The ancients described the Hangu Ancient Road as "cars do not separate tracks and horses do not saddle up". This is a natural ambush battlefield. There are cliffs tens of meters high on both sides. In the middle is a road with a width of more than ten meters and a narrow place of two or three meters. The winding path stretches for thirty miles. People walking along it are like entering Hanzhong. On both sides of the pass, there are steep cliffs and numerous peaks and rocks. The terrain is dangerous, so it is called Hangu.
When Gao Quan arrived at the Hangu Ancient Road, he was also shocked. There was such a dangerous place in the world. No wonder Qiang Qin was able to defeat all the armies of the world with this pass.
"Cao Bao, I will allocate the engineer battalion of the New 501st Division to you. You lead the men and go three hundred meters forward from here to start setting up an ambush. Then within the next two hundred meters, lay more mines and bombs and dig more traps. Bury a few more barrels of gasoline in the pit. The time is limited to one day. There are not enough people to talk to you. I will send you as much as you need. If there are not enough explosives, I will transfer the artillery regiment¡¯s shells to you. But the ambush must be laid out. Time cannot be delayed. .¡±
"No, no, no," Cao Bao waved his hand repeatedly. "There's no need for artillery shells in the minefield." Use Captain Fan's artillery shells for mines. Be careful that the artillery regiment commander comes to kill him. Besides, the name of the artillery shells sounds pretty good. It's scary. But it's not that easy to make it explode. That thing is not as useful as a grenade. "Don't worry, military commander. As long as you give me a few more boxes of explosives. I will work overtime overnight. I guarantee that I can finish the job tomorrow morning." It¡¯s over.¡±
It¡¯s almost four o¡¯clock in the afternoon. Cao Bao is preparing to dig a hole all night. It¡¯s going to be a mess tonight.
"Okay. I will give you all the explosives in the military ammunition depot. This mine trap array must be effective." Gao Quan was immediately happy when he heard Cao Bao agreed. That's what happened. The commander arranged the work for his subordinates. If everyone can do the job they are supposed to do well, then the tactics laid out by the superior will come true. Otherwise, everything will be empty talk.
After the ambush in the ancient road has been arranged, it is necessary to arrange it on the cliffs on both sides. In this kind of terrain, if the ambush is not arranged on both sides, the name Hangu Pass will be wasted.
"Lao Jin is on the left, and San Pao is on the right. You two each lead a regiment to ambush on the cliff. The Japanese are coming. Follow my orders and shoot down. When you get up there, look to see if there are any dead grass or dry branches nearby. Such flammable things. If there are any, collect more. When the time comes, light them and throw them down. Let the devils also taste the feeling of being burned."
"Yes." This job was to my liking. The two regiment commanders led the soldiers away with smiles on their faces. It was as if they were not receiving a combat mission, but some kind of generous reward.
"Report. A call from General Ma Fawu of the Forty Army."
Gao Quan led his troops forward slowly along the Hangu Ancient Road. When he saw good terrain along the way, he assigned tasks to the corresponding troops. It is estimated that nearly half of the way, the communications troops received a telegram from the Forty Army. Ma Fa Wu called to say hello.
"My brother who admonished me: In the past, I worked under Pang Gong. I admonished him and became a leader in the army. I have been away from Linyi for several years. Now I have been promoted to commander of the army. Brother Yu is very happy. Today, the bandits have invaded my spiritual treasure. My brother led the soldiers to fight to the death with the enemy. I heard that my brother personally led five hundred troops to help me. My brother was overjoyed. I hope that my brothers will meet soon and we can jointly annihilate the Japanese pirates. Ma Fa Wu."
It is estimated that Ma Fawu heard about the 500th Army helping the 38th Army at Guandaokou. He knew that the 500th Army was coming to Lingbao, so he sent this telegram. He wanted Gao Quan to act like he was helping Zhang Yaoming. Help him too.
Both of them came from Pang Bingxun's command. They are considered to be from the same school. Although Lao Pang failed to live up to his expectations and has now surrendered to Japan, the mark of being from the same school on both of them cannot be erased. Compared with Zhang Yaoming, it is obvious that Ma Fa Wu felt that his relationship with Gao Quan was closer. At this moment, General Ma made his words clear. Gao Quan's rejection was really hard to say.
"Telegram to Ma Fawu: The 500 troops are marching forcefully. The soldiers are very tired. We will go out to fight at this time. We will lose more and win less. Wait for our army to take a rest and send troops immediately." Although it is difficult to refuse, Gao Quan cannot do it now. He led the 500 troops to the gates of Lingbao City. It was not that he thought that the 500 troops and 40 troops combined could not defeat the Japanese. Gao Quan was afraid that the Japanese would escape.
It was not easy to find an excellent ambush battlefield like Hangu Pass. Gao Quan absolutely did not want to let the Japanese 114th Division go back intact. Gao Quan would not have eaten until the 114th Division was crippled. Not good. Let alone Ma Fawu. Now even if Hu Zongnan sends a telegram in person, Commander Gao will never give up on this ambush.
The two-thousand-year-old Hangu Ancient Road was once again lit up with lights all night long. A large group of men in military uniforms shouted slogans and worked sweating profusely.
"There is one here." A man who was bending down to dig suddenly shouted. The friends around him immediately gathered around. "My dear, this one is more seriously injured. Look, look. One, two, three, Four, five. This man has five arrows stuck in his body."
"Get out of the way. Get out of the way." There was a shout from behind the crowd. The guys moved to both sides. Several people walked in from outside the crowd. The tall one in the lead was Cao Bao, the engineer regiment commander.
"In the dug hole was a human skeleton. There were also a few iron arrowheads stuck on the skeleton that were so rusty that they could barely be recognized. This person might be??These arrows must have killed him.
Hangu Pass has been an ancient battlefield since the Warring States Period. It has lasted for two thousand years. There have been countless battles, big and small, and the number of dead soldiers cannot be counted. The engineering regiment of the 500th Army starting construction here tonight is incredible. The light at night is digging. There are hundreds of ancient remains that have been recovered. The engineering corps has almost turned into an archaeological team.
"Move the bones to one side and carry them to the front for burial later. What are you all doing here? Get to work quickly." Cao Bao was like an overseer in a landlord's house. He shouted at his soldiers. I don't want to give him a moment's rest.
"Brothers, there is only one hour left before dawn. We don't have much work left. Everyone, please work harder and persist until dawn to finish the work."
"It will be completed at dawn." As soon as Cao Bao finished speaking, someone in the crowd immediately responded loudly. The soldiers seemed to be more motivated than before.
It was daybreak. Gao Quan stretched out and sat up. Tonight, he slept on the abandoned city gate tower of Hangu Pass. He woke up at dawn. He got up, washed his face and looked at the sky. The sunrise had not yet come. It rises. The eastern sky is already a little red. It looks like it will be a sunny day again today.
"How did you guys sleep last night?"
"I slept very soundly." Wang Dazhu answered seriously.
"You slept very soundly. Cao Bao didn't sleep all night." Qian Sixi rolled his eyes beside him. Although these two people are not like Zhang Ernuo and Liu Qi, they quarrel when they meet and talk to each other. These two sentences are commonplace.
"Cao Bao works at night. We work during the day. Dazhu, Sixi. You go and command the troops now. I will order Xiaoqi and Jinhu to start fighting."