On the way back to the public settlement, there were no dangers.

There were scattered defeated soldiers everywhere, and the wounded soldiers led by Meng Shaoyuan were almost dispersed several times.

Fortunately, Zhu Yanni, who received news of Meng Shaoyuan's solo adventure on the way, tried her best to organize a group of agents and successfully contacted Meng Shaoyuan.

"Gather our people immediately."

As soon as he returned to the public concession, Meng Shaoyuan sent people to settle the injured Kong Chuanbo and drank a glass of water in one breath: "The task of summons is basically completed, and all personnel are ordered to return to their establishment."

"clear."

"And." Meng Shaoyuan stopped Wu Jingyi: "Prepare weapons and a car for me, and ask Zhu Yanni's people to follow me and set off in an hour."

Wu Jingyi was startled: "You just came back and you have a mission?"

Uh, this.

It's not that I have a mission.

Instead, there is an excellent opportunity waiting for you to make a contribution.

Still a great achievement.

With Meng Shaoyuan's shameless character, how could he not seize such an opportunity to make a good contribution when he knew what would happen?

Only a fool would give up...

…

After the order for a general retreat was issued, the chaos of the situation far exceeded the imagination of the authorities.

What kind of tragedy will happen once a person's breath is released?

The various units of the Chinese army retreating from the Songhu front line were in chaos and were in disarray. Under the enemy's pursuit, the officers and soldiers of each unit were afraid that the Japanese army would steal their retreat, so they rushed back in panic.

The roads with limited traffic capacity between Shanghai and Nanjing were crowded with hundreds of thousands of troops and groups of civilians fleeing for their lives.

During the retreat, the organization of the army was completely shattered. It was almost impossible for officers to find soldiers, and soldiers did not want to find officers. Everyone ran westward desperately, supplies and weapons were scattered everywhere, and wounded soldiers were lying on the road.

No one cares about the moaning.

Overhead, Japanese army and navy planes kept swooping down and bombing them indiscriminately, and the Japanese troops on the ground were chasing after them. All the retreat roads were in extreme chaos.

The chaos during the retreat was unprecedented. There were figures wearing blue and gray national army winter uniforms and various helmets everywhere. Troops without helmets were in darkness. There were shouts of people everywhere.

The scene was completely out of control.

By a river near Fangjiayao, when the engineers were retreating, they laid mines on the highway bridge, regardless of the fact that the follow-up troops had not yet finished withdrawing, and prepared to blow up the bridge to stop the Japanese army.

At this time, the 10th National Artillery Regiment arrived.

"What's going on? What's going on?" Peng Mengji, commander of the 10th Artillery Regiment, jumped out of the car: "Why don't you just cross the bridge? Hurry, cross the bridge!"

"Captain, there is no way to cross the bridge." Battalion Commander Yan Yuanyi's eyes were red: "The bridge is full of mines, and our heavy vehicles cannot cross the bridge at all."

"What?" Peng Mengji suddenly became anxious: "Discuss with the engineers to dismantle the landmines, dismantle the landmines!"

"It's too late, there's no way to dismantle it!"

Peng Mengji shook his body and stood there in stunned silence.

A moment later, many soldiers of the 10th Artillery Regiment who survived the Songhu retreat witnessed this scene with their own eyes:

Their leader, Peng Mengji, suddenly burst into tears in front of everyone:

"These are all cannons, German cannons! They are new, they are all new. China only has one decent artillery regiment, what should we do? What should we do?"

"Captain!" Yan Yuanyi also cried: "There's no way, there's no way, the Japanese are right behind us, we don't have time, just throw them away, throw them all into the river."

"My cannon!"

During the war, facing the enemy's indiscriminate bombing, Peng Mengji, who was as steady as a rock, was crying so heartbreakingly.

Those brand-new German-made 150mm caliber FH-18 heavy howitzers were all pushed down the river.

You know, the entire National Government army does not have a few 150mm heavy artillery.

"Cross the bridge and retreat!"

Yan Yuanyi issued the order to retreat on behalf of the heartbroken Peng Mengji.

"boom!"

There was an explosion on the bridge.

"What's going on?" Peng Mengji stopped crying and looked towards the bridge.

"Second Company Commander He Fuxi stepped on a mine on the bridge, and all four of his brothers were killed."

"I'm going to blame your fucking engineers!" That anger was completely erupted in an instant: "I'm going to blame your eighteenth generation ancestors! My cannons are gone, and my soldiers are gone too!"

In fact, that’s not all the chaos is?

Even the situation of division commanders and corps commanders is not much better.

