Rise From Eight Hundred

Cao Yingchong knew that he was about to die!

He and his 86 brothers in the infantry platoon have been trapped in this small village for seven days and eight nights!

Running out of ammunition and food was no small matter. What was important was that Cao Yingchong felt that his consciousness was getting blurry. It was obviously not hunger, but a lack of oxygen supply to the brain due to massive blood loss.

Forget it, that’s it! In the past week or so, I have killed no less than 20 Japanese, which is considered as my best effort. No one has recorded the military merit record as early as 3 days ago.

The two sergeants in the platoon who were part-time clerks had both died in the battle. Before they died, the platoon leader had the record book recording everyone's military achievements in the previous days buried in the tunnel and marked. He didn't know if it would be safe. Will be discovered by the brothers later.

After all the people were dead, Cao Yingchong could think of nothing else to do with his military exploits.

With difficulty, he took out the cigarette case from his coat pocket, took out one and was about to put it in his mouth, when he heard a weak voice coming from the other side of the tunnel.

"Fuck, it hurts me to death!"

Cao Yingchong turned his head with difficulty, and saw Lu Daqiu, whose arms were blown off by a Japanese infantry cannon, raised his head with difficulty from the pile of corpses where the remains of his brothers were piled. Seeing the cigarette in his hand, his eyes were already red suddenly. His eyes lit up, and then he tilted his head towards him with a distorted face.

"You damn old Cao, I'm going to die, you can't even bear to get me one, now I've caught you! Hurry up and give me some, it will stop the pain, I really can't stand the pain." ." Lu Daqiu scolded as he moved closer.

Lu Daqiu is the squad leader of another class in the platoon, and he and Cao Yingchong are "old rivals". Neither class obeys the other in training, and the performance of the two classes is about the same, so when the platoon needs a sharp knife class, Both classes come in turns.

But what's good now is that of the two sharp knife squad leaders, one was covered in blood, and the other's arms were cut off by shells. Just looking at the injuries, it was clear that these two would be alive without the Japanese army attacking.

Moreover, the two of them had something more in common. They both became polished commanders, and all their soldiers died in battle.

This may be the largest battle loss at the infantry platoon level since the establishment of the Fourth Line Regiment. The full strength is 90 people. Except for 4 people who were injured and were sent back to the field hospital in Zishan for treatment, the remaining 86 people have the remains of 71 people in the tunnel. In addition to the remaining Most of the flesh and blood of the two panting people and the remaining 13 people have been integrated with this village!

To put it bluntly, except for the two seriously wounded Cao Yingchong and Lu Daqiu who had basically lost their combat effectiveness, the main infantry platoon belonging to the 2nd Battalion and 4th Company had at most four or five people alive who were still fighting in various parts of the village.

And it is absolutely impossible to support this situation tonight.

By the time dawn comes, the whole army should be considered wiped out!

Cao Yingchong's nose was sore, and he put the cigarette into the mouth of Lu Daqiu who was approaching. He found a match and lit it for Lu Daqiu.

Lu Daqiu took a deep breath, and then smacked his lips with satisfaction: "Damn it, we have to smoke our own cigarettes to be strong! The little devil's cigarettes are too weak."

As he spoke, he coughed. With the help of the faint lantern light in the tunnel, Cao Yingchong could clearly see blood pouring out of the corners of Lu Daqiu's mouth with every cough.

Cao Yingchong felt miserable again!

He knew that Lu Daqiu could not survive. Not only were his arms cut off by the infantry shells that exploded five meters away, but his internal organs were severely impacted. His ability to survive until now must have a lot to do with his extremely strong will to survive. .

This guy's brains are not as good as his own, but his natural ruthlessness makes Cao Yingchong feel ashamed.

"Lao Lu, I'm sorry!"

"Speaking of those idiots, if your old Cao dies, all of you in Class 1 will be gone. Where will I find opponents during training in Class 3?" Lu Daqiu replied angrily, and continued to lean on the tunnel. Enjoy the last moment of your life with a cigarette on the wall.

Yes, if Lu Daqiu hadn't knocked away the red-eyed Cao Yingchong at the last moment when the Japanese infantry shelled the fortifications, then Cao Yingchong might not even have a chance to leave the body in the tunnel.

Because, like the temporary fortification made of loess and sandbags, he would be torn apart by infantry bombardment.

