When the Japs detachment leader Watanabe Shouichi was furious at Jieshou, Yang Ling and his party also rushed back to Baoying at noon.
The pattering spring rain not only made the roads muddy, but the Japanese bombing planes also had to stay at the airport, finally saving Yang Ling and the others from bombing.
"Tell the brothers to change all the wet clothes, and at the same time ask the cooking team to boil some ginger for the brothers to drink."
Yang Ling and the others had been marching in the rain for so many hours, and they were soaked to the skin. In this year when there was a shortage of medical treatment, these brothers fell ill in the rain, which invisibly weakened the combat effectiveness of the army.
What's more, now is the critical moment when the Japanese troops are pressing heavily on the territory, and when the troops are in need of manpower, Yang Ling does not dare to be careless in any way.
"The second battalion went out to Liujiawa to set up defenses on the front line to prevent the Japanese from jumping over the wall and launching an attack in the rain."
The Japs have now captured Jieshou, and are only half a day away from Baoying. Although the road has been dug up and it's raining, Yang Ling still has to guard against the Japs.
"Sir, it's been a long night, please go get some sleep first."
Yang Ling also quickly changed out of his wet clothes, but he didn't stop. He grabbed the cornstarch and pointed it towards the general office, which made the orderly who delivered Yang Ling's meal look down.
"Now that the Japs have reached the frontier, there is no time to sleep. Let the brothers in the communication platoon inform us that the company commanders and above of each battalion should come to the headquarters for a meeting."
Even though Yang Ling had been working hard all night, his face looked tired, but now that the Japanese had arrived and were about to arrive in a blink of an eye, there was no way he could sleep.
"yes!"
The orderly responded and ran straight towards the house where the communications platoon lived.
Yang Ling wolfed down a few buns as he walked, and soon arrived at the General Finger.
"Sir!"
Seeing Yang Ling walking into the headquarters, deputy captain Yuan Guangtao quickly came up to him with a telegram.
"What's going on?" Yang Ling looked at deputy captain Yuan Guangtao and asked.
Deputy Commander-in-Chief Yuan Guangtao stood up and saluted Yang Ling and said: "The theater headquarters has given orders. Let us defend Baoying. We must fight for every inch of territory. We must not give in an inch. We cannot take a step back to ensure that the guerrilla zone does not fall to the enemy."
"Hold on to Baoying?" Yang Ling frowned and took the telegram, read it at a glance, and quickly raised his head: "Immediately send a report to the theater headquarters, saying that the Japanese are coming out in force, and our third battalion has already
The entire battalion was destroyed and the losses were heavy. Therefore, our department has decided to rely on the vast guerrilla zone to deal with the Japanese, rather than clinging to one city or one place. I hope all the officers will understand our difficulties."
Yang Ling has now witnessed the strength of the Japs, and it is difficult for them to compete head-on with the strength of their Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps.
Therefore, Yang Ling decided that it would be safest to use guerrilla warfare to deal with the Japanese. If they were to fight the Japanese head-on, their North Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps would probably end up with the same fate as the Third Battalion.
The most important thing is that there is no danger to defend in the plain areas of northern Jiangsu. It is definitely not a wise move to engage in a decisive battle with the Japanese army in such unfavorable conditions.
"Sir, is it appropriate to say this? This is disobedience." After hearing Yang Ling's words, deputy captain Yuan Guangtao hesitated.
Yang Ling comforted and said: "I think the superiors will understand our difficulties. Go ahead and send a telegram. I will take the responsibility if anything happens."
"Yes, then I'll go right away." After the deputy captain Yuan Guangtao finished speaking, he immediately turned around and ran towards the confidential room.
Soon, the officers of each battalion and above the company level were notified and hurried to the headquarters. On the way here, they had heard about the fact that the third battalion was almost wiped out, and everyone's expressions were extremely solemn.
Yang Ling and others of the Northern Jiangsu Corps have five combat battalions and one "patriotic battalion". The "patriotic battalion" is stationed in Huaiyin, and the other five battalions are operating together with the general command.
