Chapter 42: The Battle of Tongdeng (12)

Chapter 42: The Battle of Tongdeng (12)

Just as we were rejoicing that the engineer team had successfully dug through the secret tunnel, we suddenly heard the engineer captain shout in panic: "It's not good, there is someone down there" followed by a series of gunshots of "bang bang ......", it seems that the engineer team has been "melee" with the Vietnamese army.

Listening to this voice, I couldn't help but be surprised, and soon understood that when the engineer team was digging through the dark passage, there happened to be Vietnamese troops passing through the dark passage, so the two sides were completely unprepared to fight together.

"......Boom", and an explosion came from the other end of the walkie-talkie.

"Captain, Captain......"

After a few calls, someone grabbed the walkie-talkie and shouted with a cry: "The enemy has discovered us, the captain rushed into the secret passage with a grenade, and the enemy will soon come out of the secret passage again, we must immediately detonate the 'medicine' and tell my mother that her son is doing well, and her son has won glory for her."

Then I heard a loud "......boom", and there was a clear vibration in the ground where we were lying on our stomach, and I knew that the blasting in the direction of the nameless high ground had been successful.

I don't know what to say to those fighters, and I can't say it at the same time. Because I know that now they can't hear everything that has to be said. All I can do is to make their sacrifices not in vain.

So I immediately ordered into the walkie-talkie: "The nameless highland blasting is successful, and the battle begins"

Before the words fell, the whistling sound of artillery shells rang out, and one shell after another landed on the nameless high ground with great precision, and in the dark night, fireballs exploded, lifting the Vietnamese army's barbed wire machine gun positions into the air. And just when the Vietnamese army was concentrating all its attention on the bombed unnamed heights, a car had already unknowingly passed through the enemy's fire blockade in the night and drove to the predetermined location of the railway station.

Then I heard a loud "......boom", and a whole car of TNT explosives exploded between the railway station and the flat-topped mountain, and the flames that rose almost eclipsed all the artillery fire, and the loud noise diverted everyone's attention.

That position didn't seem important on the surface, which is why the Vietnamese didn't defend there. But we knew that directly below that place there was a secret passage from the Guitun Fort to the train station.

Looking at the slowly rising flames that resembled mushroom clouds, I knew that even if those explosives hadn't exploded directly above the dark tunnel, the nearby dark tunnel would not end well.

Another burst of artillery fire, this time covering both the nameless heights and the railway station.

Prior to this, Regiment Commander Zhao reported to his superiors about the situation of the Guitun Fort, and at the same time, because we blew up the secret passage leading to Tanlong, the battle of Tanlong ended quickly. This allowed our division to concentrate all its forces on the Guitun Fort. This time, the artillery bombardment was concentrated with the mortars of the divisional artillery regiment and two regiments, and a total of hundreds of 'guns' of large and small guns were put into battle.

The two places of the Nameless Heights and the Railway Station, which were originally small, were bombarded by hundreds of 'gates' of our army's artillery at the same time, and suddenly became a sea of fire. The trees and weeds on the nameless heights were all torn to shreds and buried in the scorched earth as if they had been hoeed. Not to mention the railway station, which was used as a bunker by the Vietnamese army, all of which were blown to pieces, but in a matter of minutes, the railway station became a scrap metal acquisition station......

With a few sounds of "sudden ......", three red 'colored' signal flares slowly rose from the air. The ten-minute artillery fire was ready to end, and the artillery began to concentrate on blocking the Guitun Fort.

We also know that with the cement fortifications several meters thick of the Guitun Fort, our artillery cannot penetrate it. As a battalion commander of the 637th Regiment who participated in the battle said: "The 82 guns can only make a white spot on that fortification."

In fact, we did not hope that the artillery could knock out the Guitun Fort, and if the artillery could do it, then the Guitun Fort would not be called the Guitun Fort. The purpose of blockading the Ghost Forts with artillery fire was to prevent it from condescending to suppress the unnamed heights and the railway station.

In other words, those shells smashed on the large pillbox, even if it couldn't penetrate it, at least it could shake the Vietnamese troops inside like ringing a bell, and the pieces of gunpowder smoke and dust kicked off would also obstruct the sight of the Vietnamese troops in the pillbox anyway

The nameless heights and the railway station were under the control of the fire of the Guitun Fort, and the shells exploded around it, so that the Vietnamese troops inside could not accurately 'shoot'......

"Kill" As soon as I gave the order, the soldiers jumped up from their hiding places in rows and rushed towards the nameless heights. The scene in the direction of the nameless heights was not beautiful enough, and the attacking troops in the direction of the railway station were spectacular, and more than two dozen tanks were lined up in several columns, followed by the infantry, and slowly advanced towards the scrap metal in the railway station. Their mission is actually very simple, which is to destroy the remnants of the enemy, then completely blow up the underground tunnel and its exit, and then withdraw from the train station.

But none of this is something I can 'worry about', because my troops are attacking the nameless heights with all their might. As a commander, any distraction on the battlefield has the potential to cause irreparable damage.

"One platoon covers the second platoon and quickly occupies the hilltop position," I commanded over the walkie-talkie as I rushed toward the nameless heights with my rifle in hand.

