09:18 AM At Linzhen Ferry, the last group of troops boarded the raft. Since the Japanese reconnaissance planes had appeared before, the Japanese bombers or river defense gunboats would come over at any time;
In order not to cause too many casualties to the fellow villagers, Xu Jinshu, leader of the Fifth Regiment, gave each boatman 2 silver dollars and mobilized them to evacuate Linzhen to avoid the Japanese planes. The rafts were rowed by soldiers who had been boatmen.
Some boatmen were unwilling. One of the old boatmen said:
"Comrades of the New Fourth Army, just because the Japanese plane is coming, we must send you there as soon as possible. You don't understand the waterway and it will be difficult to row ashore, so let us send you one more way."
As soon as the old boatman finished speaking, other boatmen also expressed that they wanted to send their team on the last journey, and they would not rest assured if the comrades of the New Fourth Army were not safely sent ashore.
Seeing that he couldn't convince the fellow villagers, Captain Xu had no choice but to hurry up and get on the raft. Time is life and he couldn't afford to waste it.
In the end, more than 50 boatmen remained, who were later known as the 58 Linzhen Warriors and were remembered by the world.
09:27 Everyone boarded the raft. 58 warriors, together with 37 warriors who could row, controlled the raft and began to cross the river. The warriors on the raft used their hands, planks, shovels and other tools to help paddle, and raced against time to row to the other side. .
09:44 The group of rafts crossed the middle of the river. Just when everyone was anxious, a scalp-numbing buzzing sound came from the clouds. It was really scary.
"Enemy plane!"
As soon as Captain Xu finished speaking, more than a dozen Japanese planes with plaster flags on them sprang out from the clouds like ghosts, like a group of devils coming from hell to the world...
The raft is floating in the middle of the river. There is no good way to do it. I can only row towards the river bank with all my strength. The moment of life and death is approaching.
Major Yoshikawa Bie was piloting the latest Type 98 dive bomber, flying over the center of the river. The dense rafts in the river made his blood boil, and he had an animal-like smile on his face.
He shook his "chicken wings" and sent a signal to his wingman, then pushed the joystick and dived towards the center of the river...
When the plane dropped to the optimal bomb-dropping height of about 500 meters, Yoshikawa dropped a long series of evil aerial bombs toward the center of the river;
"Boom boom boom..."
Aerial bombs blew up water columns more than ten meters high in the river. From time to time, rafts were hit, destroying the rafts and killing people, and the water on the river was dyed red.
"Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta..."
"Little devil, I'll fuck your grandma!"
Machine gunner Ding Chao picked up a Czech light machine gun and fired it hard at the Japanese plane. He quickly used up a magazine and the barrel was red.
The bullets grazed Yoshikawa's fuselage, scaring him into a cold sweat. After this scare, he did not dare to dive too close. The Japanese's thin-skinned and large aircraft could not withstand a few bullets.
The soldiers of the Old Fifth Regiment used various weapons in their hands to fire desperately into the air to deter the Japanese planes from diving too close and reduce the hit rate of Japanese bombs.
"Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta..."
After Yoshida's plane dropped its bombs, it began to shoot at the rafts in the river with its onboard machine guns. From time to time, soldiers were hit by Japanese machine guns.
In order to cover the Laowu Regiment crossing the river, the soldiers who had already crossed the river also took up machine guns and opened fire on the Japanese planes to attract Japanese firepower;
Without anti-aircraft guns, there is really no effective way to deal with Japanese aircraft. If machine gun fire wants to hit a high-speed aircraft, it is purely based on blindness, which can only be said to have a certain deterrent effect.
As expected, some Japanese planes were attracted towards the beach. After dropping their aerial bombs, they fired with machine guns;
People continued to be shot and fell, but they were not afraid and just wanted to attract firepower for their comrades in the river.
More than a dozen Japanese planes, like a swarm of flies seeing flesh, hovered over the troops crossing the river, pulling down a mess of shit...
