In the Xinmaling blocking position, a trench more than 500 meters long lies halfway up the mountain, dividing the road to Lingqiu into two.
More than a thousand soldiers were scattered in this trench, sweating profusely.
Some people wielded shovels to deepen the trenches, some used the logs they had just collected to reinforce the trenches, and others were digging anti-gun holes and using sandbags to build machine gun emplacements.
"Captain, time is limited, the position can only be built like this." Hong Linfeng frowned and reported.
The attack came so suddenly that the garrison had no preparation and could only respond hastily.
To build the position like this in such a short period of time is already the limit of the chief of staff.
Li Hao frowned, shook his head and retorted: "No, this trench is too dangerous."
"Young devil, there are planes in the sky, artillery on the ground, and tank cover. A burst of artillery fire can level the trenches. How can we hold on until dark?"
"Give me an order. Except for the troops who are reinforcing the position, all others should go to the back of the position and dig individual bunkers. From the trenches to the top of the mountain, dig at least 300 bunkers for me. Each bunker will hide two soldiers."
Half an hour later, a series of explosions came faintly, which was very violent.
Li Hao was at least five kilometers away from the battlefield and could still hear clearly.
"It's an aerial bomb dropped by a plane. The Japs must be using planes to attack the mobile battalion." Hong Linfeng analyzed with a serious look on his face.
Li Hao nodded, his face looking very ugly.
The battle situation faced by the mobile battalion is even worse than here.
March in front of the Japanese army, and when encountering favorable terrain, at least one platoon of troops will be left on the spot to block the Japanese and puppet troops, aiming to destroy the entire army.
When Li Hao rushed to the Xinmaling blocking position, the company that was first responsible for the blocking task had been completely wiped out by the joint air-ground attack of the Japanese army, and not a single soldier was withdrawn.
The Japanese army dispatched aircraft again. It must be some blocking force that caused trouble to the Japanese army and then suffered a retaliatory attack.
Those blocking troops did not have time to build positions, so they could only take advantage of the terrain and hide on the spot.
Some were hiding behind rocks, squatting behind bushes, and some were lying directly on the ground, completely exposed to the nose of the plane.
Aerial bombs fell from the sky, and they had no way to hide.
If a platoon is attacked, it only takes one aerial bomb to wipe them all out.
Thinking that the mobile battalion was missing at least one platoon of troops, Li Hao felt heartbroken and aggrieved.
Looking at the battlefield a few kilometers away where only the sound of exchanges of fire could be heard, he gave a serious order.
"Order the troops to hurry up. The mobile battalion won't be able to withstand it for too long. The Japs are about to kill them."
Another half hour later, the mobile battalion with less than 200 people left appeared at the end of the road.
Riding a war horse, rushing towards here like the wind.
"Captain, I did not command the troops well, causing more than half of the mobile battalion's casualties. I request punishment." The battalion commander rushed to Li Hao, his eyes were red, and he reported with regret and heartache.
Losing half of the main battalion in three hours is indeed a big loss. Once the garrison formed an army, it rarely fought such battles.
But Li Hao had no choice.
Without their sacrifice, the main force of the regiment would not have time to establish a defensive line here.
Without a line of defense, even the entire garrison could not stop the Japanese and puppet attacks. Thousands of soldiers and civilians who had not yet had time to move to Lingqiu City would surely be annihilated...
Looking at the commander of the mobile battalion, he shook his head and comforted: "This is not your fault, and those soldiers did not die in vain."
"Not only did he kill the little devil, he also bought a lot of time for the main force of the regiment."
"Look at the position behind us. Without the efforts and sacrifices of those soldiers, we would not be able to repair it at all."
"Cheer up and don't be arrogant. Today's efforts and sacrifices are to eliminate more little devils tomorrow."
"The battle has just begun, and we will have many opportunities to avenge the fallen soldiers."
"Go back to your troops immediately, do a good job in the ideological work of the soldiers, and continue to fight against the Japanese."
"However, there are only more than 200 people left in the mobile battalion. Adding another battalion will serve no purpose other than bluffing. It will also disperse the limited troops. It will not work as a fist, and the combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced."
"Immediately reorganize the troops after returning and compress all combat troops into a strengthened company. You will be the company commander, the original company commander will be the platoon leader, the platoon leader will be the squad leader, and the squad leader will be the soldier."
After another half an hour, the Japanese forward troops appeared.
The infantry took the lead, followed by tanks and armored vehicles, sweeping towards the Xinmaling position like a big wave.
When they were still more than 500 meters away from the position, the Japanese troops stopped.
The scattered troops quickly gathered on the road, and the artillerymen following the tanks were not idle either.
The mortars were shot in a row, with their muzzles raised, pointing directly at the mountainside.
Mountain artillery and infantry artillery were shot in a row, and the long barrels were slowly raised and aimed at the mountainside.
In less than five minutes, the entire forward team was ready to attack.
"Boom boom boom..."
Like the previous attack, the Japanese army simply gave up the probing attack and used artillery fire when they came up.
Four mountain guns, two infantry guns, nine mortars, and six tank guns fired simultaneously.
Artillery shells of different calibers flew out of the barrel and hit the position like rain, with fire splashing and black smoke rising.
Soldiers were constantly being blown up into the sky along with soil and wood by the air waves, and then scattered everywhere like goddesses scattering flowers.
With just two rounds of artillery shells, the front line of the position was shrouded in smoke.
Li Hao and Hong Linfeng stood guard on the mountain with heavy faces.
Especially Hong Linfeng, his fists were clenched so tightly that his veins were exposed.
The position was built by him, with limited time and limited materials. It would definitely not be able to withstand such a fierce bombardment.
What he was most worried about was that the position would be blown into ruins by the Japanese army once it was useless.
In that case, the soldiers of the mobile battalion who sacrificed their lives to buy themselves time would have died in vain.
The Japanese obviously saw this as well. The artillery shells were thrown at the position as if they were free of charge, and they seemed determined not to give up until the position was razed to the ground.
The five-hundred-meter-long position took ten minutes to stop.
Before the explosion was completely over, gunfire rang out. The eight heavy machine guns of the heavy machine gun squadron were placed on the ground, with tongues of fire spraying from their muzzles, providing fire cover for the attacking troops.
"Rumble..."
The roar of tanks also sounded, and six tanks swung their muzzles and staggered toward the position.
Behind each tank were dozens of Japs, about the size of a squad.
Looking down from the air, the tank and the little devil behind it are like six sharp swords, piercing the mountainside.
It was windy today, and the smoke that filled the position was quickly blown away.
There were hundreds of bomb craters densely scattered along the front line of the position, and the original trenches could no longer be seen.
"There are still people on the position..." Hong Linfeng stared at the position and saw someone climbing up from the floating soil, and shouted excitedly.
The quiet position immediately became lively. Some people crawled out of the floating soil, and some emerged from the anti-gun holes.
But within a few seconds, the excited smile on Hong Linfeng's face disappeared.
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