Regarding Zhang Boting's arrival, Xie Jinyuan showed enough respect for his subordinates. After being notified by the sentry, he not only greeted him personally, but also notified the other two officers of the 542 regiment, Shangguan Yunbiao and Yang Ruifu, and asked the four major companies under his command
Let's assemble together at the headquarters.
But Zhang Boting had a cold face the whole time and didn't say a word.
Obviously, the Army Major General was very dissatisfied that the defenders of Sihang Warehouse ignored the order. It was not until he walked into the headquarters and saw the bullet holes in the wireless field radio placed on the table that his expression softened a lot.
"Take a seat, there is no tea here, only hot water." Xie Jinyuan saw that his immediate boss's face softened, and immediately waved outside to ask the orderly to pour water.
"I won't drink the water, Zhong Min Na! Master and I both know how hard it is for you and your brothers to fight against the Japanese invaders here, but you..." Zhang Boting, who looked much more relaxed, waved his hand and refused.
"You must have received the military orders from the division headquarters and theater headquarters, right?"
Seeing that Xie Jinyuan wanted to speak, he frowned slightly, and without waiting for Xie Jinyuan's explanation, he added: "Don't tell me that you didn't receive it. Although the field radio was broken, the agents of the Military Commission's Investigation Bureau last night took a copy of the radio with a cover stamped with the commander of the theater.
Where is the person who entered your Sixings Warehouse with the military order signed by the general's seal and the master's handwriting?"
"Where are the people locked up?" A wry smile appeared on Xie Jinyuan's face. "Come on, sir, the military order I received earlier was to defend Sihang Warehouse, the last position in our theater in Zhabei, Shanghai. Suddenly I received such a message that was contrary to the military order.
How can I believe the order? Moreover, after fire reconnaissance, the Japanese army has ambushed heavy machine gun positions on both flanks. It is clearly a premeditated ambush. How can you expect me and my brothers to easily believe that military order? If so.
The Japanese aggressors forged it to trick our army, so I, Xie Jinyuan, am the sinner of our 88th Division and the Third War Zone!"
"What's more, my brothers and I have decided to defend this place at all costs to inspire the determination of the entire Chinese nation to resist the war. I also hope that the counselor will convey the determination of myself and all the officers and soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the 542nd Regiment to the division commander and Deputy Commander Gu.
, even if the battle is fought to the last soldier, this position will still belong to us Chinese." Xie Jinyuan puffed up his chest and said with a solemn expression.
"Follow your commander to the death!"
"Fight the Japanese invaders to the bitter end!"
"Live and die with Sihang Warehouse!"
...
Following Xie Jinyuan's statement, several company commanders who were shocked when they suddenly heard the order to withdraw troops from the war zone calmed down and made impassioned speeches filled with indignation. Obviously, although Xie Jinyuan had just been transferred from chief of staff to chief of staff two months ago,
He serves as the deputy and acting commander of the regiment, but through his personality charm and commanding ability, he has been recognized by these junior officers. Even if he wants to lead everyone to hell, these junior officers will follow him to the death.
Of course, what drove them to make such a decision was not only Xie Jinyuan's control over the troops under his command, but more importantly, the national responsibility that had become increasingly high in the past few days.
Tens of thousands of people accompanied them in the rain of bullets, and women in Tsing Yi and Cheongsam stepped forward and sang. Tens of thousands of people sang in unison, "Cut off the heads of the devils with the broadsword." Do you think it only inspired ordinary people? No, it also inspired these soldiers.
.In those two days, they no longer thought that they were just alone. They could feel the support of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of millions of people behind them. As their commander said, they were like firewood, burning themselves to light up the hearts of all Chinese people.
The fire, the fire that resists aggression.
It turns out that I can actually become the firebrand of a nation?
They are soldiers, but they are also ordinary people. But ordinary people also have big dreams in their hearts, dreaming that they are no longer ordinary. And this battle made them feel that they may no longer be ordinary, and they have the opportunity to become heroes in the eyes of the people.
Even if they burn to ashes, their names will be written on the commemorative plaque of China's victory in the war of resistance in the future.
That would be extremely glorious.
Zhang Boting's gaze passed over the faces of the four lieutenants, and what he saw was that they were all determined. The expressions on their faces remained unchanged, but there was emotion in their eyes.
As a soldier, he could feel that the intentions of these young lieutenants were not deceptive in the slightest.
However, regimental deputy Shangguan Yunbiao and battalion commander Yang Ruifu exchanged glances with each other without revealing any trace.
A little weird.
As one of the only three school officers here, the top commander Xie Jinyuan had already told them during the day about the detention of a secret agent holding a war zone military order last night. In fact, the Japanese army deployed heavy artillery to deter Sihang Warehouse.
From the analysis of the bombardment, they have felt that the warrant is most likely true. This is because the group of Westerners who are afraid of harming Chiyu are likely to put pressure on the government, and based on the current ambiguous attitude of the government in not declaring war on Japan,
It is even more likely that they will give in to the Westerners and issue this military withdrawal order that changes every day.
To be honest, from a personal emotional point of view, neither of these two people are willing to evacuate. Moreover, they have not suffered many casualties in the past two days, and they have achieved such great results and killed so many Japanese troops. They are even less willing.
Evacuated.
Therefore, we simply followed Xie Jinyuan's wishes and regarded the secret agent as a Japanese spy. However, no one was too smart to mention shooting the Japanese spy.
The poor "spy" who had been beaten was forgotten.
