On the evening of November 8, 1937, the Supreme Command of the Nationalist Government issued a general retreat order.

However, at this time, this retreat order was obviously too late, because at the time of this order, the 10th Army under the command of Yanagawa Heisuke of the Japanese army, in addition to attacking Songjiang, Pingwang Town, and Jiaxing with one part, also assembled near Jinshan with the main force, and at the same time with the 114th Division and the troops directly under the army near Jinshan, the 6th Division entered Pingwang Town with a part of the combat troops, and the main force assembled on the Songjiang line, and the 18th Division commanded the left detachment to seize Fengjing Town and prepare to advance to Jiaxing.

The Nationalist troops on the entire front, whether on the left flank, in the center, or on the right flank, received orders to retreat on the night of November 8 and 9, and almost at the same time the retreat order was out of control.

To make matters worse, the situation was exacerbated by the fact that the retreating troops of the left flank and the central corps, which had lost control of the central corps, did not retreat according to the prescribed route, but all retreated westward along the line of Anting.

In terms of military common sense, in judging whether a unit is well-trained, in addition to looking at whether an ordinary soldier is ordered or prohibited, it also depends on whether the commander-in-chief and the top command can be good at organizing both the offensive and the retreat, and whether the middle and lower-ranking officers are capable of organizing the advance and retreat of the troops.

Especially in the retreat organization, the front of tens of millions of people gathered, if the organization is improper, it is very likely that the retreat will evolve into a rout, and there is an example of "the defeat of Fu Jian and the water" in history.

When the high command ordered Songhu to retreat, hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops scrambled for the road, and the order was so chaotic that the combat capability was completely lost in the rout.

That's the most distressing part.

In the past three months, hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the Nationalist Army have fought bloodily on the battlefield, fighting to the death and fighting with the Japanese army one after another, and although they have suffered heavy casualties, their morale is still high, and the combat discipline is good.

Even if a unit loses most of it, as long as it withdraws down and replenishes it for a while, it can fight again, after all, as long as the morale is still there, the military spirit of this army is still there.

However, from the time he received the order to retreat on the 8th to the time he triggered a major rout, within a few days, hundreds of thousands of elite divisions that had fought bloody battles with the Japanese army for nearly 100 days were completely lost, and military discipline was gone.

National Army, Left Wing Corps.

When the retreat order was issued on the night of November 8, the pressure on the left wing corps was still relatively small at that time, so the headquarters of the commander of the 3rd Theater of Operations at that time required all units of the left wing corps to still hold on to their original positions to cover the retreat of the right flank combat army, while the 51st Division of the 74th Army occupied Qingpu with Qiu Weida's 306th Regiment to cover the retreat of the left wing corps.

In other words, the 306th Regiment is the most inferior unit of the entire national army.

At this time, due to the extremely backward communication methods of the Chinese army, in order to ensure that most of the troops could receive the order to retreat, manpower communication became the most important way.

The military commander agents became the "main force" to convey orders.

The way these military command agents convey orders is a little ridiculous and funny from the perspective of Meng Shaoyuan, a modern person, but more often than not, it is sad.

They galloped everywhere, and every unit they saw, they would shout "Retreat, retreat, the order of the High Command, the whole army retreat!" ”

In addition to those troops who served as cover, more than half of the troops on the Songhu battlefield were ordered to retreat in this way.

Dai Li's personal order was: "Run to every corner of the battlefield, even if you run to death, you must do everything possible to send the order to every company and platoon." ”

These military commanders were jumping and jumping, running from night to day, and still running on the battlefield.

Some agents, running and running, a bomb fell, and the whole person was blown into the air, and when it fell, it was already torn apart.

Some of the agents, running and running, fell headlong to the ground and never got up again.

There are also agents who painstakingly sent the retreat order to a company commander who was fighting a bloody battle with the Japanese army, and the company commander didn't think about it, and the "snap" was a slap in the face to him:

"Bastard, retreat? Retreat, the battalion commander ordered us to defend to the end! ”

In fact, at this time, where his battalion commander was, even he did not know.

The agent, whose face was beaten in pain, didn't care about the grievances, and knelt down with a "poof": "Company commander, it's true, it's true, it's the retreat order issued by the Supreme Command!" My name is Chen Youde, this is my ID, I want to fake the order, you kill my whole family. I beg you, I beg you, get out of here! ”

That's it.

So primitive and simple.

It's a mess, it's a mess.

After receiving the order to cover the retreat, the 306th Regiment hastily assembled and marched in the direction of Qingpu and Songjiang, preparing to block the 10th Army of the Japanese Army bypassing from the direction of southern Hunan and cover the retreat of the entire Huxi battlefield.

However, when the troops passed through the Beijing-Shanghai railway, the 306th Regiment began to be bombed and strafed by Japanese aircraft. Therefore, it was not until the early morning of November 9 that the 306th Regiment arrived in Zhujiajiao Town, west of Qingpu, but at this time, news came that everyone did not expect:

Matsue was already under attack by the Japanese and most likely had fallen.

The 306th Regiment could only temporarily decide to use Zhujiajiao Town as a base, establish a covering position, build fortifications, and prepare to resist the Japanese troops who detoured from Songjiang.

