Rise From Eight Hundred

"Okay, let's not stand here for too long. You guys are not hungry, but the division commander, the soldiers and I are so hungry after running all day." After a meaningful exchange with Tang Dao, the short commander let go of Tang Dao's hand, glanced at his high-spirited subordinates and the cavalrymen who followed behind, and said with a smile.

"Let's go and eat the big fat meat of Cheng Houzi!" The always serious division commander was obviously in a very good mood today. He waved his big hand and said loudly.

Then, he took the lead in shaking off his hand and strode towards the 683 Brigade Headquarters.

"Hey, commander! The meat has been stewed in the pot for a long time. If it is rotten, it will rot in the pot. It can't run away. It's dark and the road is slippery. Please slow down!" Brigade Commander Cheng smiled and waved to his subordinates, and followed the burly division commander.

The division commander paused, turned back and glared at his top general, and pointed at him, meaning that you don't take the first officer of the division as dry food, just talking nonsense.

The officers and the cavalrymen of the 921st Division's direct cavalry regiment all laughed.

These more than 100 cavalrymen were drawn from the newly formed division cavalry regiment not long ago. Many people have never seen the famous brigade commander Cheng, but have only heard of his name. It is said that he is not only a famous live treasure in the 921st Division, but also in the entire 80th Group Army and even higher levels. He dares to make jokes about anyone. Now it seems that his reputation is well-deserved.

This also proves from the side the status of this person in the eyes of several division commanders, but few people dare to make jokes about the first military commander of the division who is strict by nature.

Of course, this also shows how good the mood of the two division commanders is at this time.

Tang Dao was originally walking side by side with Wang Xiaoqiang at the back. After walking a few steps, he saw the division commander who didn't talk too much but was decisive enough waving at him from a distance, and Tang Dao hurriedly followed.

The two walked at the front of the entire team, led by the division commander, and the two asked and answered questions about the battle that had already ended.

Tang Dao's answers were all battles that had already happened, which was naturally not difficult, but what amazed Tang Dao was that without using any maps, the commander of the 921st Division seemed to have the entire map of eastern Shanxi in his mind. The seemingly casual questions were actually to the point.

For example, he asked Tang Dao, when he led the main force of the Four-Line Regiment to attack the main battlefield of Beiganling, he left an infantry battalion to guard Dongyang Pass. Did he consider the problem of the Japanese army gathering its main force to attack?

"Half of the Japanese troops stationed in Shecheng have been wiped out. They don't have the strength to do so, unless they gather more than an infantry regiment from a farther direction. It takes time to gather and it also takes time to move in our direction. The ten hours during the day are far from enough.

By the next morning, not only can the main force of our regiment come back to support, but I believe that many friendly troops around us will not sit idly by. If he really comes, then my Jindong troops will dare to eat him up!" Tang Dao answered neatly.

Leaving Lei Xiong with a battalion to guard Dongyang Pass was also the result of Tang Dao's careful consideration. He also took into account the possibility of a large-scale assembly and counterattack by the 108th Division. The mountain road of 70 to 80 miles is his greatest reliance. If it were on the plain, Tang Dao would never dare to take two infantry battalions and most of the heavy artillery to attack Beiganling. That would undoubtedly send one of his main battalions to the mouth of the Japanese.

"You have a nice idea. The various units in eastern Shanxi will not sit idly by!" The division commander pushed up his black-rimmed glasses and glanced at Tang Dao with a half-smile on his face: "I'm afraid that the various units you are referring to are the infantry division of the 22nd Army of the Sichuan Army, and the various units of my 921st Division distributed in other areas of Taihang! Good fellow, for your infantry battalion in Dongyangguan, the few remaining troops of my 921st Division have to cross mountains and ridges and run their legs off!"

"Hehe, commander, isn't this all for fighting the devils! This meat that is delivered to your mouth is not to be eaten if you don't eat it!" Tang Dao scratched his head a little embarrassedly.

