Chapter 41: Forced March
Yang Village.
For the soldiers of the independent regiment, today is another hard but fulfilling day.
During this period, except for the Wolf Warrior Squad, the officers and soldiers of the independent regiment had only one thing to do: training!
Because the company commander Sun Desheng was not there, Li Yunlong was worried that the old soldiers in the cavalry company would be lazy, so he personally went to the cavalry company's training ground to supervise.
"Dog, you're being lazy again."
"Erhu, why the hell did you fall down again?"
"Daniu, stop staring at other people's young wives. Your saber is about to chop your own thighs."
Li Yunlong's shouting and cursing mixed with the villagers' laughter. Amid the laughter and joy, Zhao Gang and Lao Gou from the supply department walked over one after another.
"Old Zhao, and Old Gou."
Li Yunlong put his hands behind his back and asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Zhao Gang said, "Lao Gou, please talk to the captain first."
"Okay, I'll go first." Lao Gou said with a bitter face, "Captain, all the soybeans in this area have been bought up by the people in the brigade and the headquarters."
"I have been to at least seven or eight villages these days,"
"In total, we only bought less than 1,000 kilograms of beans."
"But this amount of beans is not enough, so can you replace it with corn?"
"And corn is much cheaper than soybeans. A load of soybeans costs eight yuan, while corn only costs four yuan."
"No! We can't exchange it for corn!" Li Yunlong flatly refused, "War horses must be fed soybeans!"
Lao Gou said, "If we must use soybeans, then we'll have to go to Xinzhuang, fifty miles away, to buy them. Anyway, we really can't buy them here in Chenjiayu."
"I don't care whether you go to the new village or the old village to buy it."
Li Yunlong waved his hand and said, "Anyway, there is only one thing. If the horses of the cavalry company lose weight due to the supply of bean feed, which affects their combat effectiveness, I will shoot you!"
Lao Gou left with a sad face.
Li Yunlong asked Zhao Gang again, "Old Zhao, what do you want?"
Zhao Gang said, "Old Li, I've been feeling very nervous all day. Will the Wolf Warriors and the 1st Cavalry Platoon be safe?"
"Old Zhao, aren't all you intellectuals materialists?" Li Yunlong asked jokingly, "Why do you believe in these superstitious things?"
"I'm just worried."
Zhao Gang said: "I'm worried that something might happen to them. It's snowing."
"No." Li Yunlong said confidently, "Don't worry, Lao Zhao. Xiao Wang is very smart. It's okay."
"But..." Zhao Gang was about to say something else when he suddenly heard a burst of hurried horse hooves sounds behind him.
When Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang looked back hurriedly, they saw a horseman rushing in from the village entrance at lightning speed. Because the speed was too fast and the rider on the horse was almost sticking to the horse's back, they couldn't see clearly who it was.
It was not until they got closer that the cavalrymen on horseback stood up and finally saw clearly that it was Sun Desheng.
Sun Desheng really spared no effort this time. He ran from Laohuwan to Yangcun, a distance of more than 70 miles, in less than an hour.
Seeing Sun Desheng running back alone, still in a state of panic, Zhao Gang immediately thought to himself, "Oh no! Something must have happened!"
Li Yunlong's heart also skipped a beat.
No way? Nothing's going to happen, is it?
In the blink of an eye, Sun Desheng came in front of Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang.
Without waiting for the warhorse to stop, Sun Desheng jumped off the horse, panting and saying urgently: "Captain, political commissar, hurry up, gather the main force of the regiment ..."
Hearing this, Zhao Gang was so anxious that he almost cried.
"Captain Sun, please speak slowly." Zhao Gang said, "What happened?"
Li Yunlong was able to remain calm, after all, he was an old revolutionary who had experienced many battles.
"Sun Desheng, don't panic. Even if the sky falls, I, Li Yunlong, will hold it up."
"Something happened?" Sun Desheng was stunned for a moment and asked in astonishment, "What happened? Who happened?"
Zhao Gang was also stunned and asked blankly, "You rushed back to ask for help from the regiment headquarters. Wasn't it because the War Wolf Squad and Cavalry Platoon 1 were defeated?"
"Lose the battle?" Sun Desheng asked in astonishment, "How is it possible to lose the battle?"
After a pause, he continued, "We just won a great victory and wiped out the Japs' cavalry squadron!"
"Eat it?" Zhao Gang was completely confused. He asked, "Since you have already eaten the Japanese cavalry squadron, then why did you rush back in such a hurry?"
"Old Zhao, didn't you hear what he said?" Li Yunlong came back to his senses. "He came back to get reinforcements, to mobilize the main force of the regiment."
Speaking of this, Li Yunlong asked Sun Desheng again: "Sun Desheng, has Xiao Wang found an opportunity?"
