Chapter 124: Disobeying Foolish Military Orders

The order for Captain Tang Dao to step down as the commander-in-chief of the warehouse defense and to transfer the concurrent post to Major Shangguan Yun, commander of the first company, was given while the warehouse defenders were having dinner.

Tang Dao smiled bitterly. He knew that this was a disguised expression of dissatisfaction by the Army Lieutenant Colonel against his arbitrary decisions, and it was also a warning.

As the top commander of the warehouse, the Army Lieutenant Colonel is telling everyone that he has absolute control over this army. All military operations must be approved by him, not even Tang Dao.

Tang Dao's resignation as the commander-in-chief of defense means that the army lieutenant colonel must re-adjust the deployment of night guard troops.

Sure enough, all the sentries on the side of the warehouse located in the concession were drawn from the second and third companies.

That is whether it is as Tang Dao said, the Army Lieutenant Colonel has decided to face it in person, instead of trying to delay it like Tang Dao did.

However, the lieutenant colonel of the army gave Tang Dao face after all, and the two guys who were tied up were ignored as if they had never appeared.

But since one or two can come, a third one will come.

At about ten o'clock in the evening, a middle-aged man wearing black night clothes sneaked across the Suzhou River and came to the outside of the warehouse. Because he did not know that the warehouse and the Suzhou River were actually connected, he entered the warehouse through a rope lowered from the second floor of the warehouse.

The security squad escorted him to a secret room in the building. After a careful search, the Army Lieutenant Colonel went to talk to him in person. All this was done in extreme confidentiality, and no one except the security squad knew about it.

No one knows how long they talked, and no one knows whether the man left or not.

At 12 o'clock, Tang Dao received an order that the Army Lieutenant Colonel wanted to see him. The two met in a secret room with no windows and dim lighting.

The lieutenant colonel of the army sat alone on a chair made of grenade boxes in the secret room. His face was slightly gloomy. The stubble that he had shaved with a bayonet for the flag raising yesterday morning was thick again. He had always fastened his discipline button very tightly. It was unbuttoned, revealing a stained shirt collar.

When Tang Dao came in, he stood at attention and saluted. Instead of returning the salute as usual, he threw a cigarette and waved to Tang Dao to sit opposite.

The two of them smoked cigarettes at each other, and no one spoke first. It was not until the Army Lieutenant Colonel threw the butt of the cigarette on the ground irritably and crushed it with his leather shoe that he said in a dull voice:

"Tang Dao, you are right. Because the radio station cannot be contacted, someone from the Central Command came two hours ago to convey military orders to the theater headquarters. Our combat mission has been completed, and I was ordered to withdraw into the concession at 2 o'clock tonight.

At the same time, the high-level officials in the concession have negotiated that they can retain their armed forces. When the time is right, we can return to the army and continue fighting against the Japanese invaders. The Japanese army has also agreed to allow us to retreat into the concession. What do you think? "

Tang Dao had naturally expected it, and with a flash of light in his eyes, he simply said directly: "Sir, you are the supreme commander of Sihang Warehouse. Everything is naturally decided by you. If you are willing to abide by the military order and evacuate to the Western Concession.

I have nothing to say, but I am just honoring the order. It's just that after withdrawing from the concession, I belong to the Sichuan Army. I will return to the old army. I hope that the commander will not stop me when he arrives.

The chief will be busy with affairs at that time, so I'm afraid I won't have the opportunity to say it. Tang Dao is very grateful to the chief for taking care of him these days. I would like to wish the chief a successful career with his military exploits in this battle. I hope that Tang Dao will be lucky enough to be able to fight with the chief on the anti-Japanese battlefield in the future. Fight side by side. "

"Tang Dao, you..." The lieutenant colonel of the Army heard Tang Dao's farewell message, and there was anger in his eyes. He suddenly stood up and wanted to get angry. After pacing back and forth several times, his face finally turned into a slump. sighed:

"Tang Dao, there are doubts about your origins, but I never doubted you from the moment you chose to enter the battlefield alone and kill more than ten Japanese invaders. Not for anything else, just because you killed the Japanese!

I don’t care if you are from the Sichuan Army, from the Central Unification Committee, or even from the north. It doesn’t matter. You are Chinese and you fight against Japan. That is enough. Yes or no? "

"Yes!" Tang Dao nodded, but said: "But my sincere admiration for you, sir, is not because of your trust!"

Except for Tang Dao himself, I am afraid no one in the world knows that the reason he refers to is that he is saying thank you to this anti-war hero on behalf of all future Chinese people.

"You and I are Pao Ze, so there is no need to mention words of praise." The Army Lieutenant Colonel's eyes dimmed slightly. "I understand what you meant just now, but you just said that I put the general's order above the fate of the country, and it was unwise to act foolishly and loyally, so I want to leave.

"Xie came to Sihang Warehouse this time with the original intention of using Sihang Warehouse as Xie's grave. As long as it can arouse the determination of the entire nation to resist the war, even if it means death, that is what Xie wants.

Seeing that the fire has been lit, the people of our country are being inspired by this.

However, military orders in the war zone have been issued, and as a soldier, Xie must obey military orders as his bounden duty. "At this point, the lieutenant colonel's eyes flashed with tears as he hissed.

"The fire of the nation's war of resistance is as important as the military order of Mount Tai. Tang Dao, tell me, if it were you, how would you choose between the two?"

"Sir, military orders are irresistible to our generation of soldiers." Tang Dao looked at the green stubble of the Army Lieutenant Colonel that seemed to have grown overnight, respect flashed in his eyes, and he still said firmly: "But, it is in vain to look after me. The military order for the future of the country and the nation is not respected by Tang Dao!"

Tang Dao could only tell him his choice, but he was not Tang Dao.

For this army lieutenant colonel, this is really an unsolvable multiple-choice question.

If we continue to fight, the lone army in the warehouse can burn the anti-Japanese fire even more fiercely.

The lone army was isolated outside the main army, surrounded by the Japanese invaders, without supplies and backup. Even though they had a way to retreat, they still chose to fight in the rain of bullets. This exciting story is enough to ignite the flames in the hearts of more and more Chinese people whose blood is still hot.

But what about the consequences?

Standing in the position of lieutenant colonel of the army, if he did not respect the military order, it would not be a matter of him or his family alone to bear the consequences.

Respect the military order of the superiors, even if all the soldiers died in the battle, they also died in the war for the country, and the pensions and benefits that should be issued will be paid in the future even if they cannot be paid immediately.

But if the military order is not respected, even if they die in the battle here, not only will all the military merits and pensions be lost, but the families of the officers and soldiers will also be implicated, and they may even be labeled as rebels by some angry people.

The phrase "disrespecting the confused military order" can be said by Tang Dao, but the lieutenant colonel of the army cannot easily push more than 400 officers and soldiers into the abyss, including those who have already died.

Otherwise, such a calm and decisive soldier as the Lieutenant Colonel of the Army would not have suffered so much.

"Moreover, I have every reason to believe that, not to mention that the Westerners will definitely go back on their words, once they enter the concession, our army can only let them bully us;

Even the Japanese will not let us enter easily." Tang Dao said firmly.

"Will the Japanese, who have been hurt by us, allow such an elite army of mine to enter the battlefield again?"

"You mean..." The Lieutenant Colonel of the Army slightly raised his eyebrows, not surprised but happy.

If it is really as Tang Dao said, he has given a reason to convince himself. It may be okay to obey the military order to withdraw the troops, but obeying the military order and letting more than 400 of his subordinates be slaughtered by the Japanese invaders is something only a fool would do.

"More than a thousand Japanese have been killed by our troops in the past two days. Their regiment commander hates us to the bone. If they don't attack us when we leave the warehouse building, then I really respect him as a man." Tang Dao pointed to the left and right wings of the warehouse.

"I dare to conclude that they have deployed light and heavy machine guns on one side of the Suzhou River Bridge tonight, waiting for our army to withdraw! The Suzhou River Bridge does not belong to the concession area."

"Really?" The lieutenant colonel's eyes flashed, and his fists clenched slightly.

"It's just another battle!"