The troops and firepower were at an absolute disadvantage compared to the independent brigade. Under such circumstances, the Japanese reinforcements coming from the direction of Zaozhuang and Yixian would naturally not be able to reap any good fruits.

The Independent Brigade deployed a main group in each direction. The battle started in a way that was beyond the Japanese army's expectations and ended at a time that was beyond their expectations.

By the time Jiang Dong arrived at the fighting position from the railway, most of the two groups of enemies had been wiped out, and Zhang Shengqing and He Dingyuan were directing their troops to capture prisoners everywhere.

Of course, those captured were all puppet soldiers, and all the Japanese soldiers were wiped out in the first moment of the battle.

Although the puppet army nominally consists of one regiment and one battalion, its actual strength is only about 1,200, led by a deputy regiment commander and battalion commander.

Through the unremitting efforts of the brothers, a total of more than 600 puppet prisoners were captured.

"Who is the leader here?" Jiang Dong asked in a cold tone.

The prisoners on the ground all lowered their heads. They couldn't help but shrink their necks when they heard Jiang Dong's question. No one dared to raise their heads and take a look.

"A bunch of trash!" The puppet troops are all weaklings, Jiangdong is ready to use force directly.

"You!" He pointed a gun at a man who looked like an army officer. "Tell me, who is the leader here? I will give you three seconds. When the time is up, you will either give me a name or you will have your head ripped open.

.”

"Sir...sir...sir, please spare my life, sir!" The people on the ground were so frightened that their crotches were even wet.

Jiang Dong waved his hand in disgust, "Get ready, let's start!"

"one……"

"Sir, have mercy on me. I have never done anything to oppress the people. Sir, please have mercy on me!"

"Two..." Jiangdong said as he loaded the pistol with a click.

"Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ... ..." The man on the ground had snot and tears coming out of his eyes. "I said, I said, please don't shoot, sir!"

"Well, go and point him out to me."

Under the threat of gunpoint, the man tremblingly turned around and looked among the prisoners, and it didn't take long for his eyes to be fixed on one person.

He raised his trembling hand and pointed: "Sir, that... that... is our captain!"

The person who was fingered knew that he couldn't escape, so he pushed through the crowd and crawled to Jiangdong's feet.

"Sir, what a good man!" He had a flattering smile on his face like a sly dog, "Young one is just a deputy captain, deputy captain. It was the little devil who forced me to do it, and I had no choice but to do it!"

The person at his feet was only wearing an ordinary corporal uniform. The uniform didn't look like it fit at all. It was obvious that he had just put it on to escape.

"Haha..." Jiang Dong sneered, "It seems that you have been a deserter more than once. You are very experienced. You all know that you need to change into the clothes of a soldier." Jiang Dong tugged at the collar badge on his clothes.

The smile on the deputy leader's face paused, and then he continued:

"Sir Mingjian, I am in the Cao camp but my heart is with the Han. I have been asking my brothers to shoot into the air for fear of hurting all the national army brothers." He turned to the puppet soldiers who were questioning Jiangdong and said:

"You saw it just now, right? Talk to the chief."

The latter moved back in fear, lowered his head and said nothing.

"Tell the truth about Zaozhuang's defense situation. If you dare to conceal it, you know the consequences!" Jiang Dong shook his pistol.

"Yes, yes, yes..." The current deputy leader was pouring beans into his mouth and talking about the situation in Zaozhuang.

Jiang Dong was very satisfied after hearing this. The situation in Zaozhuang was similar to what he expected.

"May I have your name?"

"Sir, the younger one's name is Liu Changzhi, and there is an 80-year-old mother at home..."

"Definitely..." Deputy leader Liu Changzhi kept talking as soon as he opened his mouth. If Jiang Dong hadn't interrupted in time, this guy might have reported all the eighteen generations of his ancestors.

"Have you ever done anything to harm your compatriots or help others commit evil?"

Liu Changzhi's heart skipped a beat. He knew that if he didn't answer this question well, he would probably be executed on the spot.

"Shangguan Mingjian, although this villain is named Changzhi, he has been timid and cowardly since he was a child. He did not even dare to kill a chicken. After becoming the deputy commander of this Lao Shizi, he has never killed even one person."

Jiang Dong never believed in one-sided words, and already had a method in his mind to distinguish the good and evil of the puppet soldiers.

"Listen all of you, I will give you 5 minutes now. During this time, you must tell all the bad things that the people around you have done since they became puppet soldiers. If you want to survive, expose each other and say nothing.

Anyone who says anything, or who neglects to say anything, will be punished as a traitor!"

As soon as Jiang Dong said this, the puppet soldiers raised their heads in surprise and looked carefully at their companions around them.

"Okay, let me start with you first. Tell me all the bad things Liu Changzhi has done in the past." Jiang Dong pointed at the puppet soldier who asked the question first, "You have to think clearly. It will be your turn after you finish speaking."

Liu Changzhi is determined, what will he say if he can't keep it safe?"

Half an hour later, a group of puppet soldiers were fighting with red faces. In order to have a chance to survive, they revealed every trivial matter about the people around them.

