The name Xu Suhang was brimming with the aura of Jiangnan, and this battalion commander's appearance could also be regarded as the representative of Jiangzhe men. In fact, many people privately gave Xu Suhang the nickname Xu Banxian. It wasn't because Xu Suhang had any religious leanings or liked to engage in feudalism, but because everyone associated him with Xu Banxian. It was a mischievous nickname created by the propaganda of the anti-feudalism sects in the army that had been going on for decades.
However, on the night they withstood the danger of annihilation, Xu Banxian's delicate face was brimming with killing intent. After throwing down the phone, Xu Banxian turned to his tired comrades and shouted, "Comrades, I'm giving the order to shoot all the prisoners."
Everyone was stunned. Wei Jianjun, who had been appointed as the acting deputy battalion commander, said, "Battalion Commander, let everyone take a breather first?"
These words echoed the voices of his comrades. The commanders in the battalion headquarters all revealed expressions of sympathy. After a night of life and death, especially after experiencing the bitter bayonet battle where white knives went in and red knives came out, shooting the prisoners had no effect on these soldiers. For these soldiers who had been tossing and turning for more than 24 hours, what they longed for now was rest and sleep. At the very least, they had to let everyone take a breather first.
Xu Banxian looked at his comrades who were on the verge of collapsing on the ground and said loudly, "What if the enemy doesn't give up and charges again? Keeping the prisoners is leaving the possibility of the Americans collaborating with us from the inside. We've already come this far, so there's no need for us to fail miserably. Hurry up and get things done, then we'll start defending! "
Xu Banxian gave the order. The commanders in the battalion didn't resist at all. They left the current battalion headquarters. Some went straight to the front lines, while others went straight to the temporary place where the prisoners were kept. Now, the battalion headquarters was completely empty.
A few hours ago, the battalion headquarters had been occupied by the Americans who had come to the rear. Xu Banxian wasn't a stubborn person. When he saw the situation, he left the battalion headquarters with his men and went straight to the front lines. Such a decisive decision saved the comrades in the battalion headquarters, as well as the entire battalion. At the critical moment of being pincered by enemies several times their size, the battalion commander discovered a unit launching an attack from the flank of the Americans. He immediately gave the order to charge. This kind of unyielding leadership allowed the troops to turn defeat into victory. In less than 10 minutes, Bayonet finished off an enemy that Bullet couldn't finish off in several hours. It was precisely because of this kind of command that Battalion Commander Xu Suhang received the absolute trust and obedience of his comrades.
Not long after, scattered gunshots could be heard from outside. From the sound, it was obvious that all the commanders were carrying out their orders. Xu Suhang didn't want to care too much about it. His regiment commander's tough attitude made Battalion Commander Xu feel a ball of fire in his heart. Even though he knew that Regiment Commander Hu Xingzhi's words weren't wrong, every combat unit in the 24th Division was probably tensed up and fighting on. However, the battle between the 3rd Battalion and the 3rd Battalion was too fierce. Almost everyone in the Third Battalion, which originally had more than 400 men, was injured. Those who were not injured, plus those who had minor injuries that would not affect their battle after some treatment, the Third Battalion was left with only 180 men. Two companies of soldiers were not enough. Furthermore, Regiment Commander Hu Xingzhi had requested for the 3 Battalions to switch from offense to defense and defend such a large area. No matter how correct this order was, Xu Suhang felt that the 3rd Battalion shouldn't be treated like this.
At least the original battalion headquarters still had a canvas roof. Now that Xu Suhang was sitting on the shore of Lake Superior with his helmet on, it really was like a blanket covering the sky and the earth. In the black and white world illuminated by the flares, Xu Suhang suddenly felt extremely wronged as tears flowed out of his eyes uncontrollably.
Perhaps because he felt that it was too embarrassing to cry like this, Xu Suhang wiped away his tears while looking at his watch. It was only 12 o 'clock at night. The night had just begun, and there were still five to six hours before dawn.
