After more than nine hours of fighting, the troops of the puppet 2nd Division and the Ethiopian battalion charged our positions again and again, and were beaten down by us again and again. It wasn't until it was dark that they finally gave up the attack. Although the puppet army showed extraordinary bravery and combat effectiveness on this day, the mountains of corpses on the battlefield were undoubtedly the best evidence of their defeat.

The enemy's casualties are large, and the casualties of our army will naturally not be small. I don't know when I have been fighting on the position, I only know that the fighters have changed batch after batch. After returning to the tunnel and listening to Instructor Qin's report, he found that Li Feng's second company had already suffered casualties in the afternoon, and then he was rotated up, and he was actually a soldier of Li Baocheng's eighth company.

"The casualties are too great!" I was shocked on the spot by the situation reported by Instructor Qin, and at this rate of casualties, it would not be enough for a company to defend for a day.

"Chief of Staff......" Li Feng was also injured, his left hand was wrapped in a bandage and hung around his neck, his right hand clenched his fist and waved, gritted his teeth and said: "Our casualties are large, but I think it's worth it, looking at the enemy corpse in front of the position, I feel happy!" I'm going to go to the battlefield tomorrow, and I'm going to fight with those dogs, so I can go down and accompany those comrades under me! ”

"That's right! Fight with them! ”

"Fight with them!"

……

The soldiers in the tunnel raised their guns and shouted indignantly, but I was the only one who looked at the map on the table without saying a word.

The war is like this, originally I did not have any enmity with the puppet army and the US military, and during World War II, China and the United States were even allies of the anti-fascist camp and allies of the anti-Japanese army. It is the first time that we have seen many soldiers from the participating countries in the United States. For example, the barefoot Ethiopian battalion, and the volunteers were shocked when they first saw the black regiment in the United States...... However, as the battle became more and more intense, and more and more people died, the two sides had no hatred, but gradually became as deep as the sea, and the hatred was deep to the bone!

"Chief of Staff!" At this time, a fully disguised observation post ran into the tunnel and reported: "There is movement in the puppet army and the Ethiopian battalion position outside......

"The enemy is coming up?"

"Just in time! Fuck him for a shit day! ”

……

Without saying a word, the fighters grabbed their rifles and went to battle.

"Come back!" I stopped them at the first order, and then calmly asked the observation post, "What is the movement, tell me clearly!" ”

"The enemy didn't come up!" The observation post explained: "However, there are many sounds of cars and footsteps at the foot of the mountain, and it is too dark to see clearly, so it should be that the enemy troops are changing guards while it is dark!" ”

"Hmm!" The soldiers listened to the words of the observation post, and then sat back one by one embarrassedly.

"Chief of Staff!" Commander Qin analyzed: "This should be that the enemy's troops have suffered too many casualties, and they should be replaced by other troops!" ”

"Chief of Staff, the phone ......" At this time, a correspondent handed me the walkie-talkie: "It's Commander Zhang!" ”

"I'm Cui Wei!" I took the walkie-talkie and identified myself.

"Chief of Staff Cui, you guys fought well today!" Regiment Commander Zhang on the other end of the phone seemed to be in a good mood, and he said happily: "We have just received a telegram from our superiors that the 31st Regiment of the Puppet Second Division has almost lost all casualties in today's battle, and has completely lost its combat effectiveness!" The Ethiopian battalion was also killed and wounded, and it was unable to launch tomorrow's attack, so the US army had to transfer them down! ”

With a sound of "coaxing ......", the soldiers in the tunnel also heard Commander Zhang's words, and couldn't help but shake hands with each other happily.

"Commander Zhang, the casualties of our army are also very large!" I reported: "There are only seven people left in the second company, the main force of the defense today, and the eighth company has also suffered more than two dozen casualties!" ”

"There will be casualties!" Regiment Commander Zhang replied: "The soldiers fought very tenaciously, and their 'spirit' is worthy of praise and learning. But these casualties are worth it compared to the enemy's casualties! So you must hold on, and if you continue to fight according to such a casualty ratio, the enemy will not be able to hold out for long! We're going to win! ”

"Yes!" I nodded heavily.

