Rise from eight hundred.

"It's finally over!" General Baitou was relieved the moment he received the telegram.

As he wrote in his memoirs in the future, if the most painful battle he fought in his life was Niangziguan and Lvluling, then if it is about the intertwining of complex emotions such as entanglement, hesitation, and anxiety, it really has to be the Battle of Southeast Shanxi .

Because, the battle of Niangziguan must be fought. If there is no fight, the flanks of Niangziguan will be completely exposed. If the important pass of Niangziguan is lost, the east gate of Yuancheng will be opened, and the safety of millions of soldiers and civilians in the hinterland of Jin Province will be almost completely destroyed. It was sent to the hands of [-] Chinese soldiers in Niangziguan.

But now the newly formed [-]th Division does not have to fight the immediate battle, or to be more precise, at least it does not need to fight this battle with the current tactics.

The underlying logic of "Starfall War" is that there is no prologue, there is no firepower test, and it is pure consumption.

What is consumed is human life!

The lives of both China and Japan!
The Chinese guarded the highlands, and the Japanese would not be able to pass through the mountains and forests below the highlands unless the people died.The Japanese were forced to attack one highland and one highland.

Chinese soldiers died on the mountain, and the Japanese died at the foot of the mountain, on the side of the mountain, or on the top of the mountain. Neither side had any luck.

Every infantry company that fell to the high ground was not considered annihilated, but that does not mean that they could evacuate smoothly, but, before going to the battlefield, according to the requirements of the commanders of each regiment, each infantry company left 3 infantry squads, As a framework for the reconstruction of the infantry company in the future.

The company commander is not eligible to stay, but one platoon leader and three squad leaders can be left, and the number of places left will be determined by the lottery of the whole company.

Whether you can live or not is up to God to decide!

This actually means that those who go to the battlefield will basically die.

After six days of painful and fierce fighting, the 17th Division lost 18 highlands. Without waiting for the staff to show him the long list of dead and the number of people killed in battle, General Baitou can also estimate that of the 8000 people he had just regrouped, nearly 1800 people died in battle. 600 people died every day.

The Sichuan army has not communicated with him yet, but it is estimated that the number of casualties is only a lot, because they have more troops and a larger area to defend.

If one-fourth of the death rate is acceptable for the white-headed general who has already gone through the bloody battle at Hualuling, what makes this general who once again drove his officers and soldiers on the road to death even more painful is that he I don't know if such a sacrifice can be exchanged for the result of the young regiment leader's plan.

If there is a change, it is very likely that those young people under him will die in vain.

It can be said that because of this knot, the famous general has been suffering extremely in the past few days, even if he ordered in an almost cruel way: "cover the high ground with artillery fire for 20 minutes, I don't want to see a tree on the high ground !"

In six daytimes, the 3000 rounds of shells sent by Tang Dao plus the 17 shells in his original inventory of the 1000th Division have been emptied by four-fifths, which is the end of their strength.

Fortunately, since yesterday, he has heard good news that the 40th Division, 108 kilometers away, has run away.

At least, you don't have to worry about being attacked by the enemy. Even if the powerful enemy in front of you didn't step into the trap as expected, the two divisions could still block them, and the blood of more than 1800 soldiers was not in vain.

The rest is left to God's will.

"Order all the regiments of the division. According to the original plan, the artillery does not need to be stingy with shells. Each department takes turns to cover and withdraw from the existing positions!" The white-headed general who breathed out a long breath issued the military order.

With the issuance of the military order from the headquarters of the 17th Division, green signal flares flashed in the night sky above the mountains!
. . . . . . . . . . .

Among the mountains, there is a high ground belonging to the 17th division.

"Company Commander! Company Commander! Look, the green flare." A soldier in ragged clothes with a dark face pushed and pushed the infantry company commander who was sleeping in the trench, his voice was a little out of tune with excitement.

That was the first time in six days that a green signal flare appeared. The ones that appeared before were all blood-red. It was a military order to continue fighting to the death.

"You shitty Japanese devils, don't let people sleep late at night!" The infantry company commander who was pushed awake got up, grabbed his sniper, and cursed in his mouth.

Apparently, the continuous two days and one night of fighting had already alarmed the army captain and instinctively thought it was the devils who had come up.

Last night, the Japanese army, who was forced to jump over the wall, played a night attack that they were not good at. However, the Chinese army on the high ground on the mountain has always maintained a high level of vigilance. They did not engage in sentries at all, but changed shifts to sleep, and half of them slept Half of them kept their eyes open on alert.

In one night, they repelled four Japanese attacks in a row, only half as strong as during the day.

"No, it's not a devil, company commander, look at the sky, green signal flare, what do you mean, officers?" Xiao Bing looked at his company commander full of hope.

Young life, eager to live, even at the moment he stepped into the battle, he knew that this was a deadly battle. Nearly a hundred people who were drawn to die, each of them asked someone to write their last words and write their home addresses in advance. He also told everyone that after the death of the war, there will be a pension of one hundred oceans, which can at least guarantee the expenses of the whole family for four or five years.

