Chapter 14 Tai'erzhuang "Three-day Tour" Ticket (Part 2)

  The first real combat meeting since the 100th Regiment was established was very unsuccessful.

  When the meeting began, in response to Cheng Jiashi's proposal that all participating officers speak freely about how to formulate the next battle plan, all the participating officers remained silent.

  For a moment, the atmosphere of the meeting was very depressing, and the whole scene was frozen there.

  Actually, this is mainly because Cheng Kejie was too subjective. He only thought about how to promote military democracy and let all officers work together. However, he ignored an important objective factor, which is that the National Army has never had a tradition of military democracy. In this army, the doctrine of absolute obedience is revered. Even if someone has their own ideas about the next combat action of the 100th Division, they would rather discuss it with their direct superiors in private. And it's usually one level finding one level, generally no one will bypass levels to offer advice. Because that would be seen as extreme disrespect for one's superior, and would definitely lead to trouble later on.

  While Yu Juncai, Gao Shiyong and other heavyweight figures were unwilling to speak up, they wanted to exchange opinions with Cheng Jiaji in private. This way, they could better express their opinions to the superiors and avoid getting into a dilemma where they might disagree with Cheng Jiaji, the main official, in public. The deputy commanders, regimental chiefs of staff, and battalion commanders below them did not dare to steal the show.

  After all, this is also because Cheng Jiaji has too little social experience and almost no political status in the original time and space. This situation actually continued until his original time and space. Haven't you seen that whenever a government department with some level holds an important meeting, it's always necessary to hold several preparatory meetings in advance?

  This preparatory meeting is actually a time for the participants to communicate with the leaders in private, so as to avoid the situation where the conference cannot be held due to disagreements. Therefore, at that time and space, generally speaking, important meetings have already been concluded before they are officially convened, and what remains is just a general procedure on the surface.

  When Cheng Jiaji suddenly realized the mystery after careful consideration, he was about to prepare the medicine according to the prescription and let everyone discuss it in groups for ten minutes.

  The heinous Japanese imperialism obviously did not intend to give Zhang Jiaji time to implement military democracy. A small messenger soldier sent from the Zhuangzi interrupted the progress of the 100th Independent Brigade's militarization of democracy, which was about to turn a small corner and get on the right track.

  "Report to the seat, Deputy Commander Xing's handwritten letter." The little soldier directly handed over this blood-stained letter to Cheng Jiaji.

  Cheng Jiaji took the letter from the young soldier's hand, which still had a strong smell of blood and dust. After finishing reading it, his expression turned heavy, even his breathing became heavy.

  When Cheng Jiaji handed the letter to Yu Juncai, who was standing beside him and had already mentally prepared himself for the news that would not bring any excitement, he still felt a shock in his heart as soon as he saw the content of the letter, and his hand trembled so much that he almost dropped the letter on the ground.

  There were more than 100 words in the letter.

  "Commander, after entering the village of Tai'erzhuang from the east, our advance was initially smooth. Less than half an hour into the battle, we had already recovered the southeastern corner of the village with the support of the 30th Division. However, the enemy launched a frenzied counterattack, and our defenses have largely collapsed. The remaining positions are on the verge of collapse. I request that you urgently dispatch powerful reinforcements; otherwise, my unit will be able to hold out for no more than one hour. This is an urgent plea. Signed: Xing Yusheng. April 5th, 9:11."

  Although there is no mention of casualties, Xing Yusheng, who usually reports good news but not bad news, admitted that most of the positions have collapsed, which shows how critical the situation has become.

  Yu Juncai's understanding of his deputy may have led to the collapse of the troops in Zhuangzi, and Xing Yusheng's report may be just a precautionary measure for the travel department.

  Yu Juncai couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine as he thought about it. Two regiments and one battalion of mortar troops were actually only able to hold out for two hours in the village, how many more troops would the Independent 100th Brigade need to throw into this bottomless pit that was Zhangzi Village in order to complete the command from HQ to defend Tai'erzhuang for three days or more?

  At the same time, inside Tai'erzhuang, the position of the 100th Independent Brigade.

  Yu Juncai should say that he is quite familiar with his deputy's character. The situation in Zhuangzi is actually more critical than what Xing Yusheng said in the letter.

  The troops led by Xing Yusheng have actually been basically annihilated by the Japanese army, and only a few remaining soldiers are left to drag on.

