The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 141 Guests from Nanjing
On this day, the Japanese attack came to an abrupt end after He Wei repelled the Japanese tank troops. Just as He Wei drove back to the main position of the Sixth Company, the Fourth Tank Battalion led the retreat of the remaining tanks. Captain Toshio Murai, however, suffered an indescribable mental blow.

When he returned to the original route and prepared to pick up the tanks that had been paralyzed by the Chinese infantry and retreat, what he saw was not the tanks that had been fully repaired as expected, but the tanks that had been damaged and riddled with holes. The tanks that were worth repairing and the corpses of the tank soldiers that were burned to coke, Toshio Murai had no choice but to quickly escape from this death zone with the tank squadron that lost more than half.

The attack of the Infantry No. 16 Regiment also stopped.

From the morning bombardment until the two sides stopped engaging in firefights, the No. 16 Wing was still unable to take down the Sixth Company's position, even with the support of the Japanese army's excellent staff operations, and suffered heavy casualties. The Japanese infantry who attacked the main position of the Sixth Company lost more than 500 people due to the light and heavy machine gun fire of the Sixth Company and the shelling of the Bofors Mountain Artillery and the Shanxi-Sui Army field artillery unit.

The Japanese cavalry that copied from the flanks were also all lost. A cavalry squadron and a cavalry heavy machine gun squad, totaling more than 200 people, were wiped out. Then, the losses of the raiding tank troops were also considerable, with nearly half of them destroyed. Two tanks were also captured by He Wei, causing heavy losses. After paying such heavy losses, the Japanese army still failed to occupy half an inch of the Sixth Company's position.

Of course, the losses of the national army were not small.

At the main position of the Sixth Company, when He Wei and the others returned to the position, there was an immediate commotion on the position. The reason was naturally the chariot driven back by He Wei. After He Wei drove the chariot to the rear of the position, there was not much After staying for a while, he asked people to find branches and camouflage nets to make a simple concealment disguise for the tank, and then hurried back to the main position of the sixth company.

There was no gunfire around now, and even the Japanese army's school-launched balloons had lowered. Obviously, the Japanese army had suspended the attack, but He Wei saw the position riddled with holes, and he was eager to know the losses of the Sixth Company.

In the command post of the Sixth Company, as soon as He Wei walked in, he saw Chen Zhen. He was sitting on a chair, smoking a cigarette. When He Wei came back, he didn't say much and directly handed over a battle report. The statistics were handed over to He Wei. The official casualties of various units of the Sixth Company were shown on it. It turned out that while He Wei was leaving, Chen Zhen was not idle, organizing the officers and soldiers of the Sixth Company to repair their positions and clean the battlefield. , while counting the casualties of each department.

The statistics of this battle report show the casualties of various parts of the Sixth Company. This time, the results were brilliant, but the price paid was also unprecedentedly heavy. For the Sixth Company itself, there were eight casualties in the first platoon. The third platoon suffered nine casualties, the second platoon suffered as many as 18 casualties, and the entire company had a total of 35 casualties.

However, this number does not actually include the various attached units. The heavy machine gun company of the second battalion assigned to the sixth company suffered 20 casualties, including a Jinling-made Type 71 heavy machine gun and a Jin-made imitation [-] heavy machine gun. It was blown up, and the mortar platoon suffered ten casualties. A Jinling-made [-] mortar was blown up. The casualties of the tank defense artillery platoon were smaller, with only six casualties. The entire sixth company and various attached units were injured. There were a total of [-] casualties. Compared with the results achieved, this number of casualties was not large.

However, if you include the third battalion that cooperated in the battle, the casualty figures are not very good. More than 200 people from the eighth infantry company and a heavy machine gun platoon of the third battalion were wiped out. When fighting the Japanese cavalry, the infantrymen of the third battalion were wiped out. The 300th Company also lost almost a platoon of troops, and the total casualties of the [-]rd Battalion were nearly [-].

It can be said that the price paid by the Chinese army in this battle was not small.

"The casualties are quite large."

He Wei sighed.

"You killed so many Japanese soldiers. To be honest, when we fight the Japanese army, it would be good if we can exchange two or three lives for one. In today's battle, you killed more than 500 Japanese infantry alone, not to mention 300 casualties. If there are multiple people, even 700 or 800 people are worth it, but you are really awesome, and you can also drive that Iron Bastard."

He Wei said: "Learned from the military academy."

"Then let's do this first. I will go to the back to find the communications platoon leader and report the situation of today's battle to the superiors. You stay and continue to strengthen the position and be careful of the Japanese counterattack."

