"Of course not." Kuroshima Morita said, "Although our Kuroshima family is a royal family, the Maeda family is also a wealthy family. There is no need to curry favor with the Kuroshima family."
Xi Zhuyi asked: "Why is that?"
Kuroshima Morita said: "Maeda-kun is worried that I will launch a revenge operation on New Year's Eve."
"What? General Maeda would actually be so worried?" Nishi Takeichi said in surprise, "However, General Maeda is obviously worrying too much, because you, the commander, will never take any action on New Year's Eve. Before you left, you even repeatedly told me to keep an eye on Jiro and the others and not to let them go out easily."
"Haha, no, Maeda-kun's worries are not unnecessary at all."
Kuroshima Morita said: "Because I do intend to launch a revenge operation on New Year's Eve."
"What?" Xi Zhuyi was dumbfounded and said, "How could this happen? Captain, you are not..."
Nishi Takeichi has been completely confused by Kuroshima Morita. Since he has decided to launch a revenge operation on New Year's Eve, why did he go to attend Commander Shinozuka's New Year's Eve dinner?
Why did he repeatedly tell him to keep an eye on Jiro?
Isn't this a contradiction? What's going on?
"Xizhu-kun, do you feel conflicted?"
Kuroshima Morita smiled slightly and added: "Not at all, actually."
"I accepted Maeda-kun's invitation to attend General Shinozuka's New Year's Eve dinner. It was just a good show I put on for the Eighth Route Army. I didn't expect to fool you too."
"What? It's just a show?" Xi Zhuyi was even more confused.
Kuroshima Morita straightened his face and said, "Xizhu-kun, you should understand that this is Shanxi, in China. We are surrounded by Chinese. On the surface, these Chinese are extremely respectful and obedient to the Imperial Army, but no one knows what they think in their hearts. It is very likely that they are working for the Imperial Army while selling the Imperial Army's intelligence to the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army or even the Eighth Route Army."
"Soga." Xi Zhuyi suddenly realized, "The commander of the regiment wanted to send a message to the Chinese, especially the Eighth Route Army, by attending General Shinozuka's New Year's Eve dinner in Taiyuan? Have you been to Taiyuan?"
"That's right." Kuroshima Morita nodded happily, "Only when I go to Taiyuan, Jiro and his men's revenge will seem reasonable and flawless, and the Tubalu will think they have succeeded."
"Before that, the Eighth Route Army harassed the Huting stronghold for a whole month."
"Aren't they doing this to provoke the wrath of the Imperial Army? And thus lead to revenge tonight?"
"If Jiro and his men really launch a revenge now, the Eighth Route Army will think that their plan has succeeded, and then they will make elaborate plans around the attacking force, and try to wipe out our Black Island Regiment in one battle."
"If nothing unexpected happens, the Eighth Route Army must have set up an ambush on the only way to Xiaoyi Village."
"If our Black Island Brigade goes to rescue them, we will definitely fall into the trap designed by the Eighth Route Army."
"Baga, the Tubalu are so treacherous." Xi Zhuyi cursed, "Captain, if this is the case, we can't go to Xiaoyi Village to rescue them anyway."
"No, we still need to go to rescue."
Kuroshima Morita waved his hand and said, "As the commander of the Kuroshima Regiment, more than a hundred of my soldiers are trapped in Xiaoyi Village by the Tubalu. If I don't lead the troops to rescue them, it would be a serious dereliction of duty! Even if I am a member of the royal family and do not need to be punished by the military court, I am afraid that His Majesty the Emperor will not forgive me."
Xi Zhuyi said anxiously: "But this is a trap."
"Captain, if you knew this was a trap, why did you go and die?"
"Xizhu-kun, don't worry." Kuroshima Morita said with a smile, "I just said I would go to rescue, but I didn't say I would go to Xiaoyi Village to rescue, hehe."
"Huh?" Xi Zhuyi was stunned.
Kuroshima Morita said: "Xizhu-kun, you should have read the Thirty-Six Stratagems, right?"
"Of course." Xi Zhuyi said without hesitation, "This is a classic military work that every officer must read."
Kuroshima Morita said: "Since you have read the Thirty-Six Stratagems, then you should know the strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao."
"Besiege Wei to save Zhao?" Xi Zhu was stunned for a moment, and said thoughtfully, "The captain said to attack Yang Village?"
"Yangcun?" Kuroshima Morita smiled slightly when he heard this and did not deny it, as if he agreed with this statement.
