Chapter 1528 Return (Part 1)

"Before my father chose to end his life, he left a suicide note to us children. He said that the achievement he was most proud of in his life was that he had personally participated in the great Patriotic War and contributed to it. However, the people he admired most in his life were not a certain person, but the soldiers and civilians who defended Hengyang.

They explained what fearlessness and loyalty are, fearlessness of sacrifice, and loyalty to the country, the nation and their comrades!"

This is a passage written on the title page of the memoirs of his father published 60 years later by the eldest son of the Chen family think tank who went to Guilin Airport to see off the Four-Line Group.

No one knows why the old man would specifically mention a garrison with whom he was not closely related at the moment before his life was about to end.

Because no one knows how shocked the old man was during that period of time and on that battlefield.

The city of Hengyang had long been reduced to ruins in the flames of war, but the surviving soldiers and civilians did not rush to clean up the ruins. They were burying people.

They even rejected the goodwill of an infantry division of the 27th Army stationed around Hengyang, and completed all the work by themselves. This work alone lasted for half a month.

The mountains south of Hengyang are full of graves and white mourning!

White cloth was actually the primary material that the Hengyang Command asked the Military Commission for after the restoration of communication.

If all the 11,000 officers and soldiers and 15,000 young and strong men who died in the battle were buried in coffins, it would be almost an impossible task. Wrapping them in white cloth was the only feasible way.

Even so, the cloth factories in Sichuan, Guangxi and Yunnan provinces worked together to gather the 300,000 feet of white cloth needed by the Hengyang defenders within three days.

Each body was wrapped in white cloth and buried. Soul-calling flags and white flowers were placed on the graves. From a distance, the hills of all sizes in the south of the city looked like a heavy snowfall.

"Everyone knows the glory of our battle of Hengyang, but few people know that behind the glory are sacrifices!" The lieutenant general of the army standing in front of the graveyard spoke in a low voice, but his chest was straight.

Behind him stood all the soldiers and civilians who participated in the battle in Hengyang and the infantry division of the 27th Army who came to watch the ceremony spontaneously.

"Salute!" accompanied by the thunderous roar of Ge Youcai who had recovered from his injury.

"Bang!" All the school officers and generals in the front array stood at attention collectively, "Shua!" Raised their right arms.

"Salute!" The officers in front of the squares roared.

"Bang!" The soldiers in the squares stood at attention and raised their right arms.

Some soldiers had no legs, but they had arms, trying to sit upright on the land and raise their hands.

Some soldiers had no arms, but they stood straight.

At that moment, Chen's think tank felt that his pores suddenly exploded, and at that moment, he suddenly understood why Hengyang could hold on alone for nearly 4 months without falling.

The impact of that scene on him often came to his mind even at the last moment of his life several years later.

Next, of course, was the regular awarding of medals and prizes.

However, this was already the 40th day after the end of the Battle of Hengyang, and it was already late autumn.

The Battle of Hengyang was an outstanding achievement, and it had an immeasurable impact on the Chinese battlefield both tactically and strategically.

The Military and Political Department was certainly generous in rewarding. 28 Blue Sky Medals alone were awarded, and all the generals who participated in the war and the officers with outstanding military exploits received one!

More than 800 Baoding Medals were awarded, almost one for every officer above the rank of second lieutenant, but more than half of them could not come to receive the medals in person, so they could only be mailed to their homes.

The Loyalty and Bravery Medal was more like cabbage, reaching an exaggerated 3,000, and all those who reported military exploits received one.

The medals that can be received on stage are even rarer than the Baoding Medal. The Hengyang garrison has almost reserved this precious quota for the officers and soldiers who died.

In their words, being able to survive is the highest reward for them.

However, this time the Military and Political Department did not disappoint the Hengyang garrison. A month ago, at the suggestion of the shocked think tank Chen, a batch of commemorative medals were specially made in Guangxi Province. All of them were made of silver. On the back of the commemorative medals, the four words "Fearless Hengyang" were engraved in his own handwriting.

Anyone who participated in the war in Hengyang, whether military or civilian, has it.

The promotion order was also announced by the think tank Chen.

As the highest commander of Hengyang, Fang Xianjue was promoted to the commander of the 10th Army Group with the rank of lieutenant general and the title of general. He was in charge of the 10th Army and the 103rd Army. The 190th Division was changed to an independent division directly under the army group. The 10th Army was expanded from the original 10th Division, and the 103rd Army was expanded from the original 3rd Division.

Sun Mingyu, the former chief of staff of the 10th Army, served as the commander of the independent division, Rong Youlue, the former commander of the 190th Division, was promoted to the chief of staff of the 10th Group Army, and Ge Youcai and Zhou Qingxiang were respectively the commanders of the 10th Army and the 103rd Army.

