Volume 1 Deserter's Bloodbath Chapter 51 Forced to cross the river!
No matter how the Japs cursed in their hearts, the less than thirty remaining brothers in the Death Squad were unwilling to move. The orders of Feng E, the temporary commander, had not yet formed a deterrent effect, after all, they were all criminal soldiers.
“Boom, boom, boom…”
“Bang, bang, bang…”
"Da da da……"
The commander of the Death Squadron was dead, and the scattered criminal soldiers were lingering in the ruins, but the other companies of the 66th Regiment did not stop, they kept attacking.
Continuous explosions and gunshots were heard simultaneously from the left front, rear and right of the criminal soldiers. The sounds of shooting from the Type 79 rifles and Type 38 rifles were mixed together, as well as the continuous firing of the Type 99 light machine gun and the Czech machine gun.
“Go!”
The explosion was followed by angry howls and cries of killing. In the Luodian area, the Chinese and Japanese sides engaged in a melee in the dark, and the entire Luodian became a mess.
"Report, Colonel, the White House and the collapsed stone bridge have been lost, and the Chinese troops are advancing towards Luodian Station and Lianqi River."
"Report, the First Battalion suffered heavy losses, requesting tactical guidance!"
"Report, the Second Battalion's defense line was breached by the Chinese. The Second Battalion is organizing a new defense line."
…
At the 43rd Regiment's headquarters, the staff officer is reporting the latest situation to Colonel Yoshio Asama.
"Sir, the situation in Luodian is getting worse and worse. In order to prevent the regiment headquarters from being attacked, should we retreat?" a staff officer suggested.
"Evacuate? Where to retreat? To the southeast is the Chinese attack force, and to the northwest is the Chinese 14th Division, huh?" Yoshio Asama suddenly remembered that the battle had been going on for most of the night, so why was there no movement in the northwest? This was not in line with the Chinese style!
"Is there any news of the 14th Division attacking from the northwest?" asked Asama Yoshio.
"No, my engineering battalion has been practicing along the Qi River front, and the 14th Division has not attacked!"
The staff officer replied:
"Yoshi! Order the security squadron to dispatch an elite team to check the Lianqi River. Report any situation immediately!"
Asama Yoshio frowned and gave the order.
"Hayi!"
The captain of the security squadron received the order loudly, then strode out of the regiment headquarters.
At this time, the 14th Division defending the northwest corner of Luodian had been transferred to Caowang Temple when it got dark. Since nightfall, there were only a dozen people bluffing in the northwest corner of Luodian.
The street across Luodian was a bumpy one. The first suicide squad to attack was "blocked" on the street and could not attack across the street. The Japanese soldiers on the opposite side of the street did not shoot either. The entire southeastern part of Luodian was occupied by the National Army, and the 66th and 65th Regiments were clearing out the remaining enemies.
"Order the troops, don't worry about the remaining Japanese soldiers here, before dawn, all the Japanese in Luodian must be eliminated!"
Ye Peigao led the brigade's guard company and followed the attacking troops into Luodian. He did not wait for reports outside Luodian.
Ye Peigao already knew about the changes in the Third Battalion of the 66th Regiment. The battalion commander was killed in battle, the first company commander was sacrificed in hand-to-hand combat, and the situation of the second and third companies was still unknown. In fact, not only the Third Battalion, but also several company and platoon leaders of the other two regiments were sacrificed. It was just that the Third Battalion was more unlucky, with more officers killed.
"Order the 66th and 65th Regiments to continue attacking northwest in company units. Tell them that daybreak is less than an hour away."
Ye Peigao stared at his pocket watch and gave orders with a frown. The 31st Brigade had just received news that with the cooperation of the 67th Division, they had captured Lujia Village north of Luodian and cut off the connection between the enemy in Luodian and the main force of the Japanese devils. If the remaining enemies were not eliminated before dawn and Luodian was completely captured, the 11th Division would face a tide of attacks from the Japanese devils during the day.
"yes!"
The brothers of the Guard Company are now working part-time as messengers, because the messengers of the 33rd Brigade have been sent out and have not had time to return.
The 66th Regiment began to assemble after receiving the order. The 1st and 2nd Battalions had already arrived at their positions. The 1st Battalion was on the left of the Suicide Squad, and the 2nd Battalion was on the right. As for the 3rd Battalion, the 2nd Company Commander was now acting as the battalion commander. The three companies were reorganized into two companies and were assembling behind the Suicide Squad.
Across the street, a small group of Japanese soldiers were quietly advancing from west to north, crawling through the ruins and passing through broken walls like rats. They received an order from the regiment headquarters and were ordered to assemble on the Qilian River line.
"quick!"
The water level of the Qilian River was not deep at that time, and the Japanese had already built a simple floating bridge across the river. The 43rd Regiment's headquarters and a large number of Japanese wounded soldiers were crossing the river. They had already learned about the evacuation of the 14th Division on the other side of the river.
The scattered gunshots slowly disappeared in Luodian, and all the attacking forces were regrouping and preparing to launch an attack on the enemy northwest of Luodian.
The troops crouched and moved carefully in the ruined Luodian. They gasped in the dark and slowly stopped. All the troops had assembled. The officers gestured to the rear to pass on information. This was the final communication before the attack.
“Click, click…”
Chaotic footsteps were heard, and all the companies began to cross the ruins , bending over to attack across the street. Unfortunately, there was no artillery cover this time. The only remaining 60mm mortars of the regiment had been dispersed to the attacking companies. Each company had just one, and even this was not enough ammunition, which was used to destroy the Japanese firepower points at the critical moment.
"Huff, huff..."
The acting commander of the Third Battalion was breathing heavily and squatting behind the broken wall where Lin Yuan died. The danger zone was already ahead and he couldn't be the first to rush forward.
"Why!"
Looking at two Japanese soldiers with bayonets stabbing at one of their brothers, the acting battalion commander sighed and carefully moved the two Japanese soldiers away, revealing Lin Yuan's ferocious face.
"Captain Lin?"
The voice of surprise was filled with disbelief. He finally understood why the enemies in this area were gone. It turned out that it was done by the people from the Death Squad. This group of people had been at the forefront since the beginning of the attack. Unexpectedly, Lin Yuan also died.
"Have all the daredevil soldiers died?"
The acting battalion commander shook his head and covered Lin Yuan's wide-open eyes with his hands.
"Captain, come and take a look."
A brother bent over and ran in from outside the broken wall. He met the brothers of the Death Squad hiding in the ruins, and even this almost scared the attacking brothers to death.
"Hmm? Are you from the Death Squadron? How many are left? Who is the commander now?"
"We still have thirty-one brothers left. Is Captain Lin dead?"
The brother who was asked asked that they had been here for almost ten minutes and had not waited for Lin Yuan to come over.
"Who is the commander now?"
"After the death of the third squad leader, Captain Lin asked Feng E to take temporary command."
The brother lying in the ruins rolled his eyes, afraid that he would be temporarily recruited by this commander again, and gave a conditional answer.
In the eyes of these people, no matter whether they were recruited by the commander of the 11th Division, they could not escape the fate of being cannon fodder. It would be better to let Feng E be their commander. As they were also criminal soldiers, Feng E could not cause any trouble.
