There was a constant "hiss" sound in the air, and mortar shells exploded in the woods one after another. The officers and soldiers of the 691st Regiment lay down in the half-dug fortification.
Obviously, the Japanese army had already investigated the "pin"-shaped layout of the 691st Regiment, but they used artillery fire to directly isolate the three positions.
Lu Cao ignored the Japanese artillery shells exploding not far away. He held up his telescope and looked forward, but all he saw in the telescope was the smoke and dust raised by the artillery shells.
The Japanese bombardment lasted for more than 20 minutes. After the sound of the artillery stopped, Lu Cao used his binoculars to look again and saw that the Japanese army had appeared in the middle area between them and the town in front.
The reason why this happened was that Shang Zhen and the others were about one kilometer away from the town in front of them.
Just this distance. The first battalion in the town and the second battalion outside the town were not yet able to form a joint attack on the Japanese army.
The reason why Lu Chao wanted to keep such a distance from the town in front was because there was an old waterlogged pond between them and the town, but who would have thought that the Japanese army would appear in that old waterlogged pond.
However, the Japanese army did not attack their side, and it seemed that they just stayed where they were. The real target of the Japanese army should be the town in front.
The town belongs to the commanding heights of this "pin"-shaped formation, if that town is captured by the Japanese army. Then the defense line of the 691st Regiment will become thin.
"Hu Daquan, send your first company to prepare for the attack, and be sure to drive back the Japanese troops in the middle area!" Lu Cao shouted.
Now that the Japanese attack has begun, Lu Cao naturally no longer cares about discussing with Gao Huaide and others about smuggling arms.
But at this moment, the combat staff officer in his command post suddenly shouted: "Regiment commander, division commander's phone number!"
Li Cao turned around and ran towards the temporary command post. A moment later, Shang Zhen was outside the command post and they heard Lu Cao's shouts of "what" and "what".
At this time, the officers and soldiers of the 2nd Battalion and 1st Company of the 691st Regiment were already preparing to attack the Japanese troops ahead.
At present, the fortifications dug by the 691st Regiment are completely useless. Who would have thought that the Japanese army did not launch an attack on them, but wanted to separate their positions.
Seeing the officers and soldiers of the 2nd Battalion and 1st Company beside him preparing to attack, Shang Zhen suddenly felt that his group was a little timid.
Now the terrain here is basically similar to that of the Japanese army that separated them. It is even said that their terrain is better than the Laowa Pond where the Japanese army is located.
However, whether it is the attacking or defending side, there is actually no good concealment. There are only some ditches, ridges and platforms above the sky.
In this kind of mutual shooting without cover, both the enemy and ourselves are destined to suffer heavy casualties.
The Japanese army had the advantage in firepower. The 691st Regiment had already used up all its mortar shells, so they would definitely suffer heavy casualties during the attack.
At this time, the caravan noticed that two soldiers in the team were fighting.
Shang Zhen was stunned for a moment, and then he recognized the two people as brothers.
It turned out that the elder brother wanted to stand in front of his younger brother, but the younger brother wanted to stand in front of his older brother.
As for why this is the case, do you still need to ask? Who is in front and who is blocking the gun?
"Liu Xilu, you little one, come to the back!" The company commander of the first company yelled, and then the "dispute" between the two brothers was resolved!
The younger brother walked back, his face full of displeasure, and Shang Zhen even saw his eye circles turning red.
Seeing the expressions of these officers and soldiers who looked at death as if they were home, how could Shang Zhen not be filled with emotion?
Just when the 1st Company of the Second Battalion was about to launch an attack, Lu Cao ran out of the regimental command shouting "Wait a minute".
Everyone looked at Lu Cao, and the first thing Lu Cao blurted out was: "What the hell, you actually asked us to retreat!"
"What? Retreat?" It was nothing more than hearing Lu Cao curse, but what Lu Cao said shocked everyone present.
"This battle has just begun, why have we started to retreat?" Gao Huaide asked after all.
"Originally, a line of defense was established here, but the Central Army ran away without saying a word, leaving our 53rd Army behind. Our 53rd Army was left behind.
Now our army has begun to retreat back, and other regiments are also retreating, leaving only us.
Let us retreat now, but how can we retreat now? The first battalion has been surrounded by Japanese troops.
But the division told us that one battalion was no longer needed, and the remaining two battalions were sent back. How the hell do you think we were able to direct the battle?
I, Lu Cao, will not do anything to abandon his brothers and run for his own life! "Lu Cao's face was already red with anger!
Amid Lu Cao's angry roar, Shang Zhen was in shock and anger, and the officers and soldiers of the 691st Regiment also looked angry.
Yes, it must be admitted that the Japanese invaders were very powerful.
But precisely because the Japanese invaders are very powerful and want to drive them out of China and regain the three eastern provinces, it is even more necessary for all the troops to live and die together and advance and retreat together.
There are difficulties ahead, let’s move forward together.
If we can’t resist making a strategic shift for the time being, then we must all go together!
Just leaving a battalion besieged by the Japanese army there and leaving it to fend for itself would not chill the hearts of those officers and soldiers who were determined to fight to the death!
But what is frustrating is that this is the current situation of the Chinese military.
Of course, among the Central Army, the Northeast Army, the Northwest Army, the Yunnan Army, the Shanxi-Sui Army, the Sichuan Army, the Guangdong Army, and the Eighth Route Army, there are those who fight bravely to kill the enemy, but there are also those who are petty and use friendly forces as cannon fodder.
And due to the complexity of human nature, even the commander of the same army sometimes wants to fight against the Japanese army, but sometimes wants to retreat to preserve strength.
Life and death in war will always be a touchstone. Only true anti-Japanese heroes will march forward bravely, shed their blood, stay with the mountains and rivers, and compete with the sun and the moon!
"Signal Corps, go and call all the company and above officers from the Second and Third Battalions!" Lu Cao shouted.
Leng Xiaozhi, who had never experienced such a scene, turned his gaze to Shang Zhen, who had been silent.
Shang Zhen did not look at Leng Xiaozhi, but based on Leng Xiaozhi's understanding of Shang Zhen, Shang Zhen should have calmed down from the initial shock.
Although Leng Xiaozhi didn't know what Shang Zhen was thinking about, seeing Shang Zhen with her made her feel at ease.
Ten minutes later, Lu Cao gathered the remaining officers together. At this time, Shang Zhen watched in surprise as Lu Cao discussed with the officers, and soon made a decision that shocked him even more.
That is, Lu Cao decided not to retreat with the large army. He wanted to take their 691st regiment "upstream" northward and around behind enemy lines to carry out guerrilla warfare!
At this point, Shang Zhen already admired Lu Cao extremely.
There was no shortage of small groups of Chinese troops who surrendered and became puppet troops when they saw the Japanese army's strength.
And there was Lu Cao who saw the large army retreating to avoid the battle, but they went out alone to fight the Japanese army.
The former betrays the country, the latter saves the country!
