The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 431: A Farewell Gift to the Sixth Division
After deciding to march to the temporary capital, the assault corps' various retreat finishing tasks were completed one after another, and the Banbishan Garrison Command set up by Li Yannian with He Wei as commander also temporarily ended its mission.

In terms of the changes in the troop arrangements, except for the departure of all the troops of the Assault Corps, the 10mm heavy artillery battalion, naval artillery team, naval mine team, and 150mm anti-aircraft artillery company under the 75th Mechanized Heavy Artillery Regiment of the Army assigned to the Assault Corps all remained in place and remained on standby at their original garrison positions on Banbi Mountain.

At the same time, there were no major changes in the 385th Brigade of Ma Ji's troops guarding the Big and Small Bear Mountain Heights, and the 18th Division of Luo Guangwen's troops which had previously retreated from the direction of Fuchi River. However, according to the order of the Military Commission, the 18th Division also had to move to the front line of the Big and Small Bear Mountain Heights to strengthen the garrison of the 385th Brigade.

The 82nd Division directly took over the defense of the Assault Corps and entered the Banbi Mountain Fortress to perform the task of river defense. This division was a local force of the Guizhou Army system and had also participated in the Battle of Shanghai. Unlike the 103rd Division of He Shaozhou's army that He Wei had previously come into contact with, which had been absorbed and reformed by the central government, the 82nd Division still maintained a considerable degree of independence and was not centralized. It was a relatively authentic Guizhou Army unit and was quite wary and xenophobic of the central government.

In fact, the 82nd Division was not far from Banbi Mountain where the Assault Corps was guarding. It had been performing river defense tasks on the river bank more than ten kilometers away from Banbi Mountain. However, He Wei felt that this division seemed to be non-existent. During the period of performing river defense tasks, it had little contact with either Banbi Mountain or Tianjia Town. This was also a reflection of the division's defensive mentality towards the two direct troops of the Central Army, the Assault Corps and Li Yannian Corps in Tianjia Town.

The deployment location of this division happened to be behind the river fortress defense line formed by Banbi Mountain and Tianjia Town. During this period, the Japanese army's land and water offensive against Banbi Mountain and Tianjia Town made no progress. Not a single soldier or sampan was sent there. Naturally, the 82nd Division had a very comfortable life recently. The so-called river defense mission was just to check the river and patrol every day.

Now, with a transfer order, the 82nd Division, which had been playing a supporting role in the background, had to go to Banbi Mountain to take over the defense and directly face the possible attack of the Japanese army. After this series of rotation deployments by the Military Commission, He Wei was actually very worried about the overall defense of Tianjia Town and Banbi Mountain, the last line of defense guarding the Yangtze River waterway in Wuhan.

Not to mention Tianjia Town, just look at Banbi Mountain on the opposite bank of Tianjia Town. The original main defense force was the elite basic force of the Assault Corps, Ma Ji's 385th Brigade and a number of attached artillery units. Relying on the powerful combat capability of the Assault Corps and the concerted efforts of other forces under the unified coordination and command of He Wei, the combat effectiveness of the various defenders near Banbi Mountain can be said to have been exerted to the extreme in various battles with the Japanese army and repeatedly inflicted heavy damage to the Japanese army. The overall defense of Banbi Mountain cannot be said to be impregnable, but it can be said to be quite stable.

If the Assault Corps were allowed to continue to defend Banbi Mountain, He Wei could guarantee that as long as the Assault Corps did not suffer casualties of more than two-thirds, there would be no problems in defending Banbi Mountain and the surrounding areas.

However, after the assault corps moved, the Banbishan garrison's original heavy artillery, anti-aircraft guns, naval artillery and other attached troops remained unchanged, but the garrison's infantry troops suddenly became a mixed bag.

The current garrison troops on the Big and Small Bear Mountain heights in front of Banbi Mountain are the 385th Brigade and the 18th Division. The 385th Brigade is in good condition, having won battles following the Assault Corps.

However, an entire brigade of the 18th Division was directly defeated by the landing Japanese Marines in the previous Battle of Fuchi River. Although the 18th Division had withdrawn to the rear of the Big and Small Xiong Mountains for rest and recuperation during this period, the chief officer of the division was replaced by the more capable and experienced Luo Guangwen.

But the 18th Division was, after all, a unit filled with new recruits, which had suffered heavy losses and whose overall combat effectiveness was relatively weak. It was unknown how much combat effectiveness it could exert when it came into a head-on confrontation with the Japanese army.

