"Okay! With the word 'fight to the death' from you, Captain Tang, I feel relieved!" Commander Liu followed Tang Dao's bloody "fight to the death" with joy on his face and a soft roar from his mouth.
Obviously, this is what he is thinking, but he needs Tang Dao, the most combat-effective infantry regiment, to express his attitude. If Tang Dao is not eager to fight and prefers to preserve his strength, then even if he is suppressed by his reputation as the frontline commander With the four groups fighting to the death, the final outcome of this battle is about to come out!
What he needs is for the whole army to work together!
Fortunately, Tang Dao has never disappointed anyone, and his tenacity is even stronger than that of his veterans.
Otherwise, why didn't the chief of staff, who had the same rank as him, not come on such an important occasion? That's because before that, he, his partner and the chief of staff had reached an agreement, no matter how difficult and difficult the battle was, or even the entire battle. With all the troops in power, this battle must be fought.
They may die, but if this battle can inflict pain on the Japanese North China Front, it will not only provide sufficient support for the overall strategic situation, but also tell the soldiers and civilians across the country with their blood that the Japanese invaders are not actually that strong!
You see, even if the Japanese army gathered a large number of troops, not only with aircraft and artillery, but also with the strength of the troops, they would still suffer heavy losses.
This battle may be able to completely get rid of the concept that to fight the Japanese, we must double or even triple the number of troops!
War is fought not only on the quality and equipment of soldiers, but also on confidence! If you are timid before fighting, your momentum will be a bit weak, let alone defeat! It is extremely difficult to win.
This concept of future famous generals will be thoroughly confirmed in the Battle of the Icefields. The generation gap in the equipment of the Sixteen-Nation Allied Forces led by the United States is even greater than that of the Chinese army and the Japanese army in this era, but after the Great Patriotic War, the The Chinese army is so confident that it will not be afraid of any enemy. An infantry platoon dares to penetrate the rear of an American cowboy army armed to the teeth.
It is precisely based on this belief that I am the strongest infantryman that I am able to compete equally with the American cowboys who have the best equipment in the world.
The strategic vision of this famous general has even surpassed this era. Even though he would sacrifice his life in this battle, he still made this decision.
In another small farmhouse less than a mile away from the frontline headquarters, the No. 2 commander of the 921 Division and the chief of staff were conducting a pre-war mobilization meeting for the chief officers above the battalion level of the 921 Division.
The theme is also: Fight to the death!
At this moment, the communications staff officer of the 921st Division sent a telegram with a solemn expression.
That was a top-secret message sent by the Four Elements Group.
"Our regiment's reconnaissance company reported on the 4th: There are Japanese armored trains shuttled back and forth in the HD Ping-Han Line area, and a large number of Japanese engineers are repairing the damaged railway section, indicating that a Japanese troop transport train is about to pass;
Our regiment's reconnaissance company reported on the 8th: There are a large number of Japanese cavalry in the section from Yangquan to eastern Shanxi, and the number is no less than one regiment. If they are the leading troops, the Japanese army will not be able to reduce the strength of an infantry brigade!"
Several people in the room looked solemn. They were all people with extremely rich combat experience, and they instantly understood the seriousness of the two reconnaissance reports.
Among the Japanese special trains passing through the HD area, who else could be there besides the 18th Division that had already gone to the north bank of the Yellow River and was crossing the river?
Apparently, the Japanese killed a carbine, an extremely deadly carbine!
That was a fully-staffed Japanese Class A division. In the past, at least one infantry corps was needed to confront it.
Now, with railways and special trains, it only takes them two days at most to penetrate the flank of eastern Shanxi, like a big gun that can reach the heart.
The Japanese troops dispatched by Yangquan were only spearheads and included up to a cavalry regiment. This also indicates the size of the follow-up troops. An infantry brigade may be just the estimate of the scouts to comfort themselves.
What's even more terrible is that although the number of this Japanese army is not known, it can come from the direction of Yuancheng. Furthermore, considering that the Japanese North China Front Army Headquarters has been planning for a long time, perhaps its number is already ready to be revealed.
The 5th Division is not an old rival to everyone here, but a mere baggage detachment can compete with an elite force like the 511th Division for nearly a day. Just thinking about it makes one's scalp numb.
By this time, the Japanese army's tactical deployment had basically been made clear.
On the front of Jindong, there will be a section of the 20th Division that has joined with at least one division to cross the plain and approach; on the entire flank, there will be the 18th Division and a section of the 20th Division who are fighting back;
Parts of the 5th Division were approaching even more.