But now, the chief of staff of the division is here, and this matter cannot be concealed just by pretending to be stupid. The officers headed by Xie Jinyuan can only rely on hard resistance with impassioned speeches.
However, after Deng Ying and others spoke in support of Xie Jinyuan, Lei Xiong, who had the most violent temperament and should have jumped up long ago, did not say a word at this time, and Lieutenant Chen of the Independent Regiment was not here either. This made the two
A school official smelled a strange smell.
But to be able to get along with the school officials, these two people are naturally people with high emotional intelligence. They looked at each other silently and did not make it clear. Instead, they stood firmly behind Xie Jinyuan and expressed their position. "Please refer to
It is clear to me that all the officers and soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the 542nd Regiment are willing to live and die with Sihang Warehouse and will never disappoint the expectations of the division headquarters, theater and military committee."
"What do you think? What should I say?" This time, it was Zhang Boting who smiled bitterly.
Sighing slightly, Zhang Boting calmed down and said seriously: "Zhongmin Na! The reason why I came in person this time is precisely because I was entrusted by Deputy Commander Gu to convey the military orders of the theater headquarters to you and your brothers.
.In this battle, our army has achieved the desired results. Not only the people in the concession are excited, but you don't know that the whole of China and overseas Chinese have heard of your deeds and fought the Japanese army in the desperate area of Sihang Warehouse.
Four days and three nights severely damaged the Japanese 36th Regiment, forcing the Japanese 36th Infantry Regiment to replenish its troops for the second time. Whether politically or militarily, the 542nd Regiment of our 88th Division achieved success in this battle.
A huge victory. You are all heroes. Although the promotion order from the Military and Political Department has not yet reached the war zone, I estimate that it will be no problem for all the brothers who enter this position to be promoted to one level.
Retreat! There is no point in holding on any longer. Are you, Xie Zhongmin, going to let all 400 brothers die here just to make yourself famous in history? During the day, Commander Yang, the Shanghai garrison commander, and I once again found the Concession Industry Bureau and the garrison commander Smallet.
The brigadier general negotiated that our troops would remain armed after retreating to the concession, and would detour back to the division headquarters in a few days, and could continue to fight the Japanese army. Tonight at 2 o'clock in the morning, it was the retreat time agreed upon by us and the concession authorities, and we were guarding the Sihang Warehouse.
The entire army retreated into the concession through the Suzhou River Bridge. As for the Japanese army, the concession authorities negotiated with them. To ensure safety, the concession garrison even deployed mortars in the bridgehead fortifications. If necessary, they would attack our troops crossing the bridge.
Troops provide covering fire."
It has to be said that this Army Major General Chief of Staff is definitely a qualified lobbyist. His persuasion is well-founded and has a strong aura of bewitching. The mission has been completed, and there is no need to die, and there are officials and titles, and even the retreat route.
and safety were guaranteed. In the past time and space, Xie Jinyuan could not hold on. Under such persuasion, he could only withdraw his troops with hatred.
As Zhang Boting said, he, Xie Jinyuan, had the intention to sacrifice his life for charity, but how could he let 400 brothers accompany him to hell? The record of this battle in the history books must be: Lieutenant Colonel Xie Jinyuan led his troops to defend the Sixing Warehouse.
The entire army died in a bloody battle. No one can record everyone's names in the book, and there may only be a few people who can leave their names. This rhetoric may be the last straw that defeats Xie Jinyuan, a patriotic general.
But at this time, Xie Jinyuan, who knew after last night's test that the Japanese army hated his troops to the core and wanted to kill them, understood very well that the Japanese army would definitely continue to put pressure on the concession authorities as Chen Yunfa said.
What the chief of staff of the division with excellent connections discussed with those reneging Westerners was probably just a scrap of paper. If he was disarmed and handed over to the Japanese without any resistance, he might as well have died here.
Better come.
But just disobeying the military orders of his superiors was not what Xie Jinyuan wanted. Especially after seeing that the two school officers and several lieutenants did not object too fiercely this time, and it was obvious that they were also persuaded, Xie Jinyuan finally fell silent.
.
This choice was obviously difficult. For a long time, Xie Jinyuan, who had been thinking silently with his head down, finally raised his head and spoke.
"Okay! Since it is a military order from the theater headquarters, Xie will obey the order." Xie Jinyuan said solemnly.
"The ministries went back to prepare for the evacuation at 2 a.m.. The 2nd company took the lead with its own equipment, and the 3rd company carried its own equipment in the middle to protect the cannon company. The cannon company was responsible for carrying ten heavy machine guns, four mortars and ammunition, and the rest of the heavy equipment was left behind.
The first company is responsible for covering. After most of the army crosses the Suzhou River Bridge and enters the concession, explosives will be deployed inside the warehouse. The explosives are equivalent to destroying the four-row warehouse without endangering the concession." Xie Jinyuan was very straightforward. Since he said to evacuate, he would do it quickly.
Order the deployment of evacuation matters.
Zhang Boting secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally, he persuaded this somewhat rigid subordinate, and finally he was able to give an explanation to the big shots. Although both he and his commander Sun Yuan felt aggrieved in their consciences, the battle went well, it was 88
When the division was famous at home and abroad, it had to withdraw its troops because of the Japanese devils' tricks. Who wouldn't feel disgusted? But he also knew the helplessness involved.
I really hate that!
But no one present saw the firmness flashing in Xie Jinyuan's eyes the moment he raised his head.
And, the cold light burst out from Lei Xiong's eyes, who had been silent all this time, after he heard Xie Jinyuan's retreat order and arrangements.