"It's a landmine..." The deputy captain quickly determined what weapon caused the explosion.
My heart tightened, and I shouted anxiously: "Everyone, watch your steps, the Eighth Route Army has laid mines here..."
"Boom..." Before he finished speaking, the same explosion sounded again. The two explosions were very close to the deputy captain, less than ten meters away.
Three imperial army corpses fell next to the explosion point, and a machine gun was blown over next to it.
Taking another look at the terrain there, the vice-captain took a deep breath.
That place was perfect for a machine gun position. If the machine gun group hadn't occupied it in advance, he might have gone over there and hid there to command the troops.
In that case, it will be you who falls to the ground, not them.
"Boom boom... boom boom..."
Explosions sounded one after another, each time two landmines exploded at the same time.
After watching several explosion points in a row, the vice-captain seemed to understand something?
With a look of shock on his face, he shouted: "Everyone should avoid the depressions, behind rocks and earthen bags, all suitable hiding places have been mined by the Eighth Route Army!"
The Japanese who were still alive were in a dilemma: they could not hide in places suitable for hiding, and they would be exposed to the guns of the Eighth Route Army in places that were not suitable for hiding. For a moment, they were blinded and at a loss...
The ambush troops didn't give them much time to hesitate.
The battalion commander lay on the ground and quietly counted the explosions of landmines. After confirming that all twenty groups of mines had exploded, he stood up from the ground, raised the box cannon, and shouted loudly: "The bugler blows the charge horn, comrades follow
I'll rush and kill the remaining little devils..."
Nearly three hundred soldiers, like wild horses, roared and rushed towards the road.
The machine gunner held the light machine gun in his arms and used it as a submachine gun.
Wherever the Japanese counterattack, they shoot.
When the Japanese fired one bullet, they returned at least five bullets, crushing the remaining Japanese to death.
"It's over..." the vice-captain cried out in despair, and then gritted his teeth and ordered: "Warriors, the time has come to devote your life to the empire."
"Everyone is ready to fight and wait for the Eighth Route Army to rush over and fight them to the death with bayonets."
In Huaiyuan County, a fast horse galloped along the official road and rushed in without stopping when it reached the city gate.
When he was still more than a hundred meters away from the headquarters, Li Hao keenly noticed the sound of horse hooves getting closer and closer, and said with expectation.
"There are cavalry coming. There must be news from the front line."
Commander Zhou quickly rushed to the headquarters.
The troops participating in the battle on the front line were all independent regiments, and there were hundreds more enemies to be eliminated than they were.
Although the firepower advantage lies with the independent regiment, tension is still unavoidable.
The ordering soldier rushed all the way to the command post before he turned over, got off his horse, and ran towards the inside with large strides.
"It's the messenger from the First Battalion. I remember him. There is news from the First Battalion." Commander Zhou shouted excitedly.
Before the messenger could even take a breath when he reached the door, he asked anxiously: "Did the troops win? What's the situation now?"
"Report to the captain, we won the battle!" the messenger happily reported.
"More than 400 Japs were wiped out by us. Only 56 people from one battalion were killed and 15 were seriously injured. We just used a lot more ammunition. A total of more than 20,000 rounds of light and heavy machine gun bullets were used!"
"When I set off, the troops were cleaning the battlefield. The battalion commander asked me to come back and report: The troops will continue to implement the next combat plan in accordance with the order. Please rest assured," the command headquarters said.
"That's great..." Captain Zhou finally let go of his tense nerves.
There were four battles in total, but the first battalion faced the most Japanese and faced the greatest pressure.
Now that this hard nut has been chewed away, the remaining Japanese and puppet troops will be much easier to fight.
Li Hao's expression was calm. This result was already within his expectation.
If forty light and heavy machine guns and six mortars can't deal with four hundred Japs, then the battalion commander shouldn't do it.
Looking at Hong Linfeng, he said: "Chief of Staff, there will definitely be no problem with the Independent Regiment. Next, we will have to look at the county seat!"
"Don't worry, captain!" Hong Linfeng replied confidently.
"The guerrillas and the Third Battalion prepared a sufficient amount of firewood and gasoline outside the city, and set them all on fire at dawn to ensure that the three hundred meters around the county seat would be covered by thick smoke, and the Japanese planes would not be visible even when they were overhead.
The situation on the ground, unless we conduct low-altitude reconnaissance above everyone’s heads.”
"If this is the case, our machine gun troops are not vegetarians."
"I took out all the remaining heavy machine guns from the arsenal and arranged eight fixed air defense positions around the county. Each air defense position was crisscrossed with four heavy machine guns for air-to-air shooting."
"We are also equipped with a large number of light and heavy machine guns that can shoot in the air."
"As long as the Japanese plane dares to fly low, no matter which direction it goes, it will be fired upon by at least ten heavy machine guns. It is guaranteed that they will never come back."
Li Hao nodded and continued to ask: "Where is the county? How are the preparations of the 1st and 2nd Battalions?"
Hong Linfeng continued to report: "According to the plan, all troops put on Japanese military uniforms seized from the material warehouse. Except for those who protect the ammunition depot, grain depot, and material warehouse, all other troops went to the city wall and pretended to be defenders to defend the city."
"Prepared well..." Li Hao answered with satisfaction.
After thinking for a few seconds, he added: "We also need to create some black smoke in the city."
"After the Japanese planes arrive, let the artillery fire some artillery shells from outside the city into the city and hit uninhabited areas to make the siege more realistic."
"The gunshots on the four walls could not stop during the whole process."
"We seized a lot of ammunition in the arsenal. As long as we can perform this scene well and eat the two thousand little devils who came from Zhangjiakou, I will not feel sad if I use 100,000 rounds of ammunition."
"Weng buzz..."
At nine o'clock in the morning, the roar of the plane reached Li Hao's ears.
He quickly rushed out of the headquarters, raised his binoculars and looked in the direction of the sound.
First he saw three small black dots, and then they became bigger and bigger. After he could see the fuselage clearly, Li Hao immediately ordered.
"There are three planes in total. Let the comrades get moving. The trick is enough for the devils!"
Looking down from the sky, a ring of gray smoke nearly 400 meters deep surrounded the county town.
Inside the county town, dozens of thick black smoke pillars rose slowly, each smoke pillar representing an area of shelling.
"Rumble..."
Several explosions suddenly sounded in the city, and then several new plumes of smoke were seen rising from the ground.
In the smoke surrounding the city wall, gunshots and explosions continued continuously without any intention of stopping.
The three planes circled in the sky and found nothing except confirmation that the siege was still going on and that the imperial army in the county seemed to be still defending the city.
It was definitely not possible to report such a result, so the Japanese leader decided to rush into the smoke to conduct low-altitude reconnaissance.
