This report by Taiyuan Daily instantly pushed the nationwide demonstrations and protests to a new climax.
By April 18, not only students took to the streets to protest, but many citizens and employees also joined the march.
Moreover, the target of demonstrations and denunciations has shifted from the Peking branch of the Central Military Commission to the Central Military Commission headquarters in Nanjing.
On this day, the principal, who was overwhelmed by the pressure of public opinion, while cursing Admiral He, a stupid pig, held a press conference in Nanjing and made a public promise: the National Government will never sit idly by and watch. Your heroic troops are trapped in enemy hands. The Military Commission will put pressure on Japan and at the same time order the frontline troops to prepare for an attack. They must rescue this unit that has repeatedly made meritorious service to the country and return it to the pass.
That afternoon, Zhao Changshu and Meng Yuting, who had been suffering at Lengkou Pass for four days, finally received the order to prepare for war from the Peking Military Commission.
Zhao Changshu, who was in high spirits, ordered loudly: "Order the chief officers at all levels of the 1st Regiment, 2nd Regiment, Artillery Battalion, Guard Battalion, and Brigade Headquarters to rush to the headquarters for a meeting in half an hour without any mistakes."
At the same time, in the field hospital at the foot of Fenghuang Mountain, Cui Xiaolu was helping Gao Xiaoshan to walk slowly in the woods.
After a month of training, Gao Xiaoshan's injury has basically recovered and he can start some functional recovery training.
"Brother Shanzi, when do you think the scholars will be able to come back? It's been a month since they left this time, right?"
Although Cui Xiaolu is just a head nurse and doesn't know much about military matters, in recent days she has felt that there is no sound of gunfire and no new wounded are being sent down from the front line. Has the little Japanese been beaten? Ran? But I haven't seen Zhou Wen and the others come back yet, so I can't help but feel a little worried.
Gao Xiaoshan knew that maybe it was because of the somewhat solemn atmosphere in Lengkou Guan in recent days, or because this alert girl sensed something was wrong.
Although he was lying in bed recuperating for most of the month, every time the mercenary group contacted Lengkouguan via telegram, Meng Yuting had to send someone to send him a copy, so he was very concerned about the current situation of the mercenary group. clear.
As the second-in-command of the mercenary group, he couldn't express his inner anxiety, and in this situation, even if he fully recovered, there was nothing he could do.
If you want to bring the scholars back, it will only be possible if the 29th Army and the 32nd Army work together. What can he do alone?
So he could only bury his anxieties and worries in his heart, and also pretend to be calm and calm to stabilize the emotions of the brothers behind him.
So, Gao Xiaoshan pretended to be relaxed and said: "It's okay. It's not like you don't know what the scholars are capable of. These devils are no match for them. The reason why they haven't come back now is because of military needs. Don't worry, just do your job well." .”
"Yeah!" Cui Xiaolu hummed and fell silent.
Gao Xiaoshan knew that his explanation just now was a bit far-fetched, and he was afraid that Cui Xiaolu would ask again, and he was not good at telling lies, so he continued: "Xiaolu, I feel that the wound doesn't hurt anymore. Just go and do your work. I will do it myself." Walk more.”
Cui Xiaolu responded softly, gave him a few more instructions, lowered her head, turned around and walked towards the hospital entrance.
Gao Xiaoshan looked at Cui Xiaolu's somewhat lonely figure and knew that this girl might have guessed that Zhou Wen and the others had encountered a problem.
But he could only do this, looking at the few white clouds hanging in the sky in the far north, wondering if the scholar and the others were fighting bloody battles with the little devils under those clouds.
Of course, he has strong confidence in Zhou Wen and the mercenary group. Knowing that in the vast land of Yanshan Mountains, the little devil can only wish to destroy the mercenary group.
He was worried about the casualties among his brothers.
The previous few battles were smooth sailing, but the mercenary group inevitably suffered casualties.
The first team was okay, only a few people including themselves were injured, but the second team had already suffered dozens of casualties, and the number of people sacrificed had exceeded the number of people killed in the Songhu War.
Li Han's howitzer platoon alone lost three people on the spot to the Japanese air attack, and one of them was the gunner. Gao Xiaoshan felt very distressed when he found out.
Now the mercenary regiment has been alone for a month. It has experienced a series of battles such as shelling the Japanese heavy artillery positions, annihilating the Kuroda Cavalry Regiment, annihilating the Engineer Regiment, and defeating the 7th Brigade of the Puppet Manchukuo Army. The casualties are definitely not small.
Another thing that worries Gao Xiaoshan is the logistics problem of the mercenary group.
Taking advantage of the gap after the Japanese Army's 24th Mixed Brigade was annihilated, with the help of the Model Brigade's transport battalion, the mercenary regiment transported a lot of supplies out of the customs and established one in Dushan Mountains and one in Songling Mountains. Temporary supply warehouses are secret camps No. 1 and No. 2 respectively.
However, after the Japanese 6th Division came up, they basically blocked all the roads out of the customs, leaving only the unknown trail that bypassed Jianchang Camp.
The trail was so steep that even mules and horses could not pass it, so it had to be carried on human backs.
There are fewer people to transport, and the materials transported are of little use and have no effect. There are too many people and I am afraid that the hidden trail will be exposed.
Therefore, Zhou Wen had previously ordered that supplies should not be transported from that path unless absolutely necessary. Because that road is likely to be the mercenary group's last retreat.
So until now, Zhou Wen and the others have not received supplies for a month. Countless battles in the past month have continued to consume the reserves in the secret camp.
Now, Gao Xiaoshan knew that Zhou Wen and the others had moved from Dushan to the Songling area two days ago under heavy Japanese encirclement and suppression, which meant that the No. 1 secret camp had been abandoned.
There are more than 1,000 people, and the reserves of the No. 2 secret camp alone cannot last long.
Moreover, the tactics of the mercenary group have always been firepower first. Without enough artillery shells and bullets, the combat effectiveness of the mercenary group will inevitably be greatly restricted, and casualties will inevitably increase.
War is like this. Once the firepower is insufficient, human lives can only be used to make up for it.
If there are a large number of wounded, the reserve of medicines will also be a problem.
Although these issues were not mentioned by Zhou Wen in the exchange of messages, Gao Xiaoshan, who had been the general manager of the mercenary group for many years, naturally had an account in his mind and knew the extent of consumption of various materials after a battle.
Gao Xiaoshan was thinking that now the seven or eight injured members of the first team, including brothers Zuo Mingqing and Qu Mingxing, had recovered. He, the most seriously injured, would be able to move freely after two days of recovery.
It seems that I need to contact Zhou Wen to see if I can lead a team to transport a batch of supplies.
You know, since the formation of the Dawangzhuang mercenary group, Gao Xiaoshan has never been away from the team for such a long time. He has become accustomed to standing behind Zhou Wen and being his strong back at all times.
No matter what difficulties and desperate situations the brothers encountered, he would face them together.
