Independence Corps

Chapter 23 Head-to-head confrontation (4)
After that, Chi Shaotian didn't sleep with his brothers' wives anymore, but he went around looking for women, his division was like a brothel.The foster father thought it was okay for him to lead troops, so he turned a blind eye and didn't care too much.Only now did Tu Lanlong discover that the peaceful and prosperous world his adoptive father advertised was just a blueprint he drew for himself and hung on the wall. It is really difficult to move to this world.Although the rice grain city is said to be in good weather and safe and sound, this peace is fake and whitewashed.If you really want to encounter turmoil, this is too peaceful, I am afraid that you will not be able to withstand a shot.Of course, maybe he is too worried. These days, his mind is always dreaming, and many impossible things are often imagined by him to be more real than reality.

Let it go, Tu Lanlong originally wanted to replace Chi Shaotian, this kind of person is afraid that he will miss a big deal in the future.Just like Shopkeeper Sun of Hengtong Rice Store, if you don't kill him, you won't be able to turn things around.Thinking about it again, changing generals before the battle is a big taboo of military strategists. You can only bury your dissatisfaction in your heart and write your worries in your heart.The purpose of bringing Gu Shanyi and the others into the Plum Garden was to figure out what these people were thinking and whether they could be trusted in the future.Also, I want to take this opportunity to test out how those who are far away from him and his adoptive father, such as Chi Shaotian and the others, will react. a stranger.

A strong dragon can't overwhelm a local snake, and he suddenly remembered this saying.

A gust of wind blew, the flowers and plants on the ground rustled, and a fresh fragrance came to his nostrils, tickling his heart.Only then did Tu Lanlong realize that the spirit of spring was already strong.As for Datong, is the spring feeling stronger?
Tu Lanlong suddenly thought of the mother and daughter of Tiao Tiao again.It has been several days since Zhu Hongda left Miliangcheng, and there is no news at all. I don't know if the person Huang Shaoyong, the director of the Military Aircraft Department, has mentioned has been found.God bless, the mother and daughter of Tiao Tiao must be safe, otherwise, this battle will be lost without a fight.

A layer of melancholy filled Tu Lanlong's heart again, and longing climbed up his heart like vines.

Tu Lanlong left the Moon-Watching Pavilion and walked a few steps into the depths of the plum garden. Suddenly, he saw a figure standing in the depths of the plum garden, under the ancient locust tree, standing gracefully.Her graceful figure, as well as his sense of loss, captured his heart immediately.

It's He Yingying.This mischievous, willful and active woman has been giving him a lot of trouble these days!

Tu Lanlong couldn't hide himself, he had an indescribable liking for this woman who rashly broke into his life.It was a strange feeling, very strange indeed.Tu Lanlong asked himself over and over again, what do you like about her, does she look like Tiao, or is she from her hometown, Baziying?These are all there, but not all of them seem to be.Even if she looks like Tiao Tiao, there's no reason why she can't sleep because of her, after all, she's still a child.

Tu Lanlong smiled, it was the first time in his life that he was confused and disturbed by another woman besides Tiao Tiao.

At first, Tu Lanlong wanted He Yingying to be a telegraph operator, so that he could see her every day, but after trying it, it didn't work.He Yingying had no sense of the radio station at all, and when her hand triggered the alarm, she couldn't help shaking, which made the adjutant Teng Yunfei panic.Such a nimble and bold girl, how could she be frightened when she sees a telegraph machine?Later, Tu Lanlong said, let her go to the health team and be the head office of nurses.What a coincidence, He Yingying learned a little medical skills in her hometown of Baziying.Her father, shopkeeper He, was also an open-minded person. He was robbed by bandits on the way to deliver goods once, and it was the troops stationed there who rescued him.When shopkeeper He came back, he insisted on letting his daughter study medicine, and even hired a doctor to teach her.He Yingying studied medicine seriously for half a year, and later became obsessed with the New Thought Movement, so she put aside her study of medicine.

When He Yingying arrived in the health team, she was fine for the first few days, full of energy, jumping and jumping, and got along well with the health team captain Cao Lan and the others.The night before yesterday, He Yingying suddenly found Teng Yunfei, crying and saying that she couldn't stay in the health team anymore, and the team leader Cao Lan pushed her out.Teng Yunfei called Cao Lan, and after asking, he found out that He Yingying was the one who said that the exclusion was entirely her own. Cao Lan just let her go to the company, and He Yingying suddenly became unhappy.

"What exactly do you want to do?" Teng Yunfei was a little annoyed by this meddling girl, but when he thought about the ambiguous gaze of the young commander Tu Lanlong, he put away his dissatisfaction and asked her seriously.

He Yingying didn't hide anything, and said bluntly: "I want to be with the Commander-in-Chief and do whatever I want, even washing his clothes."

"You don't need to wash your clothes!"

