Chapter 73: Living with dignity

In the wind and snow, the earth was covered in silver. Standing next to the armored vehicle on the side of the road, wearing a thick fur coat, as if shameful. The commander of the Japanese 8th Division, Nishiyi, who had just taken the map handed over by the staff, had just taken the map handed over by the staff. A strong wind blew, and the map flew into the sky. Several staff members and dozens of soldiers were like little monkeys jumping to pick fruits, wearing heavy coats, jumping funnyly to chase the map.

Xiyi glanced at the troops trotting around her. A stove was placed in the armored vehicle, but there was still a thick layer of frost. The only thing that made him feel warm was the thick mat. A small piece of dark red on the snow-white mattress destroyed the overall beauty. It is said that this precious mattress is a family heirloom of a Chinese family. For the sake of the subordinates of the Third Infantry Brigade of Xiyi, which Chinese family was killed? Xiyi enjoyed it on this mattress.

After being subjected to the daughter and daughter-in-law of the Chinese family, the blood was left by one of the women who committed suicide, which made Xiyi extremely upset. He ordered the two women to be stripped naked and splashed water to freeze to death, and then hung the body on the big tree at the entrance of the village to serve as a warning. This is the consequence of not cooperating with the imperial army! Xiyi is not ashamed of his evil deeds but proud of him. He often shows off proudly and even wrote it into his diary. Many years later, Xiyi is very upset about his stupid behavior.

Soon, the people who went to chase the map returned one after another. Looking at the staff of the Big Island who returned empty-handedly, Xiyi, who was not tall, sighed helplessly: "Compared with the enemy of the Imperial Army, the Chinese anti-Manchu army has turned into bad weather and roads. Why can't the Chinese repair their roads be repaired? Don't they know the importance of the roads? Maybe they have no money? What's the use of such poor mountains and bad waters?"

Standing beside, stomping his feet, Zuo laughed and said, "You don't know anything about the division commander, but you don't have money? The income of opium alone is 70 million to 80 million oceans, which is almost equal to the commercial turnover of the four countries, but these incomes are put into the pockets of local military and political officials."

Nishiiichi waved to Nakasa Oshima and said, "Get on the bus with me! Although such an enemy is not worthy of respect and admiration, to be honest, I like it very much!"

Amid a burst of laughter, Oshima boarded the division commander's armored vehicle in the envious eyes of his colleagues. Compared with the trucks with air leakage on all sides, it was already a paradise.

It was not only the left wing commanded by Nishiyi's Office, but also the right wing commanded by Masato Eemon of the Onemoto, also fighting against the severe cold. The Japanese attack seemed to have turned into a marching. The collapse of various units of the Chinese army in Rekawa made the Japanese army unexpected. A large number of materials were stored in Jinzhou and waiting to be transported to Chaoyang. Before the materials arrived in Chaoyang, news of the capture of Chifeng came, and the materials were transported directly to Chengde, the only Chinese army stationed.

Masae Eemon, who was wearing a fur coat, looked at Xue Chen who was rising all over the sky and asked the combat staff beside him, "Where is the 10th Division now interspersed? Is there a call from the commander of Hirose Shousui Division?"

The combat staff, who was so cold that they were a little fluent in their mouths, saluted and said, "The last telegram was sent nine hours ago and is being interspersed with Chengde."

Masaemon Omoto nodded and said, "Order to send a report every ten minutes. Be sure to contact the 10th Division and ask them to do their best to seize Chengde and end the Battle of Atako with glory!"

The left and right wings of Masaemon, Aomoto and Nishiyi, completely abandoned the 16th Division's headquarters, which was in the middle, and sent the 10th Division's Hosakashi Hirose and the 14th Division's Xinuo Nakamura, respectively, with the intention of taking advantage of the new defeat and collapse of the Chinese army.

It can be said that not only did Masaemon Omoto and Nishiyichi, the two left and right wing commanders, were secretly competing, but even the commanders of the subordinate divisions were secretly competing. This was the first large-scale army battle since the First World War. The generals who captured Lushun were old and old, and both the military headquarters and the General Staff needed fresh blood.

The performance in this battle is particularly crucial. The cooperation between the divisions and divisions on the left and right wings of the Japanese army became empty talk. Whoever can seize Chengde first means who can get the biggest lottery in this battle!

Just as the 10th Division and the 14th Division arrived in Chengde on a starry night, Zhang Xuewu unexpectedly received two armored trains that had not yet left at Chengde Station. The armored trains, the Northeast Army recorded seventeen different models and functional purposes. The most common ones were simple armed transport trains. The basic composition method was to add a cannon truck with sandbags and armored plates in front and rear tractors. The cannons and tractors were not protected by armor. An unmanned truck was added to the front to prevent mine blasting and protect the towing front in the middle.

The relatively few dual-purpose transportation alert trains are basically close to the concept of European light armored trains. These armored trains are even loaded with tank armored vehicles so that they can provide rotating fire for defense and self-defense, or the railway patrol vehicles converted from Renault ft-17 light tanks are hung on the front end of the train, and equipped with roadblock removal shovels and mine detonators. However, compared with heavy armored trains made by the Soviet Union and Germany, the armored trains equipped by the Northeast Army seem to be too simple.

However, it is much better to have it than not, especially the two armored trains equipped with double fronts and two 75mm guns. There is a semi-closed anti-aircraft gun position on the rear pallet, with a 20mm Swedish "Amemnon" anti-aircraft gun inside, and a Renault ft-17 light tank at the rear acts as a circumferential fire point.

The command center set up by Zhang Xuewu in the women's lieutenant school was only less than 200 meters away from the railway line, so the two armored trains were parked near the school and pretended to act as Zhang Xuewu's mobile command post.

After checking the condition of the armored train, Zhang Xuewu looked at Li Xin who seemed worried and smiled and said, "What are you afraid of? There must be a road before the train reaches the mountain, and the water will naturally be straight when the bridgehead! The soldiers come to block the generals, and the water comes to the trench!"

Li Xinkai looked at Huang Tao who was climbing up and down in the armored train and told Zhang Xuewu: "Stand, at the moment, there is only one lonely army left in Rehe. The Nanjing government probably doesn't know that the situation of the battle collapses far more than they expected. Our new first division blocks here and defends the Jedi, and the Japanese army is sharp again. This is just feeding the wolf!"

Zhang Xuewu took a deep breath and said, "In 1927, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiichi Tanaka held an Oriental Conference and formulated the "Outline of Policy toward China". The core is to first separate Manchuria and Mongolia from China, and then use Manchuria and Mongolia as a base to further expand into mainland China. After the meeting, Tanaka's memorial to the Japanese Emperor proposed the aggression and expansion program of "If you want to conquer China, you must first conquer Manchuria and Mongolia. If you want to conquer the world, you must first conquer China", thus promoting the mainland policy of Japan's foreign invasion.

To a new stage. Japan's heavy invasion of Irehe is just a step in its long-planned strategy. The Japanese are not just launching an invasion. Their ultimate goal is to destroy China and destroy our nation! If we still want to leave a clear sky for our descendants so that they (they) can live with dignity, we must resist to the death today. Even if an inch of mountains and rivers turns into flesh and blood, even if there is countless casualties in a scorched earth, it is still possible to do so!"

Li Xinkai was slightly stunned and said, "Even if you win, it will be a tragic victory. What's the point?"
Chapter completed!