Age of Rebirth

After receiving instructions from the independent division instead of receiving the order from the Northeast Work Corps, Song Geping, the mayor of Andong City, knew that the frontline battle situation was rotten and the Sixth Brigade had lost the battle. Not only the Sixth Brigade, but also the Sixth Brigade The same is true for the [-]th Brigade. For the first time, the highest commanding body of the Independent Division issued an order to a local municipal government alone. No need to ask, it was the most urgent military affairs. Civilian cars are called for within the city, but how many cars can there be in the whole of Anton?

Song Geping even went against the norm and broke the principle he had always emphasized, which is to restore the economy and maintain stability in Anton. As the mayor, he asked Colonel He Qifeng, the commander of Anton's garrison, to dispatch troops to assist the city government in its work. Personnel, take coercive measures against those citizens who refuse to implement the city government's call-up order until they are imprisoned!

Song Geping said to He Qifeng: "Commander He, the situation is urgent, and extraordinary measures must be taken in extraordinary times. The division ordered the Andong City Government to arrange vehicles and evacuate the wounded troops. For those citizens who have cars at home but refuse to be recruited, they can be arrested immediately, their vehicles will be confiscated, and if they encounter resistance, your soldiers can shoot them! If something goes wrong, I will take all the responsibility!"

He Qifeng's heart was shaken, and his impression of Song Geping had fundamentally changed. He was a soldier, and he knew what kind of situation it would be like to retreat tens of thousands of people, especially with the huge number of wounded. In fact, he was gone a long time ago. The troops of the garrison headquarters did this. Song Geping was able to give up his personal grievances with Jiang Xianliang at the critical moment and think about the overall situation. For this alone, he deserves his admiration!

The staff of Andong City Hall and the troops of the Police Command.With all their efforts, the motor vehicles collected were less than half of what they needed. Song Geping and He Qifeng, in desperation, thought of a way to use animal-drawn vehicles. In the countryside, there is no shortage of horse-drawn carts and donkey carts. Of course, there is no such thing as free requisition, just that.There was no money for the time being, and what those car owners got was still an IOU stamped with the seal of the Anton City Government and signed by Mayor Song Geping himself.

After such an effort, there is a mixed fleet of motor vehicles and animal-drawn vehicles.Finally, more than 80.00% of the wounded of the Sixth Brigade were transported from the front line.As for the wounded who were not able to get into the car.It can only be carried on a stretcher, and the speed of action is very slow. All the roads leading to Andong are full of traffic and people, just like a huge field hospital is being transferred, military doctors and nurses.I was so busy, there were too many wounded, and it was impossible to rescue them, and there were constantly deeply poisoned soldiers.He stopped breathing.

Jiang Xianliang looked at the traffic and people on the road, and no matter how he looked at it, he felt that the current army was filled with a sense of failure, so he adjusted his posture with great effort, and asked in a muffled voice: "Chief of Staff, the casualties have been counted. ?”

Jiang Xianliang's voice trembled a little. This was an unavoidable question. As the brigade commander, he had to know how much combat power his troops had. Although he was cruel and didn't want to face it, he still had to ask, and he had made mental preparations in advance. The casualties of the Sixth Brigade will definitely not be small, and their vitality may be seriously injured!

Huo Shoushan, who hastily rushed from the brigade headquarters behind Anton, was so busy that he didn't close his eyes. He was silent for a while, and said in a low voice: "Brigade commander, I personally ordered the staff office to count. In a word, the casualties are heavy! You should first After the body has recovered, I will report to you after this matter reaches a safe place!"

Jiang Xianliang's heart felt as if struck by lightning, the pain in his eyes immediately dissipated, and the muscles on his cheeks trembled involuntarily, "Sure enough, Huo Shoushan is also a veteran who has been through battles for a long time. The people who came here can make him say the words of heavy casualties, the Sixth Brigade..." He thought painfully.

"Chief of Staff, you still tell the truth, no matter what the result is, we have to face it, and I, Jiang Xianliang, am not a person who can't afford it! I have to know, can the Sixth Brigade fight again?" Jiang Xianliang Sighing, he said firmly.

Seeing that the brigade commander insisted on asking, Huo Shoushan had no choice but to say: "According to statistics, the casualties of the first regiment, the second regiment, and the third regiment are similar. In the three battalions deployed in the front positions of each regiment, more than 90.00% of the soldiers and officers were poisoned. , During the subsequent Japanese bombardment, they suffered huge losses, with about half of the casualties, and more than [-] officers and soldiers died in battle!"

"In addition, there are officers and soldiers who were deeply poisoned and died one after another. In the current sixth brigade, there are only four battalions that can fight normally, plus the guard company of the brigade headquarter, no more than 5000 people, including the logistics department and other troops. In total, the combat strength of the troops is about [-], and we have lost most of our heavy weapons."

"Pfft!" Jiang Xianliang's face flushed for a while, and he spurted out a mouthful of blood. He had already considered the casualties of the Sixth Brigade as serious as possible, but Huo Shoushan's report was still far beyond his imagination. That is to say, in less than four hours from dawn to when the troops withdrew from the Phoenix Mountain position, the Sixth Brigade was fully staffed with more than 6000 troops, and more than 1 people fell, and more than three percent of them were killed. more than one!

