The Beacon of Laiyang Metal

Chapter 42 Reinforcements
  "Puch"

Jiang Hongchun, who was already scarred, had an extra half-foot on his chest, and the knife wounds were deeply visible. Blood kept pouring out, staining his shirt red, and dripping down his clothes, and his trouser legs were also dripping. The blood was stained red, and the whole person looked like a bloody man.

His face became paler, and every breath seemed extremely difficult, which was obviously a sign of excessive blood loss.

The sergeant on the opposite side was not doing much better at the moment. The left side of his waist was pierced by a bayonet. At this moment, he was bleeding continuously, and his expression became painful and solemn. If it hadn't been for the saber to block it, he would have been stabbed. It's his belly.

Jiang Hongchun knew that assassination was not his strong point, not to mention that the opponent was a veteran of the Kwantung Army.

Therefore, he was determined to die from the beginning, and faced the Japanese soldier Cao's sword without any resistance. His only goal was to stab the Japanese soldier's body with the bayonet. It was a life-for-life style of fighting. He blocked it with a slash, and opened a terrifying wound on his chest from bottom to top.

At this moment, the two of them were like two wounded beasts, staring closely at each other's weaknesses and preparing to fight for the second time.

Suddenly, dense gunfire came from the foot of the mountain, getting closer and closer. Among the dense gunfire, the most recognizable ones were the drum-like "dong dong dong..." of the Browning heavy machine gun and the MG-34 tearing tarpaulin. The same "tear, tear, tear..." sound made under high-speed shooting.

Jiang Hongchun knew that his reinforcements were coming, and a smile from the heart finally appeared on the corners of his chapped mouth. The Japanese Army Cao was also disrupted by the sudden and intensive gunfire, and his expression became more solemn. For a moment, he didn't know whether to go down the mountain to return reinforcements. , let’s continue fighting with the “madman” in front of us.

Jiang Hongchun, however, didn't think as much as the Japanese military commander. The severe blood loss made him become a little unconscious. He just bit his lower lip tightly and tried to keep himself awake.

He only knew that he had lasted until the reinforcements arrived. He only knew that almost all the brothers in his class were dead, and it was his turn to accompany them next.

While the Japs Sergeant was hesitating, Jiang Hongchun took the lead to take action. He raised the rifle he was holding tightly with his right hand and threw it towards the Japs Sergeant's face like a javelin.

The Japanese military officer subconsciously swung his sword to block it, but he did not expect that the enemy on the opposite side would follow him and rush towards him. The first sword cut off the rifle, and it was too late to swing the sword away again. He was only about 1 meters tall but was extremely strong. The burly Japs sergeant suddenly felt out of breath when Jiang Hongchun strangled his neck with his arms. Wrapped up by the inertia of the rush, he rolled down the mountain with his knife.

The first two Willys jeeps had an M2 Browning heavy machine gun and an MG-34 general-purpose machine gun installed in the compartment.

Coupled with the 50-round drum Thompson submachine gun used by the squad leader and deputy squad leader, like two fire hedgehogs, they rushed directly towards the Japanese improvised position without slowing down.

Originally, the Japanese had a full squad of 54 people. After several attacks on the mountain, two squads were wiped out and one squad was crippled. The remaining Japanese, including squadron leader Kazuki Oura, were less than One-third of the team's full strength.

At this time, the attention of all the remaining Japs was still focused on that hilltop. It was not until the jeep was close to a distance of about 200 meters that any Japs heard the sound of the vehicle's engine and turned their heads to check.

What greeted them were two tongues of fire like whips. The heavy machine gun on the vehicle was the first to start firing violently, pouring firepower from left to right and back to left at all the creatures in front of them, especially the Japanese. The grenade position received special attention because of the large number of people gathered together.

The howitzer squad, which originally had more than a dozen Japanese soldiers, was swept by a few tongues of flames, and in an instant, all that was left was stumps of limbs and broken arms.

After the vehicle reached a distance of 100 meters, Thomson's attack also began, taking over the firepower and air strikes from the heavy machine gun reloading room.

"Da da da..." The Japs who had just escaped the first round of fire were knocked down by the ensuing hail of bullets before they could prevent an effective counterattack.

Half of Oura Kazuki's face was covered in blood. When the heavy machine gun opened fire, he obviously found the old Japanese hiding behind the rocks. Although there was no direct hit, the gravel splashed by the powerful 12.7mm bullet looked like a knife. The left half of his face was also scratched, and even the telescope in his hand flew away.

