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"These are the civilians captured outside the city. I've seen one of them before. Quick, go and pick him up!"

..........

Things were going smoothly. Xu Le wanted to take this opportunity to find out what secrets the train had, but he was short of manpower and couldn't delay the Japs in the carriage for long.

It was not until hundreds of Japanese soldiers rushed out of the carriage that Xu Le had to give up the investigation. After bombing the train station a few final times, he led his men to retreat.

The time was too short. In addition to rescuing all the people in the waiting room, only more than 100 people on the train were rescued.

But there is no choice, we have to retreat.

So he completely destroyed the train station, leaving many gaps. Then it would depend on the abilities of the people and whether they could run out on their own.

As long as they run out of the station, they will be free!

Although some people would definitely be killed by the devils while escaping, it was better to have a chance than to be taken away by the devils.

.......

At night, Xu Le and everyone met at the secret contact point.

"Each team reports the situation!"

Xu Da spoke first; "Young Commander, all 25 members of my team returned half an hour ago!"

Liaison officer Wang also replied: "Young Marshal, we have rescued 260 civilians in total, and 5 soldiers died while covering the civilians' retreat. The civilians are temporarily placed in several secret contact points. As long as they can avoid the Japanese raids tonight, they will be fine tomorrow!"

Xu Le breathed a sigh of relief: "Five people were sacrificed in exchange for the lives of 5 civilians. This battle was not fought in vain. Liaison officer, when this incident is over, send the list of the sacrificed soldiers to the headquarters. We cannot treat the soldiers' families unfairly!

Also, for safety reasons, after this incident, all previous contact points cannot be used anymore! There should be no activities in the short term, and steady development is the priority!"

At this time, a guard came running over: "Report to the young commander, there is an urgent message from headquarters!"

"Okay, that's it for now. You can go do your job, liaison officer! We'll be leaving after tonight, so I'll trouble you with Hongdong's affairs in the future!"

It wasn't until all the people at the intelligence station left that Xu Le asked, "What's wrong? Didn't we tell you not to contact the headquarters easily? It would be troublesome if we were intercepted by the devils!"

Xu Da: "Young Marshal, it was me who asked us to turn on the radio for 10 minutes every night to prevent any accidents at the headquarters!"

"Okay, is there something urgent at headquarters?"

"The report is about the battle situation on the front line. The 664th Regiment and the 667th Regiment have already joined forces in Shuitou Town. They had occupied Shuitou Town at noon, but in the afternoon, a large force of the Japanese reinforcements suddenly arrived. After obtaining consent, Captain Guo and others have retreated to Yan County for defense!

The same was true in Fenxi. The 4th Independent Regiment had already occupied half of the county, but a large number of Japanese soldiers suddenly appeared in the direction of Huo County. The 4th Independent Regiment had no choice but to suspend the offensive and rely on the existing defensive fortifications to resist. "

Xu Le was shocked immediately. Although he didn't know the actual combat effectiveness of the independent regiment, with the advanced weapons he provided, they would not be so embarrassed even when facing a division of the Japanese devils.

Especially the 664th Regiment, which was the main infantry regiment whose combat effectiveness was comparable to that of the 666th Regiment. What happened in the end that forced the 664th Regiment to retreat?

You have to know that there were two artillery regiments following the battle, with a total of 108 122mm howitzers. How could the situation on the battlefield change like this?

Moreover, this operation was commanded directly by the Operations Department of the General Staff, and supervised 3 hours a day by Jiang Feng, Liu Quanhua and Wang Dafu.

What on earth happened that forced the headquarters to issue a retreat order?

"Call back and ask what happened!"

"Yes!"

A few minutes later, the guard who served as the signalman reported again. This time he handed the translated telegram directly to Xu Le for review.

"I see!"

After reading the content, Xu Le sighed: "The Japanese large-caliber heavy artillery suddenly appeared near Shuitou Town from an unknown location. The 2nd Independent Regiment was not prepared and was caught off guard, with the loss of nearly a battalion!

And unexpectedly, a large Japanese force appeared in the Fenxi direction, with more than a division's worth of troops and heavy field artillery. "

Xu Le finally understood why the headquarters issued the order to retreat.

The Japanese's large-caliber heavy artillery basically has a caliber of more than 150 mm. Although its range is not very far, its power is so great that one shell can cause damage to an area of ​​thousands of square meters.

The Japanese field heavy artillery also has a caliber of more than 150 mm. The difference between the former and the heavy artillery is that the former has a certain degree of mobility and can be moved. The latter needs to be arranged in advance and is very difficult to move. Generally, once the position is fixed, it will not change in a short time.

"It seems that the Japanese have hidden heavy artillery in Shuitou Town. That is a powerful weapon for attacking large cities. The entire Fuso can only produce a few hundred heavy artillery. Why did they deploy heavy artillery in Shuitou Town? Is it just to deal with my 176th Division?"

"No, there must be more to it than this..."

Just as Xu Le was talking to himself, the escort handed him another telegram, which had just been translated.

"what!"

This time Xu Le was completely furious, because the telegram showed that the Japanese in Quwo and other places had actually abandoned the banks of the end of the Fen River. They split their troops into two groups this morning, one group marching towards Pu County via Linfen. The total strength of the group exceeded 3. Together with the 21st Division in Linfen, the number of Japanese faced by the Pu County Independent 1st Regiment had exceeded 5!

The other route was heading north, but it just so happened that today he led his men to attack the Hongdong Railway Station, causing the railway station to be destroyed and many rails to be damaged. By coincidence, this route of the Japanese was blocked 10 miles outside the city.

"What on earth is going on? Are the Japanese going to launch a decisive battle against our 176th Division? They are even willing to abandon several cities on the front line and withdraw all their troops.

Also, where did the devils in Shuitou Town and Fenxi come from? Why was there no intelligence before? "

.....

Xu Le couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he tried, so he made the final decision to be on the safe side.

"Send a telegram to the headquarters, and ask the 388th Brigade to abandon the attack on Majiazhai, and all units to take turns to cover and withdraw from Fenxi. After the 388th Brigade retreats, Yan County will also be abandoned and retreat to Wucheng for defense. We cannot let the Japanese pass Wucheng!

At the same time, order the 665th Regiment of the headquarters to support Pu County and make sure it is defended for me!"

After saying that, he looked at Xu Da and said, "We can't wait any longer. Pack up and leave the city overnight!"