Chapter 36: A Difficult Battle (Part 2)

  Jingjiang City suburbs, Baoshan Regiment temporary command post.

  Yue Weihan is doing the work on the map, in less than a moment, a fairly beautiful line of march appears on the map, and then takes over the protractor to calculate the distance. Of course, this is only the straight-line distance on the map. When marching, we need to consider the influence of terrain such as mountains, rivers and streams, so the actual distance is farther than the distance on the map.

  The 668th Regiment of the 112th Division of the Northeast Army's 57th Army has been officially incorporated into the Baoshan Regiment!

  Yue Weihan let the remnants of the 668th Regiment see what a real strong side was like. This legendary regiment commander didn't ask for anyone's opinion, and with just one word, he incorporated them into his troops! However, considering the current situation of the Northeast Army, it was normal for their troops to be scattered and then reorganized by others.

  In fact, the Northeast Army has been completely uprooted since it abandoned the four eastern provinces and entered the pass. After the Xi'an Incident, General Zhang was again put under house arrest by Chairman Chiang, and the Northeast Army became a wild child that no one cared about, with everyone wanting to take a bite out of it. The 400,000-strong army that had entered the pass at the beginning is now almost gone.

  Yue Weihan had just drawn up the route of march on this side when Cao Xinglong hastily entered the division headquarters on that side.

  As soon as Yue Weihan heard the footsteps, he knew it was Cao Xinglong who had arrived. Without lifting his head, he asked: "Have all the troops crossed the river?"

  "Reporting to the commander." Cao Xinglong stood at attention and saluted loudly, "Except for the wounded, all 1,206 officers and men of the Baoshan Regiment have crossed the river. Reporting complete, Commander of the First Battalion of Baoshan, Cao Xinglong!"

  "Great job, Da Long!" Yue Weihan nodded with a smile. "Alright, let the brothers take some rest while they can, and have the cooking squad hurry up to prepare lunch. Also, try to get some eggs and beef or mutton if possible, to give the brothers a bit of a treat. After lunch, we'll be having a long-distance forced march, and without some nourishment, they won't be able to keep up."

  "Force march?" Cao Xinglong frowned and said, "Still want to force march?"

  "Yes." Yue Weihan said solemnly, "This mission is even more arduous, we must rush to Yangzhou two hundred miles away before dawn tomorrow."

  "What?" As soon as this was said, Cao Xinglong and the other two were fine, but the three battalion commanders of the original 668th regiment immediately changed their expressions. What kind of joke is this? Rush to Yangzhou 200 miles away before dawn tomorrow? Are you still letting people live? Although the Northeast Army has been practicing its footwork since entering the pass and has already run through half of China, it's not that exhausting for people!

  Cao Xinglong furrowed his brow and suddenly advised: "Comrade Tan, I'm afraid this won't work."

  "Not so?" Yue Weihan said coldly, "Cao Xinglong, when did the decision of the Bao Shan Tuan become yours to make?"

  "Uh, Comrade Commander, I'm not opposing your decision." Cao Xinglong hastily explained, "The forced march is no problem, what I mean is that the 36th Infantry Regiment of those little devils has already arrived on the opposite bank of the river. It's estimated that they will cross the river this afternoon. If we don't give them a beating and let them advance to Jiangdu, these little devils will definitely stick to us like a leech, which would be troublesome."

  Yue Weihan suddenly threw the pencil in his hand onto the map and said in a low voice, "The little devils have already chased to the other side of the river?"

  "Hmm." Cao Xinglong said solemnly, "Before we boarded the ship, the Japanese vanguard was only a few miles away from us. Now, the Japanese main force should have already occupied Shanguan Town."

  "The 36th Infantry Brigade is indeed the elite of the regular army, they're moving so fast! I thought it was impossible for them to arrive before nightfall, but unexpectedly, they've caught up even before noon. Impressive!" Yue Weihan looked up at the sky and suddenly said something unrelated, "Looking at the weather, tomorrow will definitely be sunny."

  "What does it mean?" Niu Dageng scratched his head and said, "Comrade Captain, should we fight or not?"

  "Fight! Of course fight!" Yue Weihan said coldly, "The little devils' bayonets are already at our backsides, can we not fight?"

  "His grandma!" Chi Chengfeng suddenly shouted, "This is not the Fourth Warehouse, in the Fourth Warehouse, we have a favorable terrain and sufficient ammunition, but now the terrain is unfavorable for our defense, and our ammunition is also insufficient. Moreover, on the opposite bank of the river, there are at least 2-3 thousand devils' infantry troops, it's really unpredictable who will win if we fight!"

  "We have no choice but to fight!" Yue Weihan said in a deep voice, "At this time, escaping can only lead to death!"

