Chapter 6: Half Day, Hundred Miles
The silent mountains were awakened by the thunder-like footsteps, and the pheasants and rabbits that had lived in these mountains for thousands of years were startled. They flew about in a panic, and one rabbit, possibly dazed, ran into a pine tree on the slope and rolled down to the road where the troops were marching. Normally, someone would have picked it up by now and taken it back to improve their meals. But today, people just ran past the stunned rabbit one after another without stopping for a moment.
"Hurry up, catch up with the ones behind!" Sun Lin, the deputy commander of the 9th company of the 3rd battalion of the 217th regiment, shouted loudly, and casually grabbed the rifle from a soldier next to him who looked a bit weaker, slinging it over his shoulder. At this point, he already had no less than four or five rifles on his back. But Sun Lin, who had been practicing martial arts since childhood, seemed to feel nothing out of the ordinary.
"Deputy company commander, I'll take it myself!" The soldier begged, stretching out his hand to retrieve his own rifle.
"Get out! You'd better run faster for me, or I'll deal with you. Don't drag my hind legs, or see how I'll clean you up."
The soldier had no choice but to follow the troops and run forward.
In the rolling dust, people are running with all their might. If viewed from the sky, the mountain road is like a giant dragon coiling around, neither its head nor tail can be seen. Quite magnificent!
"Sun Lin, where is your horse?"
Sun Lin turned his head, and it was Li Sheng, the commander of the 3rd Battalion's cavalry company of the 217th Regiment. He couldn't help but smile, "Damn it, I came in a hurry and accidentally sprained my leg on the stone cave, so I had to throw it behind me. Are you guys coming up too?"
Li Sheng pulled the reins, and the war horse's front hooves lifted off the ground, spinning a half-circle in mid-air before landing: "The commander's orders are to rush to Xifengkou at top speed. If those little devils occupy Xifengkou, we'll be under too much pressure."
Sun Lin nodded and said, "Mm, then you go quickly, our marching speed is already at the limit, you go first, we will arrive soon after."
Two people exchanged a glance and passed each other by, three battalions of cavalry galloped past the 217th Regiment in a whirlwind, disappearing into the mountain road.
"Damn it, cavalry is indeed mighty!"
Spitting out the sand in his mouth, Sun Lin muttered to himself in a low voice.
At the same time, Deputy Commander He Jikun of the 109th Brigade stationed at Lengkou also received orders from the Military Department and the Division Headquarters to rush to Xifengkou immediately and hand over the defense line of Lengkou to Shang Zhen of the Second Army Corps.
After reading the order, He Ji's calm and waveless face did not show any expression.
He let out a sigh and muttered to himself: "The enemy is too strong, this battle is going to be tough!"
He stood up, with his hands behind his back, gazing out the window at the cavalry regiment training, two cold glints flashing in his eyes: "But, no matter how bad it is, we have to fight!"
In the military camp, more than 700 horses were lined up in an orderly manner, occasionally raising their heads to let out a loud neigh, but not one of them moved randomly, nor did they whinny. Beside each warhorse stood a soldier, wearing uniform leather riding breeches and black boots that shone with luster. Swords hung at their waists, guns held in hand, motionless as they gazed at their deputy commander.
In the wind, the red tassels on the warrior's horse's bridle danced, like joyful flames.
This cavalry regiment was built up by Song Zheyuan with great effort, and the investment in this regiment is greater than that of three ordinary regiments. Compared to the 29th Army's somewhat extravagant economy, the investment in the cavalry regiment is not small. When other troops were still wearing old cotton-padded jackets, the soldiers of the cavalry regiment already had leather coats, riding breeches, sharp sabers and German-imported carbines.
But compared with the combat effectiveness of the cavalry regiment, these investments are still worthwhile.
He wore a plain blue cotton uniform, the only difference from ordinary soldiers was the shoulder badge on his shoulders that showed he was a lieutenant general.
This is also why the soldiers admire their deputy brigade commander.
"He Qiying spoke up, 'Superior orders, the Cold Mouth Cavalry Regiment is to immediately rush to Xifengkou. At this time when our country and nation are facing numerous difficulties, we soldiers who have been nurtured by the people should be willing to die for our country. Even if we die in battle and our bodies are wrapped in horsehide, so what! If anyone dies in this battle, I will request recognition of their merit and they will be a hero. But if anyone shrinks back in fear, then I'm sorry, I will personally shoot them dead, that is eternal shame!'"
Warriors' eyes one by one jumped with fighting hope.
He Jiabao drew out his horse knife, held it upright in front of him, with the back of the blade against his nose, and said loudly: "To die in battle is glorious, to survive by stealth is shameful!"
Warriors drew their swords in unison and held them up in front of their faces, shouting in unison: "Dying in battle is glorious, surviving by stealth is shameful!"
"Let's go!"
He Ji stretched out his hand and pulled the reins of his beloved horse "Black Dragon", leaped onto its back, and the all-black shiny Black Dragon raised its head and let out a long neigh. Its front hooves lifted up and then heavily fell to the ground, and then shot out of the camp gate like an arrow.
The earth is shaking, horseshoes trample the soaring smoke and dust, like kitchen smoke, straight into the clouds.
Mengzi Mountain 20 miles outside Xifengkou
Li Datou, the battalion commander of the 3rd Battalion of Wanfu Lin's division, was like an ant on a hot pot, rubbing his hands and circling around in his comfortable house! Although it was a front-line position, Li Datou had someone bring back earth, stone, and wood from the village at the foot of the mountain on the first day of defense and built himself a spacious big house. He also brought back a ** woman from Zunhua City and spent his days indulging in wine and women, ignoring all defensive matters.
