Rise From Eight Hundred

After walking through the mountains for about 40 minutes, Tang Dao, accompanied by the major general brigade commander, walked into the rather simple farmhouse in the mountains only 3,000 meters away from the dock.

That is the temporary division headquarters of the 11th Division in Shipai Fortress!

It is said that Tang Dao was promoted quickly at a young age, but there is no comparison. Lieutenant General Hu was just as generous as Tang Dao. He served as the leader of the main regiment at the age of 25, the deputy division commander at the age of 30, and the division commander of the main division at the age of 33. He is not proud of anyone else. Qualification to be proud of?

Tang Dao has gained a reputation since North China. When he came to visit, there were few people except the commander of the theater who did not go out to greet him. However, this one did not go out. Instead, the major general and brigade commander shouted outside the door, "Report to the division commander, Commander Tang." arrive! ’ After that, a low roar came from the small war room, “Come in!”

Walking into the war room with two lanterns lit, I saw a resolute man wearing the uniform of an army lieutenant general with short hair sitting in front of the sand table, staring at the sand table. When he heard the two people coming in, there was no need to talk nonsense, but Pointing to his side: "Sit!"

Tang Dao was not pretentious, so the one with Da Ma Jin Dao sat down on one side of the sand table.

Seeing Tang Dao's move, Lieutenant General Hu, who was originally expressionless, turned the corners of his mouth slightly, and his face became much warmer.

"Commander Tang, I heard that you have achieved many victories in the North China battlefield. You are a rare brave and wise general in our Chinese army. This time you moved to central China and came to our Shipai Fortress. I wonder what you think of this battle!" The division commander surnamed Hu asked lightly. road.

"Reporting to Commander Hu, in order to attack our Shipai Fortress, the Japanese army used hundreds of thousands of troops to harass our thousands-mile defense line in western Hubei. Regarding this kind of battle situation, Tang Dao thought about it, and perhaps he could only sum it up in one sentence: Although there is no success, Be sure, Cheng Ren is determined." Tang Dao replied loudly.

The teacher surnamed Hu raised his head, and for the first time since Tang Dao entered the room, he looked squarely at the young leader of the special forces regiment in front of him.

He imagined how Tang Dao would answer this seemingly easy question he asked.

For Tang Dao to be able to reach his temporary division headquarters, he must first obtain the approval of his main brigade commander. This in itself shows that Tang Dao is not the kind of person whose reputation is difficult to live up to, but is a capable person.

He admired such a person but would not necessarily refer to him as Humerus. The main reason may be that Tang Dao was even better than him. He became an army colonel at the age of 22 and his resume was even better than his.

The young and energetic Army Lieutenant General would instinctively place Tang Dao as a competitor.

An outstanding young man, faced with such a not-so-difficult test question, is most likely to talk eloquently, express his views on the war situation, and gain the appreciation of his superiors.

If the city is a little deeper, it may restrain its sharp edge, stop at a superficial level, and say some unnutritious words about obeying orders.

Through these, the division commander surnamed Hu can basically determine the character of the young army colonel in front of him, and decide where to send him and his elite soldiers of the Sixth Regiment to the defense area.

But Tang Dao unexpectedly only gave an answer expressing determination. That was fine. The key was that these words were words he had hidden in his heart for a long time.

"Commander Tang, before such a big battle, you actually said that there was no guarantee of success and that would shake the morale of the army. Do you know what the consequences will be?" Commander Hu stared at Tang, his eyes full of coldness.

"As a soldier, Tang Dao cannot determine victory on the battlefield, but the only thing that can determine is whether this eight-foot-long man can live and die with this beautiful land. If Commander Hu thinks that I am shaking the morale of the army, then Tang Dao also has nothing to say, can you please ask me to lead my troops to garrison at Gaojialing?" Tang Dao lowered his eyelids, but his eyes were looking at a high ground where the 11th Division's military flag was planted in the sand table.

"Haha! Commander Tang is indeed the leader of the anti-Japanese heroic regiment. He actually spotted the formation I set up for the Japanese at a glance." The teacher surnamed Hu gave a slight warning and suddenly laughed loudly.

Tang Dao's excellence was simply beyond the expectations of the proud lieutenant general. Not only was he resolute and low-key, his judgment of the battle situation was also first-rate.

Shipai Fortress is said to be defended by the entire 18th Army, but in fact the core positions belong to the defense area of ​​the 11th Division. Another infantry division defends the two wings, and the furthest distance from the main position is 50 kilometers away.

To put it bluntly, Commander Hu is the supreme commander of Shipai Fortress.

This was the layout of the defense area formed at the suggestion of the division commander surnamed Hu who spent several months inspecting the mountains after the 11th Division was stationed at Shipai when Yiling was about to fall a few months ago.

