The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 227 Fortune and War Situation

Although He Wei really wanted to know the changes in the situation of the Jinling Defense War in the past few days, he still put this matter behind and asked about the situation of the troops first.

"How are the troops?"

As soon as He Wei asked this question, the officers surrounding the hospital bed fell silent, and the atmosphere in the ward became a little depressing for a while.

Many people looked sad. He Wei's heart skipped a beat, thinking that the melee that night might have resulted in a lot of losses. He already knew the casualties of the beheading team. There were fifty-two people during the attack, and there were still more when they withdrew. Twenty-four brothers in one piece.

This loss is within the range he can accept. After all, if you want to kill a high-level officer like King Asaka Palace, or go deep into the rear of a Japanese field infantry brigade, you have to pay a price. These more than twenty Brother, your death was not in vain!

"After all, it was a night battle, and the Japanese army we faced was very powerful. The brothers suffered a lot. The whole battalion suffered more than 140 casualties, and about 90 were killed."

Lieutenant Fang Jing, commander of the Second Infantry Company of the Special Agent Battalion, said.

"Battal Commander, even though our brothers suffered a lot, the Japanese didn't get any advantage either. We also fought hard to kill many of them."

Lieutenant Commander Hu Zhaowu of the Third Infantry Company said with a grin.

"Yes, battalion commander, the brothers are all good. My Lao Yang's special agent platoon had more than forty people when it was fully staffed, but now there are less than two squads left in total, twenty Many people, those brothers are gone, but they have no value, no use, no shame for you, let’s just say that the sergeant in my platoon was attached to the platoon. He was shot in the leg by the Japanese when he broke through the encirclement. At the end of the day, the Japs didn't catch me alive. I pulled two Japs to pull grenades and took away the two back-up men. This is a very good deal."

He Wei was sitting on the hospital bed a little depressed. In fact, for a secret service camp with more than a thousand people, the casualties of more than 100 were not considered serious injuries, but when he thought about the fact that most of the soldiers in the secret service camp were soldiers, He Wei, a veteran for many years, felt like his heart was bleeding.

Of course, he also understood that in war, people must die, and people will definitely die, many people will die.

Even when he was lying in the ward, he could still hear the roar of artillery outside. In Nanjing, at least a thousand Chinese soldiers died every day in the battle to defend the city.

Fu Chen, deputy battalion commander and captain of the 1st Infantry Company, also comforted He Wei: "I know you cherish the lives of soldiers, and I can see your combat style. Those who can use firepower and heavy firearms will definitely not use human lives." "Yes, but soldiers must be prepared to die in battle. Death in battle is inevitable."

"Don't worry, the troops are all settled and have all evacuated to the city along Shuixi Gate. The injured have also been placed in this hospital, and the others have stayed in empty houses in the city."

He Wei cheered up and smiled: "I know, if you want to win the war without dying, how can there be such a good thing? Captain Zhao, how about the losses of your Armored Corps Tank Company and Armored Corps Tank Defense Artillery Platoon? "

He Wei looked at Zhao Huzhen and asked.

"Nothing was lost. The tank defense artillery platoon did not participate in the battle. Is it dark? One tank of my company was damaged and another tank was damaged."

He Wei continued to ask: "Loss of two tanks? Brothers, you also followed our infantry and suffered a lot of losses."

"That's not true. The damaged one has been towed back and has been repaired. The damaged one was hit by several rounds from the Sanqi rapid-fire cannon, and three rounds penetrated it. The engine and turret were all damaged. Yes, the brothers in the car have also died for their country. I don’t think they can be brought back, so I might as well pour gasoline on them to stop the fire. This chariot and the brothers in it have not brought shame to us chariot soldiers."

"Like your infantry, the tank troops will definitely suffer casualties in battles. Until now, my tank company has killed at least three hundred Japanese soldiers, and it only lost one tank. It is worth a lot. In Songhu When we were there, we lost half a company of tanks without killing a few Japanese soldiers. How could we not fight as happily as we have in the past few days? Fighting with you, Battalion Commander He, is so exciting!"

Zhao Huzhen said, patting his chest.

He Wei nodded, and then he saw that Li Youcai, the military quartermaster, and Ge Guicai, the leader of the baggage platoon, were hesitant to speak. He thought to himself that these two people who were sent to do the dirty work probably had some inconvenience in front of everyone. What you say should be spoken to yourself.

