The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 13 Infantry tactics in this era

Hearing that the Japanese infantry were approaching, a row of soldiers who were bombed and disgraced in the trench received orders to shake off the dirt and dust on their bodies, picked up their weapons, loaded their rifles, and opened their grenades, ready to face the enemy.

The same goes for several soldiers who were injured by shrapnel. They held their guns and faced the enemy. At this moment, the lightly wounded soldiers were used as combat soldiers.

At this time, He Wei was lying on the trench and saw the general situation of the Japanese infantry. About 400 meters in front of a row of positions, the number of people in front of the Japanese assault was roughly a small group, forming a narrow column formation. Advancing, suddenly, a sharp whistle sounded, and the commanding Japanese squad leader waved his saber and shouted: "Disperse!"

Suddenly, the Japanese squadron, which was advancing in columns, suddenly began to spread out vertically. The leading infantry detachment continued to move forward, while the other two infantry detachments moved diagonally to both sides, one to the left and one to the right, with the leading detachment as the center. The grenade detachment did not move and continued to advance. The entire squad completed the transformation from column formation to diamond horizontal formation at an extremely fast speed (Articles 145 and 146 of the Infantry Manual)
After advancing dozens of people in a diamond formation, the three infantry detachments located in the front half of the diamond formation unfolded under the command of the squad leader. Each infantry detachment of 13 people was divided into three four-person groups, each group The first soldier and the second soldier rush forward at a distance of six steps, the third soldier and the second soldier are three steps horizontally and six steps apart vertically, and the fourth soldier is three steps horizontally and six steps apart vertically from the third soldier. .

Each infantry detachment is divided into two four-man rifle groups and one four-man light machine gun group. The three groups move at the same time and spread out laterally according to the same spacing specifications. The diamond-shaped assault formation of the entire infantry squad spreads out laterally with the squad. , further expanded, and the grenade detachment at the end of the diamond also deployed in a similar manner to the infantry detachment. The three grenade launchers were centered on the reference grenade launcher in the center and deployed at an interval of twelve steps per launch.

The increase in the density of infantry bullets and the improvement of rifle performance have pushed the queuing and shooting tactics into the era of skirmisher line tactics. Long skirmisher lines with companies and platoons as units, accompanied by wave-like skirmisher line group hand-to-hand charges, have become the battlefield The mainstream tactics in the war, and the massive human lives harvested by heavy machine guns and other automatic firearms during the First World War ruthlessly eliminated the skirmishing tactics.

What followed was the skirmishing group tactics. Skirmishing group tactics with light machine guns and light mortars as the core further divided grassroots combat units such as squads and platoons, and transformed the smallest unit of infantry combat in the war into a group consisting of several people. The combat team uses the light machine gun team as fire cover, and the riflemen of the rifle team charge, reconnaissance, assault, and scout. Each team alternately covers each other, and uses terrain and features to carry out offense and defense!

This is the infantry tactics of this era!

He Wei looked at the Japanese assault formation. There were not many attacking Japanese troops. The one at the front was an infantry squad, and with the ones at the sides and rear, it was less than a squadron. However, the rapid attack speed and fierce attack of the Japanese troops The tactics, skillful formation changes, and the rumbling sound of artillery behind him still made He Wei feel great pressure.

While silently chanting in his mind to calm down, He Wei seemed to see another group of Japanese soldiers behind the attacking infantry formation. They were bent over and lying on the ground, carrying heavy machine guns and following up behind the attacking infantry.

Behind the first platoon, the Japanese army's shelling of the second and third line positions continued. The not intensive shelling made He Wei break out in cold sweat at this time.

"Send the order, take the sound of my gun as an order, no one is allowed to fire before I fire!" He Wei shouted.

"Yes!" Xiao Tao, the messenger, bent down and moved in the trench very skillfully, repeating He Wei's battle orders.

He Wei, who was observing the enemy's situation in the trench, broke out in a cold sweat.

Although he didn't know how much firepower the Japanese army had on hand now, he was certain that the Japanese army was attacking the front of their own position with a small number of troops. If He Wei's guess was correct, the Japanese army would then suppress their own position with firepower. , attracting a row of soldiers to open fire, exposing the firepower point.

Then, the Japanese army will kill a platoon of exposed supporting fire points. The platoon that has lost its supporting firepower will be suppressed by the Japanese army and cannot raise its head, and will not be able to organize decent counterattack firepower. What kind of supporting firepower does the platoon have?It's nothing more than three Czech light machine guns for three squads. Oh, no, there are only two light machine guns in one row now, one each for the first squad and the third squad.

More than half a month ago, the Czech light machine gun of the second squadron, which was attached to the light machine gun shooter, was blown into the sky by a Japanese gunshot during the battle west of Peiping. When they arrived at Xinkou, they did not replenish the missing one in the platoon. Light machine gun.

In other words, the platoon currently only has two light machine guns. Once these two Czech light machine guns are destroyed, the platoon will be dead.

If the front is suppressed by Japanese firepower and the supporting firepower is completely lost, and the second and third line positions in the rear are suppressed by Japanese artillery fire, and the reinforcements and firepower cannot match it, making it difficult to provide effective support, then a row in the trench can only be attacked by Japanese rifles and machine guns. Grenades were blocked in the trenches and fired. Finally, the Japanese army launched another round of bayonet charges, and [-]% of the position was lost.

He Wei's platoon is now in a weak position. The entire platoon's support firepower is only two Czech light machine guns, and the rest are all rifles. It is taboo to open fire in advance.

At present, the most effective way to deal with this tactic of the Japanese army is to control the timing of firing, and fire at a close enough distance to inflict enough damage on the Japanese army, so that the Japanese army can punch the iron plate with one punch, killing as much as possible the effective strength of the Japanese army.That's why He Wei gave the order to the entire platoon that no one was allowed to fire without the sound of his gunfire as an order.

