The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 104 Traces of Deserters
The Japanese troops withdrew. Seeing the deserted open space in front of the position after the smoke cleared, He Wei put down his binoculars and let out a sigh of relief.

He took off his helmet and military cap, sat down with a plop, and fought for five hours. This battle was the largest battle he had commanded since time travel, and it was also the battle with the most fruitful results.

He Wei now felt a sense of relief all over his body. The fierce fighting lasted from early morning to the afternoon. The fighting time was unprecedented in his time travel. Judging from the casualties caused to the Japanese army, there was a high probability that the Japanese army would not launch another attack today. After the attack, He Wei's tense nerves relaxed in an instant.

Silence returned to the battlefield again. Except for the painful wails of the wounded Japanese soldiers, no sound could be heard. The officers and soldiers in the first row seemed to have deliberately knocked down all the wounded Japanese soldiers who could move with their rifles. All the wounded Japanese soldiers who lost the ability to move and could only fall to the ground and linger on were left alone and allowed to wail in pain.

Perhaps, watching the wounded Japanese soldiers who were unable to move fall to the ground with little signs of losing their lives would make the officers and soldiers in the first row feel more happy than simply ending their lives with a bullet.

Most of the comrades around them have been killed, and the friendly forces behind them have all retreated. Even the enemy is unwilling to give them a bullet that can end their pain. What is left for these wounded soldiers is despair.

"Sir, the food is ready, let's eat."

Suddenly, the back door of the bunker was pushed open, and the company's cooking squad leader led a few cooks and walked in carrying two large pots. The battlefield of the combat soldiers was on the front line. These cooks also had their own battlefields. The delicious aroma aroused the greed in He Wei's stomach.

"Quickly, bring the pot in."

The cooking squad leader yelled and directed several cooks to put down the two large pots and opened the lids. They saw that one large pot was filled with fragrant stewed pork, and there was also some green stuff that seemed to be Baisong. Wild vegetables, and the other pot was filled with steaming white rice. This aroused He Wei's curiosity. Since the [-]th Division arrived in Shanxi to fight, the staple food of the military rations they usually eat is basically pasta, not noodles. , that is, steamed buns and various strange moon cakes, steamed buns and steamed buns, and only fried rice and brown rice occasionally, but serious white rice never once.

“Where does this rice come from?”

The cooking squad leader said: "This fine white rice was bought by the army at a rice store in Taiyuan a few days ago. It was only distributed to the company last night. He said that he was going to risk his life now and had to give the brothers a good meal. Many brothers are from the south. They usually eat rice. After arriving in Shanxi, they eat noodles every day. Now they are risking their lives. No matter what, we have to let the brothers have a comfortable meal."

He Wei nodded. Indeed, all the Central Army troops of the National Army were stationed in Jiangsu, Zhejiang or the south. Most of the soldiers were from the south. Their daily diet was mainly rice and rarely pasta. Before the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the [-]th Division had been stationed in Jiangsu and Zhejiang for a long time. They were stationed in the Fujian and Fujian areas, and most of the soldiers they recruited came from these places.

And the quality of this pot of rice is indeed very high. The rice grains are full and the surface is complete and smooth. Even before He Wei traveled through time, it was definitely considered to be very good rice. Seeing He Wei staring at the pot of rice, the cooking squad leader was cautious asked: "Sir, your accent sounds like you are from the north. If you don't want to eat rice, can I find a way to get you some pasta?"

He Wei smiled bitterly and waved his hand: "Thank you for your kindness, brother. I am indeed from the north, but it is further north than North China. I am from the Northeast. I went to Guan in exile after the fall of the four eastern provinces in September 20, and took the Huangpu exam. When it comes to eating rice, I'm afraid I eat more than you. Not only do we eat rice, we also eat sorghum rice. I don't know if you have ever eaten it. In the summer, soak it in cold water. It's very delicious. Sometimes during the year. When the weather was bad, we ate rice and sorghum mixed together, called Ermi rice. Unfortunately, I ran into the country after September [-], [-], and never ate it again."