Cao Yingchong survived except for a shrapnel scratch, but Lu Daqiu's arms were broken. At that time, he also had more air in and less air out, and he was about to die.

Cao Yingchong led the last three soldiers of the two squads to engage in a wild exchange of fire with the Japanese troops. He used an MG42 machine gun and an MP38 machine gun to repel the crazy attacks of more than a hundred Japanese troops, and finally lasted until nightfall.

The price was that all three soldiers died in the battle, with only Cao Yingchong surviving, who was injured by eight melon grenade shrapnel splashes.

The Japanese army was not intact either. Just in front of these houses, the Japanese army dropped more than 70 corpses.

If these eight days are included, the Japanese troops who attacked this village suffered losses of more than 600 people, and an infantry brigade was already crippled.

Qian Dazhu's main platoon achieved such a record without any heavy firepower support, which is already shocking in the past.

Cao Yingchong dragged Lu Daqiu, who was not moving much, into the tunnel. He used the first aid method taught by the medical company to perform artificial respiration for a long time. He hammered and pressed the guy's chest. Lu Daqiu, who originally thought that his breathing was so weak that he could not hear it, was already gasping. He planned to howl twice to express his sorrow, but who knew that Lu Daqiu miraculously lived again.

Facing this guy who could talk and wanted to smoke, Cao Yingchong firmly refused. He was afraid that this guy would not be killed by the shell, but would choke to death on the cigarette.

There are only two of them left on this battlefield. It would be a good thing to have someone to breathe with and see the sun today, right?

But now, Cao Yingchong has figured it out. They are all going to die anyway, so what's the point of dying sooner or later?

When Cao Yingchong heard Lv Daqiu talking about the competition between the two squads in the platoon, his eyes dimmed!

Let alone the infantry squad, the infantry platoon is gone, what's the point of competing!

Seeing Cao Yingchong not speaking, Lv Daqiu also remembered that all members of his infantry squad had died in the battle, leaving only him, the seriously injured and dying squad leader, and tears fell down.

Those brothers who had been together day and night, especially those who had not left the five-meter range for two years, all died and became one of the cold remains.

That was also the reason why Lv Daqiu asked Cao Yingchong to put him there before he fell into a coma. He wanted to accompany his brothers and fulfill the promise they made in the infantry squad that "we live together and die together".

"Old Cao, do you think we can be saved this time? When the regiment commander led an army of 10,000 people to help when an infantry squad was surrounded, should he come this time too?" Lv Daqiu, who had cried for a while, leaned against the earth wall and asked softly.

"They can't come. It's not that the regiment commander, battalion commander, and company commander don't want to come, but they can't come!" Cao Yingchong sighed and destroyed Lv Daqiu's hope.

The Japanese army used a whole infantry battalion to attack the village, and used two infantry battalions to completely block the surrounding roads to prevent the arrival of reinforcements.

This means that the Japanese army almost used an infantry regiment to encircle their infantry platoon, with more than 30 times the number of troops.

But this is not a reason for Cao Yingchong to despair.

In today's battlefield, the Japanese army has absolute initiative.

It's not that the main force of the company can't break through the Japanese blockade, but that it is not in this area at all, let alone expect the main force of the regiment to go all out and fight a decisive battle on the plain with the Japanese army like the last time they supported Zhaojiazhuang.

Because, after half a year of dormancy, the Japanese army finally took action, using the Chinese New Year to launch the largest military operation in the southern Hebei region since 1938.

This time, the Japanese army actually mobilized the strength of two and a half divisions. The 1st Division, known as the oldest division in the history of the Japanese Army, arrived in Handan by a special train in mid-February, and the troops were directed to the direction of Zishan where the headquarters of the Four-Line Regiment and the Southern Hebei Administrative Office were located.

At the end of February, an infantry brigade of the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army also appeared in Xingtai. Together with the 10th Division stationed in southern Hebei, the Japanese North China Front Army had more than 50,000 troops in the southern Hebei region, not counting the puppet troops.

In fact, it was still the Chinese intelligence that was wrong. The 1st Division commanded by Saburo Okabe had a force of 30,000 troops entering the pass. If the 10th Division with a force of about 40,000 and the 6,800-man infantry brigade of the 3rd Division were added, the regular Japanese army had a force of more than 60,000. If the puppet troops of four regiments were added, the total force of the Japanese army in southern Hebei had reached 50,000.

