At 09:18 a.m. at Linzhen Ferry, the last batch of troops boarded the raft. Since the Japanese reconnaissance planes had appeared before, the Japanese bombers or river defense gunboats would come over at any time;

In order not to cause too many casualties to the fellow villagers, Xu Jinshu, leader of the Fifth Regiment, gave each boatman 2 silver dollars and mobilized them to evacuate Linzhen to avoid the Japanese planes. The rafts were rowed by soldiers who had been boatmen before.

Some boatmen were unwilling. One of them, an old boatman, said:

"Comrades of the New Fourth Army, just because the Japanese plane is coming, we must send you there as soon as possible. You don't understand the waterway and it will be difficult to row ashore, so let us send you one more way."

As soon as the old boatman finished speaking, other boatmen also expressed that they wanted to send their team on the last journey, and they would not rest assured if the comrades of the New Fourth Army were not safely sent ashore.

Seeing that he couldn't convince the fellow villagers, Captain Xu had no choice but to hurry up and get on the raft. Time is life and he couldn't afford to waste it.

In the end, more than 50 boatmen remained, who were later known as the 58 Linzhen Warriors and are remembered by the world.

09:27 Everyone boarded the raft. 58 warriors, together with 37 warriors who could row, controlled the raft and began to cross the river. The warriors on the raft helped paddle with their hands, wooden boards, shovels and other tools, and raced against time to row to the other side.

.

09:44 The group of rafts crossed the middle of the river. Just when everyone was anxious, a scalp-numbing buzzing sound came from the clouds. It was really scary.

"Enemy plane!"

As soon as Captain Xu finished speaking, more than a dozen Japanese planes with plaster flags on them sprang out from the clouds like ghosts, like a group of devils coming from hell to the world...

The raft was floating in the middle of the river. There was no good way to do it, so we could only paddle towards the river bank with all our strength. The moment of life and death was approaching.

Major Yoshikawa Hei was piloting the latest Type 98 dive bomber, flying over the center of the river. The dense rafts in the river made his blood boil, and he had an animal-like smile on his face.

He shook his "chicken wings" and sent a signal to his wingman, then pushed the joystick and dived towards the center of the river...

When the plane dropped to the optimal bomb-dropping altitude of about 500 meters, Yoshikawa dropped a long series of evil aerial bombs toward the center of the river;

"Boom boom boom..."

Aerial bombs blew up water columns more than ten meters high in the river. From time to time, rafts were hit, destroying the rafts and killing people. The water on the river surface was dyed red.

"Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta..."

"Little devil, I'll fuck your grandma!"

Machine gunner Ding Chao picked up a Czech-style light machine gun and pointed it at the Japanese plane with all his strength. He quickly used up a magazine and the barrel of the gun was red.

The bullets grazed Yoshikawa's fuselage, scaring him into a cold sweat. After this scare, he did not dare to swoop too close again. The Japanese's thin-skinned and large aircraft could not withstand a few bullets.

The soldiers of the Old Fifth Regiment used various weapons in their hands to fire desperately into the air to deter the Japanese planes from diving too close and reduce the hit rate of Japanese bombs.

"Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta..."

After Yoshida's plane dropped its bombs, it began to shoot at the rafts in the river with its onboard machine guns. From time to time, soldiers were hit by Japanese machine guns.

In order to cover the Lao Wu Regiment crossing the river, the soldiers who had already crossed the river also took up machine guns and opened fire on the Japanese planes to attract Japanese firepower;

Without anti-aircraft guns, there is really no effective way to deal with Japanese aircraft. If machine gun fire is to hit a high-speed aircraft, it is purely based on blindness. It can only be said to have a certain deterrent effect.

As expected, some of the Japanese planes were attracted towards the beach. After dropping the aerial bombs, they fired with machine guns;

People kept getting shot and fell, but they had no fear and just wanted to attract firepower for their comrades in the river.

More than a dozen Japanese planes, like a swarm of flies seeing flesh, hovered over the troops crossing the river, pulling down a mess of shit...

