The severely wounded soldiers covered in blood who were carried back made Japanese Lieutenant Colonel Ono Ichiro look ashen, while the enemies who attacked them were as slippery as loaches and escaped into the darkness again.
The pitch-black night became the best cover for the attackers, and the Japanese soldiers marching in the dark with torches and flashlights became living targets.
Hidden in the darkness, Yang Ling and the others had a natural advantage. Ono Ichiro also realized that if they marched, there would be dangers waiting for them ahead, which he could not predict.
Although the sporadic casualties were nothing compared to their thousands of troops, the attackers hiding in the darkness and constantly attacking made everyone tense because they didn't know when the attack would come or what the next attack would be.
Whether it was him or not, every soldier became frightened.
Although their troops are elite, after several days and nights of bloody fighting in Minshan, even an iron man could not stand it any longer. Every soldier was extremely exhausted at this moment.
If we still maintain a high degree of vigilance and are always on guard, even if we withdraw to Ruichang, we may not have much combat power left, and we will not be able to face dangers that may arise at any time.
Now they have no way to deal with the enemies hiding in the dark. The only thing they can do is to camp on the spot, build a tight defense, not give the attackers a chance, recharge their batteries, and last until dawn.
Because of constant attacks, Ono Ichiro asked the troops to camp where they were and wait until dawn before continuing the march. The suggestion was quickly sent to the brigade commander Masao Maruyama.
"It's just a sporadic attack. Don't make a fuss. Let Ono-san step up your guard and continue marching."
Brigade commander Masao Maruyama rejected Lieutenant Colonel Ono Ichiro's suggestion without any consideration. Compared with the sporadic attacks ahead, what he was most worried about now was the 74th Army chasing after them.
If Yang Ling and the others who attacked their marching team at the front were annoying flies, then the 74th Army chasing after them was a vicious wolf with red eyes.
The ammunition reserve of their 6th Brigade was now as low as freezing point. In order to gather enough firepower for the heavy forest brigade at the rear to block the pursuers, he even collected the remaining scattered ammunition from the rest of the troops.
It can be said that most of the soldiers of the retreating 6th Brigade are holding rifles with empty magazines and not even a single bullet. Only the security troops and rear troops have a small amount of ammunition in their hands for emergencies.
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Maruyama Masao has never encountered such a predicament. Now the entire army is like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. Even if there are many dangers ahead, they dare not stay here.
Once the ammunition of the guard troops and the rear blocking troops were exhausted, they would become meat on the chopping board and be slaughtered by others, so he rejected Ono Ichiro's suggestion to hold on all night and march again at dawn.
The sound of artillery roared from the rear of the retreating 6th Brigade, and the entire mountain seemed to be shaking. The lines of fire were intertwined with the dense gunfire, and half of the sky was illuminated by the explosion flames. The 74th Army's pursuit troops were blocking the forest behind them.
Major teams fought bloody battles in the dark.
After receiving the order to continue advancing, Ono Ichiro also understood the situation of the brigade leader Masao Maruyama, but looking at the boundless darkness, a sense of powerlessness deeply enveloped his heart.
It would take at least three hours to get out of this mountainous area with rugged rocks and dense vegetation and reach the hilly areas of Ruichang County. He could imagine that during these three hours, the small Chinese troops must have laid many traps, etc.
Let him step on it.
But now they are stuck and have no choice but to rush on. Even if they know that there is a fire pit ahead, they have to plunge into it.
"Extinguish the torches and keep only the flashlight."
Ono Ichiro took a deep breath and was ready to pay a certain price.
The burning torches were extinguished by the Japanese soldiers. The weak light of the remaining flashlights darkened the entire mountain road and prevented most people from being exposed to gunfire.
There were not many flashlights, so most of the Japanese soldiers could only grab the hands of the soldiers in front and start walking in the dark.
"Is this little devil's elm head enlightened?"
From a distance, he saw the Japanese soldiers put out their torches, and Wang Huzi, who was hiding in a big tree to observe the Japanese troops, couldn't help but muttered.
"Okay, come down quickly, it's our turn to work." Company Commander Shunzi tied a few grenades to his body, lowered his voice and said hello to the tree.
Wang Huzi chuckled, slid down the tree trunk, called to the veterans who were resting in the darkness nearby, and quietly walked toward the mountain road.
On the ridge on the side of a mountain road turning, a Type 92 heavy machine gun has been set up, and the black muzzle of the gun has been pointed at the mountain road a few hundred meters away.
"Are you ready?" Wang Huzi and the others climbed up to the machine gun position, glanced into the distance, and asked in a low voice a veteran who was resting next to them.
The veteran pointed to the dark mountain road: "The platoon leader and the others are tumbling down there. They are almost healed."
Soon, more than 20 brothers, led by a platoon leader, left the mountain road and climbed back out of breath to the ridge where heavy machine guns were placed.
"Is it okay?" Wang Beard handed half a bottle of water to the veteran platoon leader and asked again worriedly.
The veteran unscrewed the kettle and raised his neck to take a sip of water: "Company commander, just keep your heart in your stomach and promise to give the Japanese a big gift this time."
The veteran platoon leader joined the army before the Battle of Lanfeng. Although he has not been in the army for a long time, he is also a veteran who has fought many tough battles.
The weapons and equipment of the Chinese army are backward. When fighting the Japanese, most of the time they sacrifice their lives to change positions, so that the survival time of each soldier on the battlefield is only about half a year.
Of course, in the life-devouring meat grinder of the Battle of Songhu, the survival period of soldiers was even lower, even less than a week or three months, and 300,000 officers and soldiers were killed or injured, which was a long list of blood-red casualties.
Although the Japanese were cautious, they were still unable to guard against the hunters hiding in the darkness.
More than a hundred Japanese soldiers walked at the front of the team to explore the road and were responsible for fire reconnaissance. Their eyes were warily staring at the surrounding ravines and woods. If there was any sign of trouble, they would be fired with bullets if they raised their hands.
However, they did not notice that under their feet, Wang Huzi and the others had already planted five groups of mines. The ones buried in the front were pull-type mines and the ones in the back were pressure-type mines. They were all modified by Yang Ling himself.
When the Japs walking in front stepped on the group of pressing mines, as soon as they raised their feet, there was a loud boom, and several Japs were blown up into the sky in the dazzling light of the fire.
The brother hiding in the dark laughed ferociously, and suddenly pulled the fuse, and all the pull-type mines that blocked the enemy's retreat exploded.
The explosion power of the five mine clusters was astonishing. The mountain road suddenly shook with tremors. Broken limbs and firearms flew all over the sky in the light of the sky. The thick smoke and mud raised by the explosion swept over with the rolling air waves, catching those behind who were unprepared.
The Japanese soldiers mopped them down, and there was a sudden cry.