After trekking for more than three hundred miles, the first battalion finally passed through the mountains at the eastern foot of the Himalayas. Now they were only a dozen miles away from their destination on a smooth plain.
Zhou Changfeng raised his hand and glanced at his watch. Forty-eight hours and ten minutes, he marched for 370 miles non-stop through complex and rugged mountains. This record can be said to be quite good, enough to be recorded in the history of war.
Although the establishment is scattered, what else can be forced?
However, the main premise for leaving a name in history is that they can cut off the route of the British and Indian troops, otherwise all their efforts will be in vain.
The remaining twenty or so people in the front row were the first to arrive on the road. They walked along the road for a while, and suddenly noticed two cars approaching in the distance with their headlights on.
After stopping it, five or six civilians were roughly interrogated. The soldiers learned that Demaji, a few miles away, had been occupied by the Chinese army?
So they immediately turned around in the two cars and rushed straight to Demaji.
Not long after the Third Battalion, which retreated eastward, arrived here, Guo Anbang, who was full of anxiety, was thinking about how to set up defenses.
"The war has reached this point. There is nothing to say. It has been decades since the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty can no longer afford to lose this person. I am determined to stick to this and fight to the end." He slowly glanced at the dozen or so people in front of him. The officer, who was covered in blood, said, "Everyone has done your best, so...those who don't want to fight to the death can leave on their own. I will not hold you accountable."
At this moment, someone outside excitedly ran and shouted: "Reinforcements have arrived! Reinforcements have arrived!"
More than a dozen glances fell on the corporal who ran into the room.
He held on to the door frame and said breathlessly: "The First Battalion of the Third Mixed Brigade...are here!"
The whole room was shocked, and everyone looked at each other in complete disbelief. According to previous estimates, they would not arrive until tomorrow night at the earliest.
Grass? Two days and nights spanning hundreds of miles of mountains and hills? Did it fly here with wings?
Everyone hurried out of the house, picked up their binoculars and looked into the distance. They saw countless light spots forming a long winding dragon, slowly moving this way.
Half an hour later, Guo Anbang met Zhou Changfeng, who was dusty and tired.
After a simple greeting, the latter said: "Then the defense of this place will be handed over? Thank you for buying a day."
"It's just following orders, it's not praiseworthy."
"By the way, have the civilians here been evacuated?"
Guo Anbang was stunned for a moment and replied: "We just arrived, not yet."
Zhou Changfeng nodded, waved his hand and issued a series of orders.
"Expell all civilians, give them a quarter of an hour to collect their belongings, and then leave quickly."
"The ministries immediately reorganized their formations. The first team seized the high ground in the southwest, the second team deployed in the north of the city, and the third team deployed in the south of the city."
"The reserve team will stay near those warehouses, and the temporary headquarters will be located at this post office."
The current first battalion actually has four teams, and the team with the larger number is a team from the temporarily strengthened 107th Regiment.
The biggest problems now are fatigue and vacancies. Many soldiers have fallen behind during the forced march, several teams are not full, and the organization is also in a mess.
“Where are the British and Indian troops?”
"They camped about fifteen miles to the west and usually resumed their march at half past five in the morning."
"So...we still have more than six hours to prepare." Zhou Changfeng immediately headed to the west of the city. He wanted to personally arrange the defense line.
It can be said that the core of the British construction in Indu was to plunder resources, so the railway network was built in all directions, but other construction was lackluster.
[In fact, railways are just like that. The British railway system in Indu mainly has four gauges, 1676㎜, 1435㎜, 1000㎜, and 762㎜. It is very complicated and can be said to be a trap for people. 】
Zhou Changfeng rode an old and worn-out two-wheeled motorcycle around this small town and found that there were very few usable buildings.
It was obviously impossible to convert the wooden shack into a solid support point, and the only concrete building was a hospital building, because the post office as a temporary headquarters was only a brick-concrete structure and not strong enough.
"All buildings and obstacles within 200 meters in the four directions of the hospital's west, southwest, northwest, and north should be cleared to clear the area of fire."
"Then the cleared bricks, stones, and wood were piled around the hospital building, covering all sides of the first floor, leaving only one entrance on the east side; all the window glass was smashed."
"Spread nails, broken glass, and broken tiles evenly within a 100-meter radius, and then lay out mines and barbed wire starting at 50 meters."
Faced with Zhou Changfeng's order, Sun Cheng, the captain of the second team, was confused: "Batalion Commander, this workload is too much. I am exhausted after traveling for two days and two nights. Let the brothers sleep for a few hours."
Zhou Changfeng hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Send the order to all departments to rest until three o'clock in the morning, and then seize the time to build fortifications."
The nearby soldiers sat on the ground happily and fell asleep in a blink of an eye.
When Zhou Changfeng went to the hill in the southwest outside the town to command the layout of the position, there were already waves of snoring coming from behind.
In order to buy more time for the defense, he ordered the reserve team to form a team of 20 people to assist a squad of engineers to lay mines at random intervals of 100 meters on the west road, and return immediately after the completion.
It was already very late at this time, and the rear headquarters in Lingzhi, hundreds of miles away, was filled with a tense and anxious atmosphere—the Third Battalion of the 38th Regiment, which was responsible for delaying the eastward advance of the British and Indian troops, had lost contact for fourteen hours. , and the First Battalion of the H3 Brigade, which was rushing across the mountains to Demaji, had been cut off from communications for nearly half a day.
Wei Gaoming's eyes were bloodshot and his lips were chapped. He drank a cup of tea handed by a staff officer in one gulp, but his voice was still hoarse, "Damn you! Where did you go?!"
Han Zhixun, who was equally anxious but looked normal, walked to the communications office next to him. Under the yellow light, the exhaust fan whirred, and the radio station and telephone exchange were all beeping.
More than a dozen telegraph operators and several communications staff were all sweating profusely. Han Zhixun asked in a deep voice, "Are you still unable to contact us?"
The captain's staff shook his head and replied: "The radio signal may be blocked by the mountains, so..."
Suddenly, a staff officer who went to the battle in person shouted: "Picked up! Found the signal from the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Mixed Brigade, received it immediately!"
The big stone in Han Zhixun's heart suddenly fell to the ground. He took a deep breath, pointed at the staff officer and said calmly: "Give him credit."
Soon the telegram was received and translated.
"Inform the Lingzhi headquarters that the staff has occupied Demaji before the enemy. After the handover, the remnants of the 3rd Battalion of the 38th Regiment are retreating. Most of the enemy troops are camped fifteen miles to the west, and the staff is resting and reorganizing. Build fortifications.”
"We actually arrived, just like flying." Han Zhixun sighed.
Wei Gaoming's tired look seemed to have been swept away. His eyes were firm and he said seriously: "Return the call and order him to hold on until noon on the 30th at all costs. All soldiers will surely receive supreme glory! Complete this order. "
Han Zhixun stared at the sand table with a worried look on his face, "We have to travel under starry nights, our troops are exhausted, and we have limited time to build complete fortifications. The enemy's firepower is not a vegetarian!"
Wei Gaoming turned a deaf ear and said nothing.
After a while, the headquarters received a call back from the first battalion.
"My troops will fulfill their duties and be nailed to death on the battlefield to avenge their shame. Yours sincerely."