Now Shen Biao's third battalion is on the battlefield on the southern front, and Wu Changqing's second battalion has been transferred to the south for defense. Only the company commanders and battalion commanders of the first, fourth and fifth battalions can come to the meeting.
Although there were only three battalion commanders, there were still more than twenty people, filling the small conference room to the brim.
"I am here to first inform you of the situation. Just last night, the third battalion commander Shen Biao and his brothers in the third battalion were almost all killed. Shen Biao was also killed in the battle at Jieshou. Deputy battalion commander Luo Feng disappeared. The capital has been lost."
Yang Ling also knew that the fire could not be wrapped up in paper. Instead of hiding it, it was better to tell everyone about the situation directly, so as to avoid everyone guessing each other and causing people's hearts to wander.
"Ah, Battalion Commander Shen was killed in battle?"
"There are 800 brothers in the third battalion, how come they were all destroyed?"
"You bastard little devil. If you don't take revenge for this, you're not a gentleman!"
"..."
Although some officers heard some gossip on the way here, there are still many things that they don't know. When Yang Ling announced it at this moment, it still caused quite a stir in the conference room.
The brothers didn't believe it at first, but soon turned into anger. Most of the officers and soldiers in the several battalions under the Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps were recruited from local people in Northern Jiangsu and Central Jiangsu.
Many of the brothers are from the same village, or even relatives. We train together and fight the Japanese together, forming an unbreakable bond.
Now that they heard that most of the brothers in the third battalion had died at the gunpoint of the Japs, these officers were filled with indignation, their fists clenched loudly, and they wished they could grab their guns and seek revenge on the Japs.
"Everyone, please be quiet for a moment."
Looking at the brothers who were whispering and talking among themselves, Yang Ling asked them to be quiet.
"The brothers of the Third Battalion did not embarrass our Northern Jiangsu Corps, nor did they embarrass our ** members. They fought bravely and died miserably. Although all the brothers of the Third Battalion were killed, the little Japs also suffered heavy losses. "
Hearing that the Third Battalion was fired in a heroic battle, the brothers all felt awe for the brothers who died in the Third Battalion.
"I know that everyone is eager to kill and avenge the little devil. I want to too, but I ask you brothers to calm down." Yang Ling said slowly.
"According to the intelligence, the Japs are out in full force this time. The troops going north include four infantry brigades, an artillery brigade, and at least two battalions of puppet troops. The Japs are coming with great force."
Hearing that the Japanese troops were so strong, the officers all took a breath of cold air. They knew very well what behind so many Japanese numbers represented. It was a crushing and absolute strength.
Although their northern Jiangsu Corps has developed into a strong force in the past year, it is still a little weak against so many little devils.
"I can understand our brother's mood of revenge, and I also hope to seek revenge against the little devil, but as the saying goes, a wise man is a man who knows the current affairs. If we fight head-on with the little devil now, we will be the ones who suffer in the end, so now we can't Fight head-on with the little devil."
"Sir, are you not going to take revenge?" A brother asked in confusion.
Yang Ling immediately retorted: "Bullshit! Whoever says he won't take revenge will be betrayed if he forgets hatred!"
"Revenge must be avenged, but we must pay attention to methods and methods. Now that the Japanese are powerful, if we rush to take revenge, we will only become a living target for the Japanese. Not only will we not be able to avenge ourselves, but we will also involve more brothers.
"
Yang Ling looked around at the brothers and said: "In view of the strong strength of the Japs this time, I decided that we should avoid their sharp edges this time. We don't care about the gains and losses of one city or one place. We evacuate the towns and rely on the vast rural areas to start a fight with the little Japs.
Guerrilla warfare, mobile warfare, accumulating small victories into big victories, gradually wearing down the Japs and forcing them to withdraw from our guerrilla zones."
"Our combat mission this time is not to eliminate how many Japs. The main goal is to crush the Japs' attack. As long as we repel the Japs, we will be victorious."
Yang Ling also knew that with so many Japanese troops coming over now, it would be impossible to destroy the Japanese army no matter how ambitious they were. Now as long as they could crush the Japanese attack and force the Japanese to retreat to Gaoyou, everything would be fine.