Chapter Six Meeting

  What we are going to face is not only the brutal and evil Japanese army, but also many generals who cannot correctly judge the situation and destroy the Great Wall!

  "Direction!" Just as I was watching the soldiers in front of me, who were stirred up by me and had high morale, a shout came from behind. The platoon leader was crouching down behind a broken tile house, waving at me to come over from afar.

  I didn't dare to slack off, and with three steps I ran up the communication trench. Of course, it wasn't until I crawled out of the trench that I realized Xu Lianzhang was also there, so I hurriedly stood up straight and saluted him and Chi Pai Zhang.

  "It was him!" Chi Pai Zhang said with a nod towards me: "His name is Fang Xiang, he sensed that something was off on the battlefield and warned us..."

  "Hmm!" Xu Lianchang glanced at me and interrupted Chi Paichang's words, saying: "I know him, wasn't he the one who just came up with a plan to burn down the Japanese devils' place?"

  "That's right!" Chi Pai Chang nodded with some pride.

  "Hmm!" Xu Lianzhang walked up to me, patted my shoulder and nodded in approval: "I've seen your performance, on this tense battlefield you were able to think of a way to burn the enemy's army, which proves your wisdom; being able to detect the main direction of the enemy's artillery fire is enough to prove your sharp observational skills; being able to steady the troops that were about to collapse so quickly is enough to prove your organizational abilities..."

  Xu Lianchang paused for a moment, then stood up straight and solemnly said in front of me: "Comrade Shang Shi, considering your outstanding performance on the battlefield, I hereby appoint you as the second lieutenant platoon leader of the 2nd Platoon, 2nd Company, 1st Battalion, Training Regiment of the 29th Army. I hope you can kill enemies and make achievements on the battlefield, and live up to the expectations of the Party and the country!"

  "Huh?" I was taken aback: "Sergeant, I...I'm still a new recruit..."

  This is a bit too sudden for me, I can't even shoot well with a gun, but suddenly became a squad leader!

  It was only later that I realized that Commander Xu's decision to appoint me, a new recruit, as squad leader was also a desperate move. The military training team was almost all new recruits, and the old soldiers who were supposed to be squad leaders or platoon leaders either escaped early after hearing rumors or died in battle under Japanese fire, so he had no choice but to select some talented people from among the new recruits to participate in the management of the troops, and I naturally became one of them.

  Xu Lianchang didn't say a word, his pale face forced a smile: "Alright then! I believe you won't disappoint the party and country's high expectations of you!"

  Xu Lianchang's words were encouraging, but his tone was somewhat powerless. I could almost sense the meaning behind his expression: he was just a temporary leader and might only be able to hold on for a few hours...

  Thinking about it, it's indeed the case. Our military training regiment is now surrounded by the Japanese army layer by layer. Even if I were to be the commander of the military training regiment, what could I do? Wouldn't we still have to surrender in a few hours?

  Thinking of this, I won't say anything more. I stood up straight and replied: "Thank you, sir! I will definitely not disappoint the country's kindness and Captain Liang's cultivation!"

  These clichés were all learned from movies and TV shows. At the time, I just thought they were kind of fun, but I didn't think I'd actually be able to use them someday.

  "Hmm!" Xu Lian nodded in satisfaction and said: "The battlefield will be handed over to Chi Pai first, I want to attend a meeting, come with me!"

  He said so and didn't care whether I agreed or not, turned around and took the security guard towards the small alley behind him.

  A group of people were moving back and forth among the rubble, with occasional explosions of shells nearby, and from time to time, they could hear the whistling sound of planes in the air. However, Xu Lianchang and a few others seemed to have gotten used to all this, using the cover of buildings to move forward in a crouching position, sometimes running and sometimes stopping, until they arrived at a defensive line made up of barbed wire and sandbags.

  "Peace!"

  "Reporting for duty! It's actually Commander Xu. The chief of staff was just asking about you..." An officer waved at Commander Xu from a distance.

  "Wen Jing brother, the military situation is urgent, I won't bother with formalities!" Commander Xu hastily nodded to the officer and led us across the defense line.

  I noticed that the soldiers guarding this defense line were all well-equipped, with two light machine guns and a Markov heavy machine gun, as if they were protecting someone...

  But all these were not what this little squad leader could ask, so he quietly followed Xu Lianzhang and continued to move forward. After crossing two defense lines, entering a brick house and climbing up to the second floor along the wooden ladder, turning around and stepping into a conference room.

  On the north wall of the conference room, a large map was hung, above which was a blue sky with a white sun flag. On either side were portraits of Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek. In the center of the conference room, a long table was placed, surrounded by military officers who were engaged in heated discussions. Many of them looked pale and were unable to sit or stand still.

  Xu Lianchang nodded and greeted the officers while finding a seat at the back. Myself and the guard naturally didn't have a place to sit, so we stood a few steps behind him.

  Before I could even stand still, a loud and clear shout was heard: "Deputy Commander Tong has arrived!"

  Everyone in the conference room immediately stopped talking and stood up straight from their seats with a "whoosh".