Zhao Zili, the former chief of staff of the 9th War Zone, was transferred to the Army University as the deputy director of academic affairs. Although he did not serve as a military commander, he had been trained in the Army University for two years, and it was a foregone conclusion that he would serve as the commander of the infantry army or even the commander of the group army. This was completely different from the time and space when he and the commander surnamed Xue had a dispute in the battle of Tanzhou and were transferred to the Army University as the head teacher of a small Class B general class.

Zhao Junmai is still the mayor of HY, but he has the title of member of the Hunan Provincial Government and director of the Hongjiang Administrative Office, which is among the top civil affairs officials in Hunan Province.

All the young and strong reserve civilians who participated in the war were awarded the title of "Honorary Citizen of Hengyang", and from then on they were exempted from taxes and awarded 10 yuan. If they joined the army in the future, they would automatically be awarded the rank of corporal. Those who had already been recruited into the army were promoted one level according to their current rank.

The officers and soldiers who died in the Battle of Hengyang were promoted two levels and received pensions according to their promoted ranks.

The 10th Reserve Division and the 3rd Division were both expanded into infantry armies, and the organization was naturally increased. Moreover, after the Battle of Hengyang, Fang Xianjue's reputation in the country was at its peak, and he also had a lot of weight in that person's heart. No matter how arrogant Commander Xue was, he would no longer interfere in the internal promotion of the 10th Army as in the past. Basically, Fang Xianjue and the two army commanders had the final say.

The title of 'Taishan Army' was inherited by the 10th Army, and the 10th Army had a new title 'Zhangjiashan Army', which was to commemorate the sacrifice of the original 10th Division on the main position of Zhangjiashan in the south of Hengyang City. The title of the 103rd Army was 'Hengshan Army', which means that the officers and soldiers of the original 3rd Division were as tenacious as Nanyue Hengshan in the Battle of Hengyang.

As for the replenishment of the 10th Army, after publicity, more than 20,000 of the approximately 30,000 Hengyang reservists who survived were willing to join the army. Most of them not only experienced war, but also fought with guns. Both psychological and physical qualities are much stronger than ordinary recruits. It only takes 2 months of training for the 10th Army to restore more than 60% of its pre-war combat power.

But what really made Fang Xianjue overjoyed was not only these reservists who had been tested by war to join the army, but also the promise of Tang Dao, who had gradually 'awakened', that all the heavy equipment of the Four Lines Regiment would be left to the 10th Army.

That was definitely a big gift!

Perhaps only Fang Xianjue, who saw the list of weapons and equipment, knew how powerful the Four-Line Regiment was in the past.

The artillery included: 12 75-caliber Bofors mountain guns, 8 150-caliber mortars, 10 40-caliber Bofors anti-aircraft guns, and 28 20mm Surotong twin-mounted machine guns.

The tanks, combat vehicles, and heavy machine guns included: 14 TKS tanks, 19 assault jeeps, and 32 quadruple 12.7mm heavy machine guns.

And this is still the remnant after the 113-day Hengyang War. If it was in the full strength before the war, Fang Xianjue doubted whether his "Taishan Army" would be beaten into a dog when facing such a Four-Line Regiment.

The heavy firepower equipment of both sides is completely not at the same level!

Of course, the rocket launcher from the Bear Country that once killed all sides in the Hengyang Defense War was not on the list, and Fang Xianjue was also very wise to treat it as if there was no such equipment.

Although leaving all the heavy equipment in northern Hunan was one of the conditions for the Ministry of Military Affairs to agree to the return of the Four-Line Regiment to North China, the Four-Line Regiment could have decided to send these heavy weapons and equipment to other troops, such as Xie Jinyuan, the old superior of Tang Dao, who is now the commander of the security brigade directly under the theater, and the 43rd Army under the 27th Army, whose old commander has always been the elder who has been taking care of Tang Dao's growth.

Tang Dao can leave all these heavy equipment to the 10th Army, because of the friendship between the two sides who fought side by side for more than 100 days, it is a favor!

The Four-Line Regiment, which only carried light weapons back to North China for rest, was not threatened by the Ministry of Military Affairs. This time, they can enjoy the treatment that only the US Army has.

This time, they don't have to measure the mountains and rivers with their feet, but they have to take a special plane.

Not only senior officers, but the entire Four-Line Regiment.

The living must take the dead!

The 2024 officers and soldiers of the Four-Line Regiment who died in Hengyang did not hide in Hengyang, but returned to Taihang Mountain.

There their comrades are waiting for them, go home!