  This battle is really unavoidable, the pursuing army and the Bao Shan Tuan are separated by only one Yangtze River, indeed can't run anymore!

  If we run again, the Japanese army will soon cross the river and catch up with us. If we let the Japanese army's most elite field troops bite, then the trouble will be big, so this battle is really unavoidable.

  Moreover, Baoshan Troop now has more than 3,000 guns and is a reinforced regiment.

  Just captured four 81mm mortars, plus the two original ones, and the artillery company has a foundation. Even if facing the Japanese army's most elite field troops, Yue Weihan has confidence in dealing with them. At least they can't just run away without firing a shot. If that happens, the more than 2,000 Northeastern defeated soldiers who have just been rounded up will be finished off again, and it would be strange if they don't get wiped out.

  Most importantly, if this battle is won, the morale of the original thousand or so defeated soldiers and the newly recruited two thousand or more Northeastern defeated soldiers will quickly recover, and their confidence will also be greatly boosted. In this way, the Baoshan Regiment will no longer be an invincible defeated regiment, but an unbeatable defeated regiment.

  If we can win a few more battles in the future, the defeated and dispersed troops will become elite troops!

  "Pass on my order, each battalion will immediately proceed to the riverbank to build river defenses and prepare to counterattack the Japanese army."

  "Yes!" Cao Xinglong, Chi Chengfeng and Niu Dageng responded in unison, then turned around and left with a flourish.

  Chi Chengfeng did not agree with fighting this battle by the river, but he absolutely had no second thoughts about Yue Weihan's military order.

  The three battalion commanders of the original 668 regiment hesitated for a moment, and Yue Weihan's icy gaze swept over them. The three battalion commanders immediately thought of the scene when Yue Weihan executed that fleeing regiment commander - this man killed people as easily as killing a chicken, and they suddenly felt a chill run down their spines, also turning around to follow him.

  …………

  South Bank of Yangtze River, Shanguan Town.

  Nakagawa Taisa was standing in the command post of the Baoshan Regiment yesterday, and the big yard had also been occupied by the Japanese army. The white-bearded gentleman and his family had all been driven into the yard, and two machine guns had already been set up under the eaves of the house. As soon as Nakagawa Taisa gave the order, this whole family would be wiped out.

  To be honest, Lieutenant General Nakagawa really wanted to kill the group of Chinese people in front of him, especially that stubborn old man with a white beard. In the face of the Imperial Army's kindness, this old fellow not only didn't show gratitude but even bit off half of the interpreter's ear, how detestable!

  And if it weren't for these Chinese causing trouble, the 36th Regiment wouldn't have taken until today to catch up with the Treasure Mountain Camp!

  The bad weather caused great difficulties for the 36th Division's march, but that was not the main problem. The 36th Division was after all an elite infantry division of the regular army, and no matter how bad the weather was, it could not stop their advance. What really caused trouble for the 36th Division's pursuit were these Chinese civilians.

  On this road, almost all the Chinese people led the Imperial Army astray. A bold and despicable young Chinese even volunteered to be a guide for the Imperial Army, then took advantage of the darkness to lead them into a swamp, where dozens of brave Imperial Army soldiers did not fall on the battlefield, but died in the cold swamp.

  But what's the use? What can these Chinese people achieve by making such a big fuss?

  The 36th Infantry Regiment was after all the most elite standing infantry regiment of the Empire of Japan. Although Yue Weihan was cunning and the Bao Shan Garrison was difficult to deal with, if they wanted to escape the pursuit of the 36th Infantry Regiment, that would be a pipe dream! The vanguard reported back that the remnants of the Bao Shan Garrison were now on the opposite bank of the river, and the 36th Infantry Regiment had already clamped down on their tail.

  As soon as the ships are in place, the 36th Division will cross the river and pursue, and the road for Yue Weihan and the Baoshan Regiment has come to an end.

  Although, the 36th Regiment under Colonel Nakagawa actually had only two infantry battalions, and the remaining battalion and artillery company were still far away, Colonel Nakagawa was confident enough to defeat the Baoshan Camp on the opposite bank of the Yangtze River with just half a regiment.

  With a wave of his hand, Nakagawa ordered the release of the prisoners. Although he wanted to kill them, General Matsui Iwane had already issued orders to all divisions not to engage in mass killings for the time being! In order to show off to Western media, General Matsui even publicly executed two lieutenants who were accused of "indiscriminately killing innocent people".

  Of course, those two lieutenants were not really brave warriors of the Imperial Army, but just two deserters from the Manchukuo army.

  But even so, the Imperial Army warriors under the various divisions of the Central China Area Army can no longer indiscriminately slaughter innocent people, at least not for this period of time.