Chapter 208: Retreat

Chapter 208: Retreat

The battle plan is decided, that is, I proposed to enter the tunnel to defend, after all, the soldiers also know that with our small number of troops, it is difficult to continue to defend as usual, so the only way to drag the enemy is to enter the tunnel.

But despite the plan, we didn't enter the pit between the battles. As far as I'm concerned, it's a while if I can delay it for a while, and the more devils see that there are still people defending on our position, they will inevitably have some time to prepare, and in this way, they don't dare to rush boldly to our army's position. For the fighters...... I believe that there are many fighters who, like Li Zhifu's psychology, would rather fight with the Yue devils outside than defend in the tunnel.

This is not to say that the soldiers are afraid of the harsh environment in the tunnel, as a special reconnaissance brigade, they have stayed, tried, and trained in various environments during training, and the main reason why the soldiers are reluctant to enter the tunnel to defend is that they do not want to admit defeat to the Vietnamese army...... Although I know very well that we entering the tunnel to continue the defense is not admitting defeat to the Yue devils, and not only is it not admitting defeat, but it should be said to be a more tenacious battle, just like when we dragged the American troops on Shangganling and prevented them from advancing. But the fighters who have never fought in the tunnel will naturally have this kind of thought.

Just like Zhang Ziwang, the commander of the fourth company, said: "Battalion commander, if we enter the tunnel...... The Yue devil randomly arranged a few people to guard at the entrance of our tunnel, isn't it the same as attacking the second line or going to fight Faka Mountain? ”

I am too experienced in this regard, and it is not in vain to have suffered so much after guarding Shangganling for so long, so I replied without thinking about it: "First of all, there is such a 'hole' on this position, and the Vietnamese army may not be able to accurately find which ones are at the mouth of our tunnel and which are not, and secondly, the position is full of gunpowder smoke from shells, and the visibility is very low, and now it will soon be dark, and it is not so easy for the more devils to really want to see the tunnel mouth, our volunteer army ......."

Speaking of this, I couldn't help but pause, and realized that I had added the word "we" in front of the volunteers, but none of the soldiers cared about this little 'fault' I made, so I cleared my throat and continued: "How did the volunteers fight in Ganling? Didn't the volunteers often burrow out in the tunnels and make trouble for the Yankees, so that they could not advance? The volunteers can, and so can we, and the volunteers can hold on to the tunnel for a week without water and food, but can't we hold out in the tunnel for a few hours? ”

As soon as I said this, the fighters were silent, and of course, what I didn't say was ...... During the period of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea, the tunnels used by the volunteers were all exquisite, for example, fire cover could be achieved between the tunnel entrances, and there were small 'holes' near the tunnel entrances that could throw back the explosives thrown by the enemy. The tunnels we have now may be stronger than those at that time, but their functions and combat capabilities are far inferior to those of the volunteers.

In fact, this is also very normal, our volunteer army was fighting the Yankees with the most rudimentary equipment at that time, and the gap in equipment was so 'forced' that we had to make a fuss about the tunnels and find a way, and with the development of the war, the functions and combat capabilities of the tunnels were naturally changing with each passing day. However, the requirements of modern warfare for tunnels are more of the two functions of hiding soldiers and anti-artillery, so their combat capabilities are naturally far from those of that era.

For example, as I observed just now, only three of the seven tunnel openings on the position could cover each other's fire. I believe this was also an accidental act of the soldiers or the Vietnamese army when they were building these tunnels.

However, there are three tunnels that can be covered by fire, and it is almost the same for us, after all, we have to defend for a few hours instead of days, and if I am still required to defend for seven or eight days as I did in Shangganling, I am afraid that I will go crazy on the spot

While the Vietnamese army had not yet attacked, we made some preparations. The first is to place the wounded and soldiers with limited mobility in the tunnels first, then to lay all the remaining electric mines on the trenches, and finally to allocate their own tunnels for each unit to avoid the phenomenon of crowding when the battle is tense.

