Rise from eight hundred.

Chapter 1447 Tears of Happiness

  At 11: am on the tenth day of the first lunar month, Leng Feng, chief of staff of the Four-Line Regiment, announced the end of the battle!

This was probably the easiest battle that the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the th Regiment had ever participated in. From the end of the artillery bombardment to the launch of the infantry attack, it took only half an hour. Not only were all three heights captured, but the entire position was searched. Only after discovering that there were no living people did they inform Leng Feng at the command center and report to Tang Dao that the battle was over.

In fact, the actual battle process lasted less than 10 minutes.

Because the Japanese army's resistance was so weak.

Not only was there no more than a hundred Japanese soldiers left alive under the frenzied bombardment, but their ammunition had been basically exhausted. After subsequent inspection, it was found that the bullet boxes hanging on the waists of the Japanese infantrymen had been discarded in the trenches at random.

The bullet boxes that were supposed to contain 100 rounds of ammunition were all empty, and the number of bullet shells found in the trenches was no more than three digits.

How could such firepower withstand the attack of the Fourth Regiment infantrymen who were armed to the teeth?

You know, in order to break through these heights guarded by the remnants of the Japanese army in one fell swoop, Leng Feng not only mobilized three companies, but also used nine "cockroach" tanks as temporary shelters for the infantry, and placed assault jeeps on the flanks of the attack heights. Each height had at least 3 MG9 machine guns, three Browning 12mm heavy machine guns, and three 42mm machine guns as fire cover.

How can a single soldier with only a rifle that has less than ten bullets compete with these metal bullet streams?

Before people even show their heads, they will probably be drowned by all kinds of crazy bullets.

Of course, perhaps even worse is that after half a month of siege, the Japanese, who could only survive on grass roots and tree bark, were already extremely weak.

The most obvious evidence is that when Boss Cao led his 4th squad into the trenches as the spearhead squad, and the Japanese soldiers who were resisting stubbornly were ready to engage in hand-to-hand combat with their rifles, the Chinese soldiers holding semi-automatic rifles were able to block the rifles in the hands of the Japanese soldiers with just a single block. Their strength was definitely no greater than that of a 12-year-old child.

Some Japanese soldiers even rushed forward at great speed, but unfortunately slipped and fell, and never got up again.

It’s not that the Chinese soldiers fired again quickly, but that should be their last breath of strength. Once they lost their strength, they would never get up again.

More surviving Japanese soldiers just lay in the trenches in despair, staring at the slowly approaching Chinese soldiers with extremely fierce eyes.

This time, Commander Tang did not issue an order to kill all the soldiers. As long as the remaining Japanese soldiers chose to kneel down and surrender, he would accept their surrender. He had to give Commander Chen some face. After all, the 3rd War Zone had provided the Sihang Regiment with nearly half a month's supplies, and 82 500-caliber mortar shells were also sent. It would be no problem to exchange these supplies for dozens of Japanese prisoners.

Unfortunately, the Japanese soldiers of the Hariya Detachment were probably so hungry that they lost their minds. When the Chinese soldiers shouted "kneel down and you will not be killed" in fluent Japanese, very few of them chose to surrender. Some of them resisted stubbornly, some stared with their eyes wide open to express their indignation, and some held grenades in their hands, waiting for the Chinese soldiers to come forward and die together with them.

The officers and soldiers of the Fourth Regiment, who were already accustomed to these things, pulled the trigger skillfully.

"We have 18 wounded and no casualties. The Harugaya Detachment has nearly 7000 officers and soldiers, including the Major General Harugaya Yiyuan, the detachment commander. Eight of them surrendered, and the rest were killed on the spot!" Leng Feng reported to the regiment headquarters at 8 pm after compiling statistics on the captured Harugaya Detachment battle reports and the Japanese army wreckage left at the scene.

The Hariya Branch, which had committed massacres in the past, completely disappeared in this era.

Although Yokoyama Isamu, who received the farewell telegram from the Hariya Detachment, was mentally prepared, he still looked dejected when he saw the message.

The Battle of Shipai was destined to be the failure of this famous Japanese general's career.

But how could this Japanese Army Lieutenant General know that this defeat was just one of the defeats in his military career, and that more tragic defeats were yet to come.

Ever since he was associated with the name of Tang Dao, which is full of "bad luck" for Japanese people, Yokoyama Isamu was destined to have the word "misery" engraved on his forehead.