"Then I'll cook for him. I'm good at cooking. If you don't believe me, I'll show you."

"You don't need to cook the rice. There are chefs in Meiyuan, whose skills are better than yours."

"That's not necessarily the case. When I was in my hometown, I cooked fish in sour soup for my father and mother every month. The young commander is from my hometown. He must love fish in sour soup."

Teng Yunfei didn't know whether to laugh or cry, if he cooks once a month, the young commander will starve to death?Teng Yunfei had no choice but to report the matter to Tu Lanlong because he couldn't wear her down.Unexpectedly, Tu Lanlong didn't reprimand him this time, he thought for a while and said: "Leave her in the plum garden first, and let her do something casually."

The job Teng Yunfei arranged for He Yingying this time was to help tidy up the old commander's study.The study is in the innermost part of the plum garden. Tu Lanlong originally didn’t want people to move the study, but in the current situation, it’s impossible to stay still. The Japanese artillery fire doesn’t matter if you are the old commander’s study or the common people’s kitchen. error.

Tu Lanlong hid himself under the huge ginkgo tree in the garden, staring at He Yingying motionlessly.Or what the foster father said was right, with a beautiful woman by his side, his mood was different.After appreciating it for a while, his heart was not so depressed. All kinds of uneasiness and troubles brought about by the war were all faded and dispersed because of the appearance of this shadow.Then he came out of the garden and coughed deliberately.

The coughing startled He Yingying who was under the locust tree, she turned around vigilantly, and asked at the same time, "Who?"

Tu Lanlong pretended to have discovered her, and said in surprise, "It's Yingying, what is the cat doing here so late?"

The word "Yingying" that he had always wanted to call out in his heart made him call it out so smoothly.

He Yingying's face turned red, obviously, Tu Lanlong's statement touched her.She raised her head and stroked her hair: "Report to the Major Commander, I'm thinking about a question."

"Oh, what's the problem?" As he spoke, Tu Lanlong came to He Yingying's side, and a fresh fragrance permeated him, which was the unique smell of his daughter's family.He also smelled the same fragrance on Tiao Niao several years ago.

"I... I dare not say." He Yingying took half a step back, staring at Tu Lanlong with wide eyes.

"Don't dare to say anything, here, I haven't stopped anyone from speaking."

"Then... I just said it?" He Yingying tilted her head, strangely, even the posture of her tilting her head was like a squid.What a ghost, Tu Lanlong was a little disappointed in himself why he kept thinking of Tiao Tiao.

"I'm thinking, Liu Ji's side has already opened fire, why is it so quiet here, Commander-in-Chief?"

"Quiet?" Tu Lanlong didn't expect He Yingying to ask such a profound question, and was momentarily at a loss for words.

"I originally thought that once Liu Ji opened fire, the whole Miliang City would move into action, but what I saw was not like this. Those who played cards played cards, those who went to theaters, those businessmen were still making money."

"What's wrong with that?" Tu Lanlong asked back.

"Of course it's not good. The Japanese have already attacked the house. Commander, you..."

"What's wrong with me?"

"You still look like a normal person!"

He Yingying was eloquent, and once she opened her mouth, she couldn't hold back her words, and expressed all her dissatisfaction in one go.

Tu Lanlong could only laugh, dryly, and when he finished, he asked, "In your opinion, what should I do?"

"Fight, there is no hesitation. The whole city is waiting for your order. Commander, you won't just watch Mr. Tan and the others get beaten, will you?"

A layer of unhappiness suddenly surged in Tu Lanlong's heart, but he endured it, and in order not to disappoint, he said, "Who told you this?"

"No one told me, I thought of it myself." He Yingying became more and more presumptuous, and she probably didn't know that there were many things that could not be said in front of the young commander.

"What else do you think of?"

"I've thought a lot these days, Young Commander, tell me, do I admire you for nothing?"

Tu Lanlong seemed to be feeding He Yingying a fishbone, this girl is too ignorant.He coughed again, trying to calm himself down.Unexpectedly, at this time, Ruan Xiaoliu ran over in a panic: "Report to the commander!" Ruan Xiaoliu swallowed the rest of the words when he saw He Yingying was present.

"Say!" Tu Lanlong said angrily, he didn't know whether the fire was aimed at He Yingying, or at the flustered Ruan Xiaoliu.

"Just received the news from the 12th Division that the Japanese Army's Sixth and Seventh Regiments secretly moved closer to Liu Ji, intending to attack me tonight. On the Ma'anpo side, the Japanese have added another artillery regiment."

"What about Tan Weiming? What did he say?"

"Mr. Tan is still in Ma'anpo. Zhuang Guoxiong, the deputy commander of the 12th Division, asked the headquarters for support."

"Nonsense!" Tu Lanlong threw down two words angrily, leaving He Yingying behind, and hurriedly walked towards the command center.He Yingying wanted to follow, but Ruan Xiaoliu gave her a domineering look, "Stop making more trouble!" After speaking, she followed Tu Lanlong closely.