At this time, because many divisions of the 10th Army of the Japanese Army and the Shanghai Dispatch Army were advancing here, especially the 6th Division, which came with the might of a new victory, with the strength of the 306th Regiment and one team, it was simply impossible to resist the onslaught of the Japanese army.

Therefore, the regiment commander Qiu Weida decided to delay the Japanese attack by means of mobile defense, resistance one by one, and the establishment of a large in-depth position, so as to gain more time, so as to cover the retreat of the troops in western Shanghai.

The day of 9 November was calm and there was almost no fighting.

Taking advantage of this day, the 306th Regiment constructed multiple positions on the defensive front, and improved the foundations of fortifications, bunkers, firing points and other positions.

From the morning of the 10th, the Japanese army began to attack the area west of Qingpu from the Songjiang line. At noon on the same day, after the first engagement between the Japanese army and the 306th Regiment in the cover position on the periphery of Zhujiajiao Town, they found that the Chinese troops on the front line of Zhujiajiao had only one team of troops, so they launched a fierce attack and launched a roundabout encirclement of the 306th Regiment with the strength of two infantry brigades.

After discovering the Japanese army's attempt, Qiu Weida ordered to fight and retreat, using the large depth position to resist and delay the Japanese attack.

In the evening of the same day, the 306th Regiment retreated to Qingpu County, where it was stationed to resist the Japanese attack. The Japanese 6th Division launched a fierce attack on Qingpu County.

The 306th Regiment used the city wall as a cover and resisted stubbornly.

The fighting was fought with such brutality that it was unimaginable.

"Retreat, retreat!"

At this time, a voice sounded over Qingpu.

"Who! Who the fuck made the retreat! ”

Yin Yuanzhi, the commander of the 2nd Battalion, who was directing the battle at the front line, roared angrily.

"I'm Meng Shaoyuan!"

Braving the fierce artillery fire, Meng Shaoyuan rushed to Yin Yuanzhi's face: "Military Colonel Meng Shaoyuan, I want to see your regiment commander, I want to see Qiu Weida!" ”

"Come on, take this spy to the regiment leader!"

At this time, Qiu Weida, the commander of the 306th Regiment, was in the midst of a frantic attack by Japanese artillery.

As soon as he heard the word "retreat", Qiu Weida's anger suddenly came up: "Fart, I just received the task of serving as the rear guard of the whole army and sniping the Japanese army, why do you have to retreat!" ”

"Head Qiu, it's messy, it's all messy, yesterday, Baihe Harbor was lost!"

"What?" Qiu Weida took out a pistol and aimed it at Meng Shaoyuan's head: "You're saying it again!" ”

Baihe Harbor is a flank covering position, if this place is lost, it is meaningless for the 306th Regiment to continue to stay here.

"Lost, really lost!" Meng Shaoyuan's voice was a little hoarse: "The speed of the Japanese army's advance is far faster than imagined, yesterday, the 58th Brigade of the 174th Division fought bloodily, but still failed to stop the Japanese army, the brigade commander Wu Jiguang was killed, and Baihe Port fell into the hands of the Japanese army. ”

Qiu Weida's body shook a little.

The left wing corps is the cover part of the whole army, and its own 306th regiment is the rear unit of the whole corps.

But now, he, the most rear-ranking unit, is actually trapped behind enemy lines?

"Commander Qiu, all the agents of our military command have been dispatched, and I, the colonel director, are here." Meng Shaoyuan roared there: "It is pointless to continue to hold on to Qingpu, if you calculate according to the current time, the forward troops of the Japanese army are already ahead of you by one day."

The Luo Zhuoying Headquarters of the 15th Group Army and the Xue Yue Headquarters of the 19th Group Army are all likely to be broken through by the Japanese army. Maybe while we're talking, the two commanders are already fighting the Japanese army hand-to-hand! There is no more order, Commander Qiu, there is no more order, and the last order we received is to let you retreat! Withdraw. ”

He gasped: "Kunshan is not safe anymore, Commander Qiu, I will point you the safest retreat route, and after you go out, carry out guerrilla warfare." ”

"Someone!" Qiu Weida shouted: "Pass my order, the whole regiment retreats!" Maps, maps! Colonel Meng, tell me, how to get to Kunshan! ”

"You're going to Kunshan?"

"That's right, as an officer, I didn't directly receive orders from my superiors, and I must not change the battle plan without authorization, and my task is to retreat in the direction of Kunshan after completing the covering task." Qiu Weida was very stubborn: "Colonel Meng, please." ”

Meng Shaoyuan felt what is called helplessness, he pointed to the map and said: "Retreat from here, march for an hour, there will be a trail, you arrive here, look for a guide, and follow the trail The safest will reach Kunshan in about two days." ”

"Good!" Qiu Weida put away the map: "Colonel Meng, you can go with us." ”

"I can't." Meng Shaoyuan shook his head.

"Why?" Qiu Weida was stunned for a moment.

Meng Shaoyuan laughed miserably: "Because I still have five hundred brothers in the enemy formation. ”

"Five hundred brothers?"

Meng Shaoyuan nodded slowly.

In time, it should be in time.

Hopefully, it should be in time, right?