But in fact, Kuroshima Morita had greater ambitions, because he had seen the entire process of Yamamoto's special forces' failed attack on Daxia Bay in the battle report. The final conclusion was that the reason why Yamamoto's special forces failed in the surprise attack was because they did not know in advance that the independent regiment had been transferred to Yang Village, which led to an encounter between the two sides.
Three conclusions can be drawn from this.
First, the independent regiment was stationed in Yangcun.
Second, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army was in Daxiawan Village.
Third, the independent regiment belongs to the guard force of the Eighth Route Army headquarters.
Therefore, if the Hei Dao League could take advantage of the opportunity when the independent regiment came out in full force to attack Yang Village directly, it would be highly likely that they could also go straight to Daxia Bay from Yang Village and destroy the Eighth Route Army headquarters in one fell swoop.
In this way, the Kuroshima Unit can complete the difficult mission that Yamamoto's special forces have failed to accomplish.
By then, it will depend on whether that idiot Yamamoto Ikki still has the nerve to brag about the so-called special warfare tactics he learned from Germany?
However, Nishi Takeichi had no idea of ​​Kuroshima Morita's inner thoughts.
He said, "Yoshi, if we can go straight to Yang Village, we can force the Independent Regiment to come back for rescue, and then we can ambush them halfway. This is called giving someone a taste of their own medicine."
"Xizhu-kun, you think this problem is too simple."
Kuroshima Morita said: "It is impossible to ambush the Eighth Route Army."
"Because in the Taihang bandit area, there are spies of the Eighth Route Army everywhere."
"No move of the Imperial Army can escape the detection of the Eighth Route Army."
"So an ambush is impossible, but we don't need an ambush. We only need to engage in a head-on battle, and we can defeat or even annihilate the independent regiment with our firepower advantage."
"Soga." Xi Zhuyi now understood everything.
Immediately, Xi Zhuyi said again: "Captain, let me do it?"
"No, I'm the captain." Kuroshima Morita waved his hand and said, "Of course I have to lead the team myself."
Having said this, he added, "Xizhu Jun, I will take away the 1st Cavalry Squadron, the Baggage Squadron, the Heavy Machine Gun Squadron, and the Cavalry Artillery Squadron. The 3rd Cavalry Squadron, the 4th Cavalry Squadron, and the Imperial Army will all be left to you. If nothing unexpected happens, the armored vehicle squadron should be able to return to the base soon, so you don't have to worry about insufficient firepower."
Xi Zhuyi said: "Captain, you should bring the 4th Cavalry Squadron with you. The fortifications at Huting have been completely repaired and even more solid. With the addition of the armored vehicle squadron, there will be no problem in consolidating them."
Kuroshima Morita hesitated, then nodded and said, "Okay."
…
Almost at the same time, the Wolf Warriors arrived three kilometers outside the Huting stronghold.
"Wild Wolf No. 1." Wang Ye called Li Sigen over and ordered, "You Wild Wolf Team stay here."
Li Sigen was a little unhappy and whispered, "Northwest Wolves, can we let other groups serve as horse stakes this time? We can't always be the wild wolves, right?"
The so-called horse post is used specifically for watching horses.
"Shut up, this is an order." Wei Dayong said.
Li Sigen had no choice but to stay with two team members.
Wang Ye and other team members sneaked quietly to a distance of two kilometers.
We can't go any further because if we go forward we will be in an open area with no cover and it would be dangerous if we are exposed.
Previously, when Wang Ye and Wang Chengzhu came to harass, they seldom came within a distance of two kilometers. Most of the time, they would stay outside two kilometers and fire their artillery.
Wei Dayong was not aware of it at all.
After lying on the ground, he raised the telescope.
Wang Ye turned his head and stared at Wei Dayong coldly.
Wei Dayong didn't notice it at first, but after a few seconds he realized that Wang Ye was looking at him.
Wei Dayong put down the telescope, turned around and looked at Wang Ye and said, "Why are you looking at me? There's nothing wrong with my face."
"Telescope!" Wang Ye stretched out his hand and said unhappily, "This is my telescope, what the hell are you looking at?"
"Here you go. Who cares?" Wei Dayong stuffed the telescope into Wang Ye's hand and whispered, "Then why don't you let me carry you on my back?"
"You're the only one who talks too much."
Wang Ye reached out and took the telescope.
Another slap landed on the back of Wei Dayong's head.
Wei Dayong grinned and said, "Next time I will seize one too, and I want eight times as many."
