Li Dagou hurried to Wang Husheng and panted and reported: "Political commissar, the little Japs are catching up!"
Wang Husheng raised his head and looked forward, only to see the turbulent Meihe River less than ten meters in front of him. Looking back, he saw that less than two hundred meters behind him were the pursuers of the Japs. The county brigade and eight district squads had a thousand taels. More than a hundred militiamen had already crowded into a ball at the narrow Mustang beach, and they were also in a mess.
Yes, you read that right, there are eight district teams in addition to the county team!
Kawaguchi Heiji didn't know that there were actually more than a dozen tunnel entrances hidden in the cornfield that he burned to ashes with sulfur bombs. After entering the cornfield, the three infantry battalions of the Dameishan Independent Regiment quickly followed these ten tunnel entrances. Several tunnel entrances entered the tunnel, and more than 1,200 people from the county brigade and district teams who had been hiding in the cornfields fled in a hurry from the west of the cornfield toward Meihe ten minutes after the Japanese bombardment.
Of course, in order to confuse the Japanese, the county brigade and district squad had already put on regular army uniforms.
Because they had the opportunity to put on military uniforms, the militiamen in the county brigade and district squad were very happy.
Therefore, the Kawaguchi detachment was actually only targeting the county brigade and the eight district teams in the Dameishan base area, but the main force of Xu Rui's independent regiment had already passed through the tunnel and moved behind the Kawaguchi detachment.
For the sake of confidentiality, Li Dagou and the militiamen from the county brigade and each district squad did not know Xu Rui's plan. Therefore, seeing that there was no way to escape, the militiamen from the county brigade and each district squad were a little busy. After all, they are militiamen, regardless of their combat skills. Neither their willpower nor their willpower can be compared to the regular army.
Like Li Dagou, he quickly stood out from the county brigade and became the captain after taking part in the selection assessment of the Langya squad.
Li Dagou said in panic: "Political Commissar, what should we do now?"
Wang Husheng did not panic. He knew Xu Rui's plan. Therefore, when he saw the small Japanese's large group chasing into Yematan, he was not afraid. Instead, he felt extremely happy and even excited.
Seeing the excitement on Wang Husheng's face, Li Dagou was a little scared. While reaching out to touch Wang Husheng's forehead, he asked anxiously: "Political Commissar, are you okay?"
Li Dagou thought that Wang Husheng had lost his mind because he was too frightened.
"Go, go, you are in trouble, I am fine." Wang Husheng slapped Li Dagou's paw away, and said, "Gouzi, take a few people to light the fire for me."
"Light a fire?" Li Dagou said blankly, "Lighting a fire?"
"Look at my memory." Wang Husheng then remembered that Li Dagou didn't know Xu Rui's entire plan. He slapped his forehead and said, "Did you see those piles of sand in front of you? Find the wooden board under the pile of sand and open it. You will find a ditch underneath, fill the ditch with gasoline, flip over all the wooden boards covering the ditch, and then light it."
Li Dagou still didn't quite understand, but he didn't dare to ask any more questions. He took dozens of militiamen to the sand pile where Wang Husheng pointed his finger just now. After a casual search, he actually found a wooden board. He opened the wooden board again and there was something underneath. There was really a small ditch more than half a meter wide. The ditch was filled with gasoline, and a very pungent smell of gasoline came out.
"Quickly, look around and turn over all the wooden boards."
Li Dagou gave the order, and dozens of militiamen quickly dispersed. Then they found many wooden boards, and then opened the wooden boards. Underneath was a small ditch that stretched for nearly a kilometer.
However, this ditch is filled with gasoline instead of water.
This small oil ditch filled with gasoline extends almost from the north end to the south end of Yematan, forming a horizontal line exactly at the U-shaped end of Yematan, cutting the entire Yematan in half, pretending to be the main force of the independent regiment's county brigade. There are still eight district teams on the west side of this horizontal line, and the Japanese pursuers behind them are on the east side.
When Li Dagou was looking at the gasoline in the oil ditch, gunfire suddenly broke out in front of him, and two bullets even whizzed past his ears with a shrill scream. One of the bullets even set his head ablaze, killing him. The band of hair next to his ears was burned to ashes, and a scorch mark was left on his cheek, but it scared Li Dagou half to death.
Fortunately, it was at night and the little devil couldn't hit him accurately, otherwise Li Dagou would have been doomed.
Li Dagou immediately fell to the ground and shouted sternly: "Light the fire, light the fire for me!"
The dozen militiamen who followed Li Dagou and fell to the ground quickly threw the torches they were holding into the oil ditch. As soon as the dozens of torches fell into the oil ditch, the gasoline inside started to burn, and the fire spread rapidly. The oil ditch extended towards the north and south ends. In less than a moment, the oil ditch that almost ran through the entire Wild Horse Beach was already burning.
The raging fire immediately blocked Yematan and blocked the Japanese pursuers.
The Japanese who had already chased them within fifty meters of the oil ditch stopped one after another and looked at the raging fire in front of them with blank eyes. They didn't know what to do for a while. Should they pursue further? Don't be ridiculous, such a big fire will burn you to ashes, why the hell are you chasing after it? Don't you want to chase? But it is against the order!
