Before the battle at Li Jia Po began, Li Yunlong was attending to matters at the water waist factory with the logistics minister Zhang Wanhe.

Li Yunlong was of average height and looked quite ordinary, except for his slightly larger head. He explained that when he was practicing martial arts as a child, his master had him practice headstands which caused his head to become larger from continually hitting the stone tablet. Li Yunlong had been discussing with Minister Zhang for over two hours, not for anything else but to obtain more homemade hand grenades from the border area. These were products of the Taihang Military Factory of the Eighth Route Army.

To be frank, Li Yunlong did not think much of these homemade hand grenades. Compared to the Japanese lemon-shaped hand grenades, they were far inferior. The cast iron shells of the border-made grenades were of poor quality and sometimes only exploded into two halves, with a very poor fragmentation effect when they exploded. This kind of thing often caused delay in battles. But then, it was impossible to supply the troops with anything better in the border areas. As Li Yunlong put it, "A good ointment is one that can draw out pus. It's better than nothing."

The logistics minister Zhang Wanhe was a fellow native of the Dabie Mountains, and they had known each other since their time in the Red Army. They were used to talking casually with each other, and it seemed that they had to swear at each other to avoid appearing formal. Zhang jested, "You damn dog, you don't look like a soldier. You look more like a merchant. Your mind is so dark that it's almost black. I've already given your independent regiment ten cases, but you're still greedy." Li Yunlong retorted, "I heard others say that Logistics Minister Zhang Wanhe is not really from the Dabie Mountains. He fled here from Shanxi earlier. I didn't believe it, but now I do. He's so stingy. This isn't gold, why are you saving it? Damn it, if you don't give me more, I won't leave today. You still have to provide us with food." Zhang Wanhe replied, "If your independent regiment keeps whining like this and bellyaching, I won't work as the logistics minister anymore. Alright, I'll give you ten more cases, but don't thank me yet. I won't give it to you for nothing. You have to bring something to exchange."

Li Yunlong smiled and said, "I'm a poor man with no wife. If I had a wife, I would exchange 50 cases of grenades for her. " Zhang Wanhe sneered and ridiculed him, "Ha, ha, where's your wife? You don't even know which mother-in-law's belly she's in. You're already using her to prepay? Besides, what kind of treasure can be exchanged for ten cases of? You're just flattering yourself. Don't give me anything else, just get me a Japanese command knife during the next battle." Li Yunlong was relieved to hear this. He said eagerly, "That's easy. A knife is a trivial matter. I can't get you one from Okamura Ningo. But it is not difficult to get a staff officer's knife." Zhang Wanhe said, "Alright, I'll give you ten more cases, and while I'm at it, I'll get you a Japanese girl."

Li Yunlong replied with disdain, "To your mother..." He had no idea that while he was arguing with the logistics minister, the Japanese Mountain Gasami Brigade was wandering towards the "one-line sky," the gateway to the Taihang base of the Eighth Route Army.

The leader of the Japanese Brigade, Yamazaki, was like most Japanese men of the time - short, muscular, and with thick legs, neck, and head. At first glance, he looked like a giant bullet. His face wore the typical expression of a Japanese officer, cold and resolute. He was a samurai always ready to sacrifice himself for the emperor. He had never thought of his own life as anything important. A person who didn't think of his own life as important would naturally not consider anyone else's life as important either. Therefore, during this sweep, Yamazaki's troops did not find the main force of the Eighth Route Army, but the people along the Zhang River and the Qin River suffered greatly. Yamazaki's troops burned and killed people all the way, as if they were in a deserted land.

That afternoon, Yamazaki and his troops had traveled over 40 miles of mountain road, and now, tired and exhausted, they were resting by the forest. Yamazaki leaned against a big tree, crossed his legs, and was polishing his beloved ancestral sword, a Meiji Emperor's chrysanthemum military sword. The handle of this sword was inlaid with a golden chrysanthemum pattern symbolizing the Japanese royal family, shimmering in the autumn sunshine. Yamazaki had no idea that his life was slipping away from him, just like this sword.

