Chapter six hundred and forty second night line of fire
Whether in the Xinyang area, the foothills of the Dabie Mountains, or on both sides of the Yangtze River, nearly a million troops fought bloody battles with the vicious Japanese on vast battlefields.
The attack and defense on every battlefield affects the nerves of senior commanders on both sides, who are busy arranging responses day and night.
Senior commanders look at the overall situation and dispatch and direct the operations of each group army and corps from a strategic level.
And the vast number of grassroots officers and soldiers also have their own things to do, which is to fight and destroy the enemy, or they themselves will be destroyed by the enemy.
Compared with the invisible game between the high-level commanders of both sides, on the battlefield like a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, the grassroots officers and soldiers of both sides need to fight face to face.
Artillery fire destroyed the fortifications, bullets penetrated the body, and the smoke filled the air. Every battle was life and death, extremely cruel.
Night enveloped the entire battlefield, and the sound of gunfire and artillery resounded in the invisible night. Artillery shells that tore through the air fell nearby from time to time, exploding into the sky with flames.
Flares also kept rising and falling in the sky. Under the pale light, the trenches that the two sides fought for during the day had been filled with mutilated corpses, so densely packed that it made people's scalp numb.
The officers and soldiers of both sides fought from morning to sunset, with almost no time to breathe. They fought countless bloody battles and fought repeatedly, leaving corpses everywhere.
The troops suffered heavy casualties, and many of the brothers were exhausted and slumped in the craters, unable to move.
The air was filled with the strong smell of blood and the lingering smell of gunpowder. The high temperature of the explosion evaporated the only moisture in the air, and the air seemed to be on fire.
The brothers lay weakly on the battlefield, licking their chapped lips covered with dust, and smoke was almost coming out of their throats.
"Company Commander, is there any water? I'm empty."
A brother with his head covered in blood crawled to the side of company commander Su Er and reached out to touch Su Er's waist.
Su Er was already exhausted, so he let this brother take his water bottle, unscrew it, and put it in his mouth.
Seeing that this brother raised his neck but did not pour out a drop of water, he laughed innocently when he saw that his brother was being teased.
"If I drink the water myself, can I leave it for you?"
Su Er took the kettle from this brother and tied it around his waist again. This kettle was his trophy, and it was a good thing.
This brother didn't get any water, so he leaned back against a pile of scorched earth in great disappointment and gasped for air.
"Company Commander, if we continue like this, we will die of hunger and thirst here if we are not beaten to death by the Japanese."
Feeling the heat waves filling the air with the smell of gunpowder smoke, the brother complained in a low voice.
"That's right, company commander, our heavy machine gun won't be able to fire for long without water. If the Japanese attack us and we can't hold the position without the support of the machine gun, we have to find a way to get some." The machine gun squad leader also moved his head to agree.
explain.
The grenades of Su Er's company had used up all the grenades and turned into scrap metal. The heavy machine gun was now their only support for heavy firepower. Without the heavy machine gun, they would not be able to stop the Japanese attacks, so he had to pay attention to it.
"Okay, platoon leader, you take a few of them to the ditch over there to get some water."
After Su Er thought for a moment, he gave instructions to a platoon leader with a dusty face.
"Yes..." The platoon leader agreed reluctantly.
Although fetching water is a simple job, the ditch is between their position and the Japanese position, so it is extremely dangerous. If the Japanese accidentally find it, they will not be able to come back.
"Be careful, be on the lookout for the Japs." Seeing a few brothers carrying buckets and kettles about to leave, company commander Su Er reminded them.
"knew."
The platoon leader replied and took the lead in climbing out of the trench with his gun. Several other brothers holding water-containing tools also disappeared into the darkness one after another.
The area near the position has been reduced to a piece of scorched earth, with huge craters scattered in a messy manner, as dark as the entrance to hell.
The corpses that the Japanese couldn't take back became cold and stiff. The platoon leader and a few brothers carefully climbed over the corpses and bomb craters, heading towards the gurgling ditch.
"call out--"
There was a whistling sound in the sky, and a flare was fired into the sky by the Japanese. The pale light suddenly illuminated the battlefield on both sides of the ditch.
"Teng Teng Teng——"
The Type 92 heavy machine gun of the Japanese soldiers rang out with a trembling sound, and a string of scarlet bullets swept over their corpses at the front, causing a mist of broken flesh and blood to rise up.
Seeing the Japanese's routine fire reconnaissance, the platoon leader and his brothers lay flat on the ground and did not dare to move.
The Japanese had now become frightened, worried about encountering a night attack by the squadron, so they used flares and fired into the darkness in front of the position from time to time to conduct fire reconnaissance.
When the Japanese machine guns stopped, the flares fell and went out, and the sky returned to darkness, the platoon leader led his brothers and continued to touch the ditch.
They quietly reached the edge of the ditch. With dry and cracked lips, they made sure that there was no danger nearby, and they couldn't wait to lie down and drink water from their mouths.
The cool water had a deathly coolness and a slight smell of blood. Many corpses of those killed in battle lay across the ditch.
But at this moment, they didn't care so much. It didn't matter whether the water was dirty or whether it would ruin their stomachs. They drank first and then talked about it. They were too thirsty.
After drinking the water, they didn't dare to waste time. They quickly took out the water container and started pouring water into the water. They still had to take it back.
Just as they were about to fill the water bottles they were carrying, the suddenly alert platoon leader made a shushing gesture. They all stopped and listened nervously.
In addition to the sound of gurgling water, the sound of footsteps could be heard in the darkness not far away. They hurriedly crawled to the ground, not daring to move.
A group of little Japs wearing helmets were crossing the small ditch silently, walking cautiously past them lying in the darkness, and going around to the back of their position.
Seeing this scene, they couldn't guess what the Japanese were trying to do, and they actually wanted to go around behind and attack their position.
However, they did not dare to express their anger. They waited until all the Japanese soldiers had passed by, and then, under the pull of the platoon leader, they carried heavy water bottles and buckets and hurried back to the position.
"Company Commander! Company Commander, there is a group of Japs coming behind our position!"
The platoon leader who was going to fetch water crawled into the trench and found the company commander Su Er who was lying down to rest. He finished the urgent news in one breath and had time to catch his breath.
Hearing the news, the exhausted company commander Su Er suddenly became excited and hurriedly grabbed the rifle lying next to him.
If the Japanese attack, they only need to aim and shoot in one direction, but if the Japanese come around and attack them, they will be killed.
"Are you sure the Japanese went behind us?" Su Er asked, staring at the platoon leader.
"We all saw it. There were about a hundred people walking past us."
"Damn, these little devils really don't let people live in peace." Su Er cursed in a low voice.
"Third platoon hold the position, first platoon and second platoon follow me!" Su Er made a prompt decision and prepared to lead two platoons to intercept and kill.