Chapter 96: Deciding to Retreat

The sneak attack at night failed, and even the commander of the regiment, Ken Yamamura, committed suicide by caesarean section, which greatly reduced the morale of the Japanese side and caused a setback in the attack.

Katsura Taro spent the whole morning mobilizing troops and generals, regrouping, and transferred Osako Shoatoshi from the northwest front to the northeast front to command the operations, while Miyoshi Ningxing was temporarily in charge of the northwest front.

Since the terrain in the southeast and northeast of Yushu Fort was more precarious, Katsura Taro did not regard these two directions as the main direction of attack. The same was true for Wei Jichen. In addition to sending Ma Yunuo with a small number of troops to prevent Japanese surprise attacks, he also focused his main energy on Northern Line.

Wei Jichen took advantage of the rare rest time to send several waves of communication troops to Ximu City to ask for help. Of course, he also knew that it was unlikely that Feng Sheng'a would send troops to help, but there were some things that you still had to do even though you knew the outcome.

In this way, once the Wei Zijun retreats, Shang Shang can argue with Fengsheng'a by using the lack of reinforcements in the city.

At this time, Wei Jichen really missed his days in Dakaoling. Although there were conflicts among the armies, Nie Shicheng was able to shake things up and overwhelm the generals. He also acted fairly and never had such a problem. Sit back and watch your friendly forces being attacked.

At the front of the position, Wei Jichen in the trench watched the Japanese in the distance collecting the bodies of those killed in last night's sneak attack.

In addition to secretly shouting that he was lucky, Wei Jichen also admired his luck. If he had not ordered Cheng Bushi to throw the flammable wood and thatch over there earlier, how could he have achieved such a great victory last night.

It has to be said that war itself is full of many unpredictable factors, and luck, a seemingly ethereal thing, can sometimes determine the victory of a battle. I remember that during World War I and World War II, Allied soldiers were The random firing actually hit an important enemy arsenal, which led to the victory of a battle.

"How's the ammunition consumption?" Wei Jichen was silent for a while, then suddenly asked Cheng Bu Shidao.

"About 40% has been consumed." Cheng Bushi reported an approximate figure.

Wei Jichen sighed and said, "We can't hold on for much longer. The fighting all day and night has consumed so much."

There is nothing that can be done about this. The Japanese attack from several sides at the same time, even if they want to save some time, they will not be able to save it.

Wei Jichen asked again: "What are the casualties of the sergeant?"

Cheng Bushi looked a little gloomy, closed his eyes and said: "Our brothers Wei Zijun and Yijun have lost more than 300 combat effectiveness, and 200 people have been sacrificed."

The number of casualties included those killed on the spot and those seriously injured afterwards who could not be treated.

"Let's go back to the headquarters to hold a combat meeting." Wei Jichen has already made up his mind to break out tonight. The total number of Wei Zijun and Yijun is only more than 1,500 people. After a day and night of fighting, the number of troops has been reduced. one third.

After a while, the generals gathered in the headquarters to discuss tonight's breakout.

Wei Jichen sat in the middle of the upper chamber, flanked by Li Yunfei, Cheng Bushi, Ma Yucuo, Xiao Monk, Zhang Meng, Zhao Hu, Wang Shizhen, Zhang Zuolin and others.

On the table in the middle was a huge marching map.

All the generals had solemn expressions. When Wei Jichen mentioned that he was going to break out of the encirclement, no one expressed surprise.

In the current situation, China has won two battles in a row, which has greatly dealt a blow to the arrogance of the Japanese. Unfortunately, its own casualties are also high. If we don't break out, there will always be a time when we run out of ammunition and food.

"Master Wei, I wonder in which direction our army will break out, towards Haicheng or Ximu City?" After Wei Jichen said his intention, the first person to ask was Ma Yucuo, the officer of Yijun Camp.

The 7th Japanese Infantry Regiment cut off Yushu Fort's retreat to Haicheng. The 17th Japanese Regiment pretended to attack Ximu City and prevented the troops in the city from rescuing Yushu Fort. The 19th Japanese Regiment attacked Yushu Fort head-on.

There are Japanese troops stationed in three directions. Breaking through to the 19th Regiment means going deep into the Japanese hinterland. Wei Jichen is not concerned about his longevity yet, so he does not consider it.

In fact, it is a good choice to break out towards Ximu City. As long as the troops in the city come out to respond and all the armies work together, plus the Wei Zijun has killed many Japanese soldiers in the past two days, a defensive counterattack is not wishful thinking, but it is a pity that Feng Sheng'a has gone too far. Pen, don’t mention it.

The last option left is to break through the position of the 7th Regiment. The 7th Regiment did not suffer as many casualties as the 19th Regiment yesterday, because the 7th Regiment was here to cut off the escape route of Yushu Fort and prevent Wei Jichen from escaping. Yes, of course there will be some reservations in attacking yesterday.

But the question was about Ma Yucuo, so Wei Jichen couldn't answer directly. Others came to save you with good intentions. You can't be ungrateful and throw aside the other troops of Yijun. Ma Jinxu in Ximu City is still fighting fiercely.

Wei Jichen couldn't say, but he had no worries about anything else. Cheng Bushi said with a cold face: "I have to say this. Naturally, we broke out towards Haicheng. Fengsheng'a refused to save him. Do we still have to lead the troops back to Ximu City and let them go?" Did he see the joke?"

