The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 77 Promotion to Lieutenant
He Wei leaned against the edge of the ditch, holding a kettle high to pour water on his head, which was covered with dried blood.

The battle was over, and my tactical intention was indeed achieved. The attacking Japanese army was completely wiped out. It was a real annihilation. After I led my men to eliminate the infantry cannon, the bugler's Charge guided the company. The other brothers rushed out of the trenches. These brothers held their rifles with bayonets and vented all their anger on the wounded Japanese soldiers who were bombed and unable to move in front of the main position.

After a series of random bayonet stabs, no surviving Japanese soldiers were found in this battle, only more than 200 corpses riddled with holes and in pieces.

Second platoon leader Hu Zhaowu carried a beam stick used by Japanese infantry gunners as a command stick. He led the second platoon swaying left and right to push the captured Type [-] infantry gun into the trench. Other parts of the trench also There are piles of various trophies, such as Type [-] rifles, grenade launchers, grenades, Type [-] heavy machine guns, helmets, bullet boxes, and Type [-] bayonets, which can be seen everywhere.
After consuming a strengthened squadron, the results will naturally be fruitful.

"He Wei, you did a great job. Now I have captured nearly a hundred [-] rifles, five crooked guns, four grenades, a small steel cannon and a [-] Mode."

Company Commander Fu Chen took the tally of seizures and casualties. Naturally, he had to pay some price for achieving such a great result. The first platoon on the main position suffered ten casualties, and the second platoon was killed by nine when following He Wei in the charge. The Second Infantry Artillery killed half the squad.

The heaviest casualties were from the He Wei platoon. A total of nine brothers were killed and five were slightly or seriously injured. The casualties of several platoons totaled more than [-] people. But before the glorious result of annihilating a squadron of enemies, these dozens of people The casualties seemed to be insignificant.

Everyone in the camp had a smile on their face. For these brothers who have no future today, a valuable death in battle is a good thing in a sense, and it is far better than a meaningless death or a useless death. , from this point of view, there is no need to be too sad about the sacrifice of our comrades.

Fu Chen walked excitedly along the trench to He Wei. Although he was the company commander, his reaction was much more intense than that of He Wei. After all, this was a real annihilation of a reinforced Japanese squadron. It didn't sound very real, but For the Chinese army, killing more than 200 Japanese troops was not an easy task, let alone using a "total annihilation" method.

After the battle was over, all that had to be done after the excitement was to tidy up, continue to set up defenses, pack up the spoils of war, evacuate the injured brothers, and bury the bodies of both sides.

Of course, the Japanese soldiers did not need to be buried. The two oblique positions used by He Wei for the ambush had no significance at this time. In line with the principle of humanitarianism, all Japanese corpses were filled in the two oblique positions. It can be regarded as allowing these lonely ghosts who were buried in a foreign land to have a place to rest after death, so that their corpses will not be exposed in the wilderness.

Just when He Wei and several officers in the company were reviewing their review and studying the next defensive deployment, they saw Chen Zhen, a member of the Scarface Regiment, running over from the trench with a few soldiers. He Wei and the others tried to stand at attention. Chen Zhen waved his hand and hit him back. Immediately, Chen Zhen didn't look at the company commander Fu Chen and said directly to He Wei.

"Damn it, you got a haircut. You fought beautifully. You fought beautifully. Not only did you fight beautifully, you also fought the battle at the right time. Yesterday, we said we would recommend you to be promoted to lieutenant early. Now I see no need for it. But you kid, if you get rich in the future, don’t forget to support me, my old brother.”

He Wei and the others were immediately dumbfounded. Just when they were staring at each other, unable to understand what Chen Zhen was saying, a row of people suddenly emerged from the trenches. They were a real "row" of people, with one person The number of people in a full infantry platoon.

The M35 steel helmet on everyone's head is shiny, and an authentic German-made twenty-ring automatic pistol is straddled diagonally. The long magazine is shiny, and a gas mask can imported from Germany hangs around the waist, and a cowhide bullet is wrapped around the chest. The military uniforms are clean and tidy, with no trace of contamination from the smoke of war. The shoes on the feet are not the cloth shoes or straw sandals of ordinary big-headed soldiers, but the Shanghai Golden Rooster brand rubber shoes.

