In the afternoon, on the chaotic Qin Army position, the Qin Army Infantry Regiment finally escaped from the lower reins. The young soldiers held their weapons and enjoyed the food they finally got.
They were lucky along the way, because they were light infantry and escaped the stranglehold of the Tang Empire Air Force. They were lucky enough to escape from the encirclement of the Tang Army and fled to the vicinity of Dongqing.
Of course, their escape was not without cost. A regiment of about 1,500 people had only more than 900 people left when they fled to Dongqing.
This does not mean that the missing 600 or so people must have died, but it is possible that they fell behind and were captured by the Tang army, got separated, or really died...
In addition to the loss of personnel, they also lost all the infantry artillery and all the heavy machine guns while running.
Later, I simply threw away all the extra ammunition, and even some documents from the regiment and battalion headquarters, as well as other random things.
Everything is to run faster, everything is to make it more convenient when crossing mountains and ridges without taking the main road.
Fortunately, there are many poor people in the Qin army. They are used to living a hard life, so at this time they can still walk on mountain roads and go hungry...
The Air Force of the Tang Empire was forced to train an infantry regiment into a mountain infantry regiment. It has to be said that it is a miracle.
The remaining infantrymen in the regiment were exhausted and could no longer walk. Just when the entire regiment was in desperate situation, they encountered a baggage troop.
Or, to be more precise, they encountered the remaining vehicle wreckage of a baggage force that had been defeated by the Tang Air Force.
Many of the vehicles were not seriously damaged, and almost no one had touched the cans and food inside!
As a result, this group enjoyed a rare happy time here, and the fatigue and pain of escaping all the way seemed to be swept away here.
Each of them replenished their own consumed rations and used the extra supplies to make a sumptuous dinner.
I don’t know why, but no other Qin army retreated this way, so it was their turn to eat.
A can of luncheon meat was opened with a bayonet. The oily smell of starch inside excited the Qin soldiers who had been hungry for a day.
They smiled, licked their dry lips, used bayonets to cut out a piece and stuffed it into their mouths, chewing it with big mouthfuls.
The taste was so salty, it was like a big piece of salt had been stuffed into your mouth. But these Qin soldiers were reluctant to spit it out and stuffed biscuits as hard as bricks into their mouths, hoping to neutralize the unpalatable taste.
The more sophisticated officers were boiling water with helmets or other items, and pouring luncheon meat and other things into it. The aroma had spread, causing the people around them to swallow.
Some people just took a few bites and then fell asleep. They had not closed their eyes all day and night. They took the time to sleep for a while, which could at least restore a little strength.
No one is taking care of the sentry matters, and no one is arranging any security. Some people fell asleep while leaning on the wheels, while others started snoring while eating.
They were really tired, and the Tang Army followed them like gangrene. Every time they thought they could take a break, they could always hear the sound of gunfire not far away, as well as the roar of the Tang Army's aircraft engines.
The leader of the Qin Army took a lunch box from his adjutant. In the clear soup with oil floating in it, the starchy lunch meat cut into pieces was still tumbling due to the shaking.
The steaming broth allowed the regiment commander to regain some strength. He blew in, swallowed a mouthful of soup, and looked at the commander of the 1st Battalion who was sitting aside and had already eaten most of the soup: "Can you count how much we have lost? person?"
According to the strict laws of the Qin Dynasty, officers who retreated on the battlefield and lost half of their troops for no reason were executed. He has almost been charged with this crime now, so he is so eager to know the result.
The 1st battalion commander shook his head and said: "The artillery soldiers with poor physical strength and our truck soldiers are nowhere to be found. The trucks are also missing. There are only two radio stations left. My battalion's soldiers are missing." I don’t know how many... let alone soldiers, the commander of the 3rd company is gone."
"Alas..." After hearing this report that was not a report, the leader sighed. In fact, he is not particularly afraid of being beheaded in public, because he actually knows that there is a high probability that he will not have to die.
After all, he even escaped back with his troops. There are really so many officers who just left their troops on the front line.
The officers who escaped back would probably be sentenced to meritorious service, because if they were killed again, there would be no qualified officers to lead the troops.
However, the commander of the Qin Army was not in a good mood when he thought that he would continue to face such a powerful enemy as the Tang Empire.
While eating hot soup, the group leader discussed the retreat route with several confidants. They have their own experience in escaping and know that the most correct choice is to go through the ravine and take a small road.
Even if they are slow for a while, they will be the fastest in the end. Anyway, they have not received any orders from the Northern Cluster Command since the beginning of the retreat. No matter what, they cannot be blamed for leaving their posts without permission.
It's funny to think about it: the headquarters that can command their regiment is still surrounded by Xiajuan, two to three hundred kilometers away from Dongqing. Even if the radio is not interfered, there is no way to contact them.
So for them, it is almost equivalent to saying that there is no superior management and they can run wherever they want.
While they were discussing how to escape, the sound of sudden weapons firing was heard in the distance over there.
Everyone stood up at once. The regiment leader looked in horror at the direction where the machine gun was firing. Before he could figure out what was going on, he heard soldiers scurrying around shouting at the top of their lungs: "The Tang Army is coming! The Tang Army is coming!" Calling over!"
Most of the Qin soldiers who woke up from their dreams didn't even bother to look for weapons and started running behind people. Some people even trampled on each other and trampled their sleeping comrades into the mud alive.
The group leader knew that it was impossible to stop the chaos at this time, so he could only run along with them and dive into the wild wildly without even looking back.
When everyone stopped panting and began to count the losses, there were still more than 400 people in the regiment, and only more than 70 rifles were left.
What pleased the group leader was that in such a chaotic and hasty situation, the more than 400 people in front of him actually brought out more than 500 backpacks filled with food...
