At the end of August 1937, the national army formed a prismatic quadrilateral defensive zone north of Fuzaobang and between the four points of Wusong, Baoshan, Yuepu and Yanghang on the south bank of the Yangtze River.

On its right side is the line from Wusong to Baoshan, blocking the westward advance of the Japanese ace 3rd Division.

The line from Yuepu to Yanghang is on the left side, blocking the enemy's elite 11th Division from moving south.

Baoshan to Yuepu is the front, resisting the enemy who landed south from Chuanshakou and Shidongkou.

The line from Luodian to Liuhang is the central hub of the entire prismatic defense zone; It is bound to become the main battlefield of the entire Songhu Battle.

The area around Luodian is a plain, close to the mouth of the Yangtze River, with loose soil and no natural barrier to rely on; The Nationalist army rushed into battle, had no time to build fortifications, and lacked heavy firepower, so it had to rely on flesh and blood to resist the attack of the Japanese army's superior firepower on land, sea and air. caused the first line of troops of the national army to complete the company, the whole battalion was bloody, and then the reinforcements were filled in for the counterattack. Many battalions, regiments, and even divisions have been on the battlefield for a few days, and they have fought finely, which can be called a mill of flesh and blood.

As you move toward the swamp, you will see a large plain as far as the eye can see.

There are basically no high mountains in the Songhu battlefield, and there is no danger to defend, and such a large plain is the most suitable for the Japanese army's mechanized troops to deploy, and the sea, land and air amphibious cooperate with each other, and the land of China. The military strength of the Japanese army during this period of time was also the top in the world, on the other hand, the vast majority of those who joined the army were peasants, who had never been on the battlefield, but had only gone through a few days of training, and had not yet fired targets with live ammunition.

Take Xia Yuan's second platoon as an example, the forty people in the entire second platoon didn't even have a machine gun, not even a grenade for them, only ten bullets, and the old sleeve with the rifling all smoothed.

A squad of the Japanese army is equipped with light machine guns and grenadiers, and the quality of individual soldiers is very high, and the shooting accuracy is very accurate.

It was the Japanese devils who stood there motionless and asked them to fight, and it is estimated that none of the ten bullets could hit, and the failure to hit the target with live ammunition is one reason, and the accuracy of the gun is another reason.

There are too many troops like the second platoon within the entire national army.

There are more than 700,000 national army troops in the Songhu battlefield, and there are not many of them with luxurious weapons and equipment. Especially the Sichuan army, when they go out wearing straw sandals, many people don't have guns, and they go out of Sichuan with big knives and spears, even if they have guns, the so-called guns are still guns that stuff black powder into the barrel.

The powerlessness of being in this era is truly displayed, as if a boulder is pressing on Xia Yuan's heart.

It's really no way at all, the gap is just too big.

The quality of the soldiers, the weapons and equipment, the operational tactics, the minds of the superior commanders, and so on, all the factors added up, the defeat of the Battle of Songhu was inevitable.

In the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, although the weapons and equipment of the volunteers were inferior to those of the US army, the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was a battlefield in which the gods of war per capita were far surpassed, and the quality of individual soldiers, tactics, and the command of superior commanders far surpassed those of the US army.

The U.S. military has even replaced three commanders-in-chief of the United Nations Forces, but it can't beat the generals.

After thinking about it, Xia Yuan felt that even if he became a battalion commander and regiment commander, he was comparable to the Japanese army in terms of tactical arrangements, but it was difficult to win this war when the quality of the soldiers was completely inferior to that of the Japanese army, unless he had a very high voice in various group armies.

"It's swamp white ahead, speed up." Second platoon leader Zhao Shiguo shouted.

Zhao Shiguo's presence in the second row is very low, he is a taciturn and not good at words, but he is very harsh in training, and scolding them is a frequent thing, which feels very strange.

Xu Yu privately told Xia Yuan about Platoon Commander Zhao, "Platoon Commander Zhao is two brothers who joined the army, and his younger brother died in a battle to cover a recruit, and the recruit did not train well on weekdays, and was frightened when he arrived on the battlefield, so now Platoon Commander Zhao hates those recruits who do not train, and when they arrive on the battlefield, there are many people who lose their lives in vain in order to save them or pull them." ”

It is no wonder that a good and taciturn person who is not good at words will show the opposite side in training, they are all forced to be helpless, and they have the mood of hating iron but not steel.

