Tachibana Detachment Headquarters.
Ogasawara Goro hurriedly walked into the war room and reported to Tachibana Yoshio: "Detachment leader, we just received the battle report from the 1st Infantry Battalion. They have found and eliminated the third small unit of the China Army. As of now, we have The number of Chinese troops that have been eliminated has reached 156, and the Chinese troops that had previously fled into the Qixing Lake swamp have been basically wiped out."
"Being basically annihilated does not mean being completely annihilated." Tachibana Yoshio frowned and said, "Report to Maeda-san immediately and ask him if there are any leaks?"
Ogasawara said: "Captain of the detachment, even if there are a few fish that slip through the net, I'm afraid it has nothing to do with the overall situation."
"You are confused." Tachibana Yoshio glared at Ogasawara fiercely and said in a deep voice, "What if the one who slipped through the net is the commander of the temporary remnant of the 79th Division? What if the remnant of the temporary 79th Division cannot be killed? That commander, this battle in Hai'an Town cannot be considered a victory, and the temporary 79th Division still has the possibility of resurgence. Don't forget that in the Battle of Wuxi, the 6th Infantry Regiment failed to completely annihilate the enemy. The remnants of the temporarily reorganized 79th Division in turn took away their headquarters, and then His Royal Highness Prince Fushimi was attacked and killed."
"Hai." Goro Ogasawara said with a heavy pause, "I will send a telegram to the Maeda Brigade right now."
However, before Goro Ogasawara left, a major staff officer hurried out of the communication room, stood at attention and reported to Tachibana Yoshio: "Captain of the detachment, the cavalry team just reported that they have lost two Chinese soldiers, and this One of the two Chinese soldiers has amazing marksmanship!"
"Nani?" Ogasawara Goro's face suddenly darkened.
When Tachibana Keio heard this, his expression perked up and he said loudly: "It's him, it must be him!"
Ogasawara Goro said horrified: "Detachment leader, are you saying that this person is the temporary commander of the remnants of the 79th Division?"
"Yes, it must be him!" Tachibana Yoshio said solemnly, "Okahara-san told me that this man's marksmanship is extraordinary, even far better than the instructor of the Brandenburg Special Forces Training Camp."
Ogasawara Goro said: "This means that although the 1st Infantry Battalion eliminated more than a hundred Chinese soldiers, the main target is still at large?"
Tachibana Yoshio nodded and said, "That must be the case."
"That's going to be troublesome." Goro Ogasawara hurriedly walked to the map, pointed at the map and said, "Commander, look, the remaining remnants of the temporary 79th Division have bypassed the west of Hai'an Town. At this time, it is about 100 meters away from Hai'an Town. It’s already twenty miles away, and if the imperial army doesn’t pursue them, they will soon enter the northern forest area.”
Tachibana Yoshio also fell into struggle.
Tachibana Yoshio originally thought that it would be easy to eliminate the Chinese army entering Qixing Lake Swamp, and then be free to deal with the remnants of the temporary 79th Division that detoured from the west of Hai'an Town. But he never expected that the combat operations in Qixing Lake Swamp would encounter big trouble.
Now, Tachibana Yoshio must make a choice.
Should he continue to shrink his troops and sweep the Qixing Lake swamp, and kill the remaining commander of the temporary 79th Division at all costs
Or should we let this person go for the time being, go back and deal with the remaining troops of the temporary 79th Division, and then go back and deal with this most dangerous enemy
If we continue to sweep the Qixing Lake Swamp, we will inevitably let go of the remnants of the temporary 79th Division.
But if the remnants of the temporary 79th Division were dealt with first, Tachibana Yoshio was worried that the most dangerous enemy trapped in Qixing Lake Swamp would take the opportunity to run away, because according to intelligence, this dangerous enemy could also speak Japanese. As long as he puts on the Japanese military uniform, he can fake it, and as soon as it gets dark, he can easily escape.
Ogasawara raised his wrist and looked at his watch, then said to Tachibana Yoshio: "Detachment leader, there are only less than three hours left before dark. Should we shrink our troops and continue to sweep Qixing Lake, or concentrate our troops to deal with the temporary troops first?" The remnants of the 79th Division, you must make a decision early."
Tachibana Yoshio bit his tongue and said in a deep voice: "Order, the 3rd Infantry Battalion also enters the swamp. Coordinate with the 1st Infantry Battalion to conduct a blanket search of the Seven Star Lake Swamp, and tell Maeda and Fujii that they must be found and eliminated before dark. Those two fish slipped through the net! Otherwise, they would be prepared to commit seppuku to thank His Majesty the Emperor!"
"Hai!" Ogasawara Goro paused heavily. Turned around and left.
(Dividing line)
Xu Rui and Leng Tiefeng took a short rest and then set off back to the 1st Platoon's hiding place.
Before he even got close to the hiding place of the remnants of the 1st platoon, Xu Rui smelled a strong smell of blood.
"Oh, no, no, no, no, no..." Xu Rui immediately shouted nervously, and inadvertently accelerated his running speed.
Seeing Xu Rui's expression. Leng Tiefeng's heart suddenly sank, and he was worried!
Sure enough, when Xu Rui and Leng Tiefeng hurried to the depression where the 1st platoon of remaining soldiers were hiding, what they saw in front of them was an extremely tragic scene.
