The soldiers of the Sichuan Army of the 76th Brigade of the 26th Division forgot their lives and forgot to die, fought bloody battles with devils, and miraculously held on for another day.

The 46th Brigade of the 16th Division also experienced a bloody battle at Meilankou, effectively containing the Japanese army attacking Longtan Mountain.

When night fell, the Longtan Mountain position was in a mess, and there was a sea of corpses and blood. The soldiers of the Sichuan army searched the positions for the bodies of their comrades, as well as their stumps and broken arms.

The scene was extremely miserable, Shao Fei watched this scene on a high ground, and his mood could not be calm.

Chen Haotian came behind Shao Fei and said in a reproachful tone: "You shouldn't have played today, your team members injured four people." As a commander, you should always be calm. ”

Shao Fei was expressionless, and asked unceremoniously: "Are you cold-blooded?" When you see this, you don't feel it? ”

Chen Haotian breathed a sigh of relief, looked at the miserable scene in the position, and said, "Yes, but I put it in my heart." It is an honor for a soldier to kill the enemy and serve the country, and to destroy the enemy by all means. If the enemy is not expelled for a day, the Sichuan army will not return to its hometown! ”

Shao Fei asked again: "Then do they know what glory is, what honor is, and what is defending the country?" If you hadn't promised them anything last night, would there have been those 116 daredevils? In fact, it is very simple, many people just want to live and have a full bite to eat. ”

Chen Haotian couldn't answer Shao Fei. Rhetoric is only used to boost morale, but the reality is another story. Chen Haotian felt a little strange for Shao Fei in his heart, it was he who let himself face the reality and discounted the sacrifice of the Sichuan army.

Shao Fei's face was gloomy, and he turned around and said, "I'll answer your previous question. I'll tell you a joke first, there are six soldiers, they are the elite of the elite, and each of them is far more capable than my special operators. On one mission, the six of them were besieged in order to save a local dog of a common people's child, and they were almost wiped out. What do you think? ”

Chen Haotian was incredulous and said, "This is impossible. It's not a joke, it's stupid, it's ridiculous. ”

Shao Fei lowered his head and sneered, "I also thought so at the time, that earth dog was not worth anything at all. The child had no parents, and the earth dog was all he had. Although the story is fake, I can understand the meaning of the work. Those six soldiers were not afraid of sacrificing their lives, they were afraid of losing faith, perhaps this is the difference between the Communist Party and the Kuomintang. ”

Chen Haotian sighed: "Yes, the people are very stupid, and it is very simple. Whoever is good to them will support and die for whom, not just for that bite of food. Our chairman doesn't seem to understand this very well, he still relies on money and the four major families. ”

"Far from it." Shao Fei turned around and looked at the position again, and said, "For us, there is no worthiness or unworthiness, only should or should not. The army needs faith, and that faith is not something that can be possessed by a few rhetoric, it needs to be built and cultivated over a long period of time. ”

Chen Haotian seemed to be inspired, and Shao Fei finally said: "I said so much, Chen Haotian, do you see the future?"

Chen Haotian replied: "I saw it. But I still don't dare to agree with your beliefs, it's too idealistic, and I only believe in the Three People's Principles. It's a pity that many party-state soldiers have forgotten the idea of the former prime minister. ”

Shao Fei breathed a long sigh of relief and said, "Let history prove it."

General Headquarters of the 19 Army.

Since receiving Peng Ze's telegram from the Japanese army reinforcements, Luo Zhuo has been uneasy. He was not afraid of a division and a brigade, but now that there was another 101 division, the balance would soon be broken.

The original plan was to draw troops to reinforce Longtan Mountain, but now there are no troops to send. The fall of Longtan Mountain was a foregone conclusion. Once Longtan Mountain is lost, the Hukou is in danger, and once the Hukou is lost, then the Hukou defense battle will be declared a failure.

Now that the forces are no longer superior, the Japanese army has again controlled the river and air supremacy. Judging from the cards, the national army has lost, but Luo Zhuoying still does not give up and has to make the last effort.

After many deliberations and rehearsals, Luo Zhuoying drew up a new combat plan overnight and issued the No. 11 combat order.

