For Shouichi Terauchi, Shanxi is a big game of chess, and the key to the victory or defeat of this game is in Taiyuan. Compared with the whole of Shanxi, Lingqiu, a small city that has been occupied by them, is really not worth mentioning.

The immediate food shortage seems to be a problem for the 424th Regiment. But at Niangzi Pass, which is more than 200 kilometers away in a straight line south of Lingqiu, the Chinese soldiers suffered an even more brutal ordeal.

The day Yue Siliang took Lei Zi to the county seat to investigate was October 26th. In the early morning of the same day, a tragic battle took place at Niangzi Guan Donkey Ridge.

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A soldier with an unrecognizable age on his face was walking in the trench at a loss, his head wrapped in circles of gauze, and the slightest trace of blood seeped out of the gauze. It was a wound from a previous hand-to-hand fight, and he managed to kill two Japanese soldiers, and he lost one eye and one ear as a result.

"Company commander...... Company Commander ......"

Walking among the trenches, the soldier called out in a hoarse voice. Finally, he found his company commander next to an empty ammunition box, and the company commander had lost one of his arms and half of his lower leg by this time.

"Company Commander ......"

The soldier grinned with difficulty, looking at the tragic situation of the company commander, he wanted to cry, but found that he had no tears to shed.

"It's you...... How are our positions? How many people are still alive......"

Lian Chang was angry, and the injuries on his body made him have no strength to speak.

"I don't know, just now Platoon Commander Liu sacrificed with the whole platoon......"

"That's the case...... then there should be only two of us left...... position, the position ......"

The company commander said intermittently, but he was still thinking about the position. The order given to them by their superiors was to hold out on to the position for twelve hours. But now they have only lasted about eight hours.

"Company commander, the enemy is coming."

The soldier said calmly, watching the people around him die one after another, his soul was numb. For them, perhaps death is a relief.

"Help Me Up......"

The company commander held out his hand and motioned for the soldier to pull him up. The soldier hurried over and pulled the company commander up. In the process of getting up, the wound was involved, and the company commander suffered unimaginable pain. His face was covered with beads of sweat, which mixed with the smoke of gunpowder, leaving mottled sweat stains on the company commander's face.

Outside the trenches, the ground that had been ploughed over by cannonballs was steaming upwards, and now if you put your palm on the ground, you should feel the hot temperature, and the so-called scorched earth should be like this.

The company commander's eyes didn't have a hint of light, maybe a wandering mind would alleviate the pain in his body.

Across the position rolling in the heat wave, there were groups of Japanese troops advancing here.

"Go ......"

The company commander who came back to his senses asked the soldiers to walk along the trench with him, and the two walked very slowly, leaving a puddle of blood on the yellow earth under their feet with each step. After walking for a long time, the two men stopped in front of a machine gun, and all but this heavy machine gun on their position was destroyed.

Pushing away the Heavy, who had lost his temperature, the Soldier sat down in the Heavy's place, holding the bolt with both hands. The company commander sat next to the machine gun, picked up the canvas belt with his only remaining hand, and changed the machine gun's ammunition.

"Shooting ......"

Looking at the Japanese soldiers who were gathering all over the mountains, the company commander opened his mouth with difficulty and gave an order.

"Da Da Da ......"

Dense tongues of fire erupted, and the Japanese troops who were marching suddenly fell in large pieces. The pace of the Japanese advance suddenly stagnated, and then retreated like a tide. But the soldiers in the position did not stop shooting because of the retreat of the Japanese troops, and their two thumbs were still pressed on the bolt, and the bullets were firing frantically in front of them. The current soldier and the company commander are more like venting unscrupulously.

At this moment, it seemed that nothing could withstand the strafing of this crazy heavy machine gun, and even the Japanese soldiers with a strong will to fight could not charge against the strafing of the machine guns.

……

"Boom !!"

……

……

Jingcheng, one of the "Taihang Eight Mountains", has been one of the eight main roads from Hebei to Shanxi since ancient times.

