The 12th Division has three regiments including the 34th, 35th, and 36th. After the group army headquarters gave the order to retreat, more than 4,000 officers and soldiers of the 12th Division who were resting on the second line took over the defense line of the 7th Division that was currently fighting.
"Brother Nianjie, why did you lead the troops here yourself?" Li Shilong, commander of the 7th Division, had a bandage on his right arm, and black and red blood soaked into his uniform.
"Why are you still injured?" Commander Cun asked.
"Oh, it's really unlucky. I got bitten by a stray bullet. It's no big deal?"
"Brother, I have been ordered by the military headquarters to take over the defense line of the 7th Division. Hurry up and retreat with your brothers. The military is still waiting!"
Li Shilong was stunned when he heard this. As a veteran soldier, how could he not understand the meaning of retreat: "Brother Nianjie..."
"We must protect the safety of the military seat."
"Take care of yourself!"
There were about two regiments of Japanese troops advancing along Hengyuan Avenue, one group attacking from the direction of Xiaozhai in the northwest of the highway, and the other group attacking from the direction of Liujialing in the northeast of the highway.
Originally, the 7th Division planned to repel the Japanese attack with all its strength, and then retreat and hand over the position to the 12th Division during the retreat of the Japanese army. However, the Japanese army may have known the intention of the Chinese army to retreat, and the attacking Japanese army refused to retreat.
In desperation, Commander Cun had no choice but to order the 34th Regiment and the 35th Regiment to charge on the flanks of the Japanese offensive formation. Faced with the heroic charge of the Chinese army, the Japanese attack was finally repulsed.
Before leaving, Commander Li ordered the 7th Division to leave half of the remaining ammunition supplies on the position. All officers and soldiers of the 12th Division entered the position without mentioning any retreaters.
"Salute!" Half of the more than 3,000 soldiers of the 7th Division were injured and retreated to the rear without saying a word.
Not long after, the Japanese army organized another attack. Artillery shells hit the Chinese army's position one after another, turning over the entire position like a sledge.
The two sides fought fiercely until dark. The soldiers of the 12th Division repelled three Japanese attacks, and the two sides entered a brief truce.
Commander Cun called the three regiment commanders over: "I just received a telegram from the military headquarters. The military base has been withdrawn to the ferry. Our division's blocking mission has been completed. What are the casualties of each regiment?"
Lu Jizhou, the deputy division commander and chief of staff, had already tallied up the situation of the three regiments and came forward to report: "Divisional seat, the 34th regiment has 800 people, the 35th regiment has 700 people, the 36th regiment has 500 people, and there are currently 400 seriously injured people staying in the county behind!"
At this time, Zhang Zhengshu, the leader of the 34th Regiment, said: "Master, can we retreat now?"
"You can withdraw, but you can't just withdraw like this. There are a lot of Japanese troops in the front. The little devils may have known our army's retreat plan by now. There are few blocking troops left and they are of no use at all. Once our troops retreat to the south, they will easily be
The Japanese army killed him, and when he was chased to the edge of the Yellow River by the Japanese army, he became a living target."
"Master, I don't want to withdraw. My brothers and I want to stay on the north bank and continue to fight the Japanese!" said Huang Xiangu, the leader of the 26th Regiment.
Hearing this, a smile flashed at the corner of Teacher Cun's mouth: "Okay, I think so too!"
"There is also the main force of the Japanese army in the west, and they cannot go there. The 3rd Group Army in the east called, and the elite troops it sent discovered the Japanese army in the direction of Wayaochang and Wangwu Town. It can be seen that the little devils are also on guard against our troops breaking out to the east to join the main force!
"
"If you go south, you will definitely die, if you go north, there is still a glimmer of hope!"
After Commander Cun finished speaking, Deputy Commander Lu Jizhou said: "Master, in my opinion, we can break through the main line of Wangwu Mountain in the northeast. Once we enter the mountain, we have hope of survival. After leaving Wangwu Mountain, we will reach Yangcheng."
The boundary is considered to be the defense zone of the 3rd Army!"
In order to reserve more firepower for the entire division, Deputy Division Commander Lu Jizhou was determined to leave behind and cover the main force of the division in the breakout.
In the middle of the night, the 12th Division was divided into three groups. Deputy Division Commander Lu Jizhou led more than 300 people to retreat to Yuanqu County to make arrangements. The remaining soldiers, led by Commander Cun, launched a counterattack against the Japanese army, and then headed towards Wangmao where they were.
They retreated to the southeast of the town and then attacked to the north.
Due to a counterattack by the 12th Division, the Japanese army did not find anyone on the position until they launched their offensive again half an hour later.
The Japanese officer in charge was immediately furious. He subconsciously thought that the Chinese army must be retreating south, so he commanded the troops to attack Yuanqu County in the south.
Yuanqu County is garrisoned by the baggage company and engineering company directly under the division headquarters. After Commander Lu led his troops to Yuanqu County, he found that there were still many wounded and young people stranded in the city.
After getting to know the situation, we learned that the seriously injured soldiers were unwilling to drag down the troops and insisted on staying and coexisting with Yuanqu County, and the local young men were not willing to stay away from their homeland.
Subsequently, Commander Lu issued combat missions in the name of the division headquarters, and the engineer company immediately mobilized young men to block all four city gates with sand and stones, while the remaining officers and soldiers built fortifications in various streets within the city.
As the war was about to begin, Commander Lu made a special trip to the hospital where the wounded were staying. The seriously wounded who were staying here could no longer get up, and those who were less seriously injured still had guns in their hands.
"Brothers, why don't you retreat with the hospital staff?"
"Chief of Staff, most of our people here won't survive even if we withdraw. We might as well try to die an honorable death here!" The speaker was a bearded veteran whose right leg was blown off at the knee.
Lu Jizhou knew the veteran in front of him. As the chief of staff, he inspected the army half a month ago and found that Wang Defa was actually collaborating with others in his class to resell military supplies. Because Wang Defa's battalion commander protected him, he only received thirty military sticks in the end.
"Chief of Staff, where is the division seat?" a soldier asked.
"Master has broken through. I have been ordered to defend Yuanqu County. Brothers, we must defend Yuanqu County today. I have ordered all the city gates to be blocked. Only if we fight hard here can Master and the others break through.
hope!"
"I wish to live and die together with Yuanqu!"
There were more than 300 officers and soldiers who withdrew with Commander Lu. The baggage company and engineer company that were originally stationed in the city had more than 200 people. There were less than 300 wounded people alive in the city, which was only 800 people after full force.
The south gate of Yuanqu County is backed by the north bank of the Yellow River. The gates in the east, west and north directions were blocked one after another. Before the south gate was blocked, Commander Lu ordered all the young people stranded in the city to cross the river.
"Folks, the little devil will be here soon. You are the backbone of the family. There is no need to stay in the city and wait to die. It is the duty of our soldiers to fight against the Japanese invaders. I have sent people to contact the ferry. There will be a ship to pick you up.
Across the river!"
With the south city gate completely blocked, the last hope of survival for the defenders in the city was cut off.
In fact, Commander Lu could have led the city's defenders to cross the river and retreat south, but this opportunity was fought for by the soldiers of the 12th Division with their lives. He now needed to fight for the rest of the soldiers with their lives to give the remaining soldiers a chance to break out.