I saw that the entire depression was full of craters left by the explosion, the grass on the ground was also scorched, and the soil that was upturned by the explosion was also scorched black. In addition, the bodies of more than a dozen remnant soldiers were lying around. These remnant soldiers all had ferocious expressions and were covered in blood. It was obvious that they all left with full of grief, anger and unwillingness.
Leng Tiefeng inspected the battlefield and said to Xu Rui: "The Japs attacked from the six o'clock direction. They mobilized at least two mortars and six grenades, and fired at least fifty high-explosive grenades. , Oh, and there are brimstone bombs, you see, there are still traces of burns from brimstone bombs here.”
Xu Rui didn't say a word. He seemed to be petrified and motionless.
Leng Tiefeng continued to deduce the process along the battlefield traces, and then said: "Judging from the traces left on the battlefield, the 1st Platoon neutralized the Japs' attacks at least three times, and then was forced to charge because they ran out of ammunition. Yes, they Instead of breaking out, they launched a counterattack against the Japanese. Well done, all in all."
Leng Tiefeng walked forward in the direction of the assault, and not far away he found the body of a remnant soldier. The remnant soldier's legs and chest were full of bullet holes. However, in addition to the bleeding on the legs and the many bullet holes in the chest, No one was bleeding. It was obvious that the blood on his body had already dried up before he was shot.
Without guessing, Leng Tiefeng could imagine that this must be a seriously injured remnant soldier crawling and charging, facing the surging Japanese soldiers, persisting in fighting until the last drop of blood was shed.
After walking about five meters further, Leng Tiefeng saw the body of another remnant soldier.
The body of the remnant soldier was still hugged, but there was nothing in his arms.
However, Leng Tiefeng easily restored the battlefield scene at that time. The remnant soldier should have been fighting a Japanese soldier in close combat before he died. His hands should have hugged the Japanese soldier tightly at that time, and the purpose should be to give him to his comrades. Create an opportunity to assassinate the Japanese, and judging from the look of relief on the face of this remnant soldier, his comrades must not have disappointed him.
Less than two meters away from this remnant soldier, the body of another remnant soldier lay lying down.
Although this remnant soldier had died for a long time, his angry eyes were still wide open, and the big palm-like hands that stretched out forward also made a "pinching" shape, and his two thumbs were broken off by life. , Leng Tiefeng knew that he should have grabbed a Japs throat at that time, and that Japs should have been strangled to death by him. The Japs who came to collect the body had to break off the two thumbs of the remnant soldier before they could take away the Japs. The bodies of the Japanese soldiers.
Leng Tiefeng knelt down and reached out to gently touch the remnant soldier's face. The remnant soldier's wide, angry eyes finally closed, and a trace of peace finally appeared on his face. He thought that his heroic spirit was not far away. Knowing that his living comrades would definitely To avenge him and all his comrades who died in battle.
Leng Tiefeng stood up and looked forward. All along the way were the remains of remnant soldiers.
The death conditions of these remnant soldiers are different, but one thing is exactly the same, that is, they all died facing the little devil's gun or bayonet, and none of them was shot in the back or stabbed in the back. This is Said that they all truly fulfilled what Xu Rui said: Even if they die, they will die on the way to charge!
"They're all good, they're all good." Leng Tiefeng turned back to look at Xu Rui, the corners of his eyes already moist.
Leng Tiefeng could no longer remember the last time he cried. When was his father passing away at the age of seven? Or the moment when he left home at the age of seventeen and his mother sent him to the old locust tree at the entrance of the village and waved to him? But at this moment, Leng Tiefeng really had a strong urge to cry, not because of sadness, but because of pride.
Leng Tiefeng felt extremely proud to have such a comrade, and he was deeply proud to have such a noble character.
Xu Rui never said a word. He never said a word since he stepped into this depression.
When Leng Tiefeng turned back to where he was, Xu Rui took out a zigzag cigarette from his pocket and held it in his mouth. He also took out a box of matches to light the cigarette. However, he struck more than a dozen matches and failed to light them. , Leng Tiefeng clearly noticed that Xu Rui's hand holding the matchbox was trembling slightly.
Leng Tiefeng knew Xu Rui's mood at the moment, and he knew very well that Xu Rui was blaming himself.
"Old Xu, you don't need to blame yourself for this." Leng Tiefeng stepped forward, patted Xu Rui's shoulder, and said in a heavy tone, "To be honest, you have done a good enough job. If it weren't for you, All the brothers in the temporary 79th Division have already confessed to being in Wuxi, and there will be no chance of so many victories later."
Xu Rui still didn't say anything, but the match finally struck and lit the cigarette.
"Really, you don't need to blame yourself at all." Leng Tiefeng continued to console him, "Although I only joined the tax police corps and not the regular National Police Army, I am no stranger to the National Security Army. There are so many There are so many officers in the National Army, but I have never seen anyone who does it better than you, and you are the one."
Leng Tiefeng gave Xu Rui a thumbs up.
Xu Rui took a long drag on the cigarette, then threw the cigarette on the ground and stamped it out.
Then, Xu Rui turned back to look at Leng Tiefeng and said, "Let's go!" (To be continued.)