Seeing a hint of loneliness flash in He Wei's eyes, the quartermaster sergeant on the side quickly changed the subject and said to He Wei: "Sir, you should eat first. I have been hungry for such a long time."

He Wei said: "Don't worry about me for now. Call each platoon and ask someone from each class to come and receive the meal."

After saying that, He Wei took the big spoon from the cooking squad leader and stirred it in the pot of stewed pork. This dish also has the style of pork, cabbage and vermicelli stew, a famous dish in his hometown. Unfortunately, there is only pitiful food in it. As for wild vegetables, if you get some cabbage and vermicelli and throw them in, it will be delicious.

Suddenly remembering that there seemed to be a lot of captured Japanese cans in the position, He Wei hurriedly said to the quartermaster sergeant: "Brother, don't we still have a lot of captured Japanese cans in our company? Please ask someone to bring a few cans. Use a bayonet to open it, and while the meat is still hot, put it into the pot one by one, which can also be used as an extra dish for the brothers."

After receiving the order, the quartermaster sergeant immediately sent someone to get the things.

He Wei looked at the group of cooks and soldiers again. Apart from the tools used to hold spoons, the whole body was just a belt.

He Wei then asked: "How did you get here? Without weapons?"

The cooking squad leader scratched his head and said with a smile: "Sir, we were cooking in the village while you were fighting. When the rice was ready, the battle in front was also over, so we brought it up along the traffic ditch. Sir, you don't know anything. , our cooking class has never been equipped with weapons, but we have touched guns. When the army changed guns two years ago, we were given five pieces of Hanyang-made guns to our cooking class. However, I usually use those guns as carrying poles to carry poles, which are comparable to carrying poles. The strips are much easier to use, but it’s a pity that we fought with the Japs in Beiping two months ago, and when we retreated, we were busy picking up pots, spoons and cutlery, so we lost those Hanyang strips.”

He Wei was speechless for a moment. Although the rifles he was given to them were Hanyang-made rifles that were replaced by the official rifles during the infantry change, they were also rifles, not wooden gangsters. This gang of cook soldiers actually gave them to them. Using his rifle to pick things up really left He Wei speechless.

After all, the current national army is still a small number of troops that can use medium-sized and imported new rifles. The vast majority of field troops currently use Hanyang-made rifles that are improved by Hanyang Arsenal on the basis of old sleeves. They can even It is said that during the entire Anti-Japanese War, Hanyang-made rifles were the main rifles of the Chinese army, and now, many troops even use old sleeves and singles.

Although the No. 14 Fifth Division of the No. 80 Army is a German-style adjustment division, due to its late inclusion in the sequence of adjustment divisions, it mainly changed the organization structure of the unit and did not add any new equipment. This division The equipment was the Hanyang-made rifle that this group of cooking squad soldiers used as their pick.

Shaking his head, He Wei said to the cooking squad leader: "You are really good at it. At the critical moment, you have to take the life-saving guy. You don't take the gun, but the pots and pans. Am I saying that you are not smart, or are you loyal to your job? Woolen cloth."

The cook squad leader chuckled: "Sir, to tell you the truth, I have also shot. When I first joined the army, during the recruit training, I still used the rifle made in your hometown. I remember it was the Liao-made Sanba Gaigai, which is exactly the same as the Japanese rifle. , I studied for more than ten days, and finally gave me five rounds of bullets for target shooting. Other brothers could hit one or two bullets, but I shaved my head and missed with one bullet. Then the squad leader gave me another five bullets. bullets, this time I hit three."

"Oh? Then you are making rapid progress."

He Wei said.

The cooking squad leader changed the subject and said, "It's a pity that those three shots didn't hit my own target, but all hit someone else's target."

He Wei was speechless again. It was normal to be unable to hit the target. Being able to hit three bullets on other people's targets was also beyond human reach. He looked at the rank on the collar of the cook squad leader and saw that he was still a sergeant.

He Wei asked again: "What is your name?"

The squad leader stood at attention and said: "Sir, my name is Xiong Mancang."

