bookrandom Chapter 933: The Great Retreat from Xinqiang River
Chapter 933: The Great Retreat from Xinqiang River
September 11th, night.
The 10th Division has been holding its position for three days.
During this period, the Japanese even successfully crossed the river several times and rushed to the defenders' positions, but were stubbornly repelled by the soldiers of the 10th Division.
The Japanese were already furious. In the past, they did not use planes to bomb the 10th Division's positions at night, but now they used planes to bomb the 10th Division's positions at night.
Li Erya was exhausted.
He lay in the trench and slept soundly, regardless of the roar of planes overhead.
As for whether he would be killed by the dropped bomb...
I have to sleep even if I die!
He was too nervous in the past two days and hardly slept at night. Now it is the third night, and even his young body can't bear it anymore.
In the second half of the night, the messenger tiptoed through the trenches and whispered to wake everyone up.
"Second boy, second boy! Don't sleep anymore, get up, we need to retreat!"
The second boy shuddered, all his sleepiness gone. He grabbed the messenger's clothes and said, "Don't kid me! I can still fight, why are we retreating?!"
The messenger's eyes were red as he said, "You can still fight? Look at how many waves of people have been replaced around you. Even the division commander's guards have gone into the trenches. If the fighting continues, our entire division will be wiped out! Besides, it's not us who want to retreat, it's the higher-ups who told us to. Commander Xue has his own plans!"
Eryazi let him go and muttered, "Arrange, arrange. They said reinforcements were coming a few days ago, but we haven't even seen a hair of them. We held out for three days on our own. If it were you, we should hold out for another three days to let the devils see if there are any cowards in the 10th Division."
The messenger was helpless and cursed, "Why don't you become a division commander?"
Before dawn, the 10th Army gave up its position and slowly retreated all the way to the Miluo River defense line, where it met up with friendly forces and its remaining forces were incorporated into the defense line on the south bank of the Miluo River.
Originally, the division commander wanted to continue resisting on the first line of defense on the north bank, but the theater headquarters ordered them to retreat. The 10th Division had suffered too many casualties! Even the most heartless generals couldn't bear to let them continue to face the fierce attack of the devils.
Commander Xue even personally persuaded them: You are all soldiers who obey orders and are not afraid of strong enemies. You have fulfilled your responsibilities to the country and the general. Now I order you to go to the rear to rest and prepare for the next battle.
When they reached the second line of defense, Eryazi felt much more relaxed. At least they had nothing to worry about until the Japanese crossed the Miluo River.
A song and dance troupe came to the battlefield to entertain the troops. I heard that they were once famous singers from Shanghai.
While enjoying the performance, Er Yazi was thinking about his female classmates from school.
Alas, I was ignorant at that time. I should have agreed to the marriage arranged by my parents.
Now we are fighting for our lives, and we don’t know when we will lose our lives, but we haven’t even entered the bridal chamber yet!
Young people have tender faces, and just thinking about this makes their faces turn red.
The old soldier next to him laughed when he saw it: "Look, Erya is thinking about women!"
The current Eryazi is no longer the gentle and refined city boy, but a warrior who has fought on the battlefield. He said: "I see you also want women, but you are old and don't have the ability! When I return from the war, I will definitely marry a beautiful young lady."
Everyone knows that this young man is from Xingcheng, has received an education, and is a young master.
They also sincerely wished him well, "When you get married, I will go and ask for a glass of wedding wine!"
The second boy said happily, "My family is rich! We'll have a banquet at Yuloudong. Do you know Yuloudong? It's the best restaurant in Star City. The mandarin fish they cook with wood is so tender, firm, and delicious!"
"Er Yazi! Are you talking about mandarin fish or women?"
"Hahahaha!"
......................
Star City, Ninth War Zone Headquarters.
Since the war began, Xue Lao Hu has been under tremendous pressure every day. In just a few days, he has lost a lot of weight.
The adjutant nearby reported, "Commander, several divisions of the 10th Army have withdrawn. The 20th Army has reached Meixian Town. The 4th Army has moved east to Pingjiang to await orders. The 26th and 72nd Armies have arrived at Wenjiachang, and the 74th Army remains in Liuyang. The 37th and 99th Armies are currently organizing the defense along the Miluo River. According to the plan, they will hold off the enemy for five days."
Xue Lao Hu nodded when he heard this, "Is there any news from the mountain city?"
"Commander, the General Command has issued an order. We hope that the Ninth War Zone will firmly defend Xingcheng, give the Japanese invaders a resolute counterattack, and give the War of Resistance a firm hope."
Xue Lao Hu laughed, not sure whether it was out of relief or sarcasm.
"Boss, boss, two years ago, I wanted to fight, but he wanted to give in. Now that Xingcheng has been defending for two years, he's full of confidence again. Unfortunately, this time I will definitely let him get what he wants. If you want to take something, you must give it first. If I don't let the Japanese smell the stinky tofu of Xingcheng, how can I make them willingly crawl into my furnace?"
Then, Xue Lao Hu asked with some anticipation, "What about the Military Control Commission?"
The adjutant whispered, "Director Dai has personally called us to pay attention to the headquarters' counterintelligence efforts. They've intercepted a large number of the Japanese's command messages and are gradually sorting them out. They don't dare to communicate directly by telegram, so they're sending them here quickly. They've specifically emphasized that only you can see them."
Xue Lao Hu burst into laughter this time. "I used to think the Military Control Commission was just a bunch of scheming, scrambling for power and profit, just like the East Factory. I didn't expect Dai Chunfeng to be so helpful this time!"
"The Military Control Commission has been doing quite well recently. I heard they obtained some very important intelligence during the Zhongtiaoshan incident, and even the General Commander praised them highly."
"Well, since we have the right time, right place, and right people, let's make the devil suffer this time!"
In fact, the headquarters did not "intercept" the Japanese command messages. They were directly monitoring the code book, but they could not say this to the outside world.
..........
Jiangcheng.
At the 11th Army Headquarters, Anami Korechika was somewhat surprised after hearing the report from his subordinates.
"Have all the people from the Tenth Army withdrawn?"
"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, at dawn today, we discovered that the enemy positions had retreated. We sent out reconnaissance aircraft and discovered that the remaining enemy troops were indeed moving south. They must have suffered heavy casualties and could no longer hold on."
Anami Korechika frowned, "Where's their 58th Army? Even if the 10th Army can't withstand our offensive, they still have the 58th Army. But why is there no trace of the 58th Army on the battlefield?"
"The Chinese army has always been known to sabotage each other, and it's common for them to stand aside and not come to the rescue. The 58th Army must have seen our fierce firepower and didn't dare to support us. Reconnaissance troops had previously spotted the 58th Army moving toward the Xinqiang River position, but then turned back and headed east into the mountains. They were clearly afraid of our bombardment."
Anan Wei nodded several times, then sneered, "Even if Xue Lao Hu is a genius, how can he stop the imperial army with such a group of generals and soldiers?"