Boundless darkness shrouded the earth, and the sound of gunfire that had been noisy all day long has gradually quieted down except for sporadic battles. The two sides had been fighting fiercely for a whole day without even bothering to eat. They were lying in the trenches at the moment.
Nibbling on steamed buns, enjoying a rare break.
After a whole day of fierce fighting, facing the enemy's aircraft and artillery, the 18th Division of the National Revolutionary Army suffered heavy losses. All the battalions were disabled. Battalion Commander Wu Zhenguo hurried back to his position as soon as he finished the battle summary meeting.
Arrange defenses.
Wu Zhenguo's battalion suffered heavy losses. Now there are only less than 200 men left in total, including many sick and wounded. However, the conditions on the battlefield are limited and they can only perform simple dressings. They can only wait for the stretcher team from the rear to come up and carry them off.
As for whether we can survive until then, only God knows.
Two of the three company commanders in the battalion were killed in action, and one was seriously injured lying on the ground groaning. He didn't know if he could survive until tomorrow. Wu Zhenguo had to personally set up the sentry at night.
After everything was arranged, Wu Zhenguo took out the pocket watch he paid for from his pocket. The cover of the pocket watch popped open with a click. By the light of the fire, Wu Zhenguo saw that it was already ten o'clock in the evening.
Looking at the silence outside the position, Wu Zhenguo ordered a few words to the company on duty at night, then turned back and got into a half-collapsed battalion headquarters. Now he was the only one left in the battalion headquarters, and the rest were bombarded by artillery.
Lost.
His expression was a little gloomy, and he found a broken board and climbed onto it. He was really tired and hadn't closed his eyes for two days. He closed his eyes and fell asleep quickly.
On the bumpy battlefield outside the 18th Division, Yang Ling led the remaining soldiers to crawl on the ground, crawling towards the position of the 18th Division like giant squirming insects.
Now in the Hazaobang area, the Japanese have assembled more troops. The Japanese have transferred the 9th Division, the 13th Division, the 101st Division and two heavy artillery brigades from North China to join the Shanghai Expeditionary Army.
in the order of battle.
As more Japanese troops arrived, Yang Ling's activities in the occupied areas became increasingly dangerous, and they had to risk crossing the war zone to return to the Chinese army.
Flares shot from the Japs' positions into the night sky from time to time. The pale lights illuminated the messy battlefield, and the air was filled with the strong smell of blood and gunpowder smoke.
The remnants of the soldiers were crawling forward, passing over the corpses one after another. Luo Dayong reached out and touched something cold on his forehead. Using the Japanese flare, he saw a face with half of his head missing. He was so frightened that he hurriedly retracted his hand.
This battle was extremely brutal, with huge craters everywhere. According to Yang Ling's judgment, they should be the work of the Japanese heavy artillery. The remaining soldiers crawled cautiously.
"Brother Yang, there is something going on behind us." Lao Yanqiang has been on the battlefield for more than ten years and has rich experience. He quickly caught up with Yang Ling who was climbing at the front.
Yang Ling listened carefully, and sure enough, there were sounds of collisions coming from the darkness behind. He thought they were the sounds of the remaining soldiers, but he quickly denied it.
"Everyone, lie down, don't move, don't make a sound." Yang Ling and the others stopped crawling forward, hiding in the craters and starting to pretend to be dead.
Soon, there were dense footsteps behind them. Countless Japanese soldiers wearing helmets were sneaking towards the Chinese defenders' position in front. The bayonets in their hands shone coldly.
"Is this a night attack?" Yang Ling guessed in his mind when he saw the Japanese constantly moving from the edge of the crater toward the front.
The Japanese quickly passed by Yang Ling and the others and rushed to the front. Seeing so many Japanese walking past them, the remaining soldiers were so frightened that their palms became sweaty.
"The Japanese have gone to sneak attack the front position, what should I do?" Lao Yanqiang looked a little nervous and lowered his voice and asked Yang Ling who was lying in the crater.
If the enemy's sneak attack is successful, then the enemy will continue to advance forward, and they are about to run out of the occupied area behind the enemy, wouldn't they have to fall behind the enemy again?
"Everyone is ready to fight!" Yang Ling greeted the remaining soldiers in a low voice. Since the Japanese were going to sneak attack, they didn't mind giving him a double attack from behind.
"boom!"
Yang Ling quietly knocked a melon grenade and threw it towards the Japs in front. With a huge bang, a large ball of fire exploded, and several Japs were knocked over.
Yang Ling was lying on the wet ground, and the flying soil fell all over his body. The remaining soldiers pointed their guns at the Japanese in front, waiting for Yang Ling's order.
The explosions outside the position suddenly woke up the defenders on the 18th Division's position, and screams rang out, followed immediately by crackling gunshots, and bullets trailing towards the darkness.
The Japanese thought that their whereabouts had been discovered, so the night attack was directly changed to a strong attack. The machine guns roared and the bullets turned into countless light spots in the dark night and flew towards the Chinese defenders' positions.
The defenders' Maxim heavy machine guns and Czech light machine guns also responded immediately. Bullets flew randomly between the positions, and the shrill screams were particularly frightening in this dark night.
"Brother Yang, when are we going to fight?" Hei Wazi nervously hugged his 38-gai, which was taller than him, and asked Yang Ling in a low voice.
Yang Ling lay on his back in the crater and replied slowly: "Just wait, let's go out and hit the Japanese on the back after they are almost done fighting."
The main reason why Yang Ling considered this was that their firepower was too weak. Now was the time when the enemy's firepower was at its strongest, and there was no difference between their rash attack and death.
The Japs were attacking from the front. There were whistling bullets everywhere, mixed with the explosion of grenades. The Japs' grenade launchers soon began to fire.
The grenade landed near the defender's machine gunner and immediately blew up the sandbag bunker. The Czech light machine gun also instantly misfired, and the Japanese took the opportunity to press forward.
The fierce battle suddenly started in the dark night. The battalion commander Wu Zhenguo, who had not been asleep for long, got up from the wooden board with a start. Then his face changed and he ran out of the battalion headquarters. He saw that there was already a fight on the battlefield.
boom!
In the dark night, clouds of fire broke out on the defender's position, with earth and rocks flying. Facing the Japanese grenades, the defender's light and heavy machine guns were quickly silenced.
Seeing that the Japanese were charging forward with bayonets drawn, Wu Zhenguo shouted anxiously: "Hold on! Hold on!"
"Hit me!" At this critical moment, Yang Ling shouted and threw the grenade in his hand towards the little devil.
At the same time, more than a dozen grenades also flew into the Japs. The Japs were attacking forward. Unexpectedly, there would be grenades thrown from behind in the darkness. With the rumbling explosion, the Japs were blown over, and then the Japs behind them were blown up.
There were countless bullets coming.
"Go to hell! Little Japs!" Luo Dayong held a Type 96 light machine gun on his shoulder and aimed a shot at the Japs' back.
The Japanese were caught off guard and were knocked down. More importantly, they were caught in a pincer attack from two sides.