Sword: Heart of Iron

Chapter 189 The end of the battle
Looking at the Chinese soldiers rushing towards him, Sano Tadayoshi's mind went blank. After a moment, his face became ferocious and he subconsciously wanted to pick up the pistol beside him.

Even if I die, I cannot die at the hands of the Chinese!
But after groping on the ground twice, he found nothing.

In the blink of an eye, a bullet pierced his shoulder blade.

He suddenly felt as if his shoulder had hit something moving at high speed, like a car.

Curses immediately arose from the charging crowd.

"Who fired the shot!"

"Don't let me beat you to death!"

After feeling pain in his shoulder, Sano Tadayoshi looked frightened and crawled on the ground twice.

The formations of both sides began to mix together, and the soldiers who rushed up had already started a bloody hand-to-hand combat with the Japs.

At the critical moment, Sano Tadayoshi supported himself with his arms and stood up on one leg.

Several staff guards came running over: "Sir Sano! There's another boat over there!"

This sentence ignited Sano Tadayoshi's hope: "Hurry!"

"Retreat to the other side!"

As he spoke, he looked back at the situation on the battlefield.

The 14th Division had never fought any tough battles before, and a high proportion of the soldiers recruited before the war were veterans.

After regaining consciousness and recovering, he immediately fought back.

However, since they were a breakout force, they did not carry much ammunition and had no heavy machine guns to cover them, so they could only rely on sporadic light machine guns to suppress the enemy.

As soon as he showed his head, he was hit by a grenade launcher.

The soldiers rushed to the front.

Some of the newly enlisted recruits began to retreat.

Sano Tadayoshi was very anxious: "Resist! Resist!"

Once the trend of retreat was formed, under the tendency of herd mentality, most soldiers automatically filtered out the orders of the division chief of staff.

More and more soldiers ran past him.

Sano Tadayoshi wanted to catch up, but he only had one leg, and the moment he exerted force, the wound was pulled.

Fresh blood flowed from the wound, dripping onto the ground.

"Give me the gun!"

Sano Tadayoshi was extremely anxious and snatched the rifle from the guard next to him.

He then pulled the bolt of the gun, trying to kill the officer who was leading the escape.

But even with the support of the guards, he could not stand steadily on one leg, let alone shoot.

After staggering twice, he managed to lift the rifle.

Suddenly, a sound came to my ear.

Zhang Hu mixed in the charge team: "The one being supported is a high-ranking Japanese officer!"

"Kill!"

The soldier looked in the direction of the voice and immediately spotted Sano Tadayoshi.

"Rush! Don't let him get away!"

"quick!"

Sano Tadayoshi was shocked and immediately shook off the soldier beside him. He gritted his teeth to endure the pain and jumped back two steps.

He stumbled and fell to the ground again.

Zhang Hu then shouted: "The one lying on the ground is a high-ranking Japanese officer!"

The soldiers locked onto their target again.

Seeing the charging formation getting closer and closer to him, with only about one or two hundred meters left, Sano Tadayoshi broke out in a cold sweat. He held the large stone next to him tightly and stood up again.

The wound on the leg had been evenly covered with sand after being rubbed many times.

If he continued like this, even if he managed to escape, he would die from wound infection in a few days.

But at this time, Sano Tadayoshi had no time to think so much. Surviving for the time being became his only belief.

Seeing the target standing up, Zhang Hu continued to shout: "Look at the Japanese rank, the one with three stars on his shoulders is a Japanese colonel!"

Sano Tadayoshi was startled and tore off his epaulettes.

But it was too late.

The guards beside him mounted their bayonets and charged forward, but these few weapons were like a mantis trying to stop a chariot in front of dozens of soldiers whose fighting spirit had reached its peak.

It was solved in no time.

A tall and strong soldier rushed up, and Sano Tadayoshi subconsciously raised his arm to block, but was knocked unconscious, and fell to the ground with his head tilted.

--------

Inside the command post.

Seeing the Japanese Chief of Staff being captured, Wang Feng's mouth corners slightly raised.

"How's your fight going?"

"Will it work?"

Zhao Fangyuan stood aside, anxiously asking about the battlefield situation over the phone.

Wang Feng took the microphone with a smile and put it on the base.

"No need to urge them. The Japanese broke out hastily, traveled lightly, lacked heavy firepower, and didn't even have rifles. They were bombarded by heavy artillery for five or six minutes."

"With the strength of Yi Zong, it won't be difficult to take them down."

"You are the Chief of Staff, you must have determination!"

Zhao Fangyuan seemed to be thinking about something, and replied, "Throughout the ages, those who have accomplished great things should remain calm even when Mount Tai collapses before their eyes. Thank you for the reminder, sir!"

Wang Feng smiled and waved.

"Has the leak in the Henan East Corps been patched up?"

Zhao Fangyuan: "The 64th Army has separated a brigade and has closed the gap in the defense line!"

Wang Feng nodded: "So fast?"

