Volume 1: First Battle Chapter 11: Retreat

  I knew what that meant, those soldiers also knew what it meant, but none of them left, not a single one left, they just charged forward in groups of seven or eight people!

  "Great job!" Chi Pai Zhang laughed and patted me on the shoulder, saying: "Well done, Fang Pai Zhang! This time you've really made a name for our military training team!"

  "It's not just our military training team!" Commander Xu glanced at the charred corpses on both sides of the highway, then looked at the Japanese corpses scattered all over the highway, shaking his head and laughing: "This is probably the greatest victory our army has achieved since the War of Resistance, from now on it's not just our military training team, I'm afraid even our 29th Army will become famous!"

  "Great hit!" Chen Dalie also laughed loudly and waved his fist in front of me, saying: "Squad leader! I must admit that your method is really good! It has destroyed the Japanese devils' arrogance and given us Chinese people a chance to vent our anger..."

  "Eh! I'm talking to Chen Dali!" Just then, the old squad leader chimed in and said: "I remember... didn't you have a bet with our company commander? It seemed like whoever lost would have to kowtow... A real man should be willing to admit defeat..."

  "With a loud 'haha', the surrounding soldiers all burst out laughing. The old squad leader and the soldiers all took this bet as a joke, but what we didn't expect was... Before we could even react, Chen Dalie was already kneeling in front of me, kowtowing his head. I hastily went forward to help him up, wryly smiling: 'Brother, I was just joking around, why did you take it seriously?!'"

  "I, Chen Dali, say it and do it!" Chen Dali stood up with a smile: "Besides, you, Fang Paolang, have achieved such great merit and killed so many devils. What's the big deal if I, Chen Dali, give you a bow? If you come again like this a few more times, I'll even give you a hundred bows!"

  "Haha", the warriors were amused by Chen Dali's words once again!

  "We've won!" But before we could even savor the joy of victory, orders came down one after another: "Do not sweep the battlefield, withdraw back to Beiping!"

  "Not allowed to sweep the battlefield?" The warriors heard this order and were stunned. To know that the equipment in the hands of the Nationalist Party troops was much better than **, but compared to the little devils (Japanese), there was still a big gap. At this time, our army won a great victory, and the equipment left by the little devils was undoubtedly a huge asset for us. However, the order was not to sweep the battlefield...

  "Vice General!" I saw Tong Lin Ge leading a few people hastily walking up, and I hurriedly followed them to ask: "Is something wrong?"

  Tong Lin Ge originally didn't want to bother with someone like me, a soldier. However, as soon as he recognized me, he stopped in his tracks and said: "So it's Fang Pai Zhang... indeed something has happened, Nan Yuan has fallen, and a large number of Japanese troops are rushing towards us from behind, order the troops to retreat into Beiping immediately!"

  "Yes!" Upon hearing this, I didn't dare to hesitate any longer. With a wave of my hand to the soldiers under me: "Everyone retreat, withdraw into Beiping!"

  The warriors also knew the situation was urgent, so they didn't dare to stay any longer. They hastily picked up a few guns from the ground and formed a queue heading towards Beiping City in the north.

  But just a few steps later, a terrifying whistling sound came from the sky.

  We who have fought several battles of course know that these are Little Japan's planes, and we can even tell from the whistling sounds that this time Little Japan has come with many planes.

  It was only later that I learned the Japanese had discovered their ambush troops were defeated by our big fire at the riverbank of Dahuamen, which was undoubtedly a great shame for the arrogant Japanese army. So this time they dispatched all their planes to try to cut off our retreat route back to Beiping in order to save face...

  "Brothers!" Tong Lin Ge shouted orders to the warriors: "Don't stop, and don't look back! Run all the way to Beiping for me..."

  I have to admit that Tong Lin's order is reasonable. The current situation is that there are devils' planes blocking and bombing in the sky, and behind us, there are a large number of Japanese pursuing troops. Once we stop to avoid the Japanese planes...the Japanese army following us will soon catch up with us and make it impossible for us to return to Beiping forever!

  So now there is only one way out, that is to rush back to Beiping regardless of everything, the faster the better, even if there are bombs above our heads and little Japanese devils pointing guns at us from behind!

  "Ugh..." The plane's screeching sound was getting closer and closer, it seemed like it was about to fly right over our heads.

  At that time, I couldn't help but secretly rejoice in my heart: Fortunately, there was still smoke covering us above our heads. The burning car tires in Nanyuan, combined with the big fire on the high platform, made the air full of black smoke, so much so that the visibility on this sunny day was only a dozen meters away.

  But I soon realized that I was wrong, because at this time several bombs had accurately fallen on the road ahead... At this time, our army was marching in a dense formation on the highway, so when these few bombs exploded, they stirred up a bloody storm, and dozens of soldiers were blown into the air in front of me, then broke into large and small corpses falling from the sky.

  If these few bombs were just a coincidence, then the next round of bombs accurately exploding in the middle of the road would be enough to prove that the Japanese planes were accurate in their bombing.

