20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 609 Fireline Reorganization
In the wilderness, the sun is at its zenith.

The sunlight passed through the elm leaves and shattered all over the ground.

The soldiers lined up in two rows and enjoyed the coolness under the shade of the trees.

Zhao Zhengbei sat at the front of the team, his back against a tree trunk, a rifle slung over his shoulder. He took out two biscuits, chewed them for a few times, took a sip of water, and finally swallowed them down with a stiff neck.

Then he shook the kettle, which made a ringing sound and it sounded like there was not much water left, and a look of worry appeared on his face.

Turning his head, he saw that the one hundred and twenty brothers behind him were all drooping their heads, with pale and dry lips.

After several days of rapid marching, day and night, everyone's physical strength had already reached its limit.

I have been able to get here only by relying on inertia. Once I stop, I will have to rest for a long time.

From Changxindian to Shanhaiguan, they could have traveled faster, but the defeated troops dared not take the official road, so they had to march along the unconventional roads.

This way, not only would the journey be longer, but the road conditions would also be more difficult to travel on. Without any supplies along the way, people would naturally become exhausted.

There were no canned food in the team, but there were enough biscuits. The only problem was the lack of water. Everyone was so anxious that they got up at dawn and ate dew-soaked elm leaves to quench their thirst.

Fortunately, before leaving, Beifeng took away the brigade's combat map, and happened to catch the Zhi army busy collecting the supplies left behind by the Feng army. So everyone was able to avoid pursuit and have a safe journey.

Now, seeing that the outside of the Great Wall was getting closer and closer, Zhao Zhengbei finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Although he failed to lead the troops to victory, he finally fulfilled his promise and was about to take his brothers home.

Fu Chengyu was beside him, carefully studying the map and silently calculating the remaining distance. Suddenly, his face lit up and he said hurriedly, "Sir, we are almost there."

"How far is it?" Zhao Zhengbei asked.

Fu Chengyu raised his hand and pointed in a direction, then pointed at the map and said, "Go southeast, and you'll reach Shanhaiguan in about 60 kilometers."

His voice was not loud, but all the soldiers pricked up their ears, and when they heard this, they immediately looked over here.

Seeing this, Zhao Zhengbei couldn't help but remind them, "Don't get too excited. We don't know the situation ahead yet. Brothers, take a rest first and wait for the news."

When everyone heard this, they thought it was true, so they suppressed their desire to return home and instead whispered to each other, just to satisfy their desire to talk.

Soon, the sound of horse hooves was heard from afar.

Zhao Zhengbei looked up and saw that the two scouts he had sent out earlier had returned.

"Sir!"

The two scouts looked excited and spoke in loud voices, and you could tell it was good news.

"Sir, the Shimenzhai ahead is the Fengtian Army's garrison. The Eastern Route Army retreated there. We have found the main force!"

Everyone immediately stood up, patted their buttocks, and swarmed over, their joy evident in words.

Zhao Zhengbei also stood up, leaning on his rifle, and asked, "Did you see it clearly?"

"Don't worry, there's no mistake!" the two scouts said happily, "We just called over there and the password matched. It's our guy!"

Everyone was talking to each other, and their tiredness was swept away.

Zhao Zhengbei was still a little worried, so he asked again, "Did you see any trace of the Zhi army?"

"Not yet." The two scouts said, "But they are digging trenches over there. They say they are preparing for a blocking battle. Let's go over there quickly. The Zhi army may catch up with us at any time."

"Which unit is in the front?"

"38th Brigade."

Among the Fengtian Army, the 3rd Brigade and the 8th Brigade are the personal soldiers of the Crown Prince and Guo Guizi, and can be considered the backbone of the army.

Zhao Zhengbei couldn't help but mutter to himself after hearing this: "Then we have indeed found the main force."

Then he turned around and shouted, "Brothers, don't rest, pack up and hurry up, we have to go home!"

"What are you still packing? I've been ready for a long time, just waiting for you to say this!"

The soldiers felt hopeful and immediately regrouped. Before long, they were marching towards the southeast in a hurry.

Speechless all the way.

By dusk, Beifeng and others finally arrived at the Shimenzhai retreat position.

Even though we were still quite far away from the central military tent, we could already see a lot of defensive fortifications.

Trenches, bunkers, temporary bunkers...

Although not yet completed, all the fortifications were solid and well-organized, far surpassing the rest of the Fengtian Army.

If you look carefully, you can vaguely see several artillery units in the mountains and forests on the north side.

The whereabouts of the soldiers naturally could not escape the sight of the sentry on the lookout tower.

At this time, the setting sun was as red as blood. On the first line of defense of the Fengtian Army, a sentry shouted: "Stop, who is it?"

The shouts echoed in the valley...

Zhao Zhengbei raised his hand and ordered the troops to stop advancing. Then he followed the source of the sound and reported the unit's number.

