Without the machine-gun position, the rout of the 160th Battalion was a foregone conclusion, and Zhang Guangqi saw that the general situation was hopeless, and ordered the living people to retreat in the direction of the 161st Battalion.

The rumbling artillery fire continued to sound and continue, and it had not stopped, and the Japanese army rushed to the position of the national army, and engaged in hand-to-hand combat and street fighting with the national army on the position.

Xia Yuan covered Zheng Dayong's retreat, pulled the bolt and fired, and the bullets flew through the alley, shattering the delusion of pursuing the Japanese army, and the Japanese devil saw that Xia Yuan's personal combat effectiveness was so strong, so he pursued all the way and killed four or five Japanese soldiers.

"Shina man marksman!"

The Japanese troops in the second squadron basically knew that there was a very good marksman in the position of the national army, who was called a marksman by their commander, and his combat effectiveness was quite strong, and the remaining Japanese soldiers did not dare to continue the pursuit, and stopped to chase the others.

Xia Yuan didn't know what was going on, seeing that the Japanese devils were not chasing, he didn't think about chasing them to eliminate the Japanese devils, and after meeting with Zheng Dayong, he quickly retreated to the position of the 161st Battalion.

When they retreated to the position of the 161st Battalion, the sun hung overhead, it was already past noon, the battle was still not over, they fled all the way, the Japanese artillery fire rumbled, the guns crackled, the sound of bullets bouncing off the sound of biubiu, the battle did not stop for a moment, and the battle on all fronts was extremely fierce.

The 161st Battalion's defensive line had also collapsed, and when they arrived at the 161st Battalion's defensive line, it was full of fleeing soldiers.

Zheng Dayong carried a 38-type rifle on his back and a Czech type in his arms, and pulled a half-escaped soldier to ask about the situation: "Brother, what's the situation here, how is your defense line?" ”

This soldier was covered with blood stains and dirty all over his body, and when he saw Zheng Dayong in his arms, his eyes were bright: "Brother, which unit are you from?" ”

"Battalion 160." I heard Xia Yuan's number of the troops, Zheng Dayong reported his number, and said: "Three companies and three platoons of machine gunners." ”

As soon as he heard that it was a regular army, the soldier said: "Brother, run quickly, the defense line has collapsed, the commander is dead, and the Japanese devils are coming, and they are all running to the west." ”

"What, the Japanese devils are coming!" When Zheng Dayong heard that the defense line had collapsed and the Japanese devils were coming, his heart suddenly tightened, he thanked him, and hurriedly ran back with his gun.

There were quite a few retreating soldiers along the way, all running to the west, and these soldiers were from the 160th Battalion or the 161st Battalion, which could not be distinguished at all, and they were obviously out of order.

He saw Xia Yuan in the retreating rout, carrying the injured scholar who had fallen into a coma due to excessive blood loss.

"Brother Yuan, the defense line here has also been captured by the Japanese devils, and these soldiers are running to the west." Zheng Dayong said in a hurry, a little urgent: "Let's follow them too." ”

Xia Yuan raised his head slightly, the continuous battle, the smoke of gunpowder rose in the sky, the entire Sitang River defense line was gray, the air was filled with a smell of gunsmoke, and one after another cannonballs crossed the sky of Mimeng, like meteors, smashing on the ground, in an instant, the ground shook, the houses collapsed, and the world was turbulent.

"Let's go!"

He didn't even think about it, and with the two of them, he followed the rout and retreated to the west.

Under the fierce attack of the Japanese devils, the 18th Brigade was basically in disarray, the troops were retreating to the rear, and the Japanese army had basically occupied the defense line of the 18th Brigade of the National Army along the Sitang River.

Xia Yuan naturally did not take them to continue to retreat to the defense line of the 161st Battalion, and it is estimated that the 160th Battalion did not continue to retreat to the position of the 161st Battalion and began to retreat to the rear.

There were a lot of routs on the road, and the soldiers of the 161st Battalion and the soldiers of the 160th Battalion had been mixed together, and it was completely impossible to distinguish between them.

"Brother Yuan!"

Suddenly, a voice of surprise came from the crowd of routs.

Zheng Dayong found the other party first and said, "It's Xiaoliu." ”

"Brother Yuan, it's useful, I didn't expect to meet you here." Xiao Liu ran over with a rifle on his back, he saw the scholar behind Xia Yuan and asked, "What's wrong with the scholar?" Hurt so badly. ”

"I was bitten by a Japanese devil's shell." Xia Yuan's eyes moved slightly, he glanced around, and saw Lao Lei's figure, so he asked, "What about Lao Lei, didn't he withdraw with you?" ”

Talking about Lao Lei, Xiao Liu's eyes were filled with a hint of sadness and sadness: "Uncle Lei is dead, he was killed by the Japanese devils, and Company Commander Lu is also dead." ”

Hearing the news, Xia Yuan frowned slightly, and asked, "What happened, why are they all dead." ”

"A squadron of Japanese devils attacked the position of the third company, and also fired artillery, the third company could not stop the attack of the Japanese devils at all, in the morning of the battle, too many people died, Commander Lu personally went to the first line of defense to block the Japanese army, the Japanese devil's shells came, the position was hit by the Japanese devil's shells, there were not many people left alive, and the Japanese devils rushed over."

