Chapter 16
The Japanese began to retreat. Sometimes, even if Zhang Wenbin himself was unwilling to admit it, he had to admit that when the Japanese retreated, it did not seem like the national army was retreating.
The Japanese's wounded and sick would willingly stay behind to stop the enemy from pursuing them and buy time for their own troops to retreat. This kind of survival method made it difficult for the Japanese to be completely wiped out.
On the other hand, the most direct example of the national army was that after the Battle of Songhu failed, the higher-ups gave the order to retreat and form a defensive line behind them.
At that time, the Japanese didn't plan to attack Jinling directly.
At that time, the higher-ups of the Japanese's headquarters had planned to take down Shanghai and stabilize the front line at the Sujia line, which was the Suzhou and Jiaxing line. At that time, the Japanese had also fought for three months. The troops were very tired and did not have enough supplies.
The national army's strategy at that time was to retreat and defend this front line. Who knew that the retreat of the national army would slowly turn into a complete defeat. When the Japanese 6th division saw that the national army had actually turned into a complete defeat, they directly ignored the orders of their headquarters and crossed the Sujia line to pursue.
After crossing the Su-Jia line, the national army was completely defeated. It was as if dozens of Japanese were chasing thousands of people away.
Following that, the other divisions of the Japanese ignored the orders from the main camp and directly crossed the Sujia Line to pursue.
Then, in less than half a month, all the cities from Shanghai to Jinling fell. The Japanese headquarters immediately formulated the eighth order of the mainland and issued it to all the troops.
That was how the battle to defend Jinling came about.
This is the difference between the Chinese army and the Japanese. Although we don't want to admit it, this is the truth. If the Chinese army had stopped the Japanese for half a day, they would have given up on pursuing them. The battle of defending Jinling would not have happened, and hundreds of thousands of civilians would not have died.
Sometimes, even an inconspicuous detail could cause a chain of changes.
........
The sky was starting to brighten, and the trees, bonfires, and other supplies on the ground were still burning. Smoke drifted in the morning sky, casting a shadow over Jinling.
Zhang Wenbin walked on the battlefield after the war with a rifle with a bayonet in his hand. He looked at the bodies lying on the ground. There was an indescribable fatigue on his face. The bloodshot eyes undoubtedly told everyone that he was very tired.
The surrounding soldiers were collecting the bodies of their own soldiers who had died in battle. Some soldiers were dragging the bodies of the Japanese and putting them together. Wang Yiqiu's hand was wrapped in white gauze, and there were traces of smoke on his face.
"Are you injured? Are your injuries serious?"
Zhang Wenbin looked at Wang Yiqiu who was walking over. He took out two cigarettes and lit them up. He stuffed one into Wang Yiqiu's hands and asked.
"It's fine! The Japanese's 38 Cover had strong penetrative power and was just a bullet hole.”
Wang Yiqiu said nonchalantly. He was also a veteran. As an officer who graduated from Huangpu University and had experienced the baptism of the Battle of Songhu, this injury was nothing.
"Haha! It was good that he was fine! How are the casualties in your battalion?"
Zhang Wenbin took a puff of his cigarette and asked.
"Not much. There were only 50 to 60 casualties in the battle last night, and more than 10 of them were dragged down by the Japanese in the end.”
Wang Yiqiu said lightly. After the Battle of Songhu, these 50 to 60 casualties did not seem to be big.
However, Zhang Wenbin did not see it that way. He, who came from the future, still had a sense of reverence for life.
"Fifty to sixty casualties? This wasn't big? Your six battalions added together would probably have 300 to 400 casualties. We were conducting a night raid, yet we still suffered such heavy casualties.”
Zhang Wenbin pursed his lips and sighed in his heart. The Japanese's combat skills were really not for show!
Last night's two battles had intensified his desire for system levels. Without the advantage of firepower, it was really too difficult for the Japanese to fight.
Last night, whether it was the number of people or the timing and location, they were on their side, but there were still three to four hundred casualties.
Only by upgrading the system and unlocking more weapons would he be able to equip the army, increase the firepower of the army, and increase his chances of winning against the Japanese.
"Regiment Commander, you have never experienced the Battle of Songhu. You don't know how lucky a battalion was to only have fifty or sixty casualties in one night during the Battle of Songhu.
Even now, I still can't forget that when our battalion gathered a few hundred people, in less than two hours, there were less than a hundred people left.
If their cannons fire, we'll lose a platoon!"
As Wang Yiqiu spoke, a bitter smile appeared on his face. That fear was still lingering in his mind.
Later, Zhang Wenbin had only read in those history books that the Battle of Songhu lasted for three months and the national army suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties.
However, he did not mention the bitterness of it. Now that he had led his troops, he had personally seen his soldiers fall to the ground one after another last night. Only then did he know what kind of bitterness was hidden in the light content of the history books.
Now that he heard the words of Wang Yiqiu, the veteran, he realized that the understatement in the history books had ignored the bloodshed and sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
Zhang Wenbin patted Wang Yiqiu's shoulder and said solemnly,""Believe me, we will definitely fight back!”
After saying that, he turned around and left. He was afraid that he would not be able to hold back his tears if he continued listening.
He stood beside a corpse and slowly smoked a cigarette, thinking about many things.
What should he do next?
What kind of weapons and equipment would the system unlock for him after the upgrade?
What kind of firepower should he allocate to the troops next?
Last night's battle had taught him that the Japanese were far superior to the Chinese army in terms of military accomplishments. Under such circumstances, how much firepower did he have to deploy to offset this gap?
"Group leader, the statistics are out. Last night, we wiped out a total of 1,056 Japanese. This was only a count. As for those that were blown up, they were not counted.
In addition, our army lost 330 men last night, and the total number of lightly injured and lightly injured soldiers is 120. A total of 450 casualties."
Li Xiaochu, the commander of the third battalion, walked over and said to Zhang Wenbin.
"450 casualties?"
Zhang Wenbin shook his head slightly. He was even more eager to strengthen the firepower of the troops. Without powerful firepower to offset the difference in combat quality between the two armies, this battle would be impossible to fight.
Moreover, the Japanese had air support during the day.
"No wonder in history, be it the Battle of Xuzhou, the Battle of Songhu, the Battle of Wu Han, or the Battle of Jin Ling, they all ended with the defeat of the Celestial army.
If the gap between the national army was so great, the gap between the miscellaneous armies could be imagined.”
Zhang Wenbin thought slowly in his heart.
"Report our casualties and results! In addition, ask the General to transfer a batch of resources over.”
Zhang Wenbin said to Li Xiaochu.
.....................
It was only 10 AM, but he had already updated 10,000 words!
Needless to say, the lowest today was 14,000, alright!
Just a glance at the flowers, a crazy hint
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