Chapter 232: The Captured Japanese Lieutenant General

At 5:30 in the afternoon on May 12, 1941, on the west side of Zhongtiao Mountain.

After several hours of fighting, the 120th Division defeated the remnants of the 36th and 37th Divisions from the front.

It is worth mentioning that the casualties of troops at all levels were very small, and it can be called a crushing victory.

Through this battle, the artillerymen's proficiency with the M18 cannon has been greatly increased. If there is an artillery battle next time, they will definitely do better.

However, the consumption of artillery shells was not optimistic. The three artillery regiments fired out two-thirds of the inventory, which fully verified the importance of logistics support in modern warfare. The soldiers could even foresee the roar of Logistics Minister Zhang Wanhe.

After the battle, the comrades began to clean the battlefield in units of companies and platoons.

The main task is to collect supplies. Even if you don't like Japanese weapons, you can't leave them to the enemy. The second step is to capture prisoners and deal with the enemies who are still stubbornly resisting.

The most troublesome thing is the corpse of the Japanese. The soldiers can only dig holes and bury them if conditions permit. It's now mid-May, and if things aren't handled properly, a plague outbreak is sure to happen.

After all, the North China Front Army did not have time to collect the corpses of its own soldiers, and they might have to escape from Shanxi with their tail between their legs.

In the forward command post, Commander Huzi had just made clear the follow-up arrangements. He was going to go out for a walk and visit troops at all levels to check the casualties of soldiers and the loss of equipment.

But at this moment, a candied soldier was brought in by the commander of the guard battalion.

After seeing the rightful owner, the other person put his right palm close to the brim of his hat, turned his palm outwards, and saluted Commander Huzi with a military salute.

"Hello, sir! I am a communications soldier of the Third Army! Thank you very much for your assistance!"

"Two hours ago, a group of Japanese soldiers with an unknown number and no less than 4,000 people attacked our army's position."

"After a bloody battle, our troops killed more than half of the enemy on the spot! Unfortunately, the continuous battles resulted in a serious shortage of manpower in the entire army. Although the soldiers fought to the death, nearly a thousand Japanese soldiers broke through the defense line and rushed into the interior of Zhongtiao Mountain. ”

Looking at the preserved fruit communications soldier who was covered in blood and had a bleeding bandage on his shoulder, Commander Beard sighed helplessly.

The Third Army had held out for five days before they arrived. It is a great thing that the second-rate Central Army can achieve such a level of combat effectiveness.

It was indeed a pity that he could not completely wipe out the enemy, but he knew that the friendly forces had tried their best to fight to the death, and he only had full admiration and respect in his heart.

Commander Huzi returned a military salute to the other party and said politely with a serious face:

"Thank you for your hard work. I already have a general understanding of the situation. I will go see your commander in person later."

"It must have been a difficult journey for you. Let's take care of your injuries first, and then go to the cooking class to get something to eat. It happens to be dinner time now."

"Hygienist! Take care of the friendly forces!"

When he heard the word "supper", the preserved fruit soldier's eyes lit up.

I had heard a lot about how good the food of the Eighth Route Army was, and now that I can experience it for myself, I am naturally looking forward to it. If his status didn't allow him, he would even try to stay.

After the brief conversation, Commander Beard was escorted by guards to the battlefield.

The first thing that caught the eye were the comrades of the enemy engineering team. They held loudspeakers and shouted slogans in Japanese with two swords to persuade them to surrender:

"Don't resist stubbornly! Those who surrender will not be killed! Our Eighth Route Army treats prisoners preferentially!"

"The war is over! Put down your weapons! We will provide medical assistance and food supplies!"

Although they have been lobbying for a while, and their voices are even hoarse, they have achieved little success.

At this stage, Japan has not yet begun to decline. The soldiers in the army are all well-trained, and they are far from the point of using the old, the young, the sick and the disabled to make up the numbers in the later period.

Even if the Japanese were seriously injured, they would try to get a few Eighth Route Army soldiers to support them, and very few would surrender.

Even if there were new recruits with weak willpower, they would be dealt with first by the old Japanese nearby, which made the comrades cleaning the battlefield furious.

Just like the Pingxingguan victory, a thousand enemies were wiped out, but not even a single Japanese prisoner was captured.

Although it is incredible, it is an indisputable fact.

