In the area around Liugang and Caojialou in the northwest of Cao County in southwestern Shandong, there were bright fires and gunshots everywhere.
The anti-recalcitrant campaign in the Hebei, Shandong and Henan regions started one after another, but the troops of the Tainan Military Region led by Zhou Weihan had to cross the straight south to reach the southwestern region of Shandong.
Today, the recalcitrant troops in southwestern Shandong learned about the battle situation between the recalcitrant troops and the Eighth Route Army in western Shandong through the local Japanese army.
Under the instigation of the Japanese army, six large and small groups of stubborn armed forces led by Wang Zikui and Shi Fuqi in southwestern Shandong took the initiative to attack the local Eighth Route Army.
At this time, in Liugang, Caojialou and other places, more than a dozen comrades from the reconnaissance company and the local government, and more than 300 soldiers from the Southwest Shandong Guerrilla Brigade were under siege by the stubborn armed forces.
In order to encircle and suppress the local Eighth Route Army, the stubborn armed forces came out in full force, with more than 4,000 soldiers in total. In addition, there were two cavalry squadrons under the Japanese Cavalry Fourth Brigade, watching eagerly on the periphery of the battlefield.
In Liugang Village.
A comrade from the local government said apologetically to Dong Jiang: "Comrade Dong Jiang, I'm really sorry for causing you trouble!"
"Comrade Li Lu, judging from what you said, our reconnaissance company's mission this time is to get in touch with you and prepare for the next annihilation of the stubborn troops in southwest Shandong. Now we just happened to catch up!"
"But isn't it a little strange that the recalcitrant army discovered your location?"
Li Lu nodded: "I'm also wondering. We change places every three days. Logically speaking, the stubborn army can't find it. Do you mean that someone in the team tipped off the stubborn army?"
"Probably!"
"That's fine. We are not familiar with the terrain in southwest Shandong. Now that the recalcitrant armed forces are gathered together, when the main force arrives, they will be wiped out. Even the Japanese cavalry and cavalry will not be able to escape!" Dong Jiang said in a deep voice.
Li Lu had no doubts about what Dong Jiang said. Although the reconnaissance company in front of him only had more than a hundred people, it had extremely well-equipped weapons and equipment, and even carried two small cannons with the army.
At the beginning of the battle, the stubborn army thought that they were surrounded by only some men from the Southwestern Shandong Guerrilla Brigade. However, they were stunned by the reconnaissance company, and the first wave of the stubborn army's attack was immediately in vain.
Taking advantage of the retreat of the stubborn army, Dong Jiang used the reconnaissance company as a sharp knife to directly tear a hole in the formation of the stubborn army. However, he later encountered Japanese cavalry that had been cruising around the periphery, and then retreated to Liu Gang and was trapped in Caojialou.
Seeing that there was no hope of breaking out, Dong Jiang stopped thinking of organizing a breakout again. The reconnaissance company was different from ordinary troops. Zhou Weihan always emphasized that the soldiers of the reconnaissance company should not be sacrificed in a head-on fight with the enemy.
While speaking, Dong Jiang held a submachine gun in his hand. In order to save ammunition, he fired several bursts to knock down several stubborn soldiers who were rushing towards him.
"Run!" The stubborn troops retreated even faster as they came.
Seeing Dong Jiang's shooting technique of using a submachine gun as a rifle, Li Lu couldn't help but secretly exclaimed: "Comrade Dong Jiang, how did you develop this shooting technique?"
Dong Jiang did not reply immediately after hearing this. Instead, he said to Cao Dabao: "Cao Dabao, take a few people to Yang Tiansheng to see if he needs support!"
After the reconnaissance company first showed its power, Dong Jiang took over the battlefield. The reconnaissance company and the guerrilla brigade were divided in half between Liugang and Caojialou.
"Hey, don't look at the power of this guy in my hand, but it's not easy to train to my level. In addition to feeding enough bullets, you also need to be talented!"
