The First Sacrifice of the Lonely City: Blood War Chapter 28: Never Abandon (Part 2)
Cui Zhijun obviously didn't put Xu Tu'an, this follower, in his eyes. He called Song Yuanhang the Chief of Staff instead of the Deputy Commander of City Defense, which was a reminder to Song Yuanhang that you can't control me.
Song Yuanhang was furious with Cui Zhijun, but Cui Zhijun had struck a sore spot - what to do with the wounded?
The officers present all chose silence, closing their mouths, and the atmosphere in the entire underground room suddenly became strange.
Song Yuanhang's options were actually not many. One was to break through with the wounded, and the result might be that everyone would die together. The second was to abandon the wounded and break through, which would have a relatively higher success rate. However, both of these options were extremely painful for Song Yuanhang, because he needed time, and it had to be enough time for the breakthrough troops to get out of the range of the Japanese army's pursuit.
Cui Zhijun saw Song Yuanghai silently, and loudly said: "The plan of General Song is not to be mentioned, but we all know it in our hearts. I think that since the establishment of the 200th Division, we have been fighting against the little devils, and our officers have changed four times! When were the brothers of the 200th Division afraid of death? Have they ever surrendered or raised a white flag? Now the division commander is gone, Wu Battalion Commander and Zheng Battalion Commander are also gone, and the troops are broken. However, in these days, General Song has led the battle, and everyone can see it clearly. I am confident that I can lead this group of brothers to defend the position without any problem! I only ask one thing from General Song!"
Song Yuanhang gazed at Cui Zhi-Jun with an expressionless face and nodded slightly. Cui Zhi-Jun continued, "Please, General Song, lead the troops to break through the siege. As long as one person can escape, the 200th Division will still exist! It's also good for the tens of thousands of souls who have sacrificed over the years to have a home. Best of all, we can set up a monument for our brothers and have a place to burn incense on special occasions."
Cui Zhijun's loud and clear voice echoed in the basement, and Song Yuanhang's heart trembled! He knew it wasn't that the Chinese army didn't value wounded soldiers, but rather they didn't have the conditions! Soldiers with rich combat experience are the core of a unit's fighting strength. Wounded soldiers who return after recovery are often the most elite, and with just a bit of training, their elites can form special forces in the simplest sense.
In those bright eyes, Song Yuanghai seemed to see a spirit, a stubborn and unyielding spirit for the nation. Among nearly 2,000 wounded soldiers, as long as there were medical conditions, about 70% of them could return to the combat sequence, and most of these people were grassroots officers and non-commissioned officers of the 200th Division themselves. Give up such a precious wealth?
Song Yuanhang suddenly and fiercely realized that the current situation of the 200th Division had given him a rare opportunity. If he had a seasoned army in his hands, changing the course of history would not be an empty phrase.
Song Yuanhang, who ultimately yearned for power, made a third choice, and under the guise of preparing to build his own team for the future, he started to work on the great cause of resisting Japan.
When he thought of this, Song Yuanhang waved his hand to signal silence, looked around and said loudly: "I told you when I took over as deputy commander of the city defense that I would not abandon anyone. I won't let you shed blood and then shed tears! After breaking through the siege, those who are injured and disabled will be taken care of by me, and those who recover from their injuries, I hope you can come back and fight against the Japanese devils with me! Every debt of blood owed by the Japanese must be repaid in blood.
Song Yuanhang's impassioned speech unexpectedly fell flat, all the wounded soldiers looked at this deputy commander of the city defense who had led them in battle for many days with bewildered eyes, they simply did not believe that anyone could lead them to break out of the siege from Tonggu City which was surrounded by the Japanese army like an iron bucket.
Song Yuanhang understood the meaning and immediately decided to gather officers in the basement to study the breakout plan in front of the wounded.
The so-called research was just Song Yuanhang's "one-word hall", and the plan was very simple, which was to take advantage of the heavy rain on April 6th, organize a dare-to-die team to launch a surprise attack on the Japanese army's command system inside the ancient city, use the two tanks buried in the backyard to cooperate with the breakout troops, and take advantage of the chaos to break through the junction of the 55th and 56th divisions and cross the river.
There were serious differences between Song Yuanhang and Cui Zhijun on who would command the assault team.
In Cui Zhi-jun's view, although Song Yuan-hang has been commanding well these days, he is still too tender to lead the dare-to-die corps in such a life-risking mission, and only someone with his rich experience can do it.
Facing Cui Zhi-jun's questioning, Song Yuan-hang furrowed his brow, quickly disassembling the M1911A semi-automatic pistol in his hand, and rapidly reassembling it while saying: "Deputy Commander Cui, do you understand Japanese? Do you know where the Japanese military command is located? How can you guarantee the completion of the mission?"
Just as he was speaking, Song Yuanhang's pistol in his hand had been assembled, and with a click, he pulled the slide back, turned the pistol over in his hand, and placed it satisfactorily on the table.
Chui Zhi Jun was stunned by Song Yuanhang's beautiful decomposition and combination of moves! However, Song Yuanhang's three questions left him speechless.
Song Yuanhang smiled slightly: "If you don't know Japanese, how can you get through the layers of Japanese military checkpoints? If we can't break into the important targets of the Japanese army to cover our troops' breakout, once the dare-to-die squad's attack fails to hold back the Japanese army, then the breakout troops will be in a desperate situation!"
Cui Zhijun was about to speak, but Song Yuanhang grasped his hand and squeezed it hard, saying: "This is not the time for a heroic struggle. The lives of thousands of brothers in the Dare-to-Die Corps are at stake, and if no high-ranking officer from the 200th Division can escape, then the 200th Division will cease to exist!"
"Listen to my plan first!" Song Yuanhang stared at Cui Zhijun with a fiery gaze!
Helpless, Choi Ji-joon could only nod his head...
Cui Zhijun was thoroughly convinced by Song Yuanhang, because in terms of special operations, he and Song Yuanhang were not even on the same level. Faced with Song Yuanhang's novel tactics and terminology, as well as his perfect plans and multiple contingency schemes, Cui Zhijun felt that his years at military school had been wasted, and so had his years as a soldier!
Once feeling inferior, Cui Zhijun couldn't believe that the boastful Song Dashi in front of him was the legendary wine bag and rice bucket. If Song Yuanhang is a wine bag and rice bucket, what about himself? Is he even worse than a wine bag and rice bucket?
Under the arrangement of Song Yuanhang, Cui Zhijun was responsible for assisting Xu Tu'an in organizing the troops to break through. While Song Yuanhang chose a chubby lieutenant named Xiao Guodong as his deputy commander.
Cui Zhijun scoffed at Song Yuanghai's claim that the Allies' weather forecast on April 5th predicted heavy rain, thinking that the British couldn't even get the number of Japanese troops entering Burma right and were often misled by incorrect intelligence. How could their intelligence be trusted? People still hadn't figured out the situation clearly, yet they were trying to predict the weather?
