Chapter 51: Life of Toil

Chapter 51: Life of Toil

The guns were still ringing, and the guns were still ringing, but at this time, I and the Seventh Company were no longer on the front line.

After the puppet army's offensive with smoke bombs was repelled by us, they no longer dared to easily charge the 902.8 high ground we defended, but only bombarded the hilltop position frantically with shells to vent their fear and anger

So we successfully waited for Li Weiqiang's reinforcements. They arrived ten minutes earlier than scheduled, and only those who actually climbed the 902.8 height knew that it was not easy to get ten minutes earlier. The ice and snow were beginning to melt, the high ground was full of stagnant water and mud, and the mines laid by the puppet army, coupled with the fact that Li Weiqiang and his party were carrying a large amount of ammunition and ammunition supplies, all of which would make the march quite difficult. So I also know that being able to arrive ten minutes earlier in such a situation is already the result of Li Weiqiang and his entourage's full efforts.

When Li Weiqiang came to us with the third battalion, there was no sound from each other. There were no cheers, no shouts, everyone looked at the battlefield in a daze.

The reason why we didn't make a sound was because all of us were busy rescuing the only five remaining soldiers in the row we had just brought back, all of them were bloody, as if they had just been fished out of a red 'colored' dye vat, and there was hardly a single piece of clothing on them that it would take some time for the hygienists to find their wounds.

Li Weiqiang and the others did not make a sound, because they couldn't believe that the piles of corpses on the battlefield were real, they couldn't believe that all those enemies were killed by us, and at the same time, they couldn't believe that one of our companies could withstand the attack of a regiment of the puppet army on the mountaintop position of the 902.8 heights, which were almost all reverse defensive fortifications. And it seems that the casualties are not significant......

However, only the people of our seventh company knew that the reason why we suffered few casualties was because some of them resolutely gave up hope of survival and the right to continue fighting on the battlefield. Otherwise, the current hilltop position is probably no longer in our hands

"Comrade, wake up, wake up......" At the call of the hygienist, another volunteer soldier closed his eyes.

The warriors took off their hats and looked at him silently, watching him leave with their eyes. Chen Guozhong, who was lying on the stretcher with multiple knife wounds and explosion injuries on his body, slowly raised his only right hand that could still move in the direction of the fighter, as if trying to pull him back......

I slowly took Chen Guozhong's hand and put it back on the stretcher, wanting to say something to comfort him, but I couldn't say anything. Because I feel that any flowery language is an insult to these respectable and lovely warriors.

"Regiment Commander" Li Weiqiang stood beside me and said: "902.8 Heights will be 'handed over' to us, you can rest assured, we will not let it fall into the hands of the enemy."

"Hmm," I nodded.

It's not that I'm sorry for the casualties of the Seventh Company, but because there are no tunnels on the anticline of this hilltop position, there is no way for too many troops to hide. And I believe that the team of the puppet army has been taught such a hard lesson by our seventh company, and its remaining strength is not enough to capture the 902.8 high ground defended by Li Weiqiang's battalion. What's more, a special force like the Seventh Company, if they are given the task of an ordinary combat unit, it does not seem to be a cost-effective thing.

"All of them have returned to the 649.8 heights," I gave the order to the Seventh Company to retreat.

"Yes" The soldiers responded, immediately sorted out their equipment as quickly as possible, and then walked towards the foot of the mountain one after another.

The "regimental commander" was also walking down the hill when suddenly the voice of a warrior came from behind me.

When he looked back, he found that it was a soldier carrying Chen Guozhong's stretcher, so he hurriedly stepped forward and asked nervously, "What's the matter?" Platoon Commander Chen, how is he? Hygienist"

"Regiment commander, Platoon Commander Chen, he's fine" The soldier carrying the stretcher nuggled the corner of the stretcher with his mouth and said, "Platoon Commander Chen, he's not leaving......"

Looking at the soldiers' eyes, he found that Platoon Commander Chen's only right hand that could still move had firmly grasped a branch beside him at some point, and no matter how the soldiers broke him, he just refused to let go. Half of his jaw had been cut off by shrenching, and he was being tied in bandages and couldn't speak, except for the sound of "cooing" in his throat, as if he was whimpering and trying to say something. His eyes were full of tears and he stared at me with pleading eyes......

I knew what he wanted to do, his platoon, and in the blink of an eye, only five of them came back alive, two of them had just died, and the others were all on stretchers. As a platoon commander, he didn't want to go back and wanted to stay with his comrades. This kind of thing was not uncommon on the Korean battlefield, and many cadres rushed and fought on the battlefield with a fierce vigor during the war, and when they found that their soldiers were no longer there, they cried and shouted that they did not want to go to the battlefield.

At this time, for them, they are more willing to die with those brothers, and they are more willing to become martyrs than to live in such pain.

But how can I agree to his request?

I slowly helped Platoon Commander Chen, who was lying on the stretcher, leaned up, and said to him, "Take another look, this is where a platoon of soldiers died." Platoon Commander Chen, your soldiers are watching, they all hope that you can live well, and they all hope that you can recover your injuries well, and then go to the battlefield to fight devils and avenge them."

