The deserter became a hero, it was such a funny thing, but it spread in a very short period of time, and even this incident accounted for a lot of space and proportion in Yang Yiling's later newspapers and periodicals.

The record is as follows: In the defense of Tengxian County, the Sichuan army on the periphery encountered an unimaginably strong enemy, fought to the death for a day and a night, and finally was forced to abandon the remaining positions because of the huge disparity, and the Sichuan soldiers were scattered and fled.

However, just when the Japanese army was complacent and disdained the fleeing Sichuan soldiers, and even the Sichuan army division headquarters headquarters that could not contact the Sichuan army "deserters" who had been dispersed, they completely thought that these Sichuan soldiers were afraid of sacrifice and abandoned their positions.

These Sichuan troops, who were misunderstood by everyone, appeared in front of the enemy with a new attitude and carried out a guerrilla battle that was not above board, but was exceptionally correct and brave.

With a small group of guerrillas suicidal and sneak attacks on the devil's troops everywhere, thousands of Sichuan guerrillas were killed and wounded in one day.

According to the recollection of a Sichuan soldier who personally participated in this guerrilla battle and survived:

We don't see hope, but we know that we are the hope of others. Our platoon commander said that we don't care if others think that we are deserters, we are not afraid of death, we just want to die more valuable, and everyone willingly follows the platoon commander to die.

Later, we were very proud, because our guerrilla warfare, in the words of Commander Han, was fought very badly!

A 100-strong guerrilla force of the Eighth Route Army could fight for several months or even years without being wiped out and gradually growing, while we, more than 4,000 guerrilla stragglers, were almost wiped out in one day......

Although there is no detailed record of the tragic battle on the periphery of Teng County, it is already known to be tragic! The tens of thousands of elites of the devils were blocked by this small guerrilla war, and they were dragged back for a day in the impossible.

At the end, it is written, and the news records that Yang Yiling attached a pen: The change in the struggle of the soldiers of the Sichuan Army was made by Han Wei, the commander of the 388th Regiment.

Continued, a detailed report was made on the ideological work that Han Xin had done on the soldiers of the Sichuan Army in the past two days.

……

In short, although the little devils were already annoyed and angry, they used twelve points of strength to capture Teng County, but when their army finally arrived at the county seat of Teng County, the time had already moved to the afternoon of March 15.

That is to say, the first stage of the defense of Tengxian County, starting from the battle on the 9th and ending on the 15th, even if the two days when the little devil did not attack, it was enough to block the footsteps of the devil's iron cavalry for nearly 4 days.

Based on this alone, these guerrilla soldiers who died in battle should be called "heroes".

When Wang Mingzhang received the news, Han Xin was also by his side, and he fell into silence directly, his eyes showing inexplicable relief.

When the news came that the Sichuan guerrillas had blocked the footsteps of the devil's iron cavalry at a heavy cost of dead and wounded, Wang Mingzhang's whole person seemed to have lost his mind, and he sat on the chair in a daze, and that sitting was more than a few hours.

It was dark, and when it was time for dinner, Han Xin came to see Wang Mingzhang, Wang Mingzhang took Han Xin's hand with tears, bowed down, and said from the bottom of his heart:

Thank you, brother! Those brothers of mine are all good, and you are the one who understands them, and I thank you for your great kindness on behalf of the Sichuan Army!

Han Xin was helpless, and hurriedly helped Wang Mingzhang up, so that his life was in danger.

Nothing to say all night!

On the afternoon of March 15, the county seat of Tengxian County.

The county seat of Tengxian County is a nearly square city outline, slightly longer from east to west, the city wall is about six meters high, the brick and stone are mixed to build, the repair is quite solid, although it has experienced hundreds of years of war, it is still intact.

There is a thermal power station in Xiguan, outside the West Gate, where the former enemy's commander-in-chief is located.

Wang Mingzhang, the commander-in-chief of the 41st Army and the commander of the 122nd Division, was in the command headquarters, and he hurriedly talked with Chief of Staff Zhao Weixian for a while, and then stared at the large-scale combat map hanging on the wall in a daze, and his eyes seemed to penetrate the red and green arrows on the map and directly reach the battlefield where the smoke of gunpowder was everywhere. The cigarette tray on the table has been cleaned several times by the guards. But cigarette butts kept coming in.

Several staff officers kept walking around, using red and blue pencils and small flags to mark the latest battlefield developments on the map.

The information from the front has already arrived, the devils are attacking from different directions, except for the one on the right flank of Dashiqiang Village, which is blocked and stopped, the rest of the devils are attacking like a bamboo, and the speed is unexpected, the 10th Division really lives up to its name, and after eradicating the main force of the Sichuan guerrillas, it will directly approach the city in one morning.

At about 5 o'clock, the scouts reported that traces of the enemy had been found more than 10 miles northeast of the county seat, and that a large force of nearly 10,000 people of the devils had left the Jiehe and Beishahe positions that were under fierce fighting, and that tanks and armored vehicles had opened the way, and had made a roundabout way towards the county seat from the east, apparently to cut off the defenders' retreat to the south of the city.

