Zhu Tian: Beginning to Cross the Changjin Lake

Chapter 138: A rat-proof weapon!

The chief immediately became excited upon hearing this and asked quickly, "What good ideas do you have? Tell me quickly."

The staff officer continued, "Since we can't move to a safe place in a short time, then we might as well not move."

"If we don't move, are we going to wait for enemy planes to bomb us?" another staff officer asked in confusion.

The chief was thoughtful, as if he understood something, and waved his hand and said, "Go on."

The staff officer continued, "Didn't we capture a large number of prisoners this time? We can't quickly transport so many prisoners to the rear for resettlement."

"We need to take the highway to transfer these prisoners to the rear. After all, this highway is the easiest and smoothest way to go."

"In order to ensure that the main force can move south as quickly as possible, we must gather all these prisoners of war on the road near Gutuli as soon as possible, temporarily place them there, and prepare to transfer them to the rear."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present understood immediately.

This is to use the enemy's prisoners as a shield!

The enemy's bombing planes would not spare even their own people! Even if they had become prisoners of our army, the enemy would not ignore their lives. After all, these were not just a few dozen or a few hundred prisoners, but tens of thousands of prisoners.

The commander pondered for a moment and said, "This is also a helpless move. Besides, there are so many prisoners of war, and there are also many wounded on both sides of the enemy. They all need to be transported to the rear, so taking the road is an inevitable choice."

"Let's do it! Execute it immediately. But we must also ensure safety as much as possible. Hide if you can, and relocate if you can."

"The main force in pursuit must also try to avoid being bombed by enemy aircraft."

"Yes!"

The commander stared at the sand table, pondered for a moment, and then said: "The key point for this battle to go so smoothly is that our army completely blew up the Watergate Bridge, preventing the enemy from escaping."

"But now our army has to continue to advance southward, and the Watergate Bridge will become an important transportation channel for our army. We must find a way to repair it as soon as possible."

A staff officer said: "In order to prevent the enemy from retreating through the Watergate Bridge, our bridge-bombing troops completely blew up the Watergate Bridge. It may be difficult to repair the bridge now."

The chief said with a serious face: "No matter how difficult it is, we must repair it as soon as possible."

Another staff officer said: "According to the report from the front-line troops, the enemy airdropped a steel frame that can quickly build a temporary steel frame bridge to ensure that the Watergate Bridge is unobstructed."

"Our blocking troops destroyed a batch of these steel frames before, but then the enemy airdropped another batch overnight. They originally wanted to continue transporting them to the Watergate Bridge to repair it."

"However, due to the fierce offensive of our army, the enemy collapsed across the board and was forced to abandon the breakout from the Watergate Bridge and abandoned all heavy equipment. These steel frames were also abandoned on the road near Gutuli."

"We can use these steel frames to build a bridge."

At this time, a staff officer whispered, "The enemy still has this thing. Can the steel frame be used to build a bridge?"

"How do you use this thing?"

"do not know!"

"It doesn't matter if we can't use it. We've captured so many enemies, and there are many engineers among them. They should be able to use it."

"The enemy's engineers have a lot of large equipment that can lift these steel frames onto the Watergate Bridge and quickly build a temporary steel bridge."

The commander nodded slightly and said, "Very good, notify the engineering corps immediately and ask them to use these steel frames to repair the Watergate Bridge for me as soon as possible."

"In addition, this place will become our main transportation route in the future and will inevitably be bombed by the enemy."

"We also need to find a way to build a stronger bridge as soon as possible to ensure unobstructed traffic here." "Yes! Please rest assured, Chief, I will notify the relevant departments to find a solution."

The commander said with a serious face: "Although our army has won a great victory in this battle, the battle is not over yet. All units must continue to work hard to expand the results and recapture Xingnan Port as soon as possible."

"Yes!"

Everyone present responded in unison.

……

Not long after, the support troops sent by friendly forces arrived.

Wu Qianli handed over all the five or six hundred captured enemy prisoners to the friendly troops that came to support them. They sent people to escort the prisoners to the temporary settlement point for prisoners near Gutuli, ready to be escorted to the rear.

After all the prisoners of war were handed over, it was almost dawn.

Mei Sheng said: "After fighting for so long, the soldiers are exhausted."

"And there are still dozens of kilometers to go."

Wu Qianli ordered: "Let the soldiers rest for a while, recover their strength, and then set off again."

"We also have to hurry up and get there as soon as possible."

Mei Sheng continued, "I have already notified the Ninth Company and asked them to come over and join us as soon as possible."

Wu Qianli reached out and patted Meisheng on the shoulder, saying, "You've worked hard, too. Find a place and have a good sleep."

After daybreak, large numbers of defeated enemy soldiers gradually began to appear on the road south of the Watergate Bridge. They emerged from the ravines, poured onto the road, and continued to flee southward.

Volunteer troops continued to catch up from all directions, and sporadic battles occurred from time to time.

Those enemies who run slowly still cannot escape the fate of being annihilated.

The enemy troops were still dozens of kilometers away from Xingnan Port and had abandoned their vehicles, so they could only walk on foot.

In order to reduce losses, the enemy also sent some troops to support along the way, but at this moment the main force of the enemy had been annihilated, and the troops and vehicles that could be dispatched from the rear were limited.

What's more, the Volunteer Army was chasing too closely, and for their own safety, the enemy troops who came to support them did not dare to continue advancing northward. After all, they knew that the main force had been completely defeated, and going north now would undoubtedly be suicide.

Therefore, all these supporting troops were hesitant and slow in moving forward, and had no effect at all.

After daybreak, the enemy's naval aviation and air force also sent a large number of aircraft to provide support.

However, these planes could only bomb the pursuing volunteer troops and slow down the speed of their pursuit.

There were a large number of personnel and equipment gathered in Gutu, but when the enemy pilots looked around, they saw a large black mass of their captives below.

Although there were some volunteer soldiers among them, there were more of them as prisoners. Who would dare to bomb them?

The enemy had hundreds of planes, covering the sky and the sun, and the scene was very spectacular.

However, most of the enemy planes failed to find suitable targets to attack and returned empty-handed.

However, the enemy Air Force's heavy bombers did not hesitate and went straight to the rear of our army, continuing to carry out the task of bombing our army's transportation lines, where they could carry out bombing with impunity.

(End of this chapter)