The beacon of youth

Chapter 430 Defending Xianyang's Perseverance

In order to strengthen the defense system of the main city, the [-]st Division of the People's Liberation Army set up several outlying positions outside the city. Relying on the tall city wall, with their backs against the city wall, they fought desperately. If the Ma family army wants to take Xianyang, they must first attack the People's Liberation Army. Therefore, both the attackers and the defenders tried their best in many positions outside the city, and the scene was extremely tragic.

The sudden large number of cattle completely destroyed the landmines planted in the forward positions of the People's Liberation Army, and the soldiers rushed forward with the cattle as cover.

The actions of the 82nd Army caught the soldiers a little by surprise. I have to say that the move made by the commander of the Ma’s Army was still very clever. Not only did the landmines planted by the PLA not work, even the bullets fired by them were caught by cattle running around. A large part was blocked, which gave the fast cavalry a chance to rush to the vicinity, and it was a life-and-death hand-to-hand fight.

Hand-to-hand combat is the cruelest method of warfare, and it is also a method that both the Ma family army and the People's Liberation Army prefer. Being able to give up easily, every small position changed hands several times, and the Ma's army was counterattacked by the PLA's reserve forces as soon as it captured it.

When the People's Liberation Army is engaged in positional defensive warfare, at least one-third of its troops should be left as a reserve team. This is a good habit honed after years of hard fighting, and it is also a lesson learned with blood and lives, so don't look at it. There are not many troops outside the city, but each position has a little bit of reserve force, which makes the already brutal battle more intense, and the dead soldiers of the two armies are all over the outside of Xianyang City.

The cavalry of the Ma family army is characterized by fast speed, the soldiers' tenacious fighting will, and they are crazy when fighting offensively. The disadvantage is that their weapons and equipment are too poor and they have no experience in attacking cities. The Red Army is a bit like the Red Army. If the equipment is not enough, there is no way to force it. The cavalry saber will not be able to exert its power unless it rushes nearby. Once such an enemy rushes to the front, it will be very dangerous.

The troops of the People's Liberation Army in the city took advantage of the city wall to support the positions outside the city with condescending firepower. The dense rain of bullets caused heavy casualties to the Ma's army's charging soldiers, and the dead bodies were one after another. Troops form crossfire.

Ma's Army's 82nd Army is different from other troops. This army was replaced by the warlord Ma Jiyuan.

Due to human reasons, an extra heavy artillery battalion was deployed, and this heavy artillery unit played a significantly greater combat effectiveness than the cavalry in the battle of urban fortifications.

Several consecutive attacks were repulsed, and the attacking troops not only failed to achieve any effect, but suffered heavy casualties. The situation on the scene made Ma Jiyuan furious. This guy pointed at the city wall of Xianyang and ordered his artillery troops to do everything possible The People's Liberation Army's position was flattened, and then the cavalry was changed into infantry, and a desperate attack was launched on Xianyang.

Ma Jiyuan is going to fight for his life. The scale of the heavy artillery battalion of the 82nd Army is much larger than that of ordinary battalion-level troops. There are dozens of artillery pieces of various calibers, large and small. These are Ma Bufang's treasures for him. The son was able to build up his prestige and specially asked for it from Chiang Kai-shek. I think he paid a considerable price for this heavy artillery unit, the Qingma Army.

Chiang Kai-shek’s consistent policy towards the Northwest Erma’s army has always been to fight and pull, not only to rely on them to rule the Northwest region, but also to prevent their power from being too large. Therefore, the management of the weapons and equipment of the Erma’s army is very strict, and there is no special policy. The situation is that they will not be resupplied, and everything that the Ma's army needs must be solved by themselves.

Ma Bufang really wants his eldest son Ma Jiyuan to take over his squad, but there must be a prerequisite for succession, that is, Ma Jiyuan must establish a certain prestige in the army of the Qingma Army, so that he will not be in trouble in the future. I understand the truth that political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.

This is why the 82nd Army of the Majia Army, which is not rich, has such a heavy artillery force more than other two-horse troops.

The fierce artillery fire blew up the positions of the [-]st Division of the People's Liberation Army with thousands of windows and hundreds of holes. It is impossible to have a large number of artillery holes in the temporary positions built in a few hours. This is because Wang Qingshan's reconnaissance team dragged the enemy back. A few hours of credit, otherwise it would be too late to dig any fortifications.

What to do in the face of enemy shells?There was no other way, and they could not withdraw, so they had no choice but to stand up. After the bombardment, they charged frantically again. The sabers in the hands of the Majiajun soldiers gleamed against the sun, and the soldiers rushed upwards with shouts of killing.

The troops of Ma Bufang, a local warlord, are also very distinctive. Every time they fight, they try to suppress the opponent's momentum and defeat the opponent psychologically. Therefore, when charging, the soldiers must shout out. The louder the better, use Ma Bufang In other words, if you can't kill him, you have to scare your opponent to death.

But once it was clear that they were wrong. Instead of being intimidated by the Ma's army shouting to kill, the soldiers were aroused with anger. The soldiers scolded, "Damn, you dare to play this game with our PLA. How is this any different from playing with an ax in front of Lu Ban's door? It's pure courting of death."