The intention is obvious, the devils not only want to occupy the county seat, but also to oppress the Sichuan army to the middle of the plain dam of the county seat and Weishan Lake, and annihilate it completely.

Obviously, the center of gravity of the battlefield has shifted to the county seat.

Moreover, at this time, a large part of the troops of the 122nd Division were almost in the area north of the county town and were stuck with the enemy and could not get out.

There were only three divisions in the city, one brigade, four guard companies, one communications company, and one health team directly under the division headquarters, plus more than 500 police and security teams led by the county magistrate Zhou Tong who stood guard and patrolled on the city wall and at the city gate.

But for this large county, this large number of troops is simply a drop in the bucket, and the county seat of Tengxian is almost an empty city.

Wang Mingzhang urgently telegraphed to the group army headquarters in Lincheng, asking for reinforcements, in fact, Wang Mingzhang also knew that the general headquarters was actually an empty shelf, without any directly subordinate troops, there were only three infantry companies and a pistol company in the Lincheng guard headquarters, and all the subordinate units had been sent to fight.

But Sun Zhen still gave the rescue at the first time, and he told Wang Mingzhang that he had asked Battalion Commander Liu to come to the county seat with three infantry companies by car, and also sent a column of munitions.

Wang Mingzhang was surprised: If this is the case, what should be the safety of the General Headquarters?

Sun Zhen disagreed, "It's enough to leave a pistol company." ”

In extraordinary times, Wang Mingzhang was not hypocritical, and the current Tengxian County was indeed in great need of troops, so he expressed his approval with gratitude.

…… A series of preparations are not to be said, and the devil's advance is extremely fast.

At seven o'clock, in the northeast of the county, the Japanese army continued to gather.

At half past seven, the devils on the east side of the county town had already outflanked ten miles outside the east city gate.

8 o'clock ......

At three o'clock in the morning, the Japanese army had completed the encirclement of Teng County, and only waited for dawn to launch a general attack.

…… March 6, Tengxian County.

Wang Mingzhang, former commander-in-chief of the enemy, acting commander of the 41st Army, and commander of the 122nd Division.

Zhao Weixian, Chief of Staff of Major General.

Luo Shize, chief of staff of the division colonel.

Rosinjia, colonel-adjutant-de-general.

Zhang Xuanwu, colonel of the 727th Regiment, commander of Tengxian County National Defense.

Zhou Tong, magistrate of Teng County.

Han Wei (heart), head of the 388th Regiment.

…… A total of seven people participated in Wang Mingzhang's emergency meeting, but Han Xin knew that this plan was definitely not his home field, and he had already said in advance about the military suggestions, so he had decided not to speak again, but to cooperate with military measures.

In addition, he also wanted to witness the development of this bloody battle that has left a name in history.

Wang Mingzhang spoke: "I received a telegram from the Independent Brigade of the 74th Army last night, saying that it had reached 20 miles outside of us, but we were already surrounded by regiments, and the little devils were waiting for reinforcements, what do you think?" ”

Zhao Weixian was the first to speak: How long?

Wang Mingzhang was silent for a moment, "Two or three days." Zhao Weixian: "You and I know the situation of the enemy and me, how long do you think you can hold it?" ”

Wang Mingzhang sensed everyone's loss and said: "We are only 20 miles away from the reinforcements, and the chairman of the committee called us to defend Teng County and wait for Tomber's army to come and relieve the siege.

The vanguard of the Tongbu Department had arrived in Lincheng at noon yesterday, and its follow-up troops would arrive at the same time, and I would urge them to go north, and it is expected that they will be able to reach Tengxian the day after tomorrow.

So I intend to hold out for two days, waiting for the independent brigade outside the city to rush into one or two divisions to assist in the defense. ”

Zhao Weixian suddenly sneered and said: The Central Army has always looked down on our miscellaneous army, do you think that independent brigade will rush in for us regardless of casualties? To rush in is to die, and I don't think we should get our hopes up.

Wang Mingzhang didn't answer, to be honest, he really didn't dare to guarantee it, and asked again: "Are you sure about keeping a day?" ”

Zhang Xuanwu said: "There are ten infantry companies in charge of the city defense, if you want to defend it, I will do my best, just desperately!" ”

"Okay, but remember, our reinforcements won't arrive until night at the earliest, and if we can't last more than a day, we might as well move outside the city.

Of course, this is the last thing I want to choose. ”

After speaking, his eyes swept over the officers attending the meeting and asked, "What is your opinion?"

The facts have been laid out very obviously, and everyone understands in their hearts that defending the city means that the whole army is facing the possibility of the city being destroyed and dying, and failing to defend the city will violate the order of the chairman of the committee to defend Teng County.

In the end, everyone agreed with Wang Mingzhang's final opinion.

Wang Mingzhang nodded, then glanced at Han Xin, who had been silent, shook his head a little helplessly, and dialed the phone of Sun Zhen, the commander-in-chief of Lincheng.

And in fact, the situation is already like this, even Han Xin has no better way, after all, the general direction of the situation and the command order are not in his hands at all, he is wise to the sky, and it is useless at all!

(To be continued)