Compared with this group of people, the outfits of the brothers of the Sixth Company pale in comparison. It is not an exaggeration to say that they are in the sky and on the earth.

This menacing group of people dispersed the brothers from the Sixth Company in the trench as soon as they arrived, clearing an uninhabited passage in the trench.

Immediately, he saw a burly man with the rank of lieutenant walking towards him and said expressionlessly: "The commander is here!"

He Wei was still stunned, and scar-faced Chen Zhen gave He Wei a slap on the back of the head.

"The commander just saw the whole battle. Stop standing there like a fool and stand at attention and salute!"

Immediately afterwards, a middle-aged officer in his thirties, dressed in military casual uniform, walked along the trench, supported by two guards. The identity of this person is revealed.

"Hello, Commander!"

"Good morning, teacher!"

"Commander!"

The lieutenant general was Li Mo'an, the commander of the [-]th Army who came to inspect the front line. He was also the previous teacher commander of the [-]th Division. He was followed by a colonel. He Wei was very familiar with this person - that was his The regiment leader, colonel, Liu Mingxia.

After listening to Chen Zhen's battle report at the 57th Regiment command post in Dabaishui, Li Mo'an, who was still unsatisfied, decided to inspect the front line position in Yanzhuang. Just when Li Mo'an arrived at Yanzhuang, the Japanese army also launched an attack.

Therefore, Li Mo'an witnessed the entire battle on the wall outside Yanzhuang. At the headquarters of the 57th Regiment, Li Mo'an had learned about He Wei's experience of escaping from the enemy front and his excellent performance from the regiment's attached Chen Zhen, but in the end, It's just words from the mouth, it's hard to turn into actual evidence.

After serving in the army for many years, Li Mo'an could not believe based on his experience that a fledgling second lieutenant who was still a trainee a few months ago could have such ability.But watching a complete battle on the spot dispelled all Li Mo'an's doubts.

Li Mo'an took a moment to look at the military ranks on the collars of the people in front of him, then walked up to He Wei and said, "Are you the second lieutenant platoon leader of Huangpu Phase [-]?"

"Yes, sir!" He Wei stood at attention and replied.

Li Mo'an looked at the civil engineering works for ejecting the thunder cannon on the position, and asked curiously: "Is this the thunder cannon you made?"

In Chen Zhen's oral report to him, Li Mo'an already knew the purpose of Yanzhuang's first line position to apply for a large amount of explosives. How powerful the flying thunder cannon was. Having witnessed the entire battle, Li Mo'an had certainly seen it. A large number of explosive blocks were used When it is thrown into the sky, no matter how dense the explosion effect is when it lands on the ground, it is indeed quite powerful and shocking.

But Li Mo'an has also been a soldier for many years, and he has seen many big scenes of bombardment by mountain artillery groups. Not to mention the bombardment by the Japanese army, even the mountain artillery bombardment by Yan Army during the Central Plains War was much more violent than this.

What moved him was not the shocking power of the flying thunder cannon, but its portability, simplicity and ingenious use concepts and creativity. Although the flying thunder cannon is incomparable with serious barrel artillery, when placed in the hands of infantry, it is Rare heavy firepower!
Li Mo'an's desire for explosive firepower stems from the poor artillery firepower of the Chinese army. Taking the No. 14 Army as an example, the artillery firepower of its three infantry divisions can simply be described as pitiful.

The No. 80 Third Division is okay. The division is directly under an artillery battalion, equipped with twelve Japanese-made Taisho 85-type mountain artillery. The 65th Division has a mountain artillery company, equipped with four 65-guns purchased from Italy by the Army Department during the Beiyang Government. Millimeter mountain gun (Italian Canone_17-13_modello_[-] mountain gun), the [-]th Division that Li Mo'an relies on most, simply has no divisional artillery!
This time the 75th Army arrived at Xinkou. Fortunately, the central government assigned a battalion of the 52th Artillery Regiment equipped with the Bofors [-]mm mountain gun, and also attached the [-]nd Division of the [-]nd Army that had been withdrawn from the Zhuozhou and Baoding front lines. The Shanshan Artillery Battalion was transferred over, and the Jinsui Army helped strengthen part of the artillery unit. Otherwise, Li Mo'an really felt that this battle would be impossible to fight!
Li Mo'an kept staring at the fortification, obviously having a strong interest in it. He didn't mention a word about annihilating a strengthened enemy squadron. It seemed that compared with the flying thunder cannon, the rich results of annihilating a reinforced enemy squadron seemed to be dimmed a lot. .

