Chapter 137: Confidence and Amulet

As soldiers, how could they not understand the sorrow of this Chinese Army Lieutenant Colonel!

On the territory of their own country, even fighting is still constrained. Anyone would feel humiliated!

However, everyone has people to protect.

It is the most normal human nature to sacrifice those who have nothing to do with oneself and protect oneself and those one wants to protect.

"Lieutenant Colonel Xie, from the perspective of a soldier, I understand your feelings, and I also regret the outcome of this war.

However, as the commander of the Allied Forces stationed in the concession, I must ensure the safety of everyone in the concession, whether he is European, American or even Chinese." The brigadier general's face showed enough determination.

"I still hope you can persuade them to cross the river. Not to mention that they are now less than an infantry company. Even if you and your men re-enter, the Japanese can transfer two heavy artillery, and they may transfer more. No matter how strong the Sihang Warehouse is, it will be turned into powder.

It will even implicate the Chinese in the concession." The brigadier general tried to continue his efforts, pointing to the Chinese people who were standing at the street corner because of the explosion of the bridge a hundred meters away.

"You should also think about these people. If the concession is caught in the flames of war, your fellow tribesmen will no longer have a place to stand."

"General, what you said makes sense, but unfortunately, you don't understand us, that's because your country has not been invaded." The lieutenant colonel shook his head.

"No one doesn't cherish life, but when the robbers come, your parents will be killed, your sisters and wives will be enslaved, and your son will have no tomorrow, so we would rather die, die in resistance."

"What you see are just a few hundred Chinese soldiers and tens of thousands of Chinese, but there are still tens of millions of Chinese after Songhu. Every inch of land is stained with blood. Songhu has been stained with the blood of hundreds of thousands of outstanding Chinese men. What if it adds a few more points?" The lieutenant colonel said this, and his face no longer had the previous sad expression.

There was light in his eyes.

He was proud of his subordinates and brothers.

It's not terrible to die in battle. What's terrible is whether their death is worthwhile.

If Tang Dao and Lei Xiong were not decisive enough and followed the military order to step onto the Suzhou River Bridge, and died in the trap set by the Japanese army, that would be his greatest sorrow as a general, and also the sorrow of the entire nation.

After leaving this sentence proudly, the lieutenant colonel straightened his chest and turned to leave.

He stood in front of the nearly 300 soldiers standing neatly.

They were surrounded by a full infantry battalion of concession soldiers.

When Yang Ruifu roared and asked the soldiers to take back their weapons and return to the warehouse, the concession soldiers collectively faced a great enemy. They were afraid that these tough Chinese soldiers would go crazy, even though they had at least four heavy machine guns quietly pointing at them, even though most of these Chinese only had rifles and light weapons such as Mauser pistols.

But no one dared to underestimate them. It was this group of people who, under their noses, crippled thousands of Japanese in just three days.

Now, their commander is back.

"He is an excellent commander and a real soldier." The brigadier general looked at the back of the lieutenant colonel who chose to stand with his soldiers under the guns of his own side, and was silent for a long time. "I think we should treat them as real soldiers."

"But, General, the Japanese..." Colonel James' eyes flashed with anxiety.

Two minutes ago, the headquarters signalman handed him the telegram sent by the Japanese Songhu Expeditionary Force Headquarters, and the wording was extremely shameless.

However, such shameless Japanese are more worrying.

This seems to have confirmed the old fable: It is better to fight with a lion than to trade with a jackal.

"What's wrong with the Japanese? They can ignore the agreements again and again, so why should we hold those waste papers? Gentlemen of the British Empire will only take off their hats to salute the same people, and will not surrender to jackals and tigers.

If the Japanese want war, then tell them, come on! I, Smallett, am not afraid of war. The thousands of soldiers here are not afraid of war. The Western people who love freedom and democracy are also not afraid of war!" The brigadier general interrupted his adjutant and raised his stubborn goatee.

"Go tell our dear consuls that the garrison in the concession will enter the first level of combat readiness from now on. If the concession is invaded, our army will fight back to defend our homeland. If they think I am wrong because of cowardice, they can impeach me to the idiots in the parliament."

The colonel and several Western officers around him looked at each other, wondering what kind of medicine their commander had taken today. Not only did he show an attitude of fighting the Japanese to the death, but he even scolded the consuls and the nobles in the parliament.

Or the kind of scolding in public.

Perhaps only real soldiers can understand.

Real soldiers never succumb to power. They are loyal to their duties and defend their homes, even if they die.

The nearly 300 soldiers standing not far away are like this, as are the more than 100 soldiers who blew up their only retreat on the opposite side.

That night, the lieutenant colonel of the army and the rest of his troops entered a battalion-level barracks vacated overnight by the concession garrison. Heavy equipment such as two mortars and four heavy machine guns were symbolically kept for safekeeping, but light firepower equipment such as rifles, Mauser pistols, and light machine guns were allowed to be brought with them.

This was also the lowest bottom line accepted by the major general and the lieutenant colonel of the army. Otherwise, the two furious men would most likely jump into the Suzhou River with their subordinates and swim back to the warehouse.

As for whether the Western concession soldiers dared to shoot at them, the result was obvious.

The people in the warehouse dozens of meters away are no longer a group of "madmen" controlled by the Chinese government. When they are not crazy, they can beat the Japanese into shit. What will happen when they see their comrades being attacked?

In the past, after these soldiers confronted the armed forces of the concession garrison for several hours, the military order from the highest level came again, and they were forced to hand over all their equipment. The whole army was trapped in an abandoned military camp.

At least one infantry platoon was fully armed and guarded. In more than three years, only a few people could leave the barracks, like prisoners.

But this time, they were tough enough to kill more than a thousand Japanese troops in one battle.

The record is the confidence of the soldiers.

Dignity has always relied on fists.

Of course, in addition to being tough enough, Tang Dao and Lei Xiong, the remaining more than 100 isolated soldiers who have not crossed the river, are also the best amulets.

As long as they are not dead, the concession will not dare to treat the 300 people who have crossed the river too harshly.

Two days ago, the Chinese soldiers had used the actual combat of blowing up a bank building to tell everyone that they were also capable of turning the Sihang Warehouse into a large bomb.

Do you think that the experienced and experienced Brigadier General of the British Empire would take the huge risk of going to war with the Japanese just because these Chinese soldiers were real soldiers and he admired them?

You really think too much.

He admired real soldiers, but it did not mean that he could be emotional and joke about the lives of nearly one million residents of the concession.

He used his attitude to tell the Chinese soldiers on the opposite side who would not retreat even if they died that the Japanese were stupid and did not abide by the agreement. You can fight, but we Westerners are trustworthy, so don't be impulsive!

Watching his colleagues from the window holding guns and saluting the warehouse from a distance, and then marching away in a line.

"They are all smart people!" Tang Dao breathed a sigh of relief.