The battle is over. Logically speaking, it is indeed a big victory. A lot of equipment and supplies can also be captured in the stronghold.
But in the entire Ninth Company, from the company commander, instructors, to the new recruits, no one could see a smile on their face.
This battle did not go as planned.
The casualties exceeded the expectations of company commander Zhu Wu and instructor Li Wenjie.
A small stronghold in the middle of Xiaotong Road has not yet been completed. The defense system of the Japanese and puppet troops has not been completely completed.
One squad of Japanese soldiers, plus two squads of puppet troops.
In fact, in this battle, it was the Japs of that class who mainly exerted their combat effectiveness. The puppet troops did not actually exert much combat effectiveness. At most, they assisted in the battle and fired two shots.
With this awareness, there are still some puppet soldiers who have transferred from the security corps.
If they resist desperately, the Eighth Route Army will not let them stay if the stronghold is lost.
From this point of view, the strength of the Ninth Company was five to six times that of the Japanese, and they still carried out sneak attacks.
But what is the result?
The stronghold was captured. The Ninth Company lost a squad of soldiers, and more than 20 people were injured.
A platoon commander was scolding the soldiers who had temporarily retreated.
"What are you thinking? The company commander didn't give the order, so who asked you to retreat for me? I tell you, he is a deserter. Do you know that deserters are directly shot!"
"If you hadn't suddenly retreated, our sacrifice wouldn't have been so great."
"The attack has reached the throat, and he has to withdraw from me. Is there anyone who can fight like this?"
The soldiers who retreated were scolded fiercely. One of the recruits pointed at the surrendering soldiers beside him and replied weakly, "Platoon commander, they took the lead in retreating first. We thought they were behind the scenes."
I received the order to withdraw, so I retreated with you!"
Everyone's attention focused on the five or six national soldiers who had surrendered.
The leader of the platoon said with a dark face, "Give me an explanation?"
Wang Gui, a well-respected member of the national army who surrendered, replied: "Report to the platoon leader that the enemy's firepower is too strong. If you rush forward, you will die, and the brothers will instinctively retreat to save their lives."
"Is it still reasonable to run away? Let me tell you, this is our Eighth Route Army, not your national army. The company commander has not given an order. Even if you know that you will die, you must still die!"
"But how can we fight like this? We obviously won." Wang Gui muttered.
The platoon leader cursed: "Did you win?"
"Yes, didn't we capture the stronghold? We also eliminated a dozen Japanese and captured a dozen puppet soldiers!"
"Yes, we won in the end, but is this what you want?" A platoon leader was very angry, stepped aside, and pointed at the remains of the eleven soldiers who were restrained by the soldiers.
"This is what you want? Do you remember? Maybe just this morning, these comrades were standing in front of you alive, talking and laughing with you! What was the result? Their lives will remain forever
Here, it’s because of your retreat, because of your cowardice! Because in your bones, you believe that as long as you can win the war, sacrifice does not matter. Tell me, do you think so?"
Wang Gui stopped talking.
The soldiers who chose to retreat lowered their heads.
A veteran soldier rushed up angrily and kicked Wang Gui in the stomach, "You bitch, give my brother his life!"
"What are you doing? Tie Zhu, what are you doing? Look at yourself, do you still look like a veteran? You are still the squad leader of the third squad! Is there anyone who takes the lead like you?"
A platoon leader quickly stopped Tiezhu, the third squad leader, and cursed.
Wang Gui was also a little angry. He rubbed his stomach and cursed: "Yes, your Eighth Route Army's life is life, doesn't it mean that the life of our National Army is not life? Among the brothers lying down, there are also brothers from our National Army!"
On weekdays, what you say is more pleasant than anything else. They are all comrades, no matter you or me, but now? You still clearly distinguish between the National Army and the Eighth Route Army. Isn’t it because you didn’t brave the enemy’s firepower to charge?
Are you going to put the lives of these sacrificed brothers on my shoulders?"
The angry Wang Gui's emotions infected other national soldiers who had surrendered. Each of these national soldiers seemed to share the same hatred with the enemy, and they all glared at the third squad leader fiercely.
The situation is getting worse.