He Wei sent them to loot the property in the mansion of the future traitor Wang Zhaoming. In the eyes of the time travellers, it may be a matter of great satisfaction. However, at this time, Wang Zhaoming had not openly betrayed the enemy and was still a high-ranking leader. This matter was naturally The less people know about it, the better.

Therefore, He Wei temporarily blocked the others, leaving only Li Youcai and Ge Guicai.

When all the officers walked out of the ward, Li Youcai and Ge Guicai couldn't hide their excitement and came to He Wei's bedside. He Wei waved his hands and whispered: "Is the matter done?"

Li Youcai kept nodding his head and said excitedly: "Battal Commander, it's done, it's done, we will make a big profit this time."

Ge Guicai also said beside him: "I have never seen so much money in my life. There are French currency, silver coins and gold bars. I am afraid that this money will be enough to support several divisions of troops."

He Wei continued: "Tell me the specific situation. Also, didn't I ask you to find a way to cross the river after you are done? Could it be that something went wrong."

Li Youcai shook his head and said to He Wei: "Sir, the thing is like this. After we retreated from outside the city that day, I took a few people to visit the cemetery in Lingyuan New Village. I found that it was very messy, and the houses of those high-ranking officials were also in chaos. There were no guards, only a few people who stayed to look after the house, and those who looked after the house were all panic-stricken. The same was true for Wang Mansion. There were only a dozen people in total. However, I did not act rashly because it was the defense area of ​​the Central Military Academy Teaching Corps and could often be seen. The soldiers from the teaching corps were patrolling, so I waited for two more days."

"After the Japanese attacked across the board, the soldiers from the teaching corps no longer came to patrol. They all joined the front line. A lot of bombs were also dropped in Lingyuan New Village. I simply took action at night and asked the people to arrange the supplies. They set a fire in Lingyuan New Village and took advantage of the chaos to rob Wang's mansion. Damn it, there were too many good things in the basement. I moved a platoon of people all night without moving. It’s over, it took me two days in a row to finish the move.”

Li Youcai said cheerfully.

He Wei asked: "You haven't been discovered, have you? How did you deal with the gatekeepers in Wang Mansion?"

A fierce look flashed in Li Youcai's eyes: "I killed them all. Those watchdogs are not good people. They shout around at the soldiers of the teaching corps. They don't look down on us soldiers at all. I saw it with my own eyes." A lieutenant colonel from the teaching corps talked with the head steward of Wang Mansion and kindly advised the dog to leave as soon as possible. As a result, the dog went up and scolded the lieutenant colonel, saying that he was meddling in other people's business. Since these dogs If you look down on soldiers, then forget about the ruthlessness of our men."

He Wei nodded, and then thought of the housekeeper of Wang's Mansion whom he had met before. He especially remembered that when he was annihilating the Japanese spies hiding in Wang's Mansion, that man would rather let the soldiers fight with their lives than damage the building of Wang's Mansion. In other words, in his eyes, the lives of soldiers are not as important as the red bricks and green tiles of Wang Mansion. If such a person is killed, He Wei can only say a good death.

"Battal Commander, here at Wang Mansion, we have an unexpected gain. It is this unexpected gain that prevents us from crossing the river."

Ge Guicai, the warrant officer platoon leader of the baggage platoon, said, with a golden light in his eyes that made He Wei incredible.

This old squad leader who had been with him since the Battle of Xinkou had always been very calm. He Wei couldn't help but wonder what kind of gains could make this old squad leader behave like this?

"What do you mean?"

Li Youcai chuckled twice and continued: "When we arrested the watchdogs at Wang Mansion, we learned from their mouths that Wang Mansion also had a batch of properties stored in banks in the city. I thought I had to do it anyway, so why not I just went straight to the big one. After asking for the address of the bank, I took platoon leader Lao Ge and the brothers from the baggage platoon to clean the bank as well, using grenades, explosives, and steel-core armor-piercing bullets from rifles. Blow up the bank warehouse and take out the things that Wang Mansion stored in the bank warehouse."