The two scouts also shouted: "Hey, brother, we were here at noon. We were from the Western Route Army. Do you remember us?"

The echo stopped, and the soldiers were looking around in confusion. Suddenly, someone stuck his head out of the trench not far away, looked over here, and asked loudly, "Zhengbei? Is it Zhao Zhengbei?"

Zhao Zhengbei was suddenly stunned.

The voice sounded very familiar, but I couldn't remember it for a moment.

However, it wouldn't be surprising even if there were acquaintances.

Beifeng was an officer by profession. Many of his classmates, including himself, had served in the Third Brigade. However, he was promoted a little too quickly and was transferred away soon after.

Now when he heard someone calling him, he hurriedly responded loudly: "Yes, I am Zhao Zhengbei——"

There was silence on the other side of the position for a moment, as if they were discussing something.

Suddenly, the man jumped out of the trench and waved his hands desperately. He pointed to the north side of the position and shouted: "Hey, there are mines ahead. Come around from the north and I'll pick you up!"

Zhao Zhengbei recognized the other person immediately.

It was none other than the fat boy from the Military Academy, Lin Zhidong.

Bei Feng looked at it for a moment, then smiled knowingly, turned around and said, "Brothers, let's go!"

The soldiers felt greatly relieved and hurriedly took a detour to the position.

Xiaopang was about forty or fifty meters away from the others, but he walked along side them and shouted loudly.

"Go a little further, forward!"

Soon, both sides exchanged notes.

Meeting classmates on the battlefield, the young man’s blood has never cooled down.

However, the nickname of Xiaopang now seems to be a bit unworthy of its name.

Zhao Zhengbei looked him up and down and couldn't help but smile: "You've lost weight."

"Well, I'm tired these past few days." Lin Zhidong turned around and looked at Beifeng, "How are you, are you okay?"

"Fuck, you're still alive with this character, so don't worry about me." Zhao Zhengbei retorted.

After all, Lin Zhidong comes from a scholarly family with very strict family rules. He is not good at picking up arguments. He cannot argue with Beifeng, let alone beat Beifeng. In the end, he can only laugh and scold: "You are full of shit. I should have let you step on the landmine just now!"

The two walked side by side, chatting about their respective current situations as they headed towards the front-line camp.

Zhao Zhengbei asked: "Xiao Pang, what level are you at now?"

Lin Zhidong waved his hands repeatedly, but said, "It's still the same, engineer company commander."

"How come he is still the company commander? It's been so many years, why don't you try to move up?"

"How can I compare with you? You made such a great contribution back then! Our batch of students encountered the trouble caused by the little Japanese, and the classes were suspended before graduation. Even if my family didn't have any connections, I would be very satisfied if I could become a company commander."

Lin Zhidong sighed and couldn't help talking about the embarrassing situation of their students within the Fengtian Army.

Strictly speaking, they were not graduates of the Military Academy, but only dropouts who were forced to drop out.

Although there were reasons for the incident, the school finally reissued the graduation certificates and the Military Governor's Office hired them as officers as usual, but most of them were not given important positions. They were neither high-level nor low-level, and were at most considered semi-finished products.

Moreover, there were many factions within the Fengtian Army.

Beifeng's group of students are considered too new by the old school and too old by the new school. They are caught between a rock and a hard place.

When faced with promotion opportunities, there is neither recommendation from the old school nor support from the new school.

Except for Zhao Zhengbei, it is naturally difficult for others to make a name for themselves.

Then, Lin Zhidong asked about Beifeng's recent situation and what happened on the front line.

Zhao Zhengbei briefly recounted the situation of the defeat of the Western Route Army in a few words.

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Lin Zhidong said, "Zhengbei, what a coincidence! Someone came to our position the day before yesterday to inquire about your situation and whether you were with us."

"Ask me?" Zhao Zhengbei was a little surprised. "Why do you ask me?"

"I don't know about that. They are the supervision team. I thought you broke the military law and were going to be shot!"

Lin Zhidong made a few jokes.

Unexpectedly, the speaker was unintentional, but the listener was intentional.

Zhao Zhengbei frowned immediately, as if he suddenly remembered something.

Fu Chengyu followed from behind and asked anxiously, "Sir, was it because you talked back to the commander that night that someone reported you?"

"What? Talking back to the headquarters?" Lin Zhidong's eyes widened. "Zhengbei, are you crazy?"

Although Zhao Zhengbei was a little uneasy, he did not feel any regret at all. He just said, "He deserved to be scolded. If I were to do it again, I would scold him the same way!"

Fu Chengyu said hurriedly: "It's okay, sir, if necessary, I can testify for you!"

Lin Zhidong thought about it, shook his head and said, "It shouldn't be necessary. Zhang Xuwu has fled to the concession. The Marshal is very angry. I heard that he has been shouting recently that he wants to shoot him!"

The Third Brigade is worthy of being the Prince's personal guards and is well-informed.

