"Sir, there are at least three heavy machine guns shooting on the battlefield!" the deputy captain shouted with a look of shock.
He was frightened by the powerful firepower exposed by the Eighth Route Army. The attacking troops did not bring heavy machine guns, which meant that all the heavy machine guns being fired on the battlefield came from the Eighth Route Army...
The squadron leader's face turned even paler, and he said with a look of shock: "In addition to heavy machine guns, the Eighth Route Army is also equipped with at least three light machine guns."
"The attacking troops only had two light machine guns. They were beaten by three heavy machine guns and three light machine guns. They definitely didn't even have a chance to fight back. They were finished!"
While he was talking, the gunshots coming from the battlefield had stopped, as if the firefight just now had never happened.
The vice-captain looked at the squadron leader and wanted to comfort him, but he swallowed his words again because he didn't know what to say.
Finally, it was the squadron leader who broke the awkward atmosphere and ordered with a stern face: "We must get out of here as soon as possible."
"The troop casualties have exceeded a hundred, and almost all of them are combat troops."
"If we continue to fight, the combat effectiveness of our troops will be wiped out."
The adjutant frowned and reminded: "Sir, do you want to send someone to check other villages?"
"The gunshots were just behind us. The main force of the Eighth Route Army must be there. There is a village two kilometers ahead of us. We can take advantage of the gap between the Eighth Route Army behind us and immediately send troops to capture some people back."
Seeing the hesitation on the squadron leader's face, the deputy captain continued: "The road has been damaged too badly. Without the help of ordinary people, and only relying on dozens of artillery and heavy machine gun teams, we will definitely not be able to return to the stronghold before dark."
"I think this is our only chance."
"By the time the Eighth Route Army behind us has finished cleaning the battlefield and arrived here, it will be too late for us to send troops again!"
The hesitant expression on the squadron leader's face was quickly replaced by determination: "The troops must return to their stronghold before dark."
"Otherwise, with the Eighth Route Army's night fighting capabilities, the rest of us will die outside."
"You're right: attack while the Eighth Route Army is still behind us, and the chance of successfully catching the Chinese is at least 80%, so just do it."
"Draw out two more teams and march quickly to catch people in the village ahead. This time we can only succeed, not fail."
The main force of the First Company was indeed behind the Japanese army, but the little devil didn't know that the First Company was no longer what it used to be. It not only had five main force platoons, but also a guard platoon and a recruit platoon.
Zhang Cheng only led two main platoons and one guard platoon. The remaining three main platoons were not idle. They were all lurking around the Japanese on standby.
Seeing the Japs dividing their troops, thirty Japs were marching in a hurry under the command of a second lieutenant. The deputy company commander immediately saw their purpose.
"The Japanese are going to Xiaoli Village to arrest people. The third row will stay behind to keep an eye on the remaining Japanese and puppet troops."
"Fourth and fifth platoons follow me and take a shortcut to the front. We must intercept them and we must not let the villagers fall into their hands."
Deputy company commander Li Bing was a cadre supported by Commander Chen. After the establishment of the fourth and fifth platoons, he was specifically responsible for the training of the two platoons.
After a few months, he was very satisfied with his training results, but he could never find a chance to verify it.
The fighter plane in front of us is undoubtedly a good opportunity.
After walking on a small road and climbing over a mountain ridge, Li Bing finally arrived in front of the Japanese.
"Deputy company commander, the Japanese are going to come over in a few minutes. How are we going to fight?" Seeing the Japanese figure emerging from the end of the road, the fourth platoon leader asked anxiously.
"It's too late to establish positions and deploy pocket arrays!" Li Bing replied with a frown.
After glancing at the surrounding terrain, he decisively ordered: "We will fight the Japanese in close combat."
The Japanese attacking troops had the same idea as the squadron leader. The main force of the Eighth Route Army was behind them, and there was no enemy in front that could threaten them.
As long as you enter the village and capture the common people, even if the main force of the Eighth Route Army comes to kill them, they will be afraid of accidentally injuring the common people and will not dare to fight with you. Then the troops will be safe.
Therefore, they marched very fast and did not conduct any reconnaissance. They marched directly towards the target.
Li Bing and some sixty riflemen were lurking in the bushes next to the mountain road, less than ten meters away from the mountain road.
More than thirty Japanese soldiers rushed past them without warning.
After the Japanese completely rushed over, Li Bing ordered in a low voice: "Everyone, fix your bayonets, prepare your pistols, and prepare to engage the Japanese in hand-to-hand combat!"
The Japanese troops rushed farther and farther, and when they were about to reach 300 meters away, gunfire rang out.
Six light machine guns scattered at different positions on both sides of the mountain road fired at the same time, forming a crossfire to attack the Japanese on the road.
The unprepared Japs were instantly knocked down by seven or eight people, who all fell to the ground motionless.
The second lieutenant team leader was very lucky. The moment he fell to the ground, the bullet flew behind him close to his scalp, blowing the head of a soldier behind him.
Although his life was saved, his morale dropped to rock bottom.
The target he wanted to attack was not only the Eighth Route Army, but also many, including six light machine guns. He could kill one-third of his troops at the first sight. This was completely contrary to everyone's initial judgment.
"Sir, the Eighth Route Army's firepower is too fierce. Both of our machine guns have been targeted, and we have no chance to fight back!" a sergeant not far away reported in a loud voice, with an anxious look on his face.
Next to him, two machine guns lay crooked on the ground, with two corpses lying next to them. Bullets hit the ground next to the machine guns, causing dust to fly.
You can be sure that as long as someone wants to get close to the machine gun, they will be targeted by these bullets immediately.
"Retreat!" the second lieutenant ordered decisively without hesitation.
"There must be the main force of the Eighth Route Army in front, otherwise it would be impossible to equip six machine guns at once. If we charge hard, we will not only fail to catch the Chinese, but we will also be killed."
Of the more than thirty Japanese soldiers, only twenty-one broke out of the effective range of the light machine guns and began to run for their lives like a bereaved dog.
"The Japs are coming, everyone, get ready to fight!"
Li Bing half-crouched behind the bushes, opened the box gun safety, and ordered with excitement in his eyes.
The Japanese army only wanted to escape and quickly join the main force. They never thought that there would be an ambush on the road they just passed.
When he fled to Li Bing, he had no sense of danger at all.
"Pa bang bang..."
Li Bing seized the opportunity, raised his box cannon and fired at the three Japanese at the front.
Then he stood up from behind the bushes and continued shooting while rushing towards the road.
"Comrades, kill me..."
The two platoon commanders fired together, and the riflemen followed suit, firing out more than seventy bullets from their loaded barrels and flying toward the road at the same time.
The shooting distance of about ten meters made these bullets extremely accurate, and at least ten Japs were killed before they had time to react.
Although the remaining Japs were not dead, they were frightened by the Eighth Route Army that suddenly appeared next to the mountain road.
More than sixty Eighth Route Army troops, with bayonets shining brightly, rushed over from ten meters away like hungry wolves.
The already panicked Japs became even more panicked. In their panic, before they had time to load their rifles, the Eighth Route Army had already rushed in front of them. Five or six people surrounded one of them, stabbing at them with their bayonets pointed out.
The Japs' instincts developed over time in the battlefield have not affected their reaction to battle much.
Subconsciously raising the rifle to block...
But two fists are hard to beat with four hands. The Eighth Route Army attacking them was also equipped with a lot of close-combat pistols. The riflemen kept shooting under the cover of the riflemen to attack them...
