Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 99: The Loyalty of the Tax Police

The defense line of the Fourth Regiment of the General Tax Police Corps was also in a critical situation. The regiment commander, Sun Liren, looked grim. He only had half a battalion of reserve troops left. When the Second Battalion was in a critical situation, he sent a company to reinforce it.

The Japs attacked the Fourth Regiment's defense line like crazy. There were planes in the sky and heavy artillery on the ground. The Fourth Regiment had a hard time fighting and suffered heavy casualties.

"Can the First Battalion still hold out?"

Sun Liren asked about the situation of the first battalion with concern, and Li Minlei, the deputy regiment commander, quickly replied:
"The First Battalion is fine. Battalion Commander Zhao is very good at fighting. The Japanese can't get any advantage from him.
However, the Second Battalion suffered too many casualties, and the defense line has been weakened. We are requesting reinforcements again."

Captain Sun snorted coldly:

"How did Lu Mingyu fight? They are also a battalion, and we just added a company to them. And they can't hold on?"

"Commander, after the Japanese suffered a setback in the attack on the first battalion's defense zone, they placed their main attack direction on the second battalion's defense zone, and deployed more troops than a battalion;
The enemy's firepower was too fierce, and the Second Battalion's heavy firepower suffered too much damage, so they were unable to suppress the enemy's attack. Battalion Commander Lu led all the battalion staff to the front. "

When Sun Liren heard that the battalion headquarters had already gone up, he knew that they had done their best, but he only had two companies of reserve troops and some reinforcements left, so they couldn't move easily. But he had to give some support to the Second Battalion.
After thinking for a moment, he said:
"Then let the artillery battalion support the second battalion. Just fire six rounds and then retreat. The Japanese have a keen sense of smell!"

Li Minlei took the order excitedly and left. With the fire support from the artillery battalion, the defensive pressure on the Second Battalion would be greatly reduced, and there was no hope of sending troops.

On the position of the Second Battalion of the Fourth Regiment, densely packed Japanese soldiers swarmed up like locusts. The Second Battalion Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Lu Mingyu, roared and led the entire battalion to meet them. The two torrents collided and fell to the ground in an instant;
This is the cruelty of hand-to-hand combat. When the bayonets draw blood, it is either you die or I die. There is no tricks at all.

When the 35th Regiment's Fuji Battalion saw that the troops had made progress in the battalion's defense zone, they pushed forward the last of the reserve troops. In contrast, there were only a few hundred people in the st Battalion's position launching a diversionary attack. It was obvious that the Japanese also understood the essence of Tian Ji's horse racing.

There are more and more Japanese soldiers, but fewer and fewer of his own brothers. Lu Mingyu can't hide his worry on his face. If the regiment doesn't give them support, the Second Battalion will really be in danger of extinction!

Lu Mingyu suddenly heard the sound of artillery fire breaking through the air. His face turned pale at first, and then he was delighted. These were the artillery battalion’s 82mm mortars and 75mm mountain cannons - reinforcements!
The shells rained down on the enemy's deep attack group, blowing the enemy reinforcements to pieces, which greatly undermined their morale.
Lu Mingyu shouted excitedly:

"Brothers, reinforcements have arrived! The commander has launched a counterattack, kill the devils!"

The morale of the soldiers of the Second Battalion, which had been on the brink of collapse, was greatly boosted. They unleashed a huge impact and killed the Japanese invaders, forcing them to retreat step by step.

The artillery battalion's artillery support was like timely rain. The National Army often relied on morale to fight. When morale was low, they could be defeated; when morale was high, they could kill people everywhere.

The artillery battalion had four 4mm mountain guns and six 75mm mortars. Such firepower was no less powerful than the enemy's regimental artillery. After six consecutive rounds of concentrated fire, the enemy's reinforcements were killed or wounded.
The other Japanese soldiers also became panicked, and the second battalion commander took the opportunity to launch a counterattack and defeated the Japanese soldiers in one fell swoop.

Seeing the duck that was about to be caught flew away, Colonel Fuji shouted angrily:
"Fire and blow them up!"