At a loss, the Japanese even forgot to shoot and just stayed there.
The captain of the 1st Infantry Battalion was also a little dazed and confused about the situation.
It took a full two minutes for the captain of the 1st Japanese Infantry Battalion to react and quickly ordered the communications soldier to report to Kawaguchi Heiji. However, it didn't matter whether he reported it or not at this time, because there was such a big fire, and the 2nd Infantryman who followed behind All the little devils from the brigade and the 3rd brigade saw it.
Kawaguchi Heiji was also alerted and quickly got out of the command vehicle.
Looking at the fire two kilometers ahead, Kawaguchi Heiji's brows tightened.
This sudden change was definitely beyond Kawaguchi Heiji's expectation. He never expected that such a change would happen even though the Independent Regiment had already been driven into Wild Horse Beach and was in dire straits! What makes Kawaguchi Heiji even more puzzling is that such a fire can definitely not be caused by a temporary initiative.
This means that the independent group had planned this fire in advance!
Already planned? Thinking of this, Kawaguchi Heiji's heart sank slightly.
Could it be that this is really Xu Rui's conspiracy? Xu Rui did not hesitate to use the entire independent regiment as bait to lure the Kawaguchi detachment to Yematan, just for this fire? However, although the fire was fierce and almost completely blocked the entire Yematan from south to north, it did no harm to the Japanese troops on the east side of the burning zone!
What was Xu Rui's intention in starting such a fire? Just to stop the pursuers
But what if we temporarily block the pursuers? From the intensity and spread of the fire, Kawaguchi Heiji was able to determine that it must be caused by igniting gasoline. This must be the material that the independent regiment obtained from Huilonggou last time. However, the gasoline required to maintain such a burning zone But it's quite a lot. The independent regiment's gasoline reserves can only last for half an hour at most.
In other words, the fire will be extinguished in half an hour, and the Japanese army will be able to cross the fire zone and continue their pursuit. Could it be said that the defeated troops of the Independent Regiment can cross the turbulent Mei River within half an hour? As soon as this idea came up, it was immediately overturned by Kawaguchi Heiji. There was no way that the defeated troops of the independent regiment could cross the river within half an hour.
Kawaguchi Heiji stood there, looking at the raging fire directly in front of him, puzzled.
Until this time, Kawaguchi Heiji had not realized that his entire detachment was in danger. If he could realize the danger at this time and actually order a retreat, even if he could not save the defeat, at least he could save part of his troops. At least he won't lose all his money. Unfortunately, Kawaguchi Heiji didn't know it at this time.
(Dividing line)
Further away, Xu Rui also saw the monstrous fire.
Seeing this monstrous fire, Xu Rui was so distressed that he almost bled.
In order to create this fire, he used a thousand barrels of 160-liter gasoline. Five hundred barrels of it were dumped into the shallow ditch to block the Japanese pursuers. The other five hundred barrels of gasoline were mixed with sawdust. Mix the powder together and sprinkle it on Yematan. For this plan, the gasoline obtained from Huilonggou last time has been exhausted.
However, even if a full 500 barrels of gasoline were used and a large amount of sawdust powder was mixed, the sawdust powder would not be enough to spread all over the Ye Ye Beach, because the Ye Ye Beach and the area outside the river beach are really too big, covering nearly four square meters. It covers an area of 1,000 kilometers, so it can only be sprinkled at fixed points in Yematan and its surroundings. More than a hundred small pieces were sprinkled.
However, as long as the Kawaguchi detachment can be burned down, no matter how high the price is, it is worth it!
"Old Xu, the burning zone can't last long, let's set it on fire." Leng Ranfeng said solemnly.
"No, the Japanese artillery has not entered the ambush circle yet." He Guangming stopped him.
"Don't wait for the Japanese artillery." Leng Tiefeng said, "Otherwise, once the old Japanese Kawaguchi reacts and orders a retreat, I'm afraid we will be in trouble."
Leng Tiefeng's worry is justified. Even if there is sawdust powder mixed with gasoline as a combustion accelerant, and even if anthracite is flammable, it will take time from ignition to the complete spread of the fire in the coal field. It is conservatively estimated that it will take ten minutes. If Within ten minutes, the Japanese realized that something was wrong and evacuated from Yeyitan in advance. Then the independent regiment had no choice but to step forward to stop them!
This is what Xu Rui absolutely doesn't want to see. Xu Rui said at that moment: "The veteran is right, let's set it on fire!"
After Xu Rui gave the order, Mo Zichen immediately squatted down, swept away the sand pile at his feet, and then dug out a wooden box about a foot square from the sand pile. There was a wire underneath the wooden box connected to the ground. When he opened the wooden box again, he found an electric detonator inside. Mo Zichen pressed the detonator without hesitation for a moment.
The next moment, more than a hundred mines modified from artillery shells that had been planted on Yema Beach exploded one after another, and Yema Beach, which had been silent just now, was instantly engulfed in flames. (To be continued.)