The first battle of Ba Maw's collection, Mi Long joins

  In January 1938, the Japanese army began to move north after occupying Nanjing, preparing to merge with the Japanese North China Front Army in Xuzhou to open up the north-south transportation line. The Japanese 13th Division crossed the Yangtze River on January 26 and advanced to the east bank of Chihe, Anhui Province. The Chinese defending army, the 21st Group Army's 31st Corps, blocked the enemy on the west bank of Chihe and retreated to the area west of Dingyuan and Fengyang after a fierce battle. The main force of the Japanese 13th Division pursued them, while simultaneously sending part of its troops along the Bianpu and Hongxin rivers. After capturing Bianpu, the Japanese army encountered strong resistance from the 113th Brigade of the 51st Corps, which originally belonged to the Northeast Army, at Yinhe River. The 113th Brigade fought a delaying action against the Japanese army in units of regiments and battalions along the high ground of the front line.

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  "Zhi Bang Ge, what kind of cannon is this from the Japanese? The noise is so loud that my ears are almost deafened!" In a hastily dug simple trench, new recruit Li Weiguo of the 51st Army's 113th Division tightly hugged his Hanyang-made rifle and shrunk inside, pressing his entire body close to the trench. This was an effective method to prevent being hit by enemy artillery that his instructor had repeatedly warned them about during their training in boot camp.

  "Spit... I don't know either, the little devils have been firing cannons for half a day, why haven't we heard our own cannons fire?" Zhao Zhibang, who was next to Li Weiguo, was also on the battlefield for the first time. Like all new recruits, he tightly hugged his rifle and shrunk his head as much as possible inside. After the cannonball exploded and dust flew into his mouth, he spat out a wad of saliva and shouted back loudly.

  "Gua wa zi, that's the devils' mortar fire, Ge Lao Zi Di Guai Er Zi is really generous oh... ... it's been a long time since we've been hit like this... ... how come the devils' mortar fire is so much louder than our own artillery?!" Next to speak was Sichuan soldier Wu Fayun, originally named Wu Yunfa, who belonged to the 41st Army, 122nd Division of the 22nd Group Army of the Sichuan Military.

  On the way to support the Battle of Niangzi Pass in Shanxi, he saw not only wounded soldiers withdrawing from the front line but also truckloads of soldier corpses. Although he had heard about the cruelty of the Japanese devils before leaving Sichuan and had made some mental preparation, what he saw now completely exceeded his imagination. Looking at the old rifles on their shoulders, he took advantage of the opportunity to mix with soldiers from another battalion during the rapid march and became a deserter.

  Later, he arrived at the 51st Army's training and recruitment area in Shanxi Province, where he changed his name to Wu Fayun and became a new recruit. Even he himself couldn't explain why he returned to the army again, whether it was due to a guilty conscience or because he couldn't find any other way to make a living besides being a soldier.

  He had been a soldier for many years, but all of them were in Sichuan and had not fought any decent battles. At that time, the Sichuan army was undisciplined, liked to be lazy and slippery, and many soldiers wore civilian clothes. In addition, he liked to use foul language, so no one in the new barracks liked him at that time, including Zhao Zhibang and Li Weiguo. The two of them and Wu Fayun were in the same company during their training in the new barracks and lived in the same camp.

  The equipment of the Sichuan Army is considered to be one of the worst in the country. Usually, a regiment or even a brigade can only have a few mortars, and because of the limited ammunition, most of the time they can only pretend to have them. Wu Fayun had never heard of, let alone seen, howitzers or other heavy artillery, and in his mind, it seemed that there was only one type of light weapon - mortars.

  "Sichuan dude, you turtle grandson, don't pretend to understand when you don't. Do you think this is Sichuan? This is a foreigner's howitzer! I bet those soldier kids from Sichuan haven't even heard of it!"

  "You're so arrogant, you're so fierce, how did you let the little devil from Northeast escape? And not even firing a shot..." Wu Fayun looked up and glanced at the Northeastern old soldier who had just scolded him, then muttered under his breath in a low voice, using the words of the new recruits he trained with: "He's just a bully who preys on the weak and fears the strong." The reason he said this was that when he first arrived at the recruit camp, he relied on his experience as a veteran soldier to bully others, especially the honest and kind Li Weiguo. After Zhao Zhibang had enough of him and fought with him, he became more subdued, but his mouth still didn't spare anyone. Now that he was in the Northeast Army, he knew that speaking like this would bring consequences when facing these burly men, so although he felt indignant, he only dared to mutter under his breath.

  "Brothers, the devils' artillery has stopped, and the infantry will start attacking soon. Everyone quickly checks their ammunition and takes a look at the brothers who have fallen down to see if they are still breathing..."