"The troops of our Third War Zone and Fifth War Zone completely wiped out the Japanese 11th Army's Hariya Detachment. Its brigade commander, Major General Hariya Itsuhara, was killed and his command knife was seized." The radio station in Yamashiro also announced this exciting news to the whole of China in the evening.

That night, every household in the mountain city hung red lanterns at their doorsteps to celebrate the first victory of the Chinese army at the arrival of the new year.

In a shantytown on the edge of the mountain city, a ragged, pale-faced little girl of no more than seven or eight years old was sitting blankly on a stone not far from her home.

The playmates running around were all shouting happily, "Our country has won the war, and we are going to drive the Japanese back to the sea!", but the little girl was not happy at all when she heard the news, and even wanted to cry.

Because she missed her brother.

Her third brother went to fight the Japanese.

Although the little girl was not very sensible, she had heard the adults say that no matter whether they won or lost, as long as there was a war, people would die.

Her mother cried so much that her eyes went blind because of her two brothers who died in the war.

The little girl was still young when the eldest and second brothers joined the army. Now she can't even remember what her two brothers looked like, and the two brothers didn't leave any photos until they died.

But the third brother was the brother who had grown up with her. When they were fleeing that year, the third brother, who was only thirteen or fourteen years old, carried her, who was ten years younger than him, in a bamboo basket and walked all the way from northern Jiangsu to Jiangxia, where they were unfamiliar with the place.

She was a child, but in fact, the third brother was just a young boy! There was no food on the road, and the thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy desperately drank well water. Occasionally, his parents could buy some food, but the third brother was reluctant to eat it and just drank some rice soup, leaving the thick water for her, the youngest sister.

Although the little girl was very young, she always remembered what her third brother said to her: "Don't be afraid, little sister. No matter what happens, your third brother will never abandon you."

But the third brother was not trustworthy. He finally abandoned her in the autumn of last year and joined the army. After losing his father, he could not support the remaining five elderly, children and women in the family by himself carrying bags at the dock. Only by joining the army could he get military pay.

But the little girl was always very scared. She was afraid that her third brother would be like her eldest and second brothers, and that one day someone would come and tell the family that they were dead.

There is only one message, and that's it.

She didn't want to hear any news about the war, even if it was like today, when everyone was talking happily about how they had wiped out thousands of Japanese devils.

  She was afraid of losing her last brother!

"Shi Erni, come quickly, someone has come to your house, a guest. It's a distinguished guest, and he has brought a lot of delicious food. Look, this is for you and me, one for each of us." A burly boy ran over breathlessly, and stretched out his hand to the little girl with excitement on his face.

In the palm of my hand, there are two candies with sugar coating soaked with sweat.

The little girl was stunned for a moment, then turned around and ran home. The moment she turned around, tears burst out.

Apart from the third brother, the little girl couldn't think of how there could be guests who could bring gifts coming to her home. All the people her family knew who had fled here from their hometown were refugees from all over the place. A family that could eat sweet potatoes every day was considered wealthy.

Did something happen to her third brother? The little girl became more and more sad as she thought about it. When she was dozens of meters away from her home, she finally couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Little sister, why are you crying?"

The girl who was talking to a guest at the door of her house frowned slightly as she looked at her sister who was running and crying loudly.

Although the girl, who is already over 13 years old, is dressed in rags, her clothes are washed very cleanly. Since her third brother left, she has taken on the burden of taking care of the family.

When distinguished guests came to the house, she was naturally responsible for receiving them.

"Sister, tell me, has something happened to our third brother? Woo woo~~~" The little girl cried bitterly and threw herself into her sister's arms.

"It's New Year's Day, what nonsense are you talking about? Bah!" The girl spat on the ground angrily.

"Then why are there customers and they give candies! Wuuuu~~~Don't lie to me, I'm not a child anymore." The little girl cried even more sadly.

"Let me guess, are you Shi Erni, the youngest sister that Shi Dakuan often misses? Your brother has mentioned you to my regiment commander more than once!" A gentle voice sounded in the little girl's ears.

Yuanxiao squatted down and looked at the tearful little girl with extremely gentle eyes.

The ragged girl in front of him reminded the young army sergeant of his sister. When he left home, his 8-year-old sister also cried until she was hoarse. When he arrived in the mountain city some time ago, he wrote a letter to his family, hoping that his sister would be happier after knowing that his irresponsible brother was still alive.

