Xihe Town, an ancient city illuminated by the moonlight, is a busy scene.

Except for the Gao Fei battalion, which had fought a beautiful battle in Guanzi Village, the rest of the troops were assigned to the designated defensive areas and immediately began intense pre-battle preparations.

The troops outside the town used the houses, courtyard walls and terrain to build fortifications, and the troops inside the city dug anti-artillery holes under the city walls, plus those who delivered food, received ammunition, conveyed orders, and stretched stretcher teams organized in the surrounding areas.

Liu Yuqing first met with the responsible persons of the brigades and regiments to encourage and report on the situation, and then convened a military meeting with officers and assistants at and above the company level.

He first gave a brief account of the fighting situation of the 3rd Battalion on the front line in Guanzi Village, and then announced the deployment adjustment and divisional arrangements. The position outside the city is mainly responsible for the 76th Brigade, the commander of the 151st Regiment of the 76th Brigade is responsible for defending Nanyuankou and Zhang Shandan, and once the high-flying battalion of the brigade returns, the guard company of the division headquarters is responsible for defending the North Yuankou, the south city wall and the west city wall. The 78th Brigade defended Gaoshan Village and Xizi Village, as the general reserve of the whole division, and Brigade Commander Zeng Wang Kejun was in charge; The newly integrated 1st Brigade defended the eastern and northern walls and included the southeastern city wall.

He repeatedly exhorted: "You have a heavy responsibility, and you must not relax in the slightest. ”

After the arrangement, he briefed the officials on the grim situation they are currently facing:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the 3rd Battalion stubbornly resisted the Japanese army for four days and three nights in Guanzi Village, creating a miracle, but it does not mean that we have 9,000 people now to be able to secure tomorrow's chances. According to the intelligence of the General Headquarters of our army group and the latest situation of our reconnaissance, the enemy in front of us is constantly increasing its troops. However, the positions on the outer line of Xihe Town have been completely lost, and the 133rd Brigade, which cooperated with us in the battle, has been defeated and has lost contact with us. Now we are facing the entire Kunisaki Noboru Brigade of the Fifth Division of the Japanese Army, the Lianshi Detachment, and the Field Wing, with a total of 24,000 infantry, 1,500 cavalry, more than 100 field artillery pieces, more than 30 heavy artillery, 40 or 50 combat vehicles, and more than 20 aircraft. Except for the 5,000 men who advanced south to block our reinforcements, the rest of the army will all be gathered around the county seat, and our army is far behind in terms of numbers, not to mention weapons. Ladies and gentlemen, the decisive battle may be tomorrow! ”

Then, Liu Yuqing said: "With our weak troops and rudimentary weapons, it is self-evident that our strength is not enough to undertake this important task of fighting an ambush war. But as soldiers, sacrifice was originally our duty, and now we can only sacrifice everything to complete the task, although there is not a single soldier left, there is no complaint, otherwise, there is no way to repay the country. Our slogan is, the city is in the people, the city is dead and the city is dead! ”

Chief of Staff Cai Yushi lost no time in leading everyone to take the oath: "The city is in the people, and the city is dead and dead!" ”

As soon as the roar of the oath dissipated, Liu Yuqing continued: "I think everyone still remembers that on the day when I took the oath in Chengdu before leaving Sichuan, someone generously stated at the meeting that 'life is a hero, and death is also a ghost'. Do you know whose poem this is? Famous female lyricist Li Qingzhao! This poem expresses the nostalgia of Xiang Yu, the hero of the world, the overlord of Chu, but I don't expect this slender woman to have such an earth-shattering husband's anger, which is sincerely admirable! We are martial artists, and at this time of national crisis, we are born at the right time; "Life is a hero, death is also a ghost", for my 26th Division, on the eve of this decisive battle, the commander of this division is willing to encourage you with this.

Finally, I would like to add that Commander-in-Chief Tang called that reinforcements from 1 division could arrive at any time, and as long as we held out, reinforcements could come. Meeting! ”

At this time, the 23rd Group Army was behind, and a huge encirclement was in full swing, and everything fell in the direction of Xihe Town, how much time could be bought for the great annihilation plan of the entire group army after the battle in Guanzi Village!