Only the first and second platoons of troops participated in the attack on the unnamed heights, and the third platoon of the native people served as reserves. The reason for this arrangement is that I hope that Yang Songjian and Li Shui, who are platoon commanders, will be able to quickly grow up in the war.

Although they have already fought a few small battles, after all, they have only been on the battlefield for a few days, and their actual combat experience needs to be improved.

At this time, the secret passage between the Nameless Heights and the Ghost Tun Fort had been bombed, and coupled with the overwhelming artillery preparations of our army, the Vietnamese troops on the Nameless Heights had already been beaten to pieces. It can be said that our army has won the battle so far, and we have only come up to clean up some remnants of the enemy. It is precisely this kind of battle that can allow Yang Songjian, Li Shui' Bo and others to be tempered in actual combat without too many casualties.

"Yes," Yang Songjian and Li Shui 'Bo' answered, and each assigned their own tasks.

A platoon of fighters soon rushed up to the hilltop position under the leadership of me and Li Shui 'Bo'.

There were scorched earth and craters everywhere, the grass was gone, the trees were gone, and even the one-man deep trenches dug by the Vietnamese army were gone. The entire battlefield was covered with soft, scorched earth, and the heat emitted by the scorched earth baked the highlands like steamers. The smell of gunpowder smoke is so thick that you can barely breathe......

At this time, I had a strange feeling, as if I had returned to the battlefield to resist US aggression and aid Korea, and once again stepped on the position that had been turned over several times by artillery fire. It's just that at that time, our position was bombed like this by the Yankees. Now, it is the position of our army to bomb the devils......

This cannot but be said to be a kind of progress, and I also admit that the artillery of our army is much better than it was during the period of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea

"Bang bang bang......" The two Vietnamese soldiers got out of the dirt and were knocked down in a pool of blood by me before they could understand what was going on.

The soldiers quickly entered the state, each holding their guns and carefully searching the soil for clues of the Vietnamese army. This is perhaps the difference between a veteran and a new recruit, a veteran can get himself into the groove before he even goes into battle. And the recruits, before the start of the fight, seem to be thinking about other things, such as whether they can go on alive this time, whether they will break their hands and feet, and what should I do if I die at home...... They often wake up only when they hear gunshots or become aware of danger, but by then, it's often too late

What I have to do is to try to shorten the time for them to enter the state again and again through actual combat again and again.

"Da Da ......" The chaotic gunfire soon rang out, and more than a dozen Vietnamese soldiers woke up in time and organized a defensive line on the hilltop position.

This was completely expected by me, just as the American artillery fire could not blow up all the volunteers after turning over the high ground several times, the Vietnamese army, after getting the true transmission of our army, also knew to use the tunnels on the anticline to protect themselves, so we could not blow them up clean.

It's just that I'm very confident that I can take down the position in front of me. There is no other reason, the secret passage has been blown up by our army, and the Vietnamese army will no longer be able to use the "refueling tactic" to fight us

It should be said that the "refueling tactics" used by the Vietnamese army were as good as those used by our army in the Korean War. Our army dug a number of tunnels in the same place to hide troops, while the Vietnamese army used dark tunnels to transport troops...... There is no doubt that this method will make the main force of the Vietnamese army safer, because they can hide in the highly defended Guitun forts, and there is no shortage of water, food, and even electricity...... Just wait for the battlefield to need it and then increase troops on the corresponding front

However, everything has two sides to it. Of course, there are advantages to this method, but the disadvantages are also fatal - once the secret passage used to transport troops is blown up by us, the defense of the Vietnamese army will be so weak.

Just like what we are facing now, if it had been in the past, there would have been more than 30 Vietnamese troops defending this high ground, but now there are only a dozen guns firing......

"Bang bang......" A few bullets 'fired' out of my rifle, and several Vietnamese soldiers fell in pools of blood with a scream.

To be honest, it was not easy to kill these Vietnamese soldiers. They may not have recovered from the shelling, and the bullets fired were all disorganized, which made it difficult for me to judge their position.

However, the fires of our bombardment of the Ghost Forts illuminated everything on the top of the hill from behind, allowing me to find them in the scorched earth and kill them one by one.

Again, the fires were of great help to the warriors, almost keeping the enemy in the light and us in the shadows at the top of the hill. For the first time, I found out that there was still this benefit from artillery bombardment

So it didn't take long for the fighters to rush to the top of the hill with their submachine guns in their hands. In the meantime, several bunkers have come back from the dead. I think it was the Vietnamese soldiers in the bunker who were stunned by artillery fire and buried under the scorched earth, and only then did they come to their senses. As soon as they woke up, they couldn't wait to dig up the scorched earth that was blocking the 'shooting' holes, and then they '' the machine guns and fired them as if we couldn't find them......

Our troops have already crossed their area of fire control, and all they have to do is turn back and throw a few grenades into the 'shot' hole.

"The first platoon searched for the remnants of the enemy, and the second platoon was responsible for blowing up all the tunnels and tunnels," this was my first order after occupying the hilltop position. This is also our goal, to completely destroy the secret passages, so that the Vietnamese army cannot increase troops from the underground to the nameless heights. Similarly, this task is being carried out in the direction of the train station.

