Chapter 37, War Approaches

As time passed, news from the front line continued to reach the rear, and the Japanese once again attacked Shanhaiguan. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoThis time the Japanese used the strength of a whole division and hundreds of aircraft, and the national army finally abandoned Shanhaiguan because of casualties after holding it for a while.

However, the Japanese army that attacked Shanhaiguan again was also not much better, and they also paid the price of more than 5,000 casualties to take Shanhaiguan.

Faced with the orderly withdrawal of the Nationalist army, the Japanese did not continue the pursuit. Because of the large casualties, the morale of their soldiers was also much lower, and they were also worried that they would be ambushed by the national army after chasing them, so after occupying Shanhaiguan, they chose to entrench there and maintain a hold on the national army.

At the same time, the Japanese government sent a letter of apology, saying that it was occupied in order to completely eliminate the 'bandit army' in Manchuria, and that as long as the bandit army was completely wiped out, they would return Shanhaiguan. As a matter of sincerity, the Japanese side even transported a batch of armaments large enough to arm a brigade to the city of Nanjing.

The people of Nanking were so impressed by the Japanese 'sincerity' that they relaxed their vigilance, believing that the longed-for peace would come.

But is it that simple? The answer, of course, is no, and when Nanjing finally came to its senses and found out that something was wrong, it was already too late.

The main forces of the sixth, seventh, eighth, and twelfth divisions of the Japanese Kwantung Army, which had already completed the deployment of troops during this time, entangled more than 100,000 people in the puppet army Zhang Haipeng's department, and brazenly attacked Rehe in three ways.

The northern route is through Liao to attack Kailu; The middle route is Yixian to attack Chaoyang; The southern route is Suizhong to attack Lingyuan. Although Yu Zhaolin's division, which guarded Ling Yuan, resisted stubbornly, they could only give up Ling Yuan and choose to retreat to Xifengkou, a military fortress on the Great Wall.

However, Tang Yulin, a veteran of the Northeast Army and chairman of the Rehe Provincial Government, abandoned his land and fled at such a critical moment, so that the Japanese only 128 cavalrymen took advantage of the situation to occupy Chengde, the capital of Rehe Province.

In early March, the Japanese army captured Chifeng, Weichang, Quanning (Wudan) and other places in the north of Rehe, and the whole province of Rehe fell.

Although at this time, public opinion across the country unanimously condemned Zhang Xueliang and demanded that Tang Yulin be punished, but what is the point.

However, it was Chiang Kai-shek who decided to let Zhang Xueliang resign, and He Yingqin, Minister of Military Affairs, was also the acting chairman of the Beiping Military Branch.

After the Japanese occupied Rehe, they immediately advanced south to the various passes of the Great Wall. Ho Ying-chin carried out the government's policy of resisting on the one hand and negotiating on the other, and deployed defenses along the Great Wall line in an attempt to prevent the Japanese army from attacking. The 29th Army's Song Zheyuan Division was responsible for the defense of Lengkou through Dongjiakou, Xifengkou, Luowenyu and Malanyu; The headquarters of Xu Tingyao of the 17th Army was stationed on the line from Gubeikou to Nantianmen; The 32nd Army's Commercial Earthquake Department was responsible for the defense from Dongjiakou (not included) to Liujiakou and Yiyuankou through Lengkou; The Northeast Army, which had withdrawn from the Great Wall Line, was to be assigned to the defense of the Beining Line east of Tianjin and east of Lengkou; and transferred the Jin army Fu Zuoyi's department to take charge of the defense of Dushikou.

However, while the Chinese army was still adjusting, the Japanese had already launched an attack on the mouths of the Great Wall.

Caught off guard, the Nationalist army faced the aggressive offensive of the Japanese, and they fought back angrily, and the Great Wall War of Resistance officially broke out.

"It's still started...."Li Shunsheng sighed, although Shanhaiguan fell a few days late due to his own intervention, but this incident did not have much impact on all the military plans of the Japanese, and what should they do is still what they should do.

