The Chief of Staff was in a dilemma.

He especially wants to win this offense and make more military achievements and political capital for himself to be promoted to Lieutenant General.

But he was particularly worried that he would not only not be able to make any military achievements in the battle, but also the possibility of not being able to maintain his position as Chief of Staff of the First Army.

When he accepted this task, he set rules for himself that he would not seek merit but not seek to be wrong.

The commander told him this at the beginning: after entering the National Salvation Military Defense Zone, he had to ensure his safety in any action before he could find a way to win the battle.

The troops attacking the National Salvation Military Defense Zone this time are all mobile troops that the First Army can draw. No problems can occur, otherwise the First Army will really be in a slump and will no longer be able to stabilize the situation in Shanxi.

As he fought, the commander actually forgot this explanation.

He firmly believed that the defense zone of the National Salvation Army was empty and no troops could threaten the safety of the offensive troops. Not only did he repeatedly order the offensive troops to speed up the marching speed, but he also violated the order that the troops were not allowed to be divided before the attack began.

First, let the troops be divided into two groups and quickly attack the national defense zone.

Then the troops were divided into four, with more than 4,000 infantry advancing lightly, blocking the logistics agencies and arsenals that the National Salvation Army wanted to enter the mountains at all costs.

The Chief of Staff was particularly worried, but the orders of the military headquarters must be implemented without fail. They can only make the pursuing troops as cautious as possible when marching within their own rights, and send more scouts to search along the way to prevent the national rescue army from setting up ambush. This led to the complaints of the two captains just now.

The Chief of Staff wanted to refuse harshly, but he could not find a reason to refuse.

It is already a consensus among everyone that the national rescue military defense zone is empty, and even I agree with this.

During the just-concluded marches, the pursuing troops defeated the main force of the National Salvation Army disguised by several local troops in succession, further supporting the empty defense areas of the National Salvation Army, and even a decent main force could not be taken out.

Aviation reconnaissance shows that the logistics agencies and arsenal of the National Salvation Army will be able to enter the mountain tomorrow afternoon, and they are still more than 20 kilometers away from them. At today's marching speed, it is indeed impossible to intercept them before they enter the mountain.

If these national-savior troops are allowed to enter the mountains smoothly, the results of the army commander launching this attack will definitely be greatly reduced...

After thinking about it, he decided to follow everyone's ideas: "Eat at 6:00 tomorrow morning and set off at 7:00!"

"I will contact the military headquarters to send twice as many aircraft to focus on the logistics agencies and arsenals of the National Salvation Army, and at the same time replace the scouts to cover us to chase the enemy at a low altitude!"

In Yelang Valley, more than 3,000 national rescue troops are building ambush positions in the dark.

Although the ambush troops have more troops than the Japanese, the only ones who can really fight tough battles are the two reinforcement battalions sent by the Xiyang garrison and the Shouyang garrison. From the perspective of combat effectiveness, the National Salvation Army has no advantage.

Zhou Cheng wanted to fight quickly and kill more than 2,000 Japanese and puppet troops. He must fully utilize the troops' raid advantages and strive to get the first round of firepower to severely damage the enemy.

If you want to do this, the first thing you need to solve is the problem of hiding the troops. You must not let the Japanese army notice the existence of the pocket array in advance, otherwise no matter how many light and heavy machine guns you have prepared, you cannot raid the Japanese.

"Your trench needs to be dug deeper. All the soil is transported to the forest behind. You must not be discarded everywhere, otherwise the Japanese plane can find problems by a low-altitude reconnaissance!" Zhou Cheng pointed at the trench that was only one meter deep in front of him.

"Call your company commander, I have something to explain!"

"Report to the regiment commander: The company commander of the first battalion of the Xiyang garrison was ordered to come and report, please give the regiment commander instructions!" The company commander rolled up his sleeves and ran to Zhou Cheng, carrying mud on his body, and obviously had just come from the trenches.

"Your position is close to the enemy, and you must dig the trench deep enough to hide the troops to prevent the soldiers from exposing their targets in advance!" Zhou Cheng looked at the company commander's order.

"The whole trench needs to be dug one foot down... Find more mats and thatchs to cover it. The soldiers squat in the trench, with mats overhead and covered with thatchs on the mats to ensure that the enemy can't even find your existence when standing five meters away."

"I'll send you five hundred grenades in a while, plus my own equipment, guarantee that each person will have at least six..."

"After the ambush began, the entire company threw six grenades into the valley at the fastest speed..."

"Your trench is 300 meters long and is built along the highway at the foot of the mountain. Under normal circumstances, four hundred Japanese will walk on the road in front of you. As long as you throw the grenades, these four hundred Japanese will definitely die!"

Since the establishment of the Xiyang garrison, there has never been a miracle in which an infantry company killed more than 400 Japanese devils in one battle.

The company commander's eyes shone brightly when he heard this, and he wanted to go back to the position to dig the trenches now. He quickly promised: "Please rest assured that no matter how many Japanese there are in front of the position, we have all rounded up!"

Zhou Cheng patted his shoulder: "Hurry up, I will come to check your positions again before dawn!"

Ten minutes later, Zhou Cheng stood on a small high ground next to the highway, and the troops of two companies were building a circular position around the highland.

The circumference was checking and ordered: "The depth of your trench is enough, but the heavy machine gun position was not well repaired!"

"Just put the heavy machine gun directly on the surface of the position. Even if it is disguised, it will be a pile of hay. It is too abrupt. The Japanese pilots flying at low altitude will definitely be able to detect the danger!"

"All heavy machine gun positions are dug underground and built into a castle without a head, covered with straw mats and thatch. It must be level with the surroundings, and you cannot suddenly push out a pile of haystacks..."

"I am going to draw six heavy machine guns and six light machine guns to defend this high ground. The heavy machine guns are responsible for shooting the Japanese and puppet troops within a range of 100 to 300 meters on both sides of the high ground, and the light machine guns are responsible for shooting the Japanese and puppet troops within a range of 100 meters on both sides!"

"As soon as the gunshot sounded, twelve light and heavy machine guns must kill 60 Japanese devils for me within five seconds, and then fire freely. The Japanese devils will shoot wherever they are, and they must not let the Japanese gather together!"

The two company commanders who followed him kept nodding. As soon as Zhou Cheng left, he began to repair six heavy machine gun positions...

At five o'clock in the morning, the Wild Wolf Valley, which had been lively all night, slowly calmed down.

At six o'clock in the morning, except for a few alert posts, Yelang Valley was completely quiet and there was no sign of active people.

Zhou Cheng walked along the highway twice in a row but did not find the thousands of soldiers hiding on both sides of Yelang Valley.

At 8 o'clock in the morning, the Japanese plane appeared above Yelang Valley with a buzzing sound. After hovering twice, it whizzed past the high ground and completely disappeared from Zhou Cheng's vision.

During the entire aerial reconnaissance process, no matter how close the plane was to the ground, no one moved the ambush troops...

Zhou Cheng's nervous heart was instantly relieved.

Air reconnaissance is the most important thing for the Japanese offensive troops and the only reconnaissance method. If they avoid their eyes, the ambush was more than half successful.
Chapter completed!