The 72nd Brigade was besieged on a highland of more than 300 meters in the lower reaches of the Nandu River. On the right was the endless virgin jungle, and on the left was the rushing river. There were enemies in front and behind, and the encirclement had been shortened to three kilometers. The only way out is to run south along the river bank, but that position has long been targeted by the artillery regiment of the Third Division. As long as the Japanese make the slightest move, they will immediately be bombarded like raindrops.
In less than a week, their military rations were at their lowest, and the little devils had to pick things from the dead. Even everything edible on the mountain was plundered, but where could they find food that could sustain thousands of dollars on these few kilometers of mountains? People eat and drink food.
More than a thousand wounded soldiers of the Japanese army did not receive medical treatment. Their wounds slowly began to fester and become infected, and their high fevers persisted. Almost every day, many seriously wounded soldiers lost their lives due to the worsening of their injuries. The siege is still continuing, and the Chinese are not in a hurry to attack. The purpose is to kill them.
The fear of death gradually filled the hearts of many people. Infected by this emotion, the morale of the Japanese army fell to the bottom, and they could no longer see any hope.
…
Brigade commander Chiba Jubei held a samurai sword in his hand and sat on a big rock quietly listening to the signal soldier's report.
"Reporting to the brigade leader, the Guangkou Regiment and the Beicun Regiment have arrived in the Nauna area. They are still 30 kilometers away from us. However, the Chinese set up an ambush halfway. They fought for several days and failed to open the road. The Guangkou Regiment suffered casualties. It’s too big and I have to retreat fifteen kilometers.”
"Commander Matsusaka ordered us to hold our position and wait for support. Mandalay has organized a second reinforcement force. The 4th and 5th Divisions from Siam will also arrive on the battlefield in the near future. That will be The day of counterattack..."
Chiba Jubei, who originally had a sad look on his face, sneered, glanced towards the south, and said sarcastically to himself: "Counterattack? These red deer talk lightly! They still want the center to bloom, so what are they going to do to counterattack now?"
"Qianye-kun, haven't reinforcements been brought in from Siam? As long as we hold on, we should..."
The chief of staff comforted him softly from the side, but when he saw the hungry and emaciated soldiers around him, he became less confident as he spoke.
"How can you persist? The Fifth Division is just a new recruit unit now, and you don't know the virtues of the Fourth Division. How do you expect those mouthy and healthy red deer to come to support? I'm afraid they will collect the corpses for us!"
Chiba Jubei was furious, couldn't he explain the situation now? It can be seen from the attitude of the reinforcements that the superiors probably want to give up on them. They have basically reached a dead end.
Now the troops are frugal with food and clothing, and everyone only eats one meal a day, but even so, the last remaining food can only last for another three days. The soldiers are so hungry that they start looking for wild vegetables and tree roots all over the mountains and plains to satisfy their hunger. If they don't break through, they may even peel off the bark of the trees. No strength left.
Thinking of this, Chiba Jubei couldn't sit still. He stood up and looked around. The soldiers with sunken eyes from hunger looked at him expressionlessly, their eyes full of fear and confusion.
We can no longer sit still and wait for death, otherwise everyone will die!
"Share all the food and let them have a full meal at night. At midnight, they all disperse to break out."
Chiba Jubei was worried and gritted his teeth and said immediately.
"Chiba-kun..."
The chief of staff hesitated to speak. He knew very well that if he did this, it is estimated that half of the people would die on the way to break through.
"You can run as much as you can, it's better than staying here and starving to death!"
Chiba Jubei was unmoved and insisted on his opinion: "The 326th Regiment breaks out to the east, the brigade and regiment directly affiliated brigade leaves from the southwest along the river bank, and the 327th Regiment...goes south, and they will be the first to launch the attack. !”
Going south is the fastest route back to Mandalay, and it is also a position heavily guarded by the Chinese. The reason why Chiba made this arrangement is because most of the 327th Wing are wounded and suffered the heaviest losses, so they were asked to break out south... To put it bluntly It's just to attract firepower and provide cover for the large forces.
In the current situation, cutting off the tail to survive was a last resort. In order for the large army to break out as much as possible, some people could only be sacrificed.
Chiba Jubei drew out his samurai sword and looked at the shining sword god and fell into deep thought. Even if he did this, only a very small number of the entire brigade could successfully break through.
"Brigade leader..."
"Execute the order. Everyone throw away useless debris and get ready. May Amaterasu bless you tonight, gentlemen! May the martial arts be blessed forever!"
"Hey! Martial arts will last forever!"