"Good name, good name. You can put bullets on other people's targets. You are also a talent. Listen, I am the acting company commander now. The company currently has insufficient troops. You non-combatants, as before, The old rule is not to be equipped with weapons. Now I have the final say. At the critical moment, the cook must also be able to fight with the Japanese. You will go to the quartermaster sergeant later to get the weapons. I even captured many Japanese soldiers. Guy, you will receive as many bullets as there are people in your cooking class, and then each person will receive a bayonet and twenty rounds of rifle bullets." "You said you have shot [-]-year-old Guy, then I guess you don't know how to use this gun. You understand very well. Now we don’t have any extra Chinese-style rifles to send to you, so we’ll just make do with the Type [-]. This gun has many advantages, it’s lightweight, and its recoil is much smaller than our Chinese-style rifles. You can use it first. "

Xiong Mancang looked embarrassed and said: "Sir, what are you asking me to do? I'm not good at using guns, and I won't lie to you. I only did the job of a cook because the commander thought I was too stupid." They know how to shoot, and they said that leaving me as an infantryman would be a waste of bullets. If you ask me to teach them, what kind of good apprentice can a bad master like me bring out? Sir, if you let me go up and fight for my life, my old bear won’t say a word, I’m sure. Go up and fight with the Japanese with a kitchen knife. My knife can kill chickens, pigs, sheep, and Japanese."

He Wei squinted his eyes and looked at Xiong Mancang, who had such a big reaction. This guy said it was good, but he was actually afraid of firing a gun at them, so he had to go to the front line to risk his life. He was very shrewd, but He Wei Wei was too lazy to bother with him. He was now the acting company commander. In theory, let alone being the leader of the gun, even if he was asked to attack the Japanese positions with a big pot on his head and a frying spoon in his hand, this guy would have to obey unconditionally.

"I don't want to talk more. Everyone, every cook, is given a [-]-meter cap, a bayonet, and twenty rounds of rifle ammunition. Go and get it immediately after eating. Do you need me to repeat the order?"

When Xiong Mancang saw He Wei acting like this, he immediately changed his tune and stood at attention to salute.

"Understood, sir."

While the two were talking, the quartermaster sergeant quickly returned to the command post with five or six boxes of cans seized from the Japanese army. Xiong Mancang showed his skill with a knife and used the bayonet of his rifle to pry open the cans. It only took a few seconds. In just a few minutes, several boxes of cans were cut into piles of thin slices. In this year and age, Japan’s resources are far from being exhausted. The materials used in the cans are pretty good, including canned beef and canned pork, which are sliced ​​into slices. Then he threw it into the stew pot, and there was another dish.

People from each squad platoon who came to get meals arrived at the command post one after another. The people in the first row who came to receive meals happened to be Ge Guicai and a few soldiers. Taking advantage of the meal, Ge Guicai also reported the battle situation in the first platoon. Wei made a brief report. The battle process was very simple, just shooting, just keep shooting.

This kind of pure firepower battle brings a lot of ammunition consumption. The Type [-] heavy machine guns equipped in the first row serve as the absolute pillar of firepower and consume almost all the ammunition and all the cooling water pre-stored in the bunker. Czech Republic The Type [-] light machine gun also used up two-thirds of its pre-stored ammunition. The least consumed was the Jin-made imitation Type [-] heavy machine gun. However, machine gun shooters also rated this gun very poorly. The reason for the low consumption was that the rate of fire was too slow. , and the barrel cannot be replaced quickly, and the only option is to wait for the air to cool naturally.

Hearing this, He Wei couldn't help but sigh. War is about logistics. If you want to bleed less and die less, you have to spend more ammunition and steel. According to Ge Guicai, the ground in the first row of bunkers was bare. Several layers of empty bullet casings had been laid out, and the casualties incurred by the first platoon were much smaller than the large amount of ammunition it consumed.

Including soldiers from the heavy machine gun company assigned to combat, a total of six soldiers in the first platoon were killed and three soldiers were wounded, for a total of nine casualties.