The third squad leader didn't know what to say for a moment. He didn't actually mean it that way. He was too sad because some soldiers from the third squad had died, so he couldn't help but lose his temper.
It’s not going to end well now.
Ninth Company Commander Zhu Wu has a headache. He is very sad and angry now.
He has always been able to go up and scold him for this kind of thing, but now that the two sides are arguing, he knows that his approach may not work.
Instructor Li Wenjie strode over, his voice was very calm, and his calmness contained an undeniable meaning:
"Okay, let's find a place for the quarrel. It's not advisable to stay here for a long time. If the quarrel continues, the Japanese reinforcements will come over!"
"I know that you are sad because of the sacrifice of the soldiers. Why shouldn't I be sad?"
"The plan to attack the stronghold was made by me. When it comes to the sacrifices of these comrades, the biggest sinner is me as the instructor. I did not take many factors into consideration before taking action. As a result, many mistakes occurred during the action.
!"
"The quarrel in front of you is also the fault of me as the instructor."
"Don't look at me like that, and don't speak for me. I know this is my fault as an instructor!"
"The soldiers of the Ninth Company should be as close as family members. They are brothers who can take bullets for each other at any time on the battlefield. But now, they have to be divided into the National Army and the Eighth Route Army. Isn't this a dereliction of duty on my part as the instructor?
?"
"Who subconsciously doesn't want to avoid the enemy's artillery fire, and who is really not afraid of death?"
"It's no wonder Wang Gui and the others are responsible for this. It's just that I didn't make it clear to Wang Gui and the others in advance. If I had told Wang Gui in advance that they could temporarily evacuate to the left and right when encountering fierce enemy fire, and use bunkers to escape. In this way, there would be no
What a retreat, what a deserter, the company commander and their firepower will not be blocked!"
At this point, Li Wenjie blamed himself even more.
"At the beginning of the battle, there was a problem with my link. The grenade was not checked in advance. One of them malfunctioned. The other one fired the smoke grenade and failed to hit the stronghold. At this moment,
The Japanese artillery shells fell, and several comrades on our side were directly sacrificed!"
"If it weren't for my negligence as an instructor, how could we have sacrificed so many comrades?"
"Comrades, Wang Gui, the third squad leader, and the platoon leader, if you have any resentment or anger in your heart, just go ahead and scold me. I have no complaints at all!"
After Li Wenjie finished speaking, he looked at the eleven soldiers who had passed away forever, as if he was still joking with everyone yesterday, and he couldn't help but shed tears.
Everyone was silent.
Many soldiers cried.
Wang Gui in turn comforted him and said: "Instructor, I can't blame you. Who can predict the situations on the battlefield?"
The platoon leader said: "That's right, you, the instructor, adjusted immediately behind you, covered the stronghold with smoke grenades, followed up with grenades, suppressed the machine guns with artillery fire, and our main force successfully launched the charge.
”
"And the shots the instructor used to kill the Japanese machine gunners were absolutely amazing. Without the instructor, it would be a question of whether we could capture the stronghold!"
"That's right!"
Even the ninth company commander Zhu Wu smiled bitterly and said: "Wenjie, if you blame yourself so much, I will just shoot myself and apologize. How can I blame you for this accident? If you want to blame it, you should blame me!"
Everyone in turn expressed relief. Li Wenjie breathed a long sigh of relief, forced a smile and said:
"Okay, I understand everyone's thoughts. Merit is merit and fault is fault. Regarding my mistakes, I will personally go to the regiment headquarters to apologize to the regiment leader."
"Everyone is tidying up, the battlefield has been cleaned, and we are preparing to withdraw to the station in time. In addition, the troops sending reinforcements have notified us, but we don't know what the situation is."
Zhu Wu said hurriedly: "The instructor is right, don't cry and look sad. After all, we have won the battle. Even the brothers who died will never want to see you all with such sad faces." "Seize the time to clean up the battlefield. When we evacuated, I blew up the Japanese strongholds. One platoon was long. Before leaving, I laid some booby traps and buried some mines. Please give the Japanese reinforcements who came over a try."
"Second Platoon Commander, keep an eye on our prisoners. If any of them are not smart, they will be killed immediately."