Xiao Liu's face had a hint of fear, the 18th Brigade fought with the Japanese devils for a short time, and they supported the front line, and the only battle they participated in was the Battle of Luodian, fortunately, they followed the reinforced company, although they were attacked by the Japanese army, but the Japanese army did not have many troops, only grenadiers to assist in the attack, and the two sides also fought back and forth.

But a company, or a company of seventy or eighty people, basically had no heavy firepower, was attacked by a Japanese squadron, and first shelled, and then the Japanese army's murderous charge, such a battle Xiaoliu experienced for the first time, and was also deeply shocked by the ferocity of the Japanese army.

"They rushed over and fought with us with bayonets, Uncle Lei fought to the death of two, but he was defeated by the Japanese devils, and Company Commander Lu stayed in the forward position, and when the Japanese devils attacked the second line of defense, Company Commander Lu did not come back."

Xia Yuan sighed and said: "The Japanese devils' offensive this time is extremely fierce, and it is bound to take back the defense line along the Sitang River, and the resolute order makes them basically crazy, and the main position has also been attacked by two squadrons of the Japanese army in turn, even I, if I don't retreat, I may not be spared." ”

The soldiers of the Japanese devils are very powerful, especially in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, many Japanese soldiers have undergone several years of training, and their fighting and shooting standards are very strong, far above the ordinary soldiers of the national army.

It was not easy for the Third Company to withstand the attack of a squadron of the Japanese army for half a day.

"After three consecutive battles, everyone died, and when I escaped, not many people followed, and there were many wounded, all of whom stayed on the battlefield and couldn't run out at all." Xiao Liu's heart was full of sorrow for the soldiers of the national army, and he had a deep fear of the Japanese army.

When following Xia Yuan, the pressure is borne by Xia Yuan, they only need to make a flank detour, or cover, even if the detour process is discovered by the Japanese army, Xia Yuan can always give the strongest reinforcements at the first time.

At this moment, he realized that after leaving Xia Yuan, he felt the horror of the Japanese army.

But there is no regret medicine in the world, Lao Lei died, and although Xiao Liu escaped, he was also alone.

So, there was one more person in the team.

Following the rout for three kilometers, stopping in a grass house that had not yet collapsed to rest, the scholar's face was pale, and he was unconscious due to excessive blood loss, Xia Yuan took out the compressed biscuit from his arms, found the pottery bowl that had not been smashed under the stove, kneaded the compressed biscuits, poured some water, and said to Zheng Dayong: "Feed it to the scholar first, after so much blood, his body urgently needs nutrients to replenish." ”

"Hey."

Zheng Dayong squatted on the ground and fed the scholar with a small bowl one bite at a time, while Xiao Liu was on guard outside.

Xia Yuan fumbled in his pocket, trying to find a cigarette to smoke two puffs, but he couldn't find it for a long time.

"I didn't have a smoking addiction before, but after crossing over a few times, I started thinking about smoking."

Shaking his head, he threw his messy thoughts away.

The battle was fierce, the 18th Brigade retreated two kilometers back, reorganized the defensive line, and continued to resist the Japanese army, the defensive line retreated again and again, and by the afternoon, the Japanese occupied the Sitang River defense line had been completely solidified

It seems that the Japanese army only wanted to drive the 18th Brigade out of the Sitang River defense line, and when the Sitang River defense line was completely devoid of Nationalist troops, they stopped the attack, built fortifications, and dug trenches.

The Nationalist Army also rebuilt strong fortifications in the rear and fell into a confrontation with the Japanese army, but at this moment, it was clear to everyone that the 18th Brigade was no longer an opponent of the Japanese army, as could be seen from the previous battles.

It may be that the Japanese army's ammunition consumption is too large to support the continuation of the offensive, or it may be that the casualties are too heavy and need a temporary rest.

Just when Xia Yuan was taking a break for the time being, the name of the sharpshooter of the Eighteenth Brigade began to spread in the army at noon, Zhang Guangqi collected Xia Yuan's information, and handed it to the regiment commander, and the regiment commander handed it over to the division commander, layer by layer, until it reached the hands of the commander of the group army.

