The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 387: Digging into the Civil Engineering Department

Kitaro Tsuchi, the rising star in the Japanese Navy, fell completely after a casual shot by He Wei.

Of course, He Wei had no idea about Kitaro Tsuchiji's numerous military exploits and his status in the Japanese Navy. In He Wei's view, killing Kitaro Tsuchiji was just like killing a brutal, vicious and crazy Japanese lieutenant colonel. It was just a matter of one shot and the same thing as killing a chicken.

After killing the highest commander of the Japanese army, Kitaro Tsuchi, He Wei patrolled around and organized the troops to speed up the cleaning of the battlefield. It took the troops more than an hour to finally clean up the messy battlefield, and all the finishing touches after the battle were also completed one after another.

The details of the spoils of war were also summarized by the first battalion commander Fu Chen and reported to He Wei.

Still in the command post in the Japanese position, Fu Chen reported to He Wei with the list of captured items he had just compiled: "In this battle, our army has seized 344 intact Type 38 rifles, 310 intact bayonets, 12 Japanese-made 11-year light machine guns, 4 Type 92 heavy machine guns, 36 submachine guns, 30 Type 89 50mm grenade launchers, 37 various command knives, 14 telephones, and 20 bundles of telephone wires."

"Fifty-seven fine Japanese horses that can tow artillery, eighteen fine Japanese horses for riding, one hundred and fourteen mules, thirty-five donkeys of all sizes, forty-seven rubber-wheeled horse-drawn carts, two hundred and forty boxes of various bullets, grenades, shells and other ammunition, and a small batch of food and forty barrels of gasoline. At present, all the captured items have been fully accounted for, and the quartermaster platoon of our battalion headquarters company has completed the loading of the captured Japanese horse carts, and they are ready to be shipped at any time."

After hearing the captured figures, He Wei nodded with satisfaction and asked, "How are our brothers who were injured and killed being dealt with?"

"The fallen soldiers have been registered, their bodies have been buried, and the wounded are being transported back to Banbi Mountain."

"Okay, the wounded must be transported back quickly. The weather is too hot now. If the wounds of the injured brothers are not treated quickly, they will easily become infected and inflamed."

Fu Chen replied, "Don't worry, Captain. The baggage platoon of our battalion headquarters company, the mountain artillery company of the artillery battalion, and the tank defense artillery company have freed up a number of carts and mules. We have also used a lot of captured horse-drawn carts to transport the wounded. I estimate that we can transport them all in one round trip."

He Wei nodded slightly, sniffed his nose, thought for a moment and added, "That's good. Oh, and there's one more thing. Don't forget to burn the bodies of the devils before you leave. Didn't we seize a lot of gasoline? Bury the bodies in the trench, cover them with straw, and then pour gasoline on them before burning. Make sure to burn them cleanly. In this weather, the bodies of the devils will rot and stink in no time. Our Banbishan position is not far from here. It would be terrible if some kind of plague broke out."

After He Wei finished speaking, Fu Chen was stunned for a moment, and then he also sensed a strange smell in the air.

Nearly two thousand Japanese soldiers were killed in this battle. After the battle, their corpses and broken limbs were scattered all over the positions. They quickly began to rot and stink under the high temperature and scorching sun in summer. In just a short while, the stench of corpses and decay in the air overwhelmed the smell of gunpowder and gunpowder.

The previous anti-river crossing battle and the encounter with the Japanese search team were different from the previous battle. Not too many devils were killed in the encounter with the Japanese search team, and the Japanese corpses after the battle were not a concern. Although many enemies were killed in the anti-landing river crossing battle, most of the Japanese corpses were washed away by the river and floated into the Yangtze River to feed the fish, so there was no need to consider the problem of plague.

But the battle just now was a complete battle of siege on the position. Nearly two thousand corpses were roasting in the high temperature of the open field. It was like a big poison den. If some kind of plague really broke out, the assault corps and the nearby national army units might also be in trouble.

In fact, He Wei did not want the troops to go to the trouble of dealing with the Japanese soldiers' bodies. He hoped that the Japanese soldiers' bodies would be eaten by wild dogs, crows and birds that followed the scent. But if they were not dealt with, it would be like laying a mine for themselves. Therefore, He Wei could only let his officers and soldiers work harder to clean up the Japanese soldiers' bodies.