This guy is really hard to fool. He just said the various units, and people immediately understood his calculations. Just as he said, Tang Dao calculated almost all the troops of the 921st Division distributed within a hundred miles.

But Tang Dao didn't expect that the 921st Division was even more fierce than he imagined. On the surface, it had taken out 4 infantry regiments, which was almost half of its troops. In fact, it had hidden several regiments. It might be because there were too many new recruits and their combat effectiveness was not as good as the main regiments on the table. But if they could bring out nearly 10,000 people and add the 22nd Army Division that had already agreed to send troops, the 20,000-plus troops would be really scared to death by the lieutenant general commander of the 108th Division.

"You are quite good at calculating!" The division commander smiled indifferently, and a gleam of light flashed in his eyes covered by darkness. "But you underestimate the Japanese too much! There are more than 108th Divisions in Jindong."

"Why?" Tang Dao was slightly surprised.

Before the war, countless intelligence showed that there was only the 108th Division along the Handan-Changji Highway.

"It's not that there are other Japanese divisions, but a transport team consisting of 180 trucks has arrived in eastern Shanxi.

This unexpected transport team may change the entire battlefield situation. That was the information I got at noon on the 16th. But at that time, you had already led the main force of the Four-Line Regiment to leave. Even if I notified you to return with all your strength, it would be useless!" The division commander's voice was not loud, but it made Tang Dao sweat on his forehead.

180 trucks, limited to transporting 40 fully armed soldiers per truck, are enough to carry an infantry brigade. The mountain road that seemed to be a dead end for the Japanese army has become a smooth road. The 80-mile mountain road may be completed in less than 4 hours.

At that time, even if the 921st Division and the 22nd Army attacked with all their strength, it would be too late. The loss of Dongyang Pass would not only mean the end of Lei Xiong's first battalion, but also the Licheng, which was still desperately transporting supplies, would be in trouble, and it might even implicate the army that was gathering all its main forces to fight Beiganling.

In the end, even if the enemy in Beiganling could be annihilated as planned, I'm afraid this battle would only be a 40-60 split, not a complete victory.

"What about the Japanese army..." Tang Dao licked his lips that were dry due to nervousness and asked.

"That's because you are lucky, Tang Dao!" Seeing that Tang Dao's forehead was sweating, the division commander also put away the idea of ​​beating the young commander who had won consecutive victories. "My unit happened to have a regiment in the vicinity. After receiving my order, they immediately dispatched a large number of troops to destroy the surrounding roads and attack. The Japanese army may have been worried about the county town suffering the same fate as Licheng, or because the transport team did not belong to the 108th Division, the transfer required procedures. By the afternoon, the battle situation in Beiganling had been determined, so they stopped making such futile moves."

In fact, due to problems such as intelligence delays, the identity of this Japanese transport team consisting of a large number of trucks was not confirmed until a few days later.

It turned out that it was the 14th Division's direct logistics corps, which was fighting with the First War Zone of China hundreds of miles away. It was ordered to deliver supplies to the 14th Division from HD, but encountered this unexpected battle halfway.

Although the 14th Division and the 108th Division are of the same level, the 14th Division is a permanent division, while the 108th Division is a special division. The 108th Division is inferior in origin. If they want to directly requisition the "noble" baggage regiment trucks, they really need communication and coordination among the top leaders.

Doiyuan gave face to Shimokuma Yuan and reluctantly agreed, but the time was delayed for nearly two hours. In addition, the road was destroyed and it would take another two hours to repair the road. There was no telling how many Chinese were still eyeing the road in the surrounding mountains and forests. In the end, Shimokuma Yuan had no choice but to give up treatment.

He lost Licheng and 3,000 reinforcements. At most, he would be reprimanded, but if he lost this baggage regiment and thousands of troops, he would have to commit suicide.

The Japanese Army Lieutenant General lacked the courage to fight to the death, which became a reason for the Japanese North China Front Command to accuse him.