At the moment when Xiao Tao passed the order, the Japanese infantry had already rushed 11 meters away from the front of the formation. He Wei could clearly see the [-] Gai, the [-]-year-old light machine gun, and the command knife in the hands of the charging Japanese army. The sergeant is a non-commissioned officer.

The muzzle of He Wei's Zhongzheng rifle slowly pointed at the Japanese troops who were attacking head-on.

"Click, click, click." At this moment, there was a sudden muffled sound in front of the position. Rows of machine gun bullets flying from the muzzle of the Japanese Type [-] heavy machine gun hit a row of trenches and hit the heads of a row of soldiers. Suddenly, at least three Type [-] heavy machine guns opened fire unscrupulously within the naked eye sight of the row, blocking and suppressing the entire row of trenches with three consecutive bursts of fire.

"Get down! Get down!"

He Wei put his head behind the sandbag and gave orders to the soldiers to avoid bullets. But before he finished speaking, a private on the right next to the first squad leader Ge Guicai was shot through the neck, and blood splattered everywhere.

The soldier from the squad who was hit covered his neck with blood spurting out and fell in the trench facing He Wei. The gurgling blood sprayed on several soldiers from the squad. The soldier who was shot fell backwards and fell to the ground. With the rifle still pressed against his body, the soldier covered his bleeding neck with both hands. He stared at the sky with his eyes wide open. His trembling lips seemed to want to say something. The throat of his neck was squirming and bursting with blood bubbles, bright red. The blood flowed through the worn private cloth collar badge on the collar, and mixed with the dust and soil at the bottom of the trench, dyeing the helmet dark red...

The Japanese infantry attacking under the cover of heavy machine guns made a rapid assault, advancing from 300 meters to more than 200 meters in front of a row of positions. Then, the light machine gun team of the Japanese infantry unit using the Taisho 11-year-old light machine gun also stopped. Set up a light machine gun 200 meters away and fire short bursts of fire at a row of positions.

The 11-caliber Type [-] light machine gun bullets and the [-]-caliber Type [-] heavy machine gun bullets weaved a dense cross-fire net in front of a row of positions. The trenches were beaten into dust. Fortunately, in Sandbags were piled on the trenches in the row before the Japanese attack, allowing the soldiers in the row to lower their heads to avoid bullets, otherwise they would have to retreat into the trenches.

"Listen to my order and don't move!"

He Wei lowered his head, still emphasizing shooting discipline. Now was the peak of the Japanese army's suppressive firepower. The Japanese army's machine gun firepower was not only to suppress a platoon, but also to attract a platoon to fire.

The Japanese infantry rushed closer and closer, and their commands could even be heard clearly in a row of trenches. Invisible pressure and fear continued to approach, intensify, and spread in the trenches.

"boom"

Amidst the bursts of the Type 11 light machine gun and the rooster-crowding sound of the Type [-] heavy machine gun, there suddenly came the muffled sound of a Zhongzheng rifle.

He Wei looked in the direction of the gunfire and saw a group of pale-faced soldiers pulling the trigger. After firing, they hid in the trench in a daze.

He Wei said angrily: "What's going on? Are your ears stuffed with donkey hair?! Wait for my order before shooting!"

The squad leader Ge Guicai and several veterans of the squad hurriedly shouted to the soldiers of the squad: "No shooting, no one is allowed to shoot!"

The soldier who fired weapons indiscriminately was slapped with a huge backhand by Yang Biao, the first squad deputy who was not dealing with He Wei, and then kicked to the ground in the trench.

Yang Biao cursed loudly: "You're such a stinky mother. I told you not to shoot but you still opened fire. You're a newbie, don't you deserve to be slaughtered? Your stupid firing of guns can arouse a row of people into chaos." Let go, believe it or not, I buried you alive, just look at it and pick up the gun!"

The soldier who fired the shot was drawn from the supply camp directly under the [-]th Division before the war to make up for the casualty gap. The supply soldiers usually did not engage in combat training, but business training in carrying bags, bundling supplies, and delivering ammunition. In other words, this soldier had never seen the formation of a front-line infantry combat unit before he joined the first platoon. He was obviously too nervous and got fired in advance.

Fortunately, after this gunshot, He Wei did not hear anyone else firing, and it did not trigger a collective indiscriminate firing of guns in advance. He turned his attention again to the Japanese troops in front of him.

As the Japanese infantry got closer and closer to a row of positions, the farther away Japanese Type 11 heavy machine gun group no longer fired continuously, and the farther forward Type [-] light machine gun gradually became the main covering firepower of the Japanese army and was suppressed. Unable to raise their heads, the forwards of the Japanese infantry had already rushed within two hundred meters and were getting closer and closer to the first row of positions. Every soldier in the first row could clearly see the outline of the shoulders of the Japanese infantry. The pressure in the trenches suddenly increased. Many soldiers were extremely nervous, and the tension in their hearts had reached the extreme. However, due to He Wei's death order, they were still holding back from shooting. If He Wei's death order had not been suppressed, more than half of them would have died. The people had already opened fire.

He Wei looked at the Japanese troops charging forward, with a flash of fierceness in his eyes. Right in front of him, a Japanese noncommissioned officer wielding a saber was bending down and charging into a row of positions. The Japanese infantrymen with guns around him all called this name The corporal advanced for the center's methodical attack.

He Wei held his breath, his index finger on the trigger, and the muzzle of the Zhongzheng rifle was pointed directly at the arrogant Japanese noncommissioned officer more than 100 meters away...

　August [-]th Victory Day, here comes a big chapter

　　
　
(End of this chapter)