"Are all our people here?" Shang Zhen asked Mr. Wang when a faint light appeared in the eastern sky.
"All our people are here, not a single one is missing." Mr. Wang replied in a low voice.
Then Shang Zhen stopped talking, and the same was true for Mr. Wang.
It was certainly gratifying that they were not lacking anyone at the moment, but they just felt lucky but there was no trace of joy in their hearts.
Just because there are still sporadic gunshots and explosions in Songjiang County, which they have left behind.
Shang Zhen guessed that the Northeastern officers and soldiers who had no time to retreat were fighting again with the Japanese army, and Army Commander Wu Keyong had already withdrawn from Songjiang County with a large force.
But at this time, it was impossible for them to go back for the few soldiers who were separated from the army.
Because, their so-called large army now only has more than 400 people left!
Yes, there were more than 400 people. Before dark, there were still more than 1,000 people, but a large number of them were killed in the Japanese night battle.
And to put it even bigger, there are only more than 400 people left in the 67th Army of the Northeast Army out of a team of 26,000 to 7,000 people!
More than 20,000 officers and soldiers of the 67th Army dumped their bodies on the Songhu battlefield, and this did not include other members of the Northeast Army.
When people of later generations talk about the battles of life, they often regard the defense battle of Sihang Warehouse as the final battle that took place on the Songhu battlefield.
But in fact, the defense battle of Sihang Warehouse was carried out from October 26th to November 1st.
However, the Songjiang blocking battle conducted by Wu Keyong's 67th Army was conducted from November 6 to November 8.
In these two battles, the Songjiang defenders had the same will to kill the enemy as the Sixings Solitary Army, but the situation of the Sixty-seventh Army was vastly different from that of the Xie Jinyuan Regiment fighting the Sixings Warehouse!
The four groups were alone in a four-story reinforced concrete building with a solid barricade outside. There was electricity, running water and gas inside, so they had no worries in their daily lives.
The Japanese army was concerned about the adjacent buildings of the British and other buildings next to the Sihang Warehouse and did not dare to use aircraft and artillery.
There are several months of grain reserves and a large amount of comfort items in the Sihang Warehouse, as well as sufficient firearms and ammunition. There is support from public opinion in the society, condolences from the people, and letters of encouragement and support from superiors. As everyone knows, there is even a woman. Students sent flags to the Four Elements Warriors!
Check the newspapers of that year. Some of the nationally famous newspapers, such as "Ta Kung Pao" and "Shen Shen", contain a lot of news about the heroes of Sihang Warehouse.
But what is the situation of the Sixty-seventh Army? A large force of more than 20,000 people arrived urgently by train. They had insufficient ammunition and supplies, but they fought hard head-on.
There were no ready-made fortifications, no preparations, and no material or public support. Then they went to war directly with the Japanese army!
What they faced were the elites of two Japanese standing divisions and a reinforced brigade.
As for what the Japanese 6th Division did in the subsequent war, no Chinese should forget it, just because the commander of the Japanese 6th Division was named Hisao Tani.
The 67th Army held on for three days and three nights and completed the blocking mission at the cost of almost annihilation.
Is this easy? It’s really not easy!
Not long after, in the Taihu Blockade Battle of Huangmei-Guangji, three armies of a certain department were directly defeated by the Japanese 6th Division and the Taiwan Botian Detachment.
As for the subsequent Battle of Wuhan, the defenses of seven armies, including the Central Army and other units, were actually penetrated by a division of the Japanese 6th Division.
Even in a certain army, the division commander escaped from the battle, and the regiment commander was eventually shot for escaping!
Of course, that's all in the future.
And now, just as the darkness of dawn has just passed away, more than 67,400 defeated soldiers are heading towards Jinshan.
China is so big. It is not easy to resist the Japanese army in a bloody way, but it is really easy to retreat or escape.
Under the command of Wu Keyong, the troops attacked from the north gate, then turned right and headed southeast, where there was a road from Songhu to the south.
When they broke through, it was still dark, and the Japanese army could not figure out the true direction of their breakout, but there was no tragic battle.
