You were tasked with guarding the Sihang Warehouse, and you brought out a Tiger tank?

Zhao Yushu nodded vigorously, his voice choked with emotion: "Cousin, don't worry, I'll take care of it myself."

"As for those who have no place of origin, or whose homes are in the occupied territories and they cannot return..."

Lin Feng looked at the nameless urns containing ashes and took a deep breath:

"Right here in Huangtian Port, let's choose a high place with the best feng shui."

Build a cemetery and bury them on the spot.

Erect a monument and engrave their names on it so that future generations will remember them forever.

The Provisional Eighth Army had just won an unprecedented victory, and its morale was already at an all-time high.

Lin Feng's arrangement further won over the entire army.

The generals collectively removed their hats and observed a moment of silence, received full cash pensions, and had their ashes buried in a mausoleum built on the spot.

In this chaotic world where human life is cheap, in this era where it is common for superiors to embezzle military pay and for soldiers to receive salaries without working.

Having such a commander who treats soldiers like human beings and cares for his subordinates, the soldiers feel that they have no worries at all.

Night falls, and the stars twinkle.

The soldiers set up camp on the riverbank and lit bonfires.

In the large cauldron used for marching, they were cooking captured Japanese white rice, stewing large chunks of canned Japanese beef, and adding some wild vegetables they had dug up by the river during the day.

The aroma of meat mingled with the fragrance of rice, wafting through the camp.

The soldiers, carrying their mess kits, ate their hot meals with gusto, their faces beaming with the joy of victory.

Several veterans sat around the campfire, smoking cigarettes they had captured from the Japanese soldiers and chatting idly.

"That was awesome! That was fucking awesome!"

An old soldier with a bandaged left arm exhaled a smoke ring and shouted:

"I've been a soldier for half my life. In other units, when I died, they'd just throw me into a ditch in the wilderness. There wasn't even a tattered straw mat; I'd just feed the wild dogs."

A young recruit next to him took a big bite of beef and chimed in:

"you do not say.

Seeing the commander personally observe a moment of silence for the fallen brothers today, and about to build a cemetery and erect a monument, almost brought tears to my eyes.

The veteran patted his thigh with his only remaining right hand, his eyes gleaming with determination:

"So you could say we've chosen the right person to be with in this lifetime."

Together with General Lin, we faced the national crisis and fought against the Japanese invaders.

Even if I were to die in battle one day, I would still be a martyr with a name, a grave, and people to pay their respects.

It's definitely not some damned wandering ghost.

"Yes! Kill the Japanese devils! Become martyrs!"

The soldiers around them raised their mess kits, their eyes filled with a fanatical determination to die for their cause.

-----

The final post-war casualty and spoils statistics were delivered to Lin Feng's desk the following morning.

Looking at the weighty report, Lin Feng felt a mix of emotions.

Before the battle between the Provisional Eighth Army and the Kunisaki Detachment, the entire army, including logistics and supply personnel, numbered over 37,000.

After several days of intense and continuous bloody battles, the total number of casualties is nearly 11,000, including nearly 3,000 killed in action.

The casualties were undeniably heavy.

The 50th Provisional Division suffered the most casualties.

Their main casualties occurred during the early defensive phase, when they were luring the enemy to the east of Huangtian Port.

At that time, the Provisional 50th Division, almost entirely on its own, held off the fierce attacks of two elite Japanese infantry regiments, which were supported by heavy artillery battalions, on the plains.

Of the more than 9,000 men in the division, nearly half were killed or wounded, and several companies were reduced to single digits.

Division Commander Zhang Wenzhong looked at the list of casualties and was so heartbroken that he burst into tears.

But Lin Feng patted him on the shoulder to comfort him.

Because, after this brutal test of blood and fire, the surviving recruits and defeated soldiers of the Provisional 50th Division had completely shed their naivety and cowardice and transformed into true veterans of a hundred battles.

Once those lightly wounded soldiers have recovered and returned to their units, and with the addition of some new recruits, the unit can be restored to its original structure.

The morale and combat effectiveness of this unit will inevitably undergo tremendous changes in the future, transforming it into a truly formidable and invincible force.

The 1st Honor Brigade and the armored regiment, which were responsible for the main attack afterward, suffered some casualties despite having an absolute advantage in firepower and armor.

After all, the Japanese soldiers' desperate struggle in dire straits, and their reckless "human bomb" suicidal attacks, made them a force to be reckoned with.

However, compared to the cost, the results were extremely gratifying.

The entire Kunisaki Detachment, numbering over 15,000 men, was annihilated without a single survivor.

The captured supplies and ammunition were piled up like mountains.

The captured light weapons alone included the Type 38 rifle, the Type 91 light machine gun, the Type 92 heavy machine gun, and grenade launchers.

Including those that were damaged but could be repaired by the arsenal, there was no problem arming seven thousand people.

This greatly enriched the weapons reserves of the Provisional Eighth Army.

It's a bit of a shame that not many heavy weapons, such as artillery, were captured.

In the final stage of the positional warfare, the Japanese soldiers, knowing that there was no hope of breaking out, used explosives to destroy their artillery after they had used up all the shells they carried.

As for the two regimental flags that represented the regiment's honor, they were not captured intact.

Soldiers cleaning up the battlefield only found fragments of the burned flag and its crown in the ashes.

Even if it's just fragments, it's still an extremely rare and important trophy, enough to impress the top brass of the Nationalist government.

As for the captured items such as knives, helmets, uniforms, and canteens, there were too many to count; the logistics department kept a thick book of records.

What surprised Lin Feng the most was the capture of a large number of Japanese horses.

The Japanese horse administration had always done a good job, and the military horses they bred had excellent endurance.

As a veteran draft horse division, the 5th Division relied entirely on various types of military horses for logistical support at the company level and above.

This time, the Kunisaki Detachment was completely annihilated, and thousands of intact military horses were captured.

Now, the Provisional 50th Division, the 51st Division, and the Independent 1st Division will each be allocated several hundred horses.

In the future, when marching and fighting, horses could finally be used to pull carts, transport ammunition and heavy machine guns, instead of relying on soldiers to carry everything by hand as before, which greatly improved the mobility and logistical support capabilities of the troops.

The troops rested briefly for another day in the Huangtiangang area.

Lin Feng felt something was strange.

His telegram reporting his achievements, sent in plain text, was like a stone thrown into the sea; the Nationalist government didn't even respond.

"I guess the White Party's high command is busy relocating to the rear and can't take care of us."

Lin Feng looked at the map, his brows furrowing slightly.

In the direction of Nanjing in Jiangnan, the sound of cannons boomed, and the battle had reached its most intense moment.

His newly formed Eighth Provisional Army, which had just achieved unparalleled merit, seemed to have been forgotten by the higher-ups, and had not received any new combat orders.

"We can't wait any longer."

Lin Feng made a decisive decision and simply gave the order:

"The entire army will break camp in batches, advancing by both land and water, and continue its transfer towards Pukou Town!"