…
On the other side, on the forward position of the 200 Division, Gao Jihe and Long Wenwen were patrolling the front line with their guard troops. The two were sitting in a jeep, talking and laughing, and discussing some armament matters.
"Old Gao, the Japanese have been hungry for five or six days, right?"
"That's right. Counting that we've been around for half a month today, hehe, let's face it... just do the damn thing and don't be a coward with these people." The Gaoji man said carelessly, wanting very much to see the people across from him. The little devil was destroyed.
"Don't worry, they will take the initiative if they can't stand it any longer. Let all the troops be prepared, especially at night. Hmph...I'm going to wait for these grandsons to fall into the trap!" Long Wenwen said with a sinister smile on his face. At least he had a good idea in his mind. Several ways to kill the little devil.
"That's okay, but when the time comes, you have to give me the main offensive power on the front line, and let Mr. Chen take the lead. Those Japanese are all idiots!" Gao Jiren replied nonchalantly, and made a joke casually.
Speaking of fighting with the Japs for so many years since he joined the army, this was the first time he could feel so free. It all started when he joined Liao Mingyu's command.
Although the 200th Division is a first-class elite unit in China, it is still relatively difficult to fight the Japanese army. The exchange ratio can only be said to be relatively close. How can it crush the opponent like it is now?
"It's very good, it's very good...it's all you." Long Wenwen said with a smile, imitating Shaanxi dialect, but his eyes gradually looked into the distance.
Looking at the lush hills covered with big trees, a playful smile appeared on his face. If you think about it from their perspective, if your own Japanese were besieged for half a month without food or reinforcements, it would be time to fight for their lives by now.
…
At about three o'clock in the morning, the night sky was covered with dark clouds, and there was not a trace of moonlight tonight. Unlike the noisy artillery fire during the day, the earth at this time was silent and eerily quiet.
Under this silent jungle, there was a group of figures moving quietly, and countless little devils were walking down the mountain cautiously.
"Stop!"
Chiba Jubei looked at the watch on his hand, three seventeen...
Ahead was the east bank of the Nandu River. Many Japanese soldiers couldn't help but become restless after seeing it, because as long as they walked south along the river bank for about ten kilometers, they could cross the river to the west and enter the Mandalay area without ever escaping. .
The opposite bank is where the Chinese artillery is deployed. The reason why they did not move the artillery to the east bank was because they were worried that the distance here was too close to the original brigade position.
It seems that the east bank is the weakest part of the encirclement, but if our own side breaks out from here, the east bank will instantly become a killing area for the opponent's artillery, and the Chinese army blocking the road in the south can completely encircle it. Ye believed that the enemy on the other side could cross the river and attack at any time.
At that time, the cost of fighting will be high. Without the cover of the hilltop position, the probability of fighting the enemy in such a flat area and being re-surrounded is too high. If not, they will be completely annihilated.
That's why Chiba Jubei chose the strategy of attacking in the east and attacking in the west, giving the illusion that a large force was breaking out to the south and southeast, while he and his brigade headquarters quietly waited here, taking advantage of the opponent's attention to be fully attracted before attacking from here. Flee west.
According to the plan, at 20 minutes, the 327th Wing will take the lead in opening fire in the south to attract enemy firepower, while the 326th Wing will break out in the other direction 10 minutes later. After they are all at war with the Chinese, the brigade directly under the brigade can take action.
"Chiba-kun, it's already three twenty-five, why is there still no movement over there?" The chief of staff stared at the southern night sky, always feeling that something bad was going to happen.
"Don't be anxious, wait a little longer, let the people below calm down." Chiba Jubei pretended to be calm and ordered, but his palms were sweating, and he was obviously very uneasy.
boom! boom!
Several explosions suddenly came from a distance, followed by rapid and noisy gunfire, and fire finally came to the south.
Chiba finally breathed a sigh of relief, stared at the hands of the watch, and began to count the time.
The fighting in the south broke the silence of the night. Fire broke out on the defensive position of the third regiment, and several flares were launched into the air. In an instant, a large area below was as bright as day.
"Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang...!"
"ah!"
Pfft…
I saw hundreds of Japanese soldiers rushing towards the defense line regardless of their lives. They seemed to have forgotten life and death, and there was a smell of death. Many Japanese soldiers wrapped in gauze tied bombs to themselves, showing no mercy Fearing death, he rushed into the trench and pulled out the lead, just to drag a few enemies with him to die together.
"Don't panic, don't get entangled with the opponent! Leave the forward position quickly and make room for the machine gunners behind!"
