Chapter 106: The Battle of the Bridgehead (3)

I wish you all a happy National Day!

Chapter 106: The Battle of the Bridgehead (3)

"Here's the thing!" After contacting the regiment headquarters, I quickly convened a short meeting of the cadres of each battalion to convey the "spirit" of the superiors. But this 'spirit' does not seem to be easy to say, because the chief of staff can ignore the casualties and morale of our troops, but I cannot ignore it.

So he hesitated for a while before he continued: "What does the superior mean...... The Vietnamese army's defense line in the northern district of Lang Son cannot be broken through for the time being, and the other troops are afraid that it will be difficult for us to divide with us. ”

"What?" He Liqiang is not a fool, he immediately understood as soon as he heard what I said, and looked at me in surprise with a pair of eyes: "Guarding the bridgehead all night?" No reinforcements? That's not ...... Doesn't that mean we're surrounded? ”

"There are reinforcements!" I said, "The higher authorities have assigned us forty-five 'guns' of the divisional artillery regiment, and the other ...... Our troops five kilometers away from us will also make some movement and make some noise, so that the Vietnamese devils will not dare to transfer too many troops to attack the bridgehead......"

"What kind of reinforcement is this!" Battalion Commander Wu said with some dissatisfaction: "Even if we don't have this task, we can ask for artillery support, right?" Besides, there wasn't much fighting at night, and the artillery was resting at this time...... If it sounds good, it will be allocated to us, and if it is not good, it will not be our turn to be ...... because no one uses it."

"Battalion Commander Wu!" Without waiting for Battalion Commander Wu to finish speaking, I gave him a look, and Battalion Commander Wu swallowed all the rest of the '' with some breathlessness.

The current situation is already like this, we have to fight if we are willing to fight, and we have to fight if we don't want to. Whining on the battlefield and complaining about this and that, it will have no effect except to spread these rumors to the ears of the soldiers and affect their morale.

So I cleared my throat and continued: "What the superior meant...... We must not allow the reinforcements of the Vietnamese army to converge with the Vietnamese army in the northern district, so we must be prepared to blow up the bridge, and once we cannot hold the bridgehead, we will blow up the bridge at the last moment! ”

"Yes!" The cadres responded in a dull voice, and then you look at me, I look at you, and no one said a word.

I understand their psychology very well, because when I heard about this mission, I also thought the same question in my heart - if we can't hold the bridgehead and blow up the bridge to complete the mission, then what should we do next? Do we all want us to carry forward the 'spirit' of not being afraid of sacrifice and difficulties, and fight hard with the Vietnamese? Or do you like the Yankees and then surrender righteously after completing the mission?

The Yankees can surrender after completing the mission, because according to the national conditions of the United States, their soldiers are still treated as heroes when they return home after completing the mission or when they are forced to surrender. But that's the United States, our country doesn't care so much, prisoners of war are prisoners of war, and those who don't die with the enemy on the battlefield are cowards, and there is no reason to talk about it!

So, surrender obviously won't work, I don't care...... But these soldiers who follow me will be stinking for 10,000 years, and even their families will be reviled by others.

"Battalion commander, battalion commander......"

"Hmm!" The instructor next to me screamed a few times before I came to my senses. After thinking about it, he pointed to the three nameless heights on the map and said: "We will temporarily organize these highlands into No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 highlands!" These three heights were garrisoned by the seventh, eighth, and ninth companies of the third battalion, and the fourth and sixth companies of the second battalion were used as reserves! Tanks act as mobile units, guarding bridgeheads and roads. The fifth company is responsible for garrisoning the bridgehead, is there a problem? ”

"No problem!" When it comes to the main topic, the fighters' involvement is gone. After all, everyone knows that this is all a life-saving job, and it is useless to make a 'commotion', if you want to survive, you can only unite together to fight this battle well!

"These three heights are our backs!" I said to He Liqiang: "So whether you can hold these three heights is the key to this battle, especially the No. 2 highland, although the No. 2 highland is the lowest of the three highlands, but it directly faces the bridgehead defense line of our army, and the Tonglang Highway is also directly connected to the bridge. Once the No. 2 high ground falls into the hands of the enemy, the machine guns of the Vietnamese army can directly hit the positions of our 5th Company, and the bridge may not be blown up in a hurry. Therefore, any of these three highlands must not be allowed to fall into the hands of the Vietnamese army, is the task clear? ”

"Clear!" He Liqiang replied: "Battalion Commander Cui, rest assured, even if we hit the last man, we will not let the enemy occupy the position!" ”

"Hmm!" I nodded, and then said to Battalion Commander Wu: "It is very likely that the enemy will send tanks when attacking at night, and our army's vision is poor at night, coupled with the lack of 'precision' in the bazooka's 'shooting', it is difficult to stop the enemy's tanks with night vision devices. It is very likely that the enemy will use tanks to break through our defenses from the bridgehead, the road next to Heights No. 1 and the road between Heights 2 and 3, and your task is to block the enemy's tanks at all costs. ”

"No difficulty!" Camp Commander Wu replied without thinking about it, and then hesitated for a while before saying, "But...... The infrared imager on our tanks is so blurry that it is difficult to distinguish the enemy's tanks at night, can we assign a platoon of infantry to us and show us the target with tracer bullets! ”

"Hmm!" I nodded, I have personally experienced the fact that the infrared imager is too blurry, I have seen that thing when I rescued Battalion Commander Wu and them, and I can't see the road clearly when I am marching, let alone when the battle is a 'mess'.