I distinctly felt Chen Guozhong's body tremble for a moment, and then the hand holding the branch slowly loosened, and he lay back on the stretcher calmly.

Looking at Platoon Commander Chen, who was carried away by the soldiers, I couldn't help but sigh to myself: What he didn't find was that his left 'leg' had been blown off, and it was impossible for him to return to the battlefield to fight devils

If I were him, I would be willing to die on the battlefield and stay with my comrades

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When I returned to the 649.8 highland, the east had already spit out a faint dawn, and in this haze, the surrounding highland peaks and peaks were undulating, like a bewitching beautiful 'woman' showing her beautiful curves in each place. What a beautiful scenery, but in the cold wind rushing in front of me, there was a strong smell of gunpowder smoke and blood, which made me suddenly come back from my intoxication and realize that this is a battlefield of life and death

"It's Captain Choi"

"Captain Choi is back"

……

As soon as the fighters saw us, they snatched it down in groups of three or five. They had already received the news of our victory in the telegram, and when they saw us coming, they greeted us with joy as if they were heroes returning triumphantly. As soon as they arrived, they were carrying the wounded in their backpacks and carrying the wounded, all of them were very busy, and everyone had excited smiles on their faces. But only the soldiers of our seventh company were covered in blood and mud, and none of them could laugh.

The casualties of the 7th Company have already been counted on the road, with 27 wounded, 85 killed, and 23 missing.

In modern times, I never understood what this disappearance was all about. How could a big living person disappear on the battlefield? Even if you 'get lost', you can find the troops quickly, right? It was only when I actually came to the battlefield that I realized that it was normal for this disappearance to be on the battlefield.

Some of them were unrecognizable in the pile of corpses of the enemy, some rolled down the cliff and died without finding the corpses, and the worst ones were blown to pieces by shells without anyone seeing them...... So, one by one, they appeared on the missing list. Just like in our battle last night, there were many soldiers who were 'mixed' in the corpses of the puppet army, and then they were bombarded by shells, and it was even more difficult to tell who could not tell the difference.

Emotionally, I would have preferred them to be on the missing list, even though I knew they had died. Because in this way, at least they can give their families a hope, maybe one day, they will show up at the 'door' of the house to reunite with their families.

From a military point of view, I would prefer them to be sacrificed. In modern times, I have always thought that the phrase "the ideal of a soldier is to die on the battlefield is a horse leather shroud" is a joke, who would want to die? Who would think of death as their ideal? But now when I really become a soldier, I have no choice but to find that sometimes I am very proud and happy to be able to die vigorously on the battlefield......

One hundred and thirty-five people, such casualties are indeed not large for such a battle. Especially on the Korean battlefield, from one to five battles, and then from the summer and autumn defensive battles to the Shangganling Campaign, which battle did not sacrifice more than 100,000 people at every turn. What's more, we still defeated two battalions of the enemy with the strength of one company, and then repelled the attack of one regiment of the puppet army, and the casualties of the puppet army were thousands of people, not to mention thousands

This is undoubtedly a huge victory, and at the same time, it has achieved the strategic goal and successfully completed the mission. So the fighters have a reason for their excitement. As for our Seventh Company, it was the first time since its formation that it had suffered more than half of the casualties, and even the entire platoon was wiped out......

Among them, there is also the kind of guilt that the soldiers feel for a platoon. Because everyone knows that the fact that he can still walk back alive and stand here is because of the sacrifice of a platoon

"Commander Cui" Li Pinghe greeted him nervously, and saw that Lin Xue who was following me was safe and sound, so he breathed a sigh of relief as if relieved, and said: "Just now, Commander Pang sent a telegram to praise us for playing beautifully, and Li Xianqian, the commander of the puppet Fifth Division, was furious about this, Commander Pang 'handed over' us, and the puppet army may be desperate to snatch the 902.8 high back, let us deal with it carefully."

"Hmm," I nodded.

I also know that the puppet army will make some moves, and the geographical location of the 902.8 Heights in this area is very important, not only can it control the surrounding highlands with condescending firepower, but also pose a threat to the flanks of the adjacent 973 Heights.

Heights 973 is the highest heights in the area, but the puppet army has always used Heights 902.8 to protect its flanks, so most of the fortifications are built as frontal defenses, and there are basically no fortifications on the flanks. Now that the 902.8 highland is in our hands, it is undoubtedly the landing point of the 973 highland that is exposed in front of us.

And once the 973 Heights fall into our hands again, then the 883.7 Heights, which are much shorter than it, will naturally have no possibility of holding them. As a result, the so-called "model position" and "Gyeonggi fortification" consisting of the three highlands of 902.8, 973, and 883.7 will no longer exist.

Further south, all the heights are overlooked by these three heights, and it seems that our volunteers only need to 'spend' some effort to transport the artillery up the mountain, and then they can control the area within a radius of several miles.

