The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 17 Casualties and Empty Pay

In this battle, He Wei fought with all his strength and finally repelled the Japanese attack. This was also the first time he faced a real organic Japanese attack after traveling through time.

It has to be said that the Japanese attack just now was very sharp. Fortunately, He Wei fought tooth and nail to kill the outflanking Japanese army. Otherwise, it is unclear whether the position could be saved.

First, they used deceptive shooting to attract the Japanese troops, and then used machine gun fire and grenade throwing to counterattack and annihilate the incoming Japanese troops. They even calmly commanded the third squadron to counterattack. They took the lead and rushed out of the trench with light machine guns, and even took a bite of the Japanese troops and ate them. The grenade group's fight was quite exciting, and the excitement was also thrilling. To tell the truth, He Wei was indeed a little scared.

Of course, He Wei commanded desperately and the result of the brave fighting was not just as simple as repelling the Japanese attack. At the end of the battle just now, He Wei shouted, "Carry the bodies of the wounded soldiers and make up for the position!"

As soon as the order was given, all the soldiers in the platoon followed it obediently, and everyone looked at He Wei differently from before.

In the past, He Wei was just a young trainee platoon leader who had not been in the army for a long time, and anyone dared to step on him. After this battle, it was completely different.

He Wei secretly thought: The best way to gain authority in the army is indeed to fight. Here, it belongs to the strong.But just this time, it is not enough to completely establish authority in the platoon and shock the entire platoon.

……

After a row of positions, the soldiers had already shot the cleared corpses on both sides of the traffic trench. The bodies of the dead soldiers were stacked in twos and threes. The wounded soldiers were also gathered together, and several soldiers were sent to take care of them.

Similarly, the few Japanese corpses and weapons that almost outflanked and rushed into the flank of a row of positions and attacked the third squadron's position were also carried over by the soldiers.

The third squad leader, Tu Desheng, led a few soldiers to search out the weapons, ammunition and bits and pieces of equipment from the fallen brothers, including formal rifles, bayonets, grenades that were not lost, bullet belts and water bottles, leggings, helmets, fried rice bags and personal belongings. down.

The army was poor, and even the Central Army like He Wei and others were relatively wealthy. All the equipment and equipment of the fallen soldiers, as long as they were usable, had to be gathered together, even things like leggings.

However, it is absolutely impossible to move the pants, shoes and hat. This is the rule. No one wants to be buried naked after being killed in battle.

But they were not so polite to the corpses of the Japanese soldiers. All the clothes of the Japanese soldiers were stripped off, and not even half a piece of cloth was left on the corpses. In the trenches, the veterans in the first row were tearing away the Japanese uniforms with bayonets. Cut it out bit by bit as a preparatory fabric for leggings.

……

"Platoon commander, the casualty statistics are out."

After a while, squad leader Ge Guicai ran over and said to He Wei.

"How many casualties?"

Ge Guicai looked very distressed and murmured: "Quite a few. Three people from my first squad were killed, one was slightly injured, and two were seriously injured. Luo Youdao's second squad was killed with three people, two were slightly injured, and two were seriously injured. Tu Desheng Five of the third squad were killed and one was slightly wounded. The platoon leader and deputy squad leader of the second squad, Yang Decai, were also killed. Apart from being blown to pieces by artillery, the bodies were incompletely assembled. All the bodies were gathered together and buried in several bomb craters. "

"Eleven were killed in action, four were slightly injured, and four were seriously injured..." He Wei's brows suddenly showed a few grooves. There were 19 casualties at once, most of them were killed in action. The first three of the whole platoon were killed in action. There were only 38 people in the class, and more than half of them were casualties.

Thinking about the Japanese side, including those killed by mortars, He Wei estimated that there were only about thirteen or four Japanese who fell in front of the position in the battle just now.