In terms of military strength alone, the Four-Line Regiment and the Ji'nan Division could no longer resist.

Therefore, as early as the beginning of February, Commander Tang issued a military order to return the infantry companies, platoons, and squads scattered throughout Ji'nan to the Zishan garrison.

Commander Tang judged that after more than half a year of reconnaissance, the Japanese army should have determined that Zishan, located near Handan, was the location of the Four-Line Regiment headquarters, otherwise they would not have disregarded their face and preferred to borrow troops from the Kwantung Army.

Duo Tianjun gave it a try this time.

As long as they could conquer Zishan and take down the most important command organization in Ji'nan, all the lost face would naturally be recovered.

Tang Dao, who had counted Duo Tianjun for sure, did not choose to temporarily avoid the edge after several telegrams to the leaders of the 921st Division and the 683rd Brigade, but firmly chose to stay in Zishan and fight the Japanese army.

There are many reasons for this. First, after a year of construction, Zishan already has a sufficiently complete defense system. The tunnel alone has been dug for more than 160 kilometers. The headquarters of the Four-Line Regiment and the field hospital had moved underground years ago.

Second, Rostav, who was tempted by Tang Tuanzu's crazy waving of checks, was incredibly efficient. In just two and a half months, the 28 150 howitzers and modified TKS small tanks on Tang Tuanzu's order were transported across thousands of miles to Fengfeng Coal Mine.

Today's Four-Line Regiment can completely rely on Zishan's natural geographical advantages and existing fortifications and heavy artillery to compete with the Japanese division-level troops.

Of course, the more important reason is that the situation of the anti-Japanese war behind enemy lines in southern Hebei is developing gratifyingly. If the Four-Line Regiment withdraws to Taihang Mountain, the Japanese army that cannot find a target will certainly vent its anger on the people in the occupied area.

The 30,000 people, mines and tunnels in the southern Hebei Division alone cannot stop the sweep of tens of thousands of Japanese troops!

Rather than watching the good situation of the Anti-Japanese War destroyed, it is better to burn the boats and fight the main force of the Japanese army.

It is better to cry alone than to cry alone!

What's more, the 683rd Brigade has now been fully equipped and has the capital to compete with a Japanese Army Division. In addition to the tens of thousands of people in the Ji'nan Division, the Japanese North China Front Command can draw more troops from the Zhongtiao Mountain front if they have the ability. They should not think that the more than 200,000 Chinese troops in Zhongtiao Mountain are paper.

If they dare to reduce their troops in large quantities, a counterattack by more than 200,000 troops may make them take care of the head and not the tail.

Therefore, except for a few platoons and squads that remain in the local area, most of the other main forces have returned to the Zishan defense line to prepare for a decisive battle with the Japanese army.

Tang Tuanzuo made a correct judgment. The Japanese army dispatched a division, a brigade and two puppet infantry regiments with more than 40,000 troops to encircle Zishan.

But no one expected that the 10th Division, which was defeated last time, would also be ready to move. They didn't know the intelligence they had gathered there, but they knew that a platoon of the Four-Line Regiment infantry was gathering in Hanjiazhai and planned to return to Zishan.

In order to regain the place where they were defeated in the past, Shinozuka Yoshio actually mobilized three infantry regiments, two tank squadrons and two artillery battalions. Two infantry regiments pretended to sweep and attracted more than 50,000 main forces of the Ji'nan Division to gather, while the other infantry regiment went straight to Hanjiazhai.

After Cao Yingchong and Lv Daqiu learned about the Japanese army's goals through the intelligence obtained from Zheng Yunqiu, the platoon leader of the infantry platoon was very clear about the outcome of staying, but he also knew that he couldn't leave, otherwise the Japanese army would definitely use a large army to sweep and massacre the villagers in the surrounding villages.

They could leave quickly, but thousands of villagers couldn't leave far.

After quickly evacuating the surrounding villagers, the infantry platoon decided to stay in Hanjiazhai, intending to use the village wall, tunnels, and minefields that took a year to build to fight the Japanese army.

The original plan was to delay for two or three days, and the Japanese army would retreat after the reinforcements from the Ji'nan Division arrived.

