Xia Yuan asked Lao Qi to find them an idle mansion, spent some silver dollars, and lived in it, and asked him to buy the rest of the money into medicine and food.

Lao Qi asked: "Platoon commander, why don't you buy some guns and ammunition, and we will use them to fight devils when the time comes." ”

"The guns and ammunition on the black market are bought at a low price and sold at a high price, and the gains outweigh the losses.

Xia Yuan handed over the loot brought back from the front line to Lao Qi and said: "These things are dang, you know more about the black market than I do, after you do, you can use it to buy medicines, medicines are precious, don't worry about spending money, if the money is gone, it will be gone, and you can make it again, if the people are gone, there will really be no more." ”

Then, he took Zheng Dayong and Xiaoliu to the field hospital to pick up the scholars.

When I came to the front of the field hospital, I saw the people inside carrying a corpse covered with a white cloth coming out, and there were troop carriers parked outside, and the corpses were carried by the soldiers and thrown into the troop carriers.

Zheng Dayong and Xiaoliu glanced at Xia Yuan.

Xia Yuan retracted his gaze and walked into the hospital with the two of them, and he smelled a faint foul smell floating in the air, the field hospital was very chaotic, the defeated soldiers sat on the ground at will, and no one controlled it, in the grass hut that was built, the wounded who were lying, sitting, and leaning on were too many, and there was no place to put their feet.

Nurses come and go.

I often hear the moans of pain.

Some of the soldiers were dead, and no one found them lying there, until the wounded next to them smelled the stench of the corpses and shouted: "Dead, dead." ”

Then the nurses hurried to find the voice, and after seeing the state of the deceased, they asked the soldiers to carry the deceased away.

These nurses are no longer surprised, as the war on the front line continues to ferment, the medical conditions in the rear are getting worse and worse, the superiors do not transport medicines, and they are trying to stuff the wounded into the field hospitals, leaving them to fend for themselves, to put it bluntly, the medical system in the rear has actually collapsed by more than half.

Xia Yuan took Zheng Dayong, Xiao Liu found the person in charge of registration and handed him a silver dollar, and when the person saw this, a smile immediately appeared on his face, "Who are you looking for?" ”

"Chen Jiansheng, wearing a pair of glasses, the glasses are half broken, look at it."

At that time, when the scholars were brought over, it was here that the wounded were registered.

With the silver dollar to open the way, the man inquired quickly, and immediately found the direction where Chen Jiansheng was, "You can take a look under the straw shed." ”

"Thank you."

Xia Yuan took the two of them over.

Under the straw hut, there were wounded soldiers lying one after another, many of whom had gloom, ashes, lifelessness, and no life on their faces.

"Brother Yuan, big use, little six."

When they came over, a cheerful voice sounded, and the scholar leaned on the straw mat, holding a book in both hands and reading it with relish, and immediately cried out in surprise when he saw someone coming.

"Ouch, you kid can recover."

They were only two days apart, and they thought that when the scholar came to the field hospital, his condition would get worse and worse, Xia Yuan was also in a hurry to bring the scholar out, but he didn't expect the scholar's spirit to be so good, and he didn't know where to get a book, so he read it with relish, and formed two completely different styles from the lifeless wounded soldiers around him.

"Hey, hey, hey." The scholar smiled, and suddenly saw a person in the distance, and hurriedly propped himself up, with a bright smile on his face: "You are here." ”

Xia Yuan, Zheng Dayong, Xiaoliu turned his head to look, it was a female nurse holding a book, she didn't look very old, she looked like she was eighteen or nineteen, with a round face, and she smiled with two sweet dimples, very cute, seeing Xia Yuan standing next to the scholar, Zheng Dayong and Xiaoliu.

"Jiansheng, who are they, your friends?"

"This is Brother Yuan, that is, the marksmanship I mentioned to you is very powerful, killing a lot of Japanese devils, this is Zheng Dayong, machine gunner, he is Xiaoliu, assaulter."

The scholar half-propped up his body and introduced the girl who came, "Brother Yuan, her name is Gong Chunmin, a nurse in the hospital." ”

The three of them had inexplicable smiles on their faces, Gong Chunmin showed a hint of shyness on his face, squatted beside the scholar, gave him the books in his arms, and then moved his steps and ran away a little shyly.

Zheng Dayong and Xiao Sixty were envious.

"Yes, scholar, you look pretty cute." Zheng Da said happily.

"We're friends, don't think too much about it." There was a rare shyness on the scholar's face.

