The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 22 Ominous Premonition

With the cooperation of a platoon of people, an expected platoon defensive position has been constructed. Except for two soldiers who were left as observation posts to provide warning in front of the position, all the soldiers in the platoon hid in the dug cliff holes. In the ear hole, ammunition, the captured Japanese [-] rifles and equipment, and the wood sent by the company commander Fu Chen for construction of fortifications were all stored in the Yakong Mao'er hole. Sandbags filled with soil were piled up to prevent splinters.

There was no other sound in the trench except for the slight snoring of a few veterans. The soldiers were either cleaning their guns, silently eating fried rice to fill their stomachs or taking a nap with their eyes closed, waiting for the next Japanese attack.

Fighting consumes both physical strength and mental energy.

After a row of positions, the artillery smoke over Yanzhuang, where the headquarters and main force of the [-]nd Battalion were stationed, was particularly prominent. Outside the village were the half-disabled [-]th Infantry Company and [-]th Infantry Company that had been beaten in the morning raid. The scene just now During the battle, there was a lot of shelling there, and He Wei didn't know what the situation was in Yanzhuang now.

In the Maoer hole where He Wei was hiding, the messenger Tao Heiwa carefully wiped He Wei's Zhongzheng rifle and the grenade seized from the Japanese. This hole happened to hide the two of them.

He closed his eyes tiredly and rubbed the Czech light machine gun in his hand. He Wei originally planned to close his eyes and rest for a while, but as soon as his eyelids closed, some memories flooded into his mind. Those were the memories of He Wei in this life. Early in the morning Tragic scenes followed one after another, from when the whole battalion received the order to search and advance until the whole battalion was attacked by the Japanese vanguard consisting of tanks, infantry and cavalry during the march. Although He Wei did not want to recall it, he did not want to think about it. .

But as soon as He Wei closed his eyes, his mind felt dizzy. It was bloody, tragic and tragic that a soul from the 21st century had never been exposed to. Those scenes came to his face like a movie...

.....................

In the dream, it seemed that I had gone back to the early morning a few hours ago. The sky had just turned white. In Dabaishui Village behind Yanzhuang, it was the main position of the Seventh Regiment where the Second Battalion was located. The main force of the 57th Division was also along Dabaishui. The front line of the village unfolded. His battalion commander, Sun Guangyu, the major of the second battalion of the [-]th Regiment who graduated from the sixth phase of Huangpu Military Academy, gathered all the officers of the battalion and announced the combat order in a dark dilapidated house in Dabaishui Village. He Wei felt He was in that dark and broken house again. The company and platoon commanders of the whole battalion were sitting in three rows, and he sat in the last row.

In front of him were familiar and unfamiliar faces, including Captain Li Yunqing, commander of the [-]th Infantry Company of the [-]nd Battalion, Captain Zhang Yue, commander of the [-]th Infantry Company, the commander of the heavy machine gun company whose name he could not remember, and his immediate superior, the [-]th Infantry Company. The company commander Fu Chen, and the three people facing them in the corner were the captain Zhang Zongru of the second battalion headquarters, the lieutenant secretary and the captain medical officer of the battalion.

I only heard the battalion commander read hoarsely: "After receiving the order from the division brigade headquarters, at about [-] o'clock yesterday, I sent an advance plainclothes team to encounter dozens of enemy cavalry in the area south of Yuanping Town. The contact lasted for about an hour. That night I learned about the actions of all parties. The intelligence is as follows: The Japanese Itagaki Division has dozens of tanks, and its vanguard has arrived at Yuanping Town to assemble. Its cavalry unit is in a stalemate with the plainclothes team of the division in the area north of Yongxing Village, and seems to be continuing towards Dabaishui. In the appearance of an invasion, we now receive orders from our division to send our battalion out of Yanzhuang and in and out of Yongxing Village to search and advance in order to cope with the battle of the friendly forces in the center of Xinkou and to cover our own positions. The whole battalion immediately moved towards Yongxing Village. Search forward without making any mistakes!”

"The whole battalion marched in columns according to the [-]th and [-]th companies. The machine gun company and mortar platoon followed the [-]th company and searched for Yongxing Village. The forward [-]th company paid attention to contact with the plainclothes team of the division."......

The voice of the battalion commander issuing the order was still in his ears, and He Wei had not yet recovered. Suddenly, the scene in front of He Wei jumped to Yongxing Village again...

I saw seven or eight Japanese tanks suddenly rushing over with tongues of fire spitting out, shooting at the Chinese soldiers who were marching as ordered in the open field. The soldiers were unprepared. Some were knocked down by machine guns, some were crushed to death, and some were running away in all directions. , the heavy machine gun company and the [-]nd Mortar Platoon's packhorses carrying mortars and heavy machine guns were frightened, and fled in all directions, neighing, the mortar shells, [-]-rifle machine gun shells, and heavy machine gun belts scattered on the pack horses. In one place, the whole camp was in chaos.

