The Japanese army's offensive speed in this era was quite fast, especially in pursuing defeated armies. The Japanese army was very experienced in the early days of World War II. This was not only true in China, but also in Southeast Asia.
The first to take action early in the morning was the motorcycle detachment. As soon as the engine started, soldiers kept running out from the kitchen of the team headquarters. They were carrying three lunch boxes, which was enough food for three people on each motorcycle for a day.
I ran a few steps and ran to the sidecar of the three-wheeled motorcycle that was already accelerating. As soon as I got on the motorcycle, the engine started to hit the road.
There are twelve soldiers on four motorcycles, which happens to be a motorcycle detachment.
Their purpose was to "wake up" the "squirming" defeated troops and refugees five miles ahead.
In fact, the broken soldiers and refugees who were desperately trying to escape had no chance to stop in front of this fast Japanese force.
Every evening, this rapid force would rush into the ranks of refugees and shoot and fire, which would keep the refugees on their way all night. At the same time, they would tell the "Japanese troops are approaching" news to the defeated troops and refugees in front, allowing them to escape overnight.
In the early morning, the motorcycle with its first fish-belly white color made a "chucking" sound and moved forward along the road.
Occasionally, the motorcycle will bump a little, which is the body of the Chinese refugee who was killed before resting last night.
Whenever this happens, the Japanese in the car will shout,
"Hey, idiot... don't crush the body, the chicken soup in the lunch box will be poured out."
"It's so stupid. Doesn't anyone understand that these corpses cannot be left on the road? The Chinese people are really stupid and lazy."
"Yeah, if they weren't stupid and lazy, how could they be defeated by us..."
Compared with the bloody battles in Shanghai, chasing defeated enemies is really a joyful thing. Especially those refugees fleeing along the road are often a good opportunity to make a small fortune.
In order to enhance their ability to wake up refugees and broken troops, each motorcycle was equipped with a light machine gun and was also equipped with a grenade launcher.
Soon the motorcycle detachment drove away from the piles of corpses caused by the massacre the night before. The motorcycles stopped bumping and everything went smoothly.
Of course, the refugees who were supporting the elderly and the young could not move as fast as the defeated army, especially those who had no carts pulled by animals and could only carry the burden of all their belongings on their own, with almost no chance to rest.
"Rumble..."
There were fighter planes earlier than the motorcycle team. When the six D1A Type 94 dive bombers saw the refugees, they would swoop down to scare them. The refugees who had only rested for a while screamed and hid in the trees on both sides of the road.
middle.
The sound of motorcycle engines rang out, and in the bright morning, the distant sounds caused people who could only walk to flee from the road.
The men on the motorcycles raised their rifles and shot at the refugees on both sides of the road, although not every Japanese soldier on the car did so.
"Why did they flee along the road? If it were me, they would have chosen a small road. It should not be so easy to be bombed and shot."
"They dreamed of being protected by the Chinese army, but the Chinese army... they couldn't even protect themselves..."
When the motorcycle is facing the wind, I have to shout when speaking.
Not far after driving the motorcycle, there were more and more things dropped by soldiers on the road, including guns, bullet belts, and even cars and artillery.
Of course, the vanguard squad won't care about these things. They are the fast pursuit troops of the 101st Division.
This division was composed of the reserve divisions of the twenty standing divisions before 1937. However, due to a shortage of horses, the cavalry of the 101st Division was only organized in a group.
When the rout of the Chinese army began, the 101st formed a vanguard composed of a brigade of bicycle infantry and a motorcycle squad led by Colonel Hisaka Oshima of the 101st Cavalry Brigade.
Coupled with the baggage troops and the infantry artillery squads dragged by camels, this fast force has the unparalleled rapid action ability of infantry.
As the broken soldiers appeared on the road and abandoned more items, the motorcycle team became more cautious.
Finally, they seemed to see the rear of the brigade formed by broken soldiers and refugees, slowly crawling along the road.
"Why didn't the plane attack those people? Those pilots were so lazy. The machine guns made those people run."
The motorcycles lined up in a row on the road, their crooked handlebars spraying out flames violently.
The cavalry and a large number of infantry on bicycles form a rapid attack force, which is the best way to catch up with the defeated troops. The important thing is to maintain the pressure and let them keep running away, without thinking of sticking, and there is no time to eat and rest.
The grenadier soldiers also fired several rounds of grenades into the crowd, blowing up a crowd of people.
Under the fire, the refugees at the tail of the gray snake in the distance screamed loudly.
Some ran forward, more fled the road, only to be driven back onto the road by machine guns and grenades.
The motorcycle detachment re-formed into a column. Because it was catching up with the broken troops and refugees, the motorcycle detachment moved forward more cautiously.
The riflemen and machine gunners on the vehicle fired bullets from time to time to drive away the refugees along the road. The shooting direction was the refugees trying to escape the road or the broken troops.
As long as these people are kept on the road, even if a small group of Chinese troops want to rely on towns to guard, they will be disrupted by the impact of refugees.
Especially when the number of people is large enough, it will definitely arouse the interest of the sky pilots. A bomb falling will make the fleeing people and the fleeing soldiers even more panicked, and they will not be able to muster the slightest determination to resist.
A general once said that retreat is more difficult to command than attack.
This was even more true at this moment. The defeated troops and refugees were in panic all day long. Driven by the rapid Japanese columns, their escape path could not be stopped at all.
"Kite, who has the heart to fly a kite at this time..."
At the end of the road that seemed infinitely far away, many kites were flying in the morning wind. Not only that, Japanese fighter planes dived below, and heavy explosions were heard from afar.
Then strange things happened. Black smoke from the explosion appeared in the sky, and the shadow of the Japanese plane that was hit also appeared dragging black smoke.
"Ours, there are our people on the other side of the river..."
"There is a pontoon in front..."
"The Japs are not far away. Have they planted explosives on the pontoon..."
This is what people with a little military knowledge are thinking about.
This is a T-junction, and facing the avenue, a pontoon bridge made of boats and wooden planks appears right in front of you.
The leading defeated troops stepped onto the pontoon bridge without hesitation.
Regardless of whether this floating bridge is equipped with explosives, it can at least temporarily avoid the pursuit of the Japanese.
In any case, when they saw the positions on the other side of the river, all the soldiers who were driven away by the Japanese finally felt hope.
But when they arrived at the end of the pontoon bridge, they heard stiff German-Chinese,
"We are a unit of the advisory group. No matter which unit you are in, you are now under our command. Any disobedient officers will be shot. Everyone must go behind the wall to be reorganized, and then we will teach the Japanese a lesson here."
Looking at the strangely dressed Germans, the defeated soldiers had nothing to say.