Chapter 935: Battle Ends

Although the prisoners hadn't returned yet, Wang Company Commander's heroic feat had already been reported to the front command in a short period of time, and then to the 14th Army headquarters. But that was as far as it went; it wasn't reported further, after all, they hadn't really brought the people back yet.

However, it still gave the leaders a deeper understanding of the fierceness of Wang Yan and his soldiers.

Wang Yan led less than a hundred men, chasing over ten kilometers, attacking the regimental headquarters of the Vietnamese army with over two hundred people. He accurately provided artillery coordinates, predicted the landing points of shells, and led the soldiers in a fierce attack, killing over a hundred enemies in one battle, destroying most of the regimental headquarters' combat personnel, and capturing eighty-nine people, including the main leaders of the regimental headquarters and many administrative staff.

And all of this, from crossing the river at night, took only two hours, with their own casualties of less than twenty. Even if the opponent was a small piece of trash like the Vietnamese monkeys, bullets were bullets; no matter how trashy the Vietnamese army was, if they held guns and fired frantically, they still had combat effectiveness. Saying Vietnam was trash refers to their national strength and strategic and tactical aspects.

Speaking of the soldiers fighting on the front line, in a one-on-one duel, it was not certain who would kill whom.

But it was different with Wang Yan; the company of soldiers he led had been fighting as the spearhead from the beginning of the war to now, and had always been the main force of the assault.

Suppressing the opposite bank when crossing the river, making the Vietnamese army's machine-gun position silent, not even daring to show their heads. The first spearhead to cross the river was Wang Yan's side. And advancing from the north to attack Cao, it was also Wang Yan who led the unit to break through Cao's defense line first, enter street fighting, and break through Cao to assault the high ground on the south side.

Continuing to advance, killing all the way to Old Street overnight, purging the remaining enemies. And on the evening of the 18th, sneaking across the river, occupying the area on the south side of the Honghe, capturing the Vietnamese company commander to learn the enemy's regimental headquarters' movements, chasing over ten miles, killing over a hundred enemies, and capturing eighty-nine people.

In addition, the enemy artillery positions provided, how much influence they had, need not be mentioned.

It can be said that Wang Yan had exerted the role of a soldier, a grassroots officer fighting on the front line, to the maximum in the battle for Old Street. Even the direction of the battle for Old Street was largely guided by Wang Yan and his soldiers.

Especially the latter point, from the 118th Regiment, to the 40th Division, to the 14th Army, leaders and high-ranking officials at all levels recognized it; this was the role of a spearhead. It was also a true portrayal of "use me for the first battle, and I will win."

Wang Yan didn't know what happened in various places, nor did he know how the leaders and high-ranking officials evaluated and praised him; he was just rolling, crawling, and leaping in the wild, constantly firing his rifle.

A regiment commander already had some weight, and the weight of a regimental headquarters was naturally heavier. Reinforcements still came from Bao Thang, probably because the enemy regiment had requested reinforcements from Bao Thang the first time they were attacked. And because of the weight of the regimental headquarters, even if they were facing the attack of the 37th Division of the 13th Army, in such an emergency, they still mobilized nearly three hundred people, more than half a battalion, to pursue Wang Yan and others and rescue their regiment commander.

This had already risen to the issue of face. Two days into the war, a regiment commander with over a thousand men under him was captured alive; that was too ugly, so they sent such a force to rescue him.

But this was underestimating Wang Yan too much; he dared to challenge a Japanese battalion of over a thousand people, so what was half a battalion of the Vietnamese army?

Fighting while retreating, they fought for a full five kilometers, killing half of the Vietnamese army, and they finally didn't dare to pursue anymore, honestly retreating.

This was of course not Wang Yan's credit alone; he also brought a platoon of soldiers. However, his distance was closer, the soldiers were further away, mainly setting up obstacles along the way, and when the Vietnamese army got close, they ran to the next place to continue blocking, only Wang Yan was fighting the Vietnamese army shot by shot in the front.

So the result was still very good; a platoon of soldiers, only one was hit in the arm, one had his ear hit by a bullet, and everyone else was uninjured.

After repelling the pursuit from Bao Thang, the soldiers ran back all the way, and except for encountering some remnants fleeing from Old Street, the return journey was very smooth. The soldiers were also very happy; how could they not be? They captured a regiment commander, political commissar, staff officers, and many confidential personnel—this was definitely a great merit, or as Wang Company Commander said, this was a boast that could last a lifetime...

It didn't take long to capture people, and fighting the enemy from Bao Thang, plus walking on two legs, it was already midnight when they returned to Old Street on the south side of the Honghe. At this time, the street fighting here had ended.

If it weren't for this, Wang Yan and the others wouldn't have encountered the remnants fleeing on their return journey.

"Oh my, the great heroes are back." The battalion commander welcomed the convoy very exaggeratedly, enthusiastically and affably patting the soldiers on the shoulders, until the last punch landed on Wang Yan's chest.

"You are really a capable person, Wang Yan. Who would have thought that you, an art soldier, could be so fierce when you picked up a gun on the battlefield? Hahaha..."

