afterglow

Chapter 11 The Beginning of the Frontier War

"Chinese infantry are approaching!"

"A thousand yards."

"There are too many of them!"

After entering their respective positions, the soldiers of the British and Indian Army had just set up their guns, and when they looked down, there were small black spots in their entire sight.

The three teams of the first echelon all had their own attack routes and goals. Although they launched the attack with skirmish lines, their total number was only 500, but it seemed as if there were mountains and plains.

"Eight hundred yards."

"Six hundred yards."

"Free Fire!"

Lewis machine guns and Enfield rifles fired one after another, and a Vickers heavy machine gun deployed on the right side of the position also spewed out flames, and the sounds of "da da da" and "bang bang bang" were endless.

In the blink of an eye, at least ten Ming soldiers were shot and fell to the ground, but the others continued to move forward as if nothing had happened. After a few breaths, they stopped and fell down one after another.

Now that the enemy's firepower has been exposed, the mortars and heavy machine guns deployed on the starting position of the attack will not be polite; for a while, the three heavy machine guns all turned their muzzles and fired at the enemy Vickers. Bullets were pouring where the machine guns were.

With a few "bang bang", six mortar shells whizzed out one after another, falling towards the target in perfect parabolas.

The Vickers heavy machine gun team, which had just fired a whole 250-round belt, was planning to move to another machine gun position, but they did not expect the Ming army to counterattack so quickly.

While most of the mortar shells landed nearby, one landed right in the middle of the trench.Immediately, the smoke of the explosion burst out mixed with blood mist and clothes fragments.

Observing the silence of the enemy's firepower, the soldiers lying down stopped shooting and immediately got up and continued to trot forward.

The Ming army, which launched an attack in three directions, encountered more or less minor setbacks on the way, but because the previous artillery raid was still effective, the defense efficiency of the British and Indian troops was greatly reduced. Arrived at the foot of the mountain.

Several platoon-level strongholds seemed to have been stunned by the previous shelling, and no effective resistance has been organized until now.

However, the British and Indian troops in the main position on the top of the hill are completely opposite. There are zigzag trenches, staggered traffic trenches, multiple machine gun positions and mortar positions, and a shelter at the top consisting of two layers of logs and a layer of steel plates. They rely on a solid position. Struggle hard.

The fierce battle lasted until [-]:[-] in the afternoon. The first echelon that participated in the attack and the second echelon that joined the battle later had pulled out most of the enemy's main strongholds and bunkers.

The isolated main position on the top of the hill was still fighting stubbornly. For more than two hours, the red-eyed artillerymen of the British and Indian Army operated three MkII 76.2mm mortars and fired a total of thousands of shells. The Vickers heavy machine gun has been refilled with water at least three times.

After the miscellaneous fish in the periphery are cleaned up, it is natural to deal with the remaining big fish with all our strength.

While the officers were coordinating the siege, the soldiers who had fought fiercely for several hours sat or lay resting in the positions of the British and Indian troops that had been conquered not long ago, surrounded by enemy corpses in various shapes.

Maybe an hour ago they would still feel sick to their stomachs, but now they have adapted to this environment extremely quickly.

After a while, the engineers who were temporarily transferred to support arrived, with heavy-duty blasting tubes, explosive kits, flamethrowers and other offensive equipment.

The rumbling bombardment started again, and the shells falling like raindrops seemed to blow up the enemy's main position into a sea of ​​flames. The debris was scattered everywhere, and nothing could be seen clearly under the billowing smoke.

Maybe everyone naively thought that the enemy could be wiped out only by violent shelling, and they were at most cleaning up the battlefield, but now they have recognized the status quo.

"All ministries enter the impact position! Cover the work of the engineers!"

"Puff puffs" sounded a few times, and the smoke bombs fired by rifle grenades and mortars fell in front of the enemy's main position, and billowing thick smoke filled the air immediately, this was to obscure the enemy's sight.

One engineer after another bowed and rushed out, facing the enemy's aimless shooting and came to the mountain path.

This place is covered with hideous barbed wire. If it is not destroyed, the infantry will obviously not be able to launch a successful attack.

However, when the two engineers approached the barbed wire fence, they stepped on the landmines arranged here, and the dust flew up with a bang, and the broken legs were blown up like branches.

"He's a god!" The engineer sergeant, who was gnashing his teeth, shouted sharply: "Fire up the smoke! Demining! One group first..."

The voice stopped abruptly, and the nearby soldiers turned their heads to look, and saw that the sergeant's helmet had been blown away, the bullet penetrated from the front, and when it came out, it directly took away the back of the head, and the red and white things splashed all over the ground.

The engineers, in groups of three, connected the blasting tubes, each weighing ten kilograms, together one after another, and then stretched into the mine-burying area.

Pull the fire!Back off!

There was a deafening explosion, followed by several smaller roars.A long pit was blown out in front, and several small pits appeared nearby, which were detonated landmines.

After repeating this many times, a relatively wide passage was opened up in this minefield.

The engineers took small flags and planted them on both sides of the passage as a warning, and then began to try to blast the barbed wire fence in front.

Naturally, the British and Indian troops would not sit idly by. The mortars that had turned around opened fire immediately, and mortar shells roared down immediately.

Several engineers were immediately shrouded in the smoke of the explosion, and the blasting tubes they were carrying were also killed by the blast, leaving no bones left.

The battalion commander of the Second Battalion who witnessed all this couldn't help being furious. He took the phone and yelled: "The grandson of the artillery team, what did you eat?! I want to chop off your head!"

"Battalion Commander! The position of the artillery array is tricky. If our shells are lost, they will fall on our own heads!" The other end of the phone replied a little aggrieved.

"Then intentionally shoot close and miss the bomb! Or use smoke bombs! Just interfere with their firing, won't you adapt to the situation!"

"Yes Yes."

After a while, our own shells flew towards the enemy's mortar positions, and the shelling of the British and Indian troops finally stopped.

The engineers stepped on the wet soil soaked in the blood of their comrades and rushed up again. After several bangs and bangs of explosions, several pieces of barbed wire were torn apart.

"Beep beep beep-"

"Wan Sheng!"

Due to the limited width of the offensive channel, the attacking Ming army could only invest at most one platoon of troops at a time.

Refueling tactics are taboo, but sometimes it is really unavoidable.

After paying dozens of casualties, the Ming army finally rushed to the front line of the British and Indian troops. However, due to the enemy's machine gun fire, it was impossible to achieve a breakthrough, so they had to rely on the bunker to start shooting.

During the fierce exchange of fire, soldiers on both sides kept throwing grenades, and a dull explosion often caused several screams.

"Fire cover!"

A few engineers with flamethrowers on their backs rushed over, bravely turned over and jumped to the top of the traffic trench, completely ignoring their behavior like a living target.

The gushing stream of fire was like a fire dragon, roaring and sweeping across the enemy's position in front of him, and the enemy soldiers poured by it turned into people of fire, thumping, rolling, and wailing miserably.

The deterrence of the flames became the last straw that broke the camel's back. The C Company of the Second Assam Regiment (Battalion) stationed at the main position of Gangri Gabu Mountain collapsed immediately. The entire mountain was swept away in ten seconds.

"Wan Sheng—"

(End of this chapter)