If we fight, the Fifth Division and the Regiment, which are already in the Taihang Mountains of eastern Shanxi, will face enemies from three sides, and every place will be extremely difficult.
And as long as one line of defense is broken, it means the entire line collapses!
If Kang Dao's "death battle" passionately said before was just to show his resolute attitude, now it has almost become inevitable.
Faced with this situation, even though he was as tough as a Tang sword, he couldn't help but frown severely.
This situation is actually much more difficult than the battle to defend Shandong a year ago.
After all, in the Jindong defense battle a year ago, the Chinese defenders at Niangziguan only had to face the impact of the 20th Division and two mixed brigades. The backside was not occupied by the Japanese army. They only had to defend a line of defense.
Just fine.
But now, the 75,000-strong army has to face enemies on three sides, and the Japanese invaders are no less powerful than our own.
"I didn't expect it! This time I come to Shanxi again, our 17th Division will be in the same situation as a year ago!" The white-haired general who had been sitting next to him without saying a word sighed slightly.
Faced with such a crisis, the white-haired general who had always been a man of few words actually burst into laughter while sighing. "Moreover, the opponent may be the 20th Division. Everyone, do you think this is the legendary cause and effect?"
"Brother Moriyama! Do you want to..." Mr. Liu turned his attention to this old friend who he had met a few years ago.
Of course he can feel the turbulent fighting spirit hidden under the calmness of his old friend!
"Brother Bo Jian, all the intelligence has shown that the Japanese army has been prepared for a long time, or has laid a dragnet and waited for our army to enter the urn. But now that we have noticed it, we will naturally not set foot in the plains again. The Japanese army will definitely not
If he gives up, he will definitely pursue my entire army." The white-haired general pointed his finger at a certain spot on the map.
"Then this place must be the place where they march! I want to ask Brother Bojian for your order to hand over this place to our 17th Division for defense. On behalf of our 17th Division Headquarters, I make a guarantee to the frontline headquarters: In this battle, we will
The division's position may be lost, but no one from the 17th Division, including me, Lao Zhao, will ever leave the position!"
The white-haired general did not speak as cheerfully and passionately as the young Tang Dao. When he said such a decisive guarantee, "No one will ever die again!", his face was even calm without any waves!
Only the mountain breeze from the main room window gently caressed the white hair between his ears and temples!
The moment he saw this scene, Tang Dao felt an extremely rare chill in his chest!
Even Tang Dao, a soldier who has seen countless deaths in hundreds of battles, has rarely experienced such intense murderous intent and deep-seated hatred.
Seeing that the white-haired general's fingers had never left that spot on the map, Tang Dao instantly understood why the man in front of him was acting like this.
Perhaps, only those who have a special understanding of this person’s experience will understand the heart-breaking pain contained in his word ‘Zai’!
Because, he has left there before, but this time, he will never leave again.
The location pointed by the white-haired general was unfamiliar to many people, but to him, it was unforgettable.
‘Fulululing’ is a name destined to be resounding throughout northern China in the future.
At the highest altitude of that mountain, in the past time and space, there was also a monument, which recorded the names of Lengwa from Shaanxi Province who sacrificed their lives in this majestic mountain, densely packed!
Because, as many as 8,000 people!
The entire 17th Division of the Northwest Army, which was sworn to fight in the war of resistance, crossed the Yellow River north to the Yellow River with 12,000 people. After the Battle of Fulu Ridge in the Niangziguan Defense Battle a year ago, only 4,000 were left, and the remaining 8,000 were all lying in the green.
During that battle, the commander, who was only about forty years old, wrote the famous poem, "The enchanting king is surrounded by enemies, and there is no need to fight for a hundred battles to mourn the country. The soldiers charge to kill the enemy, and the blood outside the gate is like frost!"
White hair overnight.
Perhaps, no one but himself knew how he felt when he stood on the top of the mountain and looked at the position where the battle had just ended during the day.
The moon is bright in late autumn, but the night is as cold as winter!
It is not only the suddenly silent heart that feels cold, but also the eyebrows!
Within two days, he received unbearable numbers of casualties on the front line at the division headquarters, but how could all of that compare to seeing it with his own eyes?
Under the moonlight!
The mountains and fields are covered with autumn frost like snow. What is covered is not only the land of China, but also the remains of the officers and soldiers of the 17th Division.