But at this moment, the sound of artillery in the direction of Guitun became weaker and weaker, and finally there was almost no sound except for a few mortars that came and went.

"What's going on?" I asked on the intercom.

Could it be that the shells are running out? It's impossible, our army was fully prepared before starting the war, and almost all the artillery reserves of the whole division were brought in. What's more, the Guitun Fort is so big, and only a dozen or twenty shells are needed for a round of shelling

Just when I was suspicious, Commander Zhao's angry scolding came from the other end of the walkie-talkie: "The artillery unit has been attacked by Vietnamese agents, and it can no longer provide us with artillery assistance."

"What? Vietnamese army agents? "When I heard this, I immediately thought of the Vietnamese dressed as civilians with AK47s in their hands.

It's really a matter of taking care of one thing and losing the other, my troops are fighting here, and there is less defense against the Vietnamese army agents, but I didn't expect them to take advantage of the situation...... But then again, this Vietnamese agent is really not something that my army can defend against. Although the number of people in Dong Deng Town is relatively concentrated, there are still 'holes' and 'holes' in the jungle and small villages by the river, and it can be said that there are hiding places for Vietnamese army agents everywhere. In addition, our army's "three major disciplines and eight points of attention" ...... The attack on the artillery unit this time can be said to be inevitable

What to do?

The agents of the Vietnamese army have already started and have not done it late, and now is the critical moment for our army to destroy the Vietnamese army's tunnels and secret passages...... If our army retreats like this, of course, we can retreat with all our bodies, but what will happen next? The Vietnamese army will soon be able to repair the tunnels again, once again forming a triangular defense of the Ghost Fort, the Nameless Heights and the Railway Station. Even...... Because of the experience of the last time, the Vietnamese army is also very likely to improve the hidden passages, such as reinforcing the hidden passages, or using firepower to defend their surfaces, increasing the search and reconnaissance of the hidden passages, and so on

This means that if we retreat like this, not only will we achieve nothing, but we will also startle the Vietnamese army and make it defenseless

Just keep completing the mission?

Maybe we can get the job done, but ...... The nameless heights and the railway station are under the fire control of the Guitun Fort, and they have lost the cover of artillery fire, so what awaits us? There is no doubt about that

"The anti-chemical warfare troops will attack the Ghost Fort, and the others will continue the mission" This is the only way I can think of.

"Yes," several anti-chemical warfare soldiers equipped with flame weapons responded, and without saying a word, they walked towards the Guitun Fort under the cover of more than a dozen infantrymen.

I picked up my rifle and looked at the Ghost Tun Fort, but it was still full of gunsmoke and smoke, and the Vietnamese army did not seem to have reacted to the shelling of our army. But I believe that this will not last long. Because the smoke has dissipated little by little under my gaze......

Suddenly, a flare shot out of the Ghost Fort, and the sky above the nameless heights turned white in an instant, and shrapnel, scorched earth, corpses, and blood came into our eyes in an instant.

"Get down"

In fact, there was no need for my order at all, and the soldiers had already subconsciously lay on the ground looking for cover. More than a month of training and a few days of actual combat are not useless.

The machine guns soon rang out, and the bullets rained down on the high ground where we were, scorching the earth, and the broken earth flew everywhere like flour, and the whistling of bullets flying through the air was everywhere in our heads......

A few more flares followed, and the train station soon turned white. I looked down at the light of the flares and couldn't help but say something terrible. The train station was too low at the foot of the hill, and there was cement and steel everywhere, and the tanks and the rows of soldiers who followed them had nowhere to hide or to hide.

Compared to them, we are much safer on the Nameless Heights. There was soft scorched earth everywhere, and as soon as we lay on the ground, it would be difficult for the Vietnamese troops at the Ghost Tun Fort to find us through the 'shooting' holes several meters thick and in the bright light of flares. But the train station ......

Bad luck happened to the fighters attacking the railway station, as I feared, the machine guns quickly turned, and the whistling of shells rang out. The bullets rained down on the soldiers at the train station, causing the soldiers behind the tanks to fall in rows. The shells landed on the platform, sending concrete blocks in all directions; The shells hit the railway, and the rubble flew around...... All of this formed a natural shrapnel, and in an instant the railway station was filled with all kinds of rubble, cement blocks, iron pieces and bullets, only to make the soldiers scream and fall in pieces

"Retreat" Seeing this, I couldn't help but shout into the walkie-talkie: "The first battalion and the tank battalion retreat immediately, retreat immediately"

But he didn't hear my order at all, or they heard my order but didn't want to do it, because they hadn't done it yet......

I even saw a few tanks still moving with infantry towards the Vietnamese army's tunnels, firing at suspicious targets as they went

With a "......boom", a mortar shell hit the top of a tank directly. After a flash of fire, the tank never moved again.

The weakest point of the tank's armor is the top and bottom, not to mention that this is a Type 63 tank with thin armor, so it can't withstand mortar bombardment at all.

Now, the only thing I can hope for is those anti-chemical soldiers who are advancing towards the Guitun Fort in the dark night