Several soldiers who were fetching water came running to report that there was a narrow mountain crack deep in the dense forest and traces of movement on the grass.

Yamazaki Daiki immediately ordered the team to gather and rushed towards the direction pointed out by the soldier. After passing through a dense primitive forest, two towering mountains appeared at the end of the ancient forest, with only a narrow passage for one person between them. Yamazaki stood in the crack of the mountain and looked up at the sky, only to see a thin blue line. Regardless, they went further in. They thought they could eat the Yamazaki team, but the Chinese army didn't have such good teeth.

The team marched in a straight line for half an hour before finally walking out of the narrow passage. Suddenly, the scenery opened up, and it was like entering a wonderland. The mountain spring was brown, and wildflowers covered the ground. Yamazaki knew some Chinese culture. He remembered a prose written by an ancient poet named Tao Yuanming called "The Peach Blossom Spring". Could this be another Peach Blossom Spring? The military map did not mark this place. Yamazaki ordered a report to be sent to the brigade commander: "The team encountered no resistance and occupied the dangerous narrow passage. Continue to search and advance."

Yamazaki never dreamed that he had unintentionally entered the heartland of the Eighth Route Army's Taihang base area.

This narrow passage was the gateway to the Eighth Route Army's Shuiwaizi Arsenal, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack. Usually, there was a platoon stationed here, but the platoon leader saw the enemy rush into the narrow passage and didn't even fire a shot before leading his troops to flee.

The gateway to the base area was open, and a Japanese battalion drove straight in. The news spread, causing a huge stir in the Eighth Route Army headquarters.

Eighth Route Army Deputy Commander Peng Dehuai angrily shouted at Deputy Chief of Staff Zuo Quan: "Arrest that cowardly platoon leader and execute him by firing squad! He has brought shame to the Eighth Route Army." Zuo Quan said: "I have ordered the military law department to carry out the execution. Judging from the enemy's movements, they do not know that our arsenal is here." Peng Dehuai slammed his fist on the table, causing the water cup on the table to jump: "Kill the Yamazaki team!" The headquarters issued several orders, and the Eighth Route Army's 129th Division and the Suicide Squad gathered from all directions, forming two attack groups from the left and right to surround the Yamazaki team on the Li's Hill, and the battle began.

Li Yunlong's independent regiment was treated as a reserve team by Chen Gong, the commander of the 386th Brigade. He was extremely dissatisfied and paced back and forth in the regimental command post, like a hungry old wolf showing his teeth.

Zhao Gang, the political commissar of the independent regiment, was lying on the table looking at the map. He was not tall, and his figure was somewhat thin, with a pale complexion and a scholarly atmosphere. In that year, Zhao Gang was not yet 25 years old. Although he was young, he had considerable experience. Before entering the regular army of the Eighth Route Army, he was already one of the leaders of the January 29th Movement and a student at Yanjing University in Beiping. Such a high level of education was rare in the Eighth Route Army at that time.

"We are just a reserve team every time. Isn't it unfair? We don't envy others eating meat, but we should at least have some soup to drink. Every time our regiment is the reserve team, isn't this bullying us?" Zhao Gang didn't even raise his head. He knew Li Yunlong too well. If he had fire in his heart, he had to find faults with others, otherwise he would easily suffer from depression. He knew that Li Yunlong was looking for trouble with him and trying to argue with him. Zhao Gang thought, how can there be such a person in the world? If they are unhappy, they will find faults with others in every possible way. What's the problem? The staff in the command post all knew about the regiment commander's problem and had already found an excuse to slip away, not wanting to get involved in this bad luck.

Li Yunlong became even more angry when he saw that Zhao Gang remained silent. He looked down on intellectuals. Hmph, this little white-faced guy, can he fight? It's just doing political work, practicing talking. If this regiment didn't have a political commissar, he could still lead the troops. He became more and more annoyed, and he began to swear even more.