The river surface and the river beach were stained red with blood. Under the indiscriminate bombardment of the Japanese planes, the Lao Fifth Regiment that finally crossed the river suffered heavy casualties. The troops crossing the river also suffered hundreds of casualties, until the Japanese soldiers used up all their ammunition.

, then he fluttered his wings and left with unfinished thoughts.

After the Japanese plane left, the soldiers of the Old Fifth Regiment landed one after another, and the 58 warriors also rowed rafts back to the other side. However, there were 58 warriors when they set out, and only 47 were left when they returned, and 11 of them died.

The Lao Fifth Regiment suffered more than 300 casualties, including 185 killed and 142 injured;

Including the casualties of other troops, the total casualties were close to 500, of which 227 were killed.

the river is long and tempestuous, it was like a hero……

"salute!"

…

"The ceremony is over!"

Political Commissar Xiang said loudly to everyone:

"Comrades, let us remember today's sacrifice. This is another blood debt owed to us by the devils;

Blood debts can only be repaid with blood. From now on, we will destroy the Japanese ten times or a hundred times and drive them completely out of China."

"Down with the devils!"

…

Chu Xiong felt uncomfortable in his heart. This was the helplessness of an agricultural country against an industrial country. The Japanese planes were in the sky and could only be bombed passively. The risk of crossing at night was even greater, and some sacrifices were really unavoidable;

This generation has to endure sacrifices that are unbearable for ordinary people, so that the next generation will not have to endure the devastation of war like their parents.

Phoenix Nirvana and rebirth from the ashes, this is a painful process that our nation must endure. After surviving it, we will be on the road to national rejuvenation.

After the military headquarters crossed the river, the predicament of being surrounded by enemies on all sides was relieved. Although each department suffered more than 1,500 casualties, the main force was all preserved, and nearly 3,000 Japanese were eliminated and a large number of weapons and equipment were seized;

After this baptism, the overall combat effectiveness of the military has increased a lot, and the environment in Jiangbei is much better than that in Jiangnan;

The tight curse that has been placed on the heads of the New Fourth Army has been removed. From now on, the sky is high and birds can fly, and the sea is wide and fish can leap!

Although there are still problems of one kind or another within the New Fourth Army, the big problems have been solved, and Yanzhou will definitely have solutions to the internal problems. This is not something Chu Xiong should intervene in;

He ran to southern Anhui to help the New Fourth Army break out. No matter how long he stretched his hands, Yanzhou would at most call him nonsense, but he would remember his achievements in his heart. If he dared to interfere in the internal affairs of the New Fourth Army, Chu Xiong would be blacklisted.

Knowing that Chu Xiong and others were returning to Hedong, Political Commissar Xiang and the leaders of the military branch came to see them off;

The wind knew the strength, Chu Xiong's trip to southern Anhui won the recognition of all commanders and soldiers, including Political Commissar Xiang and Political Commissar Ye. This was naturally represented by Political Commissar Xiang, who held Chu Xiong's hand tightly and said:

"Chu Xiong, our New Fourth Army appreciates your kindness this time. We are all revolutionary comrades. I won't say more words of thanks;

We are going to Hedong with high mountains and long roads. I hope you will cherish the journey and tell us about our revolutionary friendship again on the day when the revolution is victorious."

Chu Xiong also said emotionally:

"Political Commissar Xiang and Commander Ye, please take good care of each other. On Victory Day, we will go to Guizi Island to drink and enjoy the cherry blossoms together!"

"Chu Xiong, you have to treat this. Who doesn't know that you are a rich man now? When the time comes, Commander Ye and I will fight against your rich man."

Commander Ye waved to Chu Xiong and said:

"Xiao Chu, when you go back, remember to send the Wei Shenpao that you promised us."

Chu Xiong protested to Political Commissar Xiang on the spot:

"Political Commissar Xiang, did you hear what Commander Ye said? Is this what a famous Northern Expedition general should say?"

Political Commissar Xiang laughed and said:

"And the Mulan cannon you mentioned!"
Chapter completed!