I know that what Regiment Commander Zhang said is the truth, and even this battle plan of fighting people with people was formulated by me, but when it was really implemented, I saw so many new faces before I had time to become familiar with them, and I became martyrs in the blink of an eye, and I realized that many things are easier said than done, and this is especially true in war.

"Chief of Staff!" After a pause, Regiment Commander Zhang continued: "There is something I must inform you, so that you and the soldiers can be prepared!" ”

Listening to Commander Zhang's words, I couldn't help but be stunned, and soon understood that there was another military situation that was unfavorable to our army, so I gritted my teeth and responded: "Commander Zhang, don't worry, no matter how hard it is, I and the soldiers can withstand it!" ”

As I said this, I stole a glance at the warriors around me, and sure enough, I saw that all of them showed determination on their faces.

It's so difficult to be a leader and a cadre! In fact, I couldn't hold it anymore. But I know very well that the eyes of the warriors are on me! If I complained on the phone at this time: "Commander Zhang, we have been fighting for so many days, the casualties are too great, and we are very tired, I can't stand it anymore, hurry up and replace us!" ”

Then the next situation can be imagined, not to mention whether Regiment Commander Zhang will agree to replace us, the soldiers around him will all be discouraged when they hear this, and the next battle will not be able to fight!

"Well said!" Commander Zhang on the other end of the phone approvingly: "I'm relieved to have your words, we ** soldiers just need you as a 'spirit'!" Here's the thing, the superiors provided us with information to find out that the puppet army that the enemy had changed guards this time was the troops of the 30th Regiment of the 9th Puppet Division! ”

As soon as Head Zhang said this, I understood. The 30th Regiment of the Puppet 9th Division, just 20 days ago, it was this unit and this regiment that withstood the strong attack of the five regiments of the 38th Army of the Volunteer Army in the area of Baima Mountain for a full ten days. This unit was therefore called the "White Horse Division".

What kind of unit is the 38th Army of the Volunteer Army, I think as long as it is a soldier of the Volunteer Army, and even a soldier of the People's Army, everyone knows and knows it. It was the main force that the boss called the "Banzai Army" in the early days of the Korean War. It was such a force that was good at fighting hard and hard battles, and used five regiments to attack Baima Mountain, but finally returned in vain after paying huge casualties.

Of course, the 38th Army failed to capture Baima Mountain in the end, and a large part of the reason was that Shangganling was opened, and our army believed that the enemy's strong attack position was in the Shangganling area, so it ordered the 38th Army to stop the attack.

But it can withstand the ten-day attack of the 38th Army, and the combat effectiveness of the 30th Regiment of the puppet 9th Division can also be seen.

"Head Zhang, don't worry!" Thinking of this, I gritted my teeth and replied: "We will definitely be able to hold the 597.9 high ground and resolutely defeat the pseudo-9th Division!" ”

"Hmmm! I'm sure you have what it takes! I believe that the fighters have this ability! On the other end of the phone, Regiment Commander Zhang responded: "I will immediately send two companies to reinforce you with *** and supplies, you are ready to respond, and then study tomorrow's battle plan!" ”

"Yes!" I answered and hung up.

"Chief of Staff! What is the origin of this pseudo-9th Regiment of the 30th Division? Some soldiers listened to the conversation between me and Commander Zhang and couldn't help but ask strangely.

"It's nothing, it's just an ace unit of the puppet army!" I pretended to be relaxed and said: "I have seen a lot of the enemy's ace troops, what Gloucester battalion, what pseudo-capital division, etc., all of them are ace troops, and they are not all pleasing under us!" ”

"That's it!"

"Isn't the U.S. Seventh Division, which was just beaten down by us, also an ace unit?"

"Isn't that right? What an ace troop! Isn't it all the same under our bullets and grenades? ”

The warriors all laughed with ease.