He believed that if the Japanese army wanted to attack Shipai, they would definitely adopt the tactic of breaking through the front and outflanking the two wings. The key to holding Shipai lay not only in the defense of the two wings and rear, but also in the front of the Shipai fortress.

If the Japanese army breaks through the front, no matter how good the defenses on the wings and rear are, the Battle of Shipai will be a huge defeat.

Therefore, after weighing and scheduling in the theater, the 11th Division, the elite infantry division of the third theater, was finally placed on the core frontal battlefield of Shipai Fortress for defense. Among the many highlands of Shipai Fortress, the mountainous area of ​​Gaojialing , is the top priority in Shipai's frontal defense.

If this area is broken through and the Japanese army mounts artillery on the top of the mountain, the positions around Shipai will be under the threat of its firepower and basically declare defeat.

Therefore, the division commander surnamed Hu, who was well aware of its importance, directly placed his temporary division headquarters behind Gaojialing, which meant that he wanted to coexist with this core position.

Tang Dao could actually see his deployment clearly at a glance. Although there were instructions from the military flags on the sand table, it was quite remarkable. How could Lieutenant General Hu be unhappy when there was such a strong general with superb tactical vision before the war?

The so-called competition means that you must first survive and win the battle, right? In the future war, the generals who are called "cunning as a fox and fierce as a tiger" are extremely intelligent.

Tang Dao stared at the small highland on the sand table, but his heart was surging.

Even if he was not shown this sand table, how could he, a little butterfly from the future, not know the importance of Gaojialing, a small mountain?

On this mountain, a Sino-Japanese war broke out, and even the largest hand-to-hand combat in the entire World War II. Perhaps the rumor that there was no gunfire for 3 hours is a bit exaggerated, but according to the description of local villagers interviewed decades later, what they heard most was screaming rather than the rumbling of artillery a few days ago.

That can only mean that the distance between the two warring parties is very close, so close that the artillery has lost its effect.

Moreover, the mountains here are steep. When the distance is close, cold weapons are even better than hot weapons. Under the commanding position, the distance of five or six meters is reached in an instant, and you will not have the opportunity to pull the bolt and aim again.

The Chinese army, which had been fighting hard for many days and was short of bullets, was very likely to adopt this method. The Japanese army has always advocated the so-called Bushido spirit. Faced with the bayonets that the Chinese soldiers were forced to raise, they were also very likely to hope to use hand-to-hand combat to defeat the Chinese soldiers' resistance.

This was also the opportunity for the largest-scale hand-to-hand combat in the War of Resistance. The Chinese soldiers had no way to retreat, and the Japanese were also in a desperate situation.

Decades later, because the Anti-Japanese War Martyrs Memorial Park was to be rebuilt, the government dug out the remains of the martyrs from those small earth mounds that had long been weathered. After observing the dry bones, many of them were not fully developed and should belong to young people who were only sixteen or seventeen years old.

In that era of food and clothing shortages, most children aged sixteen or seventeen were not as tall as the bayoneted rifles.

If they were still alive, they might be like those old men sitting under the ancient trees by the Shipai River, basking in the sun, drinking tea, and bragging to their old friends: In that battle, I defeated five Japanese devils in a row...

It's a pity that they have died on the battlefield. If there is an afterlife, they may also be able to sit in the classroom, read the text aloud, and study and play without worries.

Tang Dao still remembers the comment of later generations on this battle: "Those young people who have not grown up yet have exchanged their future for the future of all young people!"

In the past, the Battle of Shipai was a victory, but the victory was extremely tragic. In Shipai, which was located in the core position alone, the 18th Army suffered more than 10,000 casualties. If the outer battlefield is included, the casualties are even more severe.

Although the Japanese army also suffered heavy losses in this battle, leaving more than 10,000 corpses on the Shipai battlefield, plus the outer battlefield, the total number of casualties exceeded 20,000, but this is not enough, far from enough.

Staring at Gaojialing, Tang Dao's eyes became more and more determined.

This time, the Japanese will shed more blood.

The mountains and rivers of Yiling are very beautiful, and Wushan is one of the most beautiful mountains and rivers in the Yangtze River system, but the only thing missing here is the rhododendron, the kind of wild flower that blooms all over the mountains and dyes the whole mountain red during the flowering season. If it is nourished with the blood of the Japanese, it will definitely grow well.

"It is impossible to give Gaojialing to you. My unit has deployed defense here for more than two months. The officers and soldiers are familiar with the terrain here, and the fortifications have been gradually improved. As soon as your four-line regiment arrives, I will let them hand it over to others. Then my brothers in the 11th Division will scold me for having a bag on my head!" The division commander surnamed Hu looked at Tang Dao who was still staring at the Gaojialing highland, but shook his head and answered Tang Dao very directly.

