mesbooks Chapter 446: The Japanese Flee
Chapter 446: The Japanese Flee
446 The Japanese Flee
Xiao Wusheng went to the telegraph room to convey Ye Qingshan's order and came back half a day later.
"Commander-in-Chief, the 25th and 73rd Armies have replied that they will follow the headquarters' orders and set out tonight.
In addition, Commander Zhang and Commander Lin also called back.
Commander Zhang was unwilling to withdraw, he said he wanted to stay and continue fighting the Japanese.
Their 209th Division will participate in the counterattack against the Japanese."
"Huh? Nonsense.
What is he doing?
Their division's mission has been accomplished brilliantly and they can withdraw to rest.
Now, their division is already exhausted, how can they participate in the counterattack?
Soldiers are not made of iron."
Ye Qingshan frowned and said.
"Let them withdraw first and rest for a few days.
This battle won't end so soon.
The Japanese haven't been completely defeated, and the counterattack will take some time.
There will be opportunities for them to participate in the counterattack later.
Withdraw first and let the soldiers have a good rest.
I promised to provide them with additional troops and give them a chance to counterattack and take revenge later."
After a moment, Ye Qingshan's tone softened a lot.
Ye Qingshan also understood the mood of Zhang Fa and others at this moment. After half a month of holding out, countless soldiers had died.
Zhang Fa and others have already been blinded by anger and definitely don't want to retreat.
At this time, Ye Qingshan didn't know how many people were left in Zhang Fa's 209th Division.
The damage was incurred several days ago, so the rules were not issued.
Ye Qingshan knew without thinking that the 209th Division must have suffered heavy casualties, and he didn't even want to hear those cold casualty figures.
"Yes, I'll go tell Commander Zhang right away."
*
*
At this time, within the Japanese encirclement, on the battlefield on the east bank of the valley, was the defensive position of the 209th and 76th Divisions.
The fierce sound of gunfire has not stopped yet.
The Japanese invaders from three directions, southwest, south and north, were still attacking in waves.
The defense lines of the 209th and 76th Divisions had been retreating again and again.
At this time, the main forces of the 209th and 76th Divisions on the east bank of the valley had retreated to a defensive position with a radius of eight or nine miles centered on Tianheng Mountain.
It includes two surrounding villages and seven or eight mountains of various sizes.
This is their last stand, they have nowhere to retreat.
There is a mountain village at the foot of Tianheng Mountain.
This is now the joint command center of the 209th and 76th Divisions.
Not far behind the village is the field hospital.
Zhang Fa is in the field hospital, visiting the wounded soldiers.
Inside the house, there were seriously injured people lying everywhere, the number was frightening.
Seriously wounded soldiers were constantly carried down from the front line and sent to the field hospital here for treatment.
But less than one-third survive.
More bodies were carried out.
As for why the field hospitals are filled with seriously injured soldiers and there are no lightly injured soldiers.
Because the lightly wounded soldiers could not leave the battlefield at all.
At this point in the battle, almost every soldier of the 209th Division fighting on the front line was included in the battle.
What do you mean a bullet wound to the arm or a broken finger? Is this also called an injury?
Just bandage it yourself and continue fighting.
If these lightly wounded soldiers also left their positions, the defense line would collapse directly and there would be no one left on it.
Only seriously injured soldiers would be sent to field hospitals.
The wailing of the wounded was extremely painful to hear.
"I'm sorry brothers!"
Looking at the corpses all over the ground and the wounded soldiers wailing in pain.
Even the tough guy Zhang Fa couldn't help but burst into tears.
"Commander Zhang, our brothers' sacrifice will not be in vain.
They fought for their country and died a worthy death.
We accomplished our mission.”
Lin Fengtian next to him comforted Zhang Fa.
Over the past half month, the 209th and 76th Divisions have shared life and death and hardships, and have held their ground until now under the fierce attack of more than Japanese troops.
Even Lin Fengtian himself found it incredible.
During the process, Lin Fengtian felt several times that he couldn't hold on any longer.
But in the end, they managed to get through it.
And just now, they received an order from Ye Qingshan that reinforcements had arrived, and they were to cooperate with the reinforcements tomorrow to attack the Japanese who were trying to break out.
It even made Lin Fengtian feel like he was seeing the blue sky after the clouds had cleared away.
"Commander-in-Chief, orders from the commander-in-chief."
A staff officer ran over and shouted.
"So, has the commander-in-chief approved our request?"
Zhang Fa asked.
"Sir, the Commander-in-Chief has rejected our request.
Let us break out and retreat immediately after the arrival of the 25th and 73rd Armies tomorrow.
Retreat to Yiwu County for rest.
The commander-in-chief told us not to be anxious and that he would give us the opportunity to participate in the counterattack and take revenge.
He also said that he would provide us with additional troops as soon as possible."
Zhang Faben was very depressed when he heard that Ye Qingshan rejected his request to fight.
But at this time, after listening to the staff officer's words, he nodded slightly.
Knowing that Ye Qingshan's order was correct, they really needed to rest.
Moreover, Ye Qingshan also understood their feelings and gave them some assurances.
With Ye Qingshan's understanding, Zhang Fa felt much better.
“Okay, call the Commander-in-Chief back.
We obey orders.”
After saying that, Zhang Fa looked at the adjutant next to him and continued to instruct: "When you leave tomorrow, take the bodies of the fallen brothers with you.
We take them home.”
"Yes! Master."
It was soon night time, and the 25th and 73rd Armies outside the city set out as planned, heading straight for Yiwu County.
By daybreak, the vanguard of the 25th Army had appeared outside Yiwu City.
At this time, the 40th Regiment of the Japanese 234th Division was stationed in Yiwu City.
