"Watermelon, if you bear with it a little longer, it might rain tonight." The lieutenant glanced at the soldiers lying in the trenches with their faces filled with smoke, and he couldn't help but sigh slightly.
Although it was only about ten hours without drinking water, repelling six consecutive attacks by the Japanese invaders consumed a lot of physical strength and a lot of water. Moreover, the constant rising explosions and smoke increased the temperature on the position.
It is also much higher than late autumn, which is supposed to be cool.
Almost everyone's mouth was dry to the point of peeling, and their throats felt like they were on fire. In the end, except for fighting and shouting with the Japanese invaders, most of the soldiers didn't even bother to speak.
As for Watermelon, this living treasure is full of energy and can still live in vain during this short period of fighting.
"Company Commander, don't lie to me. Look at the sunshine here, but the rain coming in the evening! If at this time, someone could give me a sip of water, it would make me happy." Xigua lazily raised his arm again.
I made a pillow and lay down in the trench watching the red sunset that was about to set in the west.
"Here, you coward, if you hear what you say, I'll beat you to death." The skinny soldier who just now had a fight with his future cheap brother-in-law who lamented that he didn't sleep with his sister rummaged around in his pocket.
After a while, he angrily threw a round object into the arms of his hopeless future brother-in-law.
Maybe, when every brother hears about a man who wants to take advantage of his sister, he will want to rush in and fight! Even if that bastard is his future brother-in-law.
"Ouch, what is this?" Xigua was startled. When he took a closer look, he couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Brother, you are really my brother. When Er Nier and I have babies in the future, I will definitely honor you as my second uncle.
"
"You're a coward, this is all you have." The thin soldier snorted coldly and turned his head disdainfully, but his face that no one saw was filled with sadness.
Can he still wait until the day when he becomes an uncle? Can Xigua, a bitch like him, still go back and marry his younger sister according to the engagement?
He couldn't blame the watermelon for being so excited. What his future uncle threw into his arms was a wild apple from the mountains. Although it was small and tasted sour, one bite would definitely make his mouth water and quench his thirst!
The surrounding soldiers opened their eyes one after another and watched the small round wild fruit in Xigua's hand, not much bigger than a baby's fist, with their throats twitching.
At this moment, the sharp whistle of artillery shells suddenly sounded.
"You bastard little Japs won't stop you for a while." The lieutenant cursed angrily, "Old Zhang, take four brothers and keep an eye on the Japs' movements. The rest of the people should go into the artillery holes. Leave them all to me.
Be careful not to let the little devil's cannonballs bite you."
There was a loud "boom", and as the artillery shells exploded more than thirty meters away from the trench, "Yes! Tiedan, Lao Li, Gouwa, Dashan is staying." The second lieutenant platoon leader was ordered by the lieutenant to click several times.
A name, "Let me go to the observation point and stay there."
Although the whistle of artillery shells in the air became more and more intensive, the soldiers did not panic. They trotted along the trenches with their waists bent, entering the anti-gun holes when they should, and entering the observation points when they should. Obviously.
, they have become accustomed to the Japanese shelling up to six times a day.
Once, maybe it’s because of fear. Two times, it’s not so scary anymore. Three times, it’s calm. Then six times, it doesn’t matter anymore. This is the terrible habit of human beings. Once the terrible inertial thinking occurs, let alone cannonballs,
If you drop too many atomic bombs, that's what happens, and the ball will point upwards.
This is a group of lone soldiers. Their own attack on the Japanese army failed, and the artillery bombardment still failed to open the passage. They already knew their fate. Death is no longer so terrible for them.
It is said to be a bomb-proof hole, but in fact, it is just a large crater formed by the explosion of a 250-pound aerial bomb in the middle of a fortification. The power of the 250-pound aerial bomb explosion is really terrifying. Even this stone mountain was literally blown out of the ground.
A large pit two meters deep and four meters wide.
The Chinese soldiers on the position simply adapted to local conditions and laid the long logs used for construction of fortifications directly on the giant crater, and then covered it with a thick layer of sand, gravel and soil, creating a forty square meter area.
The shell-proof cave that accommodated forty or fifty people came out.
It was precisely because of the natural artillery-proof hole created by the Japanese aircraft that many soldiers were able to escape several rounds of artillery fire from the Japanese invaders.
However, it was worth the lives of an infantry squadron.
A total of twelve people were wiped out in the violent explosion of the 250-pound aerial bomb, not even a little finger was left. The evaporated and blackened blood on the wall of the pit was from soldiers who had fought here.
The last trace.
However, the shell-proof cave, which should have been crowded, turned out to be a little sparse. The lieutenant, who was the last to enter the shell-proof cave and sat closest to the cave entrance, glanced at the cave with the help of the weak light from the cave entrance, his face filled with sadness.
After two days and one night of fighting, there were only a few men left in his infantry company. Including the five men outside, there were only a total of more than thirty men, less than the strength of a platoon.
"Company Commander, come on, take a bite. It's so sore that your teeth will fall apart." Xigua came over and said, holding the small wild apple.
The lieutenant took the wild fruit and looked at the two shallow teeth marks and fingernail-sized chip left on it. He felt a little sad and handed it to a soldier beside him.
You can’t open your mouth too wide for me! The apples given by the watermelon are not as big as the watermelon.”
