Chapter 131 Prepare for Battle

When they heard that they were going to retreat, the soldiers did not react as strongly as the officers.

Of course, there were also people who grumbled that they did not want to leave, such as Lao Hei. His brother died here, as if he would be sorry if he left alive.

However, most of the soldiers were ordinary people after all. When the war came, they could ignore life and death because they had comrades to watch over. If they did not fight, they would die faster. But when they heard that the superiors had ordered to retreat and they did not have to die in this desperate place, most of them were actually happy.

Tang Dao called his three platoon leaders into his command room on the second floor one by one. Niu Er and Yang Xiaoshan stood at the door. Except for the parties involved, no one knew what Tang Dao had told the three infantry platoon leaders.

After telling his three platoon leaders, Tang Dao asked Niu Er to invite Lei Xiong, the commander of the machine gun company. The two company commanders discussed in the command room for at least half an hour.

This was also normal. As the first company and the machine gun company responsible for fire cover for the entire army through Suzhou Bridge, it would be abnormal if the two company commanders did not communicate tactical arrangements before the war.

Although the major general chief of staff came to the warehouse mainly to serve as a "messenger" for the headquarters boss, he was at least one of the direct superiors of the 524th Regiment. Accompanied by the lieutenant colonel of the army, he went to each company to inspect and comfort them, and visited the construction of the firepower point of the Sihang Warehouse.

At this sight, this veteran soldier who graduated from the Japanese Military Academy finally knew why the more than 400 people under his command could beat the Japanese infantry regiment so badly.

All the secrets lie in the construction of the firepower point by the warehouse defenders.

The strong walls of the warehouse are a pain point for the Japanese army, but if they rely on the strong walls blindly, the defenders are actually more defensive than offensive.

However, the firepower points in the warehouse did not hide behind the strong walls as imagined, they dared to go out.

For example, the rooftop was well used to build field fortifications in the open area of ​​the firing range. The steel torrents sprayed by the machine guns and mortars hidden inside were definitely the sharp arrows that the Japanese invaders hated the most, without a doubt.

For example, the trench they spent a lot of effort to build seemed a bit unnecessary, but the shooting from here would definitely make the Japanese army fall when they launched the charge, and would also make the Japanese army who dared to cross the trench have no chance to turn around and escape.

Putting aside the firepower outside the building, the inverted triangle ambush firepower point inside the building also opened the eyes of the Army Major General. It was not that the firepower setting was so vicious, but that they dared to use their positions as traps. First of all, they had to have enough courage.

If all these were from Xie Jinyuan, then he was better than the evaluation in the division archives, and it was just a matter of time before he grew up to be a general of the army.

However, the Army Lieutenant Colonel was obviously not a greedy person. Seeing that the division chief of staff praised the construction of fortifications and firepower points, he naturally pushed out the Tang Dao.

"Tang Dao?" The Major General's face was normal, but he was recalling this unfamiliar but somewhat memorable name in his mind.

As the chief of staff of a division, he was at most familiar with battalion-level officers. Among the company-level lieutenants, except for Lei Xiong who was somewhat famous, he naturally didn't know the others.

Then, he finally remembered that two days ago, Xie Jinyuan sent a telegram to the division headquarters to ask for merit for this second lieutenant named Tang Dao, and asked the division headquarters to promote him to a first-level rank as a lieutenant.

It was still him who made the decision. In order to inspire the morale of the 524th Regiment, he agreed at the time and recorded it in the archives.

Now it seems that based on his ability to lead the design of various firepower points and fortifications, this military achievement is not a bit of water.

This is because the lieutenant colonel of the army was afraid that this person would like Tang Dao, so he deliberately concealed Tang Dao's super military achievement of killing dozens of Japanese invaders alone. Otherwise, this person's eyes might jump to the opposite Japanese position to take a turn and then come back.

"Good boy, when Zhongmin takes you back to the division headquarters, I will give you a battalion to lead." Even so, the major general of the army praised Tang Dao, not only promising to continue to promote him, but also straightened his collar for Tang Dao who stood straight in front of him, and patted his shoulder to show encouragement.