Zhao Gang saw that he was getting out of control and advised him: "Lao Li, it's not good for the soldiers to hear you complain so much. There must be a reason why our superiors want us to be a reserve team. Good steel needs to be used on the edge of a knife..."

Li Yunlong interrupted him: "Stop trying to comfort me, damn it. Why is it that the new regiment is favored? Why can't we have any good things? I say, let's form a regiment and take them all. It's this damn political commissar who's showing off in front of the higher-ups. What are you afraid of? Why don't you fight with the brigade commander?" Li Yunlong was red-faced and yelled with bulging veins.

"Lao Li, who are you cursing at?" Zhao Gang couldn't help but get angry, but immediately restrained himself and shook his head with a bitter smile. He knew that Li Yunlong had a hot temper and would curse at anyone when he was unhappy, but it would be over later. Today, he was so angry mainly because he was thinking about the command knife in Shanzi. Since he had boasted to Minister Zhang, he had to keep his promise. Can the shit that has been produced be put back? What face does he have to see Zhang Wanhe again? Zhao Gang thought this person was too stubborn. With so many brother troops participating in the attack, why did he insist that he should seize that command knife? The regimental commander Chen Gong called: "Li Yunlong, you must be cursing again, right?" Li Yunlong exclaimed: "Which son of a bitch reported me...". "Don't blame others. I guessed it was you. You stay there honestly. You will have to attack sooner or later since your troops are needed. Listen, when it's your turn to attack, if you can't take it down...I'll twist your head off and use it as a chamber pot!" "Thank you, regimental commander, thank you, regimental commander. I will kneel down and kowtow to you." "Hmph, keep it for yourself. I don't need such a big chamber pot." Chen Gong hung up the phone.

The smoke of gunpowder filled the Li Jiapo position, and several Japanese planes took turns swooping down to bombard, causing heavy casualties to the attacking troops of the Eighth Route Army. Shanzi, who graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army University, is an excellent tactician. The field fortifications he commanded were very ingenious. The top of the Li Jiapo high ground is a flat round platform, which is the usual position of the defending side's fortifications. The ridge line part that should be built on the slope platform, so that the dynamic of the attacking side can be seen at a glance, and it is also convenient to exert firepower from a high place. However, Shanzi just built the circular fortification in the center of the flat round platform on the high ground. The attacking troops could not see the defenders on the hillside, so the direct fire was useless, and there were very few curved firepowers such as mortars. The attacking troops had just rushed up the steep slope, and as soon as they showed their heads, they were immediately shot down by the Japanese snipers. The battle lasted for a whole day, and the hillside was full of the bodies of Eighth Route Army soldiers. The first few main force regiments that participated in the attack were all wounded and lost their attacking ability.

Li Yunlong saw everything clearly in the telescope. He stopped a company commander who had just withdrawn from the position and asked: "How far is the edge of the slope from that circular fortification?" The company commander who understood what he meant immediately said: "More than 80 meters. The hand grenade can't reach it." Li Yunlong frowned and said, "Forcing our way is not a solution. This is a losing business." The battle of Li Jiapo has caused a stir throughout North China. The chief of staff of the Japanese army, Itagaki Seishiro, the commander of the Japanese army dispatched to China, General Nishio Juzo, the commander of the Japanese army in Shanxi, Colonel Yoichi Tsukada, and the commander of the Japanese army dispatched to North China, Jun Toda, all watched the map in their respective command posts. The operational staff of various levels of command headquarters were nervously working on the map, and the surroundings of Li Jiapo were surrounded by huge arrows of different colors on the map. The 36th Division of the Japanese army stationed in Lu'an, the 16th Brigade stationed in Fenyang, the 9th Brigade stationed in Taiyuan, and the 4th Brigade stationed in Yangquan all rushed to Li Jiapo day and night.

At the same time, the Eighth Route Army's support troops from various parts of North China had already engaged in fire with the Japanese reinforcement troops one after another. The order of the Eighth Route Army headquarters was clear: at all costs, stop the enemy from reinforcing. Therefore, the entire North China region's Eighth Route Army units and Japanese troops have set up a decisive battle situation around Li Jiapo, an unknown small hill in the past, and the top commanders of both sides are still looking at the small hill in Shanxi that was unknown in the past. The Battle of Li Jiapo is destined to be recorded in the annals of history.