"Old Chen!" Wei Jichen glanced at him angrily and said softly: "You can't say that. Fengsheng is unjust, but we can't be unkind. We are both Chinese troops. Although we have no choice but to retreat, we must know before retreating." Tell him, if he also wants to retreat, that's good, we can retreat to Haicheng together, not to mention that Mr. Ma is still in Ximu City, so we can't retreat alone. "

Cheng Buzhi snorted coldly and said, "Sir, you are always too soft-hearted. Why do you care about Feng Sheng'a? The brothers know it in their hearts. If he hadn't stood by and watched us die, we wouldn't have been trapped in Yushu Fort. It's just that General Ma did inform us, and the Yijun brothers withdrew to Haicheng with us to avoid being harmed by that old man."

"Okay, don't talk about this matter anymore. After going down, send someone to notify the troops in the city." Wei Jichen waved his hand and said. In fact, he asked someone to notify Feng Sheng'a so that if the two armies retreated at the same time, the Japanese would disperse some of their troops to deal with him, otherwise the firepower would be attracted to him.

Cheng Buzhi snorted twice and said nothing. Ma Yuming heard that Wei Jichen would let someone notify Ma Jinxu to break out together, and there was no other problem.

Wei Jichen looked at Wang Shizhen again. Wang Shizhen looked a little depressed. If he broke out, his several mountain-splitting cannons would have to be abandoned.

"If the old doesn't go, the new won't come. Don't be too upset, Pinqing. Before breaking out today, the artillery team will bombard the 7th Infantry Regiment's position continuously until all the shells are used up, and finally blow up these cannons, don't leave them to the Japanese." Wei Jichen was also a little distressed. He had finally got these, but he didn't expect that they would not be lost in the hands of the enemy, but in the hands of his own people.

"Huzi, you lead two scouts as the vanguard. Whether you can break out tonight depends on you." Wei Jichen looked at Huzi solemnly.

Huzi has always been brave enough to fight fiercely when leading his troops, and he is the vanguard of the breakout.

"Please rest assured, sir, I will definitely lead my brothers to fight a bloody way for my brothers." Huzi replied without changing his expression.

"Yunfei, you lead the two patrol brothers to escort the injured brothers in the middle of the breakout. I, Wei Jichen, am not a man who goes back on my word. I promised the injured brothers last night that I would not abandon them." Wei Jichen looked at Li Yunfei with a calm face and said.

"Yes, sir." Li Yunfei did not say anything big or boast. He always strictly followed Wei Jichen's orders.

"Sir, what about our sniper team?" Mengzi asked anxiously when he saw that most of the people had tasks.

Wei Jichen smiled and said, "You are naturally escorting the injured brothers and the brothers of the artillery team in the central army."

Wang Shizhen was stunned when he heard this, and then said, "Sir, although the gun skills of our artillery soldiers are not as good as those of the infantry, they are not the wounded who need to be escorted."

"Every man has his own strengths and weaknesses. Don't say more, Pinqing. Old Cheng and I will be the rear guards, and the Yijun brothers of Brother Ma will respond in the middle and be ready to support Hu Zi's vanguard and our rear guard brothers at any time." Wei Jichen deployed the tasks in one breath.

"Sir, I, Old Cheng, will be the rear guard, and you will still be in command in the middle." Cheng Buzhi said hurriedly when he heard that Wei Jichen was going to be the rear guard with him.

There will undoubtedly be heavy casualties in both the opening and the blocking, and Cheng Buzhi said this to protect Wei Jichen.

But Wei Jichen knew that if he left first, it would definitely lead to instability in the army, and a premeditated retreat might turn into a disorderly rout.

"Old Cheng, do you want to compete with me in spearmanship?" Wei Jichen said jokingly with a smile.

His words eased the tense atmosphere in the air, and all the generals looked at Cheng Buzhi with amusement.

"Let's talk about this later." Cheng Buzhi's old face turned slightly red, and he touched his beard awkwardly.

"Okay, if everyone has no objection, go down and make preparations. Maybe the Japanese will attack vigorously in the afternoon." Wei Jichen stood up and said with a smile.

All the generals stood up and said goodbye. Wei Jichen watched everyone leave, and he was not happy. He hoped that everyone would be safe tonight.

Two hours later, Feng Sheng'a of Ximu City learned that Wei Jichen was going to retreat, and he was immediately furious. If Wei Jichen ran away, who would stop the Japanese for him? He himself hadn't run away yet.

Feng Sheng'a immediately summoned all the generals in the city to discuss countermeasures.

"Everyone, Wei Jichen is really unreliable, he is afraid of death and wants to retreat to Haicheng." Feng Sheng'a stood at the front of the hall and said angrily.

Ma Jinxu, who was below, couldn't help but despise him in his heart. If you hadn't delayed rescuing him, he would have escaped. Moreover, the battle between Yushubao and the Japanese was witnessed by everyone. Although it was extremely tragic, the Chinese army still had the upper hand, which could be said to be impressive.

"Wei Jichen is actually going to escape. What should we do?"

"Yes, even Wei Jichen couldn't resist the attack of the Japanese, so we are even worse."

Most of the generals below were panicked when they heard Feng Sheng'a's words and didn't know what to do.