Anyway, at this time, there were only 61 soldiers in our battalion, including the members of the 'shooting' group, so the number of people assigned to each of the seven tunnel crossings was less than ten......

"The devil is coming," as the observer shouted, the Vietnamese artillery shells were smashed into our positions in pieces. This time the Vietnamese artillery was fierce, but I could tell from the sound that most of the fire was mortar and recoilless guns, and I thought that the Vietnamese had concentrated their artillery against us.

Immediately after that, the Vietnamese army poured up densely behind the artillery fire, and as usual, the speed of the Vietnamese army's charge this time was also very fast, and there were many death squads with small explosives that planned to fight us to the death again

"Each unit chooses its own target," I ordered on the radio: "After blocking the Vietnamese army for a period of time, listen to my orders to enter the tunnel, pay attention to saving ammunition and 'medicine,' and leave a part of it to defend in the tunnel."

"Yes" As the soldiers responded, a sparse burst of gunfire rang out on our defensive line.

Compared with the previous "whooshing" sound of the soldiers' guns, our momentum is obviously much smaller now, but the soldiers are all aiming at the 'fine', so there are quite a few enemies who have been defeated, and with the sound of gunshots, those more devils will fall in front of us one after another with their 'chests'.

However, the biggest disadvantage of this kind of "precision" and accurate "shooting" is that the "shooting" speed is slow, although the soldiers are very accurate in marksmanship, but they cannot form a rain of bullets to effectively resist the offensive of the Vietnamese army, so after a short time the Vietnamese army rushed to a place not far from our defense line.

"The first line of defense retreats, immediately enter the tunnel"

As soon as I gave the order, the soldiers of the first line of defense put away their weapons and withdrew directly along the 'Jiao' trench into the tunnel. Having several years of combat experience, I know very well that it is often more difficult to organize a retreat on the battlefield than to organize an offensive...... That would often be a catastrophic 'sex' blow to the troops, and there would be no second chance.

These fighters of the Species Reconnaissance Brigade don't know how many times they have practiced these 'alternate' and cover retreats during training, so they are also comfortable with them at this time.

"Bang bang" I casually shot down two Vietnamese death squad members, and watched as the bombs they had lit in their hands fell to the ground and overturned several people around them.

However, these explosions soon disappeared like stones thrown into the sea, and the Vietnamese troops still rushed up in groups with bayonets......

Seeing that they were about to cross the first line of defense, I immediately ordered the radio: "All units withdraw to the tunnel, repeat all units withdraw to the tunnel, and the demoman is ready to detonate the directional mine."

"Yes" The soldiers didn't know what to do at this time, so they put away their weapons and retreated to the pit behind them.

However, at this moment, the unexpected happened......

"Report to the battalion commander" Zhang Ziwang's anxious voice came over the radio: "The mouth of the tunnel of our company was blown up by the Yue devils......"

"Immediately retreat from the other pit mouth," I ordered, without thinking about it.

"The entrance of the other tunnel was blocked by the fire of the Vietnamese army on the 150th height" Zhang Ziwang responded: "We can't go back to the tunnel"

Hearing this, my heart couldn't help but sink, Zhang Ziwang and his company were defending on the east side of the position, and there were only two tunnel entrances in that direction, and I thought that the two tunnel openings were enough for their company to retreat with more than 20 people, but I didn't expect this situation to occur

"Immediately move to the mouth of the No. 5 and No. 6 tunnels" The battlefield did not allow me to have the slightest time to think about it, so I immediately gave a series of orders, and the rest of the troops retreated as usual, and the members of the 'shooting' attack team left behind to cover the retreat of the fourth company."

"Yes" With a response, several members of the 'shooting' team returned to the line and set up their rifles.