Inexplicably, a sense of loss surged up in He Yingying's heart.At this moment, how much she wanted to follow the young commander and plunge into the fiery battle!
There was no fighting that night, but at dawn the next day, the people in the city were still sleeping soundly, and the artillery fire from the Japanese army started.

Gangben, who was frustrated on the first day, was ruthless this time, and the attack started from three directions at the same time. In addition to Sasaki's task force continuing to attack Shen Mengzi, Ma'anpo added another regiment of troops.In addition, the 12th and [-]th Wings, which had quietly touched Liu Ji's frontier last night, also engaged in fire with the [-]th Division at the same time.

The fighting on the Ma'anpo side was particularly fierce. Dozens of Japanese heavy artillery muzzles protruded from the woods below Ma'anpo, and the Japanese soldiers who had detoured to the two wings of Ma'anpo also fired small steel cannons.At [-]:[-], Gangben gave an order, and the heavy artillery and small steel artillery fired at the same time. In an instant, Ma'anpo was plunged into a thick smoke.

The division commander Tan Weiming returned to the division headquarters last night, and the deputy division commander Zhuang Guoxiong made several phone calls in a row, saying that the sixth and seventh regiments were targeting Liu Ji.The people of Liuji had started to run into the city overnight, and the Matou Bridge and the Stone Bridge were crowded.Tan Weiming didn't dare to be careless, once the enemy opened fire on the people in the market, the consequences would be disastrous.

Only Zhu Daquan's 73rd regiment remained in Ma'anpo.

The enemy's artillery fire was too fierce, and Gangben seemed to hold back his strength and wanted to blow Ma'anpo over with artillery fire.Screaming shells accompanied by deafening explosions resounded over Ma'anpo.After a few minutes, the trenches at the front could no longer hide people.Zhu Daquan ordered his brothers to retreat to the second line of defense.The first battalion commander, Wang Xiaonan, was carrying a head of cannon fodder, and stubbornly refused to leave the trench. The brothers around him looked just like him. The heavy artillery fire made them unable to lift their heads, so they could only curl up and burrow into the trench. .Some soldiers' clothes were torn by shrapnel, and two brothers' faces were covered with flowers, blood and mud mixed together.The little soldier lying on the edge of the trench with a machine gun in his hand was blown off by a shell and screamed in pain.Zhu Daquan glanced at it and knew that the first line of defense could not be defended, and if he defended it any longer, he would become cannon fodder for the enemy.He rushed over and ordered to the first battalion commander Wang Xiaonan: "Take the brothers and move back immediately, and give up the first line of defense!" Just as Wang Xiaonan said that I can defend, a shell was less than three meters away from them. The place exploded.The guards dived and threw Zhu Daquan down, a burst of flames rose, followed by a loud thunderous noise.Zhu Daquan only felt a bang in his head, and almost lost consciousness.When he got up again, the guards on his body were gone. He called the names of the guards a few times into the smoky sky, and Wang Xiaonan stumbled over: "Don't shout, he was blown up by the shell."

"Remove immediately, do you hear me!"

Wang Xiaonan didn't dare to talk back this time, and led the brothers from the first battalion to retreat obediently behind the woods.Lei Heizi, the commander of the second battalion who came to meet them, shouted at Zhu Daquan: "Regimental Commander, this can't be done. The enemy's artillery fire is too fierce, and our machine guns are useless at all."

Wang Xiaonan also said: "Tuan Zuo, if you continue to fight like this, you don't need to shoot, and all the positions will be lost."

Zhu Daquan was also impatient. He was still thinking about the guard who was blown away just now. The boy was only 17 years old. He had been a soldier and had never fought a war. …

"Shut up and go back to the woods!"

After a burst of bombardment, the artillery fire gradually subsided, and the brothers lying in the trenches could finally raise their heads.Zhu Daquan glanced at the brothers around him, and said in a hoarse voice: "The first battalion is to the left, the second battalion is to the right, and the other battalions stay where they are. The enemy will counterattack immediately, so please pay attention to me."

Within 5 minutes of finishing speaking, they saw black devils rushing towards them from three directions.Relying on the cover of the artillery, today's devil soldiers attacked extremely fast. Before the brothers of the first battalion could find a good position, the devils running in front had already shot at them.The brothers were also irritated by the arrogant artillery fire just now. As soon as the devil soldiers entered the range, they all slammed the guys in their hands.

In an instant, fierce gunshots replaced the rumble of cannons. On the hillside in front of the woods, the bullets hit the ground with white smoke, and the rampant devil soldiers kept falling down, but the little devil was not afraid at all. They issued a death order. In this campaign, Ma'anpo must be taken down, and anyone who retreats without authorization will be shot to death.They stepped on the corpses of their companions, and rushed forward like locusts.

(End of this chapter)