Chen Gong, the commander of the 386th Regiment, saw his attacking troops rushing like a tide and then retreating like ebb tide towards the main position through the telescope, and the hillside was full of soldiers wearing gray military uniforms. Chen Gong gritted his teeth, picked up the phone, and gave the order: "Concentrate all the artillery fire on the mountaintop, use up all the shells, prepare all the reserve forces, and crush Li Jiapo for me." Li Yunlong said on the phone: "Regimental commander, I have a request." Chen Gong said impatiently: "What are you fussing about? Hurry up and say it." "The artillery battalion of the Division is temporarily under my command. That's all I want. If I can't take down Li Jiapo, I don't need to come to see you holding my head, because I must already be lying on the hillside. I can only guarantee to you that no one in our independent regiment of more than 1,000 people will withdraw from the battle alive." Chen Gong's eyes were moist, and the hand holding the phone trembled slightly: "I agree to your request, and the artillery battalion is under your command. Brother, I want you to take Li Jiapo and come back alive. This is an order! You must execute it."

In the headquarters of the Independent Regiment, Li Yunlong said to the captain of the first company, Guan Dashan: "You calculate that the distance from the edge of the slope to that circular fortification is more than 80 meters, which means that our attacking distance is so long. Our entire regiment will become the target of the little devils on this open ground. Moreover, from the terrain, it is impossible for more than 1,000 people in the whole regiment to deploy all at once. If we do it this way, it will be troublesome. Each company will attack separately, and it will become a progressive tactic, which is a taboo in military tactics. I want to shorten this attacking distance." Captain Guan Dashan's eyes lit up and said, "Commander, you mean to use the method of earthwork to advance forward?" Li Yunlong slapped Guan Dashan and laughed, "Your brain works fast. Your company has 360 people. I will give you all the hand grenades of the entire regiment. How much is it? 3,600 pieces. The troops will move to the bottom of the slope, and no one is allowed to show their heads. Damn, the little devils' marksmanship is not bad. I won't touch their mold. Use the method of earthwork to advance forward in parallel. As long as you dig 50 meters, it's enough. The remaining 30 meters, even a woman can throw hand grenades into the circular fortification. When I shoot a signal flare, your entire company will throw hand grenades together. Everyone has to throw 10 hand grenades within two minutes. Hehe, 3,600 hand grenades are enough to make Shanzi drink a pot." Guan Dashan laughed, "Commander, this trick is amazing. We will pull the string and wait for two or three seconds before throwing them. I guarantee that they will all explode in mid-air, and he won't be able to find a safe dead angle, and there is nowhere to hide." Li Yunlong said to Shen Quan, the captain of the second company: "All twenty light machine guns of the entire regiment belong to your second company to use. All machine gunners are incorporated into the first assault team, and the machine guns are hung on their chests and used as submachine guns. When the hand grenade explosion stops, rush up immediately. Twenty machine guns will fire at the same time, and the firepower must not be interrupted. If anyone is shot, someone behind must take over. A 30-meter attack distance will take less than a minute to rush up." Li Yunlong looked at everyone and gave a stern order: "No one is left below me. All of them take out their bayonets and charge. Prepare for a bayonet fight. Remember, no one is allowed to shoot when they see Shanzi. Leave him to me. I want to cut him alive." The regimental cook, Lao Wang, stopped Li Yunlong and said, "Commander, can you lend me your ghost head knife to use?" Li Yunlong stared, "You wish. I'll lend you the knife. What will I use? Go, go, go, kitchen knife, spoon, and if necessary, grab a bamboo pole. Figure it out yourself." The entire regiment was involved in pre-war preparations, and everything proceeded in an orderly manner, except that two horsemen from the horseman team quarreled and fought for a pruning knife, and they were still arguing about finding the regimental commander to arbitrate, and Li Yunlong scolded them.