"Xue Yue's movements are quite agile!"

Zhao Fangyuan: "Sir, the 14th Division is doomed to fail. Should we launch a full-scale campaign against it?"

Wang Feng: “Yeah!”

"But we don't have many troops, so the main blocking mission still has to be handed over to the Henan East Corps!"

Zhao Fangyuan: “Yes!”

Orders were passed down step by step. On the battlefield, the soldiers held their rifles in one hand, shouted slogans, and rushed towards the Japanese positions with high morale.

"boom--!"

The artillery adjusted its target and once again projected its firepower onto the front line of the battlefield.

The Japanese soldiers were blown to pieces.

The Henan East Corps quickly tightened the encirclement and compressed the two Japanese army regiments near Lanfeng together.

--------

5 month 23 day.

Noon, 11:23.

Wang Feng sat in the command post, staring at the large chart on the wall.

The Battle of Lanfeng, which lasted for nearly a month, finally came to an end due to the defeat of the 14th Division.

Zhao Fangyuan walked in quickly: "Report to the commander!"

"The casualties have been counted!"

Wang Feng came to his senses and reached out to take a thick stack of documents.

After taking a few glances, I heard the guard outside report: "Sir!"

"General Xue Yue is here!"

Wang Feng raised his eyebrows and looked down at the time: "You came so early?"

"Isn't the appointment at 2pm?"

The guard hesitated: "General Xue Yue only said he had something urgent to discuss with you."

"Call them in!" Wang Feng closed the document, stood up and looked at Zhao Fangyuan, "Go and get ready first. We must not neglect the art of hospitality."

Zhao Fangyuan nodded: "Yes!"

After receiving the order, the guard turned around and went out to call for help.

After a while.

Xue Yue walked in with a group of people.

Wang Feng greeted him with a smile.

"It's our first meeting. Brother Bo Ling is indeed very heroic. I can tell at a glance that he has the demeanor of a great general!"

When they met, he would praise her. No matter if what she said was right or wrong, she still understood the principle of not hitting someone who smiled at her. Xue Yue smiled and stretched out his hand: "Commander Wang, you are wrong. I should have said this!"

The guard watched from the side and pulled out a chair.

Xue Yue sat down.

"Captain Wang, let me introduce you. This is my adjutant, Wu Yizi."

When his name was called, the adjutant stood up, snapped to attention, and saluted: "Hello, sir!"

Wang Feng replied with a smile.

Xue Yue continued, "This is the Chief of Staff of the First Theater, Dong Yingbin."

Wang Feng nodded.

He had heard of this man. He was from the old Northeast Army and was also the young marshal's advisor.

Dong Yingbin: "Commander Wang, I have heard of your great name for a long time!"

Wang Feng: “You’re welcome!”

"I've heard Yu Xuezhong mention you before. He said you are very talented, especially in logistics."

Dong Yingbin quickly said: "Thank you so much!"

After some business exchanging, Xue Yue began to talk about business: "Commander Wang, this time I came to your department mainly to discuss the distribution of seized materials."

Wang Feng: "Seized supplies?"

"Of course it belongs to whoever gets it."

This is almost an unwritten rule within the national army today.

There is no domestic production capacity, and weapons are purchased from foreign countries. The amount of aid is limited, and most of the time, the troops have to rely on captured materials to replenish their troops.

Therefore, after each battle, each unit would rush like crazy to grab the combat supplies left behind by the Japanese army.

Upon hearing this, Xue Yue and others looked at each other in bewilderment: "This..."

Wang Feng raised his eyebrows and said calmly, "Is there anything wrong with this?"

"Or does Brother Bo Ling have a better way of allocating funds?"

Logically speaking, the person who should have dialogue with him at the strategic level should be Cheng Qian.

But for some unknown reason, the two have not had any contact since the battle began.

As for Xue Yue
As a unit directly under the First War Zone, if Chiang Kai-shek was dissatisfied, he could easily accuse Xue Yue and his adjutant of reporting to a higher level because of this meeting.

Wang Feng didn't care.

Xue Yue quickly shook his head: "No, no, no!"

"Commander Wang, you misunderstood. My East Henan Corps has more than 100,000 brothers. I'm afraid this amount of supplies is not enough. I hope Commander Wang can help."

Wang Feng was confused after hearing this.

what's the situation?
Aren’t the weapons left behind by the Japanese all on the battlefield?

Coming to me for it, what's the big deal?

Zhao Fangyuan leaned in and whispered: "Sir, the 1st column moved quickly. The 14th Division left behind two arsenals, both of which were occupied by Zhang Hu."

"Towards the end of the battle, the enemy's supply was cut off, and they had to rely on airdrops to maintain the battle, but the last batch was blown up by our heavy artillery, and the friendly forces could not find any weapons elsewhere."

Wang Feng was surprised.

Wow, Zhang Hu is really fast.

Xue Yue asked tentatively: "Sir?"