"Commander Hu and the other commanders mean to deploy defenses layer by layer and gradually consume the Japanese army!" Looking at the markings of various highlands on the sand table, Tang Dao asked.

"Yes, after several months of terrain surveys in the defense zone and analysis of the Japanese attack direction on the Fifth War Zone's defense line in western Hubei, I judge that the Japanese intention is to encircle our Shipai Fortress and break through the front of the Shipai Fortress, but other directions are also important.

Yokoyama Yong is also a rare brave general in the Japanese army. He intends to not only break through the center, but also break through everywhere." The division commander surnamed Hu nodded.

"Then my regiment can defend the right wing battlefield of Shipai." Tang Dao saw that he had made up his mind to defend the front battlefield of Shipai with the main force of the 11th Division, so he could only settle for the second best and look at a high ground 15 kilometers away from the right wing of Shipai.

There are three words written there: Qianniuling. If Tang Dao's memory is correct, it is a battlefield in the Battle of Shipai that is no less fierce than Gaojialing. The 18th Division of the 18th Army also fought a bloody battle there, until the whole division lost its combat effectiveness in the end.

"That's Commander Luo's territory. If you want to grab this military achievement, you have to go and talk to him yourself. Hu doesn't have that ability." Seeing Tang Dao's vicious eyes staring at Qianniu Ridge again, Commander Hu, who had always held the initiative in the conversation, smiled bitterly for the first time.

Qianniu Ridge is the most important area in the right wing defense zone. If it is conquered, the right wing of the Shipai central defense zone will be completely opened.

However, his bitter smile was not because Tang Dao had a high tactical vision, but because of Commander Luo of the 18th Division, who might be one of the few people this proud general was most reluctant to offend in the Third War Zone.

China in this era is not short of talented people or brave generals. Since the July 7 Incident, which of the hundreds of generals who died on the battlefield was not brave?

But this Commander Luo was not only brave, but also ruthless, and was known as the most ruthless person in the Third War Zone.

Before Tang Dao came, of course, he had investigated the generals defending the core area of ​​Shipai. The reason why the 18th Army was called the direct line of the commander surnamed Chen in the Third War Zone and even the cornerstone of the civil engineering system was all due to the two main infantry divisions of the 18th Army.

It is not a big deal that many officers in the 11th and 18th Infantry Divisions were born in Huangpu. The distinctive personalities of the two division commanders are also what the two divisions are most proud of.

The temperament of the military commander will be the same as that of the commander.

For example, the influence of Tang Dao on the Four-Line Regiment. In addition to the courage to sacrifice, the officers and soldiers of the Four-Line Regiment also do not follow the rules in their combat methods. As long as they can kill the devils, they will come up with unrestrained tactics. When the Japanese army fought against the Four-Line Regiment, they were in a dilemma. From platoons, companies to battalions and regiments, there was no trace of combat methods.

Another example is the influence of the commander surnamed Hu on the 11th Division. The 11th Division is both offensive and defensive. In several major battles, they relied on this feature to retreat when the friendly forces were defeated. Otherwise, the task of defending the front position of Shipai Fortress would not fall on them.

Because the 18th Division of the 18th Army has a famous ruthless commander!

There are two brothers in the Luo family who will be famous in the world in the future. The younger brother Luo Guangbin is a famous writer, and his article "Red Rock" is well-known throughout China. Although his elder brother Luo Guangwen's name contains the word "wen", he is an out-and-out military general, and a hero of the anti-Japanese war with outstanding military exploits, a brave and iron-blooded general. He once invented a "killer weapon" for hand-to-hand combat, which frightened the Japanese army and gave him a nickname: Cold-faced King of Hell!

Tang Dao once said this in a training course on stabbing in the 4-line regiment teaching brigade: "The easiest way to kill someone on the battlefield is to shoot with firearms, such as artillery and sweeping. As long as the distance is far, there is no great fear except for high tension and heartbeat disorder.

The most terrifying and brain-exploding moment of killing on the battlefield is when you stab the enemy who is pinned down with a dagger! At this moment, you feel the blade dully brushing against his ribs and piercing into his body, and the other party's dying eyes change from pleading to helpless despair, his hot breathing gradually stops, and in the end, all you feel is the calm after the explosion in your head.

The fear of killing a soldier is only once, and the repetition afterwards brings him an increasingly fading indifference to life."

However, this passage was not originally written by Tang Dao, but by this cold-faced king of hell, Division Commander Luo.

Luo Guangwen's strict military discipline is well-known for its foresight, including the "Five Killings" principle: those who eat, drink, gamble, and whore will be killed! Those who rob people's property will be killed! Those who embezzle and accept bribes will be killed! Those who rape women will be killed! Those who disturb people without reason will be killed!

