The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 6 Yanzhuang
The breeze blew through Zhuangzi, and the scattered leaves swept across the desolate and broken land, making a rustling sound. Outside the lifeless deserted village of Yanzhuang, several trenches were raised on the land outside the village, and all the trees outside the village were cut down. , leaving behind patches of empty tree stacks, a group of field fortifications that urgently need to be completed, twisting and turning around the periphery of Zhuangzi.

National soldiers in groups of three and two were working like ants, using various tools to chop down the few remaining trees, cutting down the trunks, tying them with knots and ropes, and dragging them to the village. In the trench outside the field.

The gunpowder smoke that spread into the sky in the distance lingered for a long time and could not dissipate for a long time. Like a black cloud, it oppressed the nerves of everyone outside the village.On the fields outside the village, more than a hundred soldiers were sweating profusely. They were wielding shovels and pickaxes and carrying trees. They were busy digging holes and trenches, digging soil and building trees. They were digging trenches and bunkers as deep as a person in the fields. .

In the frontline trench outside the village, the soldiers of the first platoon of the Sixth Company of the Second Battalion of the 57th Regiment were sweating hard. 37 soldiers put their weapons behind them. The Chinese formal rifles stood sideways in accordance with the requirements of internal affairs regulations. On the ground, a top-made M35 steel helmet hung from the barrel of the gun.

Next to the rifle, there is a kettle, a military cap, a sewing bag, Bagua Dan, gun oil, a flat wooden shoulder bag, a military satchel, a chipped enamel bowl, a yellowed military blanket, a fried rice bag, a torn towel, a gaiter cloth, and a hanging bag. Neck grenade pouches and long [-]mm rifle bullet pouches made of twelve-panel canvas were piled haphazardly together.

The weather in Shanxi in October was slightly cold, but it was nothing to a group of soldiers licking blood from their swords.

Most of the soldiers of the 28nd Battalion, [-]th Company and [-]st Platoon of the [-]th Brigade and [-]th Regiment of the [-]th Division of the [-]th Army took off their grass green military uniforms. Some were shirtless, or their clothes were blackened due to not being washed for a long time. They were yellow and red and could not be seen. The original "white" military underwear was sweating profusely against the ground under their feet. Those who had military shovels used shovels to dig the soil, and those who had military pickaxes used pickaxes to dig holes. Soldiers who really had no tools used rifle bayonets and bamboo strips to dig into sandbags. Fill with soil.

"Damn it, every time the digging work is done by our company, the company and the mother are assigned to us, and the donkeys working the mills have to rest. We are human beings, not animals." A tough guy said. The big man was shirtless, with a thick callus on his right shoulder. He held a Czech light machine gun at his feet. A patched canvas jacket covered most of the gun body, leaving only a wooden butt and two tripods. Stay on the ground.

The big man grinned, and swung his pickaxe to create a semicircular outline in the trench. He changed his shovel and shoveled the soil into the bamboo frame next to him. Although he was complaining, he was using his hands to control the big man. strength.

Ge Guicai, the black and skinny sergeant squad leader of the rows, took the bamboo frame next to the sturdy man as he spoke, stood up, glanced into the distance, and sighed.

"Qilong, bite your tongue, it's good to know that it hurts. In less than two months of fighting, a platoon leader died. Today, another platoon leader was thrown in front. I don't know whether he is dead or alive. How pitiful Platoon Commander He, that student has just graduated from the [-]th phase of the Central Military Academy a few days ago. He has filled the platoon commander's vacancy before the probationary period has passed. Now he is on the battlefield with his life and death unknown. Be content. It's only God that we can survive and breathe. Have mercy.”

"God be merciful, our platoon had great luck. We walked at the end of the battalion this morning and there were not many casualties. Look at the other companies, how many heads were broken?" Ge Guicai looked at the smoke in the distance and unconsciously rubbed his fingers. A pipe in the waistband.

After listening to Ge Guicai's words, Jiang Qilong, the superior soldier's light machine gun shooter in the platoon and squad, shook his head, remained silent, and concentrated on dealing with the machine gun positions digging for him.

"Hmph, that platoon member named He must have deserted. He was walking behind the platoon when he met the Japanese Iron Bastard."

The contemptuous voice came from the corporal deputy squad leader Yang Biao of the first squad. Yang Biao was holding half a cigarette in his left hand and holding a leather belt folded in half in his right hand. He wore a military cloth cap with his shirt open and a German-made M35 steel helmet. He sat on his buttocks as a seat, leaning against the trench and puffing away smoke, squinting his eyes and feeling very happy. He looked like a ruffian with a knife.

"Yang Biao! Speak with some conscience. You didn't say anything when you gave that student a stumbling block before. Now that he's gone, you're trying to be more virtuous. Everyone knows that you used to be a warrant officer and you almost died. I served as an officer in the armed forces and refused to accept being demoted as a corporal for two years. But don’t think that you can fill the vacancy of second lieutenant platoon leader without that student boy. Even if he dies, there will still be the next platoon leader who comes out of the military academy. There are plenty of them. It’s not your turn to be an officer who is illiterate and cannot be beaten to death. You carry an armed belt and become an officer. Get to work quickly! The little devil is at the front, and he can pounce on you with just one word."

Ge Guicai threw a handful of dirt at Yang Biao and scolded him.

After receiving a handful of dirt from Ge Guicai, Yang Biao was choked and coughed repeatedly, so he held a cigarette in his mouth, pulled out his bayonet, and pretended to sit on the ground and scratch with the bayonet.

"Yes, yes, Brother Ge is right, Platoon Leader He is a good person." Tu Desheng, the squad leader of the third squad with a bandage around his neck, agreed.

