Twenty-five: Surrounded by devils

The brigade commander said to the commander of the first regiment: "The devil is coming quickly, we can't fight alone here." The troops set off at zero o'clock, day and night, and retreated in great strides. The convoy of officers' families set off at four o'clock in the morning. In order to avoid the bombing of enemy planes, they hid during the day and rested at night. The task of the first regiment was to cover the retreat of the officers' families, and the brigade deputy chief of staff went to the regiment to assist in command.

"According to the enemy's report, the Japanese army will reach the front line of Sunjiazhuang, which is more than ten miles away from here, as soon as tomorrow afternoon, and on the one hand, you must send people to assist the convoy of the officers' families to leave on time at four o'clock in the morning. On the one hand, it is necessary to build fortifications on the front line of Sunjiazhuang and resolutely stop the attack of devils. You must hold out until the early hours of the day after tomorrow, when the convoy of officers' families has reached safety.

"Your task is very heavy, and you must ensure that all the families of the officers are evacuated. No one can be left behind. When you retreat, the devils will definitely follow and fight. You must get rid of the devils and retreat safely. Let's do it. ”

The troops of the commander of the regiment rushed overnight to build fortifications on the hill five kilometers away. A platoon of soldiers in charge of the officer's family area came back and reported: "The officer's family has retreated safely on time, we have called the name, and everyone has arrived." After the convoy departed, we double-checked that there was no one in the family area. Logistics requires us to hold out until tomorrow morning, when they can reach safety. ”

The speed of the devil's attack was very fast, and in the afternoon the devil's vanguard arrived. The two sides fought, and the Japanese army, not knowing the situation of the Chinese army, temporarily stopped the offensive. Set up camp in a village not far away.

At night, a regiment of soldiers closely monitored the situation of the devils on the mountain. At dawn the next day, the commander of the first regiment ordered: "The convoy of the officers' families has reached a safe place after a night's march, and we quietly withdraw from our positions to pursue the troops in accordance with the retreat route ordered by the brigade headquarters." ”

The commander of a regiment and the deputy chief of staff of the brigade led the troops on a rapid march in front, and after they had walked thirty miles, the sound of the air defense horn suddenly sounded, and the soldiers quickly lay down in the fields by the roadside. After a while, two enemy planes circled twice over their heads and flew away. The horn of the air defense disarm sounded. The commander of a regiment ordered the troops to continue the rapid march. The deputy chief of staff of the brigade said to him: "This is a devil's reconnaissance plane, which is here to reconnoiter our movements, so we must be vigilant." The commander of the regiment said, "Yes, sir." ”

The broken squad came back to report that no devils were found for more than ten miles behind the troops. The detachment that returned from the front reported that there was no contact with the main unit.

The commander of a regiment saw that the troops had reached the hilly terrain. It was already past ten o'clock when he looked at his watch, and he asked the brigade deputy chief of staff for instructions to rest and have lunch in a village in front of him. The deputy chief of staff of the brigade looked at his watch and nodded in agreement. He said: "The soldiers who stopped the Japanese army did not rest well at night, and now they have marched more than 50 miles in a hurry, and the soldiers are already very tired, and they can spend the night here according to the situation." Although there are no pursuers in the back, it is not to be careless. It is necessary to occupy the high ground and build fortifications in case of accidents. ”

There are no more people in the village here. The Japanese army was coming, and the common people were moving into the mountains to the north. The commander of the first regiment was centered on the village where the regimental headquarters was stationed, and he ordered a battalion to guard the northern side of the village and the baggage of the troops in the village. If the devils sneak up on them, make a reserve. The 2nd Battalion occupied the high ground to the right of the village and blocked the road into the village. The third battalion occupied the high ground to the left of the village. The regimental headquarters occupied the heights in front of the village.

The defense area of the 2nd Battalion was the road into the village. It is the path that the devil who follows must take. The commander of the first regiment attached great importance to the defensive line over there, and he ordered the chief of staff of the regiment to inspect the construction of the post by inspecting the regiment, and the deputy commander of the regiment to inspect the defense area of the third battalion, and he to inspect the second battalion.

He inspected the station, accompanied by the commander of the second battalion, and the fighters were checking the guns and ammunition. He was satisfied and went to inspect the construction of the high ground position, and they went up to the halfway lookout post on the high ground and fired a shot at the sky, and he shouted: "Devil, devil is coming." "The company, which was building fortifications on the heights, immediately prepared for battle.