As for the 82nd Division directly guarding Banbi Mountain, regardless of its combat effectiveness, just in terms of the exclusivity of this division, although the 82nd Division is now part of the battle sequence of Li Yannian's Corps, when a real fight breaks out, He Wei really has to question whether the orders given by Li Yannian to the 82nd Division across the Yangtze River in Tianjia Town can be seriously executed by this division and to what extent they can be executed.

Anyway, in He Wei's opinion, after the withdrawal of the assault corps, although the number of garrison troops near Banbi Mountain increased, their actual combat effectiveness and garrison strength actually decreased a lot. Facing the possible next large-scale attack by the Japanese army, He Wei had no idea whether the new Banbi Mountain garrison could withstand the test.

Although He Wei was about to withdraw with the assault corps, the defense of the Banbi Mountain line and the fighting style theoretically had nothing to do with him anymore. However, Banbi Mountain and Tianjia Town were the last line of defense along the Yangtze River waterway in Wuhan after all, and He Wei didn't want to just walk away.

Before leaving, He Wei was still thinking about whether he should find an opportunity to do something to the Japanese army again and give them a "parting gift". Therefore, while organizing and commanding the troops to prepare for various retreat matters, He Wei had been paying attention to the enemy situation near Banbi Mountain and Tianjia Town, thinking about how to deal a heavy blow to the Japanese army.

Late at night, in the combat command room of the Banbishan Command Post, the spacious command room was brightly lit. Several battalion commanders of the assault corps, the chief officers of the direct companies, Chief of Staff Wang Yuanling, and the heads of various departments of the General Staff Office sat together. The command post was silent, and the officers had their own thoughts.

General He Wei, who was sitting at the top, saw all the officers' reactions and smiled bitterly in his heart.

After much thought, He Wei decided not to conceal the news of the so-called "Japanese airborne troops attacking the temporary capital" which prompted the assault corps to be transferred to the temporary capital. At the beginning of the meeting tonight, he informed the officers of the inside story of the transfer. When the main officers under He Wei learned of the possible actions of the Japanese army, the reaction was indeed not small. Some were confused, some were worried, and some were shocked. In short, quite a number of officers were worried.

For He Wei, as a time traveler, he not only knew that the Japanese airborne troops at that time were not very good, but also that parachuting into the capital to carry out a decapitation raid was nonsense. However, the officers under him knew none of this. They were completely unfamiliar with this new type of airborne troops, and had no idea what tactics to adopt to deal with the Japanese airborne raids.

After all, even the current military powers in Europe and the United States have not used large-scale airborne operations in actual combat, let alone large-scale anti-airborne warfare. It is conceivable that this unprecedented, never-before-seen, and even unheard-of combat form must have shocked the officers of the assault corps.

Therefore, it was natural that the officers had such a reaction. He Wei estimated that the panic and anxiety of the elite officers and staff at the top of the Military Commission and the National Government in the face of the rumors that the Japanese army was about to launch a surprise airborne attack on the temporary capital might be even greater than the reaction of the officers of the assault corps.

This is the shock of the dimensionality reduction strike brought by the new soldiers. He Wei cleared his throat and said in a deep voice: "Okay, we have even destroyed a reinforced brigade of the Japanese army. Are we still afraid of the Japanese airborne troops? Sichuan Province is in our hands, and the temporary capital is also in our hands. The Japanese have come thousands of miles to use planes to carry out airborne operations in the temporary capital. In my opinion, they are just giving us a free victory. Relax a little, don't be scared by those airborne troops. I will have a way to deal with it when the time comes."

After He Wei's persuasion, the atmosphere in the operations room became much more relaxed. Although most of the officers were still having doubts in their hearts, as the Assault Corps won victory after victory, the officers and soldiers of the Assault Corps developed an unconditional belief in the combat orders issued by He Wei, and even in his opinions and every word he said.

Therefore, although the officers had their doubts, He Wei's nonchalant look made them feel a little more relaxed.

He Wei then said, "Director Wang, can you tell me about the arrangements and deployment for the retreat and relocation?"

Wang Yuanling stood up and saluted He Wei, then said loudly: "The troop's departure plan has been organized. The transportation method is water transportation. The Military Commission has allocated more than 30 large and small ships. It is expected to start transporting our troops in three days. The departure point is the river beach five kilometers in front of Banbi Mountain. The troops to be transported are all the troops in our assault corps, captured Japanese prisoners, and all weapons, ammunition and seized items. The scheduled landing site is the river beach near the temporary capital."

"The Military Commission has sent a telegram. For the sake of confidentiality, the specific landing site will be designated and notified after the corps is transported to the waters of the auxiliary capital by ship. The specific ship transportation plan, landing order and fleet formation plan of the corps are currently being formulated by the General Staff Office and will be completed soon."