However, Xiaobing still wants to live. He hasn't married his mother-in-law yet. He heard that his mother-in-law's hands and breasts are whiter and tenderer than tofu!

"Green flare?" The somewhat confused army captain looked up at the sky, his eyes widened suddenly.

Because the heights are often 400 meters or even [-] meters apart, and the defense zone is too large, the division headquarters cannot guarantee that every high ground is equipped with a telephone line and equipped with a telephone. Only one is equipped, and the two parties must rely on signal flares to communicate if they want to communicate.

Because of the special tactics of this battle, all the infantry companies that went to the high ground basically fought to the death, and there was no need to accept military orders before the battle was over.

Therefore, it is basically used by each infantry company to request fire support from the regiment headquarters with a few specially issued signal flares. As for how to express the specific meaning, it is mainly expressed in numbers. For fire support, two are 75 mountain cannons, and three are to cover the high ground where the signal flare belongs to.

And that kind of signal flares are all blood red, and there will never be green signal flares.

At this time, green signal flares are rising in the sky, and there seem to be green signal flares rising into the sky thousands of kilometers away, which only means one thing.
The captain of the army will never forget, before their seven company commanders are about to lead their troops to the high ground, their commander with a strong Shaanxi accent confessed to them:

"This battle is a battle to the death. Every infantry company must be nailed to the high ground like a nail. I have already explained to my brothers that people are in the position before these, so I won't say any more.

What I want to say now is that if you have the opportunity to see the green flare, it means that our department has successfully completed the combat mission and can retreat.At that time, artillery and friendly troops will cover for you. Except for weapons and necessary ammunition, you don’t need anything else. If there are still Japanese troops surrounding you, then kill your way out. I’ll wait for you guys at the regiment headquarters! "

The Japanese army was as high as [-] people. This is a danger that the captain of the army had never experienced in the Battle of Falluling. At that time, an infantry division with more than [-] people alone carried the Japanese army with an infantry regiment and an artillery regiment, and they paid [-] yuan. Huge losses for the rest of the people.

In fact, the captain of the army had long given up hope of surviving, but now, the green signal flare that could be evacuated was flickering fiercely in the night sky in front of him.

"It's time to evacuate, bastard, tell Brother Quanlian, take the gun, all the bullets, and the remaining grenades, as well as what you can carry, and evacuate for me." The army captain showed joy, and ordered in a low voice road.

"It's time to retreat, okay, okay!" The soldier named Erdan showed joy on his face, bent over and ran two steps in the trench, and suddenly turned around hesitantly. "Company commander, what about the wounded?"

"What the hell, all the wounded will be carried by me, and if there are not enough people, I will carry them on my back. Then let me give special orders!" The army captain stared.

"But, but, there are only 18 people who can move on the battlefield." Erdan looked sad. "But there are 24 brothers in the bomb defense hole over there."

The army captain froze suddenly.

这个被标记为7324（17师3团2营4连）高地上的步兵连原本总兵力就只有102人，经过两个白天一个黑夜的恶战，虽然陆军上尉已经打出过一颗红色信号弹以及连续两颗红色信号弹请求迫击炮和山炮进行火力支援，但依然兵力锐减。

As long as the soldiers who can still shoot after being bandaged are not counted as wounded, those who are placed in the only anti-bomb hole on the entire high ground are all seriously wounded who have completely lost their ability to move.

There are two boxes of grenades in the anti-battery hole, which are reserved for the seriously wounded to fight back against the Japanese invaders after the position is lost. This is almost the routine operation of all infantry companies that go to the highlands.

However, this does not mean that they can be abandoned.

For soldiers, death in battle and being abandoned are two completely different concepts.

"You go and tell the brothers to pack up and be on standby. The Japanese army at the foot of the mountain may also be alarmed. We will definitely not let our army evacuate easily. We still have 20 minutes at most." From the cigarette case, he took out a cigarette and lit it with a slightly trembling hand.

"Others, let me think about it."

"In order to protect our troops from the Japanese invaders and evacuate quickly, at that time, all the mountain artillery and mortars of our division, regiment, and battalion will shell the surrounding highlands as if they were still surrounded by the Japanese army. The shelling time is 20 minutes after the green signal flare is fired. The time is 15 minutes, and those of you who are company commanders must remember it for me! If necessary, you can write it down on paper and keep it close to you. If you die in battle, the commander who takes over will know." secret confession.

These are all hidden deep in the army captain's memory, and he dare not forget them even for a moment, but what bothers him now is, what about the wounded?
As a commander, he knew very well that 18 soldiers with wounded soldiers could not take away 24, or even half of them.

Because, not only are there Japanese troops at the foot of the mountain, but they are also three hills away from the regiment headquarters. Even if there are friendly troops to support them, it is still an 800-meter-long mountain road.

Carrying an adult who weighs at least 120 kilograms on his back, and fighting with a gun, almost sent these 18 people to the gate of hell.

After silently smoking a cigarette, the army captain stood up resolutely. He knew that the 20 minutes mentioned by the head of the regiment would be up soon, and there was no more time left for him to struggle.

