Sword: Heart of Iron

Chapter 106 Northeastern Man
Pang Bingxun was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly thanked him, "That's great, thank you for troubling you, Commander Li!"

As he said this, he was about to stand up and bow to Li Zongren.

In terms of guns and territory, among the branches of the old Northwest Army, Pang Bingxun was the weakest.

Not to mention compared with Song Zheyuan, Han Fuqu and others, even Shi Yousan is better than him.

The reason why he has been able to stand firm for many years in the military world where people are constantly taking turns to take over is that he is tactful and considerate of his subordinates.

The special forces regiment that the central government requested to be disbanded this time was his favorite and the most elite force in the entire Third Army.

Li Zongren helped him a lot, but he couldn't really show his gratitude, so he had to express his thanks verbally.

"General Pang, there is no need to do that. Everything you and I do is to serve the country. Why are you doing this?" Li Zongren quickly stood up and supported Pang Bingxun.

The old army was very polite. Pang Bingxun was over 60 years old, so Li Zongren couldn't bear to ask him to bow to him.

Pang Bingxun saluted with a solemn expression: "Sir, you are a man of great virtue and power. As your subordinates, we are willing to serve you and serve our country. We will not hesitate to die for you. Please rest assured, I will fight the enemy to the end!"

Li Zongren smiled and nodded. With these words, he felt much more at ease.

"I'm ordering the military depot to replenish your ammunition and equipment as quickly as possible, and to go to Linyi immediately to resist the Japanese invasion!"

Bengbu, north of the Huai River.

51st Army position.

Amid the sound of gunfire, Yu Xuezhong roared into the microphone: "Drive back the Japanese troops crossing the river!"

"Fuck, kill all those little Japanese in the river!"

A shell landed nearby, and with a deafening explosion, the command post shook violently, with piles of sand falling from the ceiling.

The army chief of staff came running over, bowing his back: "Sir, the devils have occupied Xiaobengbu!"

"The brothers on the front line can't hold on any longer!"

Yu Xuezhong hung up the phone abruptly: "No retreat!"

"Order Zhou Guanglie to take back Xiao Bengbu!"

The army chief of staff's throat was choked by the dust, and he coughed desperately and spoke with difficulty: "The 113th Division suffered heavy losses and has retreated to the second line!"

Yu Xuezhong picked up the microphone and said, "We need the 113th Division, quick!"

"We want the 113th Division!"

After shouting twice, there was no response from the other end of the microphone.

Yu Xuezhong was stunned for a moment and realized that the telephone line had been cut off.

"Tell the communications company to restore the command post communications within half an hour! Violators will be punished by military law!"

The sound of explosions in his ears never stopped. He and the chief of staff were face to face, only two or three meters apart, and could only shout to communicate.

The chief of staff responded and quickly ran out of the command post.

The sand and dust raised by the explosion splashed all over him.

Yu Xuezhong was anxious, so he quickly walked to the observation hole and picked up the telescope.

Within the field of view of the telescope, the Japanese army was crossing the river quickly. Our defenders set up positions in stages along the terrain and tried their best to shoot and kill the Japanese troops in the middle of the river.

The Huai River was dyed red with blood, and feces-yellow corpses could be seen floating everywhere on the water.

Sometimes corpses rushing down from upstream collide with downstream ferry boats, causing them to deviate from their course.

The beachhead was stained with blood, and the two sides had been fighting over the Huai River for a week.

hum!
The roar of propellers was heard, and four Type 97 bombers appeared overhead.

In order to force a crossing of the Huai River, the Japanese army mobilized hundreds of aircraft to carry out successive air strikes on the 51st Army's positions.

Twenty-four hours a day, we suffer a medium to large-scale bombing basically every half hour.

In addition, the Japanese army was also equipped with a large number of howitzers.

Under the cover of airplanes and artillery, our side suffered heavy casualties, the reserves had been used up, and more than half of its two subordinate divisions had been lost.

I can't hold on any longer.

Witnessing the battle situation on the front line, Yu Xuezhong gritted his teeth, put down the telescope and walked out of the command post.

"Sir, where are you going?" the guard hurried over and asked.

Yu Xuezhong straightened his hat and said, "Go to Xiaobengbu and supervise the battle!"

Little Bengbu.

An important town on the north bank of the Huai River.

On January 1, the Japanese army gathered six or seven hundred people and, under the cover of airplanes and artillery, crossed the river from Bengbu to the north and at one point broke into the northern Xiaobengbu Street.

Liang Zhongwu led the 673rd Regiment in a fierce resistance, with more than half of the troops killed or wounded, and repelled several attacks by the Japanese army.

That night.

The Japanese army drove more than 40 armored vehicles and tanks and lined up on the embankment on the south side of the Huai River, with their headlights turned on to provide illumination for the troops crossing the river.

For a moment, both sides of the river were illuminated brightly.

And use all firepower to cover it, and we will surely conquer it in one fell swoop.