The army had appeared outside Xihe Town at noon.

The step-by-step said that he was not in a hurry to attack and had a full meal. Our army also used this time to open meals, adjust the deployment, and block the destroyed fortifications and city walls with sandbags and salt packs in the salt shops, in preparation for the coming tragic decisive battle.

However, the artillery of the army was not idle, and soon began to roar

Zhang Shandan, the commander of the 151st Regiment, and others returned to the regimental headquarters in the city gate after arranging their work and ordered the meal to be served. The cooks braved the fire and were walking into the door hole with their food and rice, and a large pile of dirt fell from the roof of the cave, impartial, and several bowls were covered with a thick layer of dust. Zhang Shandan looked at it and scolded angrily: "The dog wants to smash Lao Tzu's job!" Then he called to the guards: "Bring me my sausages." ”

"Tuanza, do you think we should hold here?" A subordinate asked while eating.

"How can I say this? On the contrary, this old man will fight well. Zhang Shandan went on to say:

"When we were in the big field, the defensive battle fought by our division was only even more tragic than this, and casualties like us, as regiment commanders, were not a matter at all. When it comes to the death of the battle, everyone doesn't care, death is death, bullets don't have long eyes, whoever meets is unlucky, and a few people are still fighting in ancient times

Zhang Shandan sighed and said, "You know, my parents died when I was a child, and I followed my aunt for a living. After graduating from Rongchang Middle School, he entered Xiong Kewu's military academy, which can be regarded as a study. Lao Tzu has been rolling in the bullet nest for more than 20 years, except to find a way out for himself, but also to fulfill his responsibilities for the country, and the rest have nothing to do. I have never thought about why our big country is always fighting with you, you are glaring at me, I hate you, and you are ruthless in a nest! Not only Sichuan, but everywhere is the same, it has simply become our quintessence. When I was in the Emeishan Military Training Corps, I was with a man named Zhang Xuanwu, hey, I don't know his whereabouts now, I heard that he was killed in the defense of Nanjing"

Zhang Shandan thought of his old friend's unknown life and death, and his expression was a little gloomy. But he didn't know that this old friend of his had become an officer of the 1st Supplementary Regiment, and died in battle in Guihua County on February 4, 27 years of the Republic of China.

He paused and continued: "I was in the same squad with him, and told me that when he was the commander of a pistol battalion under Song Zheyuan, he witnessed the tragic situation of Song Zheyuan grabbing territory in Shaanxi and ordering the beheading of five thousand prisoners, all of them are Chinese, five thousand bloody human heads, even I heard the cold hair!" In the past, I only knew that Qin General Bai Qi slaughtered Zhao Zu, and I only regarded it as history, and I didn't know that there was one around me.

This time in the national war, it is clearly said that it is the same, but in fact, they have different aspirations, and there are still many factions. Each has its own ideas and doctrines, each has its own interests, and each has its own account, which is really like a plate of loose sand! Not to mention, even Commander Liu Xiang, who had 200,000 elites, died in Hankou without explanation, not to mention the thousands of people in our 26th Division. ”

On the afternoon of January 27th.

His war machine is as accurate as a bell. At 2 p.m., heavy artillery shelling and bombardment began.

In the face of the poorly equipped Sichuan army, the Yue army, which had absolute superiority, still failed repeatedly, which made the brigade commander Kunizaki Noboru very angry.

Kunisaki Deng, who has repeatedly missed since the beginning of Guanzi Village, has been unable to hold back the anxiety and light in his heart, and he must do his best at this moment and swear to win.

The main attacks were Nanyuankou, Dongchenglou, Nancheng Wall, Xizi Village and Gaoshan Village.

The bombardment and shelling of Nanyuankou continued for a full hour, and then the artillery fire extended. At this time, Nanyuankou almost became flat ground, all the fortifications were completely destroyed, the walled wall had been uprooted, the enemy opened the way with ten tanks, covering five or six hundred devils from different directions to attack Nanyuankou at the same time, and the entire Nanyuankou suddenly fell into a melee of blood and fire.