After a few words, no one in the trench spoke anymore. Not long ago, these 37 people had just experienced a life-and-death disaster. Most of the people who had just escaped death did not have so much nonsense and were thinking about how to survive the next battle.

The old squad leader Ge Guicai roared: "The sandbags are filled with porcelain. Clear out the gravel. This is a life-saving thing!" Yang Biao, the squatting squad deputy, smacked his lips and drew on the ground with his bayonet for a while. Circle, looked at the brothers working in the trench, realized that it was boring, put the sword into its sheath, shouted loudly, rolled up his sleeves, and picked up the pickaxe to work...

More than an hour ago, He Wei's Second Battalion of the 28th Regiment of the 57th Brigade of the [-]th Division encountered the Japanese army and suffered heavy casualties. The entire battalion retreated to Yanzhuang. The entire battalion built a position outside Yanzhuang and defended on the spot.

The Second Battalion suffered heavy casualties in the encounter with the Japanese infantry-cavalry tank mixed force. The entire battalion consisted of three infantry companies: the Fourth Infantry Company, the Fifth Infantry Company, and the Sixth Infantry Company, as well as a heavy machine gun company and an [-]nd Infantry Company. The mortar platoon, the four company commanders and one platoon commander of the whole battalion were killed as soon as they encountered the Japanese army!

The commanders of the 100th and [-]th companies of the [-]nd Infantry Battalion were killed on the spot. The commanders of the heavy machine gun company and the commander of the [-]th Infantry Company, belonging to a certain unlucky guy surnamed He, were lucky enough to survive, but they were also killed by Japanese bullets. He was bitten, and more than [-] people in the fourth and fifth infantry companies walking in front died!
The [-]th Division had been fighting the Japanese troops in the border town area west of Peiping for nearly a month, and suffered heavy casualties. In addition, the troops were mobile and marched all the way, and soldiers who were injured and injured during the transfer were not fully equipped when they moved to Xinkou. Not restored.

After such an encounter, it was even worse.The severely damaged infantry companies of the 100th and [-]th companies had more than [-] people left, including those with minor injuries. Only the [-]th company suffered the least casualties because it was at the end.And the [-]st platoon of the [-]th company was at the end of the company. It took an advantage when the whole battalion was defeated. It was the first platoon to run back. It can be said that it was bad luck and did not directly encounter the Japanese heavy firepower. The casualties were Very small, only one soldier was killed by a stray bullet.

Therefore, the sixth company and one platoon, which suffered minimal losses and had strong soldiers and horses, were ordered to dig fortifications on the spot and stand on the front line.

However, in addition to the soldier who was killed by a stray bullet, there was another attrition in the platoon of the Sixth Company, that is... He Wei, the platoon leader of his own platoon, was lost!
……

Dust was flying inside and outside the trench, and one platoon was missing its platoon leader. Ge Guicai, the oldest sergeant and squad leader, temporarily directed the entire platoon to work overtime to build fortifications.

Ge Guicai, 34 years old, is a veteran of the Second Battalion. He has been in the army for more than ten years and joined the army during the Great Revolution. He is senior and a good man. He has fought against Wu Peifu's troops and fought against Sun Chuanfang's five-province coalition. Jiang Guicai During the war, I fought with the Guangxi Army on the bayonet. During the Central Plains War, I fought against Yan Laoxi'er's artillery fire and the Northwest Army's heavy machine guns. I fought hand-to-hand with the [-]th Route Army during the Fujian Incident, and the mountains of corpses and blood rolled all the way. , not to mention his qualifications, he is honest and has prestige. He is a famous old gangster and old scalper in the whole camp.

Waving the spade, Ge Guicai thought about the missing platoon leader, and then looked at the thirty brothers, feeling really uncomfortable.One platoon has always had good luck. All the other infantry platoons in the battalion had people die and two rounds were replaced. Although only one platoon also suffered casualties, and two platoon leaders died one after another, it didn't matter how they fought or made up for it. Now the number of people is the most abundant and substantial.

It was like a miracle that the squad leaders of each class were all alive, and the earliest batch of veterans were not dead. It was really bad luck. But this time, Ge Guicai muttered in his heart. In the battle just now, including the missing platoon leader, all the soldiers were dead. The platoon lost a total of two people. The sixth company had the fewest casualties in the whole battalion, and the first platoon had the fewest casualties among the six companies.

On the surface, the first row seems to be taking advantage, but anyone with a discerning eye knows that big trouble is coming. The sky will fall on top of the tall pigs, and the pigs will have to pick and kill the fattest pigs.

Good fortune and misfortune depend on it, and misfortune depends on blessing. Precisely because there were few casualties and the troops were basically intact, a platoon was placed in the front-line trench. How many of them are intact?I'm afraid if I had killed more than 30 heads in one round, I would have been reimbursed for a fortune.

Also, where is the missing Platoon Commander He?After serving as a soldier for so many years, Lao Ge had to worry about his brothers. Although the casualties were small, without the platoon leader, most of them had to be deployed on the front line. This battle would not be easy to fight.

……

"Brother Ge, the company commander is here! The company commander is here!"

Ge Guicai's speech was interrupted by the childish shouts of Tao Heiwa, a row of messengers, who rushed to Ge Guicai's side like flying.

"Brother Ge, the company commander is here."

Ge Guicai nodded to Xiao Tao, walked a few steps towards the officer behind Xiao Tao, put the shovel upright on his left hand, placed his right hand across his chest, and stood with his legs clamped together.

"Captain!"

A row of soldiers around them stopped what they were doing and stood at attention to say hello.

"Hello, company commander!"

"Hello, sir!"

"Hello, sir!"

"Hello sir!"

"Captain!"

(End of this chapter)