Rise From Eight Hundred

Chapter 508: The Problem of the ‘Rookie’ Company Commander (Part 2)

Now it is a battlefield, and there are more than 20,000 Japanese troops outside the defense line.

And after this battle, it is not only the 18th Division, but also the 36th Infantry Brigade of the 6th Division and the remnants of the 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade. In terms of manpower, it has exceeded the total strength of the three Chinese infantry divisions on the defense line.

The independent battalion cannot be said to be restless and reorganize in such a big way.

Even if the 18th Division has remained silent since yesterday morning as Tang Dao expected.

No one can be 100% sure that they will not launch an attack.

The cavalry platoon of the special company of the independent battalion did not participate in any reorganization due to its special nature. Except for each person being given an extra 14-type pistol of the Nambu and 20 rounds of bullets, there is basically nothing else to do, so Tang Dao announced the complete reorganization plan in the morning and sent them out.

There were not many troops ordered to stay behind the defense line for repair. The Tang Dao unit, which had to reorganize new troops after returning from the battlefield, was one of them. However, all the troops ordered to repair not only needed to let the officers and soldiers rest, but also did not do nothing. They also had to help defend and scout the two wings and the rear wing of the defense line.

The cavalry platoon, led by Lv Sanjiang, left the station as far as ten kilometers away. That was not only to scout the battlefield for the independent battalion, but also to serve as eyes for the army of the entire defense line.

Otherwise, did you really think that Lieutenant General Wu was so easy to talk to and directly transferred a cavalry platoon to Tang Dao? That was also the result of the Lieutenant General's consideration from the overall perspective.

The independent battalion that was being reorganized and the infantry regiment of the 107th Division that fought badly were guarding the safety of the left wing of the defense line. If the Japanese army played tricks and bypassed the two wings, even if it was just an infantry regiment, they had to go up.

Moreover, starting from this morning, a part of the field hospital began to retreat with seriously injured soldiers under the protection of a part of infantry and cavalry, retreating to the Jiaxing defense line.

Yes, similar to the Xicheng National Defense Line, a few years ago, the Ministry of National Defense began to build two national defense lines in northern Zhejiang, mainly in Jiashan and Jiaxing counties. The Jiashan National Defense Line is the first line and the Jiaxing National Defense Line is the second line.

In the initial design, if the Japanese army landed on the coastline, the defenders would defend Jiashan as the first line of national defense. If the Japanese army and navy were strong, they would retreat to the Jiaxing National Defense Line 30 kilometers away after consuming the Japanese army on the first line of defense.

Both national defense lines have permanent concrete fortifications that can resist heavy artillery. If more than 100,000 troops are stationed, it is enough to resist the attack of several divisions of the Japanese invaders.

This strategic thinking is correct, but war has never started with human will.

In the past, after the outbreak of the July 7 Incident, no one, including the Japanese, expected that the Chinese army would take the initiative and directly attack the Japanese troops stationed in the financial metropolis of Songhu. As both sides continued to invest troops, it eventually evolved into the largest battle in the entire East.

In the end, the two warring parties deployed more than one million troops, and the Japanese army even deployed two naval fleets with aircraft carriers.

What the Chinese leaders did not expect was that the 700,000 elite army and air force, who had almost exhausted the whole country's strength, were still defeated.

After three months of fierce fighting, the 700,000 troops showed their courage as elites and created the largest number of Japanese troops annihilated by China since the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. The Japanese casualties were as high as more than 40,000, but their own losses exceeded one-third.

The almost gamble-like battle still failed. The only bright spot may be that it completely shattered the arrogant words of the Japanese leaders' "sweeping all of China in three months".

The result of the defeat was that the four national defense lines in Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang, which were highly expected, actually lost their original functions.

Even now, because Songjiang successfully blocked the Japanese Tenth Army, the retreating army was relieved, but defeat was defeat, and morale was no longer as good as before. The Xicheng Line was already in danger under the crazy attack of the Tenth Army led by Yanagawa Heisuke, and it was broken in the past few days.

Jiashan and Jiaxing were in even worse condition. The army ordered to retreat from this direction ran faster than rabbits. Except for the three infantry divisions on the Jiashan defense line, there was not a single person on the Jiaxing side.