  The Japanese artillery fire had been booming for almost half an hour before it finally stopped. A lieutenant, wearing a middle-ranking military insignia, ran back and forth in the already heavily damaged trenches, shouting loudly.

  "Damn it, turtle son of a bitch! You've got me covered in dirt!" Ah, damn it! Mother...! Hand...! Long hand...! When he heard the officer's words, Wu Fayun closed his eyes and shook his head, shaking off the dust on his head while cursing. When he opened his eyes to get up, he felt that he had grabbed something soft and sticky in his hand. He opened his eyes to see that it was a severed human hand blown off by cannon fire, with congealed blood and mud mixed together into a dark color. Terrified, he let out a loud scream and then trembled as he threw away the bloody severed hand.

  "Ah..." It was unclear whether he did it unintentionally or on purpose, but in any case, the severed hand landed right in Li Weiguo's hands, which were 2 meters away from him. This startled Li Weiguo into another loud shriek. Zhao Zhibang, who was standing nearby, almost threw up at the sight.

  "Zhang Damao, what are you guys doing? Don't you know the devils are about to launch an attack?" Just then a middle-aged soldier wearing a single-layer military uniform walked into the trench, cursing as he went. He was tall and sturdy, with a strong back and waist, clearly a typical Northeasterner. His open uniform revealed his robust chest muscles and thick chest hair. In his left hand he held a large knife, while in his right hand he brandished a **, looking fierce as he ran over.

  "Reporting to the team leader, these new recruits were just scared by the broken hands blown away by the devil's howitzer, and I immediately organized them to defend." Seeing that it was their own team leader Guo Jinan, Battalion Commander Zhang Daman hastily stepped forward and stood at attention.

  "What's your name? How old are you this year?" Guo Jinan ignored Zhang Daman and walked straight to Li Weiguo, who was still shaking with his broken arm thrown on the ground.

  "R-report, r-report, sir! My name is Li Weiguo, I'm f-fifteen... no, eighteen this year!" Li Weiguo didn't know if he hadn't woken up from the fear just now or was scared by the team leader who rushed straight to him, speaking stutteringly and appearing very frightened.

  "Brothers, the big battle is imminent. In terms of weapons and equipment, in terms of firepower, the little devils are stronger than us. Some people say that we're going out to fight them with such broken toys, it's simply 'the Star of Longevity hanging himself, dissatisfied with living too long'. But I want to tell everyone that the devils are also born from their mothers, one shot and they'll have a hole in them just the same." Guo Jinan took Li Weiguo's Hanyang rifle from his hand, loudly finished speaking, then threw the gun back at him.

  "Most of the brothers here followed me, Guo Jizhang, from Northeast China to retreat outside the pass. It's a shame for our Northeast Army and also a shame for us Chinese... I don't know if this brother is from Northeast or not, maybe he has gone ahead of us. What I want to tell you is that behind us, 30 million compatriots in the four eastern provinces are watching us. 'The brave will win when the road is narrow.' Dying for the country is also a good deed! Guo Jizhang said while picking up the severed hand thrown on the ground by Li Weiguo, wiping off the dirt and handing it to Jing Wei beside him: "Rather die as a war ghost than live as a slave. This battle is the first battle of our 113th division against Japan. If we don't succeed, we'll sacrifice ourselves. I, Guo, will definitely share life and death with you brothers and never live alone in hiding..."

  "Arrived at the destination safely."

  "You are the ones who hold the entire defensive line's most forward position, and it is also the first barrier of my regiment. Even if you are left with only one person, I want you to be like a nail that nails yourself to the position, as long as you are in the position, even if you are not there, I still want you to guarantee that the position is still there."

  "Don't worry, comrade, we swear to live and die with the regiment." After listening to the battalion commander's speech, Zhang Daman quickly stood at attention, puffed out his chest, and gave Guo Jinan a standard military salute.

  "Considering the pressure you will face, I've 'pulled' a platoon back under your command. Remember that although this small hill is strategically located and easy to defend, its area is too small with no room for maneuvering. So, you must deploy your troops reasonably, keep a reserve force, and don't let those little devils wipe you out with just a few rounds."

  It is, yes, this, that, these, those.

  "Zhang 'Mi' Long!" Guo Jinan called out after saluting Zhang Damao with a military salute.

  Following the sound, a tall and majestic young man with a Czech-style machine gun on his shoulder came running over.

  "This 'stead' machine gun and this man I also 'entrust' to you, you must hold the position for me, kill those little devils of Japan" Guo Jinan said, not waiting for Zhang Daman's response, he strode out of the trench.

  "Please rest assured, I will definitely complete the task... Kill those little devils!" Zhang Damao raised his right hand and gave a standard military salute, shouting loudly at the back of Guo Jinan who had already left.