Li Feng and Guo Sandan are the company commanders of the two companies left on the 597.9 heights. They were a squad leader of the 13 Fifth Regiment a few days ago, but now they have become a company commander.

Not because they can fight, or because they have any special abilities, but because ...... The cadres of the company they belong to have all been sacrificed, and there is no way to let them, the squad leaders, go up. But even so, these squad leaders are already experienced and qualified veterans in the company.

But I know that this situation is not the worst. It is said that in the middle and late stages of the third phase of the Shangganling Campaign, it was not uncommon for recruits who had just joined the army for a few months to become company commanders and even battalion commanders. It's just that these company commanders and battalion commanders have a common characteristic, that is, there are not a few soldiers left under them. In other words, everyone who can survive is a cadre!

"How many of your soldiers are veterans!" I looked at the map and asked sullenly.

"Report to the Chief of Staff!" Li Feng replied: "There are one hundred and twenty-seven people in the second company, fifteen of whom are veterans of the original army, and the rest are all supplementary soldiers who have only joined the army for more than three months!" ”

"Five companies of one hundred and nine people, twenty-one are veterans, and the rest are recruits!" Guo Sandan then reported.

Listening to these data, I couldn't help frowning, almost all of them were recruits, and they had only been in the army for three months.

My mind moved forward for three months, and if I remember correctly, the first three months were a time of great verbal warfare at the negotiating table, with no major moves on either side. This means that even if these soldiers have been on the battlefield for three months, it is very likely that it will be the first time they have actually fought a war.

With such soldiers, they faced the puppet army and the ace troops of the American army on Shangganling...... This really makes my head big!

"Company Commander Li!" Then I asked Li Baocheng: "How is the situation of Balian?" ”

"It's fine!" Li Baocheng replied: "During the attack last night, because of the reinforcements to help, our company suffered few casualties, only 23 people were lost, and now our company still has 112 people who are capable of fighting, but they are ...... The soldiers hid in the tunnel for a long time and were hungry, their physical strength was seriously overdrawn, and their physical condition was very bad, and many people had night blindness and could not participate in the night battle! ”

"Hmmm! Comrades with night blindness let them rest at night and fight during the day! "Listening to Li Baocheng's report, I have a little bottom in my heart.

On Shangganling, there are only Li Baocheng's eighth company, and the newly added second and fifth companies. Most of the second and fifth companies were recruits, and the characteristics of the recruits were that their combat effectiveness was not strong, and the casualty rate was very large, so the strength was still slightly tight.

When our army counterattacked, the reason why nine companies were able to rush up in one breath was entirely because our army fired a large number of artillery shells at the enemy and suppressed the enemy's fire blockade. Once the US artillery has recovered its breath, it will soon again impose a fire blockade on Shangganling. At that time, it would be very difficult to get reinforcements from the Five Holy Mountains.

But there is no way, there are only so many tunnels on Shangganling, and more than 400 people in three companies are almost the limit of accommodation, isn't it? The tunnels suddenly became crowded, the air became thinner, and sometimes even kerosene lamps could not be lit.

"Chief of Staff!" Instructor Qin listened to this situation on the side, and couldn't help but say worriedly: "Most of the second and fifth companies are new recruits, we have to let them adapt to the battlefield as soon as possible, otherwise, ...... It's not easy to deal with such a situation! ”

"Hmm!" I nodded, turned my head and asked, "Old Qin, do you have any good methods?" ”

Although I have been fighting for two years and can be considered a veteran, I don't know anything about how to get new recruits up to speed as quickly as possible. And I also think that some things are not necessarily possible if you think they will work, especially on the battlefield, as long as you think wrong once, you may never have a chance next time.

"Let's use the old way!" Instructor Qin replied without thinking about it: "One look, two belts, three dozens!" ”

Instructor Qin's words made me realize how wise I was not to trust the university just now. Think about it, the Volunteer Army came from the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, and in the past ten years of the War of Resistance, there will definitely be many recruits to join, how to let the recruits adapt to the battlefield as soon as possible, of course the Volunteer Army has their set.

It's just that I really don't understand what this "one look, two belts, three dozens" is talking about, and if I don't understand it, of course I can't give orders. So I couldn't help but touch my nose in embarrassment and looked at Instructor Qin in embarrassment.

Instructor Qin is a smart person, and I quickly understood what was going on after I looked at him like this, so he hurriedly said to Li Baocheng: "Company Commander Li, look...... Can you arrange some veterans to go to the second and fifth companies to guide the recruits to fight, the first time the veterans fight, the recruits see; The second time the recruits played, the veterans were on the side to guide; The third time is either to let the recruits fight on their own, or let the veterans take the ......"

"No problem!" Li Baocheng nodded and said: "I will immediately arrange two squads of experienced soldiers, so that they don't have to fight, and they are specifically responsible for taking turns on the battlefield to guide the recruits to fight!" ”

It turns out that this is "one look, two belts, three dozen"! Hearing this, I couldn't help but suddenly realize, and secretly said that the volunteer soldiers used this method to fight with new recruits.

