The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 206 Bloody Battle in Tangshan 7

The sound of gunfire on the highland ridge was like popping beans. Nearly two minutes after the three heavy machine gun companies of the 956th Regiment opened fire with eighteen Hotchkiss heavy machine guns, the Czech infantry squads of each infantry company of the 956th Regiment opened fire. The Japanese light machine gun also opened fire.

The Guangdong Army's infantry company's light machine gun configuration level is no different from that of the Central Army. Each infantry company's nine infantry squads are equipped with one Czech light machine gun. After the heavy machine gun tried to fire, the entire regiment had 81 Czech light machine guns. The light machine gun also spit out tongues of flame and fired in the direction of the tracer trajectory of the heavy machine gun.

Most of the eighty-one Czech light machine guns were replaced with magazines filled with tracer bullets. After the light machine guns were fully fired, a very spectacular picture appeared on the highland ridge line, with dozens of yellow or yellow lines. The green projectiles crossed each other, connected with each other, and struck overwhelmingly towards the open area below the high ground.

In order to ensure the accuracy of shooting, the light machine gun shooters of the 956th Regiment not only referenced the ballistic shooting of heavy machine guns, but many officers equipped with binoculars also went down to the most basic infantry squad to direct shooting. The Japanese army targeted the highland ridges for direct shelling. As soon as it stopped, the continuous blasts of 7.92mm tracer bullets and heavy pointed bullets resounded throughout the battlefield. No matter whether it was a light machine gun or a heavy machine gun, there was no long burst or short burst. All the shooters were just dead. He kept holding the trigger and rained down bullets on the Japanese troops below the high ground as quickly as possible.

"Come here, change the bullets."

"Bring a wet towel and put it on the barrel. It's going to smoke."

"Bullet, bullet, get the bullet quickly."

Various commands and sounds of retrieving ammunition were heard on the high ground. Soon after the light machine guns joined in the firing, the eighteen Hotchkiss heavy machine guns that were the first to fire gradually slowed down their firing speed and even ceased fire. This type of heavy machine gun is a typical air-cooled type. Heavy machine guns, the cooling of the machine gun barrel relies entirely on air, and the firepower sustainability is far inferior to the Maxim heavy machine gun, which relies on cooling water to cool down.

After this short period of high-intensity continuous shooting, the barrels of many heavy machine guns began to heat up and smoke. The machine gun shooters had to slow down their shooting speed or even cease fire, shouting and organizing the deputy shooters to replenish ammunition and cool down the barrels.

The open land below was a miserable place. The dense machine gun crossfire left the Japanese troops who rushed in with no way to escape. Within a few minutes, they were knocked to the ground in pieces. More than 80 people were killed and many more were injured.

Among them, the captain of the 6th Squadron of the 9th Infantry Regiment was killed on the spot when a 7.92mm heavy-pointed bullet penetrated his helmet. Facing the sudden and intensive firepower, the remaining Japanese troops inevitably fell into chaos. This open area was hit by dense bullets like a boiling oil pan. The dense bullets either hit the Japanese soldiers or hit the ground. Because the bullets were too dense, the ground was filled with splashing mud and dust. Looking down from the high ground, it looked like boiling water vapor, mixed with flowers composed of blood mist, and screams and calls for help came and went.

"Squad leader, help me quickly."

"Return fire quickly, the enemy on the high ground has opened fire."

This chaotic situation lasted for about five minutes. Captain Sakamoto, the captain of the 1st Squadron of the 20th Infantry Regiment, finally stood up and tried to end the chaos on the battlefield.

"Command the squad leader, command the squad leader, blow the whistle quickly."

"Everyone listen to my orders. Whether they are from the 9th Infantry Regiment or the 20th Infantry Regiment, they are now listening to my orders. Lie down, lie down quickly, don't mess up."

Captain Sakamoto, whose face was covered with blood, stood in the center of the battlefield, waving his hands constantly to organize the troops, and ordered the squadron command squad under his control to gather the troops. The veteran sergeants and commanders in the command squad under him quickly exerted themselves. Some of them did not have the combat qualities expected of an old noncommissioned officer, either blowing the whistle to command the troops, or going down in person to gather the chaotic soldiers, and some even went to contact the Sixth Squadron of the Ninth Infantry Regiment, which had lost its squadron leader.

