Chapter six hundred and eighty seventh wind and rain road
The autumn rain is continuous, and the drizzle is like a gray gauze covering the sky and the earth. All the scenery in the field of vision is gray and unreal.
Troops from several armies were crowded on the muddy road evacuating to Hunan. The car horns kept honking, making it noisy and chaotic. The refugees with their families were also trudging through the light rain. The long queue was unforgettable.
to the end.
"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"
The car soldiers honked their horns and leaned out of the car windows to shout, but there were too many people crowding the road, and the team crawled as slowly as a snail.
From time to time, a car rolled over the mud pit, splashing a large amount of muddy water onto the marching officers and soldiers on the roadside, causing waves of curses.
After winning the battle and having to retreat, the officers and soldiers were in a depressed mood and their tempers became particularly bad. They would scold or even take action if they disagreed.
From the Nanxun line to the Wanjialing battlefield, although the troops of several armies commanded by General Xue Yue always firmly controlled the battlefield situation, the price paid was the casualties of tens of thousands of officers and soldiers.
Among the retreating officers and soldiers, almost all their familiar brothers were lying on the battlefield, unable to wake up again. They felt so uncomfortable that it was difficult to vent their emotions.
Under the rain, the atmosphere was dull and depressing. Compared to the cold autumn rain, the faces of the refugees who had left their homes were full of misery.
Although this time the Chinese Communist Party took the initiative to make a strategic retreat after fighting the Japanese for four or five months and consuming a large amount of the Japanese's manpower, for the army and the refugees, there is no difference between a forced retreat and an active retreat.
They also left their hometowns and were in a precarious situation and became homeless from now on.
Several elite divisions of the 11th Army commanded by Okamura Neiji, in order to avenge the 106th Division's encirclement and annihilation, have aggressively pursued them from behind.
The troops acting as rear guards and the Japanese forwards were already engaged in a firefight. The roaring sound of artillery was like muffled thunder, constantly coming from the invisible horizon behind them, making the retreating team even more bored and anxious.
Washed by the autumn rain, there was already a chill in the air. The ragged and thinly-clad brothers of the 301st Regiment were swaying in a bumpy car. Compared to the friendly troops who retreated on foot, their treatment was much better.
The troops of the 74th Army were almost wiped out from both divisions in the battle of Wanjialing, but the bloody battle at Changling in Zhanggushan also made them famous in one battle and became a glorious heroic unit.
They belonged to the direct line of the Central Army, and they fought brilliantly in this battle. Under the deliberate instruction of someone, they received vigorous publicity from major newspapers, and everyone in the country knew about it.
But behind this scenery was the cynicism and cold eyes of the friendly forces. After all, in addition to the 74th Army, the Battle of Wanjialing also involved a large number of troops such as the 4th and 66th Army. All troops suffered heavy casualties.
Now, in order to publicize this victory, the Military Commission has vigorously promoted the establishment of the 74th Army, a direct line of the Central Army, as a heroic unit capable of fighting tough battles, while only briefly mentioning the other participating units, which naturally caused dissatisfaction and grievances among friendly officers and soldiers.
The 74th Army was suddenly pushed to the forefront of the storm. On the surface, it seemed to have unlimited glory, but behind the scenes, the gap between it and its friendly forces was getting wider and wider.
The officers and soldiers of the 74th Army made huge sacrifices for this honor. They feel that they deserve the commendation telegrams and vigorous publicity and cannot be slandered.
The other troops participating in the war vented their grievances on the 74th Army, which had been unparalleled for a while because of Shangfeng's indifference to them.
The result of this is that the officers and soldiers of both sides have frictions and conflicts from time to time. The brothers fighting side by side on the battlefield have become as powerful as the enemy.
Faced with the fights and frictions that occurred from time to time, Yang Ling was also helpless. In fact, these grassroots combat troops did not have any grudges. After all, they had fought the Japanese together. However, due to the unfairness of the superiors, they were not immune.
"Let the brothers be more patient when encountering difficulties and engage in military and military affairs without authorization."
There were many conflicts with friendly brothers along the way, so Yang Ling had to order to restrain the troops to prevent things from getting bigger.
As long as these days have passed and the grievances in the friendly troops' hearts have dissipated, they will naturally not come to provoke.
Cars filled with evacuating officers and soldiers moved slowly on the crowded highway, covering only a few dozen kilometers in a whole day.
The brothers had just escaped from a cruel battle, and they were all exhausted. They had sacrificed so many brothers, and they were full of worries and were silent and leaning in the carriage to sleep.
In the evening, the convoy stopped at a town and prepared to camp. The curtains were lifted, and in the drizzle, officers, soldiers and refugees wearing various military uniforms had crowded the town. Thousands of feet trampled the ground like vomit.
It was like rotten tofu, wet and muddy, and the scene was chaotic and noisy.
"Get off the car, get off the car! Take care of your belongings!"
When the car stopped, the leaders of each battalion started shouting at each car, and the brothers began to get out of the car.
"This is such a horrible weather. I haven't seen the rain stop since I entered Hunan..."
Zhang Qingyun, the regiment's chief of staff, also jumped out of the car, but the mud on the ground immediately covered his new layer of mud with a large ball of mud. He stretched his legs to shake the mud and cursed in a low voice.
"We were able to get here smoothly thanks to the rain. I think we have to thank it." Yang Ling looked at Zhang Qingyun, the grumbling regimental chief of staff, and said with a smile.
"Tuanzuo, it's raining so much that it's all moldy. I can't even scold it, so why are you thanking it?"
Yang Ling asked back: "When it rains, the Japanese fighter jets and bombers will be on the ground. Do you think I should thank him?"
The Chinese Air Force is weak. If one aircraft is lost, it will have to spend a lot of money to buy one abroad. The money used to buy the aircraft is enough to buy a lot of ammunition, so it should be used very preciously.
The result of this is that in most battlefields, the air supremacy belongs to the Japanese. Faced with bombing and strafing by Japanese aircraft, the frontline combat troops are miserable.
Yang Ling could vaguely remember that when retreating from Shanghai, swarms of Japanese planes bombarded the Chinese Army's retreat road, and the retreat road became littered with corpses. The tragic scene was still vivid in his mind.
Although several divisions commanded by Neji Okamura are pressing forward from behind aggressively, China's roads are all dirt roads and the quality is very poor.
The tanks and heavy artillery were stuck and unable to move, and the aircraft could not be dispatched. It must be said that Yang Ling and the others were lucky.
"That's true. In that case, we really have to thank God for helping us a lot." Chief of Staff Zhang Qingyun also frowned.
"Chief of Staff Zhang, you are now considered the main officer in the regiment. You should be less noisy like this in the future. We must set an example for our brothers, what do you think?"
Zhang Qingyun also felt that it was indeed unbecoming of a superior to make a fuss in front of his brothers. Yang Ling said this for his own good and quickly agreed.
"I have arranged the group seats and accommodation." During the conversation, Liu Yidao, who was in charge of the front station, strode over through the mud.