The Xiaobengbu position of the 673rd Regiment was shattered by the Japanese army's all-night bombardment and was unable to withstand the Japanese army's breakthrough with superior forces.

Forced to evacuate the town.

Xiaobengbu fell.

The 113th Division immediately organized a counterattack and fought more than ten bloody battles with the Japanese army on a land of less than square kilometers.

The positions changed hands many times, and both sides fought to the last breath.

April 2st morning.

Yu Xuezhong rushed to Xiaobengbu.

The commander of the 113th Division, Zhou Guanglie, stood beside him and said, "Sir, the Japanese attack is too fierce. The brothers have suffered too much loss. We can't bear it!"

Yu Xuezhong frowned and said fiercely: "We have to defend it even if we can't!"

"If Bengbu is lost, Xuzhou is finished!"

Zhou Guanglie looked embarrassed.

It's not that he doesn't want to defend or wants to escape, but he really can't hold on any longer.

The 113th Division had already lost several regiments, suffered serious losses in combat effectiveness, and had little ammunition supplies left.

If we continue like this, all the savings we brought from the Northeast will be used up.

"Commander, please leave a way out for our brothers," Zhou Guanglie pleaded bitterly without giving up.

Zhang Zizhong's 59th Army will arrive tomorrow. Logically speaking, the 51st Army can already prepare to withdraw its defenses.

Yu Xuezhong was somewhat moved and struggled in his heart.

Although he is from Shandong, not the Northeast, he has a particularly deep affection for the Northeast Army.

Since he joined Feng in the 26th year, he has been entrusted with important tasks.

After the Xi'an Incident, the Young Marshal insisted on sending Chiang Kai-shek back to Beijing and left a handwritten note before leaving.

"When I leave Shaanxi, if anything happens, please follow the orders of Hu Chen and Xiao Hou."

Among them, the fierce minister was Yang Hucheng, and the filial marquis was Yu Xuezhen.

The voice of the young marshal is still ringing in my ears. The old foundation brought from the Northeast is dead and can never be replaced.

The commander of the 51st Army knows best how many casualties the army has suffered.

If the fighting continues like this, the Northeast Army will really be in name only.

Zhou Guanglie's eyes were full of expectation: "Sir?"

Yu Xuezhong shook his head: "Retreat?"

"Where else can we retreat to?"

"We have lost Fengtian, Northeast China, and now we are going to lose the Huai River? Will we become the laughing stock of all Chinese people?"

Zhou Guanglie was speechless.

Unlike Yu Xuezhong, he was from Xinmin and lived right at the foot of Fengtian. His feelings for the white mountains and black waters there were far beyond what ordinary people could match.

The fall of Northeast China is a lifelong regret for hundreds of thousands of Northeast Army soldiers. Don't let it hurt your spine for the rest of your life.

If I run away now, I will become a laughing stock among the Chinese people again.

He wanted to prove to the Chinese that the Northeast Army was not all cowards.
Yu Xuezhong stood on a high place with his hands on his hips, looking down: "Mobilize the troops immediately, send all the survivors, and make sure to capture Xiaobangbu!" "Drive the devils into the river!"

Zhou Guanglie nodded, put his heels together, stood at attention and saluted, his expression solemn: "Yes!"

"If you can't take Xiaobangbu, I'll bring my head to you!"

After saying that, he immediately went into the command post.

Pick up the phone: "We want the 339th Brigade!"

"Dou Guangdian! Listen to me, mobilize your 674th Regiment and repel the enemy in Xiaobengbu as soon as possible!"

"I have issued a military order to the commander, you can do whatever you want!"

The 674th Regiment is the only mobile force that can be mobilized by the 113th Division at present.

There were bursts of artillery fire on the other end of the phone. Dou Guangdian responded without hesitation: "If you can't take Xiao Bengbu, bring my head over and hand it to the commander!"

"Even if it means sacrificing all our lives!"

After hanging up the phone, Dou Guangdian rushed out of the command post.

Although it is called a regiment, its actual strength is only two battalions.

"Captain Sun! Gather the troops!"

"Yes!"

There was a shock wave from the explosion, and Dou Guangdian staggered and almost fell to the ground.

The Japanese army occupied Xiaobengbu, intending to use it as a bridgehead to cover the subsequent troops crossing the river, so they concentrated all their superior firepower there.

If a regiment is brought up, it will not last for half a day before it is beaten to pieces.

Captain Sun acted quickly and assembled soldiers from two battalions in just five minutes.

The battalion commander of the neighboring battalion died, so he took over the position concurrently.

"I usually get along very well with you. Today, no matter for the country, the army, or myself, I must fight hard and fight back!"

Captain Sun's pre-war mobilization was very short. The news that the army commander was going to the front line to supervise the battle had already spread, and morale was greatly boosted. There was no need for him to say anything more.

Dou Guangdian walked up to the crowd and said, "Men, show some ruthlessness to the Japanese. There are several American reporters and Soviet advisers watching from behind!"