Li Yannian, commander of the 2nd Army of the 19th Group Army, wore a long robe, changed his clothes and fled. The troops under his control were defeated and scattered in groups.

Screaming wounded soldiers were lying everywhere on the roadside. They shouted: "Do a good deed and give me a shot!"

The scene of such a serious injury with no one caring about it was unbearable, and miserable cries could be heard everywhere.

The divisions and regiments that have been disengaged are still unable to control the troops. The situation of the troops responsible for follow-up cover tasks is even worse.

For example, the 306th Regiment of Qiu Weida of the 51st Division was responsible for the overall cover of the retreat.

After the regiment broke away from contact with the Japanese army in Qingpu, it immediately retreated westward.

However, when the 306th Regiment retreated to Kunshan, they found that the main force of the 74th Army had left Kunshan and moved towards Wuxi, and Kunshan was already in danger.

So the regiment had no choice but to retreat westward again, chasing the main force of the division, using local villagers as guides along the way and taking small paths. Only then in Wangting Town did they encounter the 305th regiment, which was under cover from behind. Along the way, they encountered the Japanese army several times.

Finally he was able to escape.

After this battle, the 306th Regiment had already lost more than half, and there were not many new recruits left on the Songhu battlefield. There were only more than 70 survivors of the 2nd Battalion under its jurisdiction, which could be said to have suffered extremely heavy casualties.

These defeated and defeated troops persisted in resisting in Shanghai for three full months. The chaotic situation before them could not erase the huge contributions they made to the country during these three months.

Three months of bloody fighting made it possible for the Nationalist Government to withdraw westward.

Various government units, arsenals, and factories moved to Sichuan one after another. The sacrifices on the front line bought enough time for this westward withdrawal plan.

On October 29, after the decisive defeat of the front-line troops in Songhu, the Chairman presided over the Supreme National Defense Conference in Nanjing to prepare for the overall retreat.

At this meeting, the Chairman of the Standing Committee gave a speech entitled "The Relocation of the Government to Chongqing and the Future of the Anti-Japanese War", and analyzed the significance of the overall retreat:

"The most important point in military affairs is not only to have a predetermined plan for victory, but also to have foreseeable plans for defeat. Not only must we take the initiative in victory, but we must also take the initiative in retreat. Then a temporary setback will not lead to a complete retreat.

By thinking carefully, we can grasp the final victory. If we take the initiative to retreat today, we can take the initiative to advance in the future."

At the same time, it was pointed out that in the period after the overall initiative retreated, "Sichuan was the rear area of ​​the Anti-Japanese War" and proposed that "Chongqing should be selected as the seat of the National Government."

This meeting finally accepted the Chairman's proposal and formally decided to move the National Government westward to Chongqing, leaving the Military Commission to command nearby the Beijing-Shanghai-Hangzhou front lines.

The next day, the Nationalist Government resolved to accept the decision of the Supreme National Defense Conference to "move the Nationalist Government's garrison to the west of Chongqing and away from the war zone."

…

"It's so chaotic and disorganized."

In Nanxiang, the car was speeding. Xue Yue, commander-in-chief of the 19th Group Army, frowned when he thought of the chaotic situation on the battlefield: "There is no organization and no order."

"Hurry up, drive faster." Lian Liumin, Xue Yue's bodyguard, can't take care of military matters. The only thing he cares about is protecting Commander Xue.

Japanese troops have already appeared near Nanxiang, and it would be dangerous to stay here for even a moment longer.

"Antang, what is the current situation of the 19th Group Army?" Xue Yue asked Liu Antang, the chief of operational staff sitting next to him.

"I don't know." Liu Antang smiled bitterly: "We have lost contact with the troops at all levels. Commander, at the critical moment of the Songhu Anti-Japanese War, you pulled up all the security regiments of the headquarters, and now only Xiao Lian is there.

Guard, what should you do if you encounter danger?"

Sometimes, it makes sense to say that a person has a "crow's mouth".

Suddenly, intensive gunfire suddenly rang out, the windshield was shattered, and the driver was shot and killed on the spot.

Fortunately, he stepped on the brakes in time before he died.

"Japanese, Japanese!"

Lian Liumin reacted quickly, pushed open the car door and rolled down.

A flurry of bullets was fired, and the rear door quickly opened.

Although Xue Yue was not injured, Liu Antang was shot in his left arm and his neck was scratched.

Regardless of the pain: "Xiao Lian, retreat, take the commander with you and retreat!"

He pulled out his pistol and fired two shots at the opposite side.

"Let's go, Commander!"

Lian Liumin picked up Xue Yue and ran away stumblingly.

Liu Antang's groan came from behind.
To be continued...