But no matter what the Japanese army did, whether there were mistakes or not, if it weren't for the 921st Division's decisive attack, Tang Dao knew that the chances of Lei Xiong and the 1st Battalion's fate being changed were more than 70%.

This kind of mistake that almost caused irreparable losses, thinking that everything was under control, was caused by winning too many battles and being used to smooth sailing. As his mind raced, Tang Dao's face became a little hot.

"Don't think too much. I don't mean to criticize you. I'm just reviewing the battlefield.

There has never been a commander who has calculated everything in this world. As long as there is a winning rate of more than 50%, I will choose to take a chance, not to mention the extremely low probability of this. If it were me, I would make the same choice as you, or even more radical than you." Looking up at Tang Dao, whose face was slightly red under the light of the torch, the division commander flashed an admiring look behind his glasses.

What he wanted was not Tang Dao's gratitude, but Tang Dao's self-reflection. Tang Dao did a good job.

"It's just that, as generals of an army, once the military order is issued, the lives of thousands or even tens of thousands of soldiers are in our hands. We have to be cautious and careful when making every decision. What we have in front of us is a small number, but each of those numbers is the result of more than ten or twenty years of hard work by our parents."

"Yes, Chief!" Tang Dao nodded.

Courage and caution seem to be contradictory, but they are not in conflict, because the division commander in front of him may be the best general in China who balances these two qualities. There is almost no one else.

In fact, if he had not had a serious eye disease and was not in good health after a long war, he would also be a strong candidate to lead the army to the ice field, and history has also proved that the performance of this current top general in the ice field battle is enough to amaze the world.

Although the brigade commander Cheng Da, who was accompanying the two, did not speak, he glanced at Tang Dao with surprise several times in a row.

He knows his division commander best. He seems gentle but is actually very strict with his subordinates. Including him, which of the top officers in the 921st Division has not been criticized by him? It is really rare to give advice to his subordinates in such a gentle way.

Is this to show how much he likes Tang Dao?

How to say? Even a genius like Cheng Da can only express envy at this time.

Unlike the division commander who is obsessed with tactics, the director of the political training department walked behind and talked and laughed with several regimental commanders.

Tang Dao, who was advised, couldn't help but sigh in his heart. As described in historical records, these two people together can only be described as a perfect match. No wonder the 921st Division can develop into a behemoth during the continuous war.

This is the benefit of having a good partner. Lei Xiong and Gong Shaoxun both pay more attention to the battlefield. As for the mercenary and shrewd personality of Chief of Staff Zhuang Shisan, being a businessman is obviously more suitable for him. Thinking of this, Tang Dao's idea, which was already mature enough, became more firm.

As they were talking, the crowd was almost at the station, and a strong aroma of meat wafted over.

The celebration banquet prepared by the 683rd Brigade for this great victory far exceeded the soldiers' imagination.

Now, in the 683rd Brigade, not counting the 3 infantry regiments and 7,000 troops directly under the brigade who returned victorious, there are more than 1,600 officers and soldiers of the 769th Regiment who stayed here for repairs; the guard company of the Four-line Regiment stayed here with nearly 200 people, plus the more than 200 people of the baggage company who were coming, a total of nearly 500 people;

In addition, the two leaders of the division headquarters will bring at least 1,000 people; 1,300 people who joined the army from Lucheng; although most of the people who came to help carry supplies were given two kilograms of food and left, many village cadres and militia company commanders and platoon leaders were invited to attend the celebration banquet, at least two or three hundred people.

In other words, there are more than 12,000 people who will attend the celebration banquet tonight. Calculated at one kilogram of meat per person, it will be more than 10,000 kilograms.

Originally, hundreds of Japanese war horses and pack horses that were killed were harvested on the Beiganling battlefield. If horse meat was eaten, it would be enough for tens of thousands of people here to eat for several days.

But Brigade Commander Cheng waved his hand and said, "Since it is a celebration banquet, we must let everyone eat happily. Horse meat is coarse. It is okay to eat too much cabbage to improve life. How can such a big event be put on the table?"