"We can't let the people inside the pass look down on our Northeast Army!"

As he spoke, Dou Guangdian waved his hand, and several soldiers came over carrying a jar of wine.

At the same time, pottery bowls were distributed to the soldiers.

After unsealing the wine jar, Dou Guangdian scooped a bowl of wine from the jar and said, "This is the Juyuan Yongshao pot. I brought it from the Northeast. Here!"

"Let's drink this glass of wine and beat up those damn Japanese devils!"

When they heard it was "Juyuanyong Shaoguo", the soldiers looked at the clear wine in the bowl with a dazed look on their faces.

Haven't heard this name for a long time.
Dou Guangdian drank it all in one gulp: "Drink it!"

The soldiers knew that this was a risk of death, but there was no fear in their eyes.

After the Great Wall War of Resistance, the 51st Army never participated in any war against Japan again, and they were all filled with anger.

After drinking, Captain Sun took a rifle and led the charge personally.

"Brothers, rush with me!"

rear.

Several American war correspondents are taking photos of the wounded.

"Wang, it seems like there's fighting going on at the front line again. Do you want to go take a look?" A tall and strong American came over and asked a Chinese-American reporter.

Wang Xiaoting pressed the shutter and took the last photo of a wounded person in his life.

"Go check it out. The field hospital has already finished the interview."

As he spoke, he packed up his photographic equipment and rushed forward with several assistants.

An American assistant stood beside him, smiling playfully: "I hope you can take more photos like the ones you took in Shanghai."

Wang Xiaoting smiled bitterly and shook his head: "If possible, I would rather not take this kind of photo for the rest of my life."

Last year, during the Battle of Shanghai, he took a photo of a child crying while sitting on the bombed platform at Shanghai South Railway Station.

It was published in the American magazine Life and became the cover of the weekly magazine.

The issue became a worldwide bestseller, with Life magazine estimating that 1.36 million people saw the photo in that issue alone.

The data may be exaggerated, but there is no doubt that it actually publicized the anti-Japanese battlefield.

For Americans, this war took place in other countries and at best they could sympathize with the people in the war.

But for Wang Xiaoting, the meaning is quite different.

These Japanese invaders wreaked havoc on the land of our motherland. As a war correspondent, I have witnessed and personally photographed many human tragedies.

After developing the film, every photo was shocking.

Japanese bombers roared overhead from time to time. Although Americans were emotionally indifferent to the war, they still had sufficient basic qualities as war correspondents.

The group quickly arrived at the designated location under the hail of bullets.

Wang Xiaoting set up the camera and adjusted the focus.

This place is very close to the front-line battlefield and is already considered a firefighting zone. However, the Japanese army's firepower was attracted by the charging Northeast Army soldiers and was temporarily ignored elsewhere.

Several Americans looked toward the battlefield and gasped in amazement.

We discussed while working.

"The Chinese commander was too careless. He launched a charge without artillery cover. This was sending the soldiers to their deaths!"

"You just came to China, you don't understand. The Chinese military is seriously lacking in heavy firepower. I have seen many armies, and this is the best!" explained another American.

"Oh maiga!"

"It feels like this war is already a foregone conclusion. How could the Chinese army possibly defeat the Japanese army?"

"."

Wang Xiaoting did not participate in the conversation, but silently took pictures of the charging soldiers' backs.

The moment the shutter was pressed, the brave and fearless figure was frozen in time.

After several hours of fierce fighting, the 113th Division occupied most of Xiaobengbu and drove the Japanese army into a corner.

At the last moment, seeing that the attack was ineffective, Dou Guangdian became extremely anxious.

He personally led his troops into the city, engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Japanese army, and wiped out all the landing enemies.

The evening of June 2.

Zhang Zizhong's 59th Army rushed to the scene, and the vanguard 38th Division arrived in Huaibei first. Taking advantage of the cover of night, they quietly stationed themselves in the position of the 51st Army.

Simultaneously.

The 31st Army and its battle groups took turns to provide cover and withdrew from the west bank of the Chi River.

In the rear, the 13th Division did not rush to pursue, but followed up slowly and steadily.

North China Battle Group.

Temporary command post.

Zhao Fangyuan handed over the scout's report: "Sir, the Japanese army is more than 30 miles behind our army. We go, they go."

"If we stop, they stop too! It's like a dog-skin plaster!"

Wang Feng's expression was solemn.

The Japanese commander on the opposite side did not seem to be a fool. His combat style was very steady and it was difficult to find any flaws in him.

This is difficult to do.

In terms of soldier quality and weapons and equipment, the Japanese army surpassed the Chinese army in all aspects.

As long as the commander does not make mistakes and advances the front line step by step, there will be no chance to respond.

"How far is the troop from Shangyao?"

Zhao Fangyuan: "Only 40 kilometers left."

Wang Feng paced back and forth, and after thinking it over, he gave the order: "Speed up the march, we must cross the Huai River at dawn tomorrow!"

(End of this chapter)