Age of Rebirth

When Tang Qiuli said this, Zhao Yuhe immediately reacted and said, "Master, are you worried that the troops who rushed to the front line of Gaizhou for a long distance may lag behind the Japanese army fleeing on the central and northern lines in terms of speed?"

"I'm worried. After all, the journey is too long. By the way, Yuhe, do you have any news about the troops occupying the front line of Gaizhou?" Tang Qiuli asked.

Zhao Yuhe shook his head and replied, "Not yet, I'll send a telegram to ask Commander Hantie!"

Tang Qiuli waved his hand and said, "No need, Han Tie must be more anxious than us. With his temper, if the Japanese soldiers on the central and northern lines really slipped through the opening of Gaizhou, he would still be so angry that he vomited blood." Ah, we wait for the news!"

Inside Andong City, the Marine Corps Headquarters, as Tang Qiuli expected, the blocking battle in the north of Andong ended temporarily with the defeat of the new Kwantung Army Second Corps. Han Tie's attention immediately shifted to the attack The troops from the direction of Gaizhou came up, especially the Wanlipeng Department of the Ninth Brigade. The task was to capture Gaizhou City. Most of the retreating Japanese troops on the central and northern lines would pass through Gaizhou.

"What did Wan Lipeng do? He hasn't sent a telegram until now! From the time he set off to now, he hasn't sent a single word. Send a telegram to ask about the situation and the current location of the troops!" Han Tie angrily told Chief of Staff Wang Dongshan Said.

Wang Dongshan smiled and replied: "Commander, it's useless for you to be anxious. Brigadier Wan's troops turned off the radio more than two hours after they left. !"

Han Tie tilted his head and said, "Chief of Staff. Tell me, did Wan Lipeng's troops encounter any trouble? Or rather, this kid was greedy for merit. On the way, he met the fleeing Japanese army. Meat, eat it with your mouth open, get excited and forget the main task? If that’s the case. See if I’m not skinning him!"

Wang Dongshan grinned, and replied: "Commander, before I contact the Ninth Brigade, I dare not make wild assertions!"

Han Tie glared at Wang Dongshan unhappily, and said, "I didn't realize that you are so tactful before, okay. You don't have to make random guesses when you ask us. You give the blocking troops on the front line of Wulong back to Baoshan, how many The head of the regiment made a phone call to remind them that although the Kwantung Army's newly formed second corps was beaten to pieces by us, it did not give up and retreated ten kilometers. I think it will attack again at night. Also strictly guard. Don't relax!"

Wang Dongshan agreed, picked up the phone, and Han Tie added: "I heard that Miao Wanlei of the Seventh Brigade was injured in two places, and Wulongbei is the most important area. The little devil is a thorn in his side. Let Miao Wanlei come down." , The headquarters sent another person to take over his command, and also sent a few experienced military doctors to the position of the Seventh Brigade and First Regiment, Miao Wanlei is a fierce general, so there must be no mistakes!"

"Well, Wan Lipeng, I'm playing radio silence. When the battle is over, I'll see how I deal with you! The cooking squad of the headquarters, I'll leave you a job as the deputy squad leader!" Han Tie gritted his teeth and muttered. Hearing that, the staff officers around couldn't help laughing. They all knew that the commander was just being ruthless. There are nine brigade commanders in the Marine Corps. How can the commander be willing to let him be a general who is not alone? Go to the cooking class to cook?

Admiral Tang Qiuli, the number one leader of the Independent Division, Major General Han Tie, the eldest brother of the Marine Corps, and Major General Wan Lipeng, the commander of the Ninth Brigade, now have no time to catch his breath. The mission of the Ninth Brigade is in Korea. Among the troops under Tie's command this time, it can be said that it is the heaviest. It is not the combat mission, how many Japanese troops to fight, but the distance to run.

From the north bank of the Yalu River to Gaizhou City in the west of the Liaodong Peninsula, spanning the entire peninsula, a distance of more than 200 kilometers, and still crossing, a north-south vein of thousands of mountains runs through the Liaodong Peninsula, extending from the north to the south of the peninsula. At Lushunkou, the peaks are not high, there are absolutely no cliffs, and there is no bottomless grand canyon, but there are no ready-made roads to go on, basically mountain paths.

Han Tie knew that Wan Lipeng's troops had the farthest marching distance, so most of the trucks used by the Marine Corps to transport troops were assigned to the Ninth Brigade. Meaning, although it was the first time he came to the Liaodong Peninsula, he knew from the map that this road was not easy to walk.

Wan Lipeng's order to the troops is to use two feet to run where the truck cannot go. All equipment is not allowed to be left behind. The area needs to be captured and defended.

Xiuyan went further north and reached the area of ​​Hadabei Town. This is a key point for the garrison of the Eastern Army. The whole brigade of the Ninth Brigade rushed forward, and it took less than 10 minutes to solve the problem. With the loss of a Kwantung Army gendarmerie squad in the town and a battalion of the Manchurian Army, Wan Lipeng left behind two companies of troops, and said a word to the two company commanders, "I will keep an eye on this place." !" He immediately continued to lead the team northward without touching the ground, and he had no time to delay.

