"Sir, the Eighth Route Army must be besieging our search troops and preventing them from retreating smoothly!" The adjutant also heard something unusual from the increasingly dense gunfire, and was anxious to express his worries.
The squadron leader clenched his fists, gritted his teeth and cursed: "I know."
"But we don't have troops in hand, and the search team is too scattered, so it's beyond our reach to reinforce them."
"Order the heavy machine gun squad and mortar squad to be ready to respond immediately."
"The Eighth Route Army does not want the search team to retreat easily. It will definitely pursue them all the way here and look for every opportunity to kill them."
"As soon as the search troops withdraw, they will immediately open fire on the Eighth Route Army's pursuing troops and cover the search troops as they move closer here.
Five minutes later, the first search team rushed out of the bushes and ran towards the artillery position. The team was led by a second lieutenant, the captain of the second team, a subordinate who was very familiar to the squadron leader.
If I remember correctly, several ensign officers led a combat detachment of the Imperial Army and two infantry squads of the Imperial Association Army, with a total strength of more than thirty people, the largest among all search teams.
But now, the soldiers he saw were less than ten in total, and they were all from the Imperial Army, not even a single Imperial Alliance Army.
"Sir, there are Eighth Route Army troops pursuing the retreating troops," the adjutant reminded.
"The artillerymen immediately opened fire, covering the place where the Eighth Route Army appeared just now with artillery fire. I don't believe that dozens of artillery shells hitting them can't eliminate them."
He Jun had completely withdrawn from the battle, climbed up a slope 700 to 800 meters away from the Japanese offensive position, held up his binoculars, and stared at the battlefield motionless.
"Boom boom boom..."
As soon as the violent shelling sounded on the battlefield, He Jun's expression changed.
Seven or eight cannonballs dropped at the same time can instantly cover an area of dozens of meters in radius.
Although the offensive troops under his command are scattered, a blind cat can kill a lot of people even if it kills a mouse.
Therefore, after the Japanese army opened fire, many soldiers would definitely be killed.
Passively being beaten is not the fighting style of the garrison.
He Jun raised his eyebrows and began to issue orders: "We cannot allow the Japanese artillery to attack us so unscrupulously."
"Four companies of mortar squads will counterattack immediately, but they must be dispersed and concealed to avoid being spotted by aircraft in the sky."
The fighting continued, and more and more Japanese and puppet troops were killed by the independent battalion.
Of course, because the Independent Battalion took the initiative to attack, they were gradually exposed to the Japanese and puppet troops, and their casualties began to increase greatly.
"Weng buzzing... booming..."
The planes hovering in the sky also joined the battle, regardless of the circumstances, and directly threw a bomb to the place where the firefight was the densest...
The moment thick smoke rose into the sky and the fire splashed, several soldiers were blown into the sky along with the soil and stones on the ground. There were soldiers from the independent battalion and Japanese and puppet troops.
He Jun was very lucky, because the advantage in strength was with the Japanese and puppet troops, and they were more concentrated.
On the other hand, the soldiers of the Independent Battalion were all scattered around.
Not surprisingly, the casualties of the Japanese and puppet troops in the explosion just now must have far exceeded those of the Independent Battalion.
The Japanese squadron leader also saw this scene, and all the anger in his heart surged up.
"Bageya Road, are the pilots in the sky pigs? They even blew up one of our own people. I want to report it to the division headquarters and send him to a military court."
The adjutant was much calmer and hesitantly reminded: "Sir, calm down!"
"The battlefield is too chaotic. The enemy and our troops are completely intertwined. When planes bomb the Eighth Route Army, they will inevitably inadvertently injure our own people."
The squadron leader's anger not only did not subside, but intensified: "Is that a friendly fire?"
"There were obviously more Imperial Army and Imperial Alliance Army bombed than the Eighth Route Army."
"If it hadn't been confirmed that the plane in the sky belonged to the Imperial Army, I would have suspected that he was an undercover agent of the Eighth Route Army. On the surface, he supported the Imperial Army in combat, but secretly killed a large number of Imperial Army troops."
"We have not yet lost this battle, and we have not yet reached the point of sharing the same fate with the Eighth Route Army."
"Contact the aircraft in the sky. From now on, he has only one mission: low-altitude reconnaissance to ensure the safety of our rear area."
"No further attacks on the ground can be launched without my order."
"Besides, I don't want to see the Eighth Route Army hiding from his eyes and suddenly appearing behind us."
Soon, the second and third search teams began to enter the squadron leader's field of vision.
The heavy machine guns and mortars mounted on the high ground fired rapidly to prevent the pursuing Eighth Route Army from approaching their positions.
"Boom boom..."
Two mortar shells suddenly fell from the sky and hit the artillery position.
A shell happened to hit a gun emplacement. At the moment when the fire splashed, the three Japanese gunners did not even have a chance to lie down. They were blown away on the spot, and the mortars on the ground were also blown over.
The squadron leader smiled instead of being angry and shouted: "The artillery unit of the garrison has appeared. Our goal of shrinking defense has been achieved."
"Contact the planes in the sky. Now you can launch an attack on the Eighth Route Army. Find their artillery position and destroy it."
"Contact the search troops who have not returned yet and ask them to speed up."
"As long as our circular defense circle forms a combat effectiveness, and the Eighth Route Army wants to continue to annihilate us here, it must concentrate its troops and firepower to launch an assault on us. At that time, mortars and heavy machine guns will have a role to play, as will aircraft in the sky.
Bomb them to your heart’s content.”
"We can turn defeat into victory and defeat them under the cover of aircraft and artillery."
"Boom boom..."
More and more mortars joined the battle. After receiving the order, the Japanese pilots quickly lowered their flying altitude and stayed close to the ground to find artillery positions.
"Weng buzzing... booming..."
Amidst the roar of the huge engine, the plane began to dive and attack a mortar squad. Soon, an earth-shaking explosion sounded on the battlefield.
He Jun saw this scene clearly, and the muscles on his face twitched, feeling very heartbroken.
However, the annihilation of an artillery squad did not affect He Jun's determination to destroy the Japanese and puppet troops.
Because he has another trump card in his hand.
In addition to attacking the Japanese artillery positions and reducing the combat pressure on the offensive forces, the four artillery squads also had a very important task: attracting the attention of the Japanese, especially the attention of the little Japanese aircraft in the sky.
"Battal Commander, all Japanese and puppet search teams have returned to their offensive positions!" the reconnaissance platoon leader rushed over and reported.
"How many of them are left?" He Jun asked seriously.
"There were about 100 Japanese soldiers who retreated, and more than 50 puppet troops." The reconnaissance platoon leader kept an eye on the surrounding area of the Japanese artillery position. He saw everyone who retreated from the search team and remembered it in his heart.
After thinking for a moment, he continued: "Including two mortar squads, two heavy machine gun squads, and an escort team in the artillery position, there are nearly 250 Japs and 50 or 60 puppet troops in our encirclement."
The corners of He Jun's mouth raised slightly, and a smile quickly flashed across his face.
He was very satisfied with the result after he killed more than half of the Japanese and puppet troops in a melee.