"Alright, don't tease the scholars." Xia Yuan smiled, seeing that the scholar's condition was good, he was also a lot relieved, so he took out ten silver dollars from his pocket, put them in his hand, and held them well, so that others in the province could see them.

The scholar felt the coldness and texture in his palm, and was suddenly startled, "Brother Yuan, you take it, I can't ask for it." ”

"Don't talk!" Xia Yuan glared at him and said, "This is what we all left for you, you keep it well, your injuries are destined to be unable to go to the battlefield, we are going to set off in two nights." ”

"Brother Yuan, where are you going?"

"Shanghai!"

"That's too dangerous, you keep these things, buy more things, and use them on the road." The scholar wanted to refuse, these ten silver dollars, it is estimated that they were earned by Brother Yuan and them at the risk of their lives, he can't take it, he really wants to take it, he is really not a human being inside and out.

"If you want to take it, you will take it, grind and chirp." Xia Yuan scolded and said: "The girl is so good, don't go together because you don't have money in the end, I've seen too much, the man's family has no money, and the woman's parents look down on it, you fight for something, don't embarrass your brothers." ”

He suppressed his voice again and said: "The battle on the front line has failed, and the planes of the Japanese devils have begun to bomb Jiading, and they will come over in a short time, and when you recover from your injuries, you will take her and her family to Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia." ”

"Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningbo? Wouldn't that be too far. When the scholar heard this, it was thousands of kilometers from here to Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia.

"That's better than the Japanese devils coming in and killing people, there is a team called the Eighth Route Army in Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia, you are literate, you will be a teacher after you go in, and your life will be stable, the Eighth Route Army team will talk about the equality of officers and soldiers, talk about human rights, and the peasants can also turn over and be the masters."

"There are such troops?"

"Yes, why not, you just listen to me, heal from your injuries, don't come to the Shanghai area, the Japanese devils will attack Jinling next, this bald head has invested so many troops in Shanghai, all of them have failed, how many troops do you say he can still defend Jinling, what your brother said, never missed."

Xia Yuan patted the scholar's body.

took Zheng Dayong and Xiaoliu and left.

The scholar had a much better life in the field hospital than he had thought, and he met a girl, so that was enough.

There is a good saying, it is better to demolish ten temples than to demolish a marriage, Xia Yuan can see that Gong Chunmin's eyes when he looks at the scholar contain a trace of affection, just like when he was not with Pei Shanshan, Pei Shanshan's eyes were exactly the same.

"Brother Yuan, you say, can the scholar and that girl succeed?" Zheng Dayong asked with some envy.

"Whether it succeeds or not, it depends on whether the scholar's head is bright."

Just as Xia Yuan began to prepare, the situation in the direction of Yuepu began to press.

At nine o'clock in the morning of September 7, the Tiangu detachment of the Japanese army entered the nameless village east of Caotangtang, and then launched a full-line attack on the national army.

The 3rd Brigade attacking Zhou's house was fiercely blocked by the crossfire of the Nationalist army, and was stopped about 150 meters in front of Zhou's house, and in the fierce battle, the leader of the 8th Squadron, who was the reserve of the wing, was also killed by the mortar of the Nationalist army.

Subsequently, the Japanese army intensified its offensive and entered Huang's house with the first brigade.

Subsequently, the 6th Wing of the Japanese Army, which crossed the river from the Liujiabang line, also joined this fierce battle for encroachment.

In the next battle, the two sides launched a fierce tug-of-war, the Japanese army was like a worm, little by little eating away at the national army troops in the direction of Yuepu to Yanghang, the national army fought and retreated, while blocking the attacking Japanese army, on the other hand, using the village houses in the rear, building fortifications, blocking the attacking Japanese army, the entire front, the national army paid a heavy price, blocking the attacking Japanese army.

In the evening, the Japanese troops who crossed the river from the Liujiabang line could not continue to advance, so the Japanese attack on the whole line was completely frustrated, and the attack was stopped that night.

According to the records of the Japanese army, the casualties of the 6th Wing of the Japanese Army ranged from more than 400 to 500 on that day, which was the heaviest day since the landing operation of the 6th Wing of the Japanese Army.

The casualties of the Japanese army were heavy, and the casualties of the national army were also quite heavy, the national army itself occupied the advantage of troops, the Japanese army occupied the advantage of firepower, when the Japanese casualties were four or five hundred, the casualties of the national army reached thousands of people, one regiment after another was abolished by the Japanese army, some companies were wiped out, and some companies only had a few people left to hold on to the position.