  How did the Japanese army see us clearly? I couldn't help but feel a wave of doubt in my heart. With such thick smoke on the ground, we couldn't even see the planes flying above, so it's reasonable to assume that the planes flying at high speeds in the sky wouldn't be able to see us either... But the cruel reality was that bomb after bomb fell from the sky, mercilessly taking the lives of our soldiers...

  I looked around and soon understood that it was flames, the flames of the highland burning guided the little devil's plane!

  At this time, the entire land except for the highway in our central area was burning everywhere, and from the air, despite the thick smoke that covered the sky, the little Japanese could still see a clear outline of a road without flames... The little Japanese pilots seemed to only need to rely on this outline to drop their bombs!

  This won't do! Seeing this, I couldn't help but feel a great sense of urgency in my heart. The Nan Yuan is only 5 or 6 kilometers away from the Da Hong Men, and even if the Japanese army were to march on foot, it would only take them ten or more minutes to arrive. If their vanguard troops were to ride in cars, they might arrive in as little as five or six minutes. At that time, we will be faced with dozens of Japanese planes bombing us from the front, and endless Japanese troops arriving from behind... I fear that it will also be impossible for us to avoid a complete defeat.

  But what can we do now? The highway is obviously no longer safe, the Japanese are well-prepared and their planes are bombing us in waves, almost right in front of us, creating a barrage that has successfully blocked our way. Even though the soldiers steadfastly executed Tong Lin's orders and charged forward without regard for their lives, they still fell one after another in pools of blood. Even if a few lucky ones managed to break through this barrage, there were only a handful of them!

  Are you leaving the highway and heading into the high embankment? The fires in the high embankment won't distinguish between friend or foe, they can burn Japanese to death just as well as they can burn us to death!

  There's a saying that goes "every advantage has its disadvantage", and now I've come to realize the truth of this. This big fire, while burning many little Japanese devils to death at the same time, also guided the enemy planes in their bombing runs and even blocked our escape routes...

  At this time, my gaze inadvertently glanced at the ditch beside the road. The gasoline that had caught fire due to the flowing water had long been washed away by the ditch, leaving only the turbid water flowing gently inside.

  At this point, I was inspired and immediately waved my hand at the soldiers behind me: "Everyone has it, follow me!"

  He said, undo the marching on his back, without saying a word, he jumped into the water ditch. Then, with a few quick movements, he wet the marching and put it on his body, running towards the highway where the high corn was still burning...

  The warriors were mostly students, and their minds were not dull either. They quickly understood the meaning of what I was doing, and one after another, they followed my example, getting themselves wet in the water ditch before running from the high granary!

  It's not bad to say that this method is really useful. With the protection of this layer of wet cotton quilt, it's like having a talisman, and those flames can't burn us at all. But what I want to say is... it's hot and stuffy in here, and after running for a while, I'm getting dizzy.

  But in my heart, I knew that this bit of hardship was nothing compared to being burned alive or blown to pieces by a bomb, so I gritted my teeth and endured. The ridiculous thing is that those little Japanese had no idea how we escaped from the high cornfields, and they continued to drop those bombs one after another onto the highway...

  "Vice General! Vice General......"

  Dazed and confused, I heard a shout coming from beside me, and instinctively lifted the quilt to gaze out at the highway.

  What he saw was Tong Lin Ge, whose leg had already been injured. At this time, he was pushing away the soldiers who wanted to rescue him while shouting loudly: "It's an emergency! You guys hurry up and leave... don't worry about me!"

  But the soldiers were not willing to leave him behind, one of them carried him on his back and rushed forward... But it was obvious that no one could run with a wet quilt on their back while carrying someone, so he could only rush forward from the highway...

  I knew what that meant and those soldiers also knew what it meant, but none of them left, not a single one left, they just charged forward in groups of seven or eight people!

  Before I could stop him, there was a series of loud explosions, and Tong Lin Ge and his soldiers were engulfed in the smoke...

  I respectfully dedicate the above chapters to Lieutenant General Tong Lin Ge, Deputy Commander of the 29th Army of the National Revolutionary Army, and to the officers and soldiers of the 29th Army who sacrificed their lives on the battlefield at Nanyuan.

  On the eve of the Battle of Nanyuan, Song Zheyuan had ordered the Nanyuan garrison to withdraw into Beiping city. As deputy commander, Tong Linge should have been the first to leave, but his wife arrived with a letter saying that his father was seriously ill. Tong refused to leave and wrote back: "The great enemy is before us, this is the time to move filial piety to loyalty, I cannot personally serve medicine, please take my place in serving our parents." He also ordered his troops: "This is the time to kill the enemy and report to the country!"

  Afterwards, Tong was ambushed and killed by the Japanese army's Kawabe detachment while leading his troops to retreat from Nanyuan to Beiping, sacrificing himself at the age of less than 45! The troops following Tong Lin'ge also wrote the first page of China's all-out war of resistance with a tragic sacrifice...