Because of his outstanding military achievements in the Battle of Zishan, Yuanxiao was personally named by the regiment commander Tang Dao to be transferred from the mountain infantry company to the guard company as a guard squad leader. A few days ago, because a part of the quartermaster battalion was needed to go to the Rockefeller Far East Company to receive a batch of ammunition supplies, Yuanxiao was responsible for leading two guard squads to accompany a company commander of the quartermaster battalion and Western embassy staff who had just visited the battlefield to take a boat to the mountain city.

Yesterday, Yuanxiao received an urgent telegram personally drafted by the regiment commander, asking him to buy enough supplies and gifts to visit the family of an army sergeant who had just been transferred from the 18th Division to the Sihang Regiment.

The army sergeant's name was Shi Dakuan!

It was really a coincidence that Shi Dakuan was transferred to the Sihang Regiment.

This story started a few days ago when the two division commanders Hu and Luo jointly inspected the Beidoushan encirclement battlefield. The moment the two lieutenant general division commanders got on the assault jeep sent by regiment commander Tang to greet them, they felt that these two lieutenant generals of the army were just typical bumpkins.

  Commander Tang has already mechanized the equipment, but two army lieutenant generals and division commanders still have to ride horses. Aren’t they country bumpkins?

The two lieutenant generals stared at each other in silence, the thought of getting an American jeep from the local rich man Tang Dao to satisfy their desire kept churning in their minds.

Tang Daoduo had a keen eye. After learning that the two commanders had been asking about the performance of the jeeps and their assault capabilities on the battlefield, and had even stopped to watch the jeep's 12.7mm heavy machine gun's charging firepower, he decided to give the 18th Army five jeeps after the war without waiting for the two commanders to speak.

The foreign girl called me before the New Year and said that a new batch of modified armored jeeps would arrive in the mountain city in late February, with up to 2 vehicles in number. The performance of these hastily modified jeeps was already outdated, so they could be given away as gifts to build relationships.

  Tang Dao had already planned to give the remaining six old-model jeeps to his immediate superior, General Li of the Fifth War Zone. Once he received this gift, wouldn't he have to be a little more calculating?

But the two army lieutenant generals didn't know these things. They only knew that the generous Tang Tuanzuo was a wonderful person and worth making friends with.

At least on the battlefield!

"Commander Luo and I are not greedy for your advantage. Just tell Commander Luo and me what you need. You can pick any people or things our two divisions have." Commander Hu also waved his hand, showing his generosity.

Although anyone can propose conditions, this is based on the fact that Commander Hu has a good understanding of Tang Dao's personality. He knows that Tang Dao is not the kind of person who asks for too much. Maybe there are some, but it is obvious that the two of them have not reached the level that Tang Dao would approve of.

You know what, Commander Hu was able to become the commander of a main division at the age of just over 30. In addition to his strong combat capability, he also had a clear understanding of human nature and human heart.

Looking across the whole of China, there are only three people who can make Tang Dao ask for things without any scruples like a junior.

Brigade Commander Cheng counts as one, Guo and Wu each take one, and other than them, Tang Dao will have some reserves for the rest.

Tang Dao did not ask for too much. After thinking carefully for a few seconds, he asked for someone.

Shi Dakuan, the night attack on New Year's Eve made Tang Dao admire this brave and resourceful soldier. If trained properly, he can become an excellent grassroots commander of scouts.

Tang Dao thought that he was not asking for too much, but he didn't expect that this little soldier would actually make the division commander named Hu smile bitterly.

It was not until then that Tang Dao learned about the performance of this young soldier on the Gaojialing battlefield. A soldier who was highly valued by both the division commander and the regiment commander would definitely have a bright future in the 11th Division, which also indirectly proved Tang Dao's vision.

Tang Dao, who knew the inside story, certainly couldn't take away someone's love. He wanted to change the conditions, but who was the commander surnamed Hu? He would never regret his move. Of course, he would not take back what he had said. He issued a transfer order on the spot and asked Shi Dakuan to report to the headquarters of the Sihang Regiment.

Five assault jeeps worth tens of thousands of dollars were exchanged for a small army sergeant. From the perspective of value, the division commander surnamed Hu and the commander of the 31st Regiment Lu who reluctantly gave up his sergeant certainly did not lose out. But judging from the pain in their eyes, it was a huge loss.

Both of them were training Shi Dakuan as a reserve company commander.

Since the master had given up his weapons so much, Tang Dao would naturally not be stingy. He simply waved his hand and gave the 31st Regiment two MG2 heavy machine guns equipped with tripods.

The MG42 heavy machine gun was aimed directly at the Japanese heights and fired at full power. The terrifying firing rate shocked the army colonel so much that he stood there in shock.

