The earth was shrouded in darkness, and the messy station was crowded with soldiers from various units. The recruits all turned their attention to the place where the cannons were booming, nervous and excited.
"Members of the 302nd Regiment gather here!"
"This side of the First Battalion, hurry up!"
…
Soon, the commanders of each unit began to shout at the top of their lungs in the dark night, and the brothers crowded in the station all rushed to gather with their respective commanders following the shouts.
The sharp flashes that flashed across the sky from time to time were like lightning, illuminating the dark outlines of the houses like ghosts.
Lao Yanqiang, the deputy battalion commander with a dry pipe stuck in his waist, stood on the platform to rectify the troops, while Yang Ling ran towards the regiment leader Zhang Handuo, and the two of them walked into the temporary division headquarters at the station to receive orders.
The temporary headquarters of the 51st Division was set up in a low house next to the station. Under the dim light, the division staff were busy working on the map. The originally neat map was densely covered with red and blue lines.
Although division commander Wang Yaowu's troops from the 153rd Brigade arrived one day early, his face was no longer as rosy as when he was in Wuhan. Instead, he looked a little haggard due to lack of sleep.
"The 301st Regiment has been ordered to arrive, please give instructions from the commander!" Zhang Handuo and Yang Ling saluted military salute to Commander Wang Yaowu.
When Wang Yaowu saw their arrival, his frown finally relaxed. He pulled them to the map, pointed to a place called Huilongji on the map and said: "The 305th Regiment has been blocking here for a day and has suffered heavy casualties.
, you went over overnight and replaced them, is there any problem?"
Zhang Handuo and Yang Ling answered in unison: "No problem!"
"Okay, then I'm waiting for your good news." Commander Wang Yaowu was very satisfied when he saw the two young officers. Although they got second place in the review in Huangpi, Hubei, their combat effectiveness is not weak.
"Master, which Japanese army are we facing?" Yang Ling has always understood that knowing oneself and the enemy is enough to win a hundred battles, so before leaving, he asked Wang Yaowu this question.
Wang Yaowu replied: "It is the 14th Division under the First Army of the Japanese North China Front. The division commander is Kenji Doihara. The troops fighting us in Huilongji now are the 28th Brigade under the 14th Division."
"This is a force with strong combat effectiveness. You must not take it lightly." Wang Yaowu added.
Yang Ling heard that the person facing him was Kenji Doihara's 14th Division, and he immediately knew for sure. This man, who had climbed from a spy colonel to the position of division commander and general in just four years, was definitely not a good person. He was not only cunning but also vicious.
, it seems that this time they have met their opponent.
"The 14th Division wants to cut off the Longhai Line, control the area west of Xuzhou, and cut off our troops in the fifth theater, so we must block the 14th Division here, otherwise our 600,000-strong army in Xuzhou will be finished, so the mission
It’s difficult, you must know your responsibilities.”
"Please rest assured, master, the little devils want to cut off the retreat of our brothers' troops, and we are not vegetarians! I promise to stop them!" Zhang Handuo, the regiment leader, assured the division commander Wang Yaowu.
Now the Japanese army uses some of its elite troops to contain the main force of the Chinese army in the Xuzhou area, and secretly deploys its elite troops to advance in seven directions to attack concentrically, while the rest annihilate the main force of the Chinese army in the Xuzhou area.
Now the 14th Division is responsible for cutting off the Chinese defenders' retreat. As long as the 74th Army can block them, the Chinese troops in the Xuzhou area can withdraw safely, otherwise there will be a risk of annihilation.
You must know that 90% of the Japanese army's national army has been deployed to the North China battlefield. More than one million elite Japanese troops are enough to crush everything. Once the 600,000 troops of the Chinese army are lost, the war situation will be extremely extreme.
unfavorable.
Both Zhang Handuo and Yang Ling understood the importance of this interception. After bidding farewell to Wang Yaowu, they immediately led their troops to advance towards Huilongji.
There was still light near the station, but after leaving the station, it entered darkness. In order to prevent the brothers from falling behind in the dark night, Yang Ling ordered the brothers to go hand in hand with each other.
The war has made the Xuzhou area desolate, and the roads have been pockmarked by bombs. Now it is May, the air is getting warmer, and the corpses on the roadside that were not buried in time exude a stench.
On the way to Huilongji, we encountered four or five villages that were ablaze with raging fires. Many houses had collapsed and turned into rubble. The fire was particularly dazzling in the dark night, which made the recruits who were going to the battlefield for the first time realize that
When you get to the battlefield, it's not just playing house, it's cruelty.
"There's a situation ahead!"
The third battalion led by Yang Ling was walking in front of the whole regiment. Just after passing a burning village, the reconnaissance platoon led by deputy battalion leader Yan Qian sent people back to report that there was a situation ahead.
"Stop advancing, take cover on the spot, and prepare to fight!" Yang Ling did not dare to be careless and immediately ordered the third battalion to stop.
The brothers had already trained during the winter training. Before Yang Ling finished speaking, the team that was originally advancing along the road had already dispersed towards both sides of the road to find hiding places.
"Set up the machine gun, hurry up!" Wang Meng, the company commander, even urged, seizing a mound and setting up the black machine gun.
Seeing that the brothers responded quickly, Yang Ling was also very satisfied. Not long after waiting, the reconnaissance platoon sent someone back to report again. It turned out to be a false alarm.
What they found was not the enemy, but the wounded soldiers sent down from Huilongji. They were all members of the 305th Regiment that had arrived earlier.
Zhang Handuo, the commander in the center, saw the team stop and also led the guard platoon to the front to ask about the situation. Seeing that it was a false alarm, he breathed a sigh of relief. After asking some wounded soldiers about the situation at the front, he ordered the troops to continue.
Head towards Huilongji.
The sound of cannons rolled across the earth like muffled thunder in summer, and the yellow and charred land trembled from time to time. From time to time, strings of fire appeared on the distant horizon, rushing into the smoke that covered half of the sky.
In it, it looks magnificent and terrifying.
The troops of the 301st Regiment were like a dragon swimming in the darkness, meandering forward, passing through bombed-out villages, getting closer and closer to the battlefield with fierce fighting.
The strong smell of gunpowder smoke rushed into the mouths and noses of the brothers. Many recruits were choked and coughed, and some of the recruits vomited only water in their stomachs when facing the rotting corpses on the roadside.
These new recruits screamed on the training ground that they were not inferior to the veterans, but now that they had seen the real battlefield, their feet felt weak and their faces turned pale.
Seeing the embarrassment of the new recruits, the veterans laughed and finally regained some face. The calmness and calmness of the veterans finally regained some vitality in the depressed team.