Chen Zhen exchanged a few words with He Wei, then left the command post and went to the communications platoon to contact the rear. He Wei, as usual after the battle, patrolled the position and organized officers and soldiers to repair the position. Improve defense.

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In the command post of the No. 14 Army, Li Mo'an stared at the battle report in his hand and carefully analyzed the current battle situation. Since adjusting the combat policy, the focus of the No. 14 Army's operations is undoubtedly the 80th Division, No. 80 The Japanese troops facing the [-]rd Division and No. [-] [-]th Division had not made any major moves in the past few days. The two sides mostly came into contact with small-scale battles at the company and platoon level, and the fighting intensity was not intense.

On the contrary, the Tenth Division was constantly under heavy attack by the Japanese. Fortunately, the Tenth Division performed well and repeatedly inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese, especially the Yanzhuang position, which was firmly in the hands of the Tenth Division. Every day at the Yanzhuang position, Li Mo'an had to review the battle report word for word, and the lieutenant He Wei who was personally promoted by him did not let him down and played very well.

An army of thousands is easy to come by, but a general is hard to find. If He Wei could survive the battle at Xinkou, Li Mo'an planned to put him to good use, and had even made a move in his heart to recommend him to be admitted to the Army University.

He Wei has a formal academic qualification from Huangpu and actual combat experience in leading troops at the company and platoon level. If he obtains a regular academic qualification from the Army University, he will be qualified to serve as a team cadre and staff supervisor in the future. As long as he is trained and trained, he will definitely be an important assistant to him in the army in the future.

"Sir, these reporters are running around, clamoring for interviews."

Suddenly, there was a noise outside, and a staff officer walked in with a wry smile and said helplessly to Li Mo'an.

Li Mo'an also smiled bitterly. In the command post of No. 14 Army, there were not only officers and soldiers from the headquarters, but also more than a dozen men and women in suits and leather shoes. Everyone was carrying expensive cameras and beautifully made bags. Notebooks and pens, these uninvited guests are all reporters who just arrived from Nanjing last night.

Some of these reporters are from the Central News Agency, some from Shenbao, and some from Ta Kung Pao and World Weekly. All of them are special reporters for the current domestic mainstream newspapers.

Since the outbreak of the all-out Anti-Japanese War, the Chinese people's enthusiasm for resisting the enemy has been thoroughly aroused, showing unprecedented unity. This enthusiasm is not only reflected on the battlefield, but also on the cultural front and among the people, and on all battlefields across the country. You can see the figures of war reporters. These reporters also have incomparable patriotic enthusiasm, and their weapons are cameras and pens in their hands. In order to obtain the front-line combat situation, many reporters often accompany the front-line troops. March forward, fight together, go to the front line of the battle to shoot and report, and there are also those who died heroically and are missing.

Now, the main attention of the national army and the national people is actually not in the North China region, but in the Songhu region. This is understandable. The main force and advanced weapons of the national army are basically allocated to Songhu and Songhu. Compared with the tragic battles in the Shanghai area, the battles in Xinkou and North China did not seem so dazzling.

But the death of Hao Mengling, commander of the Ninth Army, changed everything. News of Hao Mengling's death spread throughout the country in the past two days. So far, this is the highest general of the Chinese army who has died on the battlefield.

Before that, almost all the combat heroes known to the people across the country came from the troops in the Songhu area. For example, Huang Meixing, the major general of the 88th Brigade of the 98th Division who was killed by Japanese shelling during the attack on Songhu City, and the Japanese Army in Yao Ziqing, the major battalion commander of the [-]rd Regiment of the [-]nd Brigade of the [-]th Division, who led the entire battalion of officers and soldiers in Baoshancheng to fight to the end, pilots Shen Chonghui and Chen Xichun, who flew a plane into a Japanese warship.

Hao Mengling's death also made many people who only paid attention to the battle in Songhu realize that there were countless Chinese soldiers fighting bloody battles with the Japanese army in the North China Plain and in the mountains of northern Shanxi. Therefore, a large number of reporters rushed to the Xinkou front line overnight. The No. 14 Army Headquarters was naturally indispensable. As soon as these reporters arrived, they clamored to interview frontline officers and soldiers, and even proposed to go to the frontline positions to see what the Japanese army was like.

The patriotic enthusiasm of these reporters was full, but the trouble they brought to the No. 14 Army Headquarters was also obvious. These reporters were running around inside the headquarters, grabbing this staff officer and asking questions, and then looking for that one. The director inquired about the information, and the general's headquarters was in a state of chaos.