At this moment, he squatted behind a stone, wiped the blood that covered half of his eyes, took out his southern pistol, and panicked and ordered the remaining Japs to organize a counterattack. He really couldn't figure it out:
  "Why did the battle that was about to end suddenly turn around? When did the Chinese become so difficult to deal with?"

"There is also the firepower of the other party. If the armed men ambush on the hilltop are prepared for the strong firepower, what is this sudden convoy? The firepower of a dozen people is stronger than that of a small team!"

The resistance of the few remaining Japs did not bring any suspense to this battle. It only added a few dead souls to the guns of Yang Erwa and others.

If it is a shooting range of more than 200 meters, with the same firepower, the soldiers of the Security Brigade who have only been trained for a few months are no match for these Kwantung Army. The Kwantung Army, which is famous for its strong combat effectiveness, has poor individual soldier quality, especially long-distance shooting. In terms of strength, it is completely enough to crush the independent brigade.

Wei Yuan, who was well aware of his own shortcomings, had no intention of using his shortcomings to challenge the Kwantung Army's strengths.

When the distance is far away, I use firepower density to make up for it. A blind cat can always encounter a few dead mice. When the distance is close, I still use firepower density. For a large number of independent brigade soldiers equipped with automatic weapons, this time becomes own strengths.

It sounds like this style of play is a bit rogue, but I have to say that this tactic is really easy to use.

Yang Erwa and his Willis jeep faced the sporadic Japanese counterattacks and rushed directly to the Japanese position more than ten meters before stopping. They almost fired from muzzle to muzzle. Any mention of the quality of individual soldiers at this time is nonsense. Whoever has the highest firepower density depends on who can pour out a lot of firepower in the shortest time.

The sudden gunshots came and stopped suddenly. The soldiers of the independent brigade were facing the corpses of the Japanese scattered all over the position. They were dealing with last-ditch shots and last-ditch shots. The whole process had been very well-trained since they were suppressing bandits. familiar.

A corporal squad leader pointed at a Japanese soldier who looked like a killed officer, and said excitedly to Yang Erwa, who was already a second lieutenant platoon leader: "Platoon leader, this seems to be an official!"

Yang Erwa picked up the Japanese Lieutenant's Knife on the ground, raised her military boots and turned the prone Oura Kazuki over. She saw the captain's epaulettes exposed on her shoulders, and then nodded. Judging from the number of Japanese killed, This should be the highest commander of the Japs at the scene.

Then he pointed at the hilltop where the Japanese were attacking and shouted loudly: "Quickly, find the brothers from the second squad, the medics, the medics, get ready to rescue the wounded!"

While shouting, he led a few soldiers to climb up first. When a few people climbed up the mountain panting, they saw the same thing as the Japs who rushed up the mountain before. Except for the scattered craters and the corpses of soldiers on both sides, there was nothing more. A living person.

After several searches, except for Jiang Hongchun, the tattered corpses of three other people who were blown up by grenades were pulled out. Only Jiang Hongchun was missing. Judging from the intensity of the fighting at the scene, it was impossible for anyone to be alive on the hilltop. .

"Impossible, impossible, this kid's life is so tough, he won't die even if I die..." Yang Erwa was heartbroken, muttering to himself, and tears could not stop flowing from his eyes.

Jiang Hongchun was his favorite squad leader. Although he scolded him a lot on weekdays and even kicked him a few times when he was angry, he was always laughing and joking shamelessly. On the surface, he promised to do well the next day. He was so angry that he wanted to put him in solitary confinement and make him behave for a few days, so that other soldiers in the squad would not follow suit.

But when the security regiment expanded, I was promoted to platoon leader and asked the soldiers from the previous squad to nominate the squad leader list.

The first person he reported was Jiang Hongchun's name. At this moment, he was about to be separated from the yin and yang. How could he accept it? Although it was a soldier's mission to shroud his body in horse leather, and every soldier should have this awareness from the first day he joined the army, but After all, they are all living people, and they have feelings as long as they are human.

Yang Erwa, who did not give up, faced the soldiers who were climbing up the mountain:

"If you want to see people alive, if you want to see corpses, search them for me. Search every corner of this mountain. I don't believe that this big living person can disappear for nothing..."

"Monitor Jiang, Jiang Hongchun..."

All the soldiers who were on guard were excluded and began to search carefully from top to bottom along this unknown hilltop, shouting while searching...
  But apart from the shouts of the soldiers, there was only the smoke of gunpowder that had not cleared up on this hilltop, and there was no response at all.

Seeing the time passing by, Yang Erwa became more and more anxious. He knew that the enemy's reinforcements might arrive at any time, and he had to re-build his position as soon as possible, and then nailed it here to deal with the next battle.

