In the afternoon, on the chaotic Qin Army's position, the Qin Army Infantry Regiment finally escaped from the lower reins. The young soldiers held their weapons and enjoyed the food they finally got.
They were lucky along the way. Because they were light infantry, they escaped the stranglehold of the Tang Empire Air Force. Fortunately, they escaped from the encirclement of the Tang Army and fled to the vicinity of Dongqing.
Of course, their escape was not without cost. One regiment had about 1,500 soldiers, but only about 900 were left when they fled to Dongqing.
This does not mean that the missing 600 or so people must have died, but it is possible that they fell behind and were captured by the Tang army, became separated, or really died...
In addition to the loss of personnel, they also lost all their infantry artillery and all their heavy machine guns while running.
Later, I simply threw away all the extra ammunition, and even some documents from the regiment and battalion headquarters, as well as other random things.
Everything is to run faster, everything is to make it more convenient when crossing mountains and ridges without taking the main road.
Fortunately, there are many poor people in Qin's army. They are used to living a hard life, so they can still walk on mountain roads and go hungry at this time...
The Air Force of the Tang Empire forced an infantry regiment to train into a mountain infantry regiment. It has to be said that it is a miracle.
The remaining infantrymen in the regiment were exhausted and could no longer move. Just when the entire regiment was in desperate situation, they encountered a baggage troop.
Or, to be more precise, they encountered the remaining vehicle wreckage of a supply unit that had been defeated by the Tang Air Force.
Many of the vehicles were not seriously damaged, and almost no one had touched the cans and food inside!
As a result, this group enjoyed a rare happy time here, and the fatigue and pain of escaping all the way seemed to be swept away here.
Each of them replenished their own consumed rations and used the extra supplies to make a sumptuous dinner.
I don’t know why, but no other Qin army retreated along their route, so it was their turn to eat.
A can of luncheon meat was opened with a bayonet. The oily smell of starch inside excited the Qin soldiers who had been hungry for a day.
They smiled, licked their dry lips, used bayonets to cut out a piece and stuffed it into their mouths, chewing it with big mouthfuls.
The taste was so salty, it was like putting a big piece of salt into your mouth. But these Qin soldiers were reluctant to spit it out, and stuffed biscuits as hard as bricks into their mouths, hoping to neutralize it.
Unpalatable taste.
The more discerning officers were boiling water with helmets or other objects, and pouring luncheon meat and other things into it. The aroma had spread, causing people around to swallow.
Some people just took a few bites and then fell asleep. They had not closed their eyes all day and night. They took the time to sleep for a while, which could at least restore some strength.
No one took care of the sentry matters, and no one arranged any warnings. Some people fell asleep leaning on the wheels, and some started snoring while eating.
They were really tired, and the Tang Army followed them like gangrene. Every time they thought they could take a break, they could always hear the sound of gunfire not far away, as well as the roar of the Tang Army's aircraft engines.
The leader of the Qin Army took a lunch box from his adjutant. In the clear soup with oil floating in it, the starch lunch meat cut into pieces was still tumbling due to the shaking.
The steaming broth allowed the regiment commander to regain some strength. He blew in, swallowed a mouthful of soup, and looked at the commander of the 1st Battalion who was sitting aside and had already eaten most of the soup: "Can you count how much we have lost?
person?"
According to the strict laws of the Qin Dynasty, an officer who retreated on the battlefield and lost half of his troops without any reason was executed. He has almost been charged with this crime now, so he is so eager to know the result.
The 1st Battalion Commander shook his head and said: "The artillerymen with poor physical strength and our truck soldiers are nowhere to be found. The trucks are also nowhere to be found. There are only two radio stations left. My battalion's soldiers are missing."
I don’t know how many... let alone soldiers, the commander of the 3rd company is gone."
"Alas..." After hearing this report that was not a report, the leader sighed. In fact, he was not particularly afraid of being beheaded in public, because he actually knew that there was a high probability that he would not have to die.
After all, he even escaped back with his troops. Those officers who just left their troops on the front line can really be said to be countless now.
The officers who escaped back would probably be sentenced to meritorious service, because if they were killed again, there would be no qualified officers to lead the troops.
However, the commander of the Qin Army was not in a good mood when he thought that he would continue to face such a powerful enemy as the Tang Empire.
While eating hot soup, the group leader discussed the retreat route with a few of his confidants. They had their own experience in escaping and knew that the most correct choice was to go through the ravine and take a small road.
Even if they were slow for a while, they would be the fastest in the end. Anyway, they have not received any orders from the Northern Group Command since the beginning of the retreat. In any case, they cannot be blamed for leaving their posts without permission.
It's funny to think about it: the headquarters that can command their regiment is still surrounded by Xiajuan, which is two to three hundred kilometers away from Dongqing. Even if the radio is not interfered, there is no way to contact them.
So for them, it is almost equivalent to saying that there is no superior management and they can run whatever they want.
While we were discussing how to escape, we heard the sound of weapons firing in the distance over there.
Everyone stood up at once. The regiment leader looked in horror at the direction where the machine gun was firing. Before he could figure out what was going on, he heard soldiers scurrying around shouting at the top of their lungs: "The Tang Army is coming! The Tang Army is coming!"
Calling over!"
Most of the Qin soldiers who woke up from their dreams didn't even bother to look for weapons, and started running behind others. Some even trampled on each other, trampling their sleeping comrades into the mud alive.
The group leader knew that it was impossible to stop the chaos at this time, so he could only run along with them, heading madly into the wilderness without even looking back.
When everyone stopped panting and began to count the losses, there were still more than 400 people in the regiment, and only more than 70 rifles were left.
What pleased the group leader was that in such a chaotic and hasty situation, the more than 400 people in front of him actually brought out more than 500 backpacks filled with food...