"Don't forget that our reconnaissance company only has more than a hundred people, but each of them is an elite. They were selected from the tens of thousands of troops in our Tainan Military Region!"
The words were divided into two parts. After receiving the telegram from the reconnaissance company asking for help, Zhou Weihan immediately ordered his troops to rush to the fighting area.
But at this time, Zhou Weihan encountered a lot of trouble.
"What? Lost your way? What did the vanguard do for food?" When Zhou Weihan heard this, he looked at the time again: "I've been walking for more than two hours before I found out?"
"Detachment leader, don't worry, it's too dark now and the soldiers really can't find the way. I've asked the soldiers to find fellow villagers nearby to find the way!" Jing Dagang explained.
"The troops stop advancing and take a break!" The orders were passed to the back one after another.
Can Zhou Weihan not be anxious? The soldiers of the reconnaissance company are still stubborn and surrounded by the Japanese army. He feels bad for losing one of them.
The First Regiment and the Second Regiment suffered casualties and thousands of soldiers, every one of them looked at Southwestern Shandong with a black eye, and every one of them was an outsider.
Originally, we were fighting in Zhinan, and at least we had local comrades to assist us. However, when we arrived in southwestern Shandong, we had to rely on maps to march.
This is also the reason why Zhou Weihan sent a reconnaissance company to southwestern Shandong in advance to attack the front line.
Not long after, a group of soldiers found a local fellow. After the fellow confirmed, the general direction of the marching route was not wrong and was indeed in the direction of Caoxian County.
But it was too dark and we were walking on a trail. A group of soldiers from the vanguard went around and lost their way.
Finally, under the leadership of fellow villagers, the troops continued to march toward Caoxian County in the southeast direction.
By the time the troops arrived at the outskirts of the fighting area, it was already past ten o'clock in the evening, and five hours had passed since the reconnaissance company sent a telegram asking for help.
Fortunately, the stubborn army did not know that a reinforcement force was coming to the surrounded Eighth Route Army, trying to take advantage of the night to consume the Eighth Route Army's ammunition.
It was so dark that we could only see the flames coming out of each battle's formations from time to time, and we had no idea how many stubborn troops there were on the other side.
Zhou Weihan did not act rashly, but asked the telegraph operator to send a report to the reconnaissance company, and then called Jing Dagang and others.
"I don't know how many people there are in the stubborn army now, but according to the messy gunfire, there are at least two thousand people attacking. Including those who are in reserve, I think there are five thousand people in total!"
"The stubborn army is just a group of rabble. We attack from behind and are defeated in one blow, but the Japanese cavalry must be guarded against!"
"There is currently no trace of them. They are hiding in the dark and can kill them at any time and cause us casualties!"
"So the next division of troops should not be scattered. The first regiment is in the direction of Liu Gang, and the fourth regiment is in the direction of Caojialou. Concentrate your strength to launch attacks at the same time. However, do not invest the heavy machine guns in the attack. They should be deployed on both wings of the attacking troops to prevent the Japanese cavalry immediately.
Sneak attack!" Zhou Weihan made arrangements one by one.
"We understand!" Jing Dagang and others nodded.
Soon after, several rounds of illumination shot into the sky.
In an instant, gunshots rang out loudly from behind the stubborn army formation, and shouts of killing were everywhere.
"Sir, the Eighth Route Army is coming towards us!" Wang Zikui's men had just withdrawn from the attack and were resting. The sudden attack made the stubborn army confused, and the voices of the Eighth Route Army seemed to be heard from all directions.
"Don't be chaotic. The Japanese are here, so don't be afraid of the Eighth Route Army!"
On the other side, in an open space not far from Liu Gang, Captain Fushimi Miya of the 25th Regiment of the Fourth Cavalry Brigade of the Japanese Army heard the news and was not surprised but overjoyed.
"Warriors, the time has come to gain military exploits!" Fushimi Miya got on his horse, quickly drew his saber, and screamed.