As for Tang Dao's original identity as a Sichuan soldier, this person also selectively ignored it.

Is he going to be promoted to major? Shangguan Yun, who was accompanying him, was stunned.

Perhaps only Tang Dao sighed slightly.

The man in front of him was absolutely smart.

Isn't the so-called "buying horse bones with a thousand gold"! For fear that there will be mistakes in the withdrawal of troops, it is just the right time to use the excuse of military merit to paint a big pie for the backbone who has made great contributions, which is naturally for the other officers to see. As long as they can obey orders to retreat, everyone has the opportunity to be promoted.

This is of course a big pie. If you want to lead a battalion, you have to be promoted to colonel, which at least requires the approval of the theater command, and it is not something that a division chief of staff can decide.

The soldiers took everything they could take, except for explosives and a large number of uneaten potatoes.

At 3 a.m., as the bonfire in a room on the second floor was lit, the flashlights on the opposite bank flashed three times in a row as agreed, indicating that the garrison in the concession had made all preparations to assist the warehouse garrison to enter the concession through the Suzhou River Bridge.

To show their sincerity, the garrison in the concession fired three flares from the field fortifications south of the Suzhou River into the sky above the Suzhou River. The slowly falling afterglow of the flares was enough to illuminate the Japanese positions on both wings of the warehouse.

In the telescope's field of view, it can be clearly seen that this time, there were no light or heavy machine guns deployed on the Japanese positions, and there were no Japanese infantry even in the front-line trenches.

"Cross the river!" The lieutenant colonel put down the telescope and gave a decisive order.

In accordance with the military order of the Army Lieutenant Colonel, the Second Company took the lead, using the cover of night, to climb out of the warehouse building first, and carried the equipment across the Suzhou River Bridge. Battalion Commander Yang Ruifu personally led the team.

After all the second company entered the concession, deputy battalion commander Shangguan Yun led the third company to carry the bodies of the soldiers who died in the day and injured soldiers, and covered the first machine gun company carrying heavy machine guns and mortars, and also quickly ran across. Cross the Suzhou River.

The army major general and the army lieutenant colonel were the two highest-ranking officers in the warehouse defenders. Instead of following the large troops into the concession first, they chose to stay until the end, which also reflected the strong courage of the commander of this guard army.

Although there are no heavy machine guns deployed on the Japanese positions, the crisis still exists, and heavy machine guns can be lifted out of the trenches at any time.

At present, the main force of the warehouse has crossed the river. If the Japanese army ignores the so-called agreement and attacks halfway across the river, the risk will be higher the further back they stay.

"Qin Ruoyu, take your second platoon and escort the two officers across the river!" Tang Dao roared softly.

"Company commander! Ruoyu and the second platoon don't want to leave first." Qin Ruoyu, the usually boring second platoon leader, suddenly stiffened his neck and resisted the order.

"Asshole! This is a military order, not a vegetable market for you to bargain." Tang Dao was furious.

The young second lieutenant held his head high with tears in his eyes and said nothing.

Tang Dao raised his head and looked outside the observation hole, then glanced at the slightly trembling ears of the 'Hammer' lying at his feet. He couldn't help but sigh slightly, and reached out to pat the young lieutenant on the shoulder:

"The safety of the two officers is in your hands. You and the second platoon have a heavy responsibility. Leave quickly. The Japanese army may have already deployed machine guns. If you don't leave, it will be too late. We will definitely meet again in the future."

"Company commander, don't lie to me and the second platoon." Qin Ruoyu, who was standing upright, saw the major general and the lieutenant colonel walking towards this side accompanied by the guards from the corner of his eye, and tears finally fell from his eyes.

"I promise!" Tang Dao suddenly opened his arms and hugged this comrade who was usually not good at expressing emotions.

"First company, prepare to fight!"

"Machine gun battery, prepare to fight!"