Then I wondered, why didn't anyone take me when I was a recruit? But after thinking about it, it seems that I was already very good in the first battle, and it seems that I also captured several puppet soldiers with an iron pickaxe. Who else would dare to bring such soldiers!

"That's it!" After thinking about it, I added: "The recruits have learned from the battlefield and need to return to the tunnels to exchange combat experiences with other fighters, and they also need to have time to ask new questions to the veterans and learn more about killing the enemy." In addition, the surface position of the 597.9 heights is not large, and it is not necessary and at the same time to send three companies to the surface positions at the same time. Therefore, I think that our three companies can be divided into three groups, each group will be stationed on the position for one day, and after one day, regardless of the battle situation, they will all rotate back to the tunnel to rest, what do comrades think? ”

"I agree!" Li Baocheng immediately agreed: "A company stationed for a day will not be too tiring, and it can also form a competition between our three companies, see who loses the position, who will be the eighth king!" ”

"Yes!" Li Feng and Guo Sandan did not show weakness, and immediately responded: "Whoever loses the position will be the eighth king!" ”

"Chief of Staff!" At this time, Director Qin interjected: "It's good that the troops are on the wheel, but the biggest problem is that the new troops don't know the battle situation and the enemy, which is easy to make mistakes on the battlefield!" ”

"Hmm!" Hearing this, I couldn't help but nodded, but Director Qin was thoughtful. In fact, this problem arose as early as when large units were rotated to fight, and the 40 th Army was still the first batch of troops to fight in Korea, and when it returned to China for more than half a year and then went to the battlefield, it was inevitable that it would not adapt to the battlefield.

Now, although we are rotating small units, we are also on the same battlefield, but each company has to go to the battlefield two days apart, and it is inevitable that some problems will arise in this way.

"So be it!" After thinking about it, I said to Li Baocheng and the others: "You company commanders are harder, soldiers fight on the battlefield for one day, you fight for two days, command your own troops to fight on the first day, and assist the new company as a staff officer on the second day, is it difficult?" ”

"No difficulty!" The three company commanders stood up in front of me.

Seeing that the faces of the three company commanders not only did not have a look of embarrassment, but also felt honored that I had assigned such a difficult task to them, I couldn't help but secretly praise. This is the advantage of commanding the volunteer army, since I became the commander of the regiment, no matter how many tasks I have arranged, the soldiers have always agreed without thinking about it, and I have never heard anyone complain about anything!

"Chief of Staff! Let's connect it on the first day! Li Feng hurriedly said: "Our second company has the largest number of people, and we are willing to fight this first battle!" ”

"No, we should be allowed to go eight!" Li Baocheng objected: "How can we say that our Eighth Company is more familiar with the terrain and battle situation than you, we should let us fight a few battles and let the recruit comrades learn and learn!" ”

"No, no, no!" Li Baocheng said this, Guo Sandan didn't agree, he said to Li Baocheng: "You yourself just said, you have been squatting in the tunnel for more than half a month, and you have been hungry for more than ten days. No matter how you say it, you have to choose one of the second and fifth companies. If you want me to say, I have more veterans in the fifth company than in the second company, and we should be allowed to take the lead......"

Listening to these company commanders fighting in front of me, I couldn't help but cry and laugh. I was worried about whether they would think the task was too heavy, but now they are rushing to grab it!

"Alright, alright!" I raised my hand to stop their quarrel and said, "What Company Commander Guo said makes sense, the Eighth Company needs to rest and need time to replenish its strength. Moreover, the proportion of veterans of the fifth company is also large, so let the fifth company go first, and Company Commander Li temporarily serves as a staff officer to assist in the battle! After the fifth company, there was the second company, and finally the eighth company. The Eighth Company should pay attention to being ready for reinforcements at any time during the rest time, and be responsible for guiding the recruit comrades to fight! ”

"Yes!"

When I said this, several company commanders did not object anymore, and all of them stood up and saluted and accepted the order.

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Although the current combat effectiveness of the puppet army should not be underestimated, they still did not dare to launch a counteroffensive against the volunteer army that was good at night fighting. So the battle that night ended with the successful capture of several main positions by our troops on the 597.9 heights. After that, the puppet army did not take any action except for pretending to organize two counterattacks that were not counterattacks at all.

Therefore, these two counterattacks of the puppet army are not counterattacks, because they have no intention of counterattacking at all. It was only necessary to organize some troops to fire a burst of machine guns at the foot of the mountain, and then a few more indiscriminate mortars to retreat.

In my opinion, this must have been done by the puppet army to show the Americans in response to the orders that Van Vliet threw at them.

Van Vliet: That's in a hurry! He was known as an "expert in mountain warfare" in the US military because he was good at fighting mountain warfare, but he did not expect to capsize in the gutter of the two small mountains of Shangganling. After a few days of fighting, they seemed to have successfully captured Shangganling, although there was no way to clear the volunteer soldiers hiding in the tunnel, but they finally regained some face. But now that we have launched a counteroffensive and taken the 597.9 heights, "is it tolerable or unbearable", of course he will keep putting pressure on the puppet army, so that they can immediately take back these lost positions.