"Order the second battalion, be ready to send the reserves at any time" I gave the order as I went.

"Yes," Li Pinghe replied, and easily untied the marching back from my back.

As soon as I returned to the regimental headquarters, I leaned my rifle against the wall, and the whole person collapsed on the chair like a balloon that had been 'emptied'.

I feel that I am getting tired more and more, and I am fine when I am fighting, but I don't know that I am tired when my whole body collapses, and once I relax down, my whole body feels like I am falling apart and I don't want to move.

I remember that in the past, my state of fighting was not so bad, and during the five battles, I didn't run back and forth around the 38th parallel for seven or eight days, and at that time, I never rested, I never slept, and I even ran hungry many times, so I was not as tired as I am now

Now that I think about it, I think the main difference is because he was just a soldier before, but now he is a regiment commander.

In this respect, being a soldier is still very happy, because I don't have to think about anything in my head except killing the enemy on the battlefield. But now, I find myself thinking more and more about things, worrying about more and more, and it seems like I'm going to destroy my whole being

So I understood that being a commander is not only physically tired, but also mentally and mentally

Before the "regiment commander" could not wait for me to rest for a while, Liu Shunyi couldn't bear to hand over a telegram and said: "At this time, the telegram just sent by the division headquarters is scheduled for the 539th Regiment and the 540th Regiment to attack the 973 Heights at 9 o'clock tonight, and we need to hold on to the 902.8 Heights and provide fire assistance."

"Hmm" I nodded, brushing aside the few telegrams and documents on my desk to 'reveal' the crooked lines of the map.

It's funny to think about it, in modern times, what I hate the most is geography class, and the various "colors" and "colors" marked on the atlas will always make my eyes "dazzled" and "confused", and sometimes even the highland topographic map and the air flow pressure map can't be distinguished, because at a glance it looks like a circle by circle, for a natural road blind like me, the requirements are not so high. Even the geography teacher couldn't help but say in amazement: I have finally found an infinitesimal in my educational career

But now, as soon as the eyes look at the map, those mountains and rivers will naturally flash in their minds, and sometimes even with the palm of their hands, they can calculate the distance between the two places and the time of the march, and sometimes they will think about the range of the cannonballs and whether it will be difficult to transport supplies......

If the geography teacher had seen this, I don't think he would have believed that this was the student he called "infinitesimal".

"The direction of the attack, the strength of the troops, the preparation of artillery fire," I asked casually.

"Fifteen minutes of artillery preparation" Liu Shunyi flipped through the telegram and replied: "This attack is mainly a night attack, and the troops of a battalion of the 539th Regiment are ambushed in the west half of the 973 mountain. A battalion of the 540th Regiment made a feint on the front to cover the sneak attack of the troops on the western flank"

"Hmm," I nodded.

This plan is indeed feasible, and it has to be fought

The 902.8 Heights had just been taken by us, and this was when the 973 flanks were at their weakest. Once the time has passed, it is very likely that the puppet army will slowly build fortifications on the flanks and fill this gap. At that time, if you want to attack the 973 heights, it will take a lot of work.

Moreover, the reason why Division Commander Pang wanted to launch a battle to attack the 973 heights in such a hurry, I think another point is to take into account the 902.8 heights that Fears has just recaptured.

The current situation is that all the US troops have retreated to the second line, and all the puppet troops on the first-line positions are overstretched, and there is only one division in front of us, and there are heavy casualties in the confrontation with the Seventh Company last night. Therefore, they simply do not have enough troops to both recapture the 902.8 heights and strengthen the defenses of the 973 heights. Our army launched a surprise attack on the 973 heights at this time, which could make it difficult for the puppet army with insufficient troops to take care of both ends

It's just that...... Such an attack seems a little too obvious.

As soon as the 902.8 heights were lost, the flanks of the 973 heights were exposed under the fire of our troops, which seemed to be a result that anyone could see. We will think about it, and of course the puppet army will also think about it, so can a sneak attack from this direction still succeed? Especially when this weakness has just been exposed, the puppet army may deploy heavy troops in this direction in a panic, and it may even be possible to set up artillery cover for this area......

This is the natural 'nature' of human beings, and when a weakness is just exposed, it will subconsciously strengthen the defense of the weakness. On the contrary, when the weakness is strengthened, the vigilance will be slowly relaxed.

It doesn't seem like this can be done, and I can't help frowning when I think about this, if I'm right, then in this battle, the 539th and 540th regiments will undoubtedly have to pay heavy casualties, and in the end, they may not be able to achieve their strategic goals.

"Call the division headquarters......" As soon as the words came out, I felt that something was wrong, so I shook my hand to stop Liu Shunyi, who was about to pick up the phone.

Calls are too easy to be monitored, and the telegram is more secure with a password, but it is difficult to explain such a complicated situation. It seems that I still have to go to the division headquarters myself

I dragged my tired body to stand up, in modern times, I only knew how to enjoy, but I didn't expect that in this world it was a hard life