After screening by the brothers of the Independent Brigade, it was found that the vast majority of the puppet soldiers had not done anything harmful to nature, and a large number of them were forcibly captured by the Japanese army.

In the end, Jiangdong only selected 80 people out of the 600 puppet troops. Some of these 80 people had killed the villagers with their own hands, and some took the lead in capturing young girls in the village and offering them to the little devils in order to please their fathers in the imperial army.

In short, these people are unforgivable in Jiangdong's eyes.

The little Japs are certainly hateful, but those who helped invade and harm the Chinese compatriots were even more hateful. Jiangdong had no intention of holding back in the face of the traitors.

"Little beans!"

"exist!"

Jiang Dong raised his chin, "I now sentence these traitors to death and execute them immediately!"

"yes!"

Facing the traitors, the brothers in the guard camp also gritted their teeth with hatred.

Eight people were placed in a row and executed one after another.

"Bang bang bang..."

The shooting scene was not far from the puppet prisoners. The gunshots nearby seemed to hit the hearts of the puppet prisoners. Every gunshot made their bodies tremble.

The 80 traitors were executed quickly, and their corpses were piled on the ground either upside down or on their backs. The strong smell of blood spread to everyone's nostrils.

"Okay, you guys are not guilty enough to die." Jiang Dong's tone softened a little, "You can be exempted from death penalty, but you cannot escape from living crime. I will now assign you to the independent brigade prisoner of war camp as coolies to pay for what you have done in the past.

Atonement. Everything you do next will be recorded. After three months, those of you who have performed well can go home directly or join our team to fight the Japanese. Those of you who have performed poorly will continue to work until

So exhausted."

There was a buzzing discussion among the prisoners of war. Many of them were dissatisfied with Jiangdong's actions, but the bodies of their comrades beside them were still hot. No one dared to say a word of objection. They were all as obedient as little quails.

Accept the arrangement.

"Well, very good." Jiang Dong was very satisfied with the performance of the hundreds of prisoners of war, saying, "Okay, let's start working now. First, bury all the corpses on the battlefield."

Of course Jiangdong spent so much effort to make the prisoners obedient. He only had one engineer battalion and felt it was not enough. Now adding a prisoner of war camp, the two cooperated with each other, which can reduce the workload of the soldiers a lot.

, allowing the soldiers to devote all their energy and physical strength to fighting the enemy.

The engineer battalion is under the direct responsibility of the brigade headquarters, and the prisoner-of-war camp Jiangdong is planned to be handed over to the logistics director Wang Xueqin, who will arrange for the prisoners of war to do the dirty work.

After the battlefield was cleaned, Jiang Dong called several chief officers together for a meeting.

"There are still three hours until dawn. I am going to take advantage of the darkness to rush to Zaozhuang and catch the little devil by surprise." Jiang Dong said to everyone.

"Brigadier Commander, if we force the march, the logistics and prisoners of war may not be able to keep up."

Xie Chengrui also knew the information that Jiang Dong knew. He already understood the principle of speed and speed, but he was just worried that problems would arise in the units that fell behind.

"We had wiped out all the Japs in the battle just now. The puppet troops who escaped are now afraid to return to Zaozhuang or Yixian. I think the Japs commanders in these two places have not yet understood the situation and will not send more

Come out with your troops." Jiangdong pointed to the southern end of the railway line.

"Chen Zhengyue should have blown up the southern railway by now. The Japanese troops in the Xuzhou direction will not be able to arrive within a day or two. These hundreds of kilometers of railway lines are currently safe."

Xie Chengrui's worries were allayed by Jiang Dong's few words, and at the same time, several chief officers were able to understand the current situation.

"The brigade commander has thought carefully, and I have no objections."

Jiang Dong looked at the others again, "What about you?"

Everyone shook their heads, with a hint of expectation on their faces.

"In that case, we will march into Zaozhuang and give the rampant Japanese troops a lesson."

"yes!"

Xiaodouzi behind him quickly replaced it with a new map, and Jiang Dong gathered everyone over.

"Look." He pointed at the map, "This is Zaozhuang Railway Station, and this is the Japanese army's headquarters. It's about 2 kilometers away."

Everyone's eyes followed Jiang Dong's finger, "Now there are at most 500 Japanese troops and 1,000 puppet troops in Zaozhuang. Such a huge disparity in military strength is extremely beneficial to us. I believe Zaozhuang will definitely be defeated."

"But..." Jiang Dong changed his tone.

"Conquering Zaozhuang is not our ultimate goal, because we cannot stay in Zaozhuang for a long time. Attacking the enemy will only increase casualties and is not worth it."

Jiang Dong's words made everyone look confused. Zhang Shengqing asked tentatively:

"Is the brigade commander's combat objective only the train station?"

Jiang Dong glanced at Zhang Shengqing and nodded slowly, "Yes, we only need to capture two locations in Zaozhuang City in this battle, and the train station is one of them."

"Where is the other one?" Xie Chengrui asked.
To be continued...