Fighting a war is fighting a war, but it cannot be ruled out that Wang Yan was now under this Battalion Commander Liu, and the soldiers were all under Battalion Commander Liu. The merits Wang Yan and his subordinates made in the front all had a share for Battalion Commander Liu, and this time capturing the regimental headquarters of the enemy's 192nd Regiment naturally had a share too. Even if there wasn't, it was a happy thing that his subordinates were fierce in battle and had great merits.

"I say, Battalion Commander Liu, your ideological awareness is still not enough. No matter how fierce I am, how fierce can I be? Isn't it the soldiers risking their lives, everyone being fierce together?"

"Yes, yes, yes, you Company Commander Wang and the soldiers under you are all fierce." Battalion Commander Liu shook his head with amusement, looking at the prisoners jumping off the trucks one by one, leaning close to Wang Yan, and speaking in a low voice, "I say, this is a monkey regiment commander, also a figure. You didn't abuse them, did you?"

"Too much nonsense, one slap knocked out four of his teeth, and his face was swollen?"

"Look at you, you still say my ideological awareness is not enough. I tell you, there will definitely be disciplinary action for you later. I'm just a small battalion commander, I can't protect you."

"No need, I'm not a combat unit anyway, and I don't want to be any official. If there's disciplinary action, let there be; it's no big deal."

"That's true, you big writer, you really don't care about that. Is it satisfying to fight?"

"Look, here we go again. The action of force is mutual; giving him a slap, my hand hurts too. A defeated general, there's nothing satisfying or unsatisfying. Such a person, once captured by us, already wants to die. Now he's a regiment commander; after the war, he'll be nothing. Just be normal, no need to pay too much attention."

"It has to be you."

Wang Yan waved his hand and turned to ask: "Which side are we attacking next?"

"Cooperate with the 37th Division to attack Gu Liu and Bao Thang. Originally, they were supposed to cooperate with us to attack Old Street, but thanks to you and the fierce soldiers under you, we fought too fast, and the combat plan was completed ahead of schedule, so isn't it the other way around to cooperate with them? But you guys don't rush; although the round trip was fast, you fought hard, so rest well here today, and we'll talk tomorrow. Alright, I'm going to arrange the prisoners."

Battalion Commander Liu patted Wang Yan's arm and ran to direct the arrangement of the prisoners.

High-level prisoners naturally have high-level placement. These people won't stay here for long; it is estimated that they will be sent to the division headquarters in the rear tomorrow, or even further to the army headquarters. After all, it was a whole regimental headquarters, and the main people in charge were all alive, so they knew more and had higher value.

After being busy for several hours, Wang Yan had an extra meal with the soldiers, ate a full meal in the middle of the night, and found a place to sleep comfortably. Although faint gunfire could still be heard from afar, for the soldiers, it was even more helpful for sleep.

It was also at this time that the prisoners were completely in hand, and after layers of reporting, they reached the Military Commission and the Central Committee. Hearing of Wang Yan's fierce and heroic performance, they couldn't help but laugh and sigh about Wang Dapao and so on.

In fact, regarding Wang Dapao's performance of voluntarily requesting to go to the battlefield, although everyone was persuading him, everyone was satisfied. It's just that their expectations for Wang Dapao were too low, so the performance now really shocked the hearts of a large group of old leaders; it was really fierce beyond reason.

Of course, there were many heroic people, such as the previously mentioned Hai Shui Gan, and even more fierce people who rushed out of cover to the enemy's front to grab the gun and spray the enemy during the exchange of fire. But by comparison, Wang Yan was the fiercest; he had guided the direction of the local war, which was already fierce beyond measure. All obstacles on the path of Wang Yan and his subordinates were not obstacles, and they advanced rapidly like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves...

The self-defense counterattack against Vietnam was divided into three stages: February 17 to February 26 was the first stage, February 27 to March 5 was the second stage, and March 6 to March 16 was the third stage. The first and second stages were attacks, and the third stage was retreat. By March 16, the last soldier crossed the border, marking the end of this war.

Wang Yan obeyed orders and led his soldiers to various places, fighting from beginning to end. He truly played the role of a spearhead, leading every battle. Higher-level leaders repeatedly thought they had recognized the fierceness of Wang Yan and his subordinates' combat effectiveness, but the results always made them drop their jaws.

Every time, Wang Yan could complete the combat plan ahead of schedule and produce a terrifying battle loss ratio.

The reason for this was mainly that Wang Yan's subordinates had never replenished personnel, and the soldiers who fought all the way became more and more elite and tacit. Infiltration, assault, street fighting, etc., their abilities were greatly improved.

Of course, there was also Wang Yan's teaching. He told these soldiers about combat experience every day. This was on the battlefield, and everyone admired this god-of-war-like company commander, so they remembered it very firmly, and their combat effectiveness could be called soaring.

However, the Vietnamese monkeys' various means were endless. Our army didn't harm ordinary people, so the Vietnamese monkeys' militia and a large number of special agents dressed up as ordinary people to approach our army and then launched sudden attacks. There were even monkey female soldiers who directly came to seduce them, taking off their clothes as soon as they came up. The means could be called varied, and they really caused a lot of trouble for our army.