"It should be, but he didn't tell me much." Sun Desheng took a breath and said, "He just asked me to rush back to Yang Village as quickly as possible and asked the main force of the regiment to rush to Laohu Bay at a forced march speed."
"Forced march?!" Li Yunlong said with a stern expression, "Then it must be correct!"
After a pause, Li Yunlong shouted again: "Bugler, blow the bugle, and assemble the whole regiment urgently!"
The bugler, who was basking in the sun not far away, answered yes and quickly raised the bugle and blew it hard.
In an instant, the sound of a military bugle call sounded. Hearing the bugle call, the soldiers of the independent regiment who were originally scattered in various corners gathered towards the village entrance.
Zhao Gang felt that this order was too hasty, and whispered: "Old Li, should we verify it first?"
"What are you still verifying?" Li Yunlong said, "Didn't you hear what Xiao Wang said? He asked us to march to Tiger Bay, which shows that the opportunity is fleeting. By the time we finish verifying, the cucumbers will be cold."
As they were talking, Kong Jie came over with big strides and shouted, "Old Li, why are you blowing the horn? Is there any urgent combat mission?"
Because of the defeat last time, the independent regiment is now making amends for their crimes.
Therefore, Kong Jie was more eager to fight than Li Yunlong, because only by winning the battle could he turn the tide.
"There is a combat mission. The opportunity to attack the Huting stronghold has appeared!" Li Yunlong took his Mauser pistol from the guard Xiao Zhang and put it on his waist, and then said, "Old Kong, you come with me, Old Zhao, you stay at the regiment headquarters! The 1st Battalion, the 2nd Battalion, the 3rd Battalion, and all the direct teams of the regiment headquarters and the cavalry company will all be dispatched to march to Laohuwan."
"Laohu Bay?" Kong Jie was stunned for a moment and said, "Didn't you just say Huting Stronghold?"
"We'll talk about the details when we get there." Li Yunlong said, "I'm not very clear right now."
While the two were talking, more than a thousand officers and soldiers of the independent regiment had assembled at the entrance of the village.
Zhao Gang originally wanted to persuade him again, but he knew that he couldn't persuade him, so he simply stopped saying anything.
Li Yunlong stood in front of the line and glared. More than a thousand officers and soldiers in the regiment immediately fell silent.
The military situation was urgent, and Li Yunlong did not say any unnecessary nonsense. He directly gave the order: "Everyone, go to the supply department to collect ammunition and dry food, and then rush to Tiger Bay at a forced march speed!"
…
At the Tiger Bay battlefield.
Time goes back one hour.
Seeing the Japanese troops from the Huting stronghold rushing towards them with murderous intent, the Eighth Route Army immediately fled in all directions.
The Japanese army quickly took control of the entire battlefield and built guard positions on the surrounding hills to prevent the Eighth Route Army from hiding on those hills and shooting them from behind.
Maeda Tsuyoshi had learned his lesson and did not pursue rashly.
He didn't want to repeat the mistakes of Kameda's team and Sato's squadron.
Not until all the hilltops within a two-kilometer radius were under the control of the Japanese army did Maeda finally walk into the valley under the escort of several orderlies.
Looking around, all I saw were corpses strewn all over the valley.
There were only corpses; all the guns, ammunition, sabers, helmets and even cotton coats were gone.
All the Japanese soldiers were only wearing shirts and loincloths, their feet were bare, and the cavalry's riding boots were also stolen by those damn Eighth Route Army.
In addition to the corpses of Japanese soldiers, there were also the corpses of war horses.
Moreover, many of the warhorse corpses had been ripped open , with their internal organs and intestines spilling out, and the air was filled with the disgusting stench of horse offal.
A squad leader asked, "Captain, what do the Tubalu want to do? Are they trying to disgust us?"
"I'm afraid the Tubalu wouldn't be that bored." Maeda Tsuyoshi shook his head and said, "They probably want to dismember the more than 90 warhorse corpses and take them away to eat the meat."
"So this is ah."
The team leader nodded and said, "Then we can't let them take the horse carcass away."
"Of course." Maeda Tsuyoshi said in a deep voice, "If the Eighth Route Army were to take these ninety-odd horse carcasses away, they would be enough to feed thousands of people for several months. The Eighth Route Army's nutrition would be improved, and their physical fitness would become better. They would be stronger and more powerful when fighting the Imperial Army, which would be a great disadvantage to the Imperial Army. Therefore, we must not let them take them away."
The team leader nodded, then frowned and said, "But we can't transport so many horse carcasses back?"
Maeda Tsuyoshi's brows furrowed. This was indeed a difficult matter, because there were nearly a hundred dead war horses here, and each of them weighed about 800 kilograms, which added up to nearly 80,000 kilograms.
There are 500 of them here, doing nothing but carrying the meat.
Each person has to carry 160 kilograms. Is this a joke?
The key point is that that group of Eighth Route Army soldiers will not let them move the goods smoothly.
