sjar Chapter 637 Call for reinforcements
Chapter 637 Call for reinforcements
The Japanese army arrived faster than expected. As soon as the artillery sounded, the Japanese troops in the bunkers and trenches on both sides began to gather. Only one-third of the food had been transported here, and a large number of devils poured into the railway lines on both sides.
boom! Boom boom boom!
The mountain artillery and field artillery opened fire, and several rounds of shelling completely blocked the advancing Japanese troops. The Japanese troops could only get out of the railway line to provide support from inside, while the mountain artillery and field artillery continued to track and fire, and almost every advance came at a heavy price.
The Japanese troops on both sides received death orders, to advance into the county town and protect the grain. If there was no hope, they should pour oil on it and burn it. They must not let the enemy transport away millions of kilograms of grain.
In Lianyungang City, Lieutenant General Ito Shaoyu, the latest person in charge of the Japanese Army's Longhai East Line, was filled with despair. Captain Cangye stationed in Pizhou City sent a farewell telegram, saying that if Pizhou City was captured and the food was not destroyed, it would be the end of his life. It didn't matter if the city was captured or the entire army was wiped out, but if millions of kilograms of food were to be given to the enemy, he really would not be able to bear it.
Ito Shaoyu had a gloomy face, secretly cursing Cangye for being such a fool, repeatedly telling him to protect the food and destroy it immediately if it was hopeless to protect it, but couldn't he just pour some gasoline on it and ignite it? What kind of state had he been in after being beaten?
The Japanese troops on both sides were also very desperate. They suffered unprecedented resistance. They were bombed as soon as they approached five kilometers. The enemy's artillery seemed to have eyes and fired very accurately.
After finally approaching the county town under the bombardment, the indirect fire came again. If there were many people, they would shoot very quickly, and if there were few people, they would shoot slowly. Anyway, they would at least blow the city to pieces. After finally reaching the county town, they found that this was the most difficult part.
Anti-aircraft machine guns can beat a person into a pulp, not to mention large-caliber heavy machine guns. Even if you are turned into cannon fodder by a shell and it's all over, you don't want to have half of your body destroyed by a large-caliber bullet. Those who don't die immediately after being shot, scream for a few seconds or more than ten seconds, and the sound is like a curse from hell.
The Japanese army received an order to attack the county town no matter what. Follow-up troops would continue to arrive, and there would always be a fierce team that could break through the machine gun positions. However, the subsequent attacks made them even more desperate.
After a round of coverage by rocket launchers, there was a dense network of automatic fire. They couldn't go up at all. The lieutenant colonel who had led the team to within a hundred meters was in despair. Looking at the densely packed team behind him, he wanted to scream heart-wrenchingly, "Don't come up, go back quickly." Unfortunately, all he spat out was blood foam.
When the team behind saw that the team in front was about to catch up, they naively mistakenly thought that they were just missing a piece of firewood.
The captain shouted "Die at once!" and another battalion began a desperate charge.
Yang Qingfeng and Political Commissar Li on the top of the city wall were sweating profusely. They had been winning battles all along and naively believed that the Japanese were doomed. But now it seemed that they had not been beaten enough and they actually had such thoughts.
"Old Yang, don't hesitate. Huaibei is a place that has been warred on four sides. It is definitely not something we can get involved in now."
Yang Qingfeng looked distressed. He did not hesitate! He was just waiting for the order from his superiors. Some things could not be said, even by Political Commissar Li. It had nothing to do with trust or not. What came out of Leng Qiang's mouth was top secret. He had to change the secret book and send the telegram himself.
"Old Li, I finally understand. I used to think of monopolizing this batch of grain, but I was a villain in vain! If we really come to fight, we will lose thousands of soldiers just because of the trenches and railway lines, not to mention the city defense. Even if we take down the city defense after suffering heavy losses, the Japanese will have burned all the grain."
"How much is it?"
"What"?
"How much has been moved? Food."
"Oh, it's almost halfway!"
"Hey, Lao Li, isn't this something you should be in charge of? Why are you asking me?"
"Isn't this because of poor health? Those who are capable should work harder."
"Bullshit, you took away the whole roast chicken in the basket I brought back last time, and also occupied half a pound of cooked beef. None of the Liangshan heroes have as big an appetite as you."
Political Commissar Li chuckled.
"Oh, Lao Yang, it's been so many days and you're still thinking about it. You just watch first, I have to remind the soldiers to speed up."
"What's wrong? Isn't this a good way to block the enemy? Wouldn't it be good to kill more Japanese?"
Political Commissar Li was speechless. There was no problem in fighting like this, but didn’t you consider how much ammunition the two special operations battalions had brought?
Political Commissar Li joined the busy moving team.
"Comrades, speed up and tell the militia that they can withdraw. On the way back, they can help the people push and pull carts to ensure that the main roads are not blocked."
The soldiers were already very tired. They had been carrying a bag of food weighing 50 kilograms for more than two hours. Although they worked in two shifts, they still could not hold on any longer. If they had known earlier, they should have filled the trench and cleared the ruins of the north gate, allowing the carts to go directly into the county town.
Xiao Hulu was already very tired, with a burning pain on his shoulders, as if both the cart and he would fall down at any moment, but he still gritted his teeth and persevered. This was his family's food ration for more than two months. Although he could only have a little over one pound a day, there was a world of difference between the wild vegetable porridge with corn flour and nothing at all. Two bowls of the porridge with corn flour would make him full, and five bowls without it would not be enough.
"Fellow villagers, there is an open space on the right side ahead. There is steamed rice in a big pot with canned beef in it. Each person will have a bowl. Eat quickly and continue on your way to make room for those coming behind."
"Brother, Dad, Mom."
Little Gourd understood, and his stomach immediately growled. Rice with canned beef! He had never eaten like this before.
"Comrade, will your food be deducted if you eat it?"
Little Gourd's father was more worried that after eating, the food that he was about to earn would be withheld per person, which would not be cost-effective.
"Fellow villagers, it's free, but you must eat quickly and leave immediately after eating to make room for the villagers who come later. Do you understand?"
"Understand, understand, gourd, turn, push in."
A family of five pushed the cart into the square. There were already countless people eating rice. It was a very simple process. Dozens of big pots gave off the tempting aroma of rice and meat. There were piles of bowls in front of the pots. The chopsticks were all in tin buckets. There were soldiers specifically in charge of the process.
Xiaohulu's whole family took their bowls and chopsticks and lined up in front of the big pot. The soldier serving the food filled each person's bowl with rice. There were not many cans, maybe only a few cans in a pot. The lucky ones would get two or three pieces, while the unlucky ones would get nothing at all.
There are five people in Xiaohulu's family. There are only four pieces of canned food in five bowls, which are about the size of the thumb. Xiaohulu was lucky to get three pieces. There was one piece in his mother's bowl. He first gave one piece to his sister, then one piece to his father, and finally bit the last piece and shared it equally with his eldest brother.
In the end, my parents couldn't bear to eat it. It was already New Year's Day and they had to eat canned rice. My mother divided the canned food in the bowl among her two sons, and my father gave the canned food in the bowl to his youngest sister.