I'm not trying to hide it from the fighters. The 38th Army can be said to be an exemplary unit of the Volunteer Army, and the slogan of many troops is to learn from the 38th Army, and even many soldiers accept the concept of what the 38th Army is like when they are trained...... If I tell them now that this pseudo-9th Division that we are going to face is a unit that has just thwarted the offensive of the 38th Army, it will definitely hit their morale to a great extent, so I would rather they don't know.

For this point, I think Li Baocheng, Li Feng and Instructor Qin also agree. As a company-level cadre of the Volunteer Army, Li Baocheng was even the company commander of the ace unit, and they had more or less heard of the battle more than ten days ago. But they are also smart people, and they all know the reason why I don't tell the truth, so they don't know what to say, but just nod their heads in favor and understanding with me.

"What about the ace troops, the ace troops?" Li Baocheng interjected: "Chief of Staff, you spent most of your time directing the battle on Position 8 today, so you didn't see the combat effectiveness of the Ethiopian battalion. Let me say that this Ethiopian battalion is no worse than any ace unit, and its style is even very similar to that of our volunteer army! ”

"That's right!" Li Feng also nodded and said: "This is also the reason why our company will have such large casualties, although they are not wearing shoes, but the attack speed is much faster than the Yankees wearing boots, I think it is even more difficult to fight than the US Seventh Division!" ”

"I see, the most powerful thing is their charcoal-like skin!" Li Baocheng quipped: "That body is like the scorched earth on the battlefield, if they go to the battlefield naked and lie on the ground, none of us will want to find ......"

There was a coax, and the soldiers were all amused by Li Baocheng's words.

In fact, even if Li Baocheng and Li Feng don't say it, I know this very well. In addition to the U.S. military and the puppet army, although the number of other troops joining the joint army is small, these troops all represent the dignity of their country, so there is no country that does not send its most 'elite' troops, and this Ethiopian Bise battalion is no exception. Moreover, they have developed from a long period of guerrilla warfare, and the kind of 'spirit' that endures hardships and stands hard fighting is not comparable to the US military with superior living conditions.

A large part of the reason why they could not please on Shangganling was because the 597.9 high ground was easy to defend and difficult to attack. For a terrain like the 597.9 heights, if you attack from the front, it doesn't really make a big difference whether you are an ace or not! As long as the volunteer soldiers still have grenades and explosive 'charge' bags in their hands, I don't believe that the bones of the ace troops will be harder than the explosives!

But the positions on our left flank are different......

Thinking of this, I couldn't help frowning, pointed to the No. 1 and No. 7 positions on the map, which were still under the control of the enemy, and said: "The problem of the enemy's frontal attack is not very big, the important thing is the enemy on the left flank. They are very close to our No. 8 position, and often rely on the No. 1 and No. 7 positions to charge our position, which is a great threat to us! I think that tomorrow the enemy's attack will still focus on position No. 8! ”

"The Chief of Staff is right!" Li Baocheng also nodded and said: "The terrain on the front is too steep, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the puppet army only has to attack in order to contain our firepower." But on the left flank, our army no longer has a great geographical advantage! ”

"The most annoying thing is that you can't build a position in position 8!" A soldier stationed at position No. 8 'interjected': "Our sacks were put up in one and a half and let the enemy's recoilless guns be knocked out in two and a half. The position was full of loose soil, and even light machine guns could not stand it, let alone heavy machine guns! ”

"Can you ...... Take advantage of the darkness to 'touch' these two positions? Some fighters just proposed.

This idea is very 'tempting', and the volunteers have always been good at fighting at night, and it has almost become our practice to attack in the 'dark' of the night, but I still veto this suggestion.

In the past, when we were hiding in the tunnels, we could choose any position on the surface to attack and attack, and the enemy could not defend against this or that. But now, the No. 1 and No. 7 positions are clearly the basis for their attack the next day, how could they not take precautions? What's more, the troops stationed there now are still the 30th Regiment of the 'elite' troops of the puppet army, maybe they have already arranged a trap and are waiting for us to drill into it!

"Chief of Staff ......" While the soldiers were all worried about this problem, a recruit ran up and said: "These No. 1 and No. 7 positions are below the No. 8 position, aren't they?" I also took a look today, these two sections of the slope are steep and flat, can we 'get' some of the Yankees' round grenades or something......"