The river surface and the river beach were stained red with blood. Under the indiscriminate bombardment of the Japanese planes, the Lao Fifth Regiment that finally crossed the river suffered heavy casualties. The troops crossing the river also suffered hundreds of casualties, until the Japanese soldiers used up all their ammunition. , then he fluttered his wings and left with unfinished thoughts.
After the Japanese plane left, the soldiers of the Old Fifth Regiment landed one after another, and the 58 warriors also rowed rafts back to the other side. However, there were 58 warriors when they set out, and only 47 were left when they returned, and 11 of them died.
The Lao Fifth Regiment suffered more than 300 casualties, including 185 killed and 142 injured;
Including the casualties of other troops, the total casualties were close to 500, of which 227 were killed.
the river is long and tempestuous, it was like a hero……
"salute!"
…
"The ceremony is over!"
The political commissar said loudly to everyone:
“Comrades, let us remember today’s sacrifice, which is another blood debt owed to us by the devils;
Blood debts can only be repaid with blood. In the future, we will eliminate the Japanese ten times or a hundred times and drive the Japanese completely out of China. "
"Down with the devils!"
…
Chu Xiong felt uncomfortable in his heart. This was the helplessness of an agricultural country against an industrial country. The Japanese planes were in the sky and could only be passively bombed. The risk of crossing at night was even greater, and some sacrifices were really unavoidable;
This generation has to endure sacrifices that are unbearable for ordinary people, so that the next generation will not have to endure the devastation of war like their parents.
Phoenix Nirvana, rebirth from the ashes, this is a painful process that our nation must endure, and surviving it will lead to a prosperous road to national rejuvenation.
After the military headquarters crossed the river, the predicament of being surrounded by enemies on all sides was relieved. Although each department suffered more than 1,500 casualties, the main force was all preserved. Nearly 3,000 Japanese were killed and a large amount of weapons and equipment were seized.
After this baptism, the overall combat effectiveness of the military has increased a lot, and the environment in Jiangbei is much better than that in Jiangnan;
The tight curse that has been placed on the heads of the New Fourth Army has been removed. From now on, the sky is high and birds can fly, and the sea is wide and fish can leap!
Although there are still problems of one kind or another within the New Fourth Army, the big problems have been solved, and Yanzhou will definitely have solutions to the internal problems. This is not something Chu Xiong should intervene in;
He ran to southern Anhui to help the New Fourth Army break out. No matter how long he stretched his hands, Yanzhou would at most call him nonsense, but he would remember his achievement in his heart. If he dared to interfere in the internal affairs of the New Fourth Army, Chu Xiong would be blacklisted.
Knowing that Chu Xiong and others were returning to Hedong, the political commissar and the leaders of the military branch came to see them off;
The strong wind knows the strong grass. Chu Xiong's trip to southern Anhui won the recognition of all commanders and soldiers, including the political commissar. Naturally, this was represented by the political commissar. He held Chu Xiong's hand tightly and said:
"Chu Xiong, we appreciate your kindness this time. We are all revolutionary comrades. I won't say more words of thanks;
We are going to Hedong with high mountains and long roads. I hope you will cherish the journey and talk about the revolutionary friendship again on the day when the revolution is victorious. "
Chu Xiong also said emotionally:
"Take care of each other. Until Victory Day, let's go to Guizi Island to drink and enjoy the cherry blossoms together!"
"Chu Xiong, you have to treat me to this. Who doesn't know that you are a rich man now? When the time comes, we will fight against your rich man together."
He waved to Chu Xiong and said:
"Xiao Chu, when you go back, remember to send the Wei Shenpao that you promised us."
Chu Xiong protested to the political commissar on the spot:
"Political Commissar, did you listen to what he said? Is this what a famous Northern Expedition general should say?"
The political commissar laughed and said:
"And the Mulan cannon you mentioned!"
Chu Xiong broke through the defense on the spot. This time they thought of going together. This was a good start.
