Luowang Station was almost reduced to ruins, with black blood and dead bodies everywhere. Brothers covered in gunpowder and black smoke were on guard with guns everywhere, exuding a fierce murderous aura.
The person leading the team on guard was Captain Shunzi, the company commander. He saw the team coming with the blue sky and white sun flag from a distance. When he saw that it was his own troops arriving, his tense face relaxed and he waved to his brothers to put away their guns.
He trotted up to the regiment leader Zhang Handuo, stood at attention and saluted, and shouted excitedly: "Team leader! We have captured the station!"
The regiment leader Zhang Handuo looked at the soldier in front of him who was smelling of blood and whose uniform was in tatters and dirty, and almost didn't recognize him.
"How did it look like this?" Zhang Handuo, the regiment leader, asked, pointing to Shunzi's dirty military uniform.
Shunzi chuckled and said, "The little Japs wanted to fight to the end, but it took us a lot of effort to capture them."
Although Shunzi said it easily, as if he picked it up at the drop of a hat, Zhang Handuo looked at his blood-stained appearance and knew in his heart that the fight must have been brutal when they captured the heavily guarded Japanese station with exhausted soldiers.
"Thank you so much for your hard work." Zhang Handuo and the others didn't stop all the way. They were exhausted when they got here. He couldn't imagine the hardships Yang Ling and the others went through to travel so far and launch a strong attack.
Zhang Handuo knew that Shunzi and the others were working hard, so he sent a battalion commander Lu Xing to take over the guard role when they were exhausted. This moved the captain and company commander Shunzi greatly.
"Where's Deputy Commander Yang? Why didn't you see him?" Zhang Handuo looked around and saw Yang Ling and the others, so he pulled Shunzi and asked.
Shunzi pointed to the station and said: "We have rescued some brothers who were captured by the Japanese, and the regimental deputy is giving them instructions."
"Oh, they actually rescued our captured brothers. This is a good thing. You lead the way and I'll go take a look."
Hearing that Yang Ling and the others had rescued some captured brothers, Zhang Handuo became interested and followed Shunzi to the station.
Stepping on the broken rubble and solidified blood, looking at the collapsed houses and walls riddled with bullet holes, as well as the corpses of both sides on the ground in various strange shapes, Zhang Handuo felt a mixture of emotions in his heart, which was a little heavy.
It was obvious that it was not all smooth sailing for Yang Ling and the others to capture the station. There were many brothers wearing German-style helmets lying among the ruins. Some were beaten into pieces, and some still had grenades in their hands. They all died defending their country.
In the battle, it is worthy of admiration.
"Send someone to collect our brothers, let them bury them in peace, leave their belongings, register their names, and send them back to their hometowns when there is time."
Zhang Handuo felt uncomfortable seeing so many brothers sacrificed, and asked his adjutant to send someone to collect the bodies.
"Team seats!"
"Team seats!"
…
On the chaotic battlefield, covered with grenades and seized supplies, the brothers saw the regimental leader arriving and stood at attention, saluting and saying hello.
"Brothers, you fought well, I want to take credit for you!" Zhang Handuo looked at these exhausted brothers and was greatly moved. His words also won applause from the brothers.
In the waiting room of the station, the surroundings were filled with brothers who were armed with live ammunition. More than two hundred soldiers in ragged clothes were surrounded in the center. They were gobbling food into their mouths regardless of the muzzles of the guns around them.
They discovered these two hundred people in the stew car parked on the platform. They were all Chinese soldiers who were unfortunately captured by the Japanese on the battlefield. The Japanese did not kill them, but tried to force them to surrender by starving them.
Go to the enemy to form a security army.
"Sir, I want to drink water." A soldier with his mouth full of food saw Yang Ling standing there with a cold face and asked for a drink of water.
Yang Ling nodded to Hu Zi, the orderly behind him, and said, "Give him water."
Huzi took off his kettle and handed it to the soldier. He unscrewed the lid, raised his head and poured it down his throat, watching the pot of water reach the bottom.
"Thank you, sir." The soldier wiped the food residue from the corner of his mouth, returned the kettle to Huzi, and thanked Yang Ling.
"Have you eaten enough? If you haven't eaten, you still have." Yang Ling looked at the soldier and said.
"Sir, I'm full. Thank you for saving my life, sir."
Yang Ling sat on the ammunition box, nodded and said, "Okay, since you're full, come over here and I'll ask you something."
"Yes!" The soldier was very cooperative. They were rescued by Yang Ling, and his heart was full of gratitude, so he didn't hesitate at all.
"What's your name? What's your original unit number?" Looking at the soldiers standing in front of him, Yang Ling asked three questions in one breath.
"Sir, my name is Wang Dongming, second lieutenant platoon leader of the Seventh Army!" The soldier puffed up his chest and answered with a little pride.
"Seventh Army, from Guangxi?" Seeing the soldier's proud reply, Yang Ling did not expect that he was a brother from the Gui Army.
Wang Dongming replied: "Sir, I volunteered as a soldier when the Seventh Army passed by Hefei. I am from Guangxi. I originally studied in Shanghai. Later, Shanghai fell and I moved to Hefei. Who knew that the Japs were chasing me again..."
Hearing what Wang Dongming said, Yang Ling was not surprised. The troops suffered heavy losses when they went to the battlefield, and it was common for them to replenish their troops along the way.
Nowadays, the anti-Japanese enthusiasm in the country is rising. With the extensive publicity by patriots, aspiring young people have devoted themselves to joining the army. There are more than thousands of scholars like Wang Dongming who have joined the army to protect their homes and country.
"Why were you captured by the Japanese?" Yang Ling stared at Wang Dongming again and asked.
Wang Dongming answered accurately: "When our battalion was retreating, we were bitten by the Japanese and did not stand out. Most of the brothers died. I was knocked unconscious by the shell and then captured."
Yang Ling kept staring at Wang Dongming, seeing that his facial expression did not change at all, and felt that he did not seem to be lying, so he nodded slightly.
"Then do you know why the Japanese didn't kill you?"
"The Japs said that as long as we surrendered, our officers could be reinstated and sent to the rear to maintain local security. However, the brothers had a blood feud with the Japs, so naturally they refused to comply. In order to force us to surrender, all officers above the captain level were killed by the Japs.
, said he was killed to show us!"
Wang Dongming gritted his teeth when he said this: "But we are all Chinese, how could we be traitors? Brothers decided to fight to the end. The Japanese just cut off our food and prepared to starve us to death."
After hearing Wang Dongming's narration, Yang Ling finally figured out the situation. He called some people out to ask and got similar answers.
These brothers who were captured by the Japanese were from the Northeast Army, the Guangxi Army and the Sichuan Army. Most of them were dispersed or defeated and captured. However, they all gritted their teeth and refused to surrender, so they were almost starved to death by the Japanese.
"Regiment deputy, regimental leader and the others are here." Just as Yang Ling was comforting the rescued brothers, Hu Zi pointed at Zhang Handuo, who was walking from a distance, and reminded him.
Seeing the regiment leader Zhang Handuo being surrounded by everyone, Yang Ling finally let go of his worries. As long as their main force arrived, they would no longer be afraid of the Japanese counterattack at the station.
Yang Ling asked Wang Huzi to stay and continue to comfort the rescued brothers, while he turned and walked towards the group leader Zhang Handuo.