Chapter 3 be assertive

Before the Battle of Songhu broke out, the 51st Division was training in Hanzhong, Shaanxi.After receiving the call-up order from the High Command, Wang Yaowu immediately led his troops to assemble at Baoji Railway Station, and rushed to Shanghai day and night by means of emergency transportation by military trains. How dangerous the Songhu battlefield is, the 51st Division felt it during the march.There was a Catholic church in Hanzhong. The 51st Division had no contact with this church before, and the officers and soldiers did not believe in religion. However, when the troops were about to set off as a whole, the church sent invitations to host a banquet for the officers and soldiers above the battalion.

Out of courtesy, the invited officers all attended the appointment.It was later learned that the church was presided over by an Italian priest, and that the church was actually a latent international spy organization. They were trying their best to collect and provide information about the 51st Division to the Japanese side. Since the Japanese army had the travel information of the 51st Division, they began to send planes to track and reconnaissance along the way.When the troops arrived at Pukou, the train had to change to a ferry to cross the river. The Japanese plane took advantage of the situation to bomb. Fortunately, it was night and the blackout along the river had been implemented, so the pilot of the Japanese plane could not see the target clearly, so the bomb did not fall on the ship.

It was at Suzhou Railway Station that the 51st Division was slightly damaged.There was an ammunition supply point, and each train had to stay for at least two hours in order to exchange for new weapons and new equipment. After such a long stay, the Japanese plane bombing finally found an opportunity. The frightening experience in the middle of the march made Wang Yaowu more aware.After receiving the reinforcement order from the High Command, he did not attack rashly, but decided to take two steps. The first step was to march forward in a hurry to search, and after arriving at the front line in Jiading, he rectified and contacted friendly troops.The second step is to join the battle.

According to Wang Yaowu's instructions, the 306th regiment headed towards Jiading as the vanguard. At dawn on August 25, 1937, after three and a half hours of rapid march, they arrived safely in Jiading County.It was still dark at this time, and the head of the group, Qiu Weida, wandered around the county town, trying to find someone to understand the situation, but he was greatly disappointed in the result: the whole city was empty, and the people had already run away. How to do this?Wang Yaowu did not give an answer in advance. Qiu Weida is known for being calm and reserved.Once when the troops set off, Wang Yaowu temporarily arranged a place to camp, but the officers and soldiers were unable to gather for a long time.Wang Yaowu immediately became angry, and lost his temper at Qiu Weida, who was the chief of staff at the time, scolding him: "Bastard, boy, shameless!"

In fact, Qiu Weida was not necessarily responsible for the whole incident, but he did not defend himself from the beginning to the end, and the expression on his face was also very natural.For this reason, Qiu Weida got the nickname of "rubber air bag". If you think that Qiu Weida is a doormat who can only endure swallowing, then you are wrong.Some things can be completely ignored, such as the other party's impulsive words.Could Qiu Weida answer his boss like this: "I'm not an asshole, I'm not a brat, I'm not shameless..." The key is to have your own opinions. If you do something wrong, admit it and remember to improve next time; if you do something wrong, it’s nothing but scolding, and I will ignore it.Qiu Weida is such a person, that's why he can be promoted from a staff member to a military chief who can take responsibility alone.

Right now is the time for Qiu Weida to make judgments and decisions on his own.He first boarded the city wall for observation, and found that the city wall was still strong and could be used as a temporary field fortification.This also shows that the troops don't need to panic, even if the Japanese army is immediately in front of them, they can hold on to the city. Then Qiu Weida sent a battalion to take precautions in the direction of Luodian, and the rest of the troops rested to relieve fatigue.The task of going to Luodian to contact the friendly army was given to battalion commander Liu Zhenwu, and Qiu Weida told him to go and return quickly, and report it immediately after finding out the information.

Liu Zhenwu walked along the road to Shi Xianggong Temple south of Luodian, where he met a battalion commander of the 11th Division, and knew that Luodian was occupied by the 11th Division of the Japanese Army again, and the 11th Division launched an attack yesterday. The counterattack was unsuccessful, and the troops suffered heavy casualties.At present, the main force of the division retreating to Shi Xianggong Temple is strengthening the fortifications to deal with the Japanese attack to the south. After receiving Liu Zhenwu's report, Qiu Weida understood that rapid reinforcements were necessary, but he was particular about how to reinforce them.

After daybreak, the Japanese planes still came to harass them as usual. In addition, the power of the Japanese long-range naval guns on the river should not be underestimated, they could hit Jiading.The information Qiu Weida got was that some friendly troops were blown up by shells during the reinforcement process, and the troops suffered heavy losses.In order not to repeat the same mistakes, he ordered all the officers and soldiers to camouflage and use the drainage ditches on both sides of the road to advance covertly to Shi Xianggong Temple. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the battalions reported entering the position one after another, and completed part of the defense with the 11th Division.At this moment, Qiu Weida breathed a sigh of relief. He believed that as long as the first step was firmly established, there would be plenty of solutions in the future.