Originally, this Japanese regiment was going to launch a surprise attack on Jinhua City.
As a result, they were defeated by the reconnaissance battalion led by Zhao Dongsheng.
Later, after Ye Qingshan led his troops to Jinhua, this Japanese regiment had even less chance of capturing Jinhua City.
Therefore, the two regiments of the Japanese 39th Division went north to participate in the annihilation battle to encircle the 209th Division and the 76th Division.
The Japanese 234th Regiment retreated to Yiwuti to guard against possible Kuomintang troops coming from the south.
And today, the commander of the Japanese 234th Regiment received the news.
"What? A large number of Chinese troops appeared outside the city?"
When the Japanese regiment commander heard the news, he felt a pang in his heart.
He knew things could be bad.
The Kuomintang soldiers who appeared outside the city were most likely Ye Qingshan’s reinforcements.
"Baga, how many people are there?"
The Japanese regiment commander asked quickly.
"Your Excellency, Captain, this is too much.
Our scout soldier said.
They saw that the Chinese troops coming this time had a march of more than ten miles and could not be seen at a glance.”
The Japanese major replied with some fear.
"idiot."
The Japanese captain looked extremely unhappy.
He knew that his guess had come true and the reinforcements from the National Army had really arrived.
"Quick, gather the soldiers."
The Japanese regiment commander picked up his command knife and rushed out of the command center.
"Your Excellency, the commander of the corps, our troops at the city gates have received the news.
It is not easy for the Chinese to capture the county town we are defending."
When a Japanese lieutenant colonel saw the look on the Japanese regiment commander's face, he thought that he was going to fight the national army to the death, so he quickly spoke.
"Baga, idiot.
Do you want our entire squadron to be annihilated by staying here to defend the city at this time?"
As a result, the Japanese lieutenant colonel, who felt he was smart, not only did not receive any praise.
The Japanese captain kicked him to the ground and cursed at him loudly.
"Go quickly and notify all the teams to gather in the north of the city and prepare to move in.
Then report this news to the division commander."
So, when the 25th Army and the 73rd Army arrived at Yiwu County, they found that the Japanese 234th Regiment had already escaped.
"Hey, the devil actually ran away."
Wang Dongyuan, commander of the 73rd Army, also smiled as he looked at the empty county town.
“Can’t outrun them.
Tell the troops not to enter the city and continue marching north.
This afternoon, we must reach the area behind the temple mountain and rescue the 76th and 209th Divisions first.
Let’s have another good fight with the 39th and 49th Divisions of the Japanese.”
At this time, Wang Dongyuan was also full of fighting spirit.
Originally, Wang Dongyuan was feeling uncomfortable because Ye Qingshan kept urging them to march along the way.
They were also worried that when they arrived at the front line, Ye Qingshan would use their troops as cannon fodder.
However, when he led his troops to the front line, he looked at the weapons and equipment that Ye Qingshan had prepared for them.
It was actually better than what they were equipped with before.
Even a large number of 60mm mortars and rocket launchers were delivered.
Moreover, Wang Dongyuan carefully studied Ye Qingshan's fighting style in this battle.
And at this time, the situation between the enemy and us on the battlefield.
He discovered that this time Ye Qingshan not only did not treat their two armies as cannon fodder, but instead let them eat meat.
At this time, the Japanese on the front line had been fighting for more than half a month in order to annihilate the 209th and 76th Divisions.
At the same time, the casualties were huge and the people were extremely exhausted.
If they attack at this time, they will have a huge advantage and will most likely defeat the Japanese.
If they could really defeat two Japanese divisions, their record would be among the best in the National Army.
Wang Dongyuan would not give up this opportunity to make a contribution if he is not stupid.
This also made his impression of Ye Qingshan much better.
On the afternoon of the second day, the 73rd Army appeared on the mountain behind the temple. This was the position set up by two regiments of the 39th Division of the Japanese enemy at the southernmost end of the eastern river valley.
"Come on!"
After resting and replenishing with better weapons and ammunition, the soldiers of the 73rd Army were in high spirits and charged forward.
At the same time, Zhang Fa, who had received the news, had led the remnants of the 209th Division and the 76th Division to attack the two regiments of the Japanese 39th Division from both inside and outside.
No matter how good the Japanese were at fighting, they could only retreat in a panic when faced with such a situation.
The battle continued into the night and still did not stop.
The retreating Japanese soldiers and the pursuing Nationalist soldiers fought fiercely all night long.
After daybreak, the 209th and 76th Divisions were successfully rescued.
Two regiments of the Japanese 39th Division and the 234th Regiment of the th Division fled eastward into the mountains.
The 73rd Army is still in pursuit.
At almost the same time, the 25th Army led by Wang Yaohuang also reached Wuzhi Mountain and Zhuling area on the west bank of the valley.
Break through the Japanese defense line and rescue Lu Dahai's regiment and the engineering regiment fighting on the west bank of the valley.
At the same time, they launched a fierce attack on the Wuzhi Mountain position occupied by the Japanese.
This position is of vital importance. It is the only gap in the river valley defense line built by Gu Zhutong that was broken by the Japanese.
We can’t leave it in the hands of the devils, we must take it back.
In this way, the national army's defense line will be stabilized again.
"Commander, stop chasing me.
The division commander ordered us to retreat."
After dawn, Lu Dahai, who was still leading his troops to pursue the retreating Japanese, was stopped by his adjutant.
"Go away, don't stop me.
If I don't retreat, I'm going to kill these little devils."
Lu Dahai pushed his adjutant away and continued to chase the Japanese with his submachine gun.
At this time, Lu Dahai and the dozens of elite soldiers following behind him, all had red eyes, and looked like vicious wolves, extremely ferocious.