It's just that it was simple with Wang Yan; whoever approached was killed. After all, seeing the enemy army coming, normal people would hide far away, and those who approached were definitely harboring evil intentions, so killing them was right. If he killed the wrong person... then he killed the wrong person. In his life, he had killed too many wrong people, and he might not even know it.

In short, the goal was very simple: absolutely not let the soldiers under his command suffer extra casualties, with ensuring their own safety as the priority.

When it was time to prepare for retreat, Wang Yan's mission changed from assault to covering the rear. At this time, the Vietnamese army had already mobilized some troops, and gathered heavy troops toward Hanoi, wanting to have a capital defense battle with our army. However, our army's goal of "self-defense and punishment" had been achieved, so they began to retreat. The Vietnamese army was energetic at this time, chasing behind and charging frantically.

Wang Yan was also energetic, cooperating with the artillery in the rear, and actually beat the Vietnamese army's regiment of pursuers so they didn't dare to come forward. This battle of retreating and covering the rear was the peak moment of Wang Yan and his soldiers in this war.

As for the other soldiers and militia units, they carried out the actions of burning everything, transporting everything, and destroying everything during the retreat. However, in the mouths of some people, it became our army carrying out the burning, killing, and looting that the Japanese did in our country back then. For so many years, not many people have condemned the Japanese.

Mainly, they moved away all the support supplies, as well as some of Vietnam's output and other military and economic supplies. In addition, they blew up schools, hospitals, governments, communes, factories, etc., in the occupied areas. Everything that could be moved was moved, and everything that couldn't be moved was blown up, such as mines and equipment.

In fact, when the Vietnamese army couldn't resist our army's offensive and retreated, they had already destroyed it once themselves, not wanting us to pick it up. This part of the destruction, it goes without saying, was also blamed on our army.

Overall, the blow of this war to Vietnam was huge. The northern gateway of Vietnam was completely wide open, major cities were completely destroyed, 3.5 million people were displaced, and life was difficult. To this day, the influence of this war still exists, and they still haven't kept up with the pace of development. Of course, to this day, Vietnam hasn't stopped provoking.

Just like after the fight, they were still unconvinced, continuing to provoke at the border, and then fought for ten years in the border area. This was also part of the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, which we call the Two Mountains Wheel Battle. But that was no longer the main part, because it became a battlefield for our army to test combat effectiveness, and troops from various military regions were pulled over to fight.

If I don't say stop, you have to accompany me to fight, which was quite domineering.

Our army fought for ten years without affecting development, whether it was military reform or economic reform, all were in full swing. The Vietnamese monkeys fought for ten years, but they were exhausted...

"Oh my, hahaha, didn't expect, didn't expect, good for you, Wang Dapao, you really have two tricks. Once on the battlefield, you really became a big cannon. You don't know, the evaluation of you in Beijing is quite good, saying you are capable of both literature and martial arts, a pillar of the country. You won't be Wang Dapao anymore in the future, you're going to be Wang Pillar."

The old leader laughed and patted Wang Yan on the shoulder, full of satisfaction. It wouldn't be normal if he wasn't satisfied; anyone who had a soldier like Wang Yan under his command could really wake up laughing, calling him capable of both literature and martial arts.

For example, a certain political commissar surnamed Ning was already crazy with joy now. He didn't do anything, just mixed some merits, just because Wang Yan was his subordinate.

"The leader doesn't have to be so exaggerated; I'm really not as hard as a big cannon. As for the saying of a pillar, haven't I always been a pillar? The leaders in Beijing are also, just normally teaching the Vietnamese monkeys a lesson, and together with the soldiers under me, killed a thousand or eight hundred people, captured the main leaders of a regimental headquarters, it's no big deal." Wang Yan smiled and responded.

"Hey, if I say you're fat, you're panting, right? Still have the face to mention the prisoners?"

The old leader's eyes widened, "Our army's fine tradition is gone with you? A slap knocked out four of his teeth, eardrum perforation, and it took more than half a month to subside? The leaders are very dissatisfied with you, you must make a profound self-criticism. Aren't you a writer? Give me ten thousand words when you turn back, it won't work if it's not profound."

"The Vietnamese monkeys are just lacking lessons. They were already captured and still showing off to me. If it weren't for the fact that capturing the regiment commander was better for us, I would have shot him at the time. Hey, leader, don't get angry, you're so old, don't be as knowledgeable as a small soldier like me."

Wang Yan was still laughing, not caring at all, "Don't worry, I'll definitely write the self-criticism, let alone ten thousand words, I'll write one hundred thousand words. In addition, I not only have to write a self-criticism, but also write about this battle of ours. Heroes should be praised, problems found should be said, and experience should be summarized.

Leader, I'm going to walk through our participating troops next. These troops have to be walked through, organized, so that I can write about it; I'm just doing this. Leader, you help me contact them, I'll go to various places to tell stories to the soldiers, chat, and walk for a year."

"You tell me the problems first, let me listen." The old leader carried his hands behind his back, laughing.

... ===== CHAPTER 936 =====