He Wei saw that Li Yunqing, the commander of the fourth company, was knocked down, and Zhang Yue, the commander of the fifth company, was also hit by a tank and crushed to the ground. The brothers around him bravely and fearlessly rushed towards the Japanese tank with their flesh and blood, but another one One after another fell down, and screams and shouts of death continued.

Immediately afterwards, Japanese infantry appeared on the flanks. The heavy firepower of light and heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, infantry guns, tank guns, and tank machine guns devoured the soldiers of the second battalion.

Suddenly, a chariot sprayed with flames rushed towards He Wei. He Wei felt that he could not control his body. He wanted to avoid it but could not move at all. His whole body was weak and he could not move a step. He looked at it in shock and fear. As the chariot drove closer and closer, it was about to rush in front of He Wei and run over his body. He instinctively shouted...

.........

what

He Wei suddenly felt a sense of falling, roared, and opened his eyes. In front of him was not a chariot, but his own messenger, Tao Heiwa. "Sir! Sir!" Tao Heiwa looked at He Wei with concern and said.

"Damn, I actually fell asleep." He Wei finally came back to his senses. He had just had a nightmare about being almost run over by a chariot and was sweating all over.

"I am fine."

He Wei knocked on Tao Heiwa's head: "Boy, did something happen when I was sleeping just now? Did the police sentry come over?"

"Platoon leader, no one is coming." Tao Heiwa said with a naive smile.

"That's good."

The Japanese army did not launch a second attack. He Wei felt relieved. However, he just recalled the tragic situation of the whole camp being raided in his dream. This was not a pleasant feeling. The battle just fought was nothing, but in his dream But he was almost run over by a chariot!
However, it had been two hours since the first round of Japanese attacks. Somehow, He Wei felt that something was wrong. According to common sense, if the first round of attacks was not captured, the second round of attacks would be organized quickly. They talked about a quick victory, but after the Japanese army's first attack, they gave the platoon enough time to reinforce the fortifications with all their strength, and He Wei was able to take a nap. The time interval between the attacks was too long, which was very wrong.

"Chariot? Yes, chariot!"

He Wei murmured that the nightmare just now was not in vain.

He gradually anticipated the possibility that the reason why the Japanese army did not launch a second attack for such a long time was probably because they were preparing for a larger-scale attack in an attempt to capture Yanzhuang in one fell swoop.

When the second battalion was raided by the Japanese army in the morning, the Japanese army had a large number of tanks and cavalry. This means that the enemy in front of them may organize infantry and tanks to launch a coordinated attack. The infantry is not bad, and the tanks rush forward. Coming up, He Wei dared to guarantee that he probably wouldn't be able to carry it. The troops and firepower he had on hand were not enough to crush the Japanese. There were no anti-tank weapons on hand at all, and there was open space all around. His platoon would be finished. The defense of the Sixth Company and even the Second Battalion in Yanzhuang was completely over.

As for when the attack will be launched, it is difficult to say.

The task given by the 57th Division to the [-]nd Battalion of the [-]th Regiment was to start from the main position of Dabaishui, set up an advance position in Yanzhuang, and attack and search in the direction of Yongxing Village. He Wei knew very well that what he was participating in was the famous Battle of Xinkou in later generations. , the position under their feet is also part of the Xinkou Defense Line. The battle has not yet fully begun, and both sides are in tentative contact.

If the Japanese army were to defeat the Second Battalion at this time, let alone the forward attack and search explained above, even the advanced position of Yanzhuang would not be able to be defended. It is estimated that the Second Battalion would have to retreat to the main position of Dabaishui in the rear in despair. Not only could they fail to complete the task, it would also be extremely detrimental to the entire Xinkou war situation.

And if the Japanese army launches a comprehensive attack coordinated by infantry, cavalry, and tanks, He Wei can be sure that the Second Battalion will be defeated even more miserably than when it was raided in the morning. Moreover, the current Second Battalion is already seriously injured, and its flesh and blood Against the chariot, there was no chance of winning. The next thing to face was the real bloody battle.

what to do?To deal with a possible large-scale coordinated infantry and tank attack by the Japanese army, He Wei could only go to the company commander Fu Chen. Reporting to his superiors was the only way!

"Hei Wazi, go to squad leader Ge Guicai and tell me to order the entire platoon to be temporarily taken over by him and to keep a tight vigil against the enemy. I have an emergency and report to the company commander!"

(End of this chapter)