The seventh company was replaced by troops from the second company.
In fact, it was not a "replacement", but a new line of defense was built behind the second company's defense line. Then the second company retreated as planned and gave up its position to the Japanese, and the seventh company also started fighting with the Japanese.
The soldiers of the second company who retreated were covered in blood and dust, and the company commander was no exception. He had a bandage on his left shoulder, and in his right hand he held a box cannon with the nose of the machine open. His eyes were gleaming fiercely and his teeth were clenched, like a horse.
The injured wolf is always on guard. If attacked, it will immediately jump up and give someone a bite.
The soldiers he led were similar, and all of them had murderous looks on their faces.
These are actually soldiers who have just come off the battlefield. They have not yet fully come out of the state of life-and-death struggle.
Not to mention that the new recruits would be frightened when they saw the Japs, just looking at the appearance of the second company commander would make him feel "thumping" and getting chills.
The second company commander didn't say much. He took out a folded piece of paper from his arms and handed it to Wu Lei, saying: "This is the layout plan of the bullet mines ahead!"
Wu Lei took the paper, glanced at it, nodded and said, "Leave the rest to me!"
The second company commander sighed unwillingly, waved his hand and led the soldiers back. After taking a few steps, he turned back and shouted to Wu Lei: "Old Wu, kill a few more Japanese for me, and I'll treat you to a drink later!"
"No problem!" Wu Lei replied simply: "Don't worry, I will avenge my comrades. I won't go back until I catch all the Japanese this time. Then you can just spill the wine on my grave!"
The second company commander burst into tears and secretly wiped away his tears while retreating.
Later, Wang Xuexin learned that the Second Company, which originally had more than 150 people, had only about 30 left after this battle. If they did not retreat, they would all be wiped out.
More than a hundred soldiers, who were chatting and laughing not long ago, were all gone in the blink of an eye, which made everyone feel uncomfortable.
At this moment, Zhou Ping, who was originally eager to go to the front line, became nervous.
He looked in the direction of the company commander and asked Wang Xuexin, who was lying a few meters away: "Platoon commander, why don't the company commander tell you the location of the bullet mine?"
Wang Xuexin frowned and replied: "We are waiting for the Japs to attack. If the Japs attack all, they will be bombarded all the way. When we counterattack, will we have to worry about bullets and thunder?"
Zhou Ping said "Oh" and stopped talking.
As a result, Chen Hao on the other side asked nervously: "Platoon leader, if the Japanese don't come up, then we..."
"Why are you talking so much nonsense!" Before he could finish his sentence, Wang Xuexin stepped forward and said, "If the devils come up, fight them. If they don't come, wait! Why are you asking so many questions? Shut your mouth!"
In fact, Wang Xuexin understood their behavior.
This is a normal reaction for people. If they are afraid, they will want to ask something, and they will want to confirm something that is uncertain or dangerous.
Wang Xuexin was also afraid, and he was also thinking about many dangerous scenes and possibilities in his mind.
For example, what should I do if the Japanese are not fooled?
What should we do if our army's artillery fire fails to hit accurately?
What would the Japanese do if they brought back their troops in time?
…
If possible, Wang Xuexin would also like to find someone to ask.
This is not an attempt to get a definite answer, everyone knows there will be no answer to these questions.
The purpose of asking is actually to seek comfort, sustenance, and a way to relieve stress.
But Wang Xuexin knew that he couldn't do this.
He is the platoon leader, and the thirty soldiers under him are staring at him, most of them are recruits. If Wang Xuexin shows his cowardice, the recruits' mentality will collapse.
Therefore, Wang Xuexin suppressed the fear in his heart and half-crouched behind a broken earth wall with his rifle in hand, aiming ahead.
The visibility in the village is very low, and there is only a vague shadow on the earthen wall of the house more than ten meters away. The air is filled with choking smoke, burnt smell, spicy smell, and mixed with the smell of gunpowder smoke and blood, which makes Wang Xuexin excited.
It's a little difficult to breathe.
At this time, the surroundings suddenly fell into an eerie silence. It seemed that both the enemy and ourselves knew that this was the last moment and were preparing for it. The heavy and depressing atmosphere made everyone nervous. Wang Xuexin could even hear the soldiers behind him rushing.
The sound of breathing.
Suddenly, there was an explosion of grenades and the shouts of Japanese soldiers from the front.
This actually made Wang Xuexin relieved, because he knew that the Japanese had been fooled. They found that there was no one in the front position and launched a counterattack.
"Here we come!" Wu Lei turned around, raised his head towards the soldiers, and ordered: "Mount the bayonets and prepare grenades!"
The soldiers attached bayonets to their rifles and took out the melon-shaped grenades they had just received and placed them within easy reach.
This time, each member of the Seventh Company carried more than a dozen grenades: five on the left, five on the right, and one or two more in the hand.
In fact, not only the seventh company, but also several other companies were similar. More than 3,000 grenades were all distributed to the more than 500 soldiers participating in the attack, and no one was left.
It's just that because these grenades were captured by the Seventh Company, the Seventh Company received a particularly large number.
Wang Xuexin did not move because he trusted the rifle in his hand more than the grenade.
The explosion of grenades kept approaching the 7th Company position, getting closer and louder.
Suddenly, several Japanese figures jumped out of the smoke, leaping forward like nimble rabbits.
Wang Xuexin didn't think much, and immediately pulled the trigger. There was a "bang" gunshot, and the bullet hit a Japanese soldier who was about to hide behind the earthen wall. He stagnated, and then fell straight to the spot.
Almost at the same time, Wu Lei shouted: "Hit!"
The gunshots rang out soon, and the bullets whizzed and trailed through the smoke, pinning the charging Japanese troops inside the building in front.
The Japanese army immediately launched a counterattack, using machine guns and grenade launchers to hit the Seventh Company position head-on.
If we fight like this, the Seventh Company may not be able to withstand the attack of the Japs in front of us.
Because as mentioned before, the Japs are of good quality and accurate with their marksmanship, and they also have grenades that can easily hit the grenades behind the earth walls... A battlefield with walls of earth like Xuequyu Village is simply designed for grenades.
of.
But this time it's different.
On the one hand, the Eighth Route Army used to habitually lay bullets and mines in front of the positions, so the Japanese did not dare to charge at will. Even if they wanted to charge, they had to use grenades to clear the way.
On the other hand, the Japs do not have many grenades at this time, and they cannot charge at will in order to save ammunition.
More importantly, the two "ghost cannons" captured by our army fired at this time.
The shells fell among the Japanese as if they had eyes. With a loud "boom", the shells exploded almost in front of Wang Xuexin, blowing groups of Japanese into the air and then falling into pieces.
, some of the body fragments even flew into the seventh company formation.
As soon as fifty rounds of shells passed by, Wu Lei turned around and shouted: "Grenade!"
The soldiers grabbed the grenades one after another, and according to the technique they had just learned, they quickly pulled the safety and knocked it, and then threw it in the direction of the Japanese.