Counting the number of killed in battle, the Japanese may have had more casualties than his own platoon, but counting those with minor and serious injuries, He Wei estimated that the exchange ratio with the Japanese was barely one to one, and if he hadn't reacted quickly, he would have run away. Go to the third squadron position to risk your life. This position may have been captured.

Not to mention the fierce firepower of the Japanese army, their combat quality is also higher. Their shooting accuracy, tactical movements, and coordination with cover are all better than those of their brothers. Although He Wei has advanced tactical awareness and combat knowledge, it is impossible for him to do so. Immediately raising the combat effectiveness of a platoon of people is just a fucking daydream. There is a clear gap in combat quality and firepower between the two sides, and his own fortifications have not yet been completed. With this exchange ratio, He Wei I feel that my brothers have performed extremely well.

"Squad leader Ge, how is the condition of the injured brother?"

"Those with minor injuries are all fine. They were scratched by shrapnel and gravel. The vital parts were not hit. They were all wrapped up with the wound wraps issued. After being bandaged, they can still fight. The two seriously injured... Send them down quickly, one of them is dying."

He Wei thought for a moment and said to Tao Heiwa: "Heiwa, bring the roster and pencils in the bag, and then ask the brothers in the trenches to strengthen their vigilance and prepare for battle. This is only the first round of attack. The Japanese can attack anytime, anywhere. Call again and go to the third squad leader Tu Desheng and ask him to evacuate the seriously injured brothers immediately. He must hand over the seriously injured soldiers to the company commander and ask him to tell the company commander that the two seriously injured ones are dying and go quickly! "

Tao Heiwa gave the things to He Wei and immediately left to convey orders to Tu Desheng, leaving He Wei and Ge Guicai behind.

"Squad leader Ge, first cross out the names of the fallen brothers, and then go and register them with the company commander."

Squad Leader Ge nodded: "Okay, I can also name those who died in the second and third squads."

Ge Guicai is illiterate, but he has been in the army for ten years and is the most prestigious senior squad leader in the company. He has long developed a good memory and can remember the names and hometowns of everyone in the platoon. After a battle, registering the dead list is a must. .He Wei opened the blue-covered roster and held the pencil left by the previous platoon leader.

Turning over the roster, the inner page reads "Roster of the First Platoon of the Sixth Infantry Company"

The first line below is a crossed-out name - Lin Genghuan. Below Lin Genghuan's name are three lines recording personal circumstances, duties and casualties. "Second Lieutenant and Platoon Commander of the Sixth Company and One Platoon"

"August 26, 25, killed in action, location: Pingxi, Zhenbiancheng Highland, 26 years old, nationality: Shandong, Yantai, origin: graduated from the ninth phase of the Central Military Academy's infantry course"

A big red cross directly covered the name written in black fountain pen. For some reason, He Wei felt a little uncomfortable.There are also many names marked with red crosses on the soldier rosters on the following pages. Just two strokes represent a person's life or death.

And He Wei's name is just below the name of the old platoon leader Lin Genghuan.

Of course, there is no cross on the name, only a few words below - second lieutenant trainee, promoted to second lieutenant platoon leader, origin: [-]th Infantry Division of the Central Military Academy.

He Wei couldn't help but feel a slight chill running down his spine, thinking that one day he might also be cross-crossed, and that this bad life that he had just traveled through time might be lost again...

Ge Guicai, who was used to seeing life and death, looked as usual, worthy of being an old soldier who had experienced life and death.

That's all, there's no point in thinking so much. He temporarily put aside the random thoughts in his mind, and He Wei blew on his pencil.

"Monitor Ge, tell me."

"Okay, among those of my first class who died in battle are Private Cao Datian, a native of Fuyang, Private Zhao Guozhen, who was from Qianxian County, Shaanxi Province, and First Class Private Chi Zhongfa, who was from Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. Among those who died in the second squadron are Private Xu You, a native of Minhou, Fujian Province. Private Gao Yiqiang, from Xi'an, Shaanxi..."

Soon, looking at the roster, He Wei registered all the dead in the platoon one by one. This was the first time he had opened the roster to register since he took over as platoon leader.

