The Second Company of the Independent Battalion is located northeast of Guangde Temple, about thirty miles away.
Shan Zi and Xiao Liu galloped on horseback and arrived at Oak Slope in just an hour.
Returning to the company headquarters from the training ground, Shanzi instructed Xiaolong to organize thirty donkey carts from the local area, lead two platoons in plain clothes, and rush to the base camp before dawn on the fifth day.
Xiaolong asked Shanzi what new fist and kick he was playing, and Shanzi said that the God of Wealth came to his door, and the independent camp welcomed him.
Taking the teacup handed over by the correspondent, Shanzi told Xiaolong to send someone to Yukou Mountain tomorrow to convey the mission just given to the Third Company.
After drinking only half of a cup of tea, Shanzi stood up to say goodbye and returned to Circle Ridge at two o'clock in the morning.
In the early morning of September 5th, Xiaolong and Xiaohu each led two platoons and arrived at Quanquanling Ridge by donkey cart.
That night, sixty donkey carts and ten horse-drawn carriages drove along the country road, bypassing Linshui City, and headed straight for Philadelphia County. Shanzi and Xiao Liu were at the forefront on horseback.
After two days and two nights and a journey of more than 300 miles, Shanzi led the team to Shaliu Village before nine o'clock in the evening, where they picnicked and camped in a mountain forest behind the village.
Shaliu Village is located 26 kilometers west of Philadelphia and 45 kilometers away from Linshui. Linji Highway is about one kilometer south of the village.
Shanzi is no stranger to Shaliu Village. As early as in the detachment reconnaissance camp, a central leader went south to Jiangsu and Anhui. Shanzi was ordered to rush to Shaliu Village to conduct reconnaissance on the terrain and road conditions in this area.
That morning, Shanzi and Xiao Liu each carried a shovel and looked along the road in front of the village from east to west.
Three miles west of Shaliu Village, Shanzi stopped on an inconspicuous bridge. The bridge was about five meters long, only two meters high, and the width of the bridge opening was only 1.5 meters.
At night, Shanzi held a flashlight and Xiao Liu carried an earthen basket on his shoulders, ducking into the bridge hole.
A pit was dug in the wetland next to the bridge tunnel, and Xiao Liu put an earthen jar into the pit. There were six tied grenades in the earthen jar.
After placing the grenade detonation cable, Xiao Liu covered the mouth of the jar with a wooden board, buried it with soil, and then fished some rotten firewood and grass from the stagnant water and spread it on top of the soil.
On the north side of the bridge is a lush sweet potato field. The distance from the bottom of the bridge to the field weir is less than five meters. Xiao Liu used a shovel to dig a small trench and bury this section of the detonation wire.
The detonation line was fifty meters in total and extended to the center of the sweet potato field.
3
At 8:30, Shanzi divided the four platoons into two and ambushed the sweet potato fields on both sides of the bridge.
Shanzi and Xiaohu jointly occupied the Qiaobei position, and the detonation line was in Xiaohu's hands.
It was just a quarter after nine o'clock, and the rumbling sound of a motor could be heard faintly in the silent night.
A few minutes later, the searchlight on the Japanese patrol car swung from side to side, shining brightly white, illuminating the scenery on both sides of the road as if it were daytime.
Twenty meters away from the bridge, the patrol car suddenly stopped and a commander and an orderly jumped out of the patrol car.
In order to prevent the enemy from blowing up bridges, cutting off roads, and intercepting munitions, armored road patrol vehicles came all the way from the provincial capital and stopped at every bridge, large or small, to inspect it.
At this time, the commander waved his hand, and the orderlies hurriedly ran towards the bottom of the bridge.
After turning on the flashlight and scanning the area, the orderly reported that no suspicious things were found in the bridge tunnel.
After listening to the orderly's report, the commander remained where he was and used the light of the searchlight to carefully observe the sweet potato fields on both sides of the road.
At this moment, the soldiers lying in ambush in the sweet potato field held their breath, looking through the gaps between the seedlings and vines, intently watching the commander's every move.
Shanzi, however, kept his eyes on the machine gun on the patrol car. What he was most worried about at this time was that once the patrol car launched a fire reconnaissance, it would easily expose the target.
While he was anxious, he saw the Japanese commander turning around and getting into the car.
The patrol car started moving again, followed slowly by the truck behind it.
Shan Zi breathed a sigh of relief and told Xiao Liu to prepare for detonation.
When the front wheels of the road patrol vehicle just entered the bridge deck, Shanzi decisively ordered: "Detonate."
With a loud bang, the patrol car plunged into the collapsed bridge.
Shanzi shouted again: "Machine gun shooting."
According to Shanzi's judgment, among the ten transport trucks, the first and last trucks were escort vehicles. Therefore, according to the interception plan, four light machine guns were used to attack the escort vehicles from the north and south positions.
Sure enough, there was a fierce beating, and the Japanese escorting the arms jumped out of the carriage one after another.
As soon as the Japs were discovered, rifles and shell guns also started firing.
In order to prevent the enemy from jumping over the wall and detonating ammunition, Shanzi gave the order in time to launch an attack on the convoy.
For a moment, the sound of killing shook the vast fields and filled the mountains and rivers with anger.
Although the entire military train convoy was surrounded, the remaining Japanese soldiers resisted stubbornly and assumed a posture of fighting to the end.
Shanzi, Xiaolong and other short-sleeved gunners took the lead and rushed to the forefront of the team, firing frequently from the muzzle. With every gunshot, a Japanese was knocked down.
Rushing to the truck, a Japs crouched under the wheels and secretly aimed at Shan Zi. Fortunately, Xiao Liu noticed in time and shot over, hitting the Japs in the forehead.
Another Japanese soldier held a bayonet and lunged at a soldier who was assassinating him. Shanzi jumped up, leaped several meters in mid-air, and kicked the Japanese soldier to the ground.
After a fierce fight, no living Japanese were seen anywhere. The battle entered the search stage. The bottom of the carriage was searched, but not a single living remnant was found.
So far, this interception operation has annihilated two Japanese squads, and only four of our troops were injured.
After setting up perimeter security, Shanzi ordered the soldiers to seize the time to unload the weapons.
At this moment, a row of bright lights appeared in front of Shaliu Village. This was the village chief leading nearly a hundred villagers to deliver a carriage to the Independence Battalion.