Compared with the hundreds of Japanese corpses in front of the position, this number of casualties is simply negligible. Reinforced with steel plates, the carefully constructed bunker withstood the test of Japanese artillery fire. Basically, these casualties occurred during shooting. It was caused by shrapnel produced by the Japanese shelling. The explosion of the artillery shell would produce shrapnel. If a firing port was opened in the bunker, there would be the possibility of shrapnel flying in. This was inevitable. Even if the bunker was built into an iron wall, it could not be avoided.

Single-digit casualties were exchanged for hundreds of Japanese corpses. This transaction was well worth it.

After finishing the meal, He Wei also feasted on white rice and stewed pork. Just as he sat down and wanted to sleep for a while, the phone rang. As soon as the call was connected, Chen Zhen's hearty laughter came from the phone.

"Hahahahaha, I saw what you guys were doing. You did it well and beautifully. That Shanxi mine was really good. The explosion outside Zhuangzi shook the tables and chairs in my command post. I I didn’t go to see it in person, but I just took a look through the binoculars. There are all densely packed corpses in front of your position. I’m afraid there must be hundreds of them, right?”

He Wei didn't have time to count, so he could only report a conservative estimate.

"Sir, I estimate that there are three hundred complete ones now. If you want to find out, you have to wait until dark and clean the battlefield to find out."

"Very good, it's so fucking fun. I killed hundreds of enemies at once. It's fun, it's fun. Hey, I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear?"

He Wei said: "Sir, don't be too tight-lipped. It's already this time. What good news can there be?"

But I heard Chen Zhen hey and say, "Those deserters in your camp have been caught."

He Wei immediately raised his voice and said, "Has the mortar platoon leader Huang Yanwang been captured?"

"Here's the bad thing. After this incident was reported yesterday, the division commander was very angry. Originally, you were commended and promoted by the army commander himself, and the division commander felt proud. But when this incident happened, the division commander was so angry that he even ordered the special agents to be arrested. The whole cavalry company was sent out just to catch these deserters. These guys were smart enough to run away separately. A sergeant on horseback happened to bump into the cavalry company. He couldn't run anymore, so he called the cavalry. Even he was shot to death, and there was also a sergeant who lost his way on horseback. He didn't know how he escaped, and broke into the defense area of ​​the 83rd Division of the friendly army. This idiot was also a tough guy. He panicked when he was detained and interrogated by the friendly army. God, he fired directly at friendly forces and injured a captain battalion of the 83rd Division. Our division commander had a good time on the phone to apologize to Commander Liu of the 83rd Division."

"What about this guy we caught?"

"The 83rd Division shot people as soon as they were transferred to our division."

"Only two people were caught? That King of Hell was not caught?"

"Hmph, there's not even a trace of this man till now. It's really strange. According to what you reported, these guys took away two horses, three shell guns and two rifles. The one they killed now is There were two of them, two medium-sized formals and two shell guns, one horse for each person, and dozens of French coins were found on them. The man surnamed Huang only had two legs and had nothing to eat. His grandmother's was better than four. Those with leggings can still run."

He Wei couldn't help but fall into deep doubts when he heard that Huang Yan Wang had not been caught so far.

On the other end of the phone, Chen Zhen changed the topic and said in a deep voice: "Don't worry about those unlucky things for now. Write a brief battle report. I will send someone to replenish you with a batch of ammunition and supplies in a while, just in time for them to deliver it." When I came back, the Army Commander was very concerned about the fighting here and asked me to submit battle reports every day. I am a rough guy. I heard from Battalion Commander Wang that you Huangpu students should learn how to write battle reports when you are in the military academy. You are also the commander. Officer, I leave this job to you."

Writing battle reports is no problem for He Wei. There is a book called the Battle Order, which is a textbook that every Huangpu Military Academy student must study when studying in the military academy.

This textbook was originally translated from Japanese. Its main content is to teach military school students how to prepare various military documents, such as battle reports, detailed battle reports, ammunition and weapon loss schedules, and personnel promotions, sick leave, and transfers. The writing of Li Deng's official documents is all condensed in this book.

After three years at Nanjing Whampoa Military Academy, He Wei had thoroughly studied this book. Writing a detailed battle report of a single day's battle was naturally a piece of cake.

But what was lingering in his mind now was something else.

(End of this chapter)