Li Yunlong held a sharp ghost head machete and a rifle with a bayonet attached to his belt. While checking the magazine, he said to the political commissar Zhao Gang, "I'll lead the assault team first, you'll be responsible for the rear guard. We'll clear the way and you can catch up later." Zhao Gang was loading bullets into the magazine, but he didn't like what Li Yunlong said. He sternly said, "How dare you? This is called dereliction of duty. You should be in the command position, not in the assault team. I'll call the regimental commander right away. If you don't cancel your participation, I won't be surnamed Zhao." "Don't... don't do that, it's not fun." Li Yunlong immediately softened his tone. In the circular fortifications of Li's family slope, Yamazaki felt that something was wrong. Why was it so quiet around? The silence made the Japanese soldiers feel chilly, as soldiers disliked silence the most, because silence on the battlefield often meant greater danger and more intense fighting. Based on his intuition, Yamazaki realized that the Eighth Route Army was brewing a more intense attack. After a day of fierce fighting, more than half of Yamazaki's troops had been wounded or killed, but he didn't care about the casualties. He knew that various reinforcements were closing in on him. With advantageous terrain, sufficient ammunition, and close air support, they could hold out for two more days without any problem. He hoped to use the strength of his battalion to firmly attract the main force of the Eighth Route Army, and then launch a counter-encirclement when the reinforcements arrived. He yearned to make a name for himself in the Battle of Li's Family Slope. Yamazaki noticed a white iron horn extending from the hillside. There came the Japanese call, "Captain Yamazaki of the Japanese army, listen up. Li Yunlong, the commander of the Eighth Route Army's independent regiment, knows that you come from a samurai family and are proficient in swordsmanship. Commander Li believes that your country's swordsmanship is just the superficial fur of Chinese swordsmanship. The teacher-student relationship was already established in the Tang Dynasty. If you cherish the honor of the samurai, stop firing, come out of the fortifications, and Commander Li is willing to have a formal sword fight with you. Commander Li guarantees with his military honor that if he loses to you, the Eighth Route Army's independent regiment will immediately stop attacking and give way to your army." "Bang! Bang!" The Japanese sniper fired, and the iron horn was immediately shot with several holes. The Japanese translator of the Enemy Works Department of the 129th Division was shaken to the point of numbness in his hand. Yamazaki responded, "Commander Li of the Eighth Route Army, I deeply admire the bravery of your army in combat, and I feel honored by your challenge. I cherish the title of samurai very much, and I am willing to have a sword fight with you. Unfortunately, I have military duties to attend to, and I cannot fight you alone. I am very sorry. If you can lead your troops to attack my circular fortifications, I am willing to compete with you in hand-to-hand combat." In the commanding office of the independent regiment, Zhao Gang felt amused, "What a mess, they all think they are medieval knights, always talking about duels." Li Yunlong sneered, "Yamazaki is a boring guy and not a real man." The earthworks of the first company progressed quickly, and the Japanese soon discovered the Eighth Route Army's intentions and began to fire chase shells and grenades. Dozens of soldiers of the first company were blown up in the sound of explosions... Under the command of Li Yunlong, the mortar platoon of the 129th Division opened fire, and dozens of shells fell like black crows from the sky, landing in the Japanese fortifications. The flames were flickering and smoke was billowing. The Japanese artillerymen were too busy doing suppressive bombardment on the Eighth Route Army's artillery to pay attention to the first company's earthworks, so the speed of their digging became faster. Yamazaki called for air support on the wireless radio, and several Zero fighters came whistling in. Li Yunlong used heavy machine guns to form a dense fire net, forcing the Japanese planes not to enter the dive position... Yamazaki found that his cold sweat was flowing down his forehead. He watched as this open ground was gradually being eaten away. It was only 30 meters away from his fortifications. The Japanese mortar and grenade launcher almost fired vertically. They were too close, and the shells could easily fall on top of him. Bang! With a red signal flare rising into the sky, Yamazaki understood that the final attack of the Eighth Route Army was about to begin. The Japanese soldiers silently aimed their various weapons forward. No one dared to show their head.

