Now in this battle, the Jinsui Army is fighting like a tiger, unable to defeat the Japanese. If they want to retreat, they are worried about a Japanese counterattack.

If the commander-in-chief continues to be as stubborn as he was in the past few days, the Shanxi-Sui Army will lose more than half of its organizational structure in this battle, and the designations of some divisions will disappear along with it.

How could Chu Jie not understand the stakes of this battle, but at this time he gave advice to the commander-in-chief, it was really because the birthday boy was always eating arsenic.

"Commander, you are the only one who can persuade the Commander-in-Chief regarding matters on the front line." Zhao Zhiguo was anxious.

The Hutong area is lost and can be fought back in the future. However, if the five main divisions were beaten to the point of losing their organization, and you want to reorganize them and restore their combat effectiveness, you will have to wait until the Year of the Monkey and the Horse.

The five division commanders who participated in the main attack on the front line were all the original main combatants. The commander-in-chief fought this battle, and these five division commanders played a great role in fueling the flames.

Now the five division commanders have to fight against the Japanese army even if they can't stand it. The reason is very simple. They can't slap themselves in the face, otherwise they will never be able to hold their heads high in the Jinsui Army in the future.

At the beginning, the commander-in-chief fought this battle just for the sake of face. Now the five division commanders are holding on for the sake of face! No one wants to lose their face in this battle, but if they don’t put down their face, countless soldiers will be killed.

lives lost on the battlefield.

"Zhao Zhiguo, do you think I don't understand what you say? Do you think the commander-in-chief doesn't understand? Don't always think you are the smartest!"

It's not that the commander-in-chief doesn't understand, it's that they can't let go of their own dignity. Even if their teeth are broken or their ribs are broken, they still want to win or lose this battle, instead of just leaving it unclear.

The battle ended in vain.

Zhao Zhiguo shook his head feebly. Those living soldiers were completely the pawns of the commander-in-chief and his division commanders. They could manipulate them however they wanted.

No one feels sorry for him when he is alive, and no one cares about him when he dies. Today, Zhao Zhiguo truly realizes that life is like grass and grass. Thousands of soldiers are just a handful of dirt on the battlefield. When the smoke clears, they will never be remembered again.

"Go back and lead the troops. If the Japanese army really counterattacks, I need someone to guard our rear!" Chu Jie was also helpless.

As the commander of the 68th Division, his entire army was wiped out in a Pingcheng defense battle. This time, he lost nearly two regiments. But no matter how the battle turned out, no matter how many men were left in the division, as long as

If the commander-in-chief did not give the order to retreat, he would lead his troops to hold fast near Pingcheng.

"Commander, more than half of our regiment has suffered casualties." Zhao Zhiguo said seriously.

Zhao Zhiguo's meaning is obvious. He doesn't want to use the last remaining soldiers under his command to pay for the mistakes made by those people!

There are obviously better opportunities on the battlefield to maximize the benefits of the battle, but they have to fight until the last step, and then make the other unit pay a heavier price.

Chu Jie could see that Zhao Zhiguo had a temper. How could he lose his temper? When he was young, he was almost the same as Zhao Zhiguo. When he encountered injustice, he also wanted to disobey orders.

"If you don't want to, I will take the remaining brothers from the other two regiments and stay behind to serve as your rear guard."

When he said this, Chu Jie acted very calmly, as if he often did such things. After Zhao Zhiguo heard this, he was stunned for a moment, and then looked at Chu Jie in confusion.

"The army is like a big family. There are always people who will get into trouble, and there are always people who have to wipe their butts! I also want my brothers to survive, but there is always someone who has to stand up at a critical moment, right?"

A person's life cannot always be smooth sailing. Even someone as powerful as Napoleon will have Waterloo, and Guan Yu will be defeated in Maicheng. When problems occur, it is not the time to lose your temper, but to find ways to solve the problem and reduce the loss to the lowest level.

lowest.

Zhao Zhiguo also understands these truths, but is it worth sacrificing his life for such a commander? Zhao Zhiguo feels it is not worth it for a commander who does not care about the casualties of soldiers, but only cares about whether he has lost face!

"Sir, I, Zhao Zhiguo, am not afraid of death in order to protect my family and country, but fighting for face, this kind of thing, I..." Zhao Zhiguo shook his head.

The situation on the front line was worse than Chu Jie and Zhao Zhiguo expected. As the casualties of the attacking troops increased, the morale of the Jinsui Army dropped faster than the morale of the little devils, even though there were many regiment commanders and battalion commanders on the battlefield.

Officers like this led their troops to charge personally, but the strength of the Japanese army was there.

Moreover, after the Japanese army experienced the initial panic of being surrounded, the situation has stabilized. The Japanese division commander arranged for a brigade to attack and advance to the rear in an attempt to open the road again with the Japanese support troops.

After two days of hard fighting, the Chinese army was at the end of its strength. The Chinese army, which had not focused on defense, suddenly suffered a counterattack from the Japanese army. On the evening of the second day, it directly tore apart the defense line with the strength of the Japanese army.

A hole was made.

At this time, there was only one line of defense between the Japanese army in the encirclement and the supporting troops. The division responsible for blocking the Japanese reinforcements might be attacked from both sides at any time.

The Japanese troops who succeeded in the attack did not stop. The Japanese troops in this brigade received a death order and were not afraid of being surrounded by the Chinese army alone. The Japanese troops rushed and attacked fiercely, even launching a strong attack at night.

That night, the division that blocked the Japanese reinforcements was attacked from two directions by the Japanese army. It withstood the Japanese army's fierce attacks for two days. Its strength was also greatly weakened during these two days. Now it was attacked from both sides and was in a bitter battle.

The battle lasted for half a night, and when that division fought to the end, 80% of the officers above the battalion level were killed, and their division commander was also wounded.

In the middle of the night, the Japanese army reopened the road.

The commander-in-chief was shocked when he learned that the main force of the Japanese army had joined the reinforcements. He did not expect that the Japanese army would move so quickly. As the Japanese army tore up the encirclement, all the plans of the Jinsui Army were ruined.

What the commander-in-chief should be worried about most now is the defense of Pingcheng. There are only a few battalions of brothers left in the 72nd Division. If the little Japanese attack Pingcheng again, it will be like entering an uninhabited land.

That night, the commander-in-chief immediately sent a telegram to the frontline troops, and the Sixty-eighth Division came to the rear to cover the retreat of all frontline troops and abandon Pingcheng.

"Commander, the latest order is that the Japanese army has broken our encirclement. Our troops are at risk of being re-encircled by the Japanese army at any time. Our division is ordered to set up a defense line in the Pingcheng area to block the Japanese army for eight hours and cover the retreat of the frontline troops."
Chapter completed!