Who knew that for their infantry platoon, Shinozuka Yoshio was also ruthless, and actually used the main force of the division to contain the main force of the Ji'nan Division, and used two infantry battalions to block the surrounding area, resulting in the arrival of more than 3,000 reinforcements unable to break through the Japanese encirclement.

The firepower of the Ji'nan Division troops is far inferior to that of the Four-Line Regiment and the 683rd Brigade. It is normal that 3,000 people cannot break through the defense line of more than 2,000 Japanese troops, unless the Four-Line Regiment comes with a main infantry battalion, or even an infantry company.

But obviously, facing more than 30,000 Japanese troops and more than 6,000 puppet troops, even the current Four-Line Regiment must go all out.

This battle lasted for seven days and eight nights, and the blood of this main infantry platoon was exhausted, and no reinforcements arrived.

"Hey! I'm dead, there's nothing to be afraid of, but you, Cao, just talked about a marriage, and you haven't even married a wife yet, and you're dead like this, I feel so unfair for you, Cao!" Lu Daqiu pointed the cigarette in his mouth at Cao Yingchong.

That means: Come on, take a puff too!

"Can you not mention this? You're about to die, and you're still trying to hurt my heart. If I had known, I wouldn't have given you the leniency. I haven't even kissed Yingzi's mouth yet, but you kissed your mouth first." Cao Yingchong snatched the cigarette from Lu Daqiu's mouth in a bad mood, took a puff, and put it back into his comrade's mouth.

In view of the changes in the situation, the Four-Line Regiment has gradually revised the military regulations, allowing officers above the sergeant level to marry local villagers if they are in love, but they must have the consent of the girl's parents and the signature of the company commander.

This is also a further step to promote the close relationship between the army and the people and show the attitude of the Four-Line Regiment to take root in southern Hebei, which has also dispelled the concerns of many people.

The soldiers of the Sihang Regiment had settled their families here. How could they withdraw when they encountered the Japanese, leaving the common people alone to face the bloody bayonets of the Japanese army?

This is how Cao Yingchong got engaged to a local girl in December. He originally planned to marry her in March, but when the wedding was about to begin, the Japanese attacked again.

Now it seems that this marriage is definitely a failure.

After all, there is almost no groom.

Of course, Cao Yingchong also knew that Lu Daqiu really wanted him to live, otherwise he would not have pushed him away at that time, and he suffered the injury.

That is, thinking of the blushing cheeks of his wife who had not yet married when she saw him, Cao Yingchong felt a pain in his heart.

The title of widow may follow that woman for the rest of her life, and the promise he made to her that he would cook for her for the rest of her life when he retired from the army that day would also be in vain.

Seeing Cao Yingchong's silence, Lu Daqiu also knew that he had talked about the sad story of his comrade-in-arms, and for a moment he didn't know how to comfort him.

The tunnel fell into silence!

In order to prevent the Japanese army from hearing the sound, the tunnel where the two were located was located at the deepest part of the ground. The "radio" that could hear the outside world was blown up by the Japanese artillery shells in the battle yesterday afternoon. Except for the sound of gentle breathing, the tunnel was silent.

Two seriously injured and dying soldiers quietly waited for death!

I don't know how long it took, but there was a loud noise at the entrance of the tunnel above!

"Dig it up!" There was a cheer from outside.

"Damn it, the devils found the entrance to the tunnel, Lao Cao, move over there!" Lu Daqiu, who was suddenly awakened, was furious.

I don't know where this guy got the strength, but he actually kicked his legs and stood up with the strength of his back rubbing against the wall, and ran over there along the tunnel.

"Lao Lu!" Cao Yingchong looked at the "old rival" who liked to quarrel with him most on weekdays and rushed to the other end of the tunnel without hesitation, his eyes were bloodshot, but he could do nothing.

Although Cao Yingchong looked less intact than Lü Daqiu, his injuries were no less serious than his. One of the eight shrapnel was deeply embedded in his thigh bone. Dragging Lü Daqiu into the tunnel was actually the result of his internal explosion.

In terms of mobility, he was actually not as good as Lü Daqiu, whose arms were completely broken but legs were intact.

Cao Yingchong certainly knew what Lü Daqiu was going to do. He was going to use the "glory bullet" tied to his neck to blow up the upper entrance of the tunnel to save his remains and those of his 71 brothers.