"It's not that I'm greedy. My army's supplies have been used up. Now that the Lanfeng Campaign is over, my troops have received an order to rush to Dangshan. The soldiers have no weapons in their hands. This..."

"If not."

Wang Feng interrupted him halfway through his words with a wave of his hand: "If that's the case, then Brother Bo Ling can just go get it."

"Send a telegram to the First Column and ask them to hand over the captured combat supplies to friendly forces."

Zhao Fangyuan nodded: "Yes!"

Seeing Wang Feng's promise, Xue Yue stood up quickly and said, "On behalf of the 150,000 soldiers in the first theater, I would like to thank Commander Wang!"

Wang Feng smiled and said, "Brother Bo Ling, you are too polite. As Chinese soldiers, we should help each other."

The 14th Division had long been short of supplies, and there was actually nothing in those two small arsenals.

It is not enough to just fill the vacancies in one column.

Compared with the Henan East Corps, it was almost no different from a mosquito leg.

But even so, Xue Yue came to ask for help from him, which was enough to show that the Henan East Corps was really poor.

This is also Chiang Kai-shek's fault.

When he was in Zhengzhou, he arbitrarily interfered with the front-line command.

After the people left, we had to cut off the supply of combat materials to the front line and bring all the combat materials to Wuhan.

After the Battle of Lanfeng, the war in Henan was basically over, and he planned to withdraw the 4th and 6th columns from Dangshan.

As for the vacant positions, they could only be filled by Xue Yue's Henan East Corps.

In his previous life, he always wondered why the United States provided foreign aid to so many countries.

Wouldn’t it be better to spend all your money in China?

It was not until now that Wang Feng realized that some things were not as simple as they seemed. Especially at times, the benefits gained from foreign aid were far greater than the money spent.

Wang Feng: "Brother Bo Ling, do you have anything else to say?"

Xue Yue: "To be honest, I do have something to ask of you!"

Wang Feng took a sip of tea leaves and said, "Brother Bo Ling, please feel free to speak."

Xue Yue: "This morning, the command issued an order requiring our troops to rest for three days and then advance to Dangshan immediately. I mentioned it just now."

Wang Feng nodded.

Xue Yue continued: "The current situation in Dangshan is extremely chaotic. The battle command is very complicated."

Wang Feng put down the teacup.

Xue Yue's meaning was very clear.

Dangshan is indeed a mess now.

The 4th and 6th columns were holding the main position, while the four armies of the Fifth War Zone were attacking the flanks.

The two forces are not subordinate to each other, but there is a command problem.

More importantly, three of the four armies sent by the Fifth War Zone were Tang Enbo's direct troops.

Although he did not come in person, his troops always obeyed Li Zongren's orders in secret and always followed the opinions of the Shancheng side.

As a result, the remaining army didn't know who to cooperate with.

Now that the Henan East Corps is about to go there again, the command situation will probably become even more chaotic.

If we are not careful, the Japanese army will take advantage of us.

Wang Feng thought for a moment and said, "I'm afraid Brother Bo Ling shouldn't come to me about this matter!"

Xue Yue was stunned.

Wang Feng told the truth: "My troops in Dangshan have been fighting for months. The soldiers are exhausted and lack weapons. Their combat effectiveness is only one tenth of what it was. I plan to withdraw them and transfer them to the rear for rest after your troops arrive."

Hearing this, the adjutant Wu Yizi immediately stood up and said, "Sir, it is the chairman's order to hold on to Dangshan!"

Seeing the other party's strong reaction, Wang Feng grinned and turned to look at Zhao Fangyuan: "Go and get all the telegrams sent by the headquarters and the military and political departments in the past month!"

Zhao Fangyuan understood: "Okay!"

Wang Feng looked at Wu Yizi and said, "Since our unit arrived at the First War Zone, we have been involved in many battles, most of which were spontaneous encounters with the Japanese army. As for the order you mentioned, our unit has not received it yet."

"Besides, our troops have not received any of the supplies and pay needed for the battle."

Seeing that something was not right, Xue Yue quickly said, "Commander Wang has misunderstood!"

Then he looked at his adjutant and shouted, "Sit down!"

Wang Feng had no expression on his face.

The 4th and 6th columns could no longer fight.

At this point, there is no need for Dangshan to continue holding on.

Whether it was his garrison army, the Henan East Corps, or the various units in the Fifth War Zone.

The casualties have reached their peak.

But the Japanese army has not yet.

Judging from the battle reports, the newly reorganized Fifth Division has strong combat capabilities. Relying on the new Type 97 tanks, it has been making rapid progress across the great plains.

Adding more people to the city at this time would only increase casualties and deplete national defense capabilities.

It seems that Chiang Kai-shek still did not understand the situation and was delusionally dreaming that he could decide the outcome of the battle with Japan in one go.

Extremely stupid!

All the elite troops have been killed. How should we fight the rest of the battle?
Do we have to put a helmet on his bald head and let him fill in the lines himself?

(End of this chapter)