Wang Ye ignored Wei Dayong and raised the telescope to the Huting stronghold and adjusted the focus. Soon, a clear image appeared in the field of view of the telescope.
The magnification of the six-fold mirror is not high.
But you can still see clearly at two thousand meters.
I saw that the Huting stronghold was brightly lit. All the lights that were usually not very bright were on. The Japanese finally stopped saving money this time, and the diesel generator probably never stopped running.
In particular, the lights in the hall made the playground of the stronghold as bright as day.
On the playground, a large number of Japanese cavalry were gathering and waiting for orders.
Wang Ye estimated that there were at least more than a thousand people, probably the entire Black Island League was there.
It seems that the Kuroshima Regiment is indeed going to rescue. I wonder if that old devil Kuroshima Morita has rushed back from Taiyuan overnight?
But at this point, the devils haven't sent out their troops yet.
Most likely he was waiting for Kuroshima Morita to return to the Hu Tei base.
In a flash, the gate of the Huting stronghold suddenly opened and the high-hanging suspension bridge was lowered.
Immediately afterwards, a large mass of cavalry surged out and rushed towards where they were hiding. Thousands of iron hooves pounded the ground, making a rumbling sound, and the earth began to tremble.
"Fuck!" Wei Dayong yelled, "Could it be that the Japanese have discovered us?"
"What are you thinking about?" Wang Ye held up the telescope without moving, and said disdainfully, "Are you, a big bad wolf, worthy of the Japanese devils mobilizing such a large force?"
"Don't move."
"Continue to hide and wait."
Wang Ye whispered orders while continuously adjusting the focus.
As the Japanese cavalry approached, the focal length had to be adjusted, otherwise it would be difficult to see clearly.
After adjusting the focus again, I could see more clearly that in the Japanese ranks, in addition to the cavalrymen carrying rifles, there were also a large number of pack horses.
Looking at the packhorse's back, one can see the mountain cannon's spare parts such as wheels, gun barrel, and gun mount.
Some pack horses carried heavy machine gun barrels with air-cooled heat pipes on their backs.
My goodness, is the Black Island Regiment out in full force? In addition to at least three cavalry squadrons (one of which is actually a baggage squadron), there is also a heavy machine gun squadron and a cavalry artillery squadron.
Damn, this is almost all the main forces of the Black Island League.
At this time, the Japanese reconnaissance cavalry had rushed to the vicinity of the War Wolf Squad's ambush point.
One of the Japanese cavalrymen even fired a shot at the War Wolf Squad's ambush location.
But that was all. After firing a shot, the Japanese reconnaissance cavalry urged their horses forward and rode away.
Next, the main cavalry force of the Kuroshima Regiment marched past in a mighty procession from the road less than 500 meters away. Under the cover of night, the Japanese cavalry's marching column was two kilometers long.
By the time the Japanese cavalry passed by, the air was already filled with dust.
Wang Ye stood up and spat, then handed the telescope to Wei Dayong.
Poor Wei Dayong, he is nominally the deputy captain of the Wolf Warrior Squad, but in fact he is doing the job of a guard, and he is a guard for a squad leader.
…
The Wolf Warriors followed the Black Island Team from a distance.
After following for ten kilometers, we came to a fork in the road.
The left side of this fork in the road leads to Yang Village, and the right side leads to Xiaoyi Village.
At the beginning, the Wolf Warriors took the fork on the right without thinking twice. It was not until they chased for several hundred meters that they realized that there was no dust in the air.
"No!" Wang Ye quickly reined in his horse and stopped, "The Japs didn't take this road!"
The fourteen war wolves also reined in their horses and stopped. Wei Dayong said in confusion, "Impossible? If we don't take this road to Xiaoyi Village, we have to take a long detour from Yang Village, and walk an extra 50 kilometers!"
"It's bad!" Wang Ye's face changed and he said in a deep voice, "The Japs are going to Yang Village!"
"What? The Japanese are going to Yang Village?" Wei Dayong and others also changed their expressions.
If the Japanese really went to Yang Village, there would be big trouble. Their independent regiment had already gone out in full force, even the grooms from the groom squad and the cooks from the kitchen squad had been dispatched. Only a few disabled veterans from the supply department were left to guard the warehouse. If they were attacked by the main force of the Kuroshima Regiment at this time, they would be finished.
"No, it's not Yangcun."
However, Wang Ye quickly denied his own speculation.
"The devils are heading to Daxia Bay. Their target is the headquarters!"
