The War of Resistance: My Expedition, My Country

Chapter 216 Death of Commander Wu

Wu Bairen continued, "Commander Li, Chief of Staff Gao, you have more important things to do. The various units of the 17th Group Army have retreated one after another, and they need you to integrate them. We have to hold out here for a while. We have to hold off the German tank cluster here."

Wu Bairen pointed at the detained major general and whispered, "This general is just complaining. Without their desperate defense, the consequences would be disastrous. He is also a meritorious person!"

Commander Li nodded and waved to the guards, who immediately released the Logistics Major General's arm. General Gao walked over, gently patted him on the shoulder, and whispered, "Go quickly! Take the logistics and supply teams down. Organize them quickly; we'll need your supplies at the front."

The major general had finally come to his senses. At this point in the battle, he understood that as a soldier, no one was immune to sacrifice. He saluted solemnly to Commander Li, the senior general, and the division commander who had saved him. Then he turned and quickly walked away.

Commander Li didn't say anything more. Together with General Gao, he solemnly shook hands with Commander Wu, then turned around and rushed to the second-line position.

Wu Bairen brought back only 602 to 3 infantrymen from the 4000nd Division, besides tanks and armored vehicles. Gudong was still holding out in the front. He didn't have time to say anything, ordering the regiments and battalions to quickly move into their positions. Returning to his carefully prepared positions, Wu Bairen felt much more confident. However, he faced an entire German tank corps, hundreds of tanks, armored vehicles, and a large number of artillery pieces.

Wu Bairen walked into the frontier outpost, a corner of which had been blown away by German artillery fire. Wu Bairen asked his guard to get him an American-made M1 carbine. He placed the gun on the sandbags of the observation post, turned his head to look at the pale guard, and whispered, "Are you afraid?"

The guard nodded and then quickly shook his head. Wu Bairen smiled softly at the guard and said softly, "I'm afraid, I'm afraid too."

"But this is a battlefield. Bullets and shells won't avoid you just because you're afraid. On the battlefield, nothing else matters. The most important thing is to destroy the enemy, the enemy that appears before you. Only by destroying the enemy can you have a chance of survival!"

Wu Bairen didn't say anything more to the guards. At this time, the deputy commander of the 1st Regiment walked in. He shook his head at Wu Bairen and whispered, "There are only about 1000 people left in the entire regiment. The defense area is too large."

Wu Bairen said to the deputy leader, "Do your best. Your leader and the others are still holding on in the front. We cannot let them down by giving us the opportunity they gave us with their lives."

"Boom boom boom boom!" The Germans launched another round of artillery fire, but it was short-lived, only three to five minutes. Then, countless dark shadows appeared, and the deafening sound of engines came from all directions. As the German tanks fired, Wu Bairen saw the most spectacular scene of his life. The Germans had at least 200 more tanks and tank destroyers heading towards his position. Behind them were countless armored vehicles, half-track convertibles, and cars...

"Wow! At least one tank division. The Germans are going to fight to the death!"

At the second-line command post, Commander Li and General Gao were shocked by this scene. General Gao said worriedly, "Commander Wu only has three or four thousand men. I'm really worried!"

Commander Li asked, "How many of each division have returned?"

The high school general shook his head, "Most of the tanks and armored personnel have been withdrawn, but too few infantry have returned. Even if we pull them all up, the position will still be empty."

"We can't worry about that anymore. Concentrate all the tanks and attack from the flanks. We're going to wear down some of the German forces." "Order the heavy artillery to open fire immediately. Don't worry about the front line. At this point, there's no front or rear!"

"Wouldn't this be too cruel to Commander Wu and the others?" the senior general hesitated.

Commander Li suppressed the pain in his heart and tried to remain calm as he replied, "Later, as long as I'm still alive, I will personally go and apologize to Chief of Staff Huang!"

"Boom boom boom boom——" As soon as the enemy entered Wu Bairen's front line, the heavy artillery of the 17th Army roared in. The German army obviously did not realize that these Chinese were so cruel that they even bombed their own people! For a time, a large number of tanks and armored vehicles were covered by artillery fire. The impact of 155 and 203mm artillery fire was also fatal to the German heavy tank cluster. In just over ten minutes of artillery fire, dozens of tanks and armored vehicles were damaged and defeated. The front-line commander had to order a retreat.

Wu Bairen crawled out from the rubble, spat out the dirt in his mouth, and cursed with a smile: "Damn Li Pinxian, you are so cruel to your own people!" But he knew very well that without this round of artillery fire from Commander Li, his position would probably have been completely lost.

The 2nd Regiment Commander rushed around and saw that Division Commander Wu was fine. He gasped for breath and cursed the 17th Army artillerymen as inhuman. Wu Bairen stopped him from cursing and asked loudly, "Is the loss serious?"

The commander of the 2nd Regiment shook his head and said, "Our regiment is fine, but the 1st Regiment is in dire straits. The deputy commander died, and now a battalion commander is in command, with about 700 people left."

Wu Bairen thought for a moment and said to the commander of the 2nd Regiment, "Your 2nd Regiment should take over the position of the 1st Regiment and let this battalion commander also obey your command. I think we can only hold on for one last defense!"

As soon as the 2nd Regiment Commander left, Wu Bairen immediately gathered the division headquarters personnel. The division headquarters now had only about a dozen people, and the command post had been destroyed, so they moved forward to enter the position. At this time, about 100 people rushed up from behind, led by a battalion commander of an armored vehicle.

Wu Bairen shouted loudly: "What are you doing? Where are your armored vehicles?"

The battalion commander replied, "The armored vehicles are parked in the back. I'll leave about 20 of them to guard them. Since the armored vehicles are not needed right now, I'll bring everyone else to join the battle."

"Nonsense! I order you to return immediately. We will need armored vehicles when we counterattack. You are not infantry, return immediately!"

"Commander, at this point, there's no point in distinguishing between motorcycle soldiers and infantrymen. We must die together!"

Wu Bairen stepped forward and slapped the battalion commander in the face. "I'll shoot you! Do you know how hard it is for us to train a motorcycle soldier? Come back with me immediately!"

Afterwards, Wu Bairen shouted to the group of motorcycle soldiers: "Follow me back, remember this, there are no cowards in our 602nd Division. You have your mission, and when we counterattack, kill the enemy ruthlessly!"

Looking at the motorcycle soldiers who were persuaded to retreat, Wu Bairen's face was full of excitement. What good soldiers! You must live well. The 602nd Division will rely on you!

"Bombardment—"

A staff officer shouted loudly and rushed towards the division commander bravely...