"There are more things in this warehouse than in Wang Mansion. The reason why we didn't cross the river is because there are too many things. I'm afraid we won't be able to transport them out with our team of people. Don't talk about luck, we just It was already very difficult to move, there were too many things, and it would be easy to leak the information if I asked the military police or others to help me move them, so I hid all the things in a warehouse near Xiaguan, waiting for you, battalion commander. Let’s decide.”

When Li Youcai finished speaking, He Wei was also quite surprised, so he then asked: "Then give me an estimate. How much money will there be in total for the things in Wang's mansion, plus this unexpected harvest?"

Li Youcai did not answer, but turned around and looked at the door of the ward, and then looked out the window cautiously, then lowered his head and leaned into He Wei's ear, and whispered softly: "The legal currency is about 270,000 yuan. There are about 180,000 silver dollars and more than 600 gold bars. In addition to these yellow and white things, there are also more than ten boxes of agates, pearls, ivory and other rare playthings."

嘶-

He Wei couldn't help but gasped when he heard the numbers from Li You's financial report.

He never expected that he just wanted to get some money from the traitor Wang Zhaoming, but he didn't expect that he would get so many things out of him.

Apart from anything else, if He Wei's memory is correct, a field infantry division of more than 10,000 people in the national army can only report to the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs for a monthly payment of only 250,000 legal currency, and this time he got it. The money, not counting the gold bars and playthings, the French currency and silver dollars alone were enough to support an infantry division for more than two months.

For the current He Wei and the troops under his command, this money is undoubtedly a huge sum of money.

He Wei thought that he must transport this huge sum of money across the river as soon as possible. The way was simple. He could directly go through Xiao Shan, General Xiao of the Gendarmerie Headquarters. General Xiao was now not only the deputy commander of the Gendarmerie, but also the deputy commander of the Gendarmerie. NJ mayor, commander of the Air Defense Command and many other important positions. The water, land and shipping business across the river are firmly controlled by the military police. Transporting a batch of things across the river is simply a trivial matter. He Wei thought for a while and asked again: "You must keep an eye on the things you brought here. I will soon find a way to transport them across the river."

"I understand, don't worry, battalion commander, we can't transport this batch of things for the time being, but no one can try to take away the money."

At this moment, the door of the ward was suddenly pushed open, and Fu Chen hurriedly walked in and said to He Wei: "General Xiao from the Military Police Headquarters is here."

As soon as Fu Chen finished speaking, He Wei heard a burst of footsteps in the corridor outside the ward. Immediately, General Xiao, whom he had not seen for a long time, walked into the ward wearing a military uniform and a concerned face.

He Wei has always admired this national hero who died in the battle to defend Nanjing in history. He initially made friends with him because he wanted to use the power brought by General Xiao's high position to change the historical Jinling Massacre.

But when he learned that he was injured, it was General Xiao who telegraphed the secret service camp to evacuate to the city, and at the same time personally arranged hospital treatment for himself. He Wei's original admiration was filled with a hint of gratitude from his subordinates to his superiors. and respect.

General Xiao directly ordered the secret service battalion to retreat to the city. It didn't seem like a big deal, but it was actually taboo. He Wei's secret service battalion was currently considered a combat force under the Nanjing Garrison Command, and the deployment order must be issued by the garrison command. It was issued that He Wei was originally assigned to the 66th Army of the Guangdong Army because of the order from the Garrison Headquarters.

For the sake of the safety of He Wei and the special agent battalion, General Xiao actually violated the army's command procedures and bypassed the garrison headquarters, and directly withdrew He Wei and the special agent battalion in the name of the military police headquarters.

After the troops withdrew to the city, they personally arranged hospital treatment for He Wei and the wounded soldiers in the secret service camp, which really moved He Wei.

"I heard that you were awake, so I brought someone here to see you. How do you feel?"

"Hello, sir."

When He Wei saw this, he was about to get out of bed and salute, but General Xiao quickly held He Wei down, his face full of concern.

"Don't move, just lie down, lie down."

He Wei waved his hand: "Sir, there's nothing wrong with me. I have just a little skin injury, and the bullet went through it."

"Haha, you have to take good care of yourself. You broke the sky this time. You are a great contributor to the country and the people, but you must take care of yourself."

Seeing that although General Xiao looked tired, he was in a good mood, He Wei immediately knew that the so-called stabbing the sky was probably due to his killing of King Jiuyan of Chaoxiang Palace, but these days He Wei They were all sleeping in the hospital bed and had no idea about the subsequent development of the matter, so they hurriedly asked General Xiao about the matter.