It's just that although the remaining troops successfully broke through, there was no joy in everyone's hearts.
When they arrived, the team was huge, with flags waving, like a long dragon. They were all energetic Northeastern men who wanted to avenge their shame. But now the team of more than 400 people is more like a guerrilla army.
No one knew what Army Commander Wu Keyong was thinking, but most people still felt tired and lost.
During the silent march, the sky gradually became brighter, and after they marched for a while, they felt even greater loss, because they saw troops on the road as far as the eye could see.
If we say that our troops are strong and our troops are strong, anyone who sees it will be refreshed. But what they see now is a retreating army, or to be precise, a broken army. From the sky, this The rout at the other end leads all the way to the sky.
As mentioned before, a mechanized division with troop transport vehicles such as cars and motorcycles cannot survive a day or a night.
So, how could it be so easy for the hundreds of thousands of troops on the Songhu battlefield to retreat cleanly even if the 67th Army blocked Songjiang for three days?
Fate seemed to have played a huge joke on the Sixty-seventh Army. In order to protect the defeated armies behind them, they paid the price of almost total annihilation, but in the end they also joined these defeated armies.
At this time, someone in Shang Zhen's group felt this sadness, and that person was Chu Tian.
"History has played a huge joke on us." After all, Chu Tian was a scholar, and he was different when he spoke.
At this time, Shang Zhen and the others following Wu Keyong had not yet entered the endless rout of troops on the road, so Chu Tian's words were heard clearly by others, even though his voice was not loud.
It's just that Shang Zhen and others are used to Chu Tian's emotion, so no one answered.
"We fought desperately to block the Japanese army just to protect the defeated troops on this highway, but now we have joined the defeated troops. It is really a great irony!" Chu Tian continued.
Chu Tian was really right this time.
Isn't it ironic that the protector provides protection for the protected, and finally the protector joins the ranks of the protected?
Chu Tian thought he was telling the truth, but he ignored one thing, or he didn't understand at all. Telling the truth always hurt people.
At this time, if he said such a sentence in the ranks of the 67th Army, it was equivalent to adding salt to the wound.
It would be fine if he was an officer of high enough rank. It could be understood as self-deprecation, but he is just an ordinary soldier.
So, at best, his behavior is called a literati temperament, but at worst, he is a nerd. He feels something in his heart and must express it, but he completely ignores the context around him.
So as soon as Chu Tian said these words, the officers and soldiers of the 67th Army all looked at him. These words really planted a thorn in everyone's heart.
"You're just bluffing! You know nothing!" Mr. Wang said hurriedly when he saw the situation was not good.
Wang Lao Mao's words were harsh, but Wang Lao Mao had enough emotional intelligence. His words were definitely for the benefit of Chu Tian, but Chu Tian didn't appreciate it because of his scholarly temperament.
"Am I wrong?" Chu Tian asked back.
But this time, before Mr. Wang could say anything else, Shang Zhen had already refuted it directly: "Of course what you said is wrong!"
"What's wrong?" Chu Tian asked.
"What reason do you have to say that they are defeated?
Yes, our 67th Army suffered heavy casualties.
We became defeated because we really fought against the Japanese. But how do you know that those who became defeated did not really fight against the Japanese? "Shang Zhen said loudly.
Shang Zhen was also anxious. He didn't expect Chu Tian to say such truth that touched people's hearts.
In fact, from Chu Tian's perspective, there was nothing wrong with what he said, but Shang Zhen refuted Chu Tian from another perspective.
Chu Tian gasped and became silent.
Not only because what Shang Zhen said made sense, but also because Chu Tian heard the severity in Shang Zhen's tone, Shang Zhen had never spoken to him like this.
After Shang Zhenyan's reasonable reprimand, or rather convincing Chu Tian, the other officers and soldiers looked at Shang Zhen.
Of course they knew that Shang Zhen was the leader of this group of soldiers, so their attention was successfully diverted by Shang Zhen.
So in silence, they walked towards the noisy highway, and finally merged into the torrent of defeated troops.
