Chapter six hundred and eighty sixth return with a reward
On October 25, under the cover of the bloody battles of frontline officers and soldiers, and after several months of successive transfers and evacuations, China took the initiative to announce that it would abandon Wuhan.
The Military Commission and the government withdrew to Chongqing, the capital, and the people had already evacuated to the southwestern provinces. Since then, Wuhan, the shining pearl on the Jianghan Plain, fell into the hands of the Japanese.
However, in the Wuhan Defense War that began in June, more than 100 divisions of squadrons inflicted great damage on the Japanese in the peripheral foothills and lake areas, and even wiped out a Japanese division on the southern battlefield.
.
The original plan of the Japanese base camp was to quickly capture Wuhan and force an forced landing in China, but they did not expect that it would turn into a war of attrition.
Months of brutal fighting not only cost the Japanese soldiers a large number of soldiers, but also consumed countless supplies and ammunition.
After capturing Wuhan, after a series of fierce battles, the Japanese were unable to attack again, and the Chinese troops also took the initiative to withdraw. Since then, the Chinese battlefield has entered a stage of strategic stalemate.
As Wuhan announced that it would abandon its defense, the troops on the southern battlefield were also gradually evacuating the De'an area, because the extremely angry Okamura Neji rushed over menacingly.
With the fall of Wuhan, Changsha in the south was immediately threatened by the Japanese troops, and General Xue Yue's First Corps was ordered to withdraw to the Changsha area.
The 74th Army suffered more than 10,000 casualties in the Wanjialing battle. The 58th Division was almost wiped out. Five regiment commanders of the 51st Division, including the acting regiment commander, were injured and killed. The company and platoon officers suffered nearly 200 casualties. It can be said that
It was a brutal beating.
Although the fight was brutal, the 74th Army finally felt proud and proud. Having become famous in the first battle, the 74th Army also became the focus of attention.
We received dozens of telegrams of condolences and congratulations from all parties. General Xue Yue even personally awarded the 74th Army a banner as a mark of commendation, and even allocated 5,000 yuan in advance to express condolences to the wounded soldiers.
Because Yang Ling and the others had many wounded soldiers and were heroic troops on the Wanjialing battlefield, they did not have to walk on foot during the retreat to Changsha.
Yang Ling's 74th Army was ordered to evacuate to Changsha in several routes by train and car, while Yang Ling and his regiment rushed to Changsha by car.
Because several divisions commanded by Neji Okamura attacked aggressively, Yang Ling and the others did not dare to stay long after withdrawing from the Wanjialing battlefield. As the troop transport vehicles arrived, they began to evacuate.
A group of cars with wheels full of mud stopped outside Yang Ling's temporary camp. Yang Ling followed closely and called the officers of the regiment to organize the evacuation of the troops.
"Liu Yidao, take a company of brothers to the front and be responsible for setting up the front line for the entire regiment."
The evacuation from De'an, Jiangxi to Changsha, Hunan is not a short distance. Although there are military stations along the way, Yang Ling is worried. After all, there are too many troops evacuating this time, and I am afraid that the military stations will not be able to take care of them.
Therefore, Liu Yidao was asked to go to the front and be responsible for finding campsites every day, as well as going to the military depot to collect food, salt, oil and other supplies for the troops.
"yes!"
Although Liu Yidao was scratched several times by shrapnel, he was lucky enough to survive and became even more fierce.
As several battalion commanders were transferred and injured, unable to perform their duties normally, Liu Yidao has now become Yang Ling's right-hand man.
"We set off at six o'clock every morning and camp at five o'clock in the evening. You go in front. You must set up the camp and find a way to get some medicine. We have many wounded..."
The wounded in the regiment had minor injuries and serious injuries. The road was bumpy. He was worried that the injuries of the wounded would worsen, so he gave an explanation to Liu Yidao, who was at the front station.
"You go first, and we and the wounded will follow later."
Yang Ling waved his hand and asked Liu Yidao to take the first step with several literate staff officers and the condolence money sent by the division headquarters.
After Liu Yidao and the others left the house, Yang Ling assigned tasks to the remaining officers. It was clear how many people and cars each person was responsible for, but they got separated in confusion on the road.
"The retreat will definitely not be peaceful. Firstly, we must prevent Japanese planes from coming to bomb, and secondly, we must prevent people from taking advantage of the situation along the way. You must pay attention to these..."
In the turbulent times, there were countless rebels and bandits, and Yang Ling and the others had just experienced a war, and they were at their weakest, so they had to beware of these.
The brothers in the regiment had followed Yang Ling all the way from the battlefield, and they didn't dare to disobey Yang Ling's orders, so they all nodded in agreement.
"I would like to make a final statement. I must strictly abide by military disciplines and do not cause any trouble along the way. Once anyone violates military disciplines, I will punish them severely no matter who they are!"
"Yes!" Seeing Yang Ling's sharp tone, everyone was frightened, thinking that they must restrain their brothers when they go back.
"Old Qin, I will assign a platoon of brothers to you, and you will be responsible for supervising the military discipline of the brothers along the way." Yang Ling was worried and ordered Qin Shou, the deputy battalion commander.
It's not that Yang Ling doesn't trust his brothers. The reason why the Chinese army often loses battles is that the strength gap between them and the Japanese is too big, and the military discipline of many troops is not good.
In Yang Ling's mind, a truly strong army must have strict military discipline. This will not only ensure that they maintain strong combat effectiveness on the battlefield, but also gain the support of the people on weekdays.
Now that their regiment has begun to show its prowess, it is considered the main regiment of the 51st Division. Now that their army has become a heroic unit, many people will naturally pay attention to it.
The more people pay attention to you, the more you have to act more cautiously. Once you are caught in a braid due to military discipline and other issues, the consequences will be very serious, so the brothers are vaccinated in advance.
"Any more questions?" Yang Ling asked after assigning the task and looking around at the battalion and company commanders in the regiment.
Company Commander Zhang Heizi raised his hand and said: "Commander, everyone in De'an has almost escaped, and we haven't gotten rid of the things we captured. What should we do?"
Although many Japanese weapons were captured on the battlefield, the calibers of bullets are different after all. Weapons without bullets are almost like scrap metal, and carrying them around is a burden.
Therefore, except for some heavy firepower, most of it was sold on the black market every time. Yang Ling and others did not need the weapons of the Japanese, but there were many private buyers.
These people were either brought back by wealthy landlords to arm their servants to protect their homes, or some people bought them for self-defense. Every time the troops finished fighting, many people would flock to them. This was the black market.
The commanders of the army naturally knew that their brothers were reselling the seized weapons, but they turned a blind eye. As long as they didn't sell the guy who was eating, they didn't bother to take care of it.
After all, the troops sold the captured weapons, and the money they got in exchange was to improve their food, which was enough to make up for the lack of military pay, so why not do it.
But this time, because most of the people in De'an had evacuated, all the troops seized a lot of things, so they didn't sell them.
"Save five cars and load them with everything. We can't sell them here, so we'll sell them as we go."
These things were captured with great difficulty by the brothers, and Yang Ling would not give up so easily.
The brothers captured a lot of weapons in Wanjialing, including more than a thousand usable 38-type rifles, many machine guns, grenades, and mortars, and even two Type 92 infantry guns.
The money exchanged can be used to improve food and purchase medicines for the brothers.