The remnants of the temporary 79th Division were rushing westward toward Taihu Lake. More than 200 remnants formed a long, curved formation on the bleak winter wasteland, like swimming dragons.
"Why go west? Not far to the west is the canal, and across the canal is the 800-mile Taihu Lake." The veteran asked, "If there are no ships, reaching Taihu Lake will be a dead end."
"Other directions are a dead end." Xu Rui said, "If I guessed correctly, the Japs have probably mobilized heavy troops at this moment and pounced from the north, east, and south. Let's break out in these three directions. , just ran headlong into the little devil’s arms, with just over two hundred of us, we won’t be enough to fill the gap in the little devil’s teeth.”
The veteran said: "Even so, going west is just a temporary delay. The Japs coming from all other directions will still surround us by Taihu Lake."
Xu Rui smiled and said, "That's not necessarily the case."
While he was talking, a buzzing roar suddenly came from the air.
"Enemy plane, enemy plane, emergency evacuation, emergency evacuation!"
Xu Rui gave an order, and the meandering action queue dispersed.
"Don't run into the bamboo forest! Don't enter the forest!" Seeing a dozen remnant soldiers running towards a small bamboo forest on the right side of the wasteland, Xu Rui quickly shouted to stop him and hid in the small bamboo forest during the enemy bombing. What a good idea, because the bombs thrown by enemy planes in the bamboo forest will explode in the air, and the killing effect will be more impressive than on the flat ground.
The dozen remnant soldiers stopped quickly, turned back and lay down on the ground.
The next moment, two Japanese reconnaissance planes with plaster patterns on their wings emerged from the thick clouds and dived towards the ground. Because the dive was too fast, the wings violently rubbed against the air, making an extremely harsh sharp sound. The roar can take away people's hearts and souls.
Accompanied by a piercing scream, dense machine gun bullets rained down.
The four machine guns installed under the wings opened fire suddenly, drawing out four smoke streaks on the wasteland, chasing the remnants of the temporary 79th Division and quickly extending forward. Two unlucky remnants were just in the direction of the extension of the smoke belts. , unfortunately he was shot and was beaten into a sieve in an instant.
It wasn't until they were less than fifty meters above the ground that the two Japanese reconnaissance planes suddenly pulled up again.
It must be admitted that after the Songhu air battle and the Hangzhou Bay air battle, both the flying skills and the psychological quality of the Japanese air force have been completely improved. On the other hand, the Japanese air force only dares to shrink to the Maruqiao Airport at this time. , and no longer dare to come out for a face-to-face air battle with the Japanese air force.
After pulling up, the two reconnaissance planes circled in the air and dived down again.
However, since the remnants of the temporary 79th Division had been evacuated, the second dive of the Japanese reconnaissance aircraft still achieved great results. After the two dives, the Japanese reconnaissance aircraft did not make a third dive and only hovered in the air for about Ten minutes later, I flapped my wings and disappeared into the dark clouds, probably heading back to the airport.
The Japs were advancing too fast, which led to some disjointed logistics. Their fighter jets had to take off from the airport in Shanghai or even from the aircraft carrier parked off the coast of Wusong. This greatly limited their time in the air. After flying to Wuxi, in the air After going around in circles for a few times, we must return.
When the crisis was over, Xu Rui led his men to bury the two fallen brothers before continuing to march forward.
Not long after we walked, snowflakes began to fall from the sky. Although they were not big, they were enough to cover the ground.
"Is it snowing? Haha, God help me!" Xu Rui was immediately overjoyed and turned to the veteran and said, "Now, even if the little devil is not angered by us, he can only catch him blind, hehe!"
After finishing speaking, Xu Rui stretched out his hand again and said: "Veteran, map!"
The veteran took out the map from his satchel and spread it out on the snow.
Xu Rui's eyes wandered over the map for a moment, then he pointed at the map and said: "Hejiajiao Canal Wharf!"
Although Xu Rui said nothing, the veteran immediately understood Xu Rui's intention and said, "Are you trying to spread suspicion?"
Xu Rui raised his head and grinned at the veteran, and said: "You don't think that we can really break out from the water of Taihu Lake, do you? If I guessed correctly, the little Japanese will definitely mobilize naval ships to blockade Taihu Lake."
The veteran said: "It is not feasible to break through from Taihu Lake, so setting up a suspicious formation may not be possible."
"That's not necessarily the case." Xu Rui said cheerfully, "If I say yes, then it will definitely happen!"
After finishing speaking, Xu Rui yelled at the remaining soldiers: "Brothers, speed up the march!"
"Yes, speed up!" More than two hundred remaining soldiers agreed in a loud voice, and then each one of them rushed forward as if their buttocks were on fire. At this time, a thin layer of snow had already accumulated on the ground. , wherever more than two hundred remaining soldiers passed by, a series of footprints were left on the snow, extending rapidly forward.
About half an hour later, Xu Rui rushed to the Hejiajiao Canal Pier with more than 200 remaining soldiers.
