I really came here to fight against Japan

Chapter 707: The River Crossing Plan of the 3rd Island Division Commander

Division Commander Mishima said: "The breakout we are talking about now is neither a breakout from the front nor a breakout from the back."

Yamashita Fengzi: “Then may I ask General Mishima, we are neither going in front nor in the back.

Then our two divisions can't find a breakthrough point to break out from the two sides of the Miluo River, right?"

The terrain where their two divisions are now located is very strange, a bit like a peninsula.

The ferry that can cross the river is at the front of the peninsula.

Their retreat was blocked from behind by four armies of Kuomintang troops.

The two divisions felt like they were unable to escape even if they had wings.

Since it is a peninsula, it is naturally surrounded by water on three sides.

The front end of the "peninsula" can become a ferry.

Because the distance from there to the other side is less than 200 meters.

Mishima pointed to the map and said to everyone: "Yamashita-kun, you are right, we have to break out from the waters on both sides.

Don't forget, this is the dry season in winter.

Although it takes 500 meters to reach the other side from the east shore.

But if you look carefully, you will see that rocks have been exposed three hundred meters east of the water here.

This means that once we get there, we can cross the Miluo River by just wading through the water."

Division Commander Takahashi looked at his reconnaissance staff.

The staff officer thought about it and nodded to Takahashi, indicating that this was indeed the case.

Takahashi: “Mishima-senpai, but we still have 300 meters of deep water.

The shallowest part of the water is three meters deep, and we still can’t cross it.”

Mishima: “Takahashi-kun, look at the small hill outside, there are a lot of bamboo forests.

All we have to do is cut down some bamboos to make a raft and then connect them end to end.

The first raft was filled with soldiers and then thrown down the river bank.

Wait until the bamboo raft at the beginning reaches the 300-meter point, and then let the imperial army's warriors jump into the water.

As long as they could fix the bamboo raft on that shallow beach, a simple floating bridge would be built.

As long as we are willing to abandon heavy weapons and just let the infantry cross the river, there won't be much of a problem."

At this moment, all the officers in the tent applauded Mishima's idea.

In Takahashi's heart, he was praising Mishima's brilliant thinking.

This Division Commander Mishima is truly a famous escape expert.

He could even think of such a bizarre way to cross the river.

Although many infantrymen will fall into the water, if the plan succeeds, at least eight out of ten of them will be able to escape.

Besides, they are now in the middle of this "peninsula".

Whether they were cutting down bamboo in the bamboo forest or preparing to cross the river, they would not be discovered by the Chinese army.

As long as they can cross the Miluo River, they will be able to escape.

They can now face the Chinese troops across the river that are preparing to encircle and kill their division.

By the time the Chinese army discovered that they had escaped and crossed the river again to pursue them, I'm afraid they had all come to Laodao River.

The division commander Takahashi immediately gave orders to his subordinates to cut bamboo and make bamboo rafts.

When no one was around, Takahashi secretly came to Mishima.

"Mishima-senpai, it seems I misunderstood you. Please forgive me. I have reported you to Anan.

This is why you lost your position as the head of the Third Division. I'm sorry!"

Division Commander Mishima: “None of your business, it’s only a matter of time before I get demoted.

My Third Division failed to capture Changsha City after a long siege, and it was lost. Anan did this for the sake of face for several commanders.

The Sixth Division and the Ninth Independent Mixed Brigade, which were responsible for coordination and support, were completely wiped out.

Naturally, I became a scapegoat of the 11th Army.

Even if you don't report to the Commander, he will find ten thousand excuses.

Remove me from the position of division commander and pay for his mistakes.

It became clear that the 12th Army in the south had quickly captured Xiangwan.

As the 11th Army was cooperating in the feint attack on Hong Kong, it should have immediately withdrawn to Hankou and restored the pre-war situation.

But our commander has a habit of being too ambitious.

He wanted to capture Changsha without making proper logistical preparations.

This will add a strong achievement to his resume.

My Third Division was forced to fight in a state of hunger for a week.

Forget it, now is not the time to pursue responsibility. Let’s think about whether we can break through later.

Mr. Takahashi, we can't guarantee that Captain Yoshida will risk his life to save us.

That guy is more cautious than me.

I am now afraid that he will discover the danger and immediately retreat back to Hankou.

If that happens, the Chinese troops in Miluo River would probably launch an attack on us immediately.

We don't have much time left, so please, Mr. Takahashi, send a telegram to Commander Anan.

Let the Commander urge Yoshida's detachment to cross the Laodao River immediately and rescue us."

Takahashi knew what Mishima meant, "I would rather my friend die than let me die."

However, for the sake of the more than 20,000 people in his hands, he was able to break through successfully.

He must send this telegram urging Yoshida to advance to the commander.

The telegram had already been sent by the staff officer, but he still asked Mishima a question.

"Mishima-senpai, does Captain Yoshida really dare to withdraw his troops without authorization?

Isn't he afraid that Anan will be the commander and will be killed when he returns?"

Although Anan had no power, he directly killed a division commander.

But it would be easy for him to force a detachment leader to death.

Mishima laughed and said, “Takahashi-kun is still too honest. He, Yoshida, the captain of the detachment, is not silent and will retreat to the back.

He only needed to leave a small number of troops and attack everywhere on the north bank of Laodao River.

Just create the illusion that they are surrounded by Chinese troops and are desperately trying to break out. "

Takahashi said angrily: "We are all imperial soldiers, why are we so cunning?"

As soon as Takahashi said this, he regretted it.

Division Commander Mishima was right in front of him. If he scolded Captain Yoshida, wouldn't that be the same as scolding Mishima?

Who would have thought that Mishima was not angry with him. Instead, he burst into laughter because of Takahashi's anger.

After a while, Mishima said to Takahashi: "Takahashi-kun should make some preparations early.

It is best to bring your guard squadron to the bamboo raft production site to help.

Once the Chinese army launches an attack, I'm afraid we won't have much time to cross the river."

At this time, Takahashi immediately understood what he meant and left with his guard squadron.

He wanted to rush to the place where his subordinates were making bamboo rafts and work with them to make the rafts.

As a way of returning the favor, Division Commander Takahashi also brought his senior classmate Mishima along.

Division Commander Mishima’s guess turned out to be correct. Commander Yoshida on the north bank of the Laodao River was too “cautious”.

He hesitated for the whole morning and refused to cross the Laodao River.

Commander Anan had sent several telegrams to Captain Yoshida, urging him to send troops across the Laodao River immediately.

But Captain Yoshida always felt his eyelids twitching.

He could not feel the winter sunshine, which could bring any warmth to his fragile heart.

The only excuse he could give was that there was not enough material and the pontoon bridge could not be built immediately.

He had always refused to follow the order from Commander Anan to cross the Laodao River.