"The more you train, the more chance you have to survive on the battlefield, that's not wrong at all."

Xia Yuan was quite emotional.

The swamp is white, a large village located on the plain, the houses in the village are all earthen structures, some are brick structures, some of the houses have been blown up, the village is empty, no one can be seen, the things in the houses have been moved, and there are not many things that can be used.

After the group entered the village, they began to search for valuable things from house to house, and wherever there were valuable things, they took the valuable things from the house with them when they fled.

"I didn't even have anything to eat in the jar, so I found a little flour dregs." Xu Yu came to Xia Yuan's side, and said: "The platoon commander asked our third squad to look at the end of the village, Old Man Wang is fucking planning an escape route, I want to go to the platoon commander and let our third squad look at the head of the village, so that even if they run, they won't run so easily." ”

"There's no need." Xia Yuan stopped Xu Yu's behavior and said, "They want to run, but you can't stop it, just let them run." ”

"How can this work, if you become a deserter, you will be spurned if you are discovered." Xu Yu said: "Being spurned is still the lightest, it is possible to be shot, we are taking an ox cart, a train, a truck, walking, a week to get here, you think they can walk back." ”

Xia Yuan rummaged through the room, collected useful things, and said, "Regardless of these, tie these cloths to your legs." ”

"Xia Yuan, you are the deputy platoon commander in the platoon, and you came out of the same place with them, don't you think about them? There's a good chance they'll die if they leave like this. ”

Xu Yu didn't want to give up yet, his prestige in the class was not as high as Xia Yuan, if Xia Yuan stopped it, it was still possible to convince them.

"Squad leader, you have to understand that people have their own aspirations, their minds are not on the battlefield, and even if they go to the battlefield, they will become a burden to us."

Xia Yuan finally stopped what he was doing and turned his head to look at Xu Yu.

"But people are converted." Xu Yu said: "I didn't want to go to the battlefield before, but I can't help it, the country is in danger, and if we don't go, the country will die." ”

Xia Yuan suddenly remembered what Pei Shanshan said, a generation has a generation's mission, this generation shoulders the responsibility of protecting the family and defending the country, and there are soldiers in the ranks of the national army, but more people have faith.

A true brave man who never complains about his environment.

Xia Yuan said helplessly: "Their idea is 'people are not for themselves, heaven and earth will be destroyed', squad leader, you think that they can wake up with the slogan of protecting the family and defending the country, the idea is too naïve, they have been oppressed and exploited by the landlords." Squad leader, do you know how the people who received the troops treated us on the way to the barracks? ”

Xu Yu looked at Xia Yuan a little blankly.

"We came out of the village with more than 100 people, and there were only nine people left in the barracks, and they didn't give us food, not even a sip of water, if it hadn't been for the rain during the break, we would have fallen on the ground to drink the water on the ground, maybe there would have been fewer nine people coming."

"You say, they have been treated like this, how can you convince them to use their hard-won lives to protect those who oppress him and oppress him."

"People are not sages, they are just farmers, even if they are kind, they will not be kind to this extent."

Xia Yuan's words were sonorous and powerful, hitting Xu You's body like a hammer, and Xu Yu was stunned there for a long time without speaking.

"Squad leader, you volunteered to join the army, and they are not, the people who really need to be protected are them, not the landlord Lao Cai." Xia Yuan patted Xu Yu's shoulder and sighed helplessly.

This world is just such an egg pain.

Is it wrong to defend the country? That's right, there is a country to have a home.

But if he protects the country, he also protects those who oppress him, Old Man Wang himself has his own ideas, and with a bit of selfishness, he uses his life to protect the landlord and old wealth who oppressed him, but he really can't do it.

The monkey's relatives were killed by the landlord's old wealth.

Xu Yu thought for a long time, figured it out, and sighed helplessly: "Is there no way?" ”

"Yes, tell the platoon commander." Xia Yuan said: "When deserters will be shot, the platoon commander will not tolerate them. ”

"What about you."

"Me, everyone has a life, and sometimes there must be a life."

Xia Yuan thought about his former self, and he also loved to drill the horns, but now, after experiencing so many wars, he looked at life and death plainly, but he attached great importance to it, and he didn't know what was wrong with him now.

