Let us look at the missing unlucky 13th Infantry Brigade.

On the afternoon of May 17, the 13th Infantry Brigade of the Third Division Wang Jiejun was under the leadership of the 13th Infantry Brigade while pursuing the 24th Division of the Soviet Iron Army of Simbiersk and the First Political Commissar of the Soviet Oriental Army, Melinikov, and pursued the Soviet army regardless of the battle situation and then got lost.

On the morning of May 18, when the sandstorm was over, the 13th Infantry Brigade plunged into the Ares salt marsh. The brigade commander Yu Wensong quickly called Chief of Staff Xue Qinglin and the officers to discuss what to do.

What made them difficult for them was because of the pursuit of the Soviet army. Their brigade did nothing except weapons, medicine, a kettle, and a small amount of cakes. Even the brigade's baggage engineer battalion and the machine gun battalion were left by Wang Jiejun of the Third Division. Now they have become a light weapon infantry brigade, with no supplies, no water, only a small power radio station-it has been broken.

What’s more important is that they got lost. Now they are in a salt marsh, and the world is covered with white space. Everyone really doesn’t know what to do. After crossing the salt mountain in the distance, they saw a lake. Everyone excitedly went to drink water, but they ended up being so salty. This is a salt marsh, and the water here cannot be drunk.

Yu Wensong sat anxiously on the sand, his mouth was a little cracked, staring at the telegrapher who was repairing the radio station, and the telegrapher was sweating profusely.

"What should I do, what should I do?" Lang Qike, deputy brigade commander and commander of the 25th Regiment, said depressedly.

"Can't the radio station be repaired?" asked Lu Ming, the leader of the 26th Regiment.

"It broke, the wind was too strong yesterday." said Xue Qinglinnai, Chief of Staff of the Brigade Department. The maintenance telegrapher said: "I only know how to send newspapers. I don't know much about repairing the radio station..."

"Oh." Lang Qike smiled bitterly. "You can even send telegrams, but you can't repair the radio station?"

Yu Wensong smiled bitterly and said, "Don't blame him. The telegraph officer is not a repairman. Just blame the strong wind, it's too big."

Lu Ming licked his lips, spat at the ground, and a mouthful of black thick phlegm appeared, complaining: "The mouth is full of sand. What a damn broken place, it's too burying. Now we have to think of a way to walk out of this salt marsh. His mother's eggs are so thirsty that I smelled the salty air. I remember when I was in my hometown, a pack of salt costs fifty dollars. Here, I'm just taking it all. Oh, you said if we take some back, would we get rich?" Everyone laughed, and Zhang Dawei, the leader of the 27th Group, said: "We will make a fortune if we open a salt wholesale company. In the future, everyone will not be able to marry ten or eight wives."

Yu Wensong, who smiled on the surface, regretted it. He had known that he shouldn't have pursued the enemy in the first place, and it made him lose it and embarrassing! The white salt marsh area was not even clear about the southeast, southwest and northwest. How could he go out? After a while, he smiled and made a serious self-examination. He said that it was his own problem that caused the troops to get lost.

Yu Wensong's apology was understood by everyone. After all, it was not just his fault at that time. The important thing is whether he can get out of this salt marsh now and what should he do?

Lu Ming suggested: "Since you can't find the direction for the time being, don't walk around first. It's better to take a break on the spot." His suggestion was recognized by Yu Wensong, who ordered the entire voyage to rest on the spot, and everyone continued to discuss solutions.

The chief of staff of the brigade Xue Qinglin was a top student in the university. Later, he gave up Wu and studied at the Yakeshi Army Non-commissioned Officer Academy, and then went to the Army University to study. After he came out, he successfully entered the Western Regions Military Region under the 3rd Division, which was the easiest to make meritorious contributions, and became the chief of staff of the brigade of the 13th Brigade.

The chief of staff of the brigade, Xue Qinglin, studied civil engineering at university. Now is the time for him to show his skills. Based on the wind direction, time and sun altitude positioning, they should be closer to the Chu River and the Leisu River. Because the two rivers finally flowed here, they eventually formed huge salt marshes and two very wide salt water lakes. Then they should be about 200 kilometers away from the Kizil Fortress. Calculate their rations. Xue Qinglinnai said that he could only eat for three days, and it would be no problem to travel 200 kilometers in three days, but it is not an easy task to complete in deserts and salt marshes, especially the lack of water is particularly serious.

"After two days of food reserves, can you reach the Kizil Fortress..." Yu Wensong hesitated. He looked at his subordinates and suddenly stared at the reconnaissance company commander Gu Dazhao. Gu Dazhao was stunned and said stammeringly: "Brig Commander, don't you want to slaughter me and eat me?"

"No, but you have war horses, and you have horses in our brigade." Yu Wensong said.

Gu Dazhao jumped three feet high and immediately shouted: "No, no, absolutely not. If anyone eats my horse, I will be killed with me!"

