The tired and weak brothers have long been accustomed to continuous fighting. It can even be said that they have become numb. They are stuck in the quagmire of war. Commanding operations is what the officers have to do. All they need to do is obey the orders.
Then kill every enemy that threatens you on the battlefield, and then survive until the end of the war. However, a battle lasts for ten and a half days. It is not easy to survive.
Fortunately, the 74th Army has been fighting against the Japanese since it was formed, and its rest and recuperation is also very short. This high-intensity combat has allowed every additional soldier to adapt to this rhythm.
The entire 301st Regiment regiment's service personnel were also incorporated into the combat unit. Even so, the entire regiment could barely make up three companies.
While the brothers of the 153rd Brigade were still fighting the Japanese outside the city, Zhang Handuo and Yang Ling took the opportunity to reorganize the troops.
They are already familiar with doing this kind of thing. It is very helpless for the troops to be defeated, to be reorganized after being defeated, and to be reorganized after being defeated.
The Japs are well-trained and powerful, but their troops are inferior to others in terms of training and equipment. They can only rely on their passion to fight bloody battles with the Japs in every battlefield, leaving no casualties.
This state cannot be changed by any one person. The only thing they do is to fight and fight to the death to make up for the huge gap in national power between the two sides.
The brothers have been determined to die since they stepped onto the battlefield. They, the officers, have never thought about promotion and wealth. This is to resist the invasion. Their only dream is to win the war and drive the little Japanese out of China.
"The platoon officers of the third company have sacrificed a lot. I think we can make Mouse the acting platoon leader."
The brothers have begun to set up defenses along the buildings in Ruichang County, but the large number of casualties among grassroots officers cannot be solved by grouping.
They must promote the backbone of veterans to make up for the shortage of officers, so as to prevent the company's combat effectiveness from being weakened due to the lack of officers when encountering the Japanese.
Due to insufficient equipment and firepower, most of the time the troops need brave grassroots officers to lead charges and counterattacks to stabilize the position. The result is that at the end of every battle, grassroots officers suffer a large number of casualties.
"The monk is also very brave in fighting. Let's promote him to acting company commander."
Zhang Handuo and Yang Ling sat on the ammunition, and after a few words, they temporarily promoted those experienced veterans to junior officers.
Although this is a front-line promotion, if they are still alive after this battle is over, then it is only a matter of time before they become regular members.
"Then it's settled, you go to the first company and announce it, and I'll go to the second and third companies." Zhang Handuo put the helmet on his head again and stood up.
Two of the three temporarily formed companies were stationed side by side, and one company served as a reserve behind.
Although this was a last-minute blocking battle, the brothers did not feel particularly pessimistic and disappointed. After all, they could withdraw after only two hours.
"You are all veterans. Why do you put the machine gun so far forward? Move it back quickly, otherwise it will be blown up before it starts firing."
Qin Shou, the commander of the special agent company directly under the regiment, has now been temporarily appointed as the commander of the first company. Seeing the heavy machine gun being placed at the front, he immediately started to curse.
"Company commander, if you go further back, you won't be able to shoot anymore and will be blocked." The veteran also cried out in grievance.
Qin Shou said with a straight face: "You can't leave it here for the Japanese to attack. You can first carry it to the back to hide it, and then lift it up when the fight breaks out."
Several machine gunners and ammunition handlers looked at Qin Shou's sullen face, stopped arguing, and began to lift the machine guns.
"Have the water been pumped back? Don't let the fire stop after a few strokes." Qin Shou asked, looking at the brothers carrying the machine gun.
"Er Gou went to fetch water and should be back soon. Don't worry, company commander, we will definitely not miss anything." A brother replied.
"If you miss something, let me see how I deal with you." Qin Shou cursed and continued to patrol.
The brothers relied on the buildings and began to set up defenses. The gunshots outside the city were already very close, mixed with the sound of explosions from time to time. Looking up at the gloomy sky, Qin Shou hoped that it would get dark early, so that it would be easier to evacuate.
The people and troops in the city had almost withdrawn, and the city seemed deserted. Yang Ling led the guard Hu Zi towards the position of the first company.
"Regiment deputy, you're here." Qin Shou saw Yang Ling coming and hurriedly handed over a cigarette.
Yang Ling took the cigarette, glanced left and right and asked, "How's it going? Are there any difficulties?"
"It's not difficult. If you can't withstand it for two hours, then the previous battle will be in vain." Qin Shou was very optimistic. He had gone through mountains of corpses and seas of blood before, so he really didn't take this attack seriously.
inside.
Yang Ling struck a match and lit the cigarette. He was not as relaxed as Qin Shou. He warned: "The Japanese are here in a division, and there must be a lot of Tucker armored vehicles. Don't be careless."
After Qin Shou heard Yang Ling's reminder, he put away his contempt and immediately shouted to his brothers in the distance: "Where are you sleeping in the first row? Go dig some anti-tank trenches in front. I'm afraid the Japanese are there."
Tucker.”
Yang Ling saw that the firepower of the entire position was in order, so he said nothing more and asked Qin Shou to call over a few veterans who were to be promoted and read out the appointments orally.
These veterans are all veterans who have fought bloody battles for the rest of their lives. They are the backbone and role models of the army. Now, they have been promoted as acting squad platoon leaders, which has enlivened the atmosphere in the position.
Soon, a large group of bloodied and prickly brothers came running along the paddy fields outside the city. They were friendly troops who were fighting with the Japanese outside the city and had already begun to evacuate.
"Get to your positions and prepare to fight!"
Seeing the friendly troops running past in a panic one by one, Qin Shou also took a deep breath and shouted, it was their turn to stop them.
"Regimental deputy, you go down first, the fight is about to start, just leave it to us."
The entire position started to move. When Qin Shou saw that Yang Ling hadn't left yet, he ran over to dissuade him.
"The bullets that want to kill me haven't been made yet. If you hit yours, I'll hold the line for you." Yang Ling had no intention of withdrawing.
Although it is only a two-hour block, the Japanese are a division after all. It is unknown how intense the first wave of attacks will be and how many troops will be invested.
The reason why Yang Ling wanted to stay on the battlefield was, on the one hand, to spy on the enemy's offensive strength so that he could make timely adjustments to his subordinates, and on the other hand, he also wanted to encourage his brothers.
In such a blocking battle, having an officer guarding the trenches with them wouldn't be of much help, but the brothers would feel more at ease and not worry about the officer abandoning them and having random thoughts.
Yang Ling also fought step by step from a small soldier to what he is today. What he fears most is being abandoned by his superiors and foolishly fighting against the enemy. He stays here now to let his brothers fight with peace of mind.