Chapter 72: Gather the Defeated Soldiers!

  "Xing Han is one of us, you see, he's wearing our uniform!" Zhou Wei pointed to the troops less than a hundred meters in front of them and said to Zhang Xinghan.

  "Don't make any rash moves, first confirm which unit they belong to. What if they're little devils disguising themselves and sneaking in? That wouldn't be good." Zhang Xinghan said, his eyes fixed intently on the dozens of National Army soldiers still retreating towards them.

  "Hmm!" Zhou Wei nodded and immediately turned around to order: "Everyone, don't make any rash moves, stay in place and wait for orders."

  "Halt! Whoever is ahead, stop immediately and report your unit number, or we'll open fire!" Zhang Xinghan shouted loudly with his head stretched out.

  The lieutenant colonel hastily stopped the soldiers behind him and stepped forward, shouting: "Don't shoot! We are the 2nd Supplemental Regiment of the National Revolutionary Army's 2nd Division, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Battalion, 1st Company. I am Lieutenant Wu Wenhao, the highest-ranking officer in this unit. Who are you?"

  When Zhang Xinghan heard Wu Wenhao's answer, he didn't easily believe it. After all, at that time, the Japanese invaders had been planning to invade China for many years and had trained a large number of special forces and agents who could speak fluent Chinese, even local dialects.

  So, just based on Wu Wenhao's words alone, Zhang Xinghan couldn't easily believe him, let alone let them come over. Their numbers were greater than his own, and once they got close, if something unexpected really happened, he would definitely be the one to suffer.

  "We are the National Revolutionary Army's First Division, Third Regiment, First Battalion. I am Captain Zhang Xinghan, commander of the First Battalion, Third Regiment, and we have been ordered to garrison here once again."

  "It turned out that the officer was none other than Zhang Xinghan, the famous anti-Japanese hero of Xifengkou. Officer Zhang, we have Japanese devils chasing us from behind, please let us pass." Wu Wenhao said anxiously, glancing back and urging him.

  "Wu Shao-wei, the order we received is to defend Xiaotang Village at all costs. Without orders from our superiors, not a single soldier or enemy is allowed to pass through here! Behind us is Luo Store, which is of utmost importance and cannot be lost. Please understand, Wu Shao-wei." Zhang Xing-han firmly refused, crouching in the trench.

  At the same time, he aimed his rifle at Wu Wenhui and would shoot him down if he made any unusual move.

  Just then, a loud shouting sound came from behind Wu Wenhuthey knew that the enemy's pursuit troops were approaching quickly, and Wu Wenhucouldn't help but feel anxious.

  A soldier next to him leaned over and reminded him, "Squad leader, if we don't charge over, the little devils will be here before long."

  "No! We are all national army, brothers and comrades-in-arms. How can we slaughter each other and make our loved ones suffer and our enemies rejoice?" Wu Wenhut categorically refused.

  He immediately raised his head and said hastily: "Officer Zhang, the Japanese pursuers are approaching. Can you make an exception and let us pass? My brothers have been fighting with the little devils for half a month. Our regimental commander and company commanders have all sacrificed themselves for the country. Please allow us to withdraw and regroup so that we can reorganize and fight again."

  Zhang Xinghan saw Wu Wenhutian's words were sincere and didn't seem to be a lie, his heart was slightly moved, but immediately the soldier's intuition told him that on the battlefield there couldn't be any carelessness, otherwise it might lead to fatal consequences.

  "Wu Shao-wei, I'm now ordering you as a superior officer to immediately lead your troops and turn around to resist. I will lead my troops to support you. The higher-ups have already given the order that any of our troops who retreat from the front line must immediately take up defensive positions in the outer suburbs of Luodian and resolutely resist, not taking a single step back without orders." Zhang Xinghan intentionally tested him.

  "But!" Wu Wenhao was somewhat embarrassed.

  "Do you want to disobey orders? A soldier's duty is to obey commands! I'm ordering you now, take me back, the Second Division doesn't have a single coward! Don't you want to avenge your comrades, brothers, and superiors? This is the battlefield, we can't retreat anymore. Soldiers only advance, there's no such thing as retreating. Anyone who retreats is a coward, a bastard!" Zhang Xinghan deliberately used harsh words to provoke them.