After being reminded by He Wei, Fu Chen also realized the importance of dealing with the enemy's bodies, so he said seriously: "Understood, I will organize the troops to burn the bodies in a moment."

After Fu Chen finished speaking, he did not leave the command post, but stepped forward, his face became a little cunning, and he said in a subtle tone: "Captain, in this battle we also seized a lot of weapons from the original 18th Division. Should we hand over these weapons and the more than captured officers and soldiers to the th Division or keep them in our custody for the time being?"

He Wei was stunned for a moment, but then he quickly understood what Fu Chen meant. In the previous battle, not only did they seize many Japanese weapons and equipment, but they also seized a large number of weapons from the original 18th Division. These weapons were abandoned when the 18th Brigade of the 54th Division was defeated and were seized by the landing Japanese troops. Now that He Wei has destroyed the landing Japanese troops, these weapons naturally fell into He Wei's hands.

Now that the battle is over, how to deal with this large amount of weapons and ammunition, which are both spoils of war and not spoils of war, and the captured officers and soldiers has become an urgent problem that needs to be solved.

Of the two options proposed by Fu Chen, "handing it over to the 18th Division" and "temporarily taking charge of it by us", the focus is naturally on the latter. The so-called temporary management by the Assault Corps is actually just a nicer-sounding way of saying it, and the hidden meaning of this statement is that the Assault Corps will take this batch of weapons and captured officers and soldiers into its pocket.

To put it bluntly, this so-called custody meant taking away the weapons, ammunition and captured soldiers of the 18th Division.

He Wei hesitated for a moment and whispered, "How many weapons are there?"

Fu Chen had obviously already done the statistics, and he took out a statistical list and blurted out: "There are more than 1,200 usable rifles. Although they are made in Hanyang, they are all new guns produced by Hanyang Factory a few months ago. There are more than 30 Czech light machine guns, all imported from the Czech Republic, and 18 Type 24 heavy machine guns and five Type 20 82mm mortars. In addition, there are also many pistols, shovels, pickaxes, telephones and other communication equipment. It is no problem to equip one and a half infantry regiments."

"There is a lot of ammunition, too. There are two hundred boxes of unopened 18mm caliber round-nose rifle bullets, more than two hundred boxes of 54mm heavy pointed bullets for light and heavy machine guns, and two hundred boxes each of long-handled grenades and Type 54 mortar shells. These ammunitions are placed in the ammunition depot in the center of the Japanese position. This position originally belonged to the th Brigade of the th Division. I guess the ammunition was also pre-stored by the th Brigade in the position. They were defeated at the first blow of the Japanese night attack, and the ammunition was thrown to the Japanese intact without being destroyed. The wave of Japanese troops who fought desperately with us just now also had no time to destroy the ammunition at the last moment of the battle, so it fell into our hands."

He Wei snorted coldly and said, "This civil engineering unit has a very solid foundation."

Fu Chen was somewhat helpless, but also somewhat relieved when he replied, "I'm afraid the 18th Division actually had more supplies and ammunition seized by the Japanese. Even the mules, horses, and rubber-wheeled carts I just reported were probably abandoned by the 18th Brigade of the 54th Division. If we hadn't killed this group of Japanese troops, these supplies, ammunition, and equipment would have really been completely lost to the enemy."

He Wei then asked, "The captured officers and soldiers of the 18th Division are those more than people, right?"

Fu Chen nodded and said anxiously, "Yes, they just fought hard with the Japanese army, and only two hundred people are left. I have already found out their situation. The 18th Division was originally a unit of the old Hunan Army system. After the Battle of Songhu, it was swallowed up by Chen Cheng's civil engineering system. There are only a few officers left among the captured officers and soldiers. There is only one lieutenant platoon leader and two second lieutenant platoon leaders, all of whom are old Hunan Army officers from the ranks. The rest are all soldiers and sergeants."

"Most of the sergeants are veterans who participated in the Battle of Shanghai, and the soldiers are all young men who were recently conscripted from various divisions. They have not received any formal military training, but they are all young and strong, all in their teens and twenties. Moreover, they have just fought a desperate battle with the Japanese, and have seen blood and killed people. If they are given rest and training, they can be used."