With the momentum of the autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves, they fought and ran all the way. Starting from Hadabei Town, they planted seeds at various points along the way. The Ninth Brigade left many troops behind. After Gaotun Town, Wan Lipeng still had three infantry battalions in his hands, plus the engineering battalion, reconnaissance battalion, and guard company directly under the brigade, and the rest were the brigade's logistics organization.

Standing on the streets of Gaotun Town, where the lingering smoke is still rising, the traces of the battle just now are still vivid in my mind. Dozens of corpses of Kwantung Army military police lay bloody on the street, and a group of Manchurian soldiers were captured. Holding his hands high, he was escorted away by the soldiers in a dejected manner, "Leave a battalion of troops and set up defense immediately, or the same sentence, let me keep an eye on this place! The other troops immediately get on the car and go straight to Gaizhou!" Wan Li Peng hurriedly gave the order.

Without even taking a breath, the troops immediately waited for the car and rushed north. After walking for more than 20 kilometers, the troops could not move. A large river with a width of more than [-] meters was in front of them. The Qinghe River leads directly to the Shimen Reservoir in front of it. There should have been a bridge connecting the two sides of the river, but what Wan Lipeng sees now is a broken bridge pier, and it looks like it has been destroyed for a long time.

"Damn it! The bridge was destroyed by the little devil!" Wan Lipeng cursed bitterly. After observing, the current of the Daqing River was not rushing, which made him somewhat relieved. Obviously, it was impossible to continue riding, although There was a battalion of engineers at hand, but there was no time to get the bridge repaired by himself.

Wan Lipeng thought about it, and said to the brigade chief of staff Xu Lei: "Chief of staff, convey the order that all troops get out of the vehicles and wade across the river. Look for more ferries where you can wade!"

Soon, dozens of soldiers from the guard company jumped into the water and stood at Wan Lipeng's position, only seeing the small black dots on the river surface. He anxiously looked at his watch from time to time, the chief of staff Xu Lei said worriedly "Brigade Commander, it shouldn't be a problem to cross the Daqing River. What I'm worried about is that you keep leaving troops along the way. Now, we only have the strength of two main battalions, and there are a few troops directly under the brigade. A battalion, combined, only has more than 4000 troops, and there are agencies directly under the cover brigade, I am worried..."

Speaking of this, Xu Lei pondered for a while, Wan Lipeng put down the binoculars, and said impatiently: "Don't hesitate, what are you worried about? Just talk if you have something to say, my old partner for many years, you still don't know my temper?"

Xu Lei said: "Brigade Commander, let me just say it straight. With the strength we have, it will be very difficult to take down Gaizhou. Gaizhou is an important node leading from the Liaodong Peninsula to the hinterland of the Northeast. The Kwantung Army will definitely deploy heavy troops. , Moreover, according to the information, this is also the logistics supply base of the Japanese army on the middle and west roads, Brigadier, we will fight all the way, and it will take more than a day and a half, will the Kwantung Army troops in the direction of Gaizhou be alert?"

Wan Lipeng let out a long breath and did not speak. Xu Lei's analysis was completely correct. According to the information provided by the headquarters, Gaizhou had a gendarmerie brigade, a security brigade, and a reinforced regiment of the Manchuria Army. There are also a mess of Japanese and puppet secret service agencies, police stations and other armed forces. Add up, the strength of the Kwantung Army in Gaizhou City will not be less than 5000.

The remaining troops in my hands are only more than 4000 people. They traveled long distances and fought all the way. All the heavy artillery and tanks were left on the north bank of the Yalu River. The current heavy weapons of the troops are mortars. From which point of view, this battle is not easy to fight. Xu Lei reminded himself that he should keep more troops in his hands when fighting Gaizhou. However, there is no way, every point needs to be defended by troops. The little devil breaks through at a certain point, and all the actions of the Ninth Brigade are meaningless!

Taking Gaizhou and blocking the retreat of the retreating Kwantung Army troops is a task that must be completed. Wan Lipeng had no choice. He gritted his teeth and said: "Chief of Staff, you are right. This battle is not easy to fight. It is far away from the labor force, and it is also a small number of people, the Daqing River is less than ten kilometers away from Gaizhou, and the troops must immediately go into battle after crossing the river!"

"These are all our disadvantages, but have you analyzed it, Chief of Staff, the little devils in Gaizhou City, only the gendarmerie brigade and the security brigade are capable of fighting, other Manchurian policemen and pseudo-policemen, this gang The combat power of the traitors can be ignored, so we still have an advantage in terms of military strength, even the two Kwantung Army brigades are not field troops, so you think Gaizhou is not easy to fight?"

Xu Lei thought about the brigade commander's analysis carefully, and smiled, "The brigade commander's analysis is still correct, so let's fight! Hey brigade commander, look quickly, the second battalion of the third regiment has passed the Daqing River!" He pointed in surprise Said across the river.

"So fast!" Wan Lipeng was also very pleasantly surprised. He hurriedly raised his binoculars. Suddenly, there was the scream of mortar shells in the sky.

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