The water of the Suzhou River flows quietly. The roar of artillery fire in the distance shakes up the ripples on the river surface, which swings little by little toward the river bank, forming a sharp contrast with the hurried and busy scene on the bank.
Zhang Tianhai, who was supposed to appear on the south bank of the Suzhou River, appeared on the north bank of the Suzhou River with a dozen soldiers, observing the terrain.
The cigarette butt in his mouth was burning, and wisps of slightly bitter smoke poured into Zhang Tianhai's mouth through the cigarette holder, and then breathed out. His expression was solemn, and his eyes were already bloodshot. Even though he was physically exhausted, he was still persevering.
It was a belief that supported him.
"You guys, dig up here!" Zhang Tianhai pointed to a spot on the ground, and then said to the soldiers with tools around him.
To be honest, Zhang Tianhai didn't have high hopes for the defense of the north bank. The decision he made was just to give the national army's frontline troops a chance. As for whether it was effective or not, that was God's business.
War, whether for soldiers at the bottom or officers at the grassroots, is a huge meat grinder, harvesting the lives of officers and soldiers on both sides of the war. No one of them can control their own destiny. Only those at the top can decide.
Zhang Tianhai is just a small battalion commander. In peacetime, the battalion commander in a remote county may be a relatively big official, but this is a huge battlefield, and he is nothing but a battalion commander!
In this battle, only those at the division commander level are considered mid-level officers!
A few recruits who had just been recruited from the rear dug a hole half a meter deep with their engineering shovels. In Zhang Tianhai's view, this was far from reaching the passing standard, but he also considered Oops, he doesn't have time!
To train a barely qualified engineer, even with Zhang Tianhai's solid fortification theory foundation, it would take at least a week, let alone a battlefield now? Therefore, Zhang Tianhai can only teach and learn now.
"Bring the grenades!" Zhang Tianhai said to the soldiers carrying boxes of grenades.
…
At the headquarters of the 216th Regiment, Hu Jiaji, who had just taken a nap, was woken up by his staff. He was very tired and should not be woken up so easily. At this time, he heard something interesting.
"Chief of Staff, there is movement over there in the First Battalion." A soldier ran to Fang Ren and reported.
"What's going on?" Fang Renna raised his eyebrows gently.
"Battalion Commander Zhang took a dozen soldiers to the north bank. They seemed to be digging fortifications. I don't know exactly what they were doing." The soldier reported truthfully.
Fang Ren adjusted his glasses and murmured: "This Zhang Yulin, what on earth does he want to do? Shouldn't this be a positional battle? We can inflict the greatest damage to the Japanese army by holding on to the south bank of the Suzhou River. At this time, North bank of Suzhou River? Let’s go and have a look!”
"Yes!" Xiao Bing stood at attention and responded.
"Wait a minute." Just as Fang Ren was about to take the soldiers out, he was stopped by Hu Jiaji.
Fang Ren turned around and asked: "Tuanzuo, it's not easy for you to take advantage of this opportunity to rest for a while. Why don't you rest for a while?"
Hu Jiaji shook his head, stood up and said, "No, I won't worry until I see what this kid is doing."
"Okay!" Fang Ren also knew Captain Hu's temper, which was fiery and a bit stubborn.
…
On the north bank of the Suzhou River, Zhang Tianhai led a dozen soldiers to dig holes and lay out booby traps. If anyone pays attention, the positions of these booby traps are most conducive to attack or suppression after the Japanese army enters the north bank of the Suzhou River. The location of the firepower on the other side.
On the south bank, Hu Jiaji held a telescope and looked carefully. Fang Ren was watching at the same time as him.
"Zheng Guo, do you see anything interesting?" Hu Jiaji put down the telescope.
Fang Ren nodded noncommittally and said, "Back to the regiment, they seem to be setting up a trap. After all, our regiment doesn't have any landmines now."
Hu Jiaji nodded and said: "Well, logically speaking, that should be the case. Just wait until he comes back and ask again. By the way, what do you think of Sun Hong now?"
"Sun Hong is a Huangpu student at the same time as Zhang Tianhai. This person is quite decent in battle. Although he is not as ruthless as Zhang Yulin in battle, he is still a talent." Fang Ren's evaluation was very objective. Sun Hong's talent is not bad, but Zhang Tianhai's recent performance has been too dazzling.
"Well..." Hu Jiaji nodded slightly.
"What does tuanzuo mean?" Fang Ren asked.
Hu Jiaji sighed softly and said: "It has been more than two months since our Thirty-sixth Division joined the war. Both grassroots officers and veterans have suffered serious losses. Our 216th Regiment is doing better. Xiong Xinmin's 212th Regiment had a hard time. Their 2nd Battalion repelled several Japanese attacks in the past two days, but were pursued by the Japanese when they retreated. The battalion lost two-thirds of its troops. The commander died, and the three company commanders below also died and were injured. Xiong Xinmin sent someone here this morning and wanted to borrow someone."
"So, Commander Xiong means to send someone from our battalion to come?" Fang Ren asked.
"Yes. After all, Xiong Xinmin also stayed in our 216th Regiment. He led the first battalion, and the people under him are relatively easy to use." Hu Jiaji said, "There is no way I can lend him Zhang Yulin. , among the old men he had taken care of before, only Sun Hong was more qualified. The 212th Regiment is not having a good time these days. I heard that their officer casualty rate is not small, and it may be even worse than our 216th Regiment. "
"Xiong Xinmin was directly transferred from the position of staff director at the brigade headquarters to the first battalion of our regiment as battalion commander. It seems that the superiors were willing to promote him. Sun Hong lent them to the 212th Regiment, and he was afraid that he might not come back. Right?" Fang Ren smiled and said, borrowing someone at this time is like borrowing a pig from a tiger, right?
Hu Jiaji shook his head and said: "It doesn't matter. Now that Little Japan has fought to this extent, it is absolutely impossible to stop. Their next goal is Nanjing. In fact, the Nine-Nation Pact is just a joke, Little Japan So many people died, and almost all the Marine Corps stationed in Shanghai were wiped out. Now that the situation is critical, having Sun Hong serve as a battalion commander in the 212th Regiment is much more useful than having him serve as a company commander in our 216th Regiment. ”
The mountains and rivers are broken, the wind and rain are swaying, but these Chinese soldiers who risk their lives and fight on the front line still do not choose to give up. Even if they die, they must fight to the end!
…
PS: Another chapter, the pace of this book is indeed relatively slow, please be patient and read on.