The artillery fire extending backwards directly pointed at the east gate city wall, the east city tower has been beaten to the point that it no longer exists, the city wall to the outside of the gully and toothy, the masonry and mud continue to collapse, and the city gate hole has also become a collapse trend.

Zhang Shandan and his 1st battalion commander, He Mingliang, were discussing moving the regiment headquarters out of the city gate cave, so that they would not collapse down in the city gate cave and be buried alive inside. At this moment, from afar, I saw Sun Xun, deputy commander of the 1st Battalion, running desperately from the smoke of the explosion, reporting that the army was fighting too fiercely, and even the regimental chief of the military medical officer, Medical Officer Wang, was killed, and the position was facing collapse.

As soon as Zhang Shandan heard this, he immediately ordered all the personnel of the regimental headquarters, such as cooking and communications, to take up weapons, and then turned around and rushed out of the city gate and went straight to Nanyuankou amid the continuous explosion of shells. I didn't want to run far, He Mingming, who was running in front, obviously felt a violent vibration under his feet, the fire flashed in front of him, a hot gas swept over his face, a cannonball exploded nearby, and he seemed to be held up by a pair of invisible big hands, and fell out heavily, his eyes were black, and he instantly lost all his feelings about heaven and earth.

He Mingming, who was in a coma, seemed to feel that someone was pulling his hands and feet, and suddenly came to his senses, recalling being hit by the shelling just now, he turned over and got up with all his might, and asked, "Where is the regiment commander?" ”

The guard, who was still tugging at his siblings, pointed to the side. He Mingliang ran over in three steps and two steps to separate the several guards who were gathered together, and saw that Zhang Shandan was lying upright on the ground, covered in blood, a piece of shrapnel passed through his jaw, his entire jaw was shattered, and blood bubbles kept pouring out of the blood hole.

He Mingliang immediately called a few guards to lift Zhang Shandan and went straight to the division headquarters. When Liu Yuqing, Cai Yushi and others saw each other, they knew that the situation was at a critical juncture. Liu Yuqing signaled Cai Yushi for emergency treatment, and Cai Yushi looked at He Mingming, who was standing next to him with his head held high. At this time, He Mingliang was covered in smoke and dust, half of the brim of his military hat was burnt, his face was covered with black ash, and his eyes were still bright!

Cai Yushi looked at Liu Yuqing again, Liu Yuqing nodded, and Cai Yushi immediately ordered He Mingliang to be promoted to the head of the 151st Regiment and continue to command the whole regiment to fight.

He Mingliang was ordered to be impassioned, led more than 20 people under his command, turned over and rode his green horse, and rushed into Nanyuankou.

This critical episode is the most proud and glorious moment in He Mingming's life, even if he has been promoted many times later, he is not as excited and uplifting as this time.

At the same time that Nanyuankou was under fierce attack, the Yue army also chose Beiyuankou and the southern city wall as the key targets for attack.

Outside the south gate of Xihe Town, there is also an outer city like Nanyuankou, but it is not as large as Nanyuankou, and the walled wall is not as thick as the walled wall of Nanyuankou

The enemy concentrated 12 grenades and heavy artillery to bombard the southern city wall, and at the same time bombarded the northern source mouth with more than 20 aircraft and artillery fire. The defenders of our Beiyuankou were two companies, and because they had been transferred here last night, it was late at night, and they had only time to build simple shelter fortifications, but there were no solid air defense facilities, and when bombs and shells suddenly poured down from the sky, they were caught off guard, and all the fortifications and houses were destroyed, and more than half of the defenders were killed.

The remnants could not gain a foothold at Beiyuankou, and under the command of Yuan Hou, deputy battalion commander and commander of the second company, they moved to Xizi Village.

A few soldiers beside Yuan Zhi only felt that a bloody light flashed in front of him, and Yuan Zhi had only his blood-drenched legs and lower body left, and the rest of his body was missing!

The 26th Division's arduous and tragic battle to defend Xihe Town officially began!

(To be continued)