The Milky Way is Also a Grain of Sand
Chapter 650 Shanggao Airport
Xue Yue had dealt with Lin Fan before and knew that the Special Forces had very high requirements for logistical support. The soldiers had to have meat every day, something he couldn't provide at all right now.
Their last cooperation with the Special Forces had been very pleasant. At that time, the conflict between the Special Forces and the National Army wasn't as deep—at least, there was no precedent for actively attacking Special Forces soldiers.
Thinking of the combat effectiveness of the Special Forces, Xue Yue sighed. The President had really made a mistake this time.
The soldiers of the Ninth War Area were lucky if they could just eat their fill, let alone have meat. Although Xue Yue had managed to guarantee food supplies over the past half month, they weren't as plentiful as before.
They used to have canned meat and even alcohol, but now even canned meat was gone. Even the artillery shells for combat couldn't be delivered.
With the railway out of service, they could only rely on road transportation, and supplying hundreds of thousands of troops was no small matter.
Lin Fan wasn't a stingy person. Since the Ninth War Area had specific difficulties, they should solve the supply problem themselves!
Since Li Xian had seen things clearly, he wasn't a stingy person either. They were all fighting the Japanese, and if brotherly troops were in trouble, he would help if he could. He also agreed that the Special Forces would be responsible for their own supplies.
With the Special Forces responsible for their own logistical support, Lin Fan proposed that to ensure safety, five infantry regiments, one anti-aircraft artillery regiment, and one aviation squadron would be sent to guard the airport.
This was a big matter, and Xue Yue had to consult Chiang Kai-shek before he could reply.
Chiang Kai-shek was now very conflicted. He didn't want to give the Special Forces a stage to perform, but Shanggao really needed them.
He was uneasy about the Special Forces' ideology, but he was confident in their combat effectiveness. With the Special Forces stationed in Shanggao, the Shanggao defense line would be stable.
After weighing the pros and cons, he replied, "The Special Forces troops can only operate within a twenty-li radius of the airport."
After the two sides reached an agreement, the Jurong base immediately began to take action. The wounded were all injured while fighting the Japanese on the front lines.
They were bleeding and fighting on the front lines, and after being carried off the battlefield, they couldn't be sent to the rear for treatment in time. They were the people who couldn't afford to wait.
Ji Wudi proposed sending the two field hospitals she had just established in Guangde and Anji to Shanggao by air.
She was truly sparing no effort in fighting the Japanese. The first to go to Shanggao was Ji Wudi's general reserve team.
A total of forty-eight fighter planes, one hundred transport planes, ten aerial refueling tankers, and twenty-four ground attack planes took off from Jurong and Guangde, forming an advance team to carry out the mission in Shanggao.
Their mission this time was to escort an infantry regiment, an airport air defense regiment, and two field hospitals.
Ji Wudi personally led the team as the first echelon. Although the Japanese had replenished a lot of fighter planes during this period, their air power had not yet recovered.
The Special Forces' air fleet flew directly point-to-point, driving straight in. When they flew to Shanggao Airport.
The fighter planes and ground attack planes first made a patrol flight over the airport, declaring that the Special Forces had taken over this airspace.
The officers and soldiers of the Ninth War Area on the entire Shanggao defense line saw the fat tiger under the belly of the plane, knew it was their own people, and all cheered.
The ground attack planes protected the airport, and one hundred bombers began to land. The first to land was the First Infantry Regiment of the general reserve team.
Regiment Commander Gui Wen was originally the First Company Commander of Chen Sichuan's First Regiment. Even now that he was a regiment commander, he was still the first to rush off the transport plane.
As soon as he got off the plane, Jiang Hui, the commander of the Ninth War Area Airport Guard, had already arrived with his guards. The two sides simply introduced themselves.
The transport planes landed one after another, and the plane Ji Wudi was on also landed. Gui Wen quickly introduced, "Regiment Commander Ji! The highest commander of the Special Forces in Shanggao!"
Jiang Hui looked at the beautiful young female officer in front of him and immediately remembered who she was. He didn't dare to shake hands with Ji Wudi, stood at attention and saluted, "The Shanggao Airport Guard Regiment of the Ninth War Area reports to you: My regiment is ready to hand over defense, please instruct."
Ji Wudi returned the salute: "Proceed according to plan!"
Jiang Hui asked cautiously, "May I ask if Regiment Commander Ji is the director of the Jurong Field Hospital?"
Ji Wudi nodded: "Yes! The people from the field hospital are getting off the plane. Notify the Ninth War Area to send the wounded over.
I will set up a field hospital at the airport to perform surgery on the seriously wounded first, and then send them to the rear by plane.
Send the lightly wounded on the plane and prepare to send them back to the rear.
Regiment Commander Gui, take over the airport defense immediately.”
The soldiers of the infantry regiment had all gotten off the plane at this time and were assembled on the runway.