"Company Commander Xu!" I gave Xu Yongjian an order: "You can 'draw' a platoon to fight with the tank troops. ”

"Yes!"

"As for the deployment of artillery units...... I'll give it to you! I turned to Zhu Jixing again and said: "Squad Leader Zhu must reasonably distribute the forty-five 'guns' 'handed' to us by his superiors, and cooperate with our infantry to repel the charge of the Vietnamese army when our troops are fighting the enemy!" At the same time, all combat units should also pay attention to the fact that those who can call on artillery to strike at the enemy should use artillery as much as possible. ”

"Understood!" All the fighters responded with a bang, and in the blink of an eye, they were grinding their fists and leaping 'jade' again.

This is the soldiers, they don't mean that they are not patriotic, nor does it mean that they are not brave, they just want to express their dissatisfaction in their hearts, they just want to complain about the bitterness in their hearts, and they just want their superiors to care more about them......

The fighters quickly began to prepare, as I had instructed.

He Liqiang commanded the three battalions to reinforce the fortifications on various high grounds, and they not only connected the various high ground with 'cross' trenches, but also dug several anti-tank trenches on various key roads. Of course, these anti-tank trenches are the same Golan trenches that I used during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.

Battalion Commander Wu first organized tank units to dig several tunnels on various high ground where the tanks could hide, so as to prevent the tanks from becoming targets for Vietnamese artillery fire outside. The infantry units assigned to them were then instructed on how to use tracer rounds to guide the tanks.

Zhu Jixing and a few artillerymen were busy using the cannon to take pictures of this and that, and then recorded something in the notebook, and they were also very busy.

He and Wu are both battalion commanders, so they naturally have their own set of rules when it comes to fighting, and I don't know anything about Zhu Jixing's artillery, so naturally I won't 'interfere' in their preparations.

I led the troops of the fifth company to guard the bridgehead, and after the lesson of the last time I almost broke through the enemy's tanks, I did not dare to be careless, and organized the soldiers to dig a few deep Golan trenches at the bridgehead. At the same time, he also sent people to the bridge to drill holes and load explosives, and if he really couldn't defend it, he would have to blow up the bridge.

Time passed little by little, the sunset gradually sank into the distant mountains, the sky slowly turned from a red to gray and finally turned into a pitch black, and the oncoming mountain wind blowing colder and colder also told us that another night is coming.

With the stars in the sky and the murmuring of the river under the bridge, I couldn't believe it was a battlefield if it weren't for the heavy smell of gunpowder smoke and blood in the air. But reality tells me that this is indeed a battlefield, and that tonight is destined for a bloody battle......

"Battalion commander!" Li Zhifu sat beside me with a submachine gun: "Let's ...... this time Is it less auspicious? ”

"What are you talking about? It's just a matter of sticking to it for one night! "I'm duplicitous.

This is the pain of being a commander, those who are soldiers can talk 'nonsense', but we officers have to take into account many factors such as morale and influence.

"Battalion commander, don't say anything nice!" Li Zhifu smiled bitterly and said, "Although we haven't been fighting for a long time, we can still tell what kind of situation we have!" ”

"Did the fighters say something?" Seeing that I couldn't hide it from Li Zhifu, I had to ask helplessly: "They don't have any ideas!" ”

"Yes!" Li Zhifu replied.

"I'm a little depressed...... after all, I also know that the chances of survival in this battle are very small, and I haven't thought of a way to win this battle yet."

"The soldiers all say ......" Li Zhifu smiled and replied: "The soldiers all said that no matter how his superiors arranged, the battalion commander lived and died with us, what are we afraid of?" ”

"Hmm!" I couldn't help but be stunned when I heard this, this is really too different from what I imagined.

"That's right!" Li Zhifu smiled and said: "The soldiers all say so, this is not a secret for a long time, and it is ...... I thought so too! ”

I couldn't help but nodded, patted Li Zhifu's shoulder with emotion, and then looked at the busy soldiers around me.

Suddenly I remembered two people, the two 'female' soldiers who had been following me, and I thought that I should go and see them at this time, so I stood up and walked towards the garrison of the sixth company with my rifle in my hand.

Before they had gone far, they were seen outside the mountain 'cave' on the No. 1 Plateau, and at this time they were busy organizing