There was no time to restrain himself, because the battle never stopped.
For two consecutive days, the Japanese attacks never really stopped.
There was no reserve team, and even the new recruit reinforcements rushed to the battlefield. There was no stretcher team, and even the division headquarters' guard battalion was on the front line.
When the war was at its most critical, even the stiffened remains of comrades-in-arms and the remains of Japanese invaders were built into fortifications as bunkers.
At this moment, the white-haired general, who was saying in a dull tone that he would never leave the battlefield again, never thought at that moment that a blocking battle would be so tragic, so tragic that he, who was used to seeing life and death, had to leave the army.
For more than 20 years, the army division commander who entered the battlefield never thought about returning alive and did not dare to take another look at his own position.
As far as the eye can see, there are red, black, yellow, and more dark blue all over the mountains and plains.
The red is not blood, but the maple leaves and Du Juan in late autumn; because the blood will be evaporated by the blazing gunfire before it has time to dry up;
The black ones are rocks; the weathered rock surface has long been swept clean by the air waves, revealing the true hardness of the rock.
Yellow is soil...
Dark blue is his soldier.
The soldiers he brought out from his hometown!
Those cold boys from Shaanxi Province who had enthusiastically joined the army and crossed the Yellow River in front of his horse head and sword, raised their arms and roared the slogan "Defend Homeland", were just lying there on the battlefield that was once filled with gunpowder smoke.
In various postures.
They have all died in this land that belongs to them.
They all fell in front of the position, and no one was behind the position.
The dark blue that filled the entire eye made the veteran who had been on the battlefield for twenty years feel like a knife was piercing his heart, and he was so sad that he couldn't help himself.
At that moment, he also doubted whether he had done something wrong and that he should not have brought these children here.
Wululing flanks Niangziguan, and there is a post road leading to Niangziguan. "If you want to take Niangziguan, you must attack Wululing!".
The 17th Division was ordered to garrison the most important mountain range on the side of Niangziguan, and then encountered the 80th Infantry Regiment of the 20th Division.
The Japanese army does not have many troops, but it has many artillery!
Twelve mountain guns and twelve field guns bombarded each other in turn, without rounds.
From the beginning of the war, the shelling never really stopped.
From early morning to early morning. From late night to late night.
The Japanese bombers made not just twenty sorties, but more than fifty sorties. For two consecutive days, the sky above Fulu Ridge was filled with the terrifying roar of planes.
The vast expanse of black exposed on the hillside is the work of aerial bombs and artillery shells. The huge air waves swept away the soil and dust that originally covered it, thus revealing what should have been underneath the soil layer.
Rocks more than ten centimeters away.
This was the first time General Baifa had seen such a fierce bombing in his more than 20 years in the army. What did the officers and soldiers of the 17th Division, who spent only two days building fortifications at Fululing, use to withstand this terrible artillery fire?
The answer is simple, use your life.
Yes, when the trenches dug on the shallow ground, which were less than half a meter deep, could not withstand the Japanese artillery fire, the soldiers who survived the artillery fire would, led by their platoon commanders, company commanders, and battalion commanders, pounce.
Go down the mountain, fight hand-to-hand with the Japanese soldiers, mix with the Japanese soldiers, and even if you die, you have to stick your bayonet on the Japanese invaders.
So, those young kids all died, along with their squad leaders, platoon commanders, company commanders, battalion commanders and even regimental commanders!
But as a division commander, he couldn't take them away during the final retreat, and he couldn't even bury them all!
He poked his finger on the place name on the map that was unforgettable to him, and his mind flashed back to the past. The white hair on the white-haired general's temples trembled slightly, showing his agitated mood.
Tang Dao looked at the general who suddenly fell silent, and wanted to tell him that after the war, local villagers risked their lives to dig a total of 11 large tombs and bury more than 4,000 Chinese officers and soldiers.
One of the large tombs is located under the old persimmon tree growing on Wuguang Ridge.
Because there once was a young soldier sitting there, dead, with his rifle firmly in his arms, and a red persimmon beside him, which he had no time to eat.
Since then, no one has picked the persimmons produced by that persimmon tree, leaving them to turn red, fall, and roll to the tombs of the martyrs.
‘One persimmon tree, the blood of three thousand martyrs!’ is the epitaph of that big tomb!
China has not forgotten the soldiers of its 17th Division. It really has not been forgotten.
"I'm going to fight Fululing again!" The white-haired general calmed down his emotions and said firmly.