Regiment Commander Gui ordered Company Commander Yi Chengye, "First Company immediately go to the airport control tower to take over the defense;
Second Company immediately take over the left highlands; Third Company take over the right highlands; Fourth Company take over the defense on the north side of the runway; Fifth and Sixth Companies maintain order on the runway; Seventh Company guard the oil depot; the remaining companies assist the anti-aircraft artillery regiment in entering their positions."
He assigned tasks to all twelve companies in the regiment before turning back to Jiang Hui and saying, "Please ask Commander Jiang to send signal soldiers to notify the teams."
Jiang Hui immediately arranged for signal soldiers to accompany the companies.
The anti-aircraft artillery regiment was getting off the plane at this time, and Regiment Commander Shi Honghua ran over. Jiang Hui saw that the Special Forces had sent so many people to protect the airport, far stronger than the strength he had when he guarded the airport.
Especially just now, he saw Gui Wen's infantry regiment, which had twelve companies. The key was that one company was equivalent to two of his companies in terms of numbers.
Not to mention the weapons and equipment of the Special Forces companies, one company had six heavy machine guns, five mortars, two infantry guns, more than twenty light machine guns, and the soldiers were all holding submachine guns.
Such a regiment had more firepower than a division of the Ninth War Area, even stronger than a division!
At this time, seeing the anti-aircraft guns of the artillery regiment getting off the plane, his face was full of envy.
However, he didn't forget his duties and immediately notified Commander Si Xue Yue of the Ninth War Area:
Xue Yue sighed and ordered, "Notify all units to send all the wounded to Shanggao Airport!
Tell them: We have re-established a field hospital at the airport. The lightly wounded will be sent to Jurong for treatment by plane immediately,
The seriously wounded will be treated first, and then sent to Jurong."
In the Battle of Nanchang, the Ninth War Area had as many as 25,000 wounded, and less than 3,000 of these soldiers were sent to the rear.
The rest were now scattered in various field hospitals in the Ninth War Area, lacking medicine and doctors. The soldiers were in great pain, and the officers of the teams were very angry.
They fought desperately on the battlefield and were injured, but they couldn't receive treatment. Now, hearing that there was an opportunity to send the wounded to Jurong, all the teams were excited.
They immediately arranged for people to send the wounded to the airport.
Shanggao Airport was now full of planes, transport planes, ground attack planes, refueling planes, and fighter planes were all parked there.
On the highlands on both sides of the airport, eighty-eight-millimeter anti-aircraft guns, twelve-point-seven-millimeter anti-aircraft machine guns, and twenty-millimeter rapid-fire cannons had been deployed.
There were also six fighter planes on patrol in the air. The entire airport was now heavily guarded, completely different from the situation two hours ago.
The soldiers of Jiang Hui's regiment had withdrawn from the airport, but they had not left the airport too far.
According to the arrangement of the Ninth War Area, the soldiers of this regiment became full-time traffic directors leading to the airport.
The first to send the wounded was the 118th Division of the 79th Army. They sent the wounded by car, so the speed was the fastest.
After these wounded arrived at the airport, the Jurong Field Hospital immediately gave them a preliminary examination. All the lightly wounded entered the airport runway under the guidance of the nurses, waiting for arrangements to board the plane.
As soon as these lightly wounded entered the runway, they smelled the aroma of porridge and meat buns. The soldiers of the Tenth Company of the Infantry Regiment distributed food to them: a bowl of porridge and three meat buns per person.
Duan Yingjiu's foot had been shot through two holes. Due to the lack of strict disinfection at the beginning, it had become infected. The wound was swollen, red, and oozing yellow liquid.
Such a wound was considered a minor injury and needed to be sent to a hospital in the rear for treatment, which made him a little dissatisfied.
He was very satisfied with the fact that there were meat buns and porridge to eat as soon as he came in. The porridge and meat buns were all rationed. After eating, he could add more porridge, but there were no more meat buns.
This made him very angry. He threw the bowl in his hand to the ground, shattering it to pieces, and rushed to the basket containing the meat buns.
He wanted to overturn it to the ground, and kept shouting, "I fought desperately in the front line and got injured. What's wrong with wanting to eat a few more buns after getting off the battlefield?"
The wounded around him hadn't eaten meat buns for a while, and even the porridge hadn't been as full as that of the farmers.
Hearing his commotion, they all started to make noise! They all crowded in front of the basket of buns. There were hundreds of people crowded together.
Platoon Leader Lü Cun held down the basket with one hand, not letting Duan Yingjiu overturn it to the ground.
He opened the hand on the basket with the other hand and shouted loudly, "You are wounded! Aren't the brothers who came later wounded?
Today is a rush, do you know how difficult it is to prepare these foods?
The brigade commander heard that the Ninth War Area had lost Nanchang, and the railway traffic with the rear was cut off, and the logistical supply was insufficient.
That's why we ordered us to bring pork, flour, and rice from Jurong and give the wounded brothers a bite to eat here first.
Open your eyes and take a look: Have the brothers who sent you here drunk a mouthful of porridge? Didn't they go to the battlefield?
Everyone is taking care of you, but don't be ungrateful!"
After his scolding, many of the wounded who were making noise silently backed away. They also saw that only the wounded were having dinner at the entire airport, and the brothers who sent them were all leaving hungry.