On October 6, 1937, the Japanese army set out from Jingcheng, Hebei Province, stepped on this ancient road into Shanxi, and attacked the Niangzi Pass. In this battle, despite the concerted efforts of all parties, they were still unable to make up for the objective command problems. The huge casualties still could not stop the Japanese army from encroaching on the position step by step.

It can be said that during the 20 days of the Battle of Niangziguan, every step of the Japanese army was stained red by the blood of Chinese soldiers. On the 26th of the 20th day of the Battle of Niangzi Pass, the Japanese army advanced to the Donkey Ridge, which was less than ten kilometers away from Niangzi Pass.

Here, a fierce battle took place between China and Japan. The 17th Division, which participated in the battle, originally had more than 13,000 people, but when it finally withdrew from the battle, only more than 3,000 remained. One by one, the platoon of units has disappeared in formation.

……

115th Division, Division Headquarters.

"Division Commander, Lack of Donkey Ridge ......"

The deputy division commander's tone was particularly low. With the loss of Donkey Ridge, it can be said that the situation has become quite serious. As soon as the lack of donkey ridge is lost, Niangziguan is completely precarious.

For the big game of chess in Shanxi, the position of Niangziguan is particularly important. Once the Niangzi Pass is breached, there will be no danger to defend on the land of less than 200 kilometers east of Taiyuan. Thinking of this, the deputy division commander sighed heavily. Niangziguan didn't need to lose so badly in this battle.

The 17th Division suffered heavy casualties, and it cannot be said that it did not do its best in combat. The biggest reason for this defeat was the failure of command!

As early as before, the 129th Division destroyed Yangmingbao Airport, and the Jin Sui Army reacted slowly. The deputy division commander once felt that in this battle in Shanxi, the biggest weakness between them and the Japanese army was not the gap in equipment, but the bloated and weak command.

The greater the number of people, the more obvious the command problems will be exposed, and now the deputy division commander has little hope for this battle.

Teacher Yurong seemed to want to say something, but in the end he just raised his hand and shook it.

After a deep sigh, Master Yurong's face was sad.

"War is, after all, a war between people. After the Opium War, the Qing people were superstitious that China was inferior to the West because of the gap in weapons. After the First Sino-Japanese War, the world superstitious that China is inferior to the West because of the institutional gap.

But now that the Qing Emperor has abdicated the throne for more than 20 years, although China's equipment is inferior to that of the Japanese army, there is no world of difference.

My China is not as good as others, in the final analysis, it is still inferior to people. The military literacy of the commander is not as good as that of the other side, and the country is poor and weak, and the soldiers are still thinking about factional disputes in their minds while fighting.

Japan, on the other hand, is in unison in the army, and it is like an arm on the battlefield. The battle of Niangziguan is like a pack of sheep fighting wolves.

If I Chinese don't wake up again, there will be no day when we will defeat the Japanese army! ”

Teacher Yurong speaks very carefully on weekdays, and it is rare to tell the blocks in his chest like today. It can be said that the deputy division commander has seen him for such a long time, but when he thinks about it, the young Yurong division commander has been a hero for half his life, and how can he feel comfortable when he sees someone fighting such a wretched battle in front of him.

"This is a war between races and races, and the Chinese must be awake. And we must not only wake up the bureaucrats and gentry who surround his Chiang family, but also the tens of millions of people in China. ”

The deputy division commander said calmly, his thoughts at this time could be said to be unprecedentedly clear. The battle of Niangziguan made them understand that in this second war zone, not every friendly army is worthy of their trust, and they still need to be self-reliant after all.

"Fu Yu, how is the construction of the base area below?"

Suddenly, the division commander's mind jumped to another landing point. When he was suddenly asked, the deputy division commander was stunned for a moment, and then he also understood what the division commander meant by asking.

"The progress of the construction of the base areas in various parts is different, but the overall trend is generally good. If we let them give up now, I'm afraid the comrades will have emotions. ”

Although he knew the resoluteness of the division commander's will, the deputy division commander still symbolically persuaded him.

"If you have emotions, put them all away for me, now it's not me, once Taiyuan is lost, we can't radiate to the entire northeast of Jin, what do you want to do with so many chicken-ribbed enclaves? Where there is life, there is hope! Compared to useless places, useful bodies are more important! ”

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