It makes sense for me to let the members of the 'shooting' team stay as cover, not to mention that they are all sharpshooters, and the SVD sniper rifle in their hands is better than the AK47 in terms of penetration and 'precision' and 'accuracy', and in the case of insufficient ammunition and 'ammunition', the 'shooting' team members can be worth two by one, and at the same time, the small number of people can also make it easier for us to retreat.

"Bang bang bang ......" With the sound of gunshots, one after another Vietnamese soldiers fell under our guns.

I try to keep the muzzle as low as possible parallel to the bevel of the position when aiming at the enemy, because I know that doing so increases the probability that the bullet will hit the second target after penetrating the first target. As I was right, I could clearly see in the scope that after the first target fell to the ground, there was also a blood-spattered Vietnamese soldier behind him.

Although we changed the magazine as fast as possible and pulled the trigger as fast as possible, the Vietnamese army was still constantly 'pressing' towards us, and finally ...... The Vietnamese troops were 'forced' to a distance where they could throw bombs at us, and we saw that the Vietnamese soldiers in the front row hid in the crater...... Then a few bombs with white smoke and sparks flew straight towards us......

I didn't think much about it, I raised my gun and pointed it at the bombs that were flying in the air, "bang ......bang" was a few shots, I don't know where the feeling came from, I fired five bullets in succession and all hit the target, I thought that if it wasn't for the lack of bullets in the magazine, I could still hit the sixth one, and in an instant those bombs changed direction and flew back upside down and exploded in the crowd of Vietnamese soldiers.

Maybe it's what others say about the feeling of the gun, this feeling is very strange, sometimes I have plenty of time to deliberately aim, but I'm afraid it's hard to do this, but when I'm in a hurry on the battlefield, I can hit this result that I don't usually dare to think of. Isn't there a story of Li Guang 'shooting' a tiger in ancient times? I think what is happening now is similar to Li Guang's situation

"Boom ......" There were still a few bombs that exploded in our trenches, and for a moment I only felt a "buzz" at my eardrums, and then the whole head was "door" in the whirlwind......

Have you ever tried the feeling of firecrackers exploding in your ears when you play with them during the Chinese New Year? Now it's not firecrackers that are exploding around me, it's a strong explosive 'TNT...... It should be said that the Vietnamese army's homemade bomb is not very powerful, because it has no fragments, and at the same time, the amount of explosive 'charge' is not large, so it is difficult for it to cause much damage to people unless it directly hits people. But even that made me choke enough, I don't know how the other fighters felt, at this time I only felt dizzy and 'jade' vomiting with gold stars in my eyes, and I didn't even know where the enemy was, let alone aim and 'shoot'

"Battalion commander" At this time, I heard Zhang Ziwang's shout: "Quickly cover the battalion commander into the tunnel"

Then I felt like I was being pushed into the pit by someone...... After a while, the relatively quiet tunnel allowed me to slowly recover, and I turned around to see Zhang Ziwang being knocked down in the trench by enemy bullets.

I hurriedly climbed out and took out the first aid kit to bandage Zhang Ziwang, but he pushed him away.

"Battalion commander, retreat, I'll cover" Zhang Ziwang yelled at me with a bloody mouth: "Hurry up, if you don't leave, you won't be in a hurry."

As he spoke, he pressed a directional mine, and when we heard a boom, the steel balls flew everywhere above our heads, mixed with the screams of the Vietnamese army.

"Hurry up" Zhang Ziwang pushed me with the last bit of strength, and his bloodshot eyes were full of determination, anxiety and anger that I didn't want to leave alone.

I retreated under the 'forced' gaze of his eyes, and knew that there would be no other result than that of us dying here together, so I had to bury my head in the tunnel...... I gritted my teeth and hurried all the way until I came to the corner of the tunnel......

Zhang Ziwang was lying in front of the mouth of the tunnel, holding a directional mine detonator in his hand, trying to lean out to see the situation of the Vietnamese army...... However, there was no need for him to look at the situation of the Vietnamese army, because by this time there were already four or five bombs with white smoke thrown beside him. Zhang Ziwang didn't dodge, but saw that he breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had put down a heavy burden, and then closed his eyes and pressed the directional thunder......