Just when he was about to give up the search and ordered the soldiers to build fortifications, a surprising voice came: "Found it, found Squad Leader Jiang, he is still alive!"

Yang Erwa followed the soldier's voice and ran over, not caring about the burning pain on her exposed skin after being scratched by weeds.

At this time, Jiang Hongchun had passed out due to excessive blood loss, but his hands were still tightly strangling the sergeant's neck. The sergeant's eyes were open, and there was an indescribable expression in his dull eyes. Frightened and unwilling, his neck showed an irregular twist. At first glance, it seemed that his throat bone was broken due to the huge external force and he died.

"Cough cough..."

Feeling that the weight of the Japs on his body disappeared, Jiang Hongchun opened his eyes with force, gasped for breath, and raised his hands to move his arms that were numb from the pressure.

Only then did he see the platoon leader and brothers in the platoon gathered around him with anxious and concerned faces, while the medical soldiers on the side were busy bandaging him to stop the bleeding.

On the face that was darkened by gunpowder smoke, there was a smile that was uglier than crying, and with a weak and hoarse voice:
  "Platoon leader, I failed to protect the road construction workers and brought all my brothers back, which is embarrassing for you!"

After saying this, Jiang Hongchun, who had more than a dozen shrapnel in his body and an exposed knife wound of more than half a foot long. He was not even afraid of death. He had tears and runny nose. He was sobbing like a child who had made a mistake and tried not to let go. Cry out loud to yourself.

Yang Erwa and the platoon brothers who came to the side after hearing the news had their eyes red at this moment. They wished they could rush down the mountain and chop the hard corpses of the Japanese into pieces with knives to avenge the brothers of the second squad.

Yang Erwa, with red eyes, stepped forward and hugged her:
  "Well done, you didn't embarrass the platoon leader. Did you know that your squad killed more than fifty Japs, including a Japs second lieutenant? Your squad fought well in this battle, and we deserved it."

"The mission of your squad has been completed, and the rest should be left to the brothers in other squads. Now the platoon leader orders you to go back to the rear to rest. When this battle is over, the platoon leader will treat you to a drink!"

After saying that, seeing that the medical soldiers had finished simply bandaging him, he called the other brothers in the platoon and carried Jiang Hongchun onto a stretcher.

He took out a dark green military blanket from the backpack behind him and carefully covered him, then waved to two soldiers to carry him down the mountain. When the stretcher was almost out of sight in the bushes, Yang Erwa said loudly :

"Stand at attention and salute the brothers of Class 2"

At this time, other soldiers were still busy rebuilding the fortifications on the mountain. At this time, they also put down the tools in their hands and saluted a solemn military salute towards the bottom of the mountain with solemn expressions.

Dandong Kwantung Army Headquarters
  Lieutenant Colonel Nomura Shinji stayed in the electronic detection room, anxiously waiting for the radio reply from Oura Squadron.

Three hours ago, Oura Squadron received information about an attack by Chinese armed forces on the Imperial Army's railway patrol car in the direction of "Qingshangou", and stated that the encirclement and annihilation had been completed.

At first, Nomura Shinji didn't take it to heart. There were always several attacks on the imperial army in Manchuria every month. All he had to do was defeat them and then cut off their heads to publicize the imperial army's power.

The imperial army has been planning for Manchuria for a long time. Now is not the best time to have a head-on conflict with the Chinese. They still need to wait for further orders from the base camp.

However, after receiving the report from Oura Squadron this morning, there was no follow-up news. Even if the headquarters took the initiative to send a text message to inquire, there was no reply, and it seemed as if it disappeared in an instant.

He then asked the radio scouts to send electricity to the left-behind section of the Aoyama Military Station, asking them to investigate the situation and get Kazuki Oura to call back as soon as possible. However, they were told that the remaining two teams left behind had just been ordered by Squadron Leader Kazuki Oura. , carrying infantry artillery and armored vehicles, set off to the direction of the railway bridge for support.

Then he asked the telegraph soldiers to generate electricity for the two teams that were going to support them. I don't know if they were still on the march, and the radio was not turned on.

This made Captain Nomura Shinji feel a little more impatient. He was not worried about the safety of Oura Squadron.

In Manchuria, he boasted that no Chinese army could silently wipe out one of his squadrons at once, and that was the Kwantung Army, which was known for its elite.

He was just worried that the conflict would expand and the war with the established Chinese army would affect the base camp's planned invasion of China, causing him, the captain, to be punished.

(End of this chapter)