"Commander, these reporters are really troublesome. They grabbed us staff officers and started asking questions. They said they must go to the front-line troops to have a look."

Li Mo'an smiled helplessly and said, "Let's take them to the troops directly under the first-line division. It's safer this way." The staff officer was about to return to his command when suddenly, another officer came in with a telegram. , with a face full of joy, said to Li Mo'an: "Commander, the Tenth Division reports that the Japanese army dispatched heavy troops to attack our Yanzhuang position today, with more than a thousand infantry attacking our Yanzhuang main position. Our Yanzhuang defenders resisted desperately and fired in clusters with artillery. , defeated the Japanese attacking troops, leaving more than [-] enemy corpses, but not an inch of our position was lost. Then, the enemy used a reinforced squadron of cavalry to attack the flanks of our Yanzhuang main position, and were jointly attacked by our infantry and artillery, and were all wiped out. The enemy gathered more than ten tanks to attack our army, but they were also repulsed by our army. Lieutenant He Wei, commander of our first line position, personally led the counterattack and captured one enemy tank, large and small, which was driven back by Lieutenant He Wei. We are now parked at the Yanzhuang position, please ask the Army Commander how to handle it."

Li Mo'an's expression suddenly changed. In the past few days, He Wei had won many battles. For repelling the Japanese attack and killing more than 500 enemy troops, Li Mo'an was naturally very happy, but he couldn't say he was shocked. After all, how could He Wei Since the beginning of the day, there have been consecutive battles and victories. What really surprised him was that He Wei actually captured the Japanese tank.

In a normal battle, it would be good to capture more than a dozen rifles and light machine guns from the Japanese army. If they could capture dozens of rifles and machine guns, it would be considered a small victory. However, He Wei captured hundreds of rifles and light machine guns in one go. The battle with the rifled machine gun can be called a great victory. It would be great to capture the gun, but He Wei actually captured the tank today!

For a moment, Li Mo'an even suspected that the [-]th Division was lying about military information. Is the Iron Bastard so easy to capture?
Thinking of the seizure of tanks, Li Mo'an couldn't help but think of a joke. During the Great Wall Anti-Japanese War, the Shang Zhen No. 30 Second Army that participated in the war made a batch of fake tanks out of wood in order to train the troops, while Ta Kung Pao in the rear wanted to report on the Great Wall Anti-Japanese War. I asked Tang Yongliang, the adjutant director of the No. 30 Second Army, for some battlefield photos, so he found some soldiers and took a group photo of these soldiers carrying swords and fake tanks, and then put the photos Sent to Ta Kung Pao.

As a result, the matter continued to escalate. A reporter from Ta Kung Pao actually published these photos and said that they were captured by the No. 20 Ninth Army during the battle. However, the people did not know the weapons and equipment and believed them to be true. For a time, the reputation of the tanks captured by the 29th Army was Yuanyang, but an insider would know at a glance that this is a standard act of forging military records. The 29th Army was not polite. It accepted all the praise and material donations from the masses and made a lot of money with just one photo. This incident has also become a complete joke within the military. To a certain extent, this absurd incident can be seen as a shame for Chinese soldiers.

"Commander, how do you respond here in the [-]th Division?"

The staff officer broke Li Mo'an's thoughts.

The group of reporters were asking questions again. Li Mo'an thought of this and thought that since they wanted to interview so much, the captured tank would definitely be a good interview material. It would be better to ask He Wei to drive the tank back. First, he could send this group of reporters away and let them interview the frontline officers and soldiers. Secondly, he wanted to see whether the captured tanks were real or fake?
"Send a telegram to the [-]th Division and ask them to bring the tanks back as soon as possible."

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Li Mo'an's order was quickly conveyed to He Wei step by step. After He Wei accepted the order and handed over the defense of the position to Chen Zhen, he drove the Type 14 tank and pulled a Type 14 light armored vehicle. Heading in the direction of the command post of the No. [-] Army, the sky was slowly getting dark at this time, so He Wei didn't have to worry about the Japanese shelling. He picked up his weapon, got into the cockpit of the tank, and drove off in a swaggering manner. Towards the command post of No. [-] Army.

At the entrance of Sha'ao Village, where the No. 14 Army Command Post is located, the sound of engines rumbled, and a pungent smell of diesel drifted from the entrance of the village. Everywhere was crowded with stunned officers and soldiers. He Wei slowly moved the Type [-] light tank Parked in the open space at the entrance of the village, two Japanese Iron Bastards appeared in front of these officers and soldiers unscathed.