Duan Yingjiu was scolded, and his face came down. He continued to shout with his neck stiff, "We risked our lives fighting the Japanese in the front line. What's wrong with eating a few more meat buns?
We are tight on the front line, and you are tight on the back!
Now you are still right! Are you bullying us for being wounded and unable to fight now?
We are heroes! We are unsung heroes, and fighting the Japanese depends on us thousands of unsung heroes!"
He repeatedly reminded himself that he was wounded, so that everyone would not forget their identity.
At this time, Tenth Company Commander Yu Yangming came over, and he heard the noise from this side from afar. He really didn't expect that these wounded would cause trouble and be dissatisfied.
He had just heard from the soldiers who sent the wounded that they hadn't seen meat for half a month.
Now these wounded were still complaining that there were too few meat buns, and the anger rose all of a sudden.
He rushed to Duan Yingjiu and slapped him twice, "What are you? How dare you call yourself a hero?"
"Bang bang bang!" He tore open Duan Yingjiu's clothes all at once, and the buttons flew everywhere.
He tore off all of Duan Yingjiu's upper body clothes in a few strokes.
The upper body was skin and bones, thin and weak. But there were no scars.
Yu Yangming ordered Lü Cun, "Take off your shirt!"
"Yes!" Lü Cun immediately took off his shirt, and all the wounded present took a breath of cold air.
After Lü Cun took off his shirt, the muscles on his arms bulged high, and his chest was thick. It was obvious that this person was very strong.
This was not what surprised the wounded. What surprised them was that Lü Cun's arms were covered with long scars, and his chest and back also had long scars, as well as a few small round scars.
Yu Yangming pointed to the long scars and said, "Do you know how these scars were caused?
These are all injuries from fighting the Japanese with bayonets. Every scar was stabbed and cut out by the Japanese bayonet.
You see these scars on his back, do you think they were left when he turned around and ran away?
No! This was left when he was trapped by the Japanese.
This was shot out by a Japanese bullet. Hero?
What kind of hero are you? If you were a real hero, Nanchang would have been lost. Last month, we fought four Japanese divisions head-on, and the Third War Area helped the Japanese fight us from behind.
As a result, we drove the Japanese back, and didn't lose an inch of land."
"I want to see yours!" Duan Yingjiu's voice lowered. He didn't dare to look at the scars on Lü Cun's body. How fearless would such a person have to be on the battlefield to suffer so many injuries?
Yu Yangming said, "Platoon Leader Lü, put on your clothes!"
He began to unbutton his clothes, and Lü Cun had a sarcastic smile on his face. He wanted to see how this person would end up.
He had many injuries on his body, but the company commander had only more injuries.
After Yu Yangming's clothes were taken off, the entire runway was silent. The scars on his body were intertwined, and there were small bumps everywhere where the wounds were knotted together.
Yu Yangming put on his clothes: "There are not many tricks for us Special Forces to fight the Japanese.
First of all, you must not be afraid of death!
Not the kind of not being afraid of death of your teams.
Everyone fought bravely in the battlefield, and no one can deny this.
But did you do it in every battle, with everyone in the entire company and regiment rushing towards the Japanese without fear?
In our Special Forces, the soldiers never retreat in every battle, and no one thinks about getting off the battlefield alive.
So we can defeat the Japanese in every battle.
It is not difficult for a team to not be afraid of death when fighting, but it is even more difficult to not be afraid of death all the time.
Today, there are not enough meat buns prepared for everyone here, because there are many wounded like you in the entire Ninth War Area.
We can't let you who came first eat tightly, and let the brothers who came later eat tightly.
Even the brothers who come last can only smell the smell and can't even drink a mouthful of porridge!"
When he said this, everyone laughed, and someone said, "Thank you to the brothers of the Special Forces.
We haven't had a full meal for many days, and we haven't even smelled the smell of meat. It's enough to be able to eat three meat buns."
After seeing the scars on Yu Yangming's body, Duan Yingjiu didn't speak any more. He quietly pulled his torn clothes together and took a few steps back, wanting to hide in the wounded team.
Yu Yangming pointed at him: "Don't go! You can only leave after you pay for our bowl?"
He shouted again, "Qiao Si, bring him some clothes!"
Duan Yingjiu blushed and took out a dollar, holding it in both hands and handing it to Yu Yangming: "Sir! I was wrong!"
Yu Yangming took the dollar: "You pay for my bowl, and I will pay for your clothes!"
"No need, sir, I can sew the clothes myself!" He was really ashamed. He originally had grievances in his heart, and he was still not convinced.
He didn't expect the soldiers of the Special Forces to be so ruthless. When this happened just now, Jiang Hui also came over to resolve the dispute.
As a result, he saw the scars on Lü Cun and Yu Yangming's bodies, and heard what Yu Yangming said.
He whispered to Ji Wudi beside him, "Are your soldiers really like this?"
"The battlefield is originally a matter of seeking survival in death. People who are afraid of death will either die first or be defeated."