There was a "boom", and almost at the same time the bombs exploded next to him, blowing his body in two

I sighed, turned around and walked deeper into the tunnel, and said to the soldiers sitting inside with flashlights: "Comrade Zhang Ziwang has died"

No one spoke, and the warriors all bowed their heads silently, and there was a deathly silence in the tunnel. Although we have experienced a lot of things like this, although this is not the first time we have sent off our comrades, nor is it the first time that we have seen our comrades die in front of us, it does not mean that we will not be sad

The gunfire and explosions outside the tunnel gradually subsided, and this time the Vietnamese army was clearly much more cautious than the last time, as can be seen from the fact that they did not start cheering as soon as they attacked the position as they did last time. I think what they have to do now is to carefully observe whether there are any directional mines we have planted on the lower position, (in fact, our directional mines have been used up long before entering the tunnel, and we are not fools, the same strategy will be used again) Secondly, they are searching for any remnants of the enemy in the tunnels and mountain 'holes'......

The sound of gunfire from the mouth of the pit quickly confirmed my idea. The members of the 'shooting' team responsible for guarding the mouth of the pit are not for anything else, but also because of the SVD's super penetrating power. Before entering the tunnel, I specially 'handed over' the members of the 'shooting' team, and when the Vietnamese army searched the tunnel, or even threw grenades and explosives into the tunnel, I ignored them until they mustered up the courage to go into the 'hole' to search, and then the penetrating power of the sniper rifle would play its role in the narrow tunnel

"Phone"

I didn't pay any attention to the war between the members of the 'shooting' team and the Vietnamese army at the mouth of the tunnel, because I knew very well that even the Yankees of the past could not do anything about us in such a war, and we would hide in the tunnel in Shangganling for seven or eight days, not to mention the Vietnamese devils now

The correspondent soon approached the ventilation hole and began to call the base, the problem of radio communication in the tunnel had already been solved during the period of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea, and now I only need to use it, the same is like the volunteer army to tie the antenna to the grenade or other iron sheet and stretch out of the tunnel, but we poke out of the ventilation hole in order to be more secretive.

"It's the commander...... "After a while, the correspondent handed me the microphone.

"Report to the Commander ......"

grabbed the microphone and was about to speak, when he heard Liu Shunyi on the other end of the microphone anxiously asking, "Are you okay?" Are all the comrades alright? ”

Hearing this, I couldn't help but feel a little warm in my heart, and at the same time, my nose was a little sour. Don't look at us soldiers who look like tough guys fighting the enemy on the battlefield, but the more we fight the enemy on the battlefield, the more fragile our feelings become, for no other reason, because we all want to see familiar people again before we die, even if it's just to listen to their voices and feel a little care from them

"It's all right" It took me a while before I replied: "Our troops have suffered heavy casualties, and now the surface positions on Heights 142 have been lost, but we will continue to fight the enemy in the tunnels to buy time for the second line of defense and artillery units."

"Hmm" Liu Shunyi was obviously relieved when he heard me answer, and said: "Comrade Cui Wei, it's okay if you're okay, you hold on for a while, the shells will arrive soon, you don't need to think about buying time for the second line of defense and artillery units now, you only need to think about how to save yourself and how to survive, understand?" ”

"Understood" I said so, but in my heart I thought - whether we can survive or not is not up to us

I would like to pay tribute to Comrade Li Haixin, the acting platoon commander of the 3rd Platoon of the 8th Company of the 119th Regiment, who led 14 soldiers in the war to recover Laoshan and fought bloodily against the enemy who was 10 times more numerous than us in the battle to recover Laoshan. After the war, Li Haixin and the fourteen soldiers under his command were known as the fifteen warriors, and the 142 heights were also named "Li Haixin Heights".