In other words, the two national defense lines that cost tens of millions of silver dollars to build only had about 20,000 people at present. Otherwise, Wu, Guo, and Gu would not have cursed their mothers for half a day at the headquarters after hearing the news.

But no matter how much they cursed, they had to fight the Japanese.

Not for those colleagues who ran very fast, but for themselves. The Japanese were like jackals that were beaten hard by sticks and retreated temporarily. Once they noticed the weakness of the Chinese army on the defense line, they would immediately jump out and show their sharp white fangs and pounce on them to tear their opponents into pieces.

Therefore, the army on the defense line could not retreat for the time being, but the seriously injured with slow mobility must be transported away first, at least 30 kilometers ahead of the army.

On the way to support Songjiang upstream, the 67th Army had seen countless desperate and helpless eyes of the seriously wounded soldiers who were abandoned by the army and waiting to die on the roadside. It was really heartbreaking and panic.

In front of the whole army, Lieutenant General Wu made the first oath that he would never abandon a wounded soldier unless the whole army was defeated.

This is also one of the important reasons why the 67th Army, with more than 30,000 people, has been able to maintain sufficient combat effectiveness until now despite encountering major battles and decisive battles.

Their commander did not break his promise. From the retreat from Songjiang to now, all the seriously wounded soldiers were brought with them, even if they had a breath left.

Not abandoning comrades and comrades also means that you will not be abandoned. This is a truth that everyone understands.

Lv Sanjiang's cavalry platoon has a wide range of reconnaissance, and in fact, it is also to escort the troops transporting the wounded. After the incident with Xiao Mei'er, Tang Dao will never tolerate the phenomenon of the wounded troops being attacked by the Japanese army again.

The cavalry platoon returned not long ago, and there was no trace of any large-scale Japanese troops. However, the Japanese reconnaissance cavalry was seen from a distance. However, the two sides had a tacit understanding that they turned their horses and left immediately after discovering each other, and no battle occurred.

This is the most normal phenomenon. If the Japanese army not only did not move the large troops but also did not have reconnaissance scouts, then there would be a problem.

The Chinese army was guarding against the Japanese, and the 18th Division, which was three or four kilometers away from the defense line, was also guarding against the Chinese.

The continuous night attacks had already exhausted the Japanese. What if the Chinese did the opposite and gave them such a blow during the day?

Ushijima Sadao would never make such a low-level mistake.

However, this also confirmed that the Japanese army would not launch an attack at least today, and the independent battalion at least had time to do its own thing.

For example, each company completed their own running-in in its own garrison.

In six hours, at least five companies have submitted their personnel lists, and only three companies have not yet been fully completed.

"Sir, sir, Captain Qian has called his infantry company to start a lecture. I heard that there will be some kind of assessment to select the squad leader, deputy squad leader and precision shooter!" Xia Dayu ran into the battalion headquarters breathlessly and informed Tang Dao who was reviewing the submitted personnel list.

"Oh? Qian Dazhu finally came up with his idea. Come on, take me to see it." Tang Dao smiled and stood up.

Qian Dazhu not only did not come up with a list, but it was said that in the past five or six hours, he was just busy communicating with soldiers he was not familiar with, and did not take any practical action to appoint a squad leader for any infantry squad.

His three infantry platoon leaders also urged several times. The youngest infantry company commander of this independent battalion seemed to be still hesitating and had not made up his mind.

It was just that Tang Dao had not commented on this, so no one dared to publicly say that he was not good enough, but privately, not to mention others, Guo Shouzhi and Zhuang Shisan, deputy battalion-level officers, were a little bit skeptical, wondering if this guy could still do it.

Until now, Tang Dao was smiling. He knew that it was not that Qian Dazhu had no ideas, but that he had been waiting until the cavalry platoon came back and confirmed that the outer environment was safe and the entire independent battalion did not need to be fully deployed in battle before he began to implement his appointment plan.

Qian Dazhu was worthy of Tang Dao's promotion to the position of infantry company commander just for his endurance.

And his plan was not innovative.

Assessment! Regardless of veterans or recruits, the capable ones will be promoted!

In the army, the strong are respected. Although it is simple and crude, it is the most fair and just way.

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