He Wei stopped the tank and as soon as he stepped out of the cockpit, dozens of officers and soldiers swarmed forward. They completely ignored He Wei and climbed onto the two tanks. Look here, look there. Most of these officers and soldiers are from the military headquarters. The soldiers, in military terms, are all soldiers of the high-level service units. Not to mention the tanks, many soldiers may not even be able to shoot a few bullets.

Their main tasks on weekdays are to perform various headquarters services, go on various errands, and stay away from the front line for long periods of time. The sight of Japanese tanks now is of course very novel. Some climbed on the tanks and used their hands. Knock, some hit it with their helmets, some looked in from the outside of the barrel, and some even bit it with their teeth.

He Wei just smiled and found a haystack to sit down. It was quite interesting to see these brothers who had never seen the world.

"You all have nothing to do, right? Go back to your respective positions and do whatever you have to do. Get out of here, the commander is here!"

After watching the excitement for only 5 minutes, I heard loud shouting. An officer rushed over with dozens of soldiers and waved his whip to drive away the watching soldiers. Dozens of heavily armed soldiers immediately cleared the place and dispersed the crowd. Soldier, the leading officer saw He Wei sitting on the haystack, and walked over with a smile. He Wei saw that it was the platoon leader of the guard who gave him the German speed machine.

"Brother, congratulations, you won another battle. Come over quickly, the commander is here."

The guard platoon leader pointed to the back and saw Li Mo'an, who was wearing military casual uniforms, walking over energetically. He Wei stood up and nodded to the guard platoon leader, then trotted forward quickly and stood at attention and saluted Li Mo'an.

"Report to the commander, He Wei, the acting company commander of the sixth company of the 57nd Battalion of the [-]th Regiment, has been ordered to lead the report on the captured Japanese tanks. Please take a look at it, commander!"

"Okay, show me this chariot."

Li Mo'an patted He Wei's shoulder, stepped forward in three steps, stepped on the tracks of the Type [-] chariot, and climbed onto the chariot. He looked very excited, no less than those brothers just now. Duo Yi, but it is understandable that the Chinese army does not have many tanks. Most officers and soldiers have never seen a tank at all, let alone come into close contact with a tank. He Wei quickly followed and spoke Introduction said.

"Sir, this tank is the Japanese Type 37 light tank. It is a new weapon that the Japanese army just developed and put into service two years ago. It is equipped with a [-]mm cannon and two machine guns. The one behind is a Type [-] light armored vehicle. The weapon is equipped with a [-]mm light machine gun."

Li Mo'an was fiddling with the barrel on the turret. After He Wei finished speaking, his expression suddenly hardened, he jumped off the tank and said, "You said this is a new piece of equipment for the Japanese army?"

He Wei nodded: "Yes, these two tanks are new and main equipment of the Japanese army."

"Then this matter must be reported directly to the Nanjing Central Committee. Tanks are different from guns and cannons. How to deal with these two tanks must be decided by the central government. This matter is no small matter."

Li Mo'an murmured, and He Wei was listening on the side without interrupting.

Li Mo'an thought thoughtfully for a while, then smiled again: "He Wei, you fought well. You worked hard. You haven't eaten yet, right?"

He Wei shook his head and said with a smile: "My stomach is indeed empty."

"Then stay and eat at my headquarters. You fought well. If nothing else, I should give you a promotion based on these two tanks. The agreement we made before said that you captured them. I will promote you to captain if you have the assistant officer's sword. This agreement will no longer count from now on. The devil's iron bastard is not much more valuable than that broken sword. It's just that you have just been promoted to lieutenant. I'm afraid it won't be a good thing for you if I promote you to captain now. , but don’t be impatient, wait a little longer, it won’t take long, and when the right opportunity comes, I will immediately promote you to captain. However, don’t be in a hurry to eat this meal. There are still a group of guests waiting for you, you have to treat them You can’t eat until you’ve finished dealing with it.”

Li Mo'an was obviously in a good mood and deliberately gave He Wei a pass. He Wei didn't want to be promoted for the time being. Anyway, he was doing the job of a captain now. He commanded more troops than a battalion. He had just been promoted to lieutenant against the rules. , if he were promoted to captain again, he might be criticized, but the guests Li Mo'an mentioned made Monk He Wei Zhanger confused.

"guest?"

"Yes, guest, a guest from Nanjing."

(End of this chapter)