"You scared me to death that day. Your officers sent the telegram directly to the Military Police Headquarters. I was scared firstly because my subordinates said you were seriously injured. Secondly, I heard that you You killed the emperor's uncle, the Asaka Palace, etc. I didn't know what you had done until your troops retreated into the city. You are really courageous. You were trapped behind enemy lines, alone in danger, and you were stunned by the Japanese. Come once and take the head of a general out of a million soldiers."

He Wei smiled and said: "In hindsight, it was really too risky. I even break out in a cold sweat when I think about it now. But, how was this matter handled?"

General Xiao said: "Oh, that's it. The head of Chaoxiang Palace, the military uniform, as well as the various documents, pistols, sabers and other information you brought back have all been handed over to the secret service department of my Military Police Headquarters. Handle it, your subordinates also reported the entire battle that night. Now it has been verified by the secret service department that the person you killed that day was indeed the Asaka Palace himself. After verification, all the physical evidence and documents, as well as his head, were The report has been submitted to high-level officials and the Military Commission."

"However, this matter is still under confidentiality and has not been made public. You have made a great contribution this time."

He Wei heard that the matter had been reported to the Military Commission and high-level officials and verified, and He Wei was relieved. At least the killing of King Jiuyan of Asaka Palace had been confirmed and verified. As for the subsequent impact of this matter, It was something he couldn't predict.

But it should definitely have mostly positive effects. If it is publicized well, it will be news that will inspire the hearts of soldiers and civilians across the country, and it will also have a negative effect on the morale of the Japanese army.

For He Wei personally, it will definitely be of great benefit. Not to mention getting promoted and making a fortune, but this military rank will probably have to be moved upwards, and it will also play a big role in helping him gain a foothold in the army.

In Xinkou, he robbed the Japanese tank and captured the flag of the 16th Infantry Regiment. In Nanjing, he used a black tiger to rip out the heart and killed the Japanese emperor's uncle. His old skills are still alive and well. Another major new achievement is enough for He Wei to continue to "make progress".

"Sir, this is not all my fault, it is also the brothers who risked their lives. By the way, we also have to rely on the full cooperation of Commander Wang Yaowu of the 51st Division. If we really want to reward the merits, Commander Wang Yaowu will also have to get some credit. share."

He Wei said.

This raid was actually a joint operation between the Special Agent Battalion and the 51st Division. When He Wei retreated with the beheading team, Wang Yaowu's decisive judgment on the abnormal actions of the Japanese army saved He Wei in a sense. In order to respond and rescue the beheading team, Wang Yaowu even ordered the 51st Division to turn the feint of harassment into a full-scale attack. It took a lot of effort and the losses were not small.

He Wei should indeed share the credit with Run Wang Yaowu.

General Xiao then said with admiration: "You are an honest man. Others may be greedy for credit when encountering this kind of thing, but you still give credit to others. Don't worry, the battle situation that day was also dictated by your subordinates. The report later mentioned the merits of the 51st Division. Don’t worry, once this matter reaches the higher level and rewards are given, the credit of the 51st Division’s cover will also be indispensable. After all, you are killing the Japanese this time. Uncle Emperor, the credit is indispensable."

"Speaking of which, this Wang Yaowu is really a tiger general. The day after you withdrew, he commanded his side to launch another counterattack against the Japanese army in front of them, and actually conquered many positions near Chunhua."

Hearing General Xiao mention the battle situation in Chunhua, He Wei asked again: "Sir, I wonder what the battle situation is like across the entire front during the past few days when I was in coma?"

General Xiao didn't say anything, and directly called his adjutant in. He took out a bunch of battle reports from his briefcase and threw them to He Wei. He Wei read them carefully one by one, and then he understood all the events in the past few days. The battle situation changes.

Although the commander of the Songhu Expeditionary Force, the main force of the Japanese army's attack on Nanjing, was sent to see the King of Hell by He Wei, the efficient organizational and command system of the Japanese army did not seem to have been greatly affected, and it still maintained normal operation, and even launched a more powerful force than before. A more violent attack.

The 16th Division, which was fighting with the 66th Army near Tangshan, launched a fierce attack on the 66th Army. The officers and soldiers of the 956th Regiment of the 160th Division who had fought bloody battles with He Wei fought bravely during the battle. , fighting to the death.