  Only two or three companies of the troops were able to maintain their organization and put up effective resistance. Even these few companies were split up by the Japanese army, with each one fighting separately in a corner, unable to support each other. The rest of the troops were either scattered and fleeing in disarray through the villages, or had already been annihilated by the Japanese. Of course, there were also many who tried to escape from the village, but most of them had been killed by the Japanese artillery fire, which was surprisingly accurate, while they were on their way to retreat from the battlefield.

  Although the battle was very disorganized, under Xing Yusheng's command, several organized companies were still firmly pinned down in the village with the support of mortar fire. Their presence greatly alleviated the pressure on the remnants of the 31st Division at another corner. Not only did it allow the 31st Division to catch its breath, but also took advantage of the Japanese army concentrating its main force on the Independent 100th Brigade's position to recover part of the lost ground from yesterday.

  However, the good times for the Chinese army won't last long. As soon as the Japanese army concentrates its troops to deal with Xing Yusheng's unit, the 31st Division's position will not be able to hold out for much longer. The 31st Division naturally understands this logic and sent out troops to launch several attacks, attempting to occupy a small courtyard that was just taken by the Japanese army, in order to establish contact with the Independent 100th Brigade's troops in the village. However, the Japanese defense was too strong, and none of the attacks were successful, resulting in over 100 casualties. This made the commander of the 31st Division so anxious that he jumped up and down, but there was nothing they could do about the Japanese company defending this small courtyard.

  Xing Yusheng was also anxious and furious at this time. Today, as soon as he entered the village, he successfully took down one corner of the palm-sized village, eliminated about two small teams of Japanese soldiers, and built simple fortifications. He thought that even if the Japanese army attacked fiercely, he could hold on for half a day.

  But unexpectedly, the Japanese army fought with the Chinese military in this village for a whole week and had already learned it thoroughly. They even carefully measured the artillery firing data of all the occupied areas in the village, and may have conducted on-site firing exercises more than once.

  Alright, a barrage of incredibly accurate artillery fire came pouring in. Not only were the new recruits under Xing Yusheng's command scattered all over the place, but an entire squad was buried under a collapsed house, with not a single person escaping.

  Originally, if Xing Yusheng's subordinates were ordinary troops, they could at least hold out for a while. But among the thousand or so men under his command, more than 80% were new recruits who had just enlisted ten days ago. It was already quite good that these new recruits could charge forward with a burst of courage when they went into battle, but they couldn't withstand the intense artillery fire from the Japanese.

  Good grief, several companies collapsed in an instant, abandoning their positions and fleeing outside the village. Other troops also wavered. If it weren't for the Japanese unleashing a fierce barrage of artillery fire at this moment, covering more than half of the soldiers who had fled their positions in blood on the open ground, instantly stunning those who wanted to escape. Then there would hardly be anyone left on the 199th Regiment's position.

  The Japanese killed about 100 to 200 people from the 199th regiment, but objectively helped the 199th regiment stabilize its position. The government soldiers saw that retreating was also a dead end, and they desperately fought back like driving ducks onto a shelf.

  Although the troops of the 199th Division were still struggling to hold on, Xing Yusheng knew in his heart that relying on the Japanese artillery tactics that could escort infantry forward step by step with mortars, their own troops would not be able to hold out for much longer. It was better to disperse and fight guerrilla warfare to make the Japanese headache. The problem was that now the troops were in this state, once dispersed, whether they could gather back, he really had no bottom line. If these last few hundred people became scattered soldiers again, it would be completely finished.

  Xing Yusheng thought to himself, "If it's like this, unclear and uncertain, then I'd rather die in the village. If reinforcements arrive on time or the 31st Division can pull themselves together, there might still be a glimmer of hope. Otherwise, it's just a matter of handing over my life here! After all, I've been fighting for over a decade, and living to today is already a gain. As for retreating, that's absolutely impossible. Not to mention the Japanese artillery fire blocking the way, even if I could retreat across the floating bridge, the military law enforcement team wouldn't let me off as the commander of the front line. Rather than dying by my own gun, I'd rather fight to the end. At worst, I'll become a martyr of the resistance war. After all, the compensation for this hundred troops isn't bad, and I'm not afraid that my wife and children won't be able to make ends meet."

  Just as Xing Yusheng had made up his mind to fight to the end in his heart.

  Wen Songyuan led a battalion across the Tongzhou Canal floating bridge and into Tiazhuang.