Beef is naturally the most respected meat, but during the New Year, there are few oxen for farming, so where can we eat beef cattle?

The next best ones can only be mutton and pork!

Fortunately, there is a shortage of food in the mountainous areas, but there is really no shortage of this.

Since the announcement of the great victory on the night of the 16th, starting from the 17th, villagers from dozens of miles around the 683rd Brigade have been carrying their own sheep and wild boars and wild sheep hunted in the mountains to entertain the troops.

The 683rd Brigade, which has the current ocean, will not be stingy. After asking for instructions, the logistics department of the brigade headquarters has withdrawn 20 carts and 30 pack horses from the limited transportation force, and went to the county town of Linfen under the control of its own army at night to purchase meat, vegetables and liquor. They all returned this afternoon.

The 683rd Brigade prepared more than 30,000 kilograms of mutton and pork!

This amount alone can definitely fill every soldier and civilian who attends the celebration banquet.

The military banquets are not so particular about the dishes. They use the most popular way in the north, stewing meat in a big pot, cabbage, potatoes and fat meat, which is the best dish.

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Since the morning, the 683rd Brigade has organized a large number of cooks and baggage soldiers to divide, receive and cook meat.

The Chinese rules of eating a banquet are that there is wine before it is called a banquet!

According to the arrangement, the celebration banquet tonight will be a meal for infantry platoons. Each platoon will have a large iron pot, 50 kilograms of meat, 100 kilograms of vegetables, 50 kilograms of white wine, and enough white flour buns.

Except for the three infantry companies on combat duty, the rest of the officers and soldiers who were not on alert or combat duty were allowed to drink.

The white wine that was transported, except for a small amount purchased by the 683rd Brigade, more than 8,000 kilograms were brought by the baggage company of the Four-line Regiment.

According to wartime regulations, although this is not a battlefield, the Japanese army has begun to send troops on a small scale to the abandoned Dongyang Pass, Licheng, and Lucheng areas, and the combat alert cannot be completely lifted. Drinking is not allowed during this period.

Although Brigade Commander Cheng is open-minded by nature, he is a graduate of a regular military academy and would never make such a mistake.

However, Tang Dao insisted that officers and soldiers who were not on combat duty during the dinner could drink white wine and bear the expenses of white wine independently.

Because Tang Dao knew what the soldiers needed most when they returned from the battlefield.

It was not a reward.

They needed to relax their tense nerves.

The battlefield was cruel!

The blood of the enemy and comrades was spilled on the soldiers. At the moment of life and death, they would deliberately ignore the cruelty, but it does not mean that the tragedy did not remain in their hearts and minds.

In the long run, they will not trust anyone. As long as they are stimulated, they may regard the place as a battlefield, and everyone will become their enemy.

Tang Dao has a deep understanding of this.

During the six months of advanced studies in the military academy, he always kept a saber under his pillow. A captain of the army in the same dormitory had a tactical argument with him, and Tang Dao instantly exploded. His murderous eyes almost scared him to pee his pants.

This habitual psychological behavior on the battlefield, in the future, this symptom is called war syndrome.

And what can make these warriors who have survived hundreds of battles relax is the tenderness of women and alcohol.

Women cannot provide it.

Then it can only be alcohol. A drunken stupor can not only relax these soldiers who have been fighting for several days and their nerves and body functions are tense.

In particular, Tang Dao didn't know how many of these soldiers could wait until the next time they got drunk.

Many of them might not wait until this lifetime.

It was this last sentence that convinced Brigade Commander Cheng. He couldn't let his young soldiers die without even the right to get drunk.

He broke his own principles for the first time and prepared a pound of white wine for each person, allowing every soldier to get drunk after the bloody battle here!

Now, the leaders have arrived.

The whole valley, under the stars.

The meat was steaming and exuding a strong fragrance.

The wine jar had been opened, and the aroma of wine was overflowing.

This is the real taste of victory!