Chapter 84: Never Abandon, Never Give Up
After the security regiment had just ended several days of fierce battles and last night’s march, they were already very fatigued, with thousands of soldiers dispersed in the ancestral hall and numerous civilian homes in Banqiao Town for rest.
Just as the soldiers were enjoying this rare leisure time, the clouds to the southwest were suddenly torn apart by a sharp engine roar.
A Kawasaki Ki-32 reconnaissance plane with a blood-red sun emblem on its fuselage（ Type 98） dove down, its wings gleaming coldly in the sunlight.
After this Type 98 reconnaissance plane burst out of the clouds, it did not circle for reconnaissance but instead dove straight toward Banqiao Town, descending to an altitude of 300 meters, the propeller whipping up gale-force winds that overturned haystacks in the drying field, and even the small aerial bombs hanging from its belly were clearly visible.
“Enemy plane! Scatter!!”
Seeing the suddenly appearing reconnaissance plane, the officers jumped up on the spot, shouting loudly for the soldiers to disperse, but their roars were drowned out by the engine’s roar.
A young soldier was so frightened that he knocked over the pottery pot boiling rice porridge, scalding hot water spilling at his feet.
Machine gunner Old Cao stumbled toward the M1917 heavy machine gun mounted on the millstone, while several panicked soldiers who didn’t know where to run actually raised their Garand rifles and fired wildly into the sky, the bullets tracing powerless arcs near the wings.
Looking at the chaotic soldiers on the ground and those sporadic powerless bullets, a trace of contempt flashed in the eyes of the Japanese pilot of the Type 98 reconnaissance plane.
He pulled the control stick, and after the plane nimbly circled in the air, it dove straight toward the ground, and at a distance of less than two hundred meters from the ground, the 50-kilogram bomb under its belly detached from the rack and fell straight toward the ground.
“Boom…”
The bomb exploded next to a rice shop, and with the violent explosion, thick smoke billowed up.
Gunpowder smoke mixed with flour rolled in the air above the rice shop; a child still wearing a red bellyband lay quietly beside the millstone, his eyelashes dotted with blood drops like morning dew, and his mother lay fallen next to him.
This mother had forever closed her eyes, and beside her disheveled hair bun was half a bowl of unfinished rice paste still steaming.
After dropping the bomb, this Type 98 reconnaissance plane finally shook its tail in satisfaction and began to climb, soon disappearing into the sky.
“Fuck their Japanese granny!”
Su Yaoyang, standing beside a civilian house, watched the Japanese plane swaggering in the sky and listened to the cries coming from afar, his eyes blazing with rage.
Before he could speak, Li Gaoyuan immediately said: “We can’t stay here. Order the troops to assemble right away; we need to leave immediately.
Luckily, that plane just now was a Japanese reconnaissance plane; otherwise, we’d be in trouble.”
“Right…”
With Li Gaoyuan saying this, Su Yaoyang immediately woke up to it. Since the Japanese had discovered their unit, what awaited them next would surely be Japanese bombers and ground troops. If they continued to stay in Banqiao Town, they would be greeted by countless Japanese coming from all directions.
“Hurry and go… Assemble immediately!”
Su Yaoyang didn’t waste words and immediately ordered the troops to assemble.
Ten minutes later, the entire security regiment had assembled, and thousands of men left Banqiao Town heading toward their target, Cihu Town. Before leaving, they earnestly urged all the townsfolk to temporarily flee the town to nearby areas for a few days to avoid Japanese retaliation.
What Su Yaoyang and the others didn’t know was that less than forty minutes after they left, a bomber group consisting of six Type 96 attack aircraft visited Banqiao Town, and explosions erupted throughout the town in an instant, the entire town shrouded in gunpowder smoke and firelight.
Cihu Town was more than twenty kilometers from Banqiao Town. The troops hurried along and only arrived at the destination around five in the evening, but upon arrival, Su Yaoyang began to worry.
Cihu Town was a fairly large town with over two thousand permanent residents, and it was also a ferry dock.
Normally, it wouldn’t be teeming with people, but there were plenty of passing merchants and travelers. However, due to the war and almost all large boats being requisitioned by the National Army, now only about twenty small boats remained. Relying solely on these small boats to ferry thousands of troops across the river would be impossible without a full day and night.
Most importantly, the trucks in the unit and that Citroën tank couldn’t be gotten across the river, which broke Li Gaoyuan and Huang Guantao’s hearts.
In these times, China had no way to produce cars itself; all vehicles were imported from abroad, so every vehicle was a treasure.
Most importantly, these more than ten trucks were fully loaded with over a hundred wounded soldiers as well as Yumo, Song Mei, Xiaolu, and dozens of other girls.
If they lost these trucks, never mind whether these girls could keep up with the unit’s marching speed, just the wounded alone would be a huge problem, requiring at least two or three hundred soldiers to take turns carrying them forward.
This would not only waste enormous manpower and resources but also slow down the entire unit’s advance.
Over this matter, Su Yaoyang, Li Gaoyuan, and Huang Guantao had their first disagreement and even argument.
“I’m not unsympathetic to these wounded brothers, but these wounded are already seriously affecting the survival of our unit.”
Huang Guantao said with a serious expression: “You all know that right now, with our few thousand men, Japanese planes are watching from above, and there might be Japanese pursuers behind us.
Once we lose these trucks and still bring these wounded along, it will inevitably affect our marching speed. Once the Japanese catch up, none of us will escape.
So my suggestion is to leave these wounded in the homes of the townsfolk to recuperate, and give each wounded soldier a sum of silver dollars.
Once they’re healed, they can choose to go home, or rejoin the National Army, or even return to our unit. Wouldn’t that be better than suffering with us?”
Li Gaoyuan and Su Yaoyang fell silent. After a long while, Su Yaoyang said: “Old Huang… I know what you’re saying is true, and leaving them in the town is not a bad option.
But have you thought about it: once we leave them in the town and the Japanese pursuers catch up, what will happen to these brothers?
At that point, it will be a dead end for them!
Moreover, once the Japanese discover so many wounded soldiers in the town, they will surely fly into a rage and turn their fury on the townsfolk. At that time, not only these wounded, but probably the entire town’s people will suffer the Japanese’s mad retaliation. Have you considered this problem?”
Now it was Huang Guantao’s turn to fall silent.
Seeing Huang Guantao silent, Su Yaoyang stood up and said loudly: “I don’t care how others do it, but in my Su Yaoyang’s unit, we absolutely will not abandon brothers to save our own skins.
I don’t ask you to be invincible or unstoppable, but I ask you to do one thing: never abandon… never give up!
In my unit, abandoning any brother is absolutely forbidden!”
Although Su Yaoyang’s voice wasn’t loud, it shook everyone’s hearts resounding.
