afterglow

Chapter 38 Last Words
After suffering from yesterday's loss, the British and Indian troops' offensive today is more stable-the offensive formation is more sparse, and the infantry leaps forward in groups with more flexibility, and yesterday's aggressive charge is no longer seen.

Whenever the firepower of the Ming army is exposed, it will immediately lead to direct fire from the accompanying cruise tanks; several QF 3.7-inch mountain guns are also deployed in front of the attack starting position, and accurately bombard any firing Ming army machine gun positions.

After the more than 180 officers and soldiers of the second team replaced the first team with more than 50% casualties, they did not expect to lose nearly [-] people in just one morning, and the captain Sun Cheng's glasses were broken.

Facing the three-pronged approach of aircraft, artillery and tanks, infantry alone is still too difficult to deal with. The soldiers of the Ming army who have been suppressed almost all the time can only use field fortifications to defend tenaciously, and the price is extremely fast casualties.

Zhou Changfeng expected the enemy's learning speed, or the ability to adapt to changes. The key to determining whether an army is strong or not is their learning ability and the speed at which they can adapt to new opponents and new environments.

For example, on the Pacific battlefield, after being beaten up several times in island battles, the Japanese army realized that it is not appropriate to recklessly fight back when guarding an isolated island, and then decisively changed its tactical thinking, and gradually consumed the US military with strong fortifications and a defense-in-depth system, allowing the US military to stay on Iwo Jima. I suffered a lot.

Another example is in a certain peninsula war. The U.S. military was beaten dizzy and embarrassed by a certain army in the early battles, but soon realized the opponent's weakness in logistics support, and then turned to "magnetic tactics" to deal with "worship". Offensive", once turned the tide of the battle.

If factors such as industry are not considered, it can be said that war is a process of continuous exchanges and learning between the armies of the two sides. The cost is the lives of the soldiers, and the result is that they can take the lead.

Regarding the current battle situation, Zhou Changfeng has a very clear understanding - the British and Indian troops are trying to consume their own vital forces through superior firepower to prepare for the subsequent attack on the city, and then break through the heavy-loss defense line of the Ming army in one go!

It is now the [-]th day, and he is full of confidence in the order to stick to it until tomorrow evening, and is determined to teach these arrogant British and Indian troops a lesson while minimizing his own casualties.

Obviously, Zhou Changfeng didn't like any of these two words, and the combination would make him even more annoying.

While besieging Height Zero, the British and Indian troops also dispatched about a company supported by seven tanks to the northwest of the city, built bunkers on the spot, and fired guns at the Ming army in the city to contain them. .

They actually sent a party into the woods to the north, but that party quickly backed off—without it, the tragedy was horrific.

The woods that had burned for a day and night were basically extinguished, but there were dots of embers everywhere, and there were corpses of the British and Indian soldiers scattered all over the place, most of which were charred and charred. It is estimated that at least 150 people were buried here.

At noon, the British and Indian troops suspended their offensive, but they did not stop their shelling. The soldiers of the Fourth Artillery Battalion were divided into two groups, one for eating and one for firing.

In the whole afternoon that followed, the British and Indian troops launched a total of four attacks on Height Zero. The two large-scale assaults rushed to the position, but they were all driven out by the Ming army with bayonets and grenades.

During this period, mortar support from the city also played a vital role, and half of the base ammunition was consumed in one afternoon.

Zhou Changfeng frowned and looked in that direction with his binoculars. Since this morning, the continuous shelling has never stopped.

The No. [-] Highland, which was attacked on three sides, was in danger. Sun Cheng was hit when he personally led the reserve team to launch a countercharge.After holding the position, several soldiers took the risk of taking the seriously injured him down on a stretcher, and sent him back to the urban area after a long detour.

"Come on people!!!"

"Save our captain!"

There was an operating room on the first floor of the hospital building, which was convenient for the Ming army to perform simple operations.

Looking at Sun Cheng whose clothes were almost soaked in blood, Zhou Changfeng didn't know what to say. He turned his head and turned to the side. Just at this moment, a wounded person had finished the operation and the door opened.

The second lieutenant, the military doctor who performed the surgery, came out and briefly checked Sun Cheng on the stretcher.His eyes were serious, and he said calmly: "This injury can't be cured unless it is transferred to the big hospital in the rear immediately."

A .303Mk.VII rifle bullet hit his abdomen, causing damage to his internal organs and massive blood loss, and a fragment of a Mills grenade hit his left lung, resulting in an open pneumothorax. In fact, even Yingtian Army General Hospital suffered such injuries. Difficult to save.

The 7.7×56㎜Mk.VII rifle ammunition equipped by the British Commonwealth Army can be called violent. The back of the human body is very easy to lose stability and roll, which can cause exaggerated injuries.

While expressing the cruelty of Dum bombs and announcing their elimination, while developing full-metal jacketed bombs that can achieve the same killing effect, it is more correct to describe the sanctimonious British people as "hypocrites".

After hearing the military doctor's cruel sentence, all the people present fell silent.

Sun Cheng, whose face was covered in blood and dust, smiled bitterly, and then coughed a series of times, with more dark red blood overflowing from the corner of his mouth.

"You...what else do you want to explain?" Zhou Changfeng met his eyes.

"First...previously...the battle situation is critical, I...organized a death squad, please...the battalion commander remember..." Sun Cheng reported six numbers, which are the soldier's number, and at the same time he took out a small cloth bag and handed it to him. past.

Temporary death squads have special treatment - double the pension, and no matter whether the body is found or not, it cannot be counted as missing.

Generally speaking, what soldiers fear and hate the most is being counted as missing after death, because only half of the pension will be issued for missing people; however, in fierce battlefields, it is very common for corpses to be bombed and mutilated beyond recognition , Sometimes even the identity card will disappear.

The blood soaked through the thick bandage, slowly pooled on the stretcher, and then spread to the surroundings, and soon a pool of blood formed under his body.

"I don't know if Ma'am is pregnant. If... If she is pregnant, let her abort... My family Ding Xingwang is not bad. She is still young, so she must choose someone to remarry... She is very stubborn, Battalion Commander, she must Persuade her...give her the pension, and my family is not short of money..."

Sun Cheng had a good background, a scholarly family, and a family of officials and officials, but he was the only junior who chose to join the army.Although his father was extremely dissatisfied, he still asked him to come to the Imperial Army through his relationship. He felt that this would not only fulfill his youngest son's wish, but also enable him to retire safely. Unfortunately, things backfired.

Zhou Changfeng nodded without hesitation, and said solemnly, "I promise."

"My father... has always felt that joining the army is a failure of the family... Huh!" Under the dim light, Sun Cheng, who was short of breath and pale, murmured a few words, and finally said: "Give me another injection."

The medical soldier next to him immediately took out another dose of painkiller needle, leaned over and pricked it for him, Sun Cheng's complexion eased a little, and he waved Zhou Changfeng back to take command.

The latter took a deep breath, solemnly crossed his hands to salute, and then left quickly.

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[Someone mentioned that the 2-pound gun does not have high-explosive shells. The improved 2-pounder high-explosive ammunition was not mass-produced until the end of the war. 】

(End of this chapter)