The fire suppression capability of this heavy machine gun is comparable to that of three Type 3 heavy machine guns, which is the heavy firepower output of half an infantry battalion.

The compensation made by Tang Dao balanced the inner hurt suffered by the officers and soldiers of the 11th Division. No matter how reluctant Shi Dakuan was, he had no choice but to pack his backpack and report to the Fourth Regiment.

"Whatever you want, as long as it's within a reasonable range, I can satisfy you!" Tang Dao also offered sufficiently generous conditions to the army sergeant who was transferred here on orders.

This can be regarded as Tang Dao's reward to the young soldier from the mountain city for his performance on the Gaojialing battlefield.

"I want my grandparents, mother and two younger sisters to have a meal of meat during the Chinese New Year. Although my youngest sister is small, she is delicate and sensitive. She held back her tears on the day I joined the army, but I know she must have cried countless times behind my back. When my two brothers died in the war, she was still young and didn't understand life and death, but now she knows it very clearly. I don't want to make my youngest sister sad, but there is no way. As the last pillar of the family, I must make sure they have something to eat." Shi Dakuan thought for a long time and finally expressed his dream.

"I will fulfill your wish. Before the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, your family will not only have meat for every meal, but also rice dumplings." Tang Dao stared at Shi Dakuan for a long time and smiled gently.

The soldier's wish was simple, although it was difficult to achieve on the battlefield, but fortunately, he had his subordinates heading to the mountain city, so this was not a problem.

Yuanxiao and three soldiers started purchasing supplies in the morning. They bought 500 kilograms of fish, meat, rice and flour, and pulled them on a donkey cart. After asking for supplies along the way, they finally arrived at the slum area built on the mountain outside the city at dusk when the announcer at the radio station was broadcasting the news of victory to the whole of China through the airwaves.

Yuanxiao had not expected that Shi Dakuan's youngest sister, whom the regiment commander had specifically mentioned, would be so sensitive and delicate. When she heard that there were guests at home, she thought of her brother on the battlefield and ran home crying all the way.

At that moment, Yuanxiao, who had been tempered to be cold on the battlefield, could not help but be hit hard in the softest corner of his heart by the little girl's tears.

The cold-blooded infantryman who had killed more than a dozen Japanese soldiers in the dense forest squatted in front of the little girl whose face was dirty with tears and dust, his eyes extremely gentle.

"Uncle, tell me, what happened to my brother?" Shi Erni looked at Yuanxiao, who was squatting in front of her with tender eyes, and asked in a crying voice.

Every time there were guests at home, the mother would cry for many days. Three months after the second brother’s death, the mother’s eyes, after crying all their tears dry, finally became blind. These fears had long since taken root in the little girl’s memory and could not be erased.

"Your brother is doing well. Not only is he alive, but he has also made great contributions on the battlefield. Otherwise, the commander would not have asked me to come and see you." Yuanxiao reached out to wipe away the tears from under the little girl's eyelids and said solemnly.

"Also, call me Brother Yuanxiao, don't call me uncle. I'm only 20, okay? I'm only a few years older than your brother."

"Really? My brother is still alive?" The little girl looked unconvinced.

"Er Ni, the boss didn't lie to us. Before you came back, the boss told mom that my third brother is now a sergeant in the guard company of the Fourth Regiment." The 13-year-old girl said with a smile. "What kind of official is that?"

"Deputy monitor!" Yuanxiao answered solemnly.

"Third brother is now an official!" The little girl finally burst into laughter.

"That's right. He is the deputy squad leader of our Sixing Regiment, and his military pay is comparable to that of a platoon leader in an ordinary army." Seeing that the little girl finally smiled, Yuanxiao also smiled.

This may be the New Year with the most laughter for the Shi family in these years of war.

Four soldiers from my brother's unit brought half a pig, ten large fish and five large bags of rice and noodles. If they were frugal, it would be enough for the family of five to eat until the beginning of summer.

There is also a bonus of 50 dollars, which is enough for a family to eat normal food for three years.

The four soldiers also specially found the local headman and told them that this was a family of heroes, and whoever dared to bully them because there were no men in the family, the soldiers of the Four-Line Regiment fighting the enemy on the front line could not only kill the Japanese, but also bullies and scoundrels.

The middle-aged woman, who was actually only 45 years old, had tears filling her dry eye sockets again in the second year after her tears had dried up.

But this time, they were tears of happiness!

(End of this chapter)