He Wei did not answer Fu Chen immediately, but quickly thought about the benefits and possible troubles of swallowing up this group of people.

In fact, although the number of weapons and ammunition in this batch is not small, it is not very attractive to He Wei. In addition to the Czech light machine guns and 82mm mortars and some ammunition and equipment that can be reserved for the assault corps, the remaining weapons such as the Hanyang rifles and the water-cooled Type 24 heavy machine guns are not really advanced weapons for the wealthy assault corps. They are tasteless and a pity to throw away. However, since it is free, He Wei will not be picky. No matter how small the mosquito is, it is still a piece of meat. It is also good to use this batch of weapons to train new recruits in the future. At the very least, it can be sold to local security teams and militia local armed forces to make some money.

In contrast, the more than 200 captured officers and soldiers were extremely attractive to He Wei. Although most of these captured officers and soldiers were new recruits who were forcibly conscripted to supplement the 18th Division before the war, they also looked like soldiers after the bloody battle just now.

Moreover, the Assault Corps has also suffered certain casualties in a series of recent battles, and each unit has certain shortages. If this batch of soldiers can be replenished in time, it will be of great benefit to the restoration of the Assault Corps' combat effectiveness.

Of course, if He Wei really did this, there would be risks. After all, the 18th Division is now a civil engineering unit. Everyone knows what the civil engineering unit backed by Chen Cheng and Chen Cixiu is like. It has always been the civil engineering unit that swallowed up the numbers and equipment of other units, and no one dared to touch the civil engineering unit's share of the cake.

If the fact that He Wei had annexed the weapons, ammunition, equipment and a group of officers and soldiers of one and a half infantry regiments of the civil engineering forces came to light, it would definitely cause a lot of trouble.

However, now that they are facing a powerful enemy, the losses of the assault corps urgently need to be replenished. In addition, he has the support of Minister He behind him, so he can't care so much.

After figuring out the key points, He Wei said cheerfully, "Damn it, it's stupid not to take advantage of the opportunity. Just like you said, we've taken the guns and the men, but we still have to keep this as secret as possible. Have you had any contact with the captured soldiers of the 18th Division?"

Fu Chen nodded repeatedly and said, "I have already contacted some of their officers and tested them. Those officers are all former Hunan Army officers, and they come from the ranks without military school education. After the 18th Division was absorbed by the Civil Engineering Department, the cadres at all levels were gradually replaced by those from our Whampoa Military Academy. These old local residents are not living a happy life. When they heard me say that the Assault Corps was interested in recruiting them, they were tempted to learn that our troops were well-equipped, had strong combat effectiveness, and were also part of the Central Army."

"I also told them that although our assault corps is a central army, it is not just about the Whampoa Military Academy. Officers from the military can still be promoted if they do a good job. After I said this, they were all very positive. If those officers are willing to work for us, there will naturally be no problem with the sergeants and soldiers under them."

He Wei clapped his hands and praised, "That's good. You have done a good job. No doubt, we will take these soldiers. However, we cannot do it too ostentatiously. Whether it is the transportation of weapons and ammunition or the march and transfer of these prisoners, we must do it as secretly as possible. The 18th Division's troops are on the east bank of the Fuchi River. It would be bad if they find out the flaws."

"After these captured soldiers are driven back to Banbi Mountain with us, don't distribute them yet. Give them some training here at the headquarters before sending them to other places. Of the three infantry battalions in our headquarters, only your First Battalion has had a large-scale battle with the Japanese army and suffered the heaviest losses. All of these soldiers will be sent to your battalion when the time comes."

Fu Chen was overjoyed when he heard this. Although the casualties of his First Infantry Battalion in several battles were not serious, more than 200 people were killed and a lot of blood was lost. Moreover, most of the casualties were combat infantry from various infantry companies, and the losses were the elite.

If all the captured officers and soldiers of the 18th Division were transferred to him, the lost combat power would be restored to a considerable extent.

Fu Chen nodded repeatedly and said happily: "Although these two hundred or so captured soldiers from the 18th Division are not as good as the infantry we trained ourselves, they can still be used as emergency reinforcements during combat. I will go and arrange them now."

