However, even so, the first casualty of the mercenary group inevitably appeared.
The problem arose in Mu Qinghe's 1st Infantry Company.
Among all the companies in the mercenary regiment, Zhou Wen was actually the most worried about the First Infantry Company. This was because although the First Infantry Company was a good team selected from tens of thousands of recruits, they had a fatal flaw, that is, there was no talent from officers to soldiers.
Anyone with even a little bit of combat experience has never been even slightly close to the rear of the battlefield.
The Second Infantry Company selected from Lishi County also recruited at least a dozen young veterans who had been on the battlefield once or twice, and most of their soldiers were hunters in the mountains, and their alertness and psychological quality were higher than ordinary people.
Some.
The advantage of the first infantry company is that although the physical quality of the soldiers is about the same, the cultural quality is generally relatively high. The literacy rate reached 90% when they first joined the army.
From the perspective of development potential, Zhou Wen would of course be more optimistic about Yilian. After all, the earlier he studies, the earlier his intellectual development will be, and his ability to comprehend and learn will be stronger.
However, when entering the battlefield for the first time, it is inevitable that excessive psychological fluctuations will occur, leading to a weakening of battlefield awareness.
When Okazaki suddenly stood up and threw a grenade, he happened to be in the same straight line as the muzzle of Zhang Ermao, a signal soldier of the company who was kneeling on the ground and taking aim. Zhang Ermao pulled the trigger without thinking.
The refined shooting skills were now reflected. The bullet fired from the Type 65 semi-automatic rifle hit Okazaki's chest very accurately.
This is the first time Zhang Ermao has hit a living Japanese soldier today. When the Japanese soldiers charged towards the first company position, although he also pulled the trigger, his reaction was still half a beat too slow. All he hit were dead bodies.
.
From the beginning of the battle to now, Zhang Ermao has been feeling ashamed and remorseful for his previous timidity, fear and uncontrollable trembling. He longs for a chance to prove himself again. This is what a boy who has just turned nineteen deserves.
psychological reaction.
So when he saw the blood splashing on the enemy's chest, he instantly felt that he had proved himself. He was no longer timid, and he finally became a real warrior.
Feelings of ecstasy, excitement, glory, satisfaction, elation, etc. instantly filled his heart...and his brain.
He forgot that this was a battlefield, and that there was a wolf hiding in the darkness ahead, staring with blood-red eyes, looking for an opportunity to make a desperate move.
So he suddenly stood up and turned to look at his company commander. He was eager to find someone to share his happiness. He was eager to tell his company commander that he was no longer afraid. He had killed the little Japanese.
He didn't know that the moment he stood up, he blocked the shooting angle of his teammates who were standing behind him and almost hit him with a bullet. He didn't even hear the company commander Mu Qinghe yelling anxiously at him.
Of course, he did not see a Japanese soldier who had been lying motionless in the distance suddenly raise his Taisho 11-type light machine gun, but his teammates who were able to shoot first were blocked by him.
So, before Zhang Ermao's heartfelt smile fully bloomed on his still slightly green and immature face, "Da da da!"
Three 6.5mm bullets hit his body in random order.
Although the cunning Japanese soldier was beaten into a honeycomb by more bullets the moment he fired, his ferocious smile with a successful conspiracy before his death still taught a cruel lesson to the brothers of the Second Infantry Company.
, and it has been deeply imprinted in their minds since then.
Zhang Ermao fell into the arms of Mu Qinghe, who was running towards him. Blood foam kept coming from his mouth, but he still struggled and said to Mu Qinghe with a smile: "Company commander... I killed the little devil."
Tears were streaming down Mu Qinghe's face. He couldn't bear to blame this little brother any more. He hurriedly took out the first aid kit on his body, applied all the purple clear and red medicine on Zhang Ermao's wound, and mouthed
Li kept praising: "Er Mao, well done, you are the hero of our company, the hero who killed the little devil."
However, three bullets hit Zhang Ermao's lungs and liver respectively. The purple-green medicine may have stopped the bleeding on the surface of the wound, but it could not stop the blood flowing out of his mouth. The breath of life was flowing rapidly.
Just dissipated from his young body...
Meng Yuting, who came after hearing the news, grabbed Mu Qinghe, who was still trying in vain to provide first aid to Zhang Ermao who had stopped breathing, and said softly: "Go and command your troops, he is already dead."
"No, squad leader, did you see that Er Mao is still laughing? He is still laughing... Wuwuwu..."
Zhang Ermao was the only soldier on the casualty list of the mercenary group in this battle. He was dead but not injured. But Meng Yuting knew that casualties were unavoidable in the war, and this was just the beginning.
…
When the 1st Battalion of the 122nd Brigade Regiment of the 19th Route Army rushed for more than an hour from Zhanghuabang to Zhaojiaqiao, the scene that appeared in front of the battalion commander shocked him, as well as the entire battalion of more than 400 people who were sweating and panting.
of officers and soldiers.
The commander of the 1st Battalion, surnamed Zhao, was the most powerful battalion of the 122nd Brigade Regiment. He was ordered to do so in the middle of the night. While the main force of the regiment was still gathering, he had abandoned all the important matters and rushed to Yunzaobang with light equipment to provide support.
The mission assigned to Battalion Commander Zhao by the regiment was to rush to Zhaojiaqiao on the Yunzaobang River within an hour and a half at all costs to reinforce the Shanxi Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army of the Central Party Headquarters who had set up a blocking position here.
The order also emphasized that if the Shanxi Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army of the Central Party Headquarters had been defeated or annihilated by the Japanese army before they arrived, then their entire battalion would have to hold back the landing Japanese army until the main force of the regiment arrived.
arrival.
On the way, Battalion Commander Zhao thought that since the worst-case scenario had been taken into account in the order, it meant that the command headquarters was not optimistic about the combat effectiveness of this volunteer army, although he had also heard that it was this unit that had been killed a few days ago.
Four Japanese aircraft were shot down, but fighting aircraft and fighting on the ground are two different things. Battalion Commander Zhao only hoped that when the 1st Battalion arrived, their blocking position had not been completely captured by the Japanese.
He knew that once they lost the support of their position, even if their battalion was ranked among the top three in the entire army in terms of combat effectiveness, they would not be able to hold on for long even if they fought with a Japanese brigade in the field, even if they lost their lives.
However, just as they were running wildly through the starry night and were about to approach their destination, the fierce sound of artillery and machine gunfire in the direction of Zhaojiaqiao eerily stopped, and Battalion Commander Zhao's heart gradually sank into a trough.
He would not think that the volunteer army repelled the attack of a large group of Japanese troops. It was more likely that the Japanese army had successfully broken down the resistance of the volunteer troops and the battle was over.