  Wu Wenhao's face suddenly turned solemn, he pulled out his own pistol, and with a stern expression, he turned around and said: "Brothers, the officer is right! As soldiers, our duty is to obey orders! We can't be cowards and tarnish the name of our Second Division! Follow me back, let's fight those little devils and avenge our fallen comrades!"

  "Charge!"

  "Kill!" For half a month, these warriors have all been crawling out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. They no longer care about life or death. They want to live, but not just any kind of life - they are soldiers, and even in the face of death, they will never retreat!

  At the thought of their fallen comrades, all the soldiers were filled with a sense of tragic sorrow, and with loud and hoarse cries, they followed Wu Wenhao in a fierce charge back along the original route.

  "Hurray! They really charged back! It seems they are our own people." Just as Zhou Wei spoke, Wu Wenhao and more than 70 National Army officers and soldiers had already collided with the Japanese army that was following and attacking from behind, and both sides immediately engaged in a fierce battle.

  Looking at the enemy in front of them, about 180 people, Zhang Xinghan's expression turned solemn and he commanded: "Fix bayonets! Prepare to charge!"

  "Charge!" In no time, more than twenty warriors were ready, each holding a steel gun, eager to try, waiting for the order to charge.

  "Follow me!" Zhang Xinghan roared, leading the charge out of the trenches. More than 20 soldiers followed closely behind him, rushing towards the enemy position.

  With the addition of Zhang Xinghan's twenty or so men, the battle situation quickly underwent a significant change. Wu Wenhutou's troops were able to survive and fight fiercely against the Japanese army for half a month, and each of them was naturally a skilled fighter, with both individual soldier quality and hand-to-hand combat ability being among the best in the National Army.

  Zhang Xinghan's troops were the most elite, including a few survivors from the 1st Company of the Instructional Corps and the Guard Company of the 88th Division. Each and every one of them had been through multiple life-and-death battles.

  Such people naturally have strong combat effectiveness.

  The fierce battle lasted for about an hour, and more than 90 devils were killed by Zhang Xinghan and Wu Wenhao's troops, except for more than 20 who fled in a hurry.

  Zhang Xinghan and Wu Wenhao's troops also suffered heavy casualties, with 50 people killed or wounded, including 37 deaths.

  After repelling the devils, Zhang Xinghan commanded his troops to quickly sweep the battlefield and immediately led the officers and soldiers back to the already repaired defensive fortifications.

  "Wu Shaojun, I owe you an apology earlier. As a soldier, please don't take it to heart." Zhang Xinghan said with his back against the trench, speaking to Wu Wenhua who was sitting not far from him.

  "What the officer said is nonsense, as you said, we are soldiers and soldiers should attack, not retreat! Every inch of land must be fought for, it cannot be abandoned easily." Wu Wenhao said calmly without any complaints.

  "Are you and your men willing to stay? The devils' vanguard has just launched a small-scale counterattack, their main force will arrive soon. This strategic location is crucial, we cannot afford to lose it, otherwise our entire army in the Songhu battle will fall into crisis. We must hold on until reinforcements arrive, we absolutely cannot let Luodian fall into the devils' hands." Zhang Xinghan asked.

  Seeing Wu Wenhao hesitate, Zhang Xinghan let out a light sigh and said: "I won't force this matter either. If you all intend to retreat later, I absolutely won't stop you. In any case, my subordinates and I will not retreat. With the country broken and mountains and rivers shattered, why should I care about losing my head? Even if we fight until the last soldier, we must vow to protect our position and cannot lightly abandon our territory."

  "No, sir, you misunderstood. I didn't mean to retreat. From now on, I'm willing to follow your command and even more willing to live or die with Luo's store, to defend Luo's store, to defend Greater Shanghai!" Wu Wenhao hastily explained.

  "All right! Let's hurry up and reinforce the repairs, the devils may launch an attack soon." Zhang Xinghan was overjoyed when he heard this, stood up and ordered.

  The crowd followed suit, immediately turning around to get busy. They were all from regular main force troops and didn't need anyone to teach them the basic combat skills of rushing repairs. Soon the entire position became bustling again.

  …………

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