Show the sword, start from the guerrillas

Chapter 238 Chapter 237, Alive
At Jigongling, the 11th and 10th companies withdrew, but they were missing many comrades. Seeing the raging artillery fire, many soldiers shed tears while packing up their belongings and moving with the main force. In this battle, the 4th Battalion suffered heavy casualties, with the three main companies suffering more than 150 casualties, more than % of the force.

Captain Fan was a little unwilling, but he had no better way! After such a long time of blocking, not a single Japanese soldier was killed, but so many of his own people were sacrificed... It was unacceptable!
But Captain Fan also understood that if they evacuated during this time and brought the Japanese to Tianjiazhai, they would still have a chance to continue fighting the Japanese. If they stayed in Jigongling, these comrades would sooner or later be consumed by the Japanese artillery fire! The Japanese came in trucks, and a truck could carry more than a ton of shells. They couldn't afford to gamble...

"Pah!" After organizing the team, Captain Fan looked at the setting sun obscured by dust and smoke, spitted on the ground and said, "Comrades, move! We will remember this grudge!"

The main force of the 4th Battalion retreated. They first walked along the mountain road to the east to the woods where the instructor and his team were, and then went south along the path on the east slope of Crouching Tiger Ridge and headed straight for Tianjiazhai. The instructor and his team, however, continued along the mountain road to the east with the last batch of wounded soldiers, heading to Liangjia Village.

At Jigongling, the Japanese artillery fire lasted for a full 10 minutes before it stopped! In order to be safer, the Japanese not only blew up the main position on the ridge, but also blew up the east and west sides of the position. Especially in the minefield on the west side, the Japanese cunningly used artillery shells to blow up several passages to ensure that there were no mines.

That's right, the artillery bombardment before the positional battle can effectively suppress the enemy's firepower, destroy the enemy's fortifications, eliminate the enemy's manpower, and blast out a dense attack channel with craters in front of the enemy's position. While destroying the minefield, it can also assist the attack of the attacking troops and provide them with a certain amount of cover. Many veterans know how to use shell craters to avoid bullets.

After the shelling stopped, the Japanese still did not walk in front. Instead, they asked the supervision team to urge the remaining puppet troops to walk in front and let the puppet troops step over mines and block bullets for them.

Captain Kong was very reluctant after receiving the order. Because his 1st Battalion of the Imperial Army had lost 4 squadrons at this time, and he only had the last 300 or so soldiers left. If there were still Eighth Route Army defenders on the mountain, they would probably not come back if they went up! Wouldn't he, the captain, become a commander without troops?
However, facing the eyes of the Japanese supervisors who looked at the dead, and the occasional fierce light in the eyes of the Japanese, he still compromised! After leaving 50 family confidants around him, he sent the rest of the Imperial Army. What made him a little relieved was that this time, more than Imperial Army soldiers followed behind his team, and they finally spared people.

The Japanese troops following the Imperial Army were naturally Aso and his team who had just been recruited into the Sakata Regiment. Because of the defeat of the Takahashi Battalion, Aso and his team, who were affiliated with this battalion, had no direct superiors. Except for the wounded who fell in the field hospital, there were only 27 of them who could still fight.

At this time, Aso Taiso, with his assembled subordinates, followed the Imperial Army from a distance, hoping to achieve great things and wash away the shame.

"We have seen this place from afar before, but we have never been able to break through the defense line here! I hope we can break through this time!" Aso Taiso said to the Japanese soldiers around him as he walked.

"..." No Japanese soldier responded to him, because at this moment they were all holding their guns nervously, looking at Jigong Ridge, as if they were ready to shoot at any time.

Seeing this, Aso Taiji could only curl his lips helplessly and stopped talking. Those who followed him were actually new recruits, many of whom had never participated in formal battles and had always served as ammunition handlers in artillery and heavy machine gun squadrons. Expecting a group of baggage soldiers carrying ammunition boxes to have combat effectiveness? He felt that he was overthinking...

"Haha... the Eighth Route Army has withdrawn, hahaha..." The cheers from the front cheered up Aso's spirits. Unlike others, he had learned Chinese since he was a child, and his writing and speaking were very close to those of pure Han people. Therefore, he could understand the words of the Imperial Army with a strong local accent.

"Are the Eighth Route Army withdrawing? Then there will be a pursuit battle next... The commander will not give up these Eighth Route Army!" Aso thought in his mind, but urged the soldiers to move forward quickly. The Imperial Army only boarded the Eighth Route Army's position, and it was only the Imperial Army that could take down the position!
At Aso's urging, the Japanese soldiers quickly ran to Jigongling Mountain, where they saw the mountain full of craters and the excited Imperial Army soldiers around them. Looking at the flattering smiling faces around them, Aso also smiled back at them, then raised his Type 38 rifle and waved it on the top of the mountain.

There was a plaster flag hanging on Aso's bayonet. As he waved it, Sakata Nobutsu knew that the Eighth Route Army in front had been defeated. Therefore, Sakata Nobutsu directly ordered the main force of the 3rd Battalion to move forward immediately, fully occupy the Jigongling position, and search for any survivors of the Eighth Route Army to see if they could obtain some intelligence.

Here, the 3rd Battalion of the Japanese set out immediately, and the Japanese puppet troops on Jigongling actually found three surviving Eighth Route Army soldiers.

The three soldiers were hiding in a foxhole. Although they luckily escaped the fatal bombardment, they were all seriously injured.

Aso personally walked up to the soldiers lying on their backs in the foxholes, looked down at them and said, "Tell me, which unit are you from? If you answer, we will send you to the field hospital. You can survive if you are rescued!"

At this time, Aso had already put on his lieutenant's knife in his hand. Standing outside the trench, he felt that his image was particularly tall, with a sense of looking down as a winner.

"Huh? You little Jap learned Chinese pretty well, did you learn it from your master's wife?" The wounded soldier had lost one leg, and his wound was wrapped in a bandage. The mud beneath him had turned red, but he was able to speak smoothly.

"Tell me, which unit are you from? Where did your main force go? Your injuries are serious. You can survive, so why are you fighting so hard? Isn't it better to be alive? There is an old Chinese saying that it is better to live a miserable life than to die a good death. You'd better explain yourself. You don't have much time!" Aso spoke in a soft voice, without arrogance or arrogance, just like a gentle and elegant scholar.

"Haha, are you alive? It's good to be alive. What do you two think?" While the wounded soldier was speaking, he tilted his head with difficulty and looked around, and asked his comrades around him.

“Who would want to... die when they can live?” said the wounded man on the left.

"But, when we die, it's not impossible to take some of those damn things with us to meet our ancestors!" said the wounded man on the right.

(End of this chapter)