Under Yang Ling's order, the officers and soldiers of the guard company and the officers and soldiers of the Lieyan Special Warfare Brigade quickly spread out and hid in the green gauze tent beside the highway.
The officers and soldiers of the machine gun team quickly seized a place with favorable terrain and wide shooting range, and set up the machine gun. In order to achieve concealment, they specially folded some branches to block the machine gun position.
When the officers and soldiers were getting ready to fight, the gunshots coming from the east side of the highway became more intense, accompanied by rumbling sounds from time to time.
Soon, groups of scattered soldiers also quickly retreated along the highway. Their clothes were in tatters and stained with blood. There were injured officers and soldiers being supported by others, looking terrified.
A few hours ago, they were a high-spirited pursuit force, vowing to catch up with the Japanese retreating force and win a great victory.
But who would have expected that the Japs suddenly turned around and counterattacked. Facing the Japs troops with strong firepower, the chasing troops were quickly defeated and had to retreat.
The retreating officers and soldiers retreated in a hurry and did not notice the hidden Yang Ling and others beside the highway.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
Just as the defeated Chinese officers and soldiers were withdrawing one after another along the road, there was a roar that ripped through the air in the sky, and several artillery shells landed around Yang Ling and the others, exploding with a bang.
There are some soldiers in the guard company who have recently joined the army. They have always followed the division headquarters and have been located in the safe area at the rear. They have never really fought against the Japs.
Now the enemy's shells fell so close to them, so frightened that the recruits, who had just joined the army, turned pale, stood up and wanted to hide in a safer place behind.
"You all stay in hiding and don't move to expose your position!"
Yang Ling originally thought that the soldiers in these guard companies were elites, but he did not expect that there were actually some recruits among them, and he immediately shouted to stop.
Starting from the Battle of Songhu, the Chinese Army lost all its veterans in successive large-scale battles with the Japs in just a few years. Now, although all units have been replenished, their combat effectiveness has been greatly reduced.
Even Central Army units such as the 18th Army have recruited a large number of new recruits, who will only go to the battlefield after completing training in Chongqing.
However, the situation on the battlefield changed too quickly, and they had to be urgently deployed to the battlefield to carry out the task of defending Yichang.
"Whoever dares to touch me again will destroy him and return to his original position!"
The guard company commander was a veteran with combat experience. When he saw the new recruits in his company being hit by several artillery shells, he was frightened. His face was dull and his tone was particularly harsh.
After some scolding from Yang Ling and the guard company commander, these recruits finally returned to their positions in fear and did not dare to move any more.
However, when they heard the bursts of gunfire, their expressions were still tense and they looked a little afraid.
"Why do you have so many new recruits in your security company?"
Yang Ling also frowned. It stands to reason that even the guards who protect the division headquarters are elite veterans.
The guard company commander said rather helplessly: "The army has been reorganized five or six times. All the surviving veterans have either been promoted to junior officers or become the backbone of each company and platoon. Many veterans of our guard company have also been sent out.
That’s why we added a new batch of recruits.”
After hearing the guard company commander's explanation, Yang Ling was relieved. Although he knew that there were many new recruits in each unit, he did not expect that there would be so many recruits.
Because he was worried that the guard company's weak combat effectiveness would lead to the failure of the ambush on the Japanese, he immediately called a captain of the Lieyan special warfare team over and asked him to instruct his brothers to prepare for the worst and be responsible for covering the retreat if the ambush failed.
Not long after Yang Ling and the others waited in this green gauze tent, the troops resisting the Japanese in front completely collapsed and swarmed withdrew along the highway.
The enemy's artillery fire continued to spread, and the whistling shells continued to fall after the team. Amidst the deafening roar and explosions, from time to time, the flesh and blood of someone was blown away.
Yang Ling and the others looked eastward through the thick smoke. Dozens of Japanese cavalrymen were rushing forward with their sharp sabers raised high.
"Ready to fight!"
Seeing these Japanese cavalry galloping towards him, Yang Ling's face tensed up. These cavalrymen were no better than infantrymen. Once they got close, the collision force of the horses weighing several hundred kilograms would be enough to crush them to pieces.
"When shooting, hit the horse first, then greet with a grenade!"
With a crashing sound, the officers and soldiers who were ambushing in the green gauze tent loaded their rifles and began to aim at the Japanese cavalry who were getting closer and closer.
Yang Ling and the others had fought against the Japanese cavalry several times and had enough experience.
It is quite difficult to aim at a Jaap on a galloping horse, and most of the bullets will hit the sky.
But if you aim at the little devil's horse, it will be easy to hit, and the effect will be good.
Tell the galloping horse to be hit. Even if the horse is well trained, it will be frightened and throw the enemy off the horse. If the grenade explodes one more time, the enemy will be finished.
These Japanese cavalry were the vanguard of the counterattack against Yichang. They relied on their own speed and could be said to be quite arrogant, chasing and killing the retreating Chinese officers and soldiers.
Several Chinese officers and soldiers who were running slowly were directly overtaken by the galloping Japanese cavalry. The sharp sabers slashed down diagonally. With the impact of the horses, their huge heads flew into the air and blood arrows flew wildly.
Seeing this scene, the guards and the recruits who were ambushing in the green gauze tent couldn't help but close their eyes. Some people's hands were trembling, full of fear of these ferocious devils.
The veterans' faces were full of anger, but the Japs had not yet entered their ambush position. If they fired now, not only would they not be able to ambush the Japs, but they would be exposed and put into a passive position. They had to resist the urge to fire.
impulse.
The Japanese cavalry who were chasing them all the way stared at the Chinese officers and soldiers retreating in embarrassment in front of them, and ignored Yang Ling and the others who were ambushing in the green gauze tent beside the road.
Soon, after cutting down these few Chinese officers and soldiers, these Japanese cavalry kicked up billowing smoke and rushed towards the retreating Chinese officers and soldiers again. They shouted and raised their bloody sabers high,
Seems extremely arrogant.
"shooting!"
When most of the Japanese cavalry entered the ambush circle, Yang Ling decisively gave the order to shoot.
"boom!"
His shoulders were shaken, and the bullet roared out of the muzzle, and then struck an excited Japanese cavalryman from the left side of his face with lightning speed, and the bloody bullet penetrated from the right side of his face.
The excitement on the Japs face froze, and he was quickly thrown away from the galloping horse.
Yang Ling aimed at the Japanese cavalry because he was confident in his marksmanship. Most of the officers and soldiers shot at the Japanese horses.
"Puff puff!"
For a time, countless bullets flew towards the Japanese horses, blood spattered, and amid the neighing of the horses, they overturned heavily, and the Japanese cavalry who were caught off guard were also thrown high.
"Da da da......"
The machine guns occupying a favorable position also formed a crossfire and fired powerfully at the Japanese cavalry team. For a moment, the Japanese cavalry team fell on their backs and blood mist filled the air.