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Shanzaki's mind was filled with doubts, but suddenly, 30 meters away in the trench, there was a dense swarm of hand grenades whistling up into the air, the sky looked like a flock of sparrows flying by. In no time, the grenades exploded in the air above the Japanese military fortifications, the short and continuous explosions were deafening, and the flying shrapnel carried the breath of death, the panicked Japanese soldiers could not find a safe dead angle, and many soldiers were directly hit by several grenades at the same time and blown to pieces. Perhaps 3,000 hand grenades in a battle were not much, but in two minutes. In such a small area, the killing power of more than 3,000 hand grenades was undoubtedly terrifying. At this moment, Zhao Gang, who led the second echelon, had already entered the charging position, holding a shotgun in his hand, witnessing Li Yunlong's unique tactics of implementing firepower strikes, he was impressed by the power of war created. He remembered a classic saying about war from Napoleon: "The principle of conducting war is the same as the principle of besieging, the firepower must be concentrated in one point and a breach must be opened, once the enemy's stability is destroyed, the task is to completely crush them." Zhao Gang thought, this Li Yunlong, who was a natural tactician without knowing why Napoleon praised him, seemed to be in the field of war, the theory was pale, and rich war experience was important. At this time, Li Yunlong, who led the first echelon, did not think so much, he just murmured, "Don't let Shanzaki this son of a bitch get blown up, I still want to fight him." Without a charging signal, without a charging cry, with the last batch of hand grenades thrown out, the assault team lurking under the slope jumped up, and 20 light machine guns fired simultaneously while running, forming a dense network of fire, the Japanese fortifications were hit by the dense rain of bullets, raising smoke and dust, and the surviving Japanese soldiers after the explosion began to recover their strength and were shouting to counterattack, showing no fear. The Eighth Route Army assault team members kept falling down, and the backup marksmen quickly made up for them, both sides were in a frenzy of killing, some Japanese soldiers were killing with excitement, jumping out of the fortifications with bayonets to face the bullet rain for a counter-charge, but were shot into honeycomb shapes in an instant, within short 30 meters of the attack distance, all the machine gunners of Li Yunlong's first assault team were killed, none survived, the battle was extremely fierce. The assault team rushed into the circular fortifications, the charge cry sounded, more than a thousand members of the Independent Regiment, waving their ghost head knives, shouted a deafening sound, more than a thousand bayonets shone brightly under the sunlight. The troops flooded up the position, and the last batch to storm the heights were the cooks and grooms who carried kitchen knives and razors. The Independent Regiment resolutely carried out Li Yunlong's orders, not leaving a single person, and all participated in the attack. The entire Shanzaki team was wiped out, and Shanzaki himself was shot into a sieve by machine guns and disfigured. The soldiers of the Independent Regiment stood on the mountaintop cheering, only Li Yunlong, holding Shanzaki's command knife, was cursing loudly at the gap, "Who was the son of a bitch who killed Shanzaki? Stand up for Laozi..." He felt infinitely regretful that he had not fought Shanzaki with swords. Chen Gong saw Li Yunlong jumping on the mountaintop cursing through his telescope, he was also amused, turning to the deputy commander, he said, "This little guy is a bit clever in fighting, if we had put the Independent Regiment in earlier, the casualties might have been much smaller." The deputy commander snorted and said in a sophisticated tone, "It is the same whether we succeed or fail, this little guy is good at fighting, but also likes trouble." At the battle summary meeting, Zhao Gang asked Li Yunlong, "Lao Li, what if Shanzaki defeats you in a duel? Are you really prepared to keep your promise and let the Japanese pass?" Li Yunlong sneered, "Hey, that guy? Impossible." Zhao Gang stubbornly asked, "What if he defeats you?" Li Yunlong smoothly replied, "If I were defeated, my head would definitely have moved out, I can personally give him way, but will you give way? Whether you give way is your business, you can't say that I don't keep my word, right?" Zhao Gang laughed, "This peasant-style cunning is really something."