  Deputy General Tong? Upon hearing this, my head suddenly felt hot... Isn't that Lieutenant General Tong Lin's deputy? The same one who is about to sacrifice himself as the commander of the military training corps in this battle...

  At this time, I couldn't help but wonder, Xu Lianchang was just a company commander, how could he be qualified to attend such a high-level meeting? But thinking about it quickly made sense, now Tong Lin Ge's deputy army commander, although the name is only one regiment in his hand, and there are only three battalion commanders and nine company commanders plus several chief of staff, so Xu Lianchang can participate in such a meeting It's not surprising at all, even someone like me who has just been promoted to platoon leader can bask in the glory.

  It wasn't until later that I realized the reason I was able to stand in this conference room was because I was the first person to discover that our two friendly armies had retreated. Colonel Xu was worried that the deputy commander might have something to ask me!

  "Gentlemen!" The man had not yet arrived, but his words had already reached me. Just as I was lost in thought, a square-faced general with full armor strode in with large steps. He walked to the center of the long table, gestured for the officers on both sides to sit down, and then solemnly said: "The reason for summoning you all here today is that there is an important matter to discuss..."

  Then he let out a long sigh and said: "I think you all have received the news, no! The original 132nd Division and Cavalry Ninth Division on both wings of our army... Withdrew an hour ago, my troops are now fighting alone..."

  "Vice General!" Before Tong Lin Ge could finish speaking, an officer stood up and said: "What are we waiting for? Let's retreat quickly! If we don't leave now, it will be too late!"

  "Yes, Vice General!" Another person chimed in, "We have only about 5,000 men, while the little devils have tens of thousands. The gap between our equipment and troop quality is huge. I think it's better to retreat first..."

  "Right! Now fighting against the Japanese army is no different from hitting a stone with an egg. Retreat is the best option!"

  ……

  The conference room suddenly became noisy again, with a large number of voices calling for withdrawal.

  Tong Lin Ge didn't speak, he remained silent for a moment, raised his hand to wait for the crowd to quiet down, and then slowly said: "I also know that at this time there is only one way to retreat, but have you all thought about it? We are a military training team with no combat experience. Such an army can still be controlled when stationed in place, but once we retreat... it will quickly become a situation where the soldiers collapse like a mountain, and I'm afraid that if we're not careful... it will be a complete defeat!"

  I have to admit that Tong Lin's concerns are very reasonable. Generally, people may think that a head-on battle is difficult, but in fact, retreating is even more difficult. A successful retreat requires the organization of troops to layer by layer block and cover each other while fighting and withdrawing, so as to ensure the safety of the entire army. To achieve this, it can be said that only seasoned soldiers who are not flustered in times of crisis can do it, whereas new recruits like those in the military training team may easily become disorganized and run wildly to the rear, which is not called a retreat but rather a rout. The result is often being pursued and killed by the enemy, followed by encirclement and annihilation...

  "Attention!" At this time, a chief of staff walked in with several documents in his hand and stood upright to report to Tong Lin Ge: "This is the result of our reconnaissance. According to reliable information, the Japanese army is gathering tanks..."

  As soon as this remark came out of the conference room, it immediately caused another stir.

  Some people even stood up and shouted: "Make a quick decision! Vice General, it's better to fight to the death than to sit and wait for death!"

  "Zhang Yuan!" Tong Lin Ge took the document and looked at it, then asked his chief of staff after a moment of silence: "As for the Japanese army's troop deployment... are there any new reconnaissance results?"

  The chief of staff nodded, holding the command baton and pointing to the map behind him: "The latest situation is like this. The Japanese army has deployed a brigade's strength in front of me, and there are also two battalions that are surrounding us from both sides. It's very clear...the Japanese army wants to surround us and swallow us up at once! I think this is also the reason why they have not launched an attack on us for so long!"

  "Hmm!" Tong Lin Ge nodded and furrowed his brow, asking: "What's your take on this?"

  "We can't stay here!" The chief of staff also had the same view as other officers, and he said with some difficulty: "Deputy army commander, the Central Army is still far away from my unit, and distant water cannot solve the thirst. Commander...".

  The chief of staff didn't say anything else and just shook his head helplessly.

  As someone familiar with history, I of course know that the Chief of Staff's mention of "Jun Zu" refers to Song Zheyuan, the commander of the 29th Army. Since the July 7th Incident, this commander has always held illusions about resolving the conflict peacefully and even ordered the dismantling of Beiping's defenses in order not to provoke the Japanese... Such a commander would naturally not send troops to support Nan Yuan.

  What we are going to face is not only the brutal and evil Japanese army, but also many generals who cannot correctly judge the situation and destroy the Great Wall!

  Tong Lin Ge could only helplessly sigh and nodded his head saying: "Retreat! Immediately come up with a plan..."

  Upon hearing this, I couldn't help but feel a surge of anxiety. No longer caring that I was just a low-ranking officer without the right to speak, I took a step forward and loudly said: "Vice Commander, we can't retreat!"