Hearing this, more than a dozen War Wolves were almost going crazy. How could this be tolerated?
Wang Ye remained calm and made a prompt decision: "Wild Wolf No. 1, go to Dishui Rock and report to the commander, and tell him that the main force of the Black Island Brigade is preparing to attack our headquarters!"
"Let the commander lead the main force of the regiment to set up an ambush at Maple Box Ridge!"
"Remember, you must run fast, even if it means your horse dies!"
"Yes!" Li Sigen responded and whipped the horse's buttocks hard with the whip. The warhorse felt the pain, neighed loudly, and ran forward without caring about anything, not afraid of falling down in the dark.
Wang Ye said again: "Colonel No. 1, you go to Xiaoyi Village immediately."
"Tell Deputy Regiment Commander Kong to immediately kill the Japanese in Xiaoyi Village and then directly attack the Huting stronghold. We must capture the Huting stronghold before the Japanese armored vehicle troops come back to support us."
"Yes!" Liu Dongtang agreed and rode away on his horse.
Wang Ye looked around and shouted, "The rest of you, follow me!"
"Northwest Wolf, where are we going?" Wei Dayong asked as he rode his horse to catch up with Wang Ye, "Should we catch up with the Black Island Team and tie them up?"
"What are you thinking about?"
Wang Ye said: "With just a dozen of us, we want to tie up an entire regiment of the Japanese? How can it be so easy!"
"What should we do?" Wei Dayong asked loudly, "We can't just let the devils go and attack the headquarters, right?"
"You're the only one who talks too much nonsense." Wang Ye snorted and said, "It's impossible to entangle the Black Island Brigade, but we can still find a suitable terrain to block it."
"Suitable terrain?" Wei Dayong asked, "Where is it?"
"Chahuling!" Wang Ye said, and rode away on his horse.
…
At Dripping Rock.
It's really hard to ambush in such cold weather.
Li Yunlong saw Zhao Gang shivering from the cold, so he said, "Old Zhao, come over here and squeeze in with us. Don't let a great intellectual like you get frozen to death."
"No need."
Zhao Gang said, "I'm not afraid of the cold."
"You said you weren't afraid of the cold," Li Yunlong said, "but my nose was frozen."
"How are you better than me, you bastard?" Zhao Gang was completely assimilated, and he cursed as soon as he opened his mouth. "I've been frozen like a green-faced beast."
Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang actually have cotton coats.
But they all gave their coats to the soldiers.
"Captain, I'm cold." Guard Xiao Zhang blew a breath and said tremblingly, "Why haven't the Japanese come yet?"
"Xiao Zhang, just bear with it a little longer. The Japanese will be here soon." Li Yunlong said, "You won't feel cold if we fight. You might even feel so hot that you'll have to take off your clothes."
Xiao Zhang imagined taking off his clothes because it was so hot, and then he felt that it was not so cold anymore.
Li Yunlong took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit a cigarette for himself.
After taking a puff of cigarette into his lungs, he felt less cold. Li Yunlong asked again, "Old Zhao, want one too?"
"No." Zhao Gang said unhappily, "You bastard, you broke my drinking habit, and now you want to break my smoking habit?"
Li Yunlong chuckled and was about to tease Zhao Gang a few more times when he suddenly heard the sound of hurried horse hooves on the road ahead.
The hurried sound of horse hooves could not have come from the Japanese cavalry, nor from the lookout ambushed at the mountain pass ahead. It could only have been the communications soldier of the Wolf War Squad.
Li Yunlong's heart sank.
What happened?
Li Yunlong's guess was soon confirmed.
"Captain? Where is the commander?" A rider on a fast horse rushed directly into the ambush location.
"It's Li Sigen from the Wolf Warriors!" Li Yunlong stood up and walked forward, saying in a deep voice, "Sigen, I'm here."
"Captain!" Li Sigen rushed to Li Yunlong's side and said in a hurry without getting off his horse, "Northwest Wolf asked me to inform the main force of the regiment that the Black Island Brigade is preparing to attack our headquarters. Let the main force of the regiment move to Fengxiangling immediately to set up an ambush!"
"What?" Zhao Gang's face suddenly changed. "The main force of the Black Island League went to attack the headquarters?"
Li Yunlong said without hesitation: "Guards, immediately notify the Cavalry Company and the 2nd Battalion to move to Fengxiangling. The 3rd Battalion, the Artillery Company, and all the direct units, follow me immediately."
"Old Li." Zhao Gang dissuaded him.
"Should we reconsider this?"