After watching the delighted Fu Chen leave, He Wei breathed a sigh of relief. The battle situation near the Fuchi River in the past few days was really dangerous. The Japanese Marines who suddenly landed defeated the 18th Brigade of the 54th Division on the west bank of the Fuchi River in just one night, and continued to land and assault on the east bank of the Fuchi River, with their troops heading straight for Banbi Mountain. The battle situation could be described as precarious.

A series of outrageous actions by Li Fangbin, the former commander of the 18th Division, almost worsened the situation and even directly led to the collapse of the entire war. It was really like facing fierce and powerful enemies outside and having crooked colleagues inside.

Fortunately, after several days of bloody battles and struggles on the battlefield and in personnel matters, He Wei finally completely wiped out the Japanese Marines who landed on the west bank of the Fuchi River and the friendly troops who were dragging their feet, and stabilized the situation on the Fuchikou and Banbishan line.

Today, I managed to poach some talents from Chen Cheng's civil engineering troop, which was an unexpected gain.

But He Wei knew very well that the battle he had just fought was just an appetizer. The Japanese army's attack on Banbishan and Tianjia Town was not entirely dependent on water routes, but a coordinated attack involving both water and land routes.

He Wei was not worried about the Japanese offensive on the water. Previously, the Japanese naval fleet had attacked Banbi Mountain but suffered a crushing defeat. In addition to the failure of the attack, many warships were sunk in the battle, blocking the waterway between Banbi Mountain and Tianjia Town.

Under the control of the artillery fire on Banbi Mountain, if the Japanese naval fleet going upstream still retained the most basic common sense, it would certainly not continue to launch surface ship attacks on Banbi Mountain and Tianjia Town along the blocked and extremely narrow Yangtze River waterway.

The possibility of the Japanese Navy using surface ships to cover the Marines in launching another landing operation near Banbi Mountain and Fuchikou was basically zero after the more than 3,000 Marines who landed on the west bank of the Fuchi River were almost completely wiped out.

The focus of the next battle will still be on the land route.

Prior to this, He Wei had taken the initiative to attack, formed an advance column and successfully defeated a Japanese vanguard unit. Based on the seized documents and intelligence from prisoners, he learned that the unit to which this Japanese vanguard belonged was the Hata Detachment of the Japanese Army. He Wei had always been thinking about this Japanese Hata Detachment that had advanced all the way to Banbi Mountain after capturing Jiujiang.

The Japanese can no longer do anything on the river or water, but He Wei calculated based on the marching speed of the Japanese land troops that it would only take a few days for the shadowy Japanese Army's Hata Detachment to reach the vicinity of Fuchikou and Banbi Mountain. Once the Hata Detachment arrives, the defenders near Banbi Mountain and Fuchi River will face new tests and an inevitable bloody battle.

Recently, Li Yannian, commander of the 11th Corps, has also sent people to send battle reports to He Wei every day, constantly reporting the battle situation outside Tianjia Town. According to the reports in recent days, the Gui Army troops responsible for guarding the periphery of Tianjia Town have been exhausted after a long and bloody battle. While the main force of the Gui Army caused considerable casualties to the Japanese army, it also suffered huge losses itself. Although it still holds the Huangmei, Guangji and other defense lines outside Tianjia Town, under the swift and continuous fierce attacks of the Japanese army, the loss of the outer positions is only a matter of time.

This also means that it won’t be long before the main force of the 11th Corps guarding the core position of Tianjia Town will directly face the main force of the Japanese army attacking and encircling them from all directions.

At that time, the Tianjiazhen Fortress, Banbishan Fortress, and the defenders near the Fuchi River outside Banbishan will inevitably collide with the main force of the Japanese Army at the same time, and the curtain of a bloody battle is about to begin.

In the blazing flames, nearly two thousand bodies of Japanese Marines, which were doused with gasoline and covered with straw, turned into charred black smoke in the billowing smoke, and were blown by the summer breeze, turning into wandering ghosts buried in a foreign land.

Under the blazing sun and the thick smoke from the burning enemy corpses, the officers and soldiers of the assault corps, loaded with spoils of war, shed their sweat in victory, formed several winding dragons, leaped with amazing energy, and slowly drove back to the east bank of the Fuchi River. What awaited them was an even more brutal bloody battle.
(End of this chapter)