He originally thought this was a small place and no one would notice, but unexpectedly, the Japanese had already taken note of this place before he could even enjoy it for long.
As the battalion commander stationed at Mengzi Mountain, he now hates to give up this position to someone else. Originally, relying on his relationship as the younger brother of Wan Fulin's third wife, he thought that after staying in this place for a few days and returning, he could be promoted to regimental commander. Unexpectedly, the Japanese chose this time to attack Xifengkou. He can't leave even if he wants to.
"What bad luck! Why did you have to come at this time and not earlier or later?" Li Da Tou muttered to himself.
He also thought about sneaking back, but if the superiors found out, his brother-in-law might not be able to save him either. The crime of deserting at this critical moment was enough to warrant being shot ten times.
"Yingzuo, don't worry about it, maybe the Japanese will retreat without warning!" A heavily made-up woman brought a cup of wine with a smile to Li Datou's face.
"Fall back a bit, wait for them to retreat, and I'll have hung myself from the tree long ago!" Li Datou slammed his wine cup to the ground.
A bright red liquid flowed out, dyeing a piece of carpet on the ground red.
No way, I still have to leave, staying here is waiting for death. Even if I get caught, my brother-in-law will plead on my behalf, and I should be able to keep my life intact.
Li Datou thought of this, put on his outer garment, and then wore a common soldier's cotton-padded jacket over it, heading towards the door.
That woman rushed over and hugged Li Da Tou's leg, crying and begging: "Commander, take me with you, please!"
Li Datou kicked the woman's hand away with one foot and ran out without looking back.
The patrolling soldier asked: "Battalion commander, where are you going?"
Li Datou hastily replied: "I'm going to inspect the defenses, this is a military secret, don't tell anyone else!"
He finished speaking and slipped away.
The patrolling soldier didn't mutter until he was out of sight: "You bastard, apart from drinking, playing cards and fooling around with women being military secrets, what else is a military secret?"
The woman in the house cried for a while before stopping her tears, getting up from the ground, opening the trunk, putting the valuable items that Li Datou didn't have time to take away into a small package, hanging it on her arm, and walking out of the house.
Soldiers came and went in the courtyard, but no one gave her a second glance, they all knew she was the woman Colonel Li had brought back himself.
The woman pretended to calm down and walked out of the sentry's line of sight, took a breath, and immediately ran away.
She had secretly decided that she would never return to Zunhua City again, and instead go to a place outside the pass to hide, the things in her bag were enough for her to live a safe and comfortable life for the rest of her life.
The soldiers at Mengzi Ridge could never have imagined that half an hour ago, their Commander Li had fled back to Xifengkou in fear of his life, leaving them waiting foolishly at Mengzi Ridge for the arrival of the Suzuki Brigade.
A mountain pass fifty miles outside of Xifengkou, where the 29th Army's soldiers had set up a temporary command post.
Zhao Dengyu jumped off his horse and strode into the makeshift command center, where several staff officers immediately came over to him. His orderly followed behind, taking the reins from Zhao's hand.
"How's the situation ahead?" Zhao Dengyu asked.
He just rushed over from behind, having not slept for two days and two nights, with bloodshot eyes, but still spirited.
The Chief of Staff replied, "The order to change defense has been issued. Wan Fulin has a total of two infantry regiments, one artillery battalion and one cavalry battalion inside and outside Xifengkou. There is also a battalion of troops on Mengzishan, with a total strength of over 10,000 people. Moreover, all the commanding heights and positions are under their control, so there shouldn't be any problems!"
Zhao Dengyu rubbed his temples, which were aching with pain, and shook his head. "I'm very familiar with Wan Fulin. He's greedy for life and afraid of death, selfish and self-serving. He's good at bullying the common people and extorting their wealth, but when it comes to real fighting, he's not even worth one-tenth of a person. His old troops are stationed here, to be honest, I'm a bit worried! When Ji Mou arrives, we should arrange for our troops to take over their positions as soon as possible!"
Before he had finished speaking, a sound of footsteps was heard outside the door, and He Ji rushed in, dusty and windblown, followed by the commander of the cavalry regiment.
Zhao Dengyu looked at He Jikui and smiled: "It's really 'speak of the devil', I was just talking about you!"
He Jikai also laughed and said: "I knew you were looking for me for no good reason!"
Two people walked shoulder-to-shoulder into headquarters, and all the staff officers had met with He Jiguo before.
Zhao Dengyu looked at He Jikui with some surprise, "You actually only spent half a day and ran over 140 kilometers to get here?"
He Jiangu put down his whip on the table and smiled: "How can I not be anxious about such a good job as beating the devils?"
Everyone in the house burst out laughing.
He Jiwen turned his head and saw Qin Yang beside Zhao Dengyu, then asked Zhao Dengyu: "Is this the Qin Yang you often mention? Indeed a heroic young man with an extraordinary demeanor!"
Qin Yang smiled calmly and said: "He Lü overpraised me, I just have a passion for it, how can I be as excellent as you said?"
Several people had not finished speaking when a faint sound of gunfire came, and the shed on top of the command post was shaken. Several people looked at each other in dismay and walked out of the command post.
Qin Yang knew what was going on and couldn't help but think he had missed another opportunity.
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This was originally a deleted chapter, but I really couldn't bear to part with it, so I revised and reused it. Friends who have read it before can take a rough look, tomorrow, the first brutal battle of Xifengkou - the Bloody Battle at the Gate will unfold, don't forget to watch it if you like it! Friends who like it, please collect and recommend more, this way I'll be even more motivated!