In the Korean battlefield, there are too many dead people, people who are still chatting one second, the next second a shell hits, and the world evaporates, as if they have never come, the fragility of life is that string of cold numbers, but the greatness of life is that they roll under the enemy's tank with the explosives bag, use their chests against the blasting canister, and use their chests to block the enemy's eye-catching.

The contradiction before and after made Xia Yuan also contradictory.

It is useless to do ideological and political work for the old man Wang, and there is no way to do it in such a way as the current national conditions.

"Hurry up and search for things, squad leader, maybe after tonight, there will be a few people left."

Xia Yuan knew that scholars and Niu Hai would not leave, but others would not.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go, so that you can save your life." Xu Yu also looked down, sighed, grabbed a stool and put it under his buttocks, tied the rope to his legs, stood up and stepped on the ground, feeling a lot better.

The rumbling sound attracted Xu Yu again, and he walked to the courtyard and saw Xia Yuan, who was also looking into the distance.

"How does it feel?" Xu Yu asked.

"Japanese cannons."

"Do you know the Japanese well? I haven't heard you say it before. ”

"Do you need to understand this? Our platoon doesn't even have a single grenade, there are only 10 bullets, the rifling in the magazine has been smoothed, it is estimated that it can deviate by 108,000 miles, and the situation of other troops can be much better, if we can really beat the Japanese, we will not transfer troops from our place. ”

Xia Yuan's words made Xu Yu feel reasonable.

Xu Yu said with emotion: "No way, the army is too poor, and we are being used as cannon fodder again, alas." ”

Xu Yu's emotion made Xia Yuan a little curious: "Are you willing to be cannon fodder?" ”

"What can I do if I am unwilling, this is the order of the superiors, the consequence of disobeying the order is poisoning, you have also seen it in the new barracks, the wounds of the poisoned torture are rotten, stinking, and finally died very miserably."

Xia Yuan felt that Xu Yu was a very interesting person, who obeyed it because of his life, but died because of the national disaster.

"Get ready, maybe tomorrow the platoon commander will reprimand us."

"Ugh."

In a room on the west side, Old Man Wang and a monkey were groping here.

"Old man Wang, where is there anything valuable, there is nothing." The monkey opened the cabinet, a musty smell came to his face, reached out and fanned in front of him, covered the cabinet and muttered.

"Look carefully, there will always be something forgotten."

The old man Wang held the gun and rummaged through the cabinets to find it, many of which were tattered clothes that had been thrown down and thrown on the ground.

Five people walked in outside the door, a few from the next village.

"How's it going?" One of them asked.

"What else can we do, just like that, let's just run to the west, see if there are any clothes on the ground, take a suit with you when you run, take off your military uniforms, and don't be found out that we are deserters."

Old man Wang thought very comprehensively, and knew very well in his heart that if his identity as a deserter was discovered, there was a high probability that he would eat a gun, and the best way was to change his clothes, take off the shabby military uniform on his body, and put on the clothes that these people had thrown away when they fled.

"Old man Wang has thought about it very carefully, let's all think of a way."

These people thought about it, and when they thought about it, they felt that they needed to be entangled in food on the way to escape, and the best way was to search these houses to see if there were any valuable things or food that had been left behind.

"It's a pity that the platoon commander occupied the brick house in the middle of the village, grandma's, it must be the landlord's house, maybe there are some good things in it."

"Why don't we take a look at it now."

Old man Wang listened to their conversation and said, "No, if you want to go, you have to call the squad leader and them, so that we all have an excuse, but tonight is about us to escape, so don't look for the squad leader and them." ”

After listening to Old Man Wang's words, everyone thought that what they said made sense, so they no longer had the idea of hitting the brick house in the middle of the village.

"Look for it again, hide the clothes you find, and use them tonight." Old man Wang waved his hand and motioned for them to hurry up.

"Old man Wang, did you find anything good?"

One of them said happily.

"What do you mean, do I have to tell you if I can't find anything good?" Old man Wang asked him rhetorically.

"No, we are a group now, we must help each other on the way to escape, in order to survive, if you find something good, you have to share it with everyone." The thief laughed.

"That's it, old man Wang, you mentioned the escape to us, and you don't want to share the good things you are looking for with us?"