"Looks like we're going to war soon." The deputy battalion commander beside Li Shunsheng gently highlighted a sigh of relief.

"Are you afraid?"

"What is there to be afraid of, I have been a soldier for ten years, and it is God blessed to be alive until now, even if I die on the battlefield that day, I will not feel regretful." The deputy battalion commander looked very open.

"Perhaps, those of us who serve as soldiers earn every extra day we live, to be honest." Li Shunsheng laughed.

Not long after, Li Shunsheng and his team received an order to merge the entire battalion into the 29th Army and go to the Xifengkou area to deploy defenses.

"This time I feel like we're going to choke up." Li Shunsheng walked on the rugged road in military uniform, and behind him was a long dragon-like team, which were all reinforcements of the 29th Army.

"Probably not, I heard that nearly 200,000 troops were sent over this time, how could it be that they couldn't defeat the Japanese?" The deputy battalion commander couldn't believe that the national army would be defeated, to know how many 100,000 people there were, and how to fight the battle after this would be lost?

Li Shunsheng smiled bitterly, the superiority in numbers in the war in this year can no longer directly determine the outcome of the war, and now it depends more on sophisticated weapons and equipment, stable logistics, and perfect training, and no matter how many people there are, they cannot withstand the slaughter of aircraft, artillery, and machine guns.

However, Li Shunsheng didn't explain too much to his deputy battalion commander, if anyone heard him that would shake the morale of the army, as long as he stabbed it above, then he would only have a dead end, and he wouldn't even have to run.

In the face of the general trend of history, Li Shunsheng still does not have any ability to resist, and most of the time he can only go with the flow.

"Well, I'm going to have to make myself stronger." Li Shunsheng sighed leisurely, and the feeling of powerlessness still wrapped around every corner of his body.

This night, the snow suddenly began to fall, and it was very heavy.

"Battalion commander, there is a mission."

"What task?"

"The regimental headquarters gave an order that we should send a hundred men to attack the Japanese barracks at night with them." The deputy battalion commander said with some excitement.

Li Shunsheng smiled bitterly, if you knew that after the five hundred soldiers who attacked the Japanese barracks at night this time, more than twenty people would come back, you would not be happy here.

"Let's go, gather the brothers together, and let them go willingly."

"I tell you, this mission is nine deaths or even ten deaths, if you want to go, stand up by yourself, and if you don't go, you will continue to follow the army, this time I won't blame you."

More than nine-tenths of the soldiers who stood up in the originally quiet team came out, and the remaining soldiers who did not stand up were also full of guilt, after all, not everyone can look down on life and death.

These guys.... Li Shunsheng's heart was full of emotion and pride, but he didn't need so many people to die with him: "If it is the only child in the family or there are children under the age of ten, stand up for Lao Tzu." ”

As his words fell, about seventy people stepped forward.

"You don't have to go with us, you still have old fathers, old mothers, children and wives in your family to support. Needless to say, I'm not afraid of death or anything like that, I'm not interested in arguing with you. ”

The seventy soldiers could only return to the ranks with unwilling faces.

"Zhang Xiaoduan, why don't you go back, I remember that you are also the only son in your family." Li Shunsheng saw Zhang Xiaoduan hiding in the crowd at a glance and wanted to confuse the past.

"Yes" Zhang Xiaoduan could only respond weakly, and obediently returned to the team.

"Very good, thirty veterans and seventy recruits came out of the rest of the people." Lee Sun-sang made the final decision.

"Deputy battalion commander, if I don't come back this time, then the brothers of our battalion will be handed over to you."

The deputy battalion commander nodded firmly: "Don't worry, battalion commander, I will wait for you to come back and continue to lead us." “

"Accept your good words, if I come back alive, I will invite you to drink." Li Shunsheng smiled and took the selected soldiers to gather.