The Japanese touched the sentry posts they had set up in front of them and suddenly surrounded them. The commander of the regiment, who had already walked up to half of the high ground, rushed to the high ground of the second battalion, and he saw a black group of devils coming down from the truck on the road in front of the position of the second battalion. They are deploying. Soon there will be an attack. It turned out that the mechanized troops of the devils followed.

The head of the regiment scolded: "The little devil is really fast. The second battalion was ready for battle. "The Japanese mortars opened fire, and the devils pounced on the high ground under the cover of mortars. The companies on the high ground hurriedly met the battle, and they only had the ammunition they carried with them, and they could not resist the attack of the devils at all.

The head of the regiment looked back. The troops of the 2nd Battalion, under the leadership of the deputy battalion commander, desperately rushed to this side. He was relieved that the ammunition had already reached the bottom of the high ground. At this time, the sound of gunfire was heard from the position of the third battalion. He ordered the commander of the second battalion to resolutely hold his position, and he ran to the regimental command post.

The deputy chief of staff of the brigade ran from the 1st battalion to the regimental observation post to observe the enemy situation, and he asked the 1st regiment commander: "How is the situation?" The commander of the regiment said, "We are surrounded." He asked, "Can you find a gap to break through?" The commander of the first regiment said: "In front of the second and third battalions are devils. There is a mountain on the other side of the first battalion, and there are no trees on the mountain, so the troops will become a live target for devils when they go up the mountain. I'm trying to figure it out. ”

The deputy chief of staff of the brigade said after careful observation in the telescope: "Commander of the first regiment." We can't be at war. The devils were chasing us from the avenue on the other side of the 2nd Battalion. Over there is the main force of the devils. The devils opposite the third battalion attacked weakly. That is the direction of our retreat. The regimental command company was transferred up to open the gap and break through. ”

The commander of the regiment shouted: "The chief of staff of the regiment commands the operation, and the command company will follow me to the third battalion, and open the opening from there to prepare for a breakthrough!" He rushed to the position of the third battalion with the command company and said to the commander of the third battalion: "Follow me to open the gap and let the troops break through." The commander of the third battalion said, "Yes." Brethren! Prepare grenades and hit at my command. ”

The troops stopped shooting, and the devils swarmed up. The battalion commander shouted: "Fight! Rush with me! "The whole battalion of fighters fought desperately to the explosion of grenades, and the trumpeter blew the trumpet of the charge.

The commander of the third battalion commanded the soldiers to rush down the high ground, they shouted and pursued the fleeing devils, the devils retreated into a small forest and there was no shadow, and the soldiers of the third battalion gradually approached the grove. Suddenly, the heavy machine gun of the devil hiding in the grove rang out. The soldiers of the three battalions, desperately pursuing the devils, fell one after another. A large group shouted, "Stop moving forward, lie down." The commander of the third battalion, ordered the troops to retreat. ”

The fighters of the third battalion supported the wounded fighters and retreated. The battle squad of the devils rushed out of the woods under the cover of heavy machine guns. The three battalions covered the retreating fighters while fighting and retreating. One fighter was shot in the leg and fell, and the other lifted him up and retreated. A string of bullets fired, and the two of them fell together.

A warrior retreats backwards after striking down two devils, and the devil's bullet hits him in the leg and he falls. One of the warriors who was retreating saw him and came back to save him, and he shouted, "Don't come, the devil is coming." You go quickly. The devil pounced, and he raised his gun to shoot back. The devil rushed to him, and he pulled the grenade.

The breakthrough of the third battalion was blocked back by the devils. The breakout failed. The troops retreated to the heights. The regiment commander looked at the devils below the high ground and shook his head helplessly, he shook his hand fiercely and returned to the regimental command post with the people of the command company. The regimental chief of staff reported: "The second battalion had to retreat to the small heights behind under the fierce attack of the devils. The encirclement of the devils is getting smaller and smaller. The regimental command post was already exposed to the devils. ”

Mortar shells of the devils constantly fall on the command post. The brigade chief of staff shouted: "First regiment commander, you just came back from the third battalion, you have worked hard. The positions on the side of the 2nd Battalion were lost. The small high ground behind can't stop the devil's attack. Once the devils rush in, it's too late for us to fight back. You take the command company to the second battalion to organize a counterattack. Their positions cannot be lost. Resolutely drive the devil back! I took one battalion and one company to the third battalion and then organized a breakout. The battalion chief of staff remained at the command post. The commander of the regiment replied: "Yes, the command company will follow me." (To be continued......)