Such a huge loss has exceeded Jiang Xianliang's psychological tolerance. This is not a serious injury, but almost annihilated the entire army. He was so angry that he vomited blood, "Brigade Commander!" Huo Shoushan exclaimed, and hurriedly helped him. Jiang Xianliang, who had a sallow face, said, "Military doctor! Military doctor!" He shouted again.

"Chief of Staff, you don't need to call the military doctor and spit blood. I feel better!" Jiang Xianliang waved his hand, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and stopped him, "I didn't even see the face of the little devil. More than 6000 people have been lost, what a shame, by the way, chief of staff, how about the heavy artillery regiment, has it been withdrawn?" He suddenly remembered the brigade's heavy artillery regiment, if there was no heavy artillery regiment desperately suppressing the Japanese artillery fire and delaying the Japanese attack time , Maybe the troops will not be able to withdraw.

The muscles on Huo Shoushan's painful cheeks were trembling, and he said: "Brigade Commander, the Heavy Artillery Regiment is doing a good job. It bought enough time for the troops to evacuate from the Phoenix Mountain position, but the artillery fire of the Japanese army exceeded that of the Heavy Artillery Regiment by several times." Above, after the fierce artillery battle, none of the heavy artillery regiment survived, from the commander to the ordinary soldiers, all were killed, and before they were killed, not a single artillery was left for the little devil!"

The ensuing blows made Jiang Xianliang's heart numb. In the previous battles, the Brigade Heavy Artillery Regiment was his weapon of attack. More than a hundred [-]-caliber howitzers were invincible and invincible, opening the way for the infantry to attack. Now , No one was withdrawn alive. The loss of the Sixth Brigade this time has reached the verge of collapse. His heart is bleeding in pain. For a while, he doesn't know what to say?

"Bang-bang-bang!" In the distance behind, in the direction of Phoenix Mountain, there was a faint sound of gunfire with the wind. Jiang Xianliang and Huo Shoushan looked at each other, their eyes were full of worry, and the huge loss from the troops was temporary. In the pain, he broke free and thought at the same time, "Could it be that the little devil has caught up?"

As if to prove the judgment of the two military chiefs of the Sixth Brigade, the jeep of Colonel Meng Jianzhu, the head of the regiment, quickly caught up with it from behind, carrying a cloud of smoke and dust. Arriving in front of Jiang Xianliang, he reported out of breath: "The brigade commander, the chief of staff, and the vigilant rear guard found that the little devils are catching up. There are a lot of troops, and they are all over the mountains and plains! There are still about fifteen kilometers away from us!"

Jiang Xianliang struggled to jump out of the car, staggered to the ground, and nearly fell. Meng Jianzhu hurriedly supported him. Seeing the brigade commander's sallow face, he couldn't help but cast a questioning glance at Huo Shoushan who got out of the car afterwards.

Huo Shoushan shook his head, and before he had time to explain, Jiang Xianliang said: "Chief of Staff, immediately order the four battalions that can fight, the brigade guard company, and the troops of the logistics department to establish a blocking line on the spot to cover the wounded and continue to go to the village. Retreat along the river, the blocking troops are under my command, and the retreating troops are under the command of the chief of staff!"

"No!" Huo Shoushan and Meng Jianzhu objected in unison, "Brigade Commander, you are the supreme commander of the whole brigade, how can you stay to fight against it? The army still needs you! I am the one who wants to stay!" Huo Shoushan hurriedly Said.

Jiang Xianliang shook his head stubbornly, and Meng Jianzhu, the head of the first regiment, said: "Brigade Commander and Chief of Staff, don't argue with the two of you. With me, Meng Jianzhu, the brigade commander and chief of staff can take turns to stop the attack and hand over the troops to me. Don't look at just five or six thousand people, make sure that the little devils can't pass by even one step, and buy enough time for the wounded to evacuate, if the little devils continue to catch up, they will step over the corpses of me and the soldiers!"

Meng Jianzhu's words have already shown an attitude. Those who hold the determination to die, everyone knows that the Japanese army chasing after the Sixth Brigade has more than a first-class division, and there are more than 6000 people. The Sixth Brigade left behind troops to fight the attack, but there were only about 6000 troops, a ten-to-one strength gap. In addition, the troops had no heavy equipment and were building temporary positions. Moreover, among the more than 1000 troops, there were More than [-] logistics soldiers.

Facing the superior Japanese army, this is an interdiction battle with vastly different strengths. There is absolutely no possibility for the interdicting troops to survive. I am afraid that when the battle starts, they will be overwhelmed by tens of thousands of Japanese troops. The Japanese army pursues the troops only [-] kilometers away , It is still impossible to adopt a layer-by-layer blocking style of attack, retreating while hitting, it can only be nailed here like a nail.

Jiang Xianliang was reluctant to part with one of his most powerful regiment commanders, so he sacrificed himself in the predictable blocking battle. He was hesitating, and the gunshots behind him became more and more intense. Meng Jianzhu said anxiously: "Brigade Commander, The little devil won't give us time, so don't hesitate any longer, I'll give you the task of blocking!"

(to be continued) (to be continued...)