"In addition, a large number of seriously injured soldiers in our corps are currently recovering and receiving treatment in Wuhan. Director Li Youcai of the Logistics Department and several staff officers are accompanying them in Wuhan. They have been informed that our corps will soon be transferred to the capital. However, most of these wounded brothers are seriously injured and currently have difficulty in moving. They need to rest for a period of time before they can be transferred from Wuhan. Moreover, the overall situation is urgent now. According to Director Li Youcai's report, these wounded brothers have received good medical treatment in Wuhan, and very few of them are seriously injured and have died. However, the manpower he brought is slightly insufficient. I hope that the corps can send more troops to Wuhan to better take care of these wounded brothers and sisters, and at the same time prevent unexpected situations."

Wang Yuanling nodded and said, "Captain, I have reported the general transportation plan."

He Wei smiled and waved his hand, saying, "It seems that our corps' transport is quite large. In this case, we should take away all the captured items, but I don't think it's necessary to take away all the ammunition we use. Leave half of the 7.92mm machine gun bullets and long-handled grenades for friendly forces. We have no use for the 82mm mortar shells, so leave them all for friendly forces. Notify Brigade Commander Ma Jima and ask him to send someone to pick them up."

"Yes!"

Wang Yuanling nodded readily, obviously not feeling sorry for the weapons and ammunition that He Wei had sent out. The Assault Corps had always been arrogant and had no shortage of ordinary machine gun bullets, grenades, and mortar shells. After reaching Banbi Mountain, Li Yannian replenished the Assault Corps with a large amount of ammunition.

Therefore, the assault corps has a huge amount of ammunition in stock. If we take into account the large number of weapons and ammunition seized from the Japanese army and the weapons and ammunition previously stolen from the friendly 18th Division, it is not an exaggeration to say that the assault corps currently has a huge amount of various equipment and ammunition. They would not feel sorry to give half of it to the friendly forces. It can be regarded as a way to promote their style and help the friendly forces before leaving.

Besides, the destination of the assault corps this time is the temporary capital, and their mission is to defend the temporary capital. Once they arrive at the temporary capital, will they be short of replenishment of conventional ammunition such as machine gun bullets and grenades?
In a way, allocating ammunition to friendly forces was actually a good thing for Wang Yuanling and his staff. This batch of ammunition made it much easier for them to formulate shipping plans, reducing a lot of shipping volume and workload.

He Wei thought for a moment and said, "As for Director Li in Wuhan, I think we should wait until our corps ships transport us to Wuhan and leave two infantry companies there. We will hand over these two infantry companies to Director Li Youcai to protect the wounded soldiers left in Wuhan. We will ask Director Li not to worry and take good care of the wounded. We can stay in Wuhan for a few more days until the wounded are almost healed before taking the ship to Peidu."

"By the way, please tell Director Li not to leave behind even a single wounded soldier when we set out. Anyone who can still breathe must be brought back to me!"

"Yes! Captain!"

He Wei nodded slightly, stood up and paced a few steps. In fact, he didn't need to worry too much about the transportation plan of the troops to the temporary capital. All plans were formulated and arranged by the General Staff Office. He only needed to add some details. Now that the matters related to ammunition and wounded soldiers had been arranged, he didn't need to pay too much attention to this aspect.

Then, the plan of giving the Japanese army another beating before leaving came to He Wei's mind again.

After thinking for a moment, He Wei turned his gaze to Chen Xinsheng, the artillery battalion commander of the assault corps, and said, "Captain Chen, our corps has captured a lot of Japanese artillery in various battles. I want to ask you, can your artillery battalion use these Japanese artillery and use them together with your battalion's existing artillery to form a temporary artillery group?"

After thinking for a while, Chen Xinsheng nodded and said, "My corps has captured a lot of artillery. I wonder how you will use these artillery pieces, Captain. If we just let these artillery pieces fire at a fixed position, without the need for mobile deployment and firing operations at any time like a normal artillery unit, then with the manpower of our battalion, we can still use these Japanese artillery pieces."

As soon as Chen Xinsheng finished speaking, He Wei punched the air in front of him with a brilliant look. After a fierce light flashed in his eyes, he said excitedly: "Okay! No need to maneuver, as long as you can set up and fire in a fixed position, then this task will be handed over to you. Have your artillery battalion pack up all the mountain artillery and regiment artillery captured from the Japanese army, and pull them up the mountain. Use these artillery and the original mountain artillery of your battalion, as well as the 150mm heavy artillery battalion and the artillery of the naval artillery on the mountain to form an artillery group. Before leaving, I want to leave a parting gift for the Japanese Sixth Division on the other side!"

(End of this chapter)