"Those two positions are far away from us!" Soon, some fighters objected disdainfully: "We can't blow up the grenade, can the grenade still blow up?" ”

"No......" The little soldier couldn't help but be anxious when he was robbed by others like this, and said with a red face and a thick neck: "I mean, this can't be thrown that far, maybe it can roll to the enemy's position......"

"Little comrade, you haven't been to the top to fight yet, have you!" Instructor Qin asked with a wry smile.

"No, no......" The shy little warrior's face turned red to his ears and he stammered, "I, I...... I sent a box of *** up! ”

"That's up there......" Instructor Qin patiently explained, "It's all loose scorched earth, all bombed. Even if the Yankee grenade is round, it can't roll into the dirt, unless it's wood! ”

"Oh, oh......" The little warrior replied a few times, and then did not dare to speak again.

I couldn't help but be stunned when I heard this, and raised my head in shock and asked Instructor Qin, "What?" What did you just say? ”

Instructor Qin was taken aback by my move, and only after a while did he say suspiciously, "I didn't say anything?" I said the grenade can't roll in the dirt, I ......."

As he spoke, he looked at the other warriors and asked, "I didn't say the wrong thing!" ”

The other fighters also looked at me inexplicably, not knowing what kind of 'medicine' I was selling in my gourd.

"Not that!" I ignored their eyes and continued to ask Instructor Qin, "Why did you just say that you can roll on the battlefield?" Wood? ”

"That's right! It's wood! Director Qin scratched his head and said, "As long as this wood has a little big root, even if the soil is very loose, it can run on the position, right?" ”

"Chief of Staff, you're not hurt, are you?" Li Baocheng couldn't help asking: "I heard that your hat was lit with incendiary bombs today, is it ......?"

"Go, go!" Hearing this, I scolded angrily: "Your head has just been burned out!" Right! It's wood, tomorrow there will be a way to deal with positions 1 and 7! ”

Thinking about it, I excitedly turned to the correspondent and ordered: "Contact Commander Zhang immediately!" ”

"Yes!" The correspondent answered, and immediately called into the walkie-talkie.

After getting in touch, I grabbed the walkie-talkie and said into the microphone: "Commander Zhang, can you let the troops who come to reinforce carry a piece of wood every two people?" ”

"Wood?" Head Zhang thought he had misheard, but after getting the confirmation, he asked suspiciously, "What do you want wood?" If you want to bring wood, then *** will have to bring a lot less! And...... Two people carrying a log will also be much slower, which will increase the casualties of the reinforcements! ”

"Captain Zhang!" I responded: "Of course there will be difficulties, but whether or not we can successfully bring the wood up may have a bearing on whether our army can successfully hold the surface position tomorrow and reduce the casualties of our troops stationed there!" So I hope that the reinforcements will be able to overcome it, *** can not be less, and the wood must also be brought! ”

"No problem!" As soon as Commander Zhang heard me say this, he immediately agreed: "I'll send you four companies to go up, two companies to transport wood, and two companies to bring ***." The tunnel is too small to fit four companies of people, and the company carrying wood will come back as soon as it arrives! Other than that...... I will then inform the artillery units to cover the reinforcements, carry out twenty minutes of fire suppression on the enemy artillery, and let the fighters carry as many *** and wood as possible to the position! ”

"Thank you for your support!" Listening to these words of Head Zhang, I couldn't help but be a little moved. I didn't even understand the reason, so I supported me unconditionally, which not every regiment commander can do.

"Say thank you!" On the other end of the phone, Regiment Commander Zhang smiled bitterly: "I should say thank you, please tell the soldiers stationed on Shangganling, the motherland thanks you!" Thank you, people......"

When I hung up the phone, all the soldiers around me looked at me in a daze. I know why they behaved like this, with two more companies of reinforcements, regardless of casualties, and even sent out artillery...... Twenty minutes of fire suppression, how many shells do you have to consume! But all this ...... Just to bring some wood?