The ground on the entire front was scorched black, and the smoke of gunpowder rendered the sky a thick inky color.

On September 8, September 9, September 10, and September 11, for four consecutive days, the Japanese offensive became more and more ferocious day by day, and day by day became more and more intense.

The Japanese fighting in the direction of Wolpo has been going on for a week, and the Japanese are advancing very slowly.

On the day of 11 September, after the battle on the whole line was basically over, although the Japanese army was not able to capture Yuepu and Yanghang, the defensive forces of the national army had become more and more difficult to maintain the defensive line, and reinforcements were put into the defensive operation, and in less than half a day, they were crippled by the Japanese army, and the casualties increased sharply.

The 98th Division, which held on to Yuepu, had suffered all casualties and less than a battalion, and stubbornly resisted the fierce attack of the Japanese army, firmly holding Yuepu in its own hands.

At this time, Chen Cheng, Gu Zhu and others had already decided to retreat their troops to the second-line position, organize defense, and avoid fearless sacrifices, so the battle between Yuepu and Yang Xing lasted for more than a week, ending with no need to hold on.

In the evening of the same day, the Nationalist army informed the divisions to begin to retreat, and the First Army near Yanghang launched a confusing night attack on the Japanese army in the first half of the night, and abandoned Yanghang in the second half of the night and retreated westward.

The 98th Division, which had suffered all casualties, received the news that the 1st Division of the 1st Army on the flank had abandoned Yang Xing and retreated westward, and secretly withdrew westward from Yuepu that night.

The Nationalist army completely abandoned the salient area south of Wusong, and because the retreat of the Nationalist army was relatively secretive, the Japanese side only discovered that the Nationalist army had retreated on the whole line the next morning, and only then occupied Yuepu and Yanghang, which were already empty cities.

At this point, the anti-landing phase of the national army failed, and the troops retreated westward into full defense.

On the Japanese side, with the victories of Yuepu and Yanghang, Luodian Wusong was occupied by them, and at this time the Japanese army had abandoned the policy of non-expansion.

The Japanese army first mobilized the former Baodao garrison and ten reserve infantry brigades to support Shanghai.

On the same day that the Nationalist army retreated, the Japanese army issued the No. 99 Provisional Order, deciding to send additional troops to Shanghai, including the ninth, thirteenth, and one hundred and onest, a total of three divisions.

Ishihara Wanji, chief of operations of the General Staff Headquarters, who advocated not expanding the operation in Shanghai, resigned.

The Battle of Songhu gradually evolved into a decisive battle between China and Japan as the Japanese troops began to reinforce them.

From 13 August to 11 September, the Nationalist army and the Japanese army fought fierce battles repeatedly around Shanghai, and although the Nationalist army inflicted considerable casualties on the Japanese army, it was unable to repel the Japanese troops near Shanghai, and the strategy of the Nationalist army also shifted from active offensive to positional defense.

A new stage of the Songhu battlefield is coming.

During this period, the operational plan within the top echelons of the national army changed for a time, and changed again and again, and the internal voices were not coordinated and unified, with some advocating retreat and others advocating attacking.

As early as 30 August, Falkenhausen, the general adviser of the German military in China, proposed to the bald head in his report that the Nationalist army should build strong fortifications on the second front and prepare for future resistance and gradually deplete the living strength of the Japanese army.

On 6 September, the Nationalist Army promulgated the operational plan for the second phase of the Third Theater of Operations, proposing that the Nationalist Army should continue to attack the Japanese army, but if it could not defeat the Japanese army, the Nationalist Army should retreat one after another, and as a last resort, it could retreat to the rear, exercise stubborn resistance, and wait for the arrival of the rear troops before fighting a decisive battle.

This plan was approved by the bald head himself, and became the new operational policy of the Nationalist army, because the policy required the Nationalist army to launch an active attack on the landing Japanese army, so after 6 September, the Nationalist army continued to carry out the previous order and did not immediately retreat.

However, with the loss of Baoshan, the battle situation on the front line of Yanghang and Yuepu was critical, and whether they had to retreat to the rear as a last resort became a practical problem in front of the commanders of the national army.

Gu Zhutong, deputy commander of the theater in charge of the theater command, advocated stopping the offensive and withdrawing the various units of the Nationalist army to the second-line fortifications that had been constructed in advance as a long-term plan, while Chen Cheng, the former commander-in-chief of the enemy, himself opposed the retreat.