After learning that the headquarters of the 74th Division and the 33rd Group Army had been surrounded by the Japanese army, Li Yizhi, deputy commander of the 74th Division, who led an engineer battalion to stay at the ferry, was very anxious. He transferred more than 180 people from the engineer battalion, led by Zhao Dezhi, the commander of the engineer battalion, to rush to the pumpkin shop for reinforcements.

These more than 100 people had a small target, and after a small battle, they actually rushed into the pumpkin shop in one fell swoop.

Li Yizhi meant to let Zhang Zizhong retreat immediately, with these more than 180 people as cover. Unexpectedly, Zhang Zizhong said to Zhao Dezhi: "Now that the war situation is deteriorating, it is natural for us to sacrifice for the motherland, and I will not leave." ”

However, Zhang Zizhong glanced at his subordinates and Soviet advisers again, and said to Chief of Staff Li Wentian: "But we can't let our friends shed blood here, so you can send someone to accompany the Soviet advisers to go down with the staff officers of the 74th Division." ”

Of course, Zhang Zizhong wanted to protect not only Soviet advisers, but also his subordinates.

Subsequently, Zhang Zizhong said: "The headquarters and the Political Department have guns left, and they will gather in the northwest direction behind the mountain empty-handed!" Prepare for retreat. ”

Zhang Zizhong finally gave the order to retreat partially. Han Xing knew that if there was no helicopter transport, these people would not be able to withdraw even if they wanted to. Immediately ordered Zhang Zuogan: "Director Zhang, quickly call the helicopter formation to come." Cover the transfer of retreating personnel. ”

Zhang Zuogan agreed: "Yes!" "Immediately carry out the order.

Chief of Staff Li Wentian ordered Li Zhiyuan, a senior staff officer of the headquarters, to immediately retreat with Soviet advisers and non-combatants.

Li Zhiyuan, who was also an old courtier of the 33rd Group Army, was ordered to retreat with non-combatants and Soviet advisers, and before retreating, he secretly told Chief of Staff Li Wentian: "We all know the character of the commander-in-chief. After I leave, you and Battalion Commander Duranzhe must protect the commander-in-chief well. If he is still unwilling to retreat, he must be persuaded to move to Nanshan temporarily. ”

Li Zhiyuan led more than 100 non-combatants to break through under the cover of the 440th Regiment. The Japanese soon discovered this group of people and immediately mobilized their forces to violently intercept them.

Less than half of these hundreds of people had guns, and they really couldn't resist the head-on attack of the Japanese army. The covering troops of the 440th Regiment rushed forward one after another, trying to tear open a hole in the enemy's defensive line, and after half an hour of fighting, most of them suffered casualties. The non-combatants who broke through were also seriously killed and wounded because of the Japanese interception, and they were about to be completely surrounded and annihilated by the Japanese army.

At this time, the helicopter formation suddenly arrived, and the 12.7 mm heavy machine guns and hail-like bullets on the helicopter shot down condescendingly, so that the Japanese could not raise their heads and retreated.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, several helicopters landed at once, and the soldiers of the Southern Expeditionary Army on the hatch greeted the retreating personnel of the headquarters of the 33rd Army, and shouted loudly: "Get on the plane, get on the plane-"

Although the personnel of the headquarters of these group armies are well-informed, they have never seen such aircraft! What kind of guy is this, it came down directly from the sky, and it is carrying a big dragonfly-style fan blade on its back, and there is a small fan blade on its tail.

But when it comes to running for your life, you don't have time to study these issues. Not to mention that there are planes in the sky, there is a rat hole in the ground, and I can't wait to get into it.

The men swarmed into the helicopters, filled them up, and the helicopters took off into the air. A few more came down, filled with men, and flew into the sky again. The hundreds of people were quickly evacuated, and by the time the little devil came to his senses, pulled over the three-year-old heavy machine gun, and fired fiercely into the sky, the helicopter had already run away without a trace.

The headquarters of the 33rd Army was not completely annihilated, and half of them broke out, including two Soviet advisers.

At this time, it was already noon, and the front-line battle was even more intense.

The 440th Regiment in the west could no longer stop the Japanese onslaught at this time, lost the hill bag, and retreated to Shilonggang. Zhang Zizhong ordered 180 people from the engineering battalion who had just arrived on the battlefield to go to reinforcements under the leadership of battalion commander Zhao Dezhi.

Han Xing said: "Commander Zhang, the strength of the engineer battalion is too weak, so ask our special operations battalion to go up too!" ”

Zhang Zizhong had no words, and if he didn't have words, he agreed. Yin Zhaoli glanced at Zhang Xiaosan before leaving, and nodded, which meant to say, "Battalion Commander Zhang, Commander Han will be handed over to you." You have to ensure Commander Han's safety no matter what! ”

Although he didn't say this, at this point, his comrades-in-arms for many years had no colorful phoenix wings, and they had a little understanding of what he was going to say.

Han Xing only had two battalions on his side, the guard battalion and the special operations battalion, and at this time, if the special operations battalion was not on the side, the Japanese army would hit him.

Zhao Dezhi and Yin Zhaoli rushed to the Shilonggang position of the 440th Regiment and were surprised to find that there were almost no living soldiers on the position, and there were corpses and wounded soldiers everywhere. The trenches at the forefront have been flattened by artillery fire, and it is impossible to tell that this was once a trench more than 1 meter deep.

However, the few surviving Nationalist soldiers still insisted on fighting, and threw bombs and fired heavily at the rushing Japanese troops.