However, Zhao Zhengbei was even more confused now, and couldn't help but mutter to himself: "Why did the Supervisory Team call me for help?"

When we were approaching the camp, a lieutenant colonel suddenly came over with his deputy.

"Zhengbei, this is Staff Officer Li." Lin Zhidong hurriedly stepped forward to introduce, "Staff Officer Li, they are from the Western Route Army and he is Zhao Zhengbei. He is the person the Supervisory Team was looking for the day before yesterday."

Staff Officer Li had a sharp face and was stern. He wore a peaked cap pulled low on his head and a pair of shiny military boots.

He glanced at Lin Zhidong, as if he heard nothing, and said nothing. He then put his hands behind his back and waved them twice in front of Beifeng, looking at everyone with a scrutinizing gaze full of disdain, and finally stopped suddenly.

"deserter?"

The questioning tone of Staff Officer Li immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of the soldiers.

As soon as he finished speaking, without waiting for Beifeng to speak, everyone started talking at once, vying to describe the circumstances of the defeat that night.

The brigade commander fled, the commander-in-chief fled by car, the front line turned against each other, and the right wing of the central army was lost...

After talking for a while, Staff Officer Li just nodded and made the final conclusion:

"Still a deserter."

Everyone was about to explain, but he suddenly waved his hand and snorted, "I don't want to argue. No matter how much I say, a deserter is a deserter. On the battlefield, you either win or die, otherwise you are a deserter."

There is a long-standing tradition of outlawry within the Fengtian Army.

As soon as these words came out, a strong man flashed out from the team, raised his chin at him, and said indignantly:
"Sir, if you say so, then you are also a deserter."

Everyone agreed.

Staff Officer Li showed displeasure, and twitched his mouth. He retorted on the spot: "I am different from you. The 38th Brigade won the battle. We are following the deployment of the superiors and preparing to block the attack of the Zhi army, not retreating."

"It's no use if only your 38th Brigade won the battle. We still lost the battle in the end!"

"That's right. We are all Fengtian troops. What's the point of you winning and I losing?"

The soldiers rushed through the night and finally found the main force, but they were accused in person, which made them feel disheartened.

Although the other party's accusations are not without reason, the 30,000 troops of the Western Route Army have been disarmed. Blaming these low-level officers and soldiers now always seems a bit like venting anger on others.

Unexpectedly, Li pulled out his service pistol, cocked the gun, and shouted, "Let's see who dares to talk back!"

After a glance, everyone fell silent.

The 38th Brigade had strict military discipline, which was well known within the Fengtian Army.

What's more, the soldiers knew they were in the wrong and did not dare to act rashly again.

After a moment of stalemate, Zhao Zhengbei stepped forward and asked, "Staff Officer Li, what do you say we should do? Are you going to put us under military law now?"

Staff Officer Li glanced at Bei Feng's shoulder straps and spoke in a slightly softer tone, but still in a condescending manner.

"You are a major, but how can you lead the soldiers? Look at you guys, you are all crooked and unruly. Are you soldiers? You are just a bunch of bandits!"

"The brothers have been busy traveling these days and are all tired." Zhao Zhengbei explained coldly.

"Tired? That means you are not active in your training!"

"So what you mean is, let's train now?"

Zhao Zhengbei stared at Staff Officer Li's face without looking away, showing no intention of backing down.

Despite the bland tone, the two sides have already shown a tit-for-tat posture.

Upon seeing this, Lin Zhidong immediately put on a smile, whispered words of comfort, and tried to reconcile the two sides.

"Tsk, Zhengbei, stop talking!" He turned around and reminded, "Staff Officer Li, they have come from afar, and they have no choice but to desert. Besides, the supervision team is looking for him. Let's go over and report and register first, shall we?"

However, Staff Officer Li only knew that his superiors were looking for Zhao Zhengbei, but he didn't know their purpose in looking for him.

Since it was the Supervisory Team that was looking for him, he naturally thought that Bei Feng would be held accountable, and he didn't even bother to show his face, instead he scolded:

"Why are you in such a hurry? This is a good opportunity to teach them a lesson, so that when the Zhi army attacks us, these cowards won't become deserters again!"

Hearing this, Bei Feng and others looked at each other, and suddenly they heard something else, and they showed confused expressions.

Staff Officer Li had shown off his authority enough, so he pointed out the most important task and said in a serious tone, "You are lucky to have a chance to redeem yourself. Otherwise, based on the performance of your Western Route Army, it would not be excessive to execute you one by one!"

Zhao Zhengbei's eyebrows tightened and he asked hurriedly, "What do you mean?"

Staff Officer Li said: "The superiors have ordered our troops to garrison the north side of Shanhaiguan and recruit the remaining scattered soldiers to work together to stop the Zhi army's attack. You can't leave, you have to stay, the battle is not over yet!"

(End of this chapter)