difficulties in secretly infiltrating the Changzhi area.

The Jinsui Army, which also had intelligence agents in the Lingshi area, felt relieved to learn that the Eighth Route Army had launched a night attack on the Japanese army in Lingshi. This means that the Japanese army would not be attacking Fenxi for a short time.

Yan Xishan, who learned about this situation, still said: "Order the troops on the front line to hurry up and build fortifications. Now that the Eighth Route Army has begun to restrain the Japanese army, we cannot relax our vigilance. There are still some fighting in this battle!"

As the highest commander of the Jinsui Army, Yan Xishan also knew that this year, the Eighth Route Army and the Japanese army occupying Shanxi would be afraid that there would be wars. Make more preparations to be prepared for any trouble! (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!