This time, he had made up his mind that he would not retreat again until the Japanese army retreated.
He no longer wanted to suffer the kind of torture that only he knew. As soon as he closed his eyes, the young people who followed him across the Yellow River appeared vividly in his mind, but as a teacher, he could no longer take them with him.
go home!
It's better to be buried with them!
When comrades are together, they are also home!
"Okay!" Mr. Liu took a deep look at his old friend and nodded in agreement.
"Who will guard the front position at Niangziguan?"
"My Four Elements Group!"
"I am the 104th Division!"
Although Tang Dao and Commander Li of the 104th Division who stepped into the hall door from the outside shouted in tandem, the time interval was very short, which showed that Commander Li did not hesitate at all.
"Ahem! Chief Li, you don't even know what's going on here! Just come with me to grab this job." Tang Dao said with a wry smile.
"That doesn't matter, anyway, the battlefield you want to do is definitely not an easy job. In the past, my 22nd Army had no guns or artillery, and I didn't have the confidence to speak out. But now, thanks to your brother, I want to
You have guns, you have cannons, so I have to compete with you Tang Tuanzuo for credit!" Commander Li spoke bluntly with a thick Sichuan accent.
"Brother Tang, do you think this is raising a tiger for trouble?" Brigadier Cheng interjected.
As soon as he said this, the atmosphere in the frontline headquarters, which was still a little solemn, suddenly became much more relaxed.
This was not just Brigadier Cheng's amusement, but more importantly, the Sichuan Army Division Commander's attitude toward him.
Commander Li's statement just now is actually very clear. Our 22nd Army could not prove itself on the battlefield before because my equipment was not good. Now that my equipment is good, Sichuan Wazi can also fight tough battles and dare to fight tough battles.
The tough battles that your four-line regiment has to fight can be fought by our 104th Division.
How could the generals not feel relieved when another important but firm enough voice was added to this temporary group belonging to each army? Especially when a fight to the death had been decided.
"Haha! Mr. Li, you have come a long way. Don't be in a hurry. Sit down and drink tea first and let Deputy Director Tang explain the current situation to you, and then you can decide." Mr. Liu felt relieved and said with a smile.
"Chief Li, the current situation between the enemy and us is like this..." Tang Dao did not refuse and immediately stood in front of the map to introduce.
"What did I think was so great? There were almost a hundred thousand little devils gathered around me!" Mr. Li, who had the characteristic optimism of Sichuan people, curled his lips.
"Before I went on the expedition, I had already promised to the frontline headquarters that our 104th Division would advance and retreat with all the attacking troops. I also told Commander Li that this battle would never bring down the reputation of our Sichuan Army. Commander Wang of the 122nd Division in Teng County was there to kill himself.
I, Mr. Li, am proud of him and regard him as my role model!"
The most outstanding battle of the Sichuan Army was the 26th Division in the Battle of Songhu, but it was the 122nd Division affiliated with the 22nd Group Army that really made the Sichuan Army famous throughout the world. In the Battle of Tengxian, the entire division was in Mo!
Taking Commander Wang, who made a name for himself throughout the world with his sacrifice, as an example, one can imagine what the top commander of the 104th Division was thinking.
In fact, in the battle to defend southeastern Shanxi more than half a year ago, his 104th Division lost several cities, including Lucheng, Changzhi, and Licheng. The Sichuan Army Infantry Division, which was extremely poorly equipped, also put up a desperate resistance, but in the end it ended
But they are all a disgrace to the city.
In Changzhi alone, an infantry regiment of the 104th Division suffered 70% losses, and more than 1,000 people, including a colonel commander, died for their country!
But whether in the war zone or among the Chinese people, all they saw were failures, but few knew the sacrifices made by the poorly equipped Sichuan army.
My soldiers are not cowards!
This fire has always been burning in the heart of this army division commander and has never been extinguished!
Until this time, under the huge pressure of nearly 100,000 Japanese troops, they were completely released!
Not to mention one hundred thousand Japanese troops, that's one million. When a Chinese soldier wants to use his life to earn back face and honor for his subordinates who have died in battle, do you think it will be more terrible?
The Sichuan Army general’s face was actually filled with excitement!
Who allowed him to have not only heavy machine guns and mortars this time, but also combat artillery, infantry artillery and mountain artillery!
Even if the Japanese are made of iron, they have four infantry regiments and an artillery battalion under their command. They can still put this piece of iron in their mouths and chew it!
