Quartermasters can also fight the devils

That night, Commander Yu of the 57th Division conducted a careful statistics and found out that each regiment of the 57th Division currently had only a few dozen combat soldiers. In addition to the seriously wounded, there were only 312 officers and soldiers in the entire division, including the lightly wounded, who could still fight. In addition, the officers and soldiers were suffering from severe ammunition consumption and had almost no grenades left.

Commander Yu knew very well that once the attack of the Japanese 11th Army's offensive force began at dawn tomorrow, the 312 officers and soldiers of the 57th Division would surely be wiped out in the fierce attack of the Japanese 11th Army within a few hours. The 57th Division was now exhausted and could no longer hold on in Changde City.

If the reinforcements outside Changde City have already reached the vicinity of Changde City, then the 57th Division would have no problem holding out in Changde City for a few more hours. After all, only such a persistence would be meaningful. Unfortunately, it is impossible for the reinforcements outside to reach the vicinity of Changde City on December 3.

On the evening of December 2, Commander Yu of the 57th Division was standing on the roof of the Central Bank. The 74th Army and the 100th Army of the Chinese government, which had just reinforced and attacked from the west, sent a telegram to tell Commander Yu that they were still 15 kilometers away from Changde City.

Commander Yu had been standing on the rooftop paying attention to the gunfire coming from the direction of Deshan, ten kilometers south of Changde City. The gunfire was once very intense, but now the gunfire from the direction of Deshan is gradually weakening. Commander Yu knew that the troops of the 10th Army of the Chinese government that attacked Deshan should have been blocked or repelled by the blocking troops of the 10th Army of the Japanese Army.

When the gunfire from the Deshan direction subsided, Division Commander Yu summoned all the surviving regimental commanders and battalion commanders of the 57th Division to a meeting to discuss how to deal with the attack of the Japanese 11th Army's offensive forces tomorrow.

After Commander Yu explained the current situation to everyone, Commander Chai Yixin of the 169th Regiment said that the 57th Division's defensive position was only a few hundred meters, and there were only 312 troops left. It would be difficult for the 57th Division to hold out for half a day under the attack of the Japanese 11th Army's offensive forces tomorrow.

At present, all the reinforcements are still at least two to three days away from Changde City. Even if all the officers and soldiers of the 57th Division fight to the death in Changde City, they cannot hold out for two to three days, and will not be of any help to the reinforcements coming from all directions.

What's more, the ammunition of the officers and soldiers of the 57th Division is almost exhausted. Therefore, the commander of the 169th Regiment, Chai Yixin, suggested to Commander Yu that Commander Yu lead the other commanders and the remaining officers and soldiers of the 57th Division to break out of Changde City immediately to reserve some seeds for the 57th Division. At the same time, the offensive forces of the Japanese 11th Army will not use this to publicize the annihilation of the 57th Division and use it to hit the morale of the Chinese army.

In addition, Commander Chai of the 57th Regiment stated that he would personally lead a group of officers and soldiers who remained to offer the final resistance in Changde City, and all the rest of the officers and soldiers would try to break through in order to preserve some seeds for the th Division.

After repeated consideration, Division Commander Yu said to Commander Chai of the 169th Regiment, "I think your suggestion is acceptable, but the specific action plan needs to be changed. What I mean is that Commander Chai, you will lead these commanders to go out to welcome the reinforcements. Now the Tenth Army, which cannot be reinforced from the south, has been blocked by the blocking troops of the Japanese Eleventh Army in Deshan. You need to go out and fight the blocking troops of the Japanese Eleventh Army and bring the troops of the Tenth Army to Changde City. Commander Chai, you will be responsible for completing the coordination, and I will stay in Changde City with some people to continue the defense."

When the commander of the 169th Regiment, Chai, heard what the commander Yu said, he naturally understood what he meant. So, he stood up and flatly refused, saying, "Commander, the reinforcements coming from the periphery are all commanders at the level of division commanders and army commanders. They will not pay attention to a small commander like me, let alone obey my command. It is better for you to lead everyone out. You are a lieutenant general and can talk to the commanders of the reinforcements."

Division Commander Yu was ready to live and die with Changde City, but before Division Commander Yu could continue speaking, several other regiment commanders immediately echoed the words of Commander Chai of the 169th Regiment, and kept telling Division Commander Yu that the task of going out to receive reinforcements must be completed by Division Commander Yu personally, as their job levels were not high enough. Moreover, everyone said that if Division Commander Yu did not leave, they would not leave either.

Finally, Division Commander Yu could no longer stand up to these regiment commanders and agreed to the suggestion of Regiment Commander Chai. Finally, Division Commander Yu decided that the 169th Regiment Commander Chai Yixin would lead 100 officers and soldiers of the 57th Division who volunteered to stay to continue defending the buildings in Changde City. The other 200 officers and soldiers would break out of Changde City in two groups, and then gather at the assembly point on the other side of the Yuanjiang River.

Wu Rongkai was the secretary of the 169th Regiment. After the meeting, the head of the 169th Regiment, Chai Yixin, took Wu Rongkai to the head of the 171st Regiment, Du Ding, and said, "Brother Du, I don't need a secretary now. Wu Rongkai is a good guy, so I'll give him to the 171st Regiment. You must take him out for me."

As soon as Wu Rongkai heard what Captain Chai Yixin said, he understood what he meant, so he quickly said, "Captain, I have participated in the battle for several days, and my brothers are all in Changde City. You should keep me here."

The head of the 169th Regiment, Chai Yixin, patted Wu Rongkai on the shoulder and said calmly, "You idiot, I will fight you to death if you stay. You are still young, you can't stay, you must leave. This is the last time I will give you an order. Do you still want to disobey me? You must live, this is also to leave a seed for our 169th Regiment."

After hearing what Captain Chai Yixin said, Wu Rongkai saluted Captain Chai Yixin earnestly, and then followed Captain Du Ding of the 171st Regiment to prepare for the breakout.

In the early morning of December 3, the sky over Changde City was still pitch black. Commander Yu of the 57th Division led the breakout troops and, taking advantage of his familiarity with Changde City, quietly passed through the defensive blockade line of the Japanese 11th Army's attacking forces in the city in the dark. Then they used wooden ladders to climb over the west wall of the south gate of Changde City. Then they found three small wooden boats left behind by the Japanese 11th Army's attacking forces when they crossed the river on the bank of the Yuanjiang River, crossed the Yuanjiang River and broke out to the south.