It took almost two minutes for more than a hundred Japanese troops in the open mountain to finally restore order. The Sixth Squadron of the Ninth Infantry Regiment, which lost its supreme commander after the death of its squadron leader, also actively chose to join forces with the Twentieth Infantry Regiment. The friendly forces of the first squadron joined forces and listened to the command of the friendly squadron leader. They all lay down on the ground and began to look for bunkers.

Under the current situation, it is obviously unrealistic to build bunkers and foxholes on the spot, and the corpses of fallen soldiers are the best bunkers. Therefore, the prostrate Japanese soldiers pulled the corpses of their comrades everywhere as cover, and lightly The machine gunner and the grenadier also began to prepare for shooting.

It was only then that Captain Sakamoto got a chance to breathe. He raised his telescope and looked at the high ground. What he could see was dense tracer ballistics. He was frightened even just by looking at them. In addition, there were still soldiers being knocked down around him. , Captain Sakamoto immediately gave up the idea of ​​assaulting the high ground. Let alone charging upwards, considering the distance between the two sides, his grenade launchers and light machine guns could not provide decent cover at all. To rush upwards would only be to seek death. .

Since we can't attack, we have to retreat as soon as possible.

"Second Lieutenant Okada, Second Lieutenant Okada, come here quickly."

Captain Sakamoto put down his telescope and shouted to a second lieutenant not far away. The short Japanese second lieutenant heard the squadron leader’s call and immediately pulled the corpse of a fallen soldier as a human shield, rolling and crawling. Dropped beside Captain Sakamoto.

Captain Sakamoto pointed to the breakthrough point during the attack and said: "We can't attack, we must retreat. Our target is too big. If we retreat hastily, we will only become a living target for the Chinese army. We must have artillery cover. You lead your squad first." Retreat, rush out, and let the regiment's regiment artillery and brigade artillery shoot at the enemy troops on the high ground to cover our retreat. Go quickly."

Second Lieutenant Okada nodded, and then shouted at the top of his lungs: "The third team of the first squadron of the 20th Infantry Regiment, prepare to retreat along the original path of the attack. Each squad leader will prepare and Password report, hurry up."

The surviving soldiers of the Third Squadron of the 1st Squadron of the 20th Infantry Regiment who were called immediately began to prepare for a rapid retreat. The rifleman held a gun with one hand, and the light machine gunner shouldered the light machine gun, and reported that they were ready. The command rang out amid the hail of bullets.

"Team One is ready."

"Report to the team leader, the second team is ready."

"Team Three is ready."

Second Lieutenant Okada straightened his helmet and shouted loudly: "Team 3, retreat!"

"Get up, retreat, run backwards!"

The more than thirty surviving soldiers of the third team jumped up and ran backwards like crazy as if they were amnesty. Many people even felt lucky that their team was selected to retreat first while waiting for the bus. Unfortunately, This is not a way to survive, but accelerates their process towards death.

Just a few seconds after they jumped up and ran backwards, the officers of the 956th Regiment who were directing the shooting on the high ground noticed the situation and immediately urged the shooters to change the direction of shooting. The shooters also discovered that there were dozens of The Japanese army suddenly retreated, and suddenly they couldn't care less. They immediately opened fire violently in the direction of the Japanese army's retreat.

Ignoring the hot and smoking barrels that had been beaten, the heavy machine gun shooters forcibly held the triggers and fired at the breach in the obstacle area riddled with holes.

The Japanese army lying on the ground suddenly felt that the pressure was doubled, because more than half of the firepower on the high ground was attracted by the retreating third team. Second Lieutenant Okada rushed back no more than ten meters, and did not even spray the sides of the breach. When he arrived, he was beaten into a sieve by machine guns. His subordinates were also knocked down by the dense rain of bullets, and they screamed again and again.

About half of the infantry team rushed backwards on the open ground and were killed by machine guns not long after. The rest accelerated all the way towards the breakthrough in the obstacle area when they came. When they were still dozens of meters away from the breakthrough, There were only about an infantry detachment left out of more than 30 people. When the few remaining Japanese soldiers saw the breakthrough, they seemed to see hope of survival and rushed forward.

