Zhou Wu hesitated for a while and said: "Army commander, I think the first task now is to strictly block the news of the defeat of our national army on the western front, and not issue an order to retreat on the whole front for the time being, which will cause panic in the whole army and cause unnecessary losses, I suggest that before retreating tomorrow, concentrate the forces of our 79th Army to launch a general attack on the devils attacking the Huashan position, so that the devils think that our national army in the direction of Jiangyin still has the ability to launch a counterattack, forcing them to retreat some back or stalemate on the current front, Then evacuate in batches and in an orderly manner, and the vanguard of the evacuation should be fast, and it is necessary to quickly build a fortification before the devils on the western front encircle Zhenjiang, so that we can not only retreat in a safe and orderly manner, but also lay a more favorable foundation for the next step in the defense of Nanjing, otherwise our national army in Jiangyin will repeat the great rout of the national army on the western front, and then our national capital Nanjing will be in a situation where there are no troops to defend. ” As soon as Zhou Wu's words came out, it immediately caused all the officers present to discuss, and everyone agreed with Zhou Wu's battle plan of attacking and defending, advancing and retreating, but for who to let serve as the main force of this attack, everyone used the reason that their troops were not large enough, and they all shirked each other, and gave in to each other, a scene of modesty and deference, the old commander's face became more and more ugly, and finally he slapped the table and shouted: "How can you people shirk like this, tell you, if anyone disobeys the order this time, they will blame each other, Whoever the hell I shot and killed, anyway, I am still the commander of the 79th Army, I don't care who has a backstage in Nanjing, if anyone retreats from the battle and disturbs the morale of the army, they will all be dealt with according to military law, and the former commander Qian is an example. ” As soon as the old army commander was angry, the officers below were silent, all of them were silent, and the old army commander glanced at the whole scene with a stern gaze, and ordered: "In view of the tenacious performance of the previous independent brigade in holding the Huashan position, it prevented the devils from attacking Huashan by land and water for more than ten days, and the combat personnel suffered serious losses, and now the whole brigade has less than 5,000 left.
And in three days, they quickly rushed to Zhenjiang, which was 150 kilometers away, to establish a defensive position between Danyang and Jurong to block the attack of the devils from the west in the direction of Nanjing, and the other units of the 79th Army continued to delay the attack of the devils in Jiangyin, with the 11th and 13th divisions serving as the main offensive force, and launched an attack on the devils this evening.
"The old commander gave the order to attack before retreating.
The officers below listened to the deployment of the old army commander, and they were silent one by one, because they were afraid that if they blatantly disobeyed the army commander's orders, the army commander really did Shoot them as deserters, the second is from Shanghai Luodian, it has always been Zhou Wu's independent brigade to take charge of the dangerous task after the break, this time it is still the independent brigade to take the main attack, I'm afraid they are embarrassed to speak, so as soon as the old army commander spoke, the officers below all drooped their heads and kept silent.
Seeing this situation, Zhou Wu felt a little embarrassed, and hurriedly stood up and said to the army commander: "Army commander, I think our independent brigade can send a part of its troops to participate in the attack on the devils coming from the direction of Changshu, and we should be able to complete the task of blowing up the Jiangyin fort and quickly rushing 150 kilometers to the Danyang line to establish a defensive position."
Zhou Wu saw that the mood of the other officers of the 79th Army was not high, and he reacted negatively to the commander's order, so he took the initiative to ask for help and put forward a proposal that his own independent brigade should contribute part of its troops to serve as the main attack with other troops.
Unexpectedly, the old army commander insisted on the order just now, and said to Zhou Wu: "Zhou Wu, the task of your independent brigade is not easy, you have to blow up the fort within three days, and you have to march 150 kilometers in a hurry, and rush to Danyang before the Japanese devils encircle Zhenjiang, Jurong line, the difficulty is not small, originally your strength is only about 5,000 people, if you are dividing a part, the force is too thin, even if you rush to the Danyang line, you can't build an effective defensive position, but it is not conducive to defending Nanjing in the future, I think that's it. ” As he spoke, the old commander glanced at the officers below with his eyes, and suddenly changed his words and said to the officers who were silent: "If any of you have a different opinion on my deployment and orders, you can put it forward immediately, as long as you explain the reason to me clearly, I will definitely correct it, otherwise you will immediately act according to this order, don't be lucky, don't think that you have a backstage in Nanjing, I can't tell you what to do, although I am old, I still have the ability and courage to shoot deserters."
After the commander finished speaking, he slammed the table with his fist, which shocked the officers and quickly responded: "Report to the commander, we obey the order and will never be deserters."
The commander waved his hand: "The meeting is dismissed, the commander of the 11th Division and the commander of the 13th Division, as well as Zhou Wu stay, and the others hurry up to arrange battle preparations, I ask that we must launch an attack on the devils on the opposite side of the Huashan position this evening." ” The officers who participated in the military conference seemed to have received amnesty, and they walked out of the military headquarters one after another, and went to their respective stations, busy with their combat deployment, it seems that this time the old army commander is really going to move seriously, and he can't make it possible to cower and be shot by the army commander, not to mention that he is dead, and he has the reputation of a deserter who escaped from the battle behind him, which is too miserable and harms the small family.
Therefore, as soon as the officers of the 79th Army returned to their station, they hurriedly gathered their subordinates and immediately prepared for the battle to launch an attack on the devils tonight.
The commander gave a detailed explanation of the main points of the operation to the few officers who remained, and the requirement for Zhou Wu and his independent brigade was to quickly blow up all the huge cannons on the Jiangyin fort in the shortest possible time, so as to prevent the devils who captured the forts from using these huge cannons to bombard the retreating national army, and then quickly marched to the Danyang Jurong line to establish a simple fortification to stop the devils attacking from the direction of Wujin.
Regarding the blowing up of the giant cannon on the battery, the commander said that he would contact the superiors of the battery, and first temporarily combine the defenders on the battery with the independent brigade, and then talk about it after arriving in Danyang.
After Zhou Wu returned to the Huashan position from the military headquarters, he told Lao Gao and the fat man about the meaning of retreat, and ordered all the brothers of the Independent Brigade to set off to the Jiangyin Fort immediately after the other brother troops entered the Huashan position to take over the defense this evening, first blow up the huge cannon on the fort, and then march to Danyang overnight.
Lao Gao and the fat man felt very sudden about this retreat order, they didn't understand why we fought so well in the Huashan position, and now they had to take the initiative to give up the place where they shed blood and sacrificed for it and fought desperately, and Zhao Lijin also died defending this position on this land, they didn't understand.
Zhou Wu said to them: "I am also very reluctant to fight for this position, but the situation of the whole battlefield is very unfavorable to us, the western front has been broken through by the devils, and Zhenjiang will be encircled soon, once the devils complete the encirclement of Zhenjiang, then our troops in Jiangyin will be cut off by the devils, and then eaten by the devils one by one, there are not many defensive forces outside Nanjing, what is the purpose of our defense of Jiangyin is not to defend the national capital Nanjing, so the current situation must give up Jiangyin, Quickly rushed to the front line of Danyang to block the devils coming from the direction of Wujin, and blocked the devils from attacking Nanjing City from the direction of Zhenjiang. ” Zhou Wu's words finally made Lao Gao and the fat man understand the meaning of this retreat a little, and they quickly returned to their respective stations and arranged the actions of the troops tonight to their officers. t1706231537: