Chapter 110: The Battle of the Bridgehead (5)

Chapter 110: The Battle of the Bridgehead (5)

The Vietnamese tanks suffered unprecedented casualties, which gave them the bitter fruit of the tank's inability to accurately distinguish between friend and foe in night combat. Perhaps for this reason, they took a cautious offensive attitude in the subsequent battles, no longer simply using tanks to start a split-and-fight battle, but only letting tanks cover the infantry to launch a charge.

However, such a charge by the Vietnamese army was limited to the northern district of Lang Son, and the tank brigade of the southern district may have realized that the narrow deck of the bridge over the Qi Poor River was not suitable for a charge, so it did not move for a long time.

"How many more 'pills'?" In between the enemy's attacks, I 'took time' to gather a few key cadres for a short meeting.

"The tank's machine-gun bullets have long been gone!" Battalion Commander Wu said helplessly: "There are still a dozen shells left, and these are still brought by the soldiers from the enemy tank!" ”

"There are only fifty shells left for mortars!" Zhu Jixing replied: "There are even fewer anti-tank rockets, there are only about 20 rounds left!" ”

"We don't have much ammunition!" He Liqiang said with some worry: "The 56 and a half bullets are okay, and the bullets of the submachine gun can have a magazine, which is not bad!" And the more devils seem to have the heart to consume our bullets, sometimes the charge is just a bluff, and the corpses are dragged away one by one, and even if they can't be dragged away, they will take the guns and bullets with them, and they won't leave us at all......"

I looked at my watch, and the time had already reached four o'clock, so I encouraged the soldiers: "There are only two hours until dawn at most, and as long as we hold on for this time, a large force of our army will soon come to reinforce us." Pass on the order, save ammunition and medicine, and try to shoot as little as possible when the enemy charges, and let the artillery blow them up! ”

"Yes!" He Liqiang and Battalion Commander Wu responded.

"Camp Commander Cui!" Zhu Jixing 'interjected' a sentence: "We can blow up the bridge now!" Now blow up the bridge...... Even if our position is lost, it will be difficult for the more devils to fix it before dawn! ”

"Hmm!" I nodded and agreed to Zhu Jixing's request.

In fact, I agree that another reason for blowing up the bridge is to make the Vietnamese troops in the northern district who are attacking us desperate. The reason why they are now so reluctant to storm our positions is nothing more than to retreat north through the Qiqiao River Bridge, and now we have blown up their only retreat, and at the same time there is no time to rush to repair it...... Then theirs has lost the point of attacking us.

I have to admit that at this time, I was holding a kind of luck mentality, that is, after blowing up the bridge, the Vietnamese army would give up the attack on our army and let us take a breather.

But it turned out that my idea was wrong, because the Vietnamese army was already a trapped beast that had been beaten, a trapped beast surrounded on all sides, and we blew up the bridge and cut off their only way back, and this trapped beast would vent all their resentment on us.

What's more, we're still blocking their way out...... The Qiqiu River is only more than 100 meters wide, and the bridge was blown up by us, so the devils can still drop their equipment and swim back......

"Boom ......" a few times, and it didn't take long for several explosions to be heard in the direction of the Qiqi River.

Then Zhu Jixing's report came from the walkie-talkie: "Report to the battalion commander, the bridge has been blown up!" The bridge has been blown up ......"

As soon as the explosion was heard at the bridge, there was a lot of movement in the camp of the Vietnamese army, and the southern district soon sent a tank to drive up the bridge, presumably to check the blowing up of the bridge! At first, I was still gloating, but soon I realized that something was wrong, and when I raised my binoculars and looked at the bridge, the Vietnamese tank drove from the bridge to our bridgehead safely...... After realizing that the bridge had not been blown up, it immediately used the reverse gear to retreat under the guidance of the infantry......

Seeing this, I couldn't help but scolded the walkie-talkie angrily: "What's the matter? Didn't you say that the bridge blew up? How can enemy tanks still come over? ”

Zhu Jixing ran up along the 'Jiao' trench and looked at it with a telescope, and couldn't help but be shocked: "Battalion commander! I didn't complete the task, the bridge didn't blow up, maybe the amount of explosives 'charge' was not enough! ”

Originally, the Qiqiao River Bridge spanned between two mountains, five of the six piers were composed of natural reefs, and the bridge deck was constructed of 80 centimeters thick steel beams soul concrete, which was extremely strong. We didn't find out about this until the bridge was blown up, which also shows that the Yue devils were prepared for us to blow up the bridge, so when we built this bridge, it was not steel bars buried in it, but railroad tracks. Let's use a long-range cannon to hit the bridge board, and one shot is a white spot, Zhu Jixing doesn't know this, he still blows up the bridge according to the amount of explosives of ordinary bridges, so there is a problem!

"What kind of fame?" My face changed, and I said to the walkie-talkie, "Do you know what you're doing?" If the Yue devil just now was not a reconnaissance but a charge, our entire army would have killed you, you know? ”

"Yes!" Zhu Jixing was obviously panicked at this time, and shouted inarticulately: "Explosive 'medicine' pack...... Battalion commander! I'm going to go up and blow the bridge up......"

"Come back!" I immediately stopped the impulsive Zhu Jixing and scolded: "You have used so many explosives to blow up constantly, just one explosive 'medicine' bag can take the bridge?" ”

"Pass the order on!" After a pause, I ordered: "All those who have explosive 'charge' bags and blasting canisters on their bodies are all concentrated in the bridgehead!" Demolition ...... Immediately transport the explosives package to the bridge 'hole' and prepare for blasting! ”

"Yes!" The fighters answered, knowing that the stakes were high, and immediately dozens of figures rushed towards the bridgehead with explosive "charge" bags.

The explosives were piled up on the bridgehead one by one and then passed by the soldiers of the demolition team to the "hole" in the bridge one by one, but the Vietnamese troops in the southern area obviously knew our intention to blow up the bridge, so they could no longer hold it back, pulled two tanks and hurriedly attacked our troops along the bridge deck, and at the same time, the Vietnamese troops in the north also launched an attack on our positions almost at the same time.

The sound of gunfire, cannons, and shouts became a whole in an instant, and the battle began in an instant. The intention of the Vietnamese army is obvious, to prevent our troops from blowing up the bridge, or to take our positions between the bridges blown up by our troops......

A few flares rose into the sky, and in an instant, they illuminated the soldiers of our army who were carrying explosive "charge" bags, followed by a shuttle of machine gun bullets, and several soldiers were immediately shot and fell under the riverbed.

"One platoon, two platoons, fire suppression! Three platoons came with me...... "Seeing this, I waved the rifle in my hand and rushed to the bridge with the soldiers.

This time the battle was different from usual, we could wait for the enemy to attack at the bridgehead, but this time, we couldn't let the enemy get close, otherwise our army would not be able to blast the bridge, and those explosive 'charge' packs were our last bit of explosive 'charge'.

"Bazooka!" As soon as I ran onto the bridge, I yelled behind me. I had a sniper rifle in my hand, and no matter how good my marksmanship was, I couldn't stop the enemy's tanks.

A bazooka 'shooter' hand lay down next to me at the first time, and when the flare in the sky had not yet dimmed, the bazooka 'shooter' hand focused on 'focus' for a while, and then pulled the trigger on the T34 less than 100 meters in front of him......

"Boom", I don't know if we were lucky or the 'shooting' pistol was accurate, the rocket hit the front armor of the T34 impartially, and the T34 immediately emitted a cloud of black smoke and slowly drove forward for a distance and never moved again.

It's just that the Vietnamese army behind the tanks did not move, but they did not relax, and one by one they relied on the cover of the tank wreckage to shoot pieces of bullets at our army.

"Boom ......" Several shells hit the bridge deck, and I was so hard that my internal organs were slammed, and the cracked cement fragments flew like shrapnel above my head.

Anyway, it's quite dangerous to hold off the enemy face to face on the bridge deck, because we don't have any cover, unless the enemy is not good enough to shoot or we can kill the enemy before they can shoot......

Fortunately, the firepower of the Fifth Company was superior to that of the Vietnamese army, and submachine guns, rocket launchers, and recoilless guns fired at the Vietnamese army in a 'chaotic' manner, and the Vietnamese army was unable to fight back in an instant.

The soldiers in charge of the demolition took this opportunity to speed up the carrying of the explosives packs, and the soldiers who carried the explosives bags had worked as bricklayers or how, and the way of transporting the explosives packs was very peculiar, and several fighters threw the explosives bags into the "holes" of the bridge on the shore, and the two fighters picked them up in the "holes" of the bridge...... This throw was very fast, and none of them fell, and in a short time the dozens of explosives were all piled up in the "holes" of the bridge.

"Battalion commander! Evacuate! Zhu Jixing shouted over the intercom: "We are ready to blast ......"

"Withdraw!" I waved at the fighters and retreated to my position with my gun.

But when I ran back to the position, I found that there were constant gunshots on the bridge deck, and when I looked back, there were still five soldiers 'shooting' at the enemy on the bridge deck, and I couldn't help shouting: "What are you doing in a daze?" Evacuate! ”

"No! The battalion commander ......" one of the fighters turned back and shouted: "The enemy will come up and destroy the ...... of our army's explosion"

I have to admit that the soldier has a point, the two fighters who were in charge of the blasting in the 'hole' of the bridge are not ready at this time, and if the Vietnamese army is allowed to rush up at this time...... As long as you throw an oval grenade (an offensive grenade captured by the Vietnamese army from the Yankees) into the bridge 'hole', you can stop our troops from blasting, and the impact 'wave' of the grenade is very likely to blow the explosive 'charge' bag out of the bridge 'hole'.

But those fighters ......

At this time, the bullets of the fighters had run out, and one of the fighters led by threw two grenades in the direction of the Vietnamese army and suddenly shouted: "Comrades! Let's fight with the devils! Kill......"

"Kill!"

"Block the more devils!"

……

None of the soldiers of the Fifth Company retreated, and they loaded their bayonets in a uniform manner and rushed towards the Yue devils with the aftermath of the grenade explosion.

With the sound of submachine guns, two fighters fell on the way to the charge, blood quickly spilled on the bridge, and the other three soldiers fearlessly rushed into the darkness behind the wreckage of the enemy tank. This was followed by a few screams and shouts, and after a while, calm was restored, and several more devils appeared in the wreckage of the tank. What shocked me even more was that a T54 tank in the back pushed through the wreckage of the T34 and drove towards our army at full speed.

And at this time...... The soldier in charge of the demolition in the 'hole' of the bridge has just packed the lead for the dynamite'!

"Hurry up!" I yelled at them over the intercom.

But they glanced at each other, stretched out their heads to look at the Vietnamese soldiers who were driving towards them, and instead of immediately pulling the fuse, they took out a pair of scissors and reduced the fuse in half......

Then I understood that for the Demoman to have enough time to get to safety, the fuse had to be long enough. However, the distance of the Vietnamese army obviously did not allow them to do so, and if the enemy rushed to the moment to 'draw' the fuse before the explosive pack exploded, then all the efforts and sacrifices would be in vain. Not to mention the blood of the fighters, the most important thing is that not blowing up the bridge may affect the entire battle situation.

As the enemy got closer, the Demoman didn't pull the fuse and retreated, only gritting his teeth and cutting off a piece of the fuse...... In my scope, I could clearly see that the remaining fuse was only about ten centimeters...... Only then did they nod their heads, and then as soon as they pulled the fuse, they jumped into the Qiqi River......

The Vietnamese tank was still driving forward, and several Vietnamese soldiers behind the tank flashed out in a panic and drilled into the bridge 'hole', I pulled the trigger in my hand one after another and knocked out two, but still let two Vietnamese soldiers drill in! When I was in a hurry, I only heard a loud "boom", and a huge flame exploded in front of me, and the entire bridge deck with the Vietnamese army's tank and dozens of Vietnamese soldiers were lifted into the air, and then "fluttered" and fell into the river.

The gunfire on both sides of the bridge suddenly stopped, and both sides were waiting for the results of the blasting...... After a while, when the smoke gradually cleared, the Vietnamese army fired a flare at the bridge deck, and a section of the section that had been blown up nearly 40 meters long appeared in front of us. The soldiers couldn't help but let out a burst of cheers, and the Vietnamese army was as silent as death.

Once again, our army used its life and blood to win in front of the tank armor of the Vietnamese devils. A boulder hanging over my heart also fell.

The Vietnamese camp was silent for a while, and then, suddenly, as if in a frenzy, a dozen tanks came out from the other side of the river and attacked our troops. Almost at the same time, the Vietnamese troops in the north also rushed towards our army with a shout of killing......

So I understood that after blowing up the bridge, it was not that the Vietnamese army would die and not attack, but that it would 'provoke' their determination to get rid of us as soon as possible!

Thinking that I hurriedly took the soldiers of the fifth company and ran along the 'crossing' trench to the high ground to the north, and we couldn't control the 'artillery' of the Vietnamese devil tanks on the other side of the river, but they still couldn't cross the bridge for the time being, so I could 'pump' my troops to the north to strengthen the defense.

Climbed the high ground with the soldiers and looked, good guys, the surrounding night was full of Vietnamese charging figures. And they seem to have learned to be obedient, charging at our positions under the cover of tanks in a skirmisher formation similar to that of the American army. Especially at the intersection of those two sections of the road, there were several tanks with infantry to break through repeatedly...... On the side close to our troops, the wreckage of four or five tanks destroyed by our troops was already blocking the intersection.

Anyway, this formation is really a headache, if you call in artillery support! The artillery coverage is not very good at killing these enemies in a straggler formation, so don't you summon artillery support...... Our army's ammunition 'medicine' is not enough!

"Save bullets, aim and shoot!" As I gave the order, I raised my rifle and pulled the trigger one by one on the Vietnamese soldiers who rushed up.

The bullets were 'fired' out, and the Vietnamese soldiers fell in front of me one by one. However, the Vietnamese troops still poured up towards our position like a 'tidal wave'. The front one fell, and the one behind stepped on the corpses of their comrades and continued to rush, the white bayonets shining in the starlight with the cold light of the forest, like the teeth of hungry wolves rushing to tear us apart one by one.

At this time, I can't help but think of those comrades-in-arms who fought to resist US aggression and aid Korea, and if I had a group of volunteers under my command, I would have the confidence to let them fight with the enemy with bayonets and fight 'hand-to-hand' combat. But now...... To be exact, I still have a group of recruits who have only been in the army for more than a month. What we have to deal with is the Vietnamese army, which has more than ten years or even decades of combat experience......

At this time, the situation was extremely critical, and the No. 2 heights in the middle were originally under the 'crossing' fire of our army's No. 1 and No. 3 heights, so although the elevation of No. 2 was not high, it was difficult for the enemy to occupy them. However, at this moment, our army was short of ammunition and ammunition, and there was less fire support on the No. 2 heights on both sides. As a result, the Vietnamese army soon rushed to the No. 2 high ground like a 'tide' and started a 'hand-to-hand' fight with the 8th Company stationed on it.

If Heights No. 2 falls into the hands of the enemy, our defense line will soon be split in two, and then divided and surrounded by the Vietnamese army, each of which will be broken!

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but be ruthless: it doesn't matter if he can fight 'hand-to-hand' or not, if he continues like this, he will die, so it is better to kill these devils!

So he immediately ordered over the walkie-talkie: "Comrades! Get on the bayonet! Let's fight with the devils...... Take back Heights 2! Kill! ”

With a wave of his hand, he 'straightened' his rifle with a good bayonet and rushed towards the No. 2 height.

"Kill!"

"Rush!"

……

One by one, the fighters shouted and pounced on the second high ground with bayonets in their hands.

Their quality may not be as good as that of the older generation of revolutionary fighters, their thoughts may not be so pure, and their ideas may not be so pure, but they are ...... on the battlefield They all had the same idea as those martyrs, that is, to kill the enemy and win!

I would like to pay tribute to Chen Qihai and Qin Dingliang, the soldiers of the first company of the 494th Regiment, with this chapter! Comrades Chen Qihai and Qin Dingliang were in charge of the task of blasting the Qiqiao River Bridge, because the Vietnamese army was "pressing" and approaching, they resolutely cut the original 100-centimeter fuse to 10 centimeters, and both jumped into the Qiqiao River after lighting the fuse. Qin Dingliang was seriously injured, but fortunately he grabbed a reef and was rescued. Chen Qihai died gloriously, and a platoon of troops searched ten kilometers along the Qiqiao River but did not find him, and the heroic Chen Qihai stayed in a foreign country forever......