This phenomenon is because Japan takes feudal loyalty and filial piety as its fundamental concept and brings schools, society, and families into the orbit of militarism.

It is emphasized that everyone should be a filial son at home and a loyal minister at home. When the country is in need or in crisis, citizens should devote themselves to defending the locust movement.

A famous Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China who was afraid of death even said: "Those who know shame are strong. They should always miss the face of the party's family and work harder to live up to their expectations. Don't be humiliated by being a prisoner in life, and don't leave it in death." The stigma of sin.”

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To the northwest of the battlefield is the location of the former joint command post of the 36th and 37th Divisions.

In a hidden corner that the comrades did not notice, a hand stretched out tremblingly from the edge of a certain crater. Anda Twenty-Three began to breathe heavily the moment he crawled out, and he didn't even have time to observe the surrounding environment.

"Baga! What happened!"

This old devil was lucky. Although the bombhole was blown down, he did not die of suffocation because the corpses of his colleagues gave him a small space.

The Eighth Route Army soldiers wearing steel helmets around him made him realize one thing: his division was gone and the war on the Western Front had failed.

After a moment, Anda Twenty-three took out the Type 14 Nambu rifle from his waist without any hesitation and prepared to commit suicide. As a die-hard fan of Tianhuang, he would not allow himself to live in the world as a prisoner of war.

It was a pity that the material of the Wangba box was too poor, and the firing pin had been damaged by the shelling.

Even if he pulled the trigger desperately, the bullet still did not move, fully explaining what industrial waste that was difficult to commit suicide.

In desperation, the old Japanese had to pull his body out of the soil with great effort. He wanted to pick up a Type 38 rifle five meters away, but the noise he made had attracted the attention of the soldiers.

At the moment he saw the general's uniform on the other side, a soldier flew over and hit the other side's chin with an elbow at lightning speed.

"Hurry up! I caught a Japanese general!"

Anda Twenty-three, who was over fifty years old, was naturally not as strong as the young man in terms of physical strength.

However, this old Japanese soldier was also very tough. Under the state of being completely suppressed, he bit off his tongue.

It's a pity that biting the tongue to commit suicide has no scientific basis at all. It has no substantial effect except to torture oneself.

It hurts, but it won't hurt to death.

It is true that blood loss is caused, but the blood vessels in the tongue lose 1.5 liters of blood, and the time required is enough to coagulate and stop bleeding.

Suffocation is even more outrageous. Even if a person can endure the pain and not spit out the severed tongue, the tongue enters the esophagus instead of the trachea, so how can there be suffocation?

Hearing the word "general", the comrades around came forward to support. Everyone worked together to subdue Anda Twenty-three and pushed him to the ground with their knees and thighs.

The battalion commander with the highest position on the scene slapped him with a few big slaps. While helping the old Japanese soldier recall the painful memories of the lieutenant period, he also pried open his mouth.

"Quick! Find some ropes to tie him up! This old guy is more useful alive!"

"Go find a medic! The old devil bit his tongue! Find a way to treat his wound first! At least disinfect it!"

The commotion soon attracted the passing commander Hu Zi. When the real boss arrived at the scene, Anda Twenty-three's general uniform had been thrown aside.

He was left with only a cloth rope around his waist, with a piece of dirty white cloth hanging in front and behind the rope, barely covering his crotch and buttocks.

Even this loincloth was searched by the soldiers.

There was no way, because the devils always hid weapons in unexpected places.

"See, only the devils wear this kind of stuff. Wearing something like diapers at such an old age is disgusting!"

"Why are the Japanese so perverted? Are they poor? How can they be generals but can't even afford a pair of pants? Is this the reason they started the war?"

Faced with the soldiers' ridicule, Anda Twenty-three, who could understand Chinese, struggled wildly. The old devils usually live in luxury and have never suffered such humiliation.

In a sense, the arrival of the Huzi division commander can be regarded as liberating him. When everyone saw their own division commander, they all put away their playful smiles.

"Report to the division commander! We have captured a Japanese lieutenant general!"

"From the shoulder straps of the military uniform, the opponent should be Anda Nijisan, the commander of the 37th Division. The wound on his body was inflicted by himself, and he did not surrender to us."

"The soldiers are continuing to dig to see if they can find the rest of the harvest!"