Many of these people came out of the Whampoa Military Academy, and have been in the army for more than ten years, or even decades, and have seen countless excellent soldiers, such as powerful machine guns, good marksmanship, accurate grenade throwing, daring to charge, fierce in battle, and nothing like this, but they are the first to die when they are targeted by the enemy.

Especially in the face of the Japanese army, the mortality rate of this kind of soldier is very high, the Japanese devils have anti-aircraft guns to deal with machine gunners, mortars and grenadiers with good marksmanship and accurate bombing, and those who dare to charge die under the bayonets and machine guns of the Japanese devils, and those who fight fiercely in the face of the Japanese artillery and machine guns die much more.

All kinds of powerful soldiers are not good in the face of Japanese devils, and the Japanese devils pay attention to the quality of individual soldiers, pay attention to the accuracy and power of guns, no matter which one, they are not comparable to Japanese devils. On the Songhu battlefield, some people used Japanese devils to hide, and the Japanese devils charged without shooting, close to the position, after a round of rapid fire, and then fought with the Japanese bayonets.

Under such circumstances, the Battle of Songhu still played a battle loss ratio of 7:1, and such a battle loss ratio was already the smallest battle loss ratio for the national army.

In the eyes of the high-ranking officers of the national army, the Japanese army is undoubtedly synonymous with strength and advancement, and the quality of their soldiers is very strong.

Chen Cheng, commander-in-chief of the Left Wing Army, received the document handed down below, and after reading it, a look of disbelief appeared on his face.

"How authentic is this document?"

"The authenticity is very high, the 18th Brigade is in the direction of Wusong, judging from the current information transmitted, the casualties of the attacking Japanese army are very high, Li Youcai, deputy commander of the 160th Battalion of the 18th Brigade, began to follow this soldier when he was fighting, according to what he said, he saw with his own eyes, 53 bullets, killed 53 enemies, not a single shot was missed."

"Oh?" Chen Cheng listened, put down the file, and said: "This kind of soldier is really rare, a few years ago, I saw a soldier with great marksmanship, it was the chairman of the committee who told me, twenty-three bullets, killing twenty-one enemies, the marksmanship is very powerful, but unfortunately this soldier did not live long, in a battle, the enemy's artillery observer found the position, and was killed by the cannon." ”

His meaning is obvious, no matter how good the marksmanship is, in the face of the Japanese shells, he will die, but such a soldier with accurate marksmanship is a rare piece of material, and the marksmanship is accurate, and it is the most suitable for assassination.

"Now the battle situation in Wusong is becoming more and more severe, in the morning, the four wings of the Japanese army, attacking the defenders of Wusong, at noon, the Sitang River defense line was lost, the Japanese army occupied the Sitang River, in the afternoon, the Japanese army captured Baoshan West Street and the Sitang River Bridge, surrounded Baoshan City from the west, the purpose of the Japanese attack is obvious, take Baoshan City, Wusong will be completely controlled by the Japanese army."

Chen Cheng put down the documents in his hand, raised his head and looked at the adjutant who had followed him for several years, and continued: "The Japanese army in the direction of Luodian has temporarily stopped attacking, but we can't be idle, the 11th Division of the Japanese Army is trying to converge with the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army, once the two Japanese forces converge, this force will be infinitely strengthened. ”

As he spoke, his brow furrowed, as if a black cloud had shrouded him.

The offensive posture of the Japanese army has been very obvious until now, and the fighting in Luodian has not stopped, and if the Japanese army does not withdraw from Luodian for a day, their fighting has not stopped. And the battle of Luodian is not over, but Baoshan City is in crisis.

"It is Yao Ziqing of the third battalion of the 538th Regiment who is holding on to Baoshan City, do we want to withdraw Yao Ziqing?"

"No, they can't move, troops from all over the country are gathering in Shanghai, we have to resist the attack of the Japanese army and strive to delay time." Chen Cheng seemed to have made up his mind, "This soldier is a good soldier, let the 18th Brigade send him to Baoshan City, if he can hold Baoshan City, hold on until the reinforcements arrive, and he is still alive after the war, I will ask the chairman for instructions and give him a battalion commander." ”

"Yes, the Eighteenth Brigade."

"The position of the 18th Brigade is neither light nor heavy, the center of gravity of the Japanese attack is Baoshan, hold Baoshan, and we have not yet failed in the battle in the direction of Wusongkou." Chen Cheng's eyes moved slightly, "I hope that the Japanese devils can fight outside, so that their forces will be dispersed." ”

It's a pity that he can't let the 18th Brigade withdraw from the battle without firing a shot, if it was at the beginning of the war, he knew the purpose of the Japanese army, maybe he would do this, let the Japanese troops disperse, and then concentrate the forces to break through a little.