After the defeat of the Battle of Songhu, the Japanese army was completely defeated. The Japanese army was overwhelming, but they mainly advanced along roads, railways and rivers. Because the Hejiajiao Canal Pier was close to the canal, all the people here ran away. When the remnants of the 79th Division came in, the entire Hejiajiao was deserted, not even a single person in sight.
But this made it easier to temporarily form the 79th Division. Xu Rui immediately made some disguises with the veterans on the dock, and then returned with more than 200 remnants. On the way back, Xu Rui fired another strange The order was given to all the remaining soldiers to march backwards. Although the remaining soldiers were puzzled, they still strictly followed the order.
After this retreat, he retreated directly to the bamboo forest near Baoxing Town, and then passed through the bamboo forest that was not covered by snow and entered the town to hide. Of course, before entering the town, Xu Rui took the veteran to clear the traces of this section. All have been wiped out. Unless the Japanese send an expert with rich tracking experience, it is impossible to find any flaws.
"Old Xu, you are playing with fire!" The veteran was lying on the roof of a private house and said to Xu Rui, who was also lying on the roof of a private house. "Baoxing Town is only a stone's throw away from the ambush point where we killed Fushimi Gong Junyan. Yao, how could the little Japs not send troops to search? As soon as the little Japs enter the town, we will have nowhere to hide."
"The little devil will not enter the town." Xu Rui held up the telescope and said confidently, "We have been going back and forth for a long time and ran for dozens of miles in the snow. How can we be blind in vain?"
The veteran said: "If I were the commander of the Japs, I would definitely search the town closely."
"That's not necessarily the case." Xu Rui sneered, "Don't forget, the little devils have been completely angered by us now. They are now eager to find us and eliminate us. After discovering our whereabouts, how can they care? Search Baoxing Town? As the old saying goes, the most dangerous place is the safest, right?"
The veteran wanted to refute again, but Xu Rui said: "Okay, stop talking, the devil is coming!"
The veteran hurriedly swallowed the words that came out of his mouth. When he looked up again, he saw about a squad of Japanese soldiers coming along the road. As they moved forward, they would stop from time to time to survey the surroundings. Fire reconnaissance, this is the spearhead of the Japs. The Japs' spearheads stopped leaving when they got near the special train and began to spread out to keep watch.
After a while, a large number of Japanese soldiers came along the highway.
Xu Rui counted roughly and found that there were at least a thousand Japs who appeared in his field of vision. They must be all the Japs from Wuxi, enough for an infantry regiment.
(Dividing line)
Major Akita looked at the Prince's train lying across the snow and the corpses of the guards scattered on both sides of the train, and his expression suddenly became extremely ugly.
On the way here, Major Akita and the entire soldiers of the 6th Infantry Regiment had already suffered psychological torture, because they discovered the corpses of the regiment leader Tachibana Koji and more than 200 robes halfway. The Chinese laid out their corpses. The word "seventy-nine" is simply Chi Guoguo's provocation.
This is clearly the temporary 79th Division demonstrating against them!
But now, Major Akita and the others must accept another psychological torture.
The death of Tachibana Koji was, at best, a shame to the 6th Infantry Regiment, but the death of His Highness the Prince was a shame to the entire Imperial Army of Japan and even the entire empire!
Major Akita called the leader of the vanguard team in front of him and asked: "Has the body of His Royal Highness been found?"
"Hai." The leader of the vanguard paused heavily, then turned around and waved, and two soldiers walked out of Car No. 3 carrying a body on a stretcher. The stretcher was also covered with a military flag, covering the body. Face, Major Akita stepped forward to lift the military flag, and a pale face was immediately revealed underneath. It was Fushimi Miya Toshihiko.
Akita Major returned the military flag and asked again: "Are there any survivors?"
The leader of the vanguard shook his head and said: "The accompanying staff and guards were all shattered, and no one survived!"
Major Akita frowned and said, "His Royal Highness also has a health doctor. It is said that she is Miss Junko of the Ogahara family in Kyoto. Has her body been found?"
"Miss Junko?" The leader of the vanguard team shook his head and said, "No."
"Baga." Major Akita gritted his teeth, "He must have been kidnapped by the Chinese."
At this time, a top soldier ran over and reported: "Captain, there are a lot of footprints on the edge of the bamboo forest ahead!"
"Nani, a lot of footprints?" Major Akita immediately perked up after hearing this. During this attack, the front army headquarters bypassed the division headquarters and directly gave him a death order, requiring him to find the members of the temporary 79th Division before dark. The remnants of the troops were destroyed and eliminated. Major Akita was worried about where to find them, so he found them immediately.
At that moment, Major Akita left a squadron to escort Fushimiyama Toshihiko's body to Suzhou, and then led a large group of people straight to the bamboo forest. On the western edge of the bamboo forest, the footprints left by the large group of people after passing through were found. It is very eye-catching on the snow. Looking at the direction of the footprints, they are heading towards Taihu Lake.
"Yo Xi." Major Akita nodded happily and ordered, "Chase!"