Brigade Chief of Staff Xue Qinglin said: "If we walk south, we only need to walk 150 to 170 kilometers to reach the grasslands along the Sir River. There are villages along the Sir River, and maybe we can get supplies."

"It's not that it's possible that it's necessary to get supplies." Deputy Brigade Commander and 25th Regiment Commander Lang Qike said coldly, "We can't watch our brothers starve to death by thirst."

"If you arrive south to continue walking along the Sir River..." Xue Qinglin calculated, "According to the normal marching speed of our army, it will take five days to arrive at the Kizil Fortress."

"No." At this time, Yu Wensong no longer hesitated. He said: "Our main purpose is to block the enemy's troops and then reinforce the fortress. Five days is too long." He said firmly: "Two hundred kilometers, two days, start west from here, and arrive at the Kizil Fortress in two days, and you must arrive!"

Xue Qinglin said with a bitter face: "I calculated all of this based on the approximate location. If it is a little more safe, it's better to look south."

"You can't miss the fighter plane." Yu Wensong said, "It's imminent."

Lang Qike said with an expression on his face: "Why haven't you seen the reconnaissance plane?"

"Yes, the reconnaissance planes can't see it either." The other officers complained.

Xue Qinglin suddenly said in surprise: "Can we chase the wrong direction? Now we are in the salt marsh north of Asikel Lake. If this is the case, it will be not two hundred kilometers." He measured it with his hand on the map and smiled bitterly: "That is two hundred and forty kilometers."

"Even if there are more than 40 kilometers, we have to go." Yu Wensong said, "If you and I are punished by delaying the opportunity to fight, what is our bone? "He looked at everyone and said, "Abide by the orders and tell the soldiers to use food and water as evenly as possible." He looked at Gu Dazhao and said, "If the food is out of stock in two days, kill the horse!"

"Brig Commander, no, no!" Gu Dazhao shouted heartbrokenly.

Yu Wensong patted Gu Dazhao on the shoulder and said, "I know you are sad, but if you really can't get out, just watch your brothers starve to death." Gu Dazhao couldn't speak.

On May 18th, the 13th Infantry Brigade began a long journey west with fear. The temperature continued to rise from noon. Everyone did not dare to drink water easily, so they had to take a sip in their mouths and not swallow it, so as to save water. In the evening, the weather turned cold, and in order to prevent the team from resting in the wrong direction, the sentries were inquiring around, but they did not find a way out. The whole brigade was filled with wailing sounds.

It was almost five o'clock in the morning on May 19, and it was dawn. After sleeping on the salt marsh for a night, everyone was covered with salt marsh, which was uncomfortable to stick to their bodies. The reconnaissance company of Chief of Staff Xue Qinglin and Gu Dazhao led the team to find the direction. At noon, they finally walked out of the salt marsh and came to a salt-alkali land. The soldiers cheered and finally walked out of the salt marsh. Looking back at the huge salt marsh, it was a vast white area, but it was the place where the death of life was.

In the afternoon, the reconnaissance troops suddenly encountered a puddle. Because of their experience in the salt marsh, everyone dared not drink water casually. After drinking the water, they were thirsty. They were originally going to get out of the way, but the horses of the reconnaissance troops took the initiative to run over to drink water. Only then did everyone accidentally discover that this was actually a freshwater puddle.

There was not much water in the puddle. Gu Dazhao suggested that everyone fill the water and leave two people for the troops behind to watch. Xue Qinglin felt that it was a bit late, so everyone would rest nearby and wait for the troops.

After a day of leaving, the follow-up troops of the 13th Infantry Brigade came here and felt extremely thirsty. Even the brigade commander Yu Wensong's lips were drying. After seeing the water source, he was so excited that he laughed and said that the sky would not perish me. Maybe there was too little water in the puddle, maybe the soldiers were thirsty. In short, for these four thousand soldiers, the water in the puddle was far from enough, and it was very water gone. Everyone stared at the mud and sand with regret, and the dirty ground was filled with shade. No one had thought that the water that he did not pay attention to on a daily basis was so important and precious.

Reconnaissance Company Commander Gu Dazhao said: "There should be a part under the mud and sand. Let's dig deeper, and maybe it's the spring." But what disappointed everyone was that they dug four meters deep, and except for the accumulation of half a meter of mud and water, they could not find the spring.

"It is better to drink mud and water by filtering it, it is better than thirsty." Gu Dazhao tried every means to get more water. He slapped his thigh and said, "Filter with clothes, two or three layers, it should work, just sink in the waterproof kettle for a while." He ordered the reconnaissance company to give the water in the current kettle to others, especially the wounded. The people in the reconnaissance company used filtered water from mud and sand to drink. But the other brothers naturally refused. The two sides were humble and embarrassed to ask for it after a while. So they decided to get more water overnight to filter it. Tomorrow it will enter the desert, and water is essential.
Chapter completed!