Battalion Commander Zhao Dezhi looked over again, and there was a large area of black pressure from the Japanese army under the mountain. The devils rushed up one after another like crazy.

When it comes to this, there is nothing to say.

As soon as these 180 people arrived at the position, they had hand-to-hand combat with the Japanese troops who rushed under their noses, and in just one battle, half of them were killed and wounded, and the barrels of the four machine guns they brought with them were all red, and due to the urgency of the enemy situation, they did not even have time to replace them. Although Yin Zhaoli's special operations battalion was first-class in terms of equipment and combat quality, it also suffered one-third casualties.

Zhao Dezhi thought that he couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to withdraw.

But just after retreating less than 15 meters, I suddenly saw Xu Wenqing, director of the staff office of the 74th Division. Xu Wenqing said: "Battalion Commander Zhao, where are you still withdrawing?" Behind it is the commander-in-chief's headquarters, and it must be held no matter what! ”

Zhao Dezhi hurriedly replied: "Director Xu, don't worry, I will die on the battlefield." ”

Before the words fell, a shell fell, Zhao Dezhi's legs were blown off, his neck was also blown out, and he was martyred on the spot.

The 180 people of the engineer battalion were almost killed and wounded at this time!

Yin Zhaoli's eyes were blood-red at this time, his lips were dried by the scorching air, and his face was blackened by the artillery fire. There have been many bloody battles in a lifetime, but this has never been as tragic as today. Standing on this position, it is not much different from suicide, and life is no longer something you can control.

He called out loudly to the officers and men of the special operations battalion: "Comrades of the special operations battalion, the time has come for the party and the people to test us. Behind them is Commander Han and the headquarters of the group army, and there is nowhere to retreat. Let's take our practical actions to complete our oath to join the party! Fight to the end, fight to the last man, and fulfill our oath to join the party......"

The warriors shouted in unison: "Fight to the end, fight to the last man." ”

In the troops of the Eighth Route Army, the Communists played a crucial central role. The fighters are looking at the party members, and the party members are not afraid of death, and the fighters will not hesitate to die. In this unit, party members account for nearly half, and it is also the battalion with the largest number of party members.

Yin Zhaoli's special operations battalion struggled to hold on to Shilonggang.

The commander of Ma Guanyi's division was helpless and was forced to mobilize hundreds of people from the 444th Regiment in the east, which was also tight, to stabilize the position.

Seeing that the Japanese army could not eat the 74th Division, which had only more than 1,000 men, after a morning of fierce attack, it changed its tactics, not only attacking from the east and west, but also mobilizing heavy troops from the north to attack with the overwhelming momentum of Mount Tai.

Zhang Zizhong had no choice, so he put the last reserve in his hand, the headquarters special service battalion, on top to defend the stone nest in the north.

Inheriting the characteristics of the Northwest Army, the special service battalion or pistol battalion of the headquarters is the elite unit of the whole army. The officers and men of the battalion were all big men from Hebei, Henan, and Shandong, and each of them had a box gun or pistol, and they carried a large knife on their backs. Naturally, while light weapons are good, heavy weapons are completely absent.

Zhang Zizhong knew that at the last moment, he personally concentrated on the special agent camp to give training, and he said to them categorically: "Many of you have followed me for three or four years, and it is not easy to live until now. Now that the situation is more dire than ever, it seems that the time has come for us to dedicate ourselves to our country. As soldiers, we must regard death as home! ”

Zhang Zizhong glanced at Camp Commander Du Lanzhe again, but he didn't have anything to say, just patted him on the shoulder.

The battalion commander of Du Lanzhe led the entire battalion of officers and soldiers and immediately killed them to the north. As soon as they occupied Shiwo, the Japanese army had already slaughtered at the foot of the hill, and the two armies immediately fought together.

The special service battalion was very powerful, and it repelled several attacks of the Japanese army in a row. But in the fierce battle, the battalion commander Du Lanzhe, who took the lead, was seriously wounded in the abdomen, and his intestines flowed out. Zhang Zizhong ordered him to be carried to the rear and tried his best to break through.

Battalion Commander Du did not persist until the breakthrough was successful, and he was soon martyred because of his injuries.

At this time, the fierce battle was indescribable, and the successor battalion commander Hong Jintian, who had just been in office for less than 20 minutes, was shot and died. Of the four company commanders of the battalion, one was killed and two were seriously wounded, only Company Commander Zhang was left, and more than half of the soldiers were killed or wounded, and Shiwo was broken through by the Japanese army.

Knowing that Shiwo was lost, Zhang Zizhong personally rushed to the front line with a few guards, and happened to meet the only surviving officer of the special service battalion, Company Commander Zhang, who retreated with the remnants.

Zhang Zizhong said to Company Commander Zhang: "Why did you retreat?" ”

Company Commander Zhang said: "There are too many devils, the casualties are too great, all the officers are dead, and a battalion is a company." ”

Zhang Zizhong said: "I am the commander-in-chief today, if I am a company commander like you, these devils are not enough for me to fight a company!" You're still a seven-foot-tall man! ”

When Company Commander Zhang heard this, he was deeply ashamed, took off his shirt vigorously, and shouted with a big knife in his bare shoulders: "Whoever is not afraid of death will follow me!" ”

The remaining soldiers of the company were also very excited, they drew their broadswords, held their pistols in one hand, turned their heads and rushed back.

The devil thought that the national army had been defeated, so he was cleaning the battlefield on the mountain, and was rushed by them, and suddenly collapsed, with dozens of casualties, and the stone nest was recaptured.

However, at this time, it is obvious that it will definitely not be able to hold on.