Xu Suhang wasn't the only one who felt that the night was too long. Chief of Staff Qi Rui also felt the same way. After receiving the news from Ma Xiaoming that the shore of the lake was secured, Qi Rui also breathed a sigh of relief. The 24th Division had 30,000 soldiers. Even though they had fought for thousands of miles, their losses were actually very small. Qi Rui didn't expect the 30,000 soldiers to be exhausted at all. A battalion-level battle would test the redundancy of the entire army.
Before Qi Rui could heave a sigh of relief, Commander Zheng Minglun asked, "Qi Rui, what are your plans?"
"I …" Qi Rui didn't know how to answer the commander's question. This old soldier naturally couldn't compare to Qi Rui's father, Vézé. Qi Rui believed that if his father was the commander, the Chief of Staff would only need to carry out the commander's orders. Compared to the workload and pressure of work now, carrying out the commander's orders was too easy.
Even though Zheng Minglun couldn't compare to Vézé, it didn't mean that Qi Rui could look down on this commander. Zheng Minglun didn't speak much, but he did his job as a commander very well. Commander Zheng Minglun let Qi Rui and the other young men perform to their heart's content, but he would take action when it was necessary and never let the direction of the war go wrong. Therefore, Qi Rui really didn't know how to answer Commander Zheng Minglun's question. After calming himself down, Qi Rui asked, "Commander, do you think the next battle will be a defensive one or an offensive one?"
Zheng Minglun lit a cigarette for himself and took a puff before asking leisurely, "Qi Rui, what do you think?"
Qi Rui sighed helplessly. "Sigh … Commander, I … I hope it will be an offensive one. I don't want to fight a defensive one. But now, I have a feeling in my heart. Even though it's hard to say why, I just feel that this battle will definitely be a defensive one. "
"You have a good feeling about this. We don't have enough soldiers. With such a small number of soldiers to encircle such a large number of enemies, the chances of a defensive battle are very high. If the reinforcements can arrive according to plan, our strength curve can continue to rise. If the reinforcements don't arrive, our strength curve will enter an inflection point. "Zheng Minglun continued to explain his opinion slowly. Qi Rui was shocked. Qi Rui and the other young men in their twenties could still use a curve to describe the war, but Commander Zheng was in his forties or fifties. Why would he use a curve?
However, Qi Rui didn't dare to say anything. Commander Zheng couldn't be said to be showing off. Once the strength curve rose to a critical point, no matter how hard they tried, their strength would only continue to decline. This was a cruel and unwelcome fact.
"Qi Rui, what do you plan to do next?" Commander Zheng Minglun continued to ask.
This wasn't like a commander asking a chief of staff. Qi Rui felt like he was facing an elderly examiner with both strength and wisdom. He only felt cold sweat on his back. If he didn't answer the question well, Commander Zheng Minglun's impression of Qi Rui would probably be very, very low.
However, Qi Rui was someone who had been through a lot. Although he was under a lot of pressure, he didn't panic. He forcefully pushed those thoughts that had nothing to do with the battle out of his mind. Commander Zheng had actually circled out the scope of the question. Although he didn't say it explicitly, the 24th Division had to consider not attacking but defending. Although he was very unwilling, Qi Rui still quickly went through all the ideas related to defense. A few minutes later, he found a solution.
"Commander Zheng, I want to send a telegram to the frontline command center now and ask them to transport some barbed wire through Lake Superior," Qi Rui said to Commander Zheng.
Commander Zheng raised his eyebrows slightly. It seemed like Qi Rui's suggestion was still slightly out of his expectations. Taking another puff, Commander Zheng said, "What do you plan to do?"
Seeing that his answer had gained the approval of 'Examiner Zheng', Qi Rui hurriedly explained his thoughts. "I saw the local troops in St. Mary's setting up barbed wire. If we can't count on the railroad coming from the west, then we can only count on the transportation line from Lake Superior. If we can surround Duluth with barbed wire, the pressure on our defense will be greatly reduced, especially at night. Those Americans won't be able to pass through the barbed wire. We can just force our way up … "
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