But the puppet army has been fighting with us for so long, and they naturally know in their hearts that the night is the world of the volunteers, and it is not easy to hold the position in the night, let alone seize such a steep height. In addition, they also have prejudices in their hearts that the US military has always used them as cannon fodder, so they staged such a play in front of us.

I have to admit that the puppet army's approach is right, this cannot be said that they are cowardly, but it should be said that they are well aware of the situation on the battlefield and will not rush up to die in vain in such an unfavorable situation because of the problem of "face".

Shangganling is very steep, and the soil on the mountain has become very soft because it has been bombarded by artillery fire several times, and even if you attack during the day, you have to use both hands and feet to climb up, let alone at night. So if they really launched a counterattack at night according to Van Vliet's orders, it would be no different from sending them to death.

As a result, except for the sound of artillery that the US army began to block the supply line in Shangganling with artillery fire again, the battlefield was quiet again.

This continued until eight o'clock the next morning.

The reason why they chose to attack at eight o'clock was because the smoke around Shangganling was full of smoke, and there was no brightness until eight o'clock. I think the puppet army likes to attack at this light the most, because they can see the surrounding terrain without being too exposed to our marksmanship.

So they immediately organized an artillery bombardment, and it was this shelling that woke me up from my sleep.

When I rushed to the No. 9 position with my rifle in hand, Li Baocheng and Li Feng were already lying in the trench on the position, holding binoculars to observe the enemy's situation.

The 597.9 high ground is like a triangle, and the No. 9 position is the apex of the triangle facing the enemy, and you can see any position at the foot of the mountain here, which is why Li Baocheng and I coincidentally chose this position.

"How's it going?" That's the first thing I said when I met them.

"Chief of Staff! In that ......" Li Baocheng pointed in one direction and handed me the binoculars: "There is a strange unit over there, which looks like a black regiment of Yankees, but it doesn't look like an American army, and it is a barefoot ......"

"Hmm! Barefoot? When I heard this, I couldn't help but take the binoculars and look in that direction, and sure enough, I saw dozens of black troops at the foot of the mountain wearing big hats and leggings, but no shoes on their feet, busy with more than a dozen mortars.

"It's the Ethiopian battalion!" Looking at me, I understood: "They are African troops, and it is their habit not to wear shoes!" ”

"What?" Hearing this, Li Baocheng couldn't help but be stunned: "There are still people who are used to not wearing shoes?" ”

"Then they're not afraid of pain? Can that be a march? Can you run? Li Feng couldn't believe it when he heard it.

"Go, go, go......" I couldn't help but say bitterly: "You don't care if they wear shoes or not, anyway, they will come up and hit them on the head!" What so much nonsense! ”

"Yes!" Li Baocheng and Li Feng were speechless when they answered, but after a while, they looked curiously at the Ethiopian camp with their glasses raised.

Seeing this, I couldn't help but curse secretly, where did these two guys come to observe the enemy's situation, they came to see the play at all.

I know this Ethiopian battalion, I have seen their materials in modern times, and I am quite sympathetic to them. Coming from very backward Africa, they became a colony of Italy during World War II, and later, with the help of the British, their guerrillas defeated the enemy and regained their freedom. From then on, the Ethiopian battalion completely fell politically to the American and British empires.

In modern times, I also saw a photograph taken by a war correspondent called "The Feet of the Ethiopian Battalion Soldiers", which shows that the Ethiopian battalion soldiers are barefoot without shoes on the march or training exercises. Over time, the calluses on the soles of their feet have been sharpened very thick, and their feet have been honed so that they are not afraid of poking at branches or stones.

The photograph shows the soles of an Ethiopian soldier's feet. If it weren't for the cracks on the soles of the feet and the clear toes, it would have been a pair of special shoe covers!

But I sympathize with them not because of these, but because of this war at the moment.

The reason why the Emperor of the Ethiopian Battalion participated in the joint ** was because he believed MacArthur's words and thought that the battle could be easily resolved. Many officers regarded this entry into the war as a "pleasant trip to the East" and a "victorious march." He even confidently declared: "How strong Ethiopia's military strength is, you will know when you come back!" ”。

Outcome......

This unit of more than 1,000 people came to the Korean battlefield for more than a year and did not participate in any battles, and the first battle they participated in was the Battle of Shangganling. Just when they were gearing up to show their skills on the battlefield, they were disabled in one day and returned home directly......

In this battle, they did not see how strong Ethiopia's military strength was, as they thought, but how strong the military strength of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army was. From then on, the Ethiopian Emperor Selassie also saw the world situation clearly, and in his future foreign policy, he resolutely stood in the camp of the third world and began to establish friendly relations with China.

Of course, this is all for later, and now the Ethiopian battalion is still our enemy!

Thinking of this, I immediately ordered: "Pass the order, these blacks will rush up and beat me hard, as many as they come, and don't let any of them go!" ”

"Yes!" Li Baocheng and Li Feng responded in their mouths, but a trace of doubt flashed in their eyes. They were wondering how I hated this strange army so much that I couldn't even wear shoes. Our volunteers are also poor, aren't they? When the poor see the poor, they tend to be more distracted......

What they don't know is that I didn't do it out of hate, but because I wanted to make a future ally!! ~！

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