"Sir, the two sides are already embroiled in a conflict, and the warriors on the front lines may be harmed—"

Colonel Fuji glared with bloodshot eyes and cursed:
"Bagayalu, didn't you hear my order? Bomb it, indiscriminate bombardment, kill the chickens!"

The communications staff officer was frightened by Colonel Fuji's madness and dared not say another word, otherwise the regiment commander would definitely kill him.

The officers and soldiers of the Second Battalion were killing with great enthusiasm when a group of Japanese artillery shells came over and instantly blew up a lot of people, including both Kuomintang soldiers and Japanese!
"Damn it, they are just beasts, they even blew up their own people!"

Lu Mingyu still underestimated the brutality of the Japs, but they could not retreat now and could only continue to chase the Japs. At worst, they could exchange their lives for their own. This was what the Chinese were least afraid of.

"Brothers, the birds will fly up to the sky when the people die. Let's fight the devils and kill them!"

Lu Mingyu was not frightened by the indiscriminate bombardment of the Japanese. Instead, he led the officers and soldiers of the Second Battalion to chase the Japanese like a tiger pouncing on its prey. No one took the shells above their heads seriously!

The Japanese soldiers, who had lost all their morale, were being killed and retreated step by step. Suddenly, a shell landed behind Lu Mingyu, and shrapnel flew everywhere. At least a dozen shrapnel hit Lu Mingyu... "Battalion Commander!"

"battalion commander--"

Lu Mingyu could no longer hear the calls of his comrades. He was tired and wanted to go to another world to fight the Japanese.

Lu Mingyu's sacrifice not only did not scare the soldiers, but instead aroused the hatred in their blood. They used up their last bit of strength to chase and kill the defeated devils, leaving them behind one by one...

Seeing that the "warriors" he had high hopes for were driven into the river by the Chinese, Colonel Fuji wanted to order the gendarmerie to shoot them all.

"Bakayaluo, you were beaten to a pulp by a group of anti-smuggling troops. You have disgraced the Emperor!"

Colonel Fuji still resisted the urge to shoot them. This desperate attack had already caused heavy casualties. If he shot these rubbish again, he would become the "captain".

After the Second Battalion drove the Japanese into the river, they quickly withdrew to their positions. When returning, they did not forget to bring back their sacrificed comrades, including their battalion commander. This was the first battalion commander who died since the Tax Police Corps went to war.

At the regiment headquarters, seeing that the Japanese attack was finally repelled, Sun Liren breathed a sigh of relief and praised:

"What a great guy, Lu Mingyu! You are indeed a talent from West Point. I will definitely commend you and the Second Battalion for this!"

At this time, Li Minlei, deputy head of the regiment, came in with a sad face and said to head Sun:
"Commander, Captain Lu, he——"

"What happened to Captain Lu?"

Sun Liren's heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition came to his mind. He stared at Li Minglei, hoping that he was just injured.

"A shell landed, and Captain Lu was hit by more than a dozen shrapnel and died on the spot. Most of the Second Battalion was killed or wounded, and including the lightly wounded and seriously wounded, there were less than 500 people."

Although Li Minglei knew that this news was a bit cruel for the team leader, he had to face it.

Sun Liren felt dizzy at first. This was his old friend from West Point, one year younger than him. When they were in school, they were good friends who talked about everything...

"Mingyu, we agreed to fight side by side and drive the devils back to their hometown. Why did you leave first?"

"Commander, Captain Lu was a great man. When he fell, his body was facing the Japanese. Please accept my condolences..."

Li Minglei didn't know how to comfort the team leader. They were all old brothers who had returned from West Point, and he felt equally sad.

Instead, Sun Liren's eyes became more and more resolute, and he suppressed the tears in his tiger eyes. Then he said in a firm tone:
"There's nothing to be sad about. Mingyu died on the battlefield fighting the Japanese invaders. It was a worthy death!

This is a life-and-death national war, and countless people will be sacrificed. Maybe we will be the next one.
But sacrifice cannot scare us. As long as we are not dead, we will fight to the death and never give up! "

"Yes, never give up!"

Li Minlei nodded heavily. The country is in crisis and we have to fight to the death.

(End of this chapter)