The soldiers climbed up from the fortifications that were blown down by the shells, inspected the casualties, inspected the weapons and ammunition, and stood ready to deal with the enemy's next attack.

The army of the Northwest Second Horse Army dared to fight desperately. This is their strength, but after all, it depends on who they compare with. Compared with other troops of the Kuomintang, this is their strength. Compared with the People's Liberation Army, it is not their strength. The Bayi Division is an old bone troop of the People's Liberation Army. Their tenacious fighting will has always been the heirloom of this troop. They dare to face any ferocious enemy and dare to trample any invading enemy under their feet. Compared with such an army Seriously, Ma Jiajun is not an opponent yet.

The soldiers on the positions fought desperately against the enemy with all the weapons they could grasp, and they would never give up if there was one person left in each position, so that if the Ma family army wanted to occupy a small position outside Xianyang City, they would have to pay a considerable price .

The battle lasted from noon to night. Under the crazy attack of the 82nd Army of the Kuomintang, most of the positions of the [-]st Division outside the city were lost, and all the officers and soldiers of the [-]st Division on the positions were killed.

When it was dark, there was only one Wujiabao position in the hands of the [-]st Division outside the city. The person in charge of defending this small position was a reinforced platoon from the third company of a certain unit of the [-]st Division. The member is Zheng Guojun, the instructor of this company.

Relying on crude fortifications outside the city to carry out defensive operations, everyone knows that this is a life-threatening job, and it is very likely that this is a glorious time.

If the enemy wants to attack Xianyang's main position, he must first take down the small outer positions, so it is much more dangerous outside than on the main position. This is a truth that everyone understands. Since everyone knows the danger, who will guard this position? ?Who will guard it?

The method of the third company is to use a platoon with the strongest combat effectiveness as the backbone, and then strengthen some of the party members who performed best in the whole company. The company instructor Zheng Guojun will lead the team to carry out defensive operations on this position.

The political workers during the war were amazing. Not only did they have to do a lot of ideological work for the soldiers, but they also had to command the battle like a company commander, and at critical times, they also had to serve as the captain of the commando or sharp-knife troops.

The reason why the troops of the People's Liberation Army do this is that the most dangerous tasks are for party members to do, and the tasks that are most likely to be sacrificed are for party members to do, and don't join the party if you are afraid of death.

The political staff of an army is the soul of the army, especially in the early period of the Red Army, the highest commander in the army was not a division commander, but a political commissar or a party representative. They were the highest leaders in the army , is also a part of the people with the highest probability of death.

(Before the Wannan incident, the commander of the New Fourth Army was Ye Ting, but the party representative Xiang Ying was actually in power, and Xiang Ying's military command ability cannot be compared with Ye Ting. This is also a case of the New Fourth Army choosing the wrong route to break through. Important reasons, extra text, not much to say)

There is another name for the commando or the sharp knife unit is the death squad. When the company-level troops assault, the instructor leads the commando, and when the battalion-level troops assault, the instructor leads the commando. This is a very common phenomenon in the People's Liberation Army. It is also a very common phenomenon. Therefore, grassroots political workers suffered a large proportion of casualties in battles, and they were wounded or sacrificed in almost every battle.

(After liberation, the commando was gradually transitioned to be led by the deputy company commander or deputy battalion commander. The deputy company commander or deputy battalion commander was a natural death captain during the war. This is a later story.)

A reinforced platoon of more than 50 people brought five Czech-style submachine guns and a large number of submachine guns. In order to increase their firepower, the company commander gave them the only one Maxim in the entire company before departure.

Intense battles lasted from morning to night. In the face of the tide of enemy attacks, the instructor Zheng Guojun led the entire platoon of soldiers to stand firm. By the time it got dark, they had repelled nine attacks from the Majia army. The barrels of every machine gun They were all red. The water-cooled Maxim heavy machine gun, which is the most important firepower in the platoon, took out four of the five boxes of ammunition. The dead bodies and dead horses stretched from 30 meters to 200 meters in front of their positions, and they were not dead yet. The howling of the wounded soldiers was heartbreaking.

Instructor Zheng Guojun shouted to his soldiers: "Comrades, save ammunition, fire when you see the target, take out all the grenades, go up to two combat teams, and bury a few more grenades 50 meters away from the front while it is dark. I don’t believe that their Ma’s army still has so many cattle to help them attack.”

The soldiers answered him with a smile: "Instructor, it's nothing to bury the grenade as a landmine. I want to cut some meat from the dead cow, okay? We haven't eaten dinner yet."

Zheng Guojun: "As long as the grenade is buried, you can do whatever you want. However, even if you get back the dead beef, you can only eat it raw. You can't light it. The enemy has artillery. Pay attention to the fire cover and go."

The above pages are adapted from the real historical events of Zheng Guojun, the combat hero of the No.60 First Army, [-]st Division of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and the instructor of a certain third company. Long live the invincible Chinese People's Liberation Army.