The Japanese soldiers were like wild dogs smelling the smell of blood, pursuing Zhang Liechen and his party who had lost the battle.
These Japanese soldiers are all elites drawn from the combat troops. Although they are small in number, they are powerful. In groups of three or five, they are really arrogant.
"Snapped!"
The crisp sound of gunfire echoed in the rural fields. The guerrilla officers and soldiers who had run out of bullets fell down in the muddy fields with blood splattering on their bodies as they ran.
The Japanese combat team quickly caught up and stabbed the injured guerrilla officers and soldiers who fell to the ground. White knives went in and red knives came out, constantly killing the guerrilla officers and soldiers who were scattered in panic and running for their lives.
"Haha, these Chinese people are really too weak."
A Japanese sergeant wiped the blood from his bayonet on the dead guerrilla officers and soldiers with a look of disdain on his face.
"Anyone who goes against our Imperial Japanese Army will not end well!"
A Japanese soldier pointed his gun at the guerrilla officers and soldiers who were fleeing in the distance, then pulled the trigger.
"puff!"
The dull sound of bullets penetrating gunshots was heard, and the running guerrilla officers and soldiers staggered. After running a few steps, they fell straight down.
These small and small groups of Japanese fighting groups seemed not to be chasing, but just playing around. They calmly shot and killed the guerrilla officers and soldiers who were fleeing for their lives.
The officers and soldiers belonging to the third detachment of the guerrilla column are composed of a mixed composition, including regular army soldiers stranded behind enemy lines and people from the local security group...
They were originally mixed into a guerrilla detachment. On weekdays, they were fine. They were able to show some strength under the command of their commanders.
But at this moment, the army was defeated like a mountain. The officers sacrificed their lives, ran away, and were captured. They were like headless flies. They had no courage to turn around and fight. They only wanted to escape.
Already.
They are the epitome of the troops sent by Chongqing to fight guerrillas behind enemy lines. They are accustomed to frontal combat. Even behind enemy lines, they still defend counties and towns and fight the Japanese to the death.
Facing the overwhelming superiority of the Japanese troops, these guerrilla officers and soldiers who guarded the towns behind enemy lines would naturally be defeated one by one, so that the nearly one million Chinese officers and soldiers sent behind enemy lines were exhausted in just a few years.
If they were on a frontal battlefield, it would be okay for them to fight for every inch of territory with the Japanese. After all, there were many troops fighting together, and there was a unified command system and logistics system.
However, in the occupied areas behind enemy lines, they were distributed in various towns and counties and were still engaged in positional warfare. Without support, they would inevitably fail.
And now the Chinese *** troops behind enemy lines include several army groups, and every operation requires the entire regiment and entire battalion to move. Although there are many people and strength, for guerrilla operations behind enemy lines, it is not necessary to send troops behind enemy lines at this time.
Chinese officers and soldiers have not yet adapted to real guerrilla warfare.
The Japanese and puppet troops pursued them all over the mountains and plains, while the disgraced Zhang Liechen and others fled in a panic.
"Follow me! I want you alive and dead!"
The puppet battalion commander Zhang Lezi was panting from exhaustion, but at this moment the guerrillas had failed, and he still had scruples, so he led the puppet troops in pursuit even more fiercely than the Japanese.
Most of these puppet soldiers are local idle gangsters and people who are greedy for life and afraid of death. How could they miss this good opportunity to make meritorious deeds at this moment?
Zhang Liechen, the acting detachment leader of the Third Guerrilla Detachment, had his calf pierced by a bullet, and his pants were soaked with blood. He was carried on his back and fled in panic under the cover of a group of officers and soldiers.
Gunshots continued to be heard from behind. Fortunately, they were familiar with the local terrain and ran out for more than ten miles. With the help of the cover of the reeds, they were able to escape from the pursuers.
They had not stopped since they broke out of Qinghe Town. Their legs were as heavy as lead. Seeing that the sound of gunfire was far away, they found a forest to stop and rest.
Although the pursuers escaped alive and broke out alive, the number of nearly a thousand members of the third guerrilla detachment was counted. In just a few hours, less than 200 people were left, and the lives and deaths of the others were unknown.
And these people who broke out were all covered in mud and smoke, and looked quite embarrassed with blood stains. They were paralyzed on the ground, and they didn't have half of their fighting power.
The originally strong Third Guerrilla Detachment now turned into this miserable appearance. Zhang Liechen was also ashen-faced. He lost his stronghold in Qinghe Town and suffered such heavy losses. How could he face the commander of the Ninth Guerrilla Column without being shot?
It's weird.
These guerrilla detachments have divided their own guerrilla zones. He couldn't lose face if he was asked to defect to a friendly detachment. Even if he went, it would be regarded as being under someone else's fence, and he was not willing to do so.
Zhang Liechen, who was high-spirited just a few hours ago, suddenly found that he had no place to stand in the huge enemy rear.
"Sir, what should we do?"
Now the fighting was so miserable. Not only had the ammunition been exhausted, but because of the urgency of breaking out, they had brought nothing with them. At this moment, the officers and soldiers who were hungry, tired, and scarred were extremely confused.
Zhang Liechen didn't know where to go now. The soldiers were gone, the town was lost, and he didn't dare to look for the chief.
"Otherwise, why don't we surrender..."
Seeing the hesitant Zhang Liechen, a platoon leader made this suggestion in frustration.
After all, people need to eat and drink. Now that they have been driven out of the town, they have no place to stand. If they just work like this, they will starve to death if they are not discovered by the Japanese and puppet troops who are suppressing them.
"What the hell did you say?"
When another platoon leader heard the suggestion of surrender, he became furious and rushed over and slapped him in the face.
"It's not like you don't know that we have a bloody feud with the little devil. You actually want to be a traitor. I won't kill you until you die!"
The platoon leader with an angry face threw the platoon leader who made the suggestion to the ground, waving his fist and smashing it down.
Naturally, the platoon leader who made the suggestion would not be beaten in vain. He also roared angrily: "I am doing it for the sake of my brothers. Surrendering can help me find a way to survive! We have no place to go now. We can't starve to death here."
Here, the injured brothers have no medicine to heal them and will die!"
"I don't care what your reasons are, as long as you want to be a traitor!"
The two bloodstained platoon leaders were fighting angrily and scolding each other, while the people around them had their heads drooped and had no strength to stop the fight. They were all looking at Zhang Liechen, waiting for him to make up his mind.
"That's enough! Stop it, everyone!"
Zhang Liechen's leg hurt so much that he grinned. Even when he was upset, the people in the team were not united, which made him very angry.
Although the battle was defeated, Zhang Liechen still had some prestige after all. He shouted coldly, and the two people who were struggling separated from each other unconvinced.
"Although I, Zhang Liechen, am now in dire straits, I am Chinese, and I will not work as a dog for the Japanese even if I die! If anyone dares to surrender again, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
Zhang Liechen spoke, and those who had these thoughts had to give up the idea of ​​surrender. After all, they knew that Zhang Liechen always spoke the truth.
"Captain, where should we go next?"
Since they cannot surrender, the real problem arises. Now that their nest has been taken away, where to go becomes a problem.
Zhang Liechen also frowned, was stunned for a while and said: "Go to Xiaowangzhuang to settle down first, and then make plans."
Since we can't go back to the town, we have to go to the countryside to temporarily avoid the enemy soldiers.