As he was writing and writing, He Wei suddenly discovered that according to the standard, a class had 14 people, but on the list of the third class on the roster, there was a word "named" written out of thin air.

His eyes fell on the non-existent name, and He Wei humbly asked Ge Guicai what happened.

"Haha, Platoon Leader He, this is called a vacancy in the army. The extra person from the third squad is not there at all. It is written as a registered person. The usual establishment is 14 people, but the third squad has a registered person. In fact, there are only 13 people in normal times.

The pay, clothing, straw sandals, firewood, and monthly military rice rations and meals for these registered soldiers were all paid as usual, but they were all eaten by the officers. Each company and platoon were registered, one for each platoon. , a company has three platoons, plus the company headquarters’ registration, that’s five registrations. "

"The bulk of the military pay and clothes are usually taken by the division and brigade headquarters. The remaining food expenses, straw sandals, and firewood expenses are paid by the regiment headquarters and company commanders and battalion commanders. You are a new officer. These names should be recorded by you. You should know it in your heart, but just pretend you don’t see it.”

He Wei nodded: "So that's it, I understand."

Eating empty pay and recording empty names. This kind of corruption has existed since the founding of the national army. It has now evolved into a default unspoken rule in the national army. It is a deep-seated, habitual behavior that is accelerating the corrosion of this army. an army.

The life creed of many Huangpu officers has long been different from the famous military school motto: "If you want to get promoted and make a fortune, please go another way. If you are greedy for life and fear of death, don't enter this school."

Free money and corruption have become commonplace.

In the [-]th Division under He Wei, each platoon was registered, which was actually very conscientious.

For example, the No. 80 Eighth Division, the elite division of Huangpu, did much more ruthlessly than the Tenth Division.
He Wei suddenly remembered that in this body's memory a month ago, Fang Jing, another platoon leader of the Sixth Company, seemed to have quietly mentioned something to him.

Fang Jing graduated from the 80th class of Huangpu Military Academy. One of his classmates from the [-]th class of Huangpu Military Academy was assigned to the No. [-] Eighth Division stationed in Nanjing after graduation.

This classmate once wrote to Fang Jing describing the internal situation of the 88th Division: Each infantry class in the division is equipped with 16 people, and the actual number of ordinary infantry classes in the division is generally only eleven or twelve, and No. 80 alone The division headquarters has as many as ten names in each infantry company. After being stripped down at all levels, plus the daily wounded and sick, the effective combat number of each 16-man infantry squad in the division is only There were eleven or twelve or even only ten. Some companies sometimes even had more firearms than the actual strength of the company due to empty registrations. Each company was often "owed" for monthly office expenses. hair"

As for deducting food and straw sandals from soldiers, it was even more commonplace.

With eleven effective combatants to maintain an actual combat organization of sixteen, there is naturally a big question mark as to the actual combat effectiveness that the troops can exert! !

Ge Guicai seemed to have remembered something and said very normally: "Platoon Commander He, you have not been in the army for a long time, and you are still not sure enough about some things. The commander is short of quota and makes me a soldier. When I follow the Northern Expedition to conquer the east and west, Yes, there are too many. The higher-ups turn a blind eye to the matter. When the roll call comes, they say that these registered soldiers are sick and hospitalized, unable to participate in the roll call, or they have to find people from other troops. If you pretend to be someone else, the higher-ups won’t investigate it carefully, so you’ll just get past it.”

He understood what was probably going on and had no time to care about the long-standing abuses in the army. Although he hated this kind of behavior, the war was imminent and he was unable to care about such things now. However, He Wei secretly swore in his heart that if one day he became a Jia, who has become the commander-in-chief of the army, will never allow this to happen!

With a hmm, He Wei put away his roster, tightened his belt, stood up and raised the Czech style

"Squad Leader Ge, thank you for your hard work. Go and tighten your defenses. The Japs may be coming again."

(End of this chapter)