The night flowed tenaciously like water, and the sound of gunfire and cannons mixed with tremors and explosions reverberated in the surrounding mountains. The fierce battle lasted from day to night, but there was still no sign of stopping.
The Commander-in-Chief of the First Corps issued a death order to the 74th Army to drive the Japanese back from Minshan. Anyone who dares to retreat without authorization will be subject to military law!
The 74th Army was under the command of General Xue Yue when they were on the Lanfeng battlefield. They believed in the words of this "tiger boy", so they all exerted all their strength to fight with the Japs in Minshan.
Maruyama Masao's 6th Brigade was also an elite field force, and was naturally unwilling to withdraw from the Minshan area in such despair, so the two sides repeatedly charged and fought for each other around the blood-stained hills.
The battle for the top of the mountain near Minshan has become fierce. Often, the Chinese army's death squads have just desperately captured the top of the hill and have not yet gained a foothold. The Japanese's artillery fire has been overwhelming. The death squads have suffered heavy casualties, and their positions have been recaptured by the Japanese again.
But before the Japanese had time to repair the fortifications on the hilltop, the Chinese army's new death squads attacked again.
The troops of the 74th Army, led by officers, often took the initiative to initiate hand-to-hand combat, which made it difficult for the little Japanese who were always good at stabbing. Around these hills and mountains, the two sides fought repeatedly, leaving corpses everywhere and blood-stained soil.
The brother troops were fighting for every inch of territory with the Japs at the front, and Yang Ling and the others were not idle either. After a good sleep, they quickly organized the additional recruits into the companies that had suffered heavy losses.
Although the brigade headquarters saw that they had added a group of new soldiers this time despite the heavy casualties, it was only a drop in the bucket. All the companies were understaffed. Some companies had more than 120 or 30 people, while some only had 80 or 90 people.
people.
In addition to the dissatisfaction of each company, the additional recruits also greatly reduced the combat effectiveness of the unit. With more people, the combat effectiveness has declined.
If we put it on a normal day and only need a period of intensive training, although the combat level of these new recruits cannot keep up with the veterans, it will not be much worse.
But now Yang Ling and the others simply don't have time to train these new recruits. They can only assign them to companies and let the veterans lead the new recruits, hoping that they can grow up as soon as possible and form combat effectiveness.
Although these veterans are still immersed in the grief of countless old brothers killed in battle, they also know that these new recruits will also be their comrades in the future, and they will have to fight side by side.
Improving the strength of the new recruits also means that they will be less stressed on the battlefield, so they spare no effort to teach the new recruits some of the most practical combat skills.
"Do you understand, shoot in a different place? If you are too slow, the little devil's bullet will come over and kill you."
"Don't be afraid when you are stabbing, you are more ruthless than the Japanese, and your momentum will overwhelm the Japanese!"
"Don't be afraid if you are knocked down by a Japs. You know how to scratch your eyes, buckle his eyes, and kick him in the crotch! Japs are not good people. If you want to live, you have to be more ruthless and more vicious than them."
"Don't throw grenades around. They are life-saving things. If you are surrounded, don't surrender. The little devil will make your life worse than death. Just pull out the grenades and blow them up together!"
"When fighting, pay more attention to the veterans. If you follow what the veterans do, you can save your life."
…
The veterans took advantage of the break to talk about their experiences in bloody battles, and the recruits also listened attentively. As for whether they can remember it on the battlefield, it depends on their ability.
The rest time for Yang Ling and the others was still short. The battle at the front was not going well, so their regiment had to end their rest early and go into battle.
The order they received was to take over a battalion of the 174th Brigade and capture two unnamed hills on the left flank of Minshan Mountain, clearing the way for the main force to attack the main Japanese positions in Minshan tomorrow.
"Quickly! Gather! Throw away all the useless things, don't take them with you!"
The troops hurriedly gathered amidst the hurried shouts of the officers. Some companies were still taking roll call, and the companies that had been assembled had already gone to the battlefield first. In the dark night, it was noisy and chaotic.
Flare bombs streaked across the night sky from time to time, leaving lines of fire. The incendiary bombs fired by the Japanese set fire to many places, and the woods and grass were crackling with fire.
Although it was night, the flare bombs and burning fires illuminated half of the sky red, and the ground was as dark as an underground river.
Carrying guns on their backs, the brothers silently emerged from the dark forest, crossed the cratered ground, and ran towards the predetermined target.
From time to time, bombs would make a whizzing sound and fall not far from the long marching team. The explosions would cause smoke, dust, and mud to fly everywhere. The recruits were terrified when they set foot on the battlefield for the first time, for fear that a bomb would fall on their heads.
"I'm afraid of birds. That's what the little Japs are doing to scare people. They are far away from us." A veteran in the team said nonchalantly, and the recruits became calmer again.
The further the team moved forward, the more heat hit their faces, as if the air was burning, and all kinds of rotten, burnt and bloody smells were flowing around. Some of the recruits were holding onto trees and vomiting, which only caused laughter from the veterans.
, the depressing atmosphere became less solemn.
When they first set foot on the battlefield, they couldn't stand the smell of the dead, and their stomachs were churning. Looking at the pale-faced recruits, the veterans soon became sad and suddenly felt that they were old.
"Spread out! Stay where you are!" The troops stopped about a mile or two away from the fierce exchange of fire.
The veterans scolded the recruits who were still standing there: "What are you doing standing there, get down! Get down in the crater!"
Whether they were new recruits or veterans, they were all spread out in the darkness like sand, panting and looking at the intertwining lines of fire ahead.
The regimental commanders Zhang Handuo and Yang Ling led the guards forward for a while, and handed over to the battalion commander of the 174th Brigade who had been fighting all afternoon, asking him to withdraw the team and let them take over.
"The Japs are so powerful. I organized several suicide squads and all of them died on the hillside. You should be careful." After sighing heavily, the disgraced battalion commander withdrew from the battle with all the wounded soldiers in the battalion.
Their battalion was not captured all afternoon, but suffered heavy losses. This undoubtedly made Yang Ling and others who took over the battle feel a haze.
The reconnaissance platoon leader came back and reported that the two mountain devils had deployed heavy troops and more than ten heavy and light machine guns. It might not be easy to defeat them.
"Hit! Even if it's as hard as a rock, I'll have to break it!"
The leader of the group, Zhang Handuo, was held down and beaten for a whole day and night in Jinlonggan. At this moment, he was still holding back a fire in his heart. At this moment, instead of being afraid, he had to push forward with great difficulty.
Yang Ling also understood in his heart that as a soldier, it is his bounden duty to obey orders. Even if it is difficult, he must bite the bullet. If he finds it difficult to fight, he will not fight. If he thinks that the Japanese are too strong and retreats without permission, wouldn't it be chaos?
Damn it, if it were like that, this huge country would have fallen long ago.