Zhu Tian: Beginning to Cross the Changjin Lake

Chapter 98 The battalion commander was injured!

The exploded cement fragments hit Tan Ziwei, and a heat wave swept over him.

Tan Ziwei groaned, quickly hid behind a rock, and said through gritted teeth: "Old Guo! Good job."

After the explosion stopped, Tan Ziwei turned his head and looked. The smoke gradually dissipated and the Watergate Bridge was in a mess.

Tan Ziwei opened his eyes wide, looked carefully, and found that the bridge deck had been completely blown up. He finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Tan Ziwei immediately shouted, "Save the wounded and retreat immediately!"

After receiving the order to retreat, the soldiers immediately lifted up their injured comrades and began to evacuate the Watergate Bridge, taking turns to cover each other.

However, Captain Guo and others stayed at the Watergate Bridge forever.

Wu Qianli looked up and saw that the Watergate Bridge had been blown up and the 9th Company had already begun to retreat. He shouted, "Provide fire cover, cover the retreat of the 9th Company!"

The Watergate Bridge had been destroyed, the mission accomplished, and there was no need to continue fighting.

As for completely occupying the Watergate Bridge, it is simply impossible with their current military strength.

Once the enemy reinforcements arrived, even with the 7th Company, they would not be able to hold the Watergate Bridge. Defending the bridge would be tantamount to committing suicide.

Even if the enemy's ground forces could not attack thanks to the terrain, after daybreak, enemy planes would drop a few incendiary bombs and all the people would be burned to ashes.

In the opinion of Tan Ziwei, Wu Qianli and others, the bridge deck was completely destroyed and it would be difficult to repair it.

But Li Guotao knew that such a degree of damage would still be quite easy for the US military to repair.

At this moment, Li Guotao also rushed to a distance of about 100 meters from the Watergate Bridge.

Looking up at the Watergate Bridge, I saw that its deck had been blown up, but the base was still there.

Li Guotao really wanted to rush over and continue to blow up the base, so that it would become more difficult for the enemy to repair it.

But now Tan Ziwei and Wu Qianli have already issued the order to retreat, and the troops have begun to retreat.

Even if Li Guotao led the third squad to rush forward, it would be difficult to blow up the bridge foundation.

Moreover, Li Guotao changed his mind and decided that it might not be a wise move to blow up the base now.

Because according to what Li Guotao knew, the Volunteer Army bombed the Watergate Bridge three times, and the third time even the base was blown up.

At this time, the US military engineers were unable to repair the Watergate Bridge, but there was still a solution.

So the U.S. military urgently ordered several sets of steel beam bridge kits from Japan and airdropped them directly to Kotori, and only then did they repair the Watergate Bridge again.

According to what Li Guotao knew, with the Volunteer Army's main force's all-out pursuit and blocking, it would take the enemy's main force several days to reach the Watergate Bridge.

Although Major General Smith has begun to retreat with his troops, the enemy is retreating very quickly, only able to travel a few kilometers a day, which is simply a snail's pace.

Major General Smith also wanted to speed up, but he couldn't do it at all. There were pursuers behind him and blockades in front of him. He couldn't move forward even if he wanted to.

If the Watergate Bridge foundation were to be destroyed now, the enemy would have thought of airdropping the steel beam bridge kit in advance.

With Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' production capacity and the U.S. military's airdrop capabilities, it would be no problem to drop not only eight sets, but even eighty sets of such bridge kits in the next few days.

At that time, it will become more difficult to completely cut off the Watergate Bridge.

Therefore, if we do not blow up the foundation of the Watergate Bridge now, we can at least delay it for another day or two, which may not be a bad thing.

However, this also meant that the Volunteer Army had to continue the mission of bombing the bridge and blow up the Watergate Bridge for the third time. The third attack on the Watergate Bridge would undoubtedly become more difficult, and more soldiers would be sacrificed.

But so far, Li Guotao has no better solution.

Even if there were enough explosives, could they still blow up the mountains on both sides?

After all, the Watergate Bridge has a span of only eight meters, and there are mountains on both sides. Even if there were more explosives, it would be useless.

Moreover, the situation was urgent and the troops had already begun to retreat. Li Guotao had no time to think and could only withdraw first.

Li Guotao raised his gun and aimed at the enemy position. He fired two shots in succession, killing two more enemy machine gunners. He then shouted, "Retreat quickly!"

Under the cover of the Seventh Company, the surviving soldiers of the Ninth Company successfully withdrew from the battlefield, and the soldiers of the Seventh Company also retreated quickly.

In this battle, the defenders of the Watergate Bridge also suffered heavy losses. Seeing the Volunteer Army retreating, they dared not continue to pursue them.

But looking at the destroyed Watergate Bridge, the surviving American soldiers thanked their God for blessing them with life while cursing.

Major General Smith has issued a death order to save the Watergate Bridge at all costs. Now that the Watergate Bridge has been blown up again, how can they not curse?

However, at this point, they were helpless and could only report the situation truthfully and then find a way to repair the Watergate Bridge again.

When the volunteers retreated, they also used incendiary grenades to set fire to the nearby forest to prevent the enemy from cutting down trees to build a bridge.

However, it only burned down a large area of ​​nearby forest, and the enemy was only troubled by having to cut down wood from a farther place and then transport it over. At most, it wasted some time and could not completely prevent the enemy from repairing the Watergate Bridge.

The troops successfully withdrew from the battle. The Seventh Company followed the soldiers of the Ninth Company, carrying the wounded, and walked towards a hiding place in the distance.

At the foot of a mountain a few miles away from the Watergate Bridge, there is a huge cave. The terrain is hidden and the soldiers can hide inside. It is relatively safe.

At least the bombing by enemy aircraft would hardly pose much threat to them, and the enemy did not have the courage to send troops to attack deep into the mountains.

Wu Qianli walked up to Tan Ziwei, put his arm around his shoulders, and said excitedly, "Of course! You have completed such a difficult task."

Although Tan Ziwei was the battalion commander, the two of them joined the army at the same time and joined the 7th Company together, so their relationship was special.

Tan Ziwei said: "Fortunately you arrived in time, otherwise our casualties would be even greater."

"But at least the bridge was blown up. The enemy won't be able to repair the Watergate Bridge in a short time."

Wu Qianli heard that there was something wrong with Tan Ziwei's voice, so he lowered his head to take a look. He saw that Tan Ziwei's face was pale and beads of sweat the size of beans covered his forehead.

"You are hurt?"

Wu Qianli stretched out his hands and groped Tan Ziwei's body, and soon felt a sticky area on his waist.

Wu Qianli looked down and found that there was a hole in his cotton coat. Blood had dyed the surrounding area red, and gradually condensed into ice under the howling cold wind. The most terrible thing was that blood was still oozing out of the wound.

"First aid kit~!"

The soldier next to him immediately brought over a first aid kit.

Wu Qianli couldn't help but complain: "You are fucking dying."

Tan Ziwei forced a smile and said, "It's okay, I can still hold on."

(End of this chapter)