However, the machine gun firepower of the 956th Regiment on the high ground had already targeted this place. Before they could rush over, the intensive machine gun firepower had already blocked the breach. With screams and blood mist exploding in the air, , these dozen Japanese soldiers were all killed near the breach. The twisted corpses were piled up to a height of one meter. Several corpses were hung crookedly by the barbed wire fence and the tall deer village, and flowed out. The blood dyed the nearby ground red.

In just a few minutes, an entire infantry squad was wiped out. Captain Sakamoto was worthy of being the squadron leader of the Japanese elite field division. After the entire Okada team was destroyed, he made a decisive and bold decision, that is, all the remaining officers and soldiers rushed forward.

After observation, he found that there was a natural blind spot in front of the open land and adjacent to the highland. It was at the junction of the open land and the slope of the highland. There were also many large rocks that could be used as hiding places. No matter what, if you rushed there, At least there is a place to stay instead of crawling on the open ground and being beaten passively like now.

At this moment, the retreat of Okada's team attracted the firepower of part of the Chinese army. Therefore, Captain Sakamoto decisively gave the order to advance.

"Everyone, rush forward, rush to the high ground, rush quickly."

Captain Sakamoto, who shouted the order, stood up decisively and took the lead in rushing forward. The remaining less than a hundred Japanese soldiers also got up and ran wildly, rushing forward. Facing the Japanese soldiers who suddenly charged forward, this time the ninth and fifth soldiers on the high ground The machine gunners of the Sixth Regiment had no time to react. Many machine gunners were still blocking the breakthrough in the rear obstacle area with fire.

Even the machine gunners who were waiting for the gun body to cool down or to change the magazine and postponed shooting, most of them subconsciously judged that the Japanese army was trying to retreat based on the retreat of Okada's team just now, so they aimed their machine guns at the breach. direction.

As a result, the Japanese army did the opposite and rushed forward. Many machine gunners on the high ground had no time to react. Therefore, the Japanese army's forward assault was surprisingly smooth. Only a dozen people were shot during the charge. Death, the remaining fifty or so Japanese troops all rushed to the bottom of the high ground and hid themselves with the help of nearby rocks and the blind spot at the bottom of the high ground.

More than fifty Japanese troops from Captain Sakamoto on down almost lined up along the bottom of the highland. Under the cover of blind spots and rocks, they successfully escaped from the firepower network of the 956th Regiment's machine guns on the highland and gained a promising area. A little space for breathing.

After successfully seeking shelter, Captain Sakamoto immediately organized the remaining troops on hand to build foxholes and concealment trenches on the spot, and built upward-attack shooting fortifications on the spot. His combat readiness awareness and reaction had to be said to be quite rapid.

"His grandma's, let them run away."

Like many machine gunners on the highlands, faced with the unexpected situation, Cai Rubai, the leader of the 956th Regiment, beat his chest and shouted curses. He was about to eat the remaining Japanese troops, but unexpectedly he let this group of Japanese soldiers make a move. .

He Wei was much calmer. He put down the telescope in his hand and said to Cai Rubai: "There is a blind spot below. It is difficult for our machine gun firepower to reach it. However, I estimate that the number of this group of Japs will not be too many. It is better to reduce the firepower first. Since If they want to charge, let them stay here. As long as they are blocked at the foot of the mountain and sealed off, they will be meat on our chopping block."

"How do you want to block it? A frontal blockade with machine guns is enough."

"I'm afraid it won't work. Although our light and heavy machine guns on the high ground are powerful, they may not be able to fire all the time. When the main attacking Japanese army comes to their senses, they will definitely use various artillery to directly bombard our positions on the ridge line of the high ground. By then our machine guns won’t be able to fire, the machine guns won’t be able to fire, and these guys can run away if they want.”

"What do you mean?" Cai Rubai asked.

"Let my men come in!"

Just as He Wei was talking, the light and heavy machine gunners of the 956th Regiment on the high ground were actually trying to attack the Japanese troops at the foot of the mountain. However, after a burst of fierce shooting, it had no effect, and the machine gunners stopped. After firing, silence quickly returned to the high ground, with only sporadic gunfire.