"How can we? If anyone eats too much, we will make him resist the explosive pack when the little devil comes later." Seeing that there were wild fruits to eat, the soldiers felt better one after another and laughed in response to the company commander's joke.
Anti-explosives are actually human bombs. Whenever the fighting is at its most difficult moment, the soldiers who rush into the Japanese attack queue with ignited fuses and explosives can always take away the lives of more than a dozen little Japs. Of course, I can do the same.
He was dead. However, it was very effective and could basically repel a wave of Japanese attacks. The fifth company had already repelled a total of eight Japanese attacks with this method.
Outside the artillery cave, the sound of artillery was rumbling, and dust fell rustling in the artillery cave. A small apple was passed silently in the hands of the soldiers.
Like the most precious treasure, everyone held it carefully with their hands, took a small bite, and placed it in the palm of another soldier.
"Who are you to say it's sour? Why do you think it's so sweet!"
"I'm afraid that my brothers will eat this watermelon!"
...
The soldiers who had eaten the apples looked satisfied and joked.
"It's yours, you eat it and you make sarcastic remarks. Then you have to return the apple to me. It was given to me by my uncle and old man." Xigua was teased by his comrades, which made him a little annoyed.
"Tsk, tsk, Dashun is too kind-hearted. If it were me, he would smash the bastard who wanted to sleep with my sister into two balls with the butt of his rifle." The soldiers laughed heartily.
It seems that they have forgotten the 6.5 kilogram mountain cannon shells that are constantly exploding above their heads, because a wild apple, which can be seen everywhere in the mountains and fields of China this autumn, weighs only a few dozen grams.
The sour little apple that makes one’s teeth drop, a small piece of happiness.
When the apple was passed to the lieutenant again, the lieutenant turned to look outside the cave, his eyes were filled with crystal clear light.
After thirty people gnawing at it, there was still half of the wild fruit, which was the size of a baby's fist...
"Watermelon, send the rest to the injured brothers later." The lieutenant put half of the apple into Watermelon's hand, which was a little dazed.
"Yeah!" Xigua's eyes were a little red and he agreed dully.
The only eight seriously wounded members of the 5th Company of the 102nd Regiment were all placed together in the artillery-proof hole dug by the infantry company using explosives at the very back of the position, which was regarded as the safest place on the entire position.
Like the previous six times, the sound of cannons stopped after twenty minutes.
After waiting for another minute, the lieutenant took the lead and got out of the shell-proof hole. He ran along the smoke-filled trench and shouted: "Lao Zhang, how are you? What's going on outside?"
"Cough cough, cough cough." The second lieutenant, who was covered in dust and his face was dyed pitch black, ran over and said while coughing violently: "The iron egg is gone, the rest of the people are fine."
"Where are the Japs? Have the Japs attacked?" The lieutenant's face twitched slightly and he continued to ask.
"It's evil. In the past, the Japanese have started to attack, but now they have calmed down and are still staying 700 meters away. What tricks are they trying to do again?" The second lieutenant handed the only telescope of the infantry company to the lieutenant.
, said with a strange expression.
"Then continue to observe and prevent the brothers from coming out in a panic, lest the little Japs play tricks like last time." The lieutenant looked at the Japanese position in the distance with a telescope for a while, frowning and ordered.
"Yes!" The second lieutenant nodded.
At this time, the mountain wind blew and the smoke dispersed a lot.
The second lieutenant who happened to be facing his side suddenly focused his eyes, pointed to a hilltop at least 800 meters away in the distance and said: "Company commander, look at what that is? There seems to be someone there."
The lieutenant picked up the telescope and looked at the direction pointed by the second lieutenant, and stared blankly for a while.
After a full two minutes, he put down the telescope and looked back at the second lieutenant platoon leader who was still looking at him, with a trace of sadness on his face: "The regiment headquarters sent an order with a flag, ordering us to hold our position until tomorrow morning even if there is only one person.
"
"You idiot, that's nice to say. What do we use to defend ourselves? Bayonets alone?" A look of anger emerged on the second lieutenant's face. Seeing a look of anger on the lieutenant's face, the second lieutenant showed a trace of dejection: "
Company Commander, it’s not that brothers are afraid of death, it’s okay to just give them some bullets and grenades!”
"For those who cannot be sent, the division and regiment headquarters have tried their best. Enough brothers in the regiment have died for us." The lieutenant shook his head.
Turning around suddenly, he shouted sternly: "Er Niu, send the signal back to the regiment headquarters and resolutely complete the order. Our fifth company will resolutely live and die with the position."
"Company Commander, Er Niu is dead." the second lieutenant reminded him in a low voice.
"Then send a signal flare to tell them we have received it." The lieutenant then remembered that his signal corpsman had died in the last Japanese bombardment.
"Those were the last two flares."
"Everyone is about to die. Do you want a flare? Give me another shot." A stern expression flashed across the lieutenant's face.
As a red signal flare slowly rose from the top of the mountain, on the Japanese position 800 meters away, a Japanese officer with a major collar badge was staring at the Chinese position on the top of the mountain with a telescope.
...........
PS: These chapters of the Lonely Army are adapted from real battle cases. All members of Zhang Dengdi’s company of the 102nd Regiment of the 17th Division died in the battle at Snowflake Mountain, and no one survived. Zhang Dengdi is a member of our party, and I would like to pay tribute to the company.