Standing on the roof of Sihang Warehouse, you can see the fire burning from the North Station to Hengfeng Road Bridge lighting up the dark night sky.
Judging from the fierce gunfire exchanges between the two sides on North Sichuan Road, Qiujiang Road, and Baoshan Road, it can be seen that each company is still holding on to its position and has not yet retreated.
Until now, the troops have not been gathered in. I don’t know if they can be withdrawn. What if...
Xie Jinyuan didn't dare to think about such a result, and thinking about it, blowing cold wind on the roof of the building all the time was not an option.
Simply enter the building with a flashlight to check the internal conditions and prepare a defense plan.
Just at this moment, the shouts of the guards guarding the door suddenly came from downstairs.
"Who, stop, move forward and start shooting."
"I, Tao Xingchun, am the commander of the company and platoon. The company headquarters and other platoons will follow."
As the names were announced, the hurried team was put into the building.
"Go and call the platoon leader."
Anxious to understand the situation on the front line, Xie Jinyuan ordered the escort.
The guard who was following him responded and ran downstairs quickly. Soon he ran up with the platoon leader named Tao.
"Tour leader, Platoon Leader Tao is here."
"Hello everyone, salute."
With his hands behind his back, Xie Jinyuan had a vague feeling that something was wrong.
Although the order was passed on for more than an hour, according to his understanding of his subordinates, few troops could escape the battle so quickly.
"You guys arrived pretty quickly. How's the situation ahead?"
What, sir, do you think we came too late?
Although he had some doubts in his heart, Platoon Leader Tao did not dare to delay in answering loudly.
"Reporting to the regiment, the fighting on the front line is very difficult, and more and more Japanese are coming up. The headquarters is surrounded and no messengers have been seen, so I don't know the order to come to Sihang Warehouse."
"have no idea?"
Somewhat surprised, Officer Xie Jin looked carefully at the platoon leader in front of him, who was twenty-four or five years old, with a little doubt in his eyes.
After taking a breath, he frowned and continued to ask,
"How did you withdraw without receiving the order?"
"Reporting to the regiment, it was a German paratrooper who told us to assemble here."
German paratroopers?
There seems to be some truth in saying that.
There was a German officer corps at the headquarters of the 87th Division, a lieutenant named Marcus.
But that person seems to be from the Mountain Division, and I haven't heard that there are paratroopers among the officers in the advisory group.
Backus must have known about the establishment of a position in Sihang Warehouse. Could it be that his men notified him without informing him. Although such a guess is reasonable, the possibility of German officers directly sending their men to join the battle is almost zero.
Impossible, absolutely impossible.
Unexpectedly, the group members were thinking silently. Platoon leader Tao continued to report, with a bit of excitement in his tone.
"That's what the German paratrooper said. But he was a Chinese paratrooper in Germany. When he heard that the Japanese were coming, he returned to China to join the war."
"This is strange. He is a returned Chinese and does not belong to the German officer corps. How could he know our plan?"
Frowning, Xie Jinyuan felt that this matter was getting more and more strange, so he asked calmly.
Unexpectedly, the commander was actually interested in this matter. Platoon leader Tao scratched his head and told Zhang Sixing about breaking into the stronghold.
"Brother Zhang Sixing is so skillful. Not only did he connect the phone line to the company headquarters, but he also led us out..."
Although Platoon Leader Tao admired Zhang Sixing's bravery when he talked about it, he soon discovered that the commander's interest did not seem to be here.
"Is he alone?"
"yes."
Blinking in confusion, Platoon Leader Tao answered straightforwardly.
"The phone line he connected to, are you sure you heard the voice of your company commander?"
Platoon leader Tao, who was a little confused, was even more confused and had to answer,
"It's our company headquarters. Can't you still hear the voice of our company commander? It's just that he..."
"What happened to your company commander?"
Xie Jinyuan, who felt more and more that something was not right, asked,
"Martyred for his country."
After hearing Platoon Leader Tao's answer, Xie Jinyuan fell silent. He continued to think and waved his hand for Platoon Leader Tao to step aside.
Waiting for Platoon Leader Tao's footsteps to disappear, he waved his hand to his guards.
"Lin Liang, ask Xiaozhuang to find Battalion Commander Yang and ask him or other officers from the battalion headquarters to come back."
"Tuanzuo, you..."
Seeing Xie Jinyuan's expression, Lin Liang subconsciously pulled out his box cannon.
"No, if my judgment is right, the matter may not be serious. Otherwise... tell Xiaozhuang to go back quickly. You watch Platoon Leader Tao and others and ask them to set up defenses outside the gate."
He did not doubt the platoon leader named Tao, but it was a pity that German paratroopers appeared out of thin air and knew the plan to gather at Sihang Warehouse in advance, so he had to think more about it.
"yes"
Looking at the hurried figures of the guards, Xie Jinyuan made silent calculations.
If Platoon Leader Tao surrenders to the enemy and becomes an internal agent, this is the worst case scenario.
If he was just deceived by the spy disguised as a German paratrooper, then things might not be so bad.
Soon the commander of the first battalion, Yang Ruifu, arrived with some personnel from the second company, as well as the battalion headquarters and machine gun platoon.
He didn't understand why Xie Jinyuan was so anxious to call him back when the troops hadn't been collected yet.
When he saw Xie Jinyuan, he hurriedly performed a military salute and asked eagerly,
"Leader, what happened? What do you need us to do? Please give us the order."
"It's no big deal."
Because I had something on my mind, I had no intention of arranging any more defense matters.
Looking at the raging war on the roof with his hands behind his back, Xie Jinyuan shook his head and answered.
Hearing what the leader said, Yang Ruifu knew that something might be fishy, so he quietly waved his hand back.
The other officers and guards at the battalion headquarters all looked away and backed away.
Seeing that there was no one around him, Yang Ruifu asked tentatively again,
"Regiment, the situation is tense now. It is difficult for each company to escape in time after retreating. Some are still fighting hard..."
Hearing Yang Ruifu's complaint, Xie Jinyuan raised a hand to stop him, without turning around and asked in a low voice,
"Are you familiar with Platoon Commander Tao from the first company?"
"It's familiar. Xingchun dares to fight and fights hard. He is an old platoon leader who is very capable of fighting. The first company commander died for his country. I am still thinking..."
Xie Jinyuan raised his hand again to stop him from speaking, and turned to look at the others.
Everyone looked at the raging battlefield with interest, or simply left the roof.
"As long as you are familiar with him, he just mentioned a man who had just returned from Germany and claimed to be a German paratrooper. He knew in advance that we were going to gather at Sihang Warehouse."
"Be first... Could it be that... Sir, you doubt Xingchun... It's impossible. He doesn't have that kind of mind, he can only speak plain words, and he has a stubborn temper."
Looking at the battle thoughtfully, Xie Jinyuan nodded slowly and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's good. If that's the case, I'll be relieved to let him take me with him. But if that person who claims to be back from Germany doesn't show up, then..."
"Yes, don't worry, Commander. If he doesn't show up, I won't let him escape from here if he does come again."
Xie Jinyuan didn't say much about Yang Ruifu's expression, he just nodded his head gently and said,
"Let's go, let's take a look at the situation in the building. As soon as everyone is here, we'll start setting up the building."