The order was as follows: The 18th Army immediately ceased the defense of the Japanese troops at Pengze and Zhongjiakou, and moved to the Taipingguan, Dayuan, Wubafangwan, and Maying areas to assemble at night, with the headquarters under unified command of the 11th, 16th, 60th, and 77th Divisions. The 26th Division was ordered to abandon Longtan Mountain and return to defend Hukou County. Then with the strength of four divisions, besiege the enemy at Longtan Mountain and Meilankou, and annihilate them with all their might.

This was a broken battle order, aimed at the two wings of the 106th Division and the Potian Detachment. If the battle does not go well, the Japanese troops on the periphery will counterattack in a big way, and the Japanese troops in the center will come to respond to the outside together, and the situation will become very passive.

The order was quickly communicated to the divisions, and four divisions moved overnight. The key to the victory or defeat of the Hukou defense is time.

The 26th Brigade of the 76th Division deployed the retreat plan overnight. Now the 76th Brigade has less than 1,000 troops, and two regiment commanders have been sacrificed, and they think that the remnants of the army are not enough to fight.

At the headquarters, Chen Haotian suggested: "Let the wounded soldiers withdraw first, and we will break off."

Zhu Zaitang, commander of the 76th Brigade, said: "I think so too, and the 46th Brigade in Meilankou will help defend me." ”

Shao Fei asked, "What about the 46th Brigade?"

Zhu Zaitang replied: "They went to the periphery and encircled and annihilated the enemy with the main force."

Chen Haotian was a little angry and said: "Now the key to the whole battle situation is Hukou County, why don't you send more troops." Do they really want the Sichuan army to die? ”

Chen Haotian's words silenced everyone. The 26th Division plus the troops at Hukou added up to less than two thousand, and there were no heavy weapons, how could they face the attack of two wings.

An order is an order, and the 76 Brigade was evacuated overnight.

The Japanese army soon discovered the intention of the 76th Brigade to withdraw and quickly captured Longtan Mountain.

Hakata Shigeichi received an order from Okamura Ninji: The 106th Division was responsible for attacking Hukou County, and the Hatada detachment left an engineer squadron to build fortifications on Longtan Mountain, leaving a brigade to defend Longtan Mountain. Another brigade was ordered to attack the 46th Brigade at Meilankou and occupy Meilankou.

Okamura Ningji's intention was obvious, that is, to let the Hatian detachment block the main force of the four divisions of the national army, and let the 106th Division have no worries and attack Hukou with all its might.

Command of the Hatada detachment. Hata who received the order had a sullen expression and sat in the chair of the command headquarters for a long time without speaking.

The adjutant in front of the border couldn't stand it either, and complained: "Why is Commander Okamura so unfair, every time he gives the 106th Division the lead and lets us clean up the mess, is it because we are a Taiwan brigade?" Don't forget that Longtan Mountain was brought down by us. ”

Hakuda Shigeichi took a breath helplessly and said, "Whatever, the 106th Division will suffer a big loss sooner or later."

Shigeichi Hauda knew about the 106th Division, and he was greedy for merit. So I don't want to compete with them for a while.

(Later, in Wanjialing, the 106th Division was almost completely annihilated by Xue Yue.) )

Now Harata Shigeichi has to think about how to capture Meilankou, and then build fortifications to deal with the main force of the four divisions of the national army.

Hakuda remembered that the 46th Brigade had used a smoke battle last night, so he decided to use poison gas against the 46th Brigade again.

In the early morning of the 4th, the Potian detachment released poison gas on the Meilankou position. Most of the officers and men of the 46th Brigade of the position were poisoned and could not fight, so they had no choice but to withdraw from their positions. Meilankou was easily occupied by the Hatian detachment.

The current battle situation is like a mille-feuille cake, the 26th Division is holding Hukou County; On the outer layer, the 106th Division and the Botian Detachment besieged Hukou County; On the outer layer, four divisions of the National Army besieged the 106th Division and the Botian Detachment; At the outermost level, the main force of the Japanese army had to besiege four divisions of the Nationalist Army again. And the central point is Hukou County.

(End of chapter)