Such strict military discipline is rare in the Kuomintang army with numerous factions and rampant corruption. Even the famous generals Xue, Hu, and Huang were in awe of him.

If he was only cruel to his own people, it would be called "domineering at home". This Master Luo was even more cruel to the Japanese.

The Luodian Battle in the Battle of Songhu was known as the "blood and meat grinder". At that time, Luo Guangwen led his 83rd Regiment to repeatedly fight with the Japanese army on a bridge by the river at the west end of Luodian. The battle lasted for several days day and night. The regiment suffered heavy losses. The fourth and seventh companies were all killed in the battle, and no one survived.

At the end of October, the Japanese army occupied the Nanxiang area of ​​Shanghai. The 18th Army urgently dispatched the 42nd Brigade for reinforcement. Luo Guangwen ordered the brigade's direct reconnaissance company, engineering company, heavy machine gun company, and mortar company to form a reserve team to reinforce the defenders. During the battle, the enemy and us fought many bloody and cruel hand-to-hand battles. It was also during this battle that Luo Guangwen invented a field dagger that could be called a "big killer" for hand-to-hand combat: Luo Xiaodao.

Luo Guangwen once studied in the Japanese Military Academy. He was familiar with the Japanese Bushido spirit and admired their superb fighting and slashing techniques, and did some research. Therefore, in this actual combat, Luo Guangwen targeted the characteristics of the Japanese invaders and was inspired by the actual combat results of the 29th Army's Big Knife Team. After repeated research and practice, he created a field dagger Luo Xiaodao.

This dagger is relatively small, only 15 cm long. It is usually inserted into the soldier's leggings, which is not conspicuous and does not hinder the march. In close combat, Luo Xiaodao played a great role.

At first, everyone used bayonets to fight the enemy. You must know that the Chinese army is not as good as the Japanese in terms of bayonet fighting, even the brave and combat-skilled officers and soldiers of the 80th Group. We mostly won in numbers and courage.

When Chinese soldiers tried their best to fight with the devils, if neither side killed the other and the two sides ended up in a tie, and finally threw away their bayonets and started to fight and pinch each other with bare hands, Luo Xiaodao came in handy. Luo Guangwen's soldiers would suddenly pull out Luo Xiaodao from their leggings, and with a "puff", stab it into the devil's stomach! In this way, the devil's life would be basically reimbursed in an instant.

The most outrageous thing this ruthless man did was that after deploying tactics during combat, he would hand over the command to the deputy division commander and the chief of staff, but he himself went to the front line and picked up a machine gun to shoot at the Japanese. With such a division commander, you can say whether the officers and soldiers of the 18th Division are brave and will often fight to the death.

Therefore, the Japanese army was even willing to fight with the 11th Division against the 18th Army, but was unwilling to provoke the guys like the 18th Division who would risk their lives at any time.

Once in the time and space, the 18th Division did the same thing.

At that time, the 217th and 218th Regiments of the Japanese Army, with a total of more than 3,000 people, came to our position aggressively. Facing a strong enemy, Luo Guangwen made an amazing decision: this Japanese army must be completely wiped out. And complete annihilation is almost an impossible task. But Luo Guangwen, who was known for his ruthlessness, did just that.

This battle was also a fight to the death. Division Commander Luo Guangwen personally went to the front line to command and supervise the battle. He ordered: Those who retreat will die! No one is allowed to retreat without orders, and these devils must be killed at any cost!

The battle between the two sides was extremely fierce, and the Japanese army suffered heavy casualties, forcing the Japanese 231st Regiment, which was besieging the left wing of the 11th Division, to withdraw to assist the right wing, greatly relieving the pressure on the 11th Division.

The battle at Qianniuling dealt a devastating blow to the Japanese troops who attacked Shipai Fortress. Nearly 3,000 bodies were left on the scene. However, the 18th Division also suffered heavy losses and basically lost its combat effectiveness after the war. It had to withdraw to the second line for rest and recuperation.

However, after this battle, the 18th Division once again made a name for itself, so much so that in the subsequent Battle of Xuefeng Mountain, the already weak Japanese army fled after hearing the name of the 18th Division.

Just put your head on your pants pocket and do it! Some of the characteristics of Mr. Luo are somewhat similar to Wang Xiaoqiang.

Seeing that Tang Dao didn't say anything, knowing that Tang Dao didn't dare to provoke his colleague easily, the teacher surnamed Hu also apologized slightly. After all, Tang Dao led the four-line group all the way from North China, and he was so eager to fight, where did he want to go? No, not even the thought of it, nor a human being like this. He immediately promised: "Commander Tang, if you choose, even if it is not our 18th Army's defense area, I can go and talk to Commander Chen or Commander Li."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a smile on Tang Dao's face, and his heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly figured it out.

It's broken. This is because Tang Dao was fooled.