Relying on the defense fortifications and new blasting thunder cannons left by He Wei and the special agent battalion, they fought bloody battles with the Japanese army for two days in the defense fortifications near Tangshan, inflicting heavy losses on the 16th Division.

Seeing that the frontal attack failed, the first part of the 16th Division adopted a flanking and roundabout tactic to penetrate into the vicinity of Hutang and Dahushan behind the left side of Tangshan Town. At the same time, the Japanese th Division and the th Division on the front It also launched a fierce attack on the th Army near Chunhua. Under the fierce Japanese attack, the th Army and the th Army were unable to support them, and finally received a retreat order from the garrison headquarters. As a result, the two new forces outside Nanjing began to retreat.

Among them, the 74th Army still exerted the combat effectiveness that the elite of the Central Army should have and withdrew from the position near Chunhua in an orderly manner. The 66th Army also used He Wei's advance point of alternate cover and successfully retreated one by one. The two divisions under the 66th Army, as well as the infantry regiments under each division, successfully adopted this tactic and completed the retreat in front of the enemy without a large-scale rout.

At this point, the peripheral battles of the Nanjing Defense War were completely over, and thus entered the more brutal phase of the defense operations of compound contours and city gates and walls.

On the 87th Division, the Japanese 9th Division broke into Guanghuamen. With the direct support of artillery fire from the Gaoqiaomen position, they stormed the 260th Brigade defensive position and the teaching corps of the 87th Division's Engineer School outside Guanghuamen. Defending the position and capturing the Engineer School, Chen Yiding, deputy commander of the 87th Division, commanded part of the 261st Brigade and part of the 259th Brigade to launch a joint attack on the enemy's flanks from Tongjimen and Tiantang Village. The fierce fighting lasted for about several hours. , after many repeated hand-to-hand battles, the Japanese troops approaching Guanghua Gate were finally repelled, and the position of the Engineer School was restored, temporarily stabilizing the situation.

Regarding Yuhuatai, the main force of the two Japanese divisions coordinated the attack with infantry, artillery, tanks and aviation. They used extremely fierce firepower to cover the infantry and attacked the Yuhuatai position guarded by the 88th Division. Facing the extremely hot firepower of the Japanese army, the 88th Division The officers and soldiers held on to their positions, and even with almost all casualties, they still held on to the Yuhuatai position.

On the front line of Zijin Mountain, the Japanese 16th Division stormed the Chinese army positions in the north and south of Zijin Mountain. The Central Military Academy Teaching Corps guarding the front line of Zijin Mountain also resisted desperately and withstood the attack of the 16th Division. After a fierce battle all day long, the Japanese army did not do anything. There was no progress, but its right-wing troops encountered the Second Army Corps of the National Army, which had just arrived in Nanjing.

Although the two divisions under the Second Army are strong in strength, these two divisions are almost entirely composed of new soldiers. All the original veterans were replenished to other units during the Battle of Songhu, including He Wei's spy battalion. More than a thousand soldiers are all from the Second Legion.

Therefore, although the officers and soldiers of the Second Army had great fighting enthusiasm, their combat effectiveness was so poor that they could not withstand the Japanese attack. They quickly lost the front-line positions in Yangfang Mountain and Yinkong Mountain, and the Japanese forwards even rushed to Yao Yao. Near Huamen, the 16th Division, which had repeatedly failed to attack Zijin Mountain, also jumped over the wall and set fire to the mountain. Only then did they capture the Zijin Mountain position guarded by the teaching corps.

At the same time, the Yamada Detachment of the 13th Division, which was waiting for a boat to cross the river in Zhenjiang, joined the battle from the right wing of the 16th Division and attacked the Wulong Mountain and Mufu Mountain forts. The 114th Division of the Japanese Tenth Army and the Sixth Division The main force of the division continued to attack Yuhuatai, but the 88th Division finally failed and abandoned the Yuhuatai position. The troops were forced to retreat to the city gate and continued defensive operations relying on the Ming city wall.

At this point in the battle, He Wei woke up and realized that the Nanjing garrison troops had lost all their peripheral positions and compound positions, and all troops had withdrawn into the city. Next, there would be a more brutal attack and defense of the city wall.

(End of this chapter)