Bending down and walking into the small anti-blasting hole, a bloody smell mixed with a stinky smell poured into the army captain's nose. He knew that another seriously wounded person had died.

Only dead people can't control their bowel movements, which is the real source of the smell.

"Company commander!" Seeing the army captain coming in, a soldier rushed forward to say hello.

Soldiers used to be health soldiers, but what is the use of health soldiers at this time, yesterday, the health soldiers tore off the white cuffs on their sleeves and joined the ranks of combat soldiers, but at night, the health soldiers who survived still He didn't forget his job, and went into the artillery hole to take care of the seriously wounded who were groaning in pain.

"How many more died?" The army captain asked with his expression unchanged.

"Three! The platoon leader, Er Mazi, and Zhang Laosan didn't carry it over." The health soldier replied with a gloomy face.

The army captain's face twitched hard.

In addition to the platoon leader that the health guard said just now, the two platoon leaders under his command were all killed in battle. Er Mazi and Zhang Laosan were fellow villagers from the same county. Sergeant squad leader, died here this time.

Up to now, of the two platoon leaders who followed him to the high ground, more than half of the six squad leaders died, and only two squad leaders remained, and there was one lying in the pile of seriously wounded.

This kind of situation also has something to do with the 17th Division's usual fighting style. At the battalion, company and platoon level, as long as the commander goes to the front line, he must take the lead.

"If all the officials are afraid of death, then the soldiers must be even more afraid of death. The soldiers under Lao Tzu Zhao Shoushan are not cowardly. This is a national war, no matter who it is, including Lao Tzu Zhao Shoushan, if they don't go to the front line, they will die. Forget it, if you are on the front line and are afraid of death, the division commander and regimental commander will be dismissed on the spot, and the battalion commander, company commander, and platoon commander will be shot on the spot." This is what Zhao Shoushan said when he swore an oath before leading the 17th Division across the Yellow River.

Zhao Shoushan has always been clear about rewards and punishments for officers and soldiers, and he does not drink the blood of soldiers. He has a very high prestige in the 17th Division. .

Therefore, on the battlefield, the death rate of the bottom commanders of the company, platoon, and squad of the 17th Division is extremely high, far exceeding that of ordinary infantry divisions, but their combat effectiveness has not decreased but increased, otherwise they would not have fought for six days and nights. , and there were hundreds of fighter plane support, but only 17 of the dozens of highlands laid down by the 18th Division, less than half.

If the fight continues like this, the Second Mixed Brigade will be wiped out without the need for the Four Elements Regiment.

"You go out first, I'll talk to Heipi and the others." The army captain waved his hand to let the health guards leave.

Heipi is the same village partner of the Army Captain. The difference between the two is that the Army Captain first served in the army, and then became a second lieutenant platoon leader and returned to his hometown to recruit troops. The platoon leader was promoted to captain and company commander, and the original corporal directly became the sergeant squad leader.

The squad leader's treatment is better, and the space left for him is also larger. It is located in the innermost part of the artillery hole, and the army captain sits next to the seriously injured soldier who keeps moaning in pain.

"Brother Shanzi, didn't the Japanese come?" The army sergeant, whose head was covered with bandages and whose face was swollen, heard the voice of the army captain, stopped moaning in pain, and asked in a low voice.

He was injured by an infantry artillery shell. Not to mention one of his legs was cut off by the shrapnel, and he was sent flying seven or eight meters away by the huge shock wave. It is a miracle that I can even speak when I am conscious.

"The Japanese didn't come." The army captain shook his head, lit a cigarette in his mouth, and then lightly stuffed it into his small mouth. "It was the order from the regiment headquarters, we can withdraw."

"Can we withdraw? That's a good thing! While the brothers still have energy." The eyes, which were swollen to the point where they could barely open a crack, turned out to be much brighter at this time. "When will we withdraw, did the regiment headquarters say anything?"

The army captain knew that it was not his own illusion.

The captain of the army did not speak, but lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.

The sudden silence caused the seriously injured sergeant to pause.

Just as the captain of the army knew him, he also knew this boy who grew up naked with him who was only one year older than himself.

If he doesn't speak, he has encountered a problem.

Before the great thing of being able to evacuate the entire company without continuing to fight to the death, there is still a problem. Apart from them seriously wounded, what else can there be?
"Brothers who can still move, how many?" The seriously injured sergeant's voice became much quieter.

"18!" The army captain replied sullenly.

The seriously injured sergeant's eyes dimmed instantly.

He understood that there are still serious wounded in the anti-blasting hole, at least 20 people, even if many of them are like the platoon leader who just left, and will never see the sunrise or sunset of the next day , but they are still alive and breathing.

As company commanders, as brothers, no one can abandon them.

But, can you bring it?
Leaving them is mortal!Regardless of whether you can bring them or not, if you take them with you, everyone will die together!None were spared.

The Japanese soldiers at the foot of the mountain are not rabbits, but wolves!

No wonder the always courageous elder brother in front of him was also silent with a gloomy face in front of such good news.

Facing death by yourself is easy.

But he can't decide the death of others, even if they are dying.

This is an unsolvable problem.