"Commander, it was indeed proposed by the official." He Wei reported back.

"Teacher, this thunder cannon was made by He Wei. Its principle is to use the explosive power of explosives to throw more explosives to attack the enemy. As long as you master the number of explosives and the angle of launch, you can use them It’s very convenient. In the battle just now, the Japanese collapsed when we used this thing to blow them up. He Wei, please tell the commander in detail."

Fu Chen had served in the Tenth Division for many years, and it was much easier to talk to Li Mo'an. When he was assigned to the Tenth Division after graduating from Huangpu Military Academy, Li Mo'an was still the division commander.

It was the first time for He Wei to see such a high-ranking officer. He had never seen the lieutenant general before and after his time travel, so he felt a little uncomfortable. He coughed lightly, then pointed to the nearest thunder cannon firing fortification and said: "Sir, our army's heavy firepower is insufficient, especially the accompanying artillery, anti-tank artillery, support artillery, and suppressive artillery of units at all levels are close to zero. When fighting at relatively close range, using this thunder cannon as supplementary firepower will greatly make up for it. The disadvantage of our army's insufficient artillery is that when facing the enemy's fortified fortifications in offensive operations, our army's artillery is insufficient and it is also difficult to attack the fortifications. It is unable to destroy the barbed wire fences, deer villages and other obstacles in front of the enemy's fortification areas. However, with this flying thunder With the gun, we can use it to destroy the enemy's lighter obstacles and open a path for the attacking infantry units."

"In use, I have mastered the number of medicine packs corresponding to a fixed angle, the throwing distance and the approximate power. As long as everyone is familiar with it, then its use will be very fast and convenient, regardless of offense or defense, against It will be of great benefit to our army in combat.”

He Wei kept introducing the use and functions of the flying thunder cannon. He was not a fool. He could certainly see Li Mo'an's strong interest in the flying thunder cannon. In view of this, after the introduction, he added another sentence in a timely manner.

"When the war situation calms down a bit, the staff department will compile a detailed instruction manual and submit it to you."

Hearing this sentence, Li Mo'an's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said with great satisfaction in his hometown dialect: "You have something in your head."

He Wei said: "This is a matter of duty."

Naturally, He Wei would do things that suit his superiors if he could do it. If he didn't do it, he would be stupid. He was not exempt from the vulgarity and wanted to leave a good impression in front of senior leaders, which would also be beneficial to his future promotions.

After all, being valued by the leader and having a military rank and position can make his own life more comfortable in private life, eat well and drink well, and make more achievements in public life.

Li Mo'an added: "Brother Yu Ping, it seems that there are successors to the revolution. You newly graduated Huangpu students are really crouching tigers, hiding dragons. You have done this just after being assigned to the army."

Liu Mingxia, the leader of the 57th Regiment, also said enthusiastically: "He Wei is from Liaoning and an exiled student from the Northeast. After graduating from the [-]th class of Huangpu, he was assigned to our regiment as a trainee. He performed very well and was a good cadre. When he was assigned to our regiment to train as a reporter, I just feel like he’s a talent that can be made.”

Although there was no flattery in Liu Mingxia's words, there was also an inexplicable kindness. He told He Wei's place of origin and background. Goosebumps rose up on He Wei's back. After thinking about it for a moment, He Wei understood that the second battalion had previously reported to Liu Mingxia. The attack on Yongxing Village in the front was shattered by the Japanese army. Liu Mingxia, as the leader of the regiment, could not absolve himself of the blame. Now he followed He Wei, which was a kind of disguised compensation. After all, he had just won the battle, which could still cover up the previous one. Failed miserably.

It's just this way that makes He Wei feel uncomfortable.

Li Mo'an added: "With this flying thunder cannon, although it is not as good as the mountain cannon, the troops on the front line will not be bombed all the time. It must be extended to the whole army. Pass my order, the 57th Company of the [-]nd Battalion of the [-]th Regiment Platoon leader He Wei, who is brave in combat and quick in thinking, will be promoted to lieutenant with immediate effect!"

He Wei's eyes widened, and there was only one thought in his mind: "Damn, this is too fast!"

(End of this chapter)