The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 29 Upgraded Defense System 1
Although Chen Zhen teased He Wei for being a lion, he was a real man and He Wei's requirements were met. He immediately allocated a batch of ammunition and equipment that had been replenished to Yanzhuang and sent them to the Sixth Company's position. The replenished [-] Five thousand rounds of [-]-step machine ammunition were given to the Sixth Company, and [-] rounds of heavy machine gun ammunition boxes filled with canvas bullet belts were all given to the heavy machine gun platoon attached to the Sixth Company.

There are also one hundred rounds of [-] mm pistol ammunition, two hundred long-handled hand grenades, plus sixty empty bags, large and small logs, felled trees, door panels, some ropes and other construction consumables. Sixth company.

This newly replenished ammunition, coupled with the ammunition carried by the second battalion itself, the entire battalion's ammunition is not said to be sufficient, but there is certainly no shortage.

Of course, the brothers of the Sixth Company liked the steamed buns and pickles the most. They always ate fried rice to fill their stomachs. In the morning, fried rice was paired with cold water, and at noon, cold water was paired with fried rice. The black and hard fried rice almost made everyone vomit. , for the soldiers, steamed buns with pickles are simply delicacies at this time.

The Fourth Company and the Fifth Company of the Second Battalion were reduced to an infantry company by Acting Battalion Commander Chen Zhen, and Chen Zhen himself served as the company commander. The two companies were reduced together to only have four and a half platoons of men and guns. , Acting Battalion Commander Chen Zhen transferred twenty second-class soldiers and first-class soldiers to supply the Sixth Company, which met He Wei's request for replacement. These twenty men just filled up the vacancies of the entire company, and the Sixth Company became the Second Class Soldier. The only infantry company in the battalion that is fully manned and has no shortage of personnel.

The [-]th battle defense artillery platoon and the battalion's [-]nd mortar platoon, which agreed to be assigned to strengthen the sixth company, stayed in Yanzhuang for a while to reorganize, and then moved to the sixth company's position.

At the same time, the entire battalion's wounded soldiers had also been evacuated. After being severely damaged by the Japanese army in the early morning, the entire battalion finally received preliminary reorganization and replenishment.

……

Sixth Company, Company Command Post
Sixth company commander Fu Chen, second platoon commander Hu Zhaowu and third platoon commander Fang Jing gathered around a simple marching table that was used as an ammunition box. On it was placed a hastily drawn defense plan map by He Wei. It was said to be a plan map, but in fact, it was in Fu Chen's company. On the long warrant paper, there are temporary outlines drawn with a pencil, several horizontal curves, and intermittent infantry platoon position symbols and heavy machine gun symbols.

He Wei talked freely about his conception of the defensive position in front of the plan. The other three people were: a company commander in the eighth phase of Huangpu Military Academy, a platoon leader in the tenth phase of Huangpu Military Academy, and another who had been in the army for many years and was admitted to the military training class and graduated from the soldier The three of them, who have grown up as platoon commanders, are now all focused on watching the most junior He Wei draw and draw. Without him, the second platoon leader Hu Zhaowu has already called He Wei on the phone with the brigade commander and responded calmly without changing his expression. Fu Chen and Fang Jing were told about the "feat" of the anti-war artillery, and Chen Zhen, the newly arrived acting battalion commander, specifically asked He Wei to have a private conversation. He Wei's status naturally rose, and he unknowingly became The backbone of the Sixth Company.

He Wei sketched and said: "Company Commander, I think we should rely on the existing positions to continue to strengthen the fortifications. Although there is only one of our platoons on the front, the defensive front still needs to be expanded, because our company is about to get a tank defense gun. The platoon and battalion affiliated with the 100nd Mortar Platoon have been strengthened. Although there is only my platoon on the front line of our company, now that the firearms have been strengthened, it must be in front. There is no way to expand the depth. We must carry forward combat defense artillery and mortar platoon. Artillery fire can only expand the front of the defense, so that the defense of Zhuangzi's front can be tighter. I want to expand the front of the defense by another 100 meters." Fu Chen thought for a while and said: "You have a platoon in front of the position, expand it by [-] meters. , forming a broad frontal defense, that platoon is too scattered. Our anti-aircraft artillery and mortars can exert firepower when the Japanese attack, but you can only rely on a single infantry platoon to disperse the firepower of rifles and machine guns. Seriously inadequate.”

Third platoon lieutenant Fang Jing retorted: "The company commander is right. Your platoon's defensive front is already very long. If a platoon spreads out, it won't have much firepower. If we really need to expand the front, we might as well join another platoon. Put two platoons in the first line, one platoon in the second line, two in front and one in the back. The new platoon digs foxholes and connects them with the existing positions to form a group bunker. Build a bunker group with cover, and then use traffic trenches and The second line of positions is connected.”

Fu Chen clapped his hands and interrupted Fang Jing: "No, we don't have enough time, and the soil here is soft and sandy. When there is strong wind, it is full of sand. When light and heavy machine guns fire continuously for a long time, The blown dust can jam the gun, and the soil is not strong enough. Normally digging trenches, opening cliff holes and covering trenches is not a big problem. However, it is very laborious to build a cover bunker, which requires a lot of log support and top cover to pile up floating soil. , it requires a lot of sandbags and consumables, and it is much more difficult to build a bunker than in a normal area. It is not easy to build a few scattered bunkers, let alone a group of bunkers."

"Moreover, the enemy's artillery fire was fierce, and the hastily constructed bunker may not be able to withstand the bombardment."

Fu Chen's words are true. The soil around Yanzhuang is soft and sandy. If the north wind is strong, the sand will fly. It is very unfriendly to the heavy weapons of the infantry in the hands of the national army. It can easily cause light and heavy machine guns to jam and other malfunctions.

What's even more terrible is that when the light and heavy machine guns fire continuously for a long time, the gunpowder gas produced by the bullets and the vibrating gun body will stir up sand and dust. It is very easy to be observed by the Japanese army. One shot and the game is over!

He Wei pointed on the paper with a pencil: "Company Commander, look, after expanding by 100 meters, the front of the platoon is actually just over 300 meters away. The new position is extended and expanded on the original position. The entire position is generally in a W shape, with each Machine gun firepower is arranged on the protruding support points. This curved arrangement can form cross fire and side fire. The riflemen are evenly distributed in the trenches. The light and heavy machine guns use the support points as the core to build shooting positions. During the war, they are constantly transferred to form a swimming position. Firepower can greatly reduce the probability of light and heavy machine guns being knocked out by the Japanese army, and can also reduce the impact of soil quality on light and heavy machine guns."

"We don't dig bunkers either. We only dig holes in the cliffs and cat's ears. We use sandbags to reinforce the positions. We build shooting positions for the [-]nd mortars and [-]th battle anti-aircraft guns deep behind the platoon position, and use communication trenches with the first line. Connect and dig some foxholes for backup at the same time. The second and third platoons are behind the [-]nd artillery and anti-aircraft artillery positions. The fortifications will be dug according to the position of my first platoon, which is the reserve position. You, the company commander, will be in command. , are also connected to the front with communication trenches. One is to serve as a second-line reserve position, and the other is to serve as a counterattack reserve. If our front line is lost, we can immediately launch a counterattack and regain the position, and all communication trenches, including the trenches on the front line of the position, must be used. The door panels are covered with floating soil to hide them, and these door panels are removed during the battle."

(End of this chapter)