The word Lieutenant General made the Huzi division commander's eyes light up, as if he saw some rare treasure!

From the outbreak of the war in 1937 to the present, many senior enemy officers have indeed been killed in major war zones, even a navy admiral.

But the number of captured officers is pitiful, the highest is only a major.

Even in the original timeline, the Allies did not capture a senior Japanese commander on the front battlefield.

The only navy vice admiral was captured because the enemy's plane accidentally fell on the sea and caught fire and sank during landing.

However, the opponent's gold content is not low. He has served as the chief of staff of the Combined Fleet twice. The Japanese Navy is very secretive about this matter, and has used the "B incident" as a synonym from beginning to end.

"A incident is the death of Yamamoto 7×8."

Ando Twenty-three, who was tied up, was still struggling. He stared at the bearded division commander, his eyes flashing with murderous light. At the same time, regardless of the injuries in his mouth, he kept yelling in Japanese.

After venting his anger, he realized that it was impossible to complete suicide in his current state.

Instead of wasting energy in vain, it is better to change his mind. Perhaps it is a good choice to pretend to surrender first and then find an opportunity to commit suicide.

From beginning to end, the old devil never wanted to go back alive. After all, even if he went back, the ending would be the same. It is better to leave a good reputation of dying rather than surrendering, and maybe it can be included in textbooks in the future.

Thinking of this, Ando Twenty-three gradually calmed down. He forced out an ugly smile while enduring the pain, and said to the senior commander in front of him:

"Hello, I am Ando Nijusan, the commander of the 37th Division of the Great Japanese Brotherhood. I guess you are the commander of this battle, congratulations on your victory."

"According to the Geneva Convention, you must treat prisoners of war humanely. You must not discriminate, kill, maim, abuse or torture us, and you must not take us as hostages."

"You must not damage my personal dignity, including intimidation and harassment by the audience's curiosity, especially insulting and lowering our status! You must not be the target of retaliation, and your release must not be delayed after the war stops."

After finishing the clauses that were favorable to him in one breath, the old devil pondered for a while and checked for omissions in his mind.

After making sure that no important conditions were missed, he looked up again, and his eyes turned earnestly and seriously to the commander of the Huzi Division:

"Sir, I respect the victorious side, and I hope you respect me."

"You can take my pistol and command knife, but at least give me my clothes, instead of letting them watch the enemy who has no ability to resist here like monkeys."

After listening to this, the commander of the Huzi Division showed an interested expression. But he did not immediately answer Anda 23, nor did he make any promises.

Instead, he handed a bottle of medical alcohol to Anda 23 to rinse his mouth, and then picked up the enemy's general uniform and held it in his hand.

"The person who just wanted to bite his tongue to commit suicide suddenly became obedient? I don't know what changed your mind, but your change of attitude makes me suspect that there is some hidden conspiracy."

"Since you have become my prisoner of war, then explain it honestly. This is not a military secret, you will definitely answer, right?"

It seems that the momentum of the bearded division commander intimidated Anda 23, or it may be that the desire and urgency for clothes made him bow his head. The old Japanese first rinsed his mouth with medical alcohol, and then pretended to be sincere and said:

"There is an old Chinese saying, called Xixi material, huh, Wei Junjie."

"Even ants are greedy for life, so how can people cherish their lives. Although I fell into your hands, I believe you will ensure my safety, am I right?"

This strange accent is not because the old Japanese learned some dialect. He himself lost a section of his tongue, and just rinsed his mouth with high-proof medical alcohol, so it was natural that he spoke a little strangely.

After listening to the explanation, the bearded division commander did not return the uniform to Anda 23. He first took a large bag of gauze and stuffed it into the other person's mouth, then said with a smile:

"First, what Geneva Convention are you talking about? We in the Republic of China have not signed it. Remember one thing, paper that has not been signed is toilet paper."

"Second, I will treat you well and give you treatment. But you may have extreme behavior at any time, so I tied you up to save you."

"Third, I wish you a happy life in the anti-war alliance! Take away!"

It is impossible for such a person to change his beliefs if he can become a lieutenant general of a country.

For such a stubborn and stubborn diehard, it can only rely on Yesan to change them subtly, but it is likely to be useless.

Why are the civil and military officials in the court hesitating? Please give some comments!

I will post one chapter first, and I will continue to write it later.