He Wei quickly connected the phone to the secret service camp. The call was Fu Chen, the captain's deputy battalion commander and commander of the first infantry company of the secret service camp. He Wei immediately ordered: "Captain Fu, there are probably dozens of Japanese soldiers now." The soldiers fled to the blind spot below the high ground. We can't reach and hit the high ground. You take Yang Biao's special agent platoon and reinforce the 81mm mortar platoon of an artillery company along the left side of the mountain and Go around where the road connects and build a position at the foot of the mountain. If you see any Japanese running back, use artillery to shoot me."

"Yes, I understand."

After Fu Chen happily agreed, before He Wei could put down the phone, his prediction came true.

The Japanese army's regiment artillery, brigade artillery and rapid-fire artillery, which were covering the infantry assault on the high ground, suddenly fired a salvo. The Type 41 75mm mountain cannon, the Type 92 70mm infantry cannon and the Type 94 37mm rapid-fire gun The artillery fired intensively and continuously without warning. He Wei felt a stream of heat coming in from the observation window of the bunker, the high ground was shaking violently, and there were violent explosions outside.

"Shell attack, seal the opening quickly."

Several officers greeted the soldiers and carried sandbags to block the lower part of the observation port. Cai Rubai glanced at He Wei with a meaningful look, and then shouted to his Major Regiment: "Why are you still standing there, go and ask everyone." The loss of the battalion.”

Not long after, the majors who had contacted the battalions of the 956th Regiment by phone quickly reported the losses caused by this sudden shelling.

"Captain, there are no problems with the fortifications. A light machine gun in the 1st, 7th, and 9th companies was blown up. Nine soldiers were killed and five were injured. A heavy machine gun in the 1st company was damaged, and the soldiers were killed. Four people were injured, five were injured, and one officer was injured. Now all fortifications have ceased fire and started to take cover."

Cai Rubai took a long breath and said, "Brother He, you are really right. Fortunately, the loss is not big."

The Japanese artillery fire continued. The light and heavy machine guns of the 956th Regiment on the high ground all stopped firing. However, the secret service battalion in the hidden part of the anti-slope quietly started to move. Fu Chen, deputy battalion commander of the secret service battalion and commander of the first infantry company, led Following Yang Biao's special agent platoon and the first mortar platoon of the special agent battalion's artillery company, they quietly left the hiding place, drove down the reverse slope of the highland, and ran and assaulted to the foot of the mountain adjacent to the road on the left side of the highland.

This is the foothills on the left side of the highland and the junction of the highway. It is also the battle division between the 956th Regiment and the 959th Regiment. When Fu Chen and his people arrived here, they Hearing the rumble of artillery and intensive gunfire from the neighboring 959th Regiment's position, I raised my binoculars and could even vaguely see the charging Japanese infantry.

Like the highlands guarded by the 956th Regiment, the highlands guarded by the 959th Regiment were also under the same pressure. The other two infantry regiments of the 16th Division were also launching a fierce attack on the 959th Regiment.

"Quick, Yang Biao, take your platoon forward and set up a security position. The mortars will set up artillery here."

Fu Chen gasped, pointing to the mess in the distance. He led the two rows of people to run to the foot of the highland mountain, and then carefully passed the junction between the road and the highland. With the help of the cover of the mountain, they arrived at There is a secret open area at the foot of the mountain.

This open land relies on the remnants of mountains and mountains, and is adjacent to a road. The adjacent road has been completely blasted by the 160th Division's engineering battalion, and a large crater has been blasted, riddled with holes, and a The mess, as well as a large number of rocks, was an excellent hiding place, and its firing range was even more tricky, which could radiate to the breaches opened in the obstacle area during the Japanese attack to form side fire.

After selecting a position, Yang Biao's special agent platoon quickly moved forward and began to build a simple lying foxhole, while the accompanying mortar platoon built a simple shooting fortification behind it.

While the two rows of people were working hard to build fortifications, Fu Chen raised his telescope and looked around. What he saw was corpses everywhere. Then, several Japanese soldiers running forward and backward appeared in the telescope.

Fu Chen cursed secretly. He was not ready yet, and the Japanese soldiers who were blocked began to flee backwards!

(End of this chapter)