On the position, the platoon leader loudly issued instructions to his men. At the same time, his hands did not stop moving. His submachine gun kept spraying fire snakes, knocking down the little Japanese who were rushing over one by one.
"Onboard!"
A Japanese soldier quietly crawled nearby, saw the opportunity, jumped up, and strangled the platoon leader's upper body.
"Ah!?" The platoon leader was shocked. Just as he was about to break away from the other party, he heard a creepy popping sound.
This little devil was holding a grenade in his hand and pressed it tightly against the platoon leader's chest. Smoke was still coming from the grenade. The other party was also trying his best to strangle his arm and refused to let go. A life for a life.
At this moment, there was no room for the platoon leader to hesitate. He dropped the submachine gun, grabbed the opponent's arm with his backhand, and pressed the little Japanese to the ground with a force under his legs.
"Platoon leader!"
boom! !
At this last moment, a trace of determination flashed in the platoon leader's eyes. He could only make these few actions in just a few seconds. Before he could even say anything, the grenade exploded between the two of them!
The huge kinetic energy blasted the two men to bloody pieces, and the platoon leader's body was even blown upside down. Fortunately, it exploded in the trench, and the shrapnel did not have much impact on other surrounding soldiers.
This tragic scene made people cry. The soldiers in the platoon ignored their sadness and quickly retreated in accordance with the order in front of their commander.
On the defense line, the soldiers of the third regiment were indeed a little overwhelmed by the suicide attack, but they did not retreat. Instead, under the command of their respective commanders, they quickly stabilized the line and used the weapons in their hands to teach the little devils a lesson. .
…
At this moment, the soldiers of the Second Regiment on the other side were firing on all cylinders. In addition to heavy artillery, they also had mortars, M2 heavy machine guns... any weapons that could reach the range were ready to fight for the little devil.
The unsuspecting Japanese fell in pieces, shells fell into the crowd one after another, and the shattered corpses flew everywhere. The tragic scene was unbearable to look at.
"Hayaku! Get back into the woods quickly!"
Seeing the scene in front of him, Chiba Jubei was heartbroken. The Chinese people had obviously been on guard for a long time. This was a trap carefully laid out for them.
The Japanese forwards were caught in a bloody battle and couldn't escape, but the main force was still near the river beach, and they were beaten hard enough. The little devil was so frightened that he desperately fled to the woods behind him.
After finally running into the woods and counting the remaining people around him, Chiba Jubei almost lost his breath. The attack just now directly wiped out a third of his people. The huge loss made people crazy.
"Yoji-kun? Yoji-kun?" Chiba looked around, but failed to see his old partner: "Which of you has seen Chief of Staff Yohji?"
"Chief...Chief of Staff...has been shattered on the river beach." One of the soldiers said timidly.
"Nani!?" Chiba was shocked. His body was shaking as if struck by lightning. Fortunately, the lieutenant next to him quickly supported him.
"Brigade commander, please cheer up! You have to take us out of here!" The lieutenant was extremely anxious. If even Qianye collapsed, they would really be doomed.
boom! boom! boom!
The shelling on the other side continued and began to gradually extend back, and the jungle became ablaze. Experienced veterans knew that this was a prelude to the enemy's attack.
"Report! The rear observation post reported that the Chinese troops on the southern blockade are attacking our position. They are expected to come into contact in about twenty minutes."
At this moment, the soldiers of the Second Regiment on the other side were firing on all cylinders. In addition to heavy artillery, they also had mortars, M2 heavy machine guns... any weapons that could reach the range were ready to fight for the little devil.
The unsuspecting Japanese fell in pieces, shells fell into the crowd one after another, and the shattered corpses flew everywhere. The tragic scene was unbearable to look at.
"Hayaku! Get back into the woods quickly!"
Seeing the scene in front of him, Chiba Jubei was heartbroken. The Chinese people had obviously been on guard for a long time. This was a trap carefully laid out for them.
The Japanese forwards were caught in a bloody battle and couldn't escape, but the main force was still near the river beach, and they were beaten hard enough. The little devil was so frightened that he desperately fled to the woods behind him.
After finally running into the woods and counting the remaining people around him, Chiba Jubei almost lost his breath. The attack just now directly wiped out a third of his people. The huge loss made people crazy.
"Yoji-kun? Yoji-kun?" Chiba looked around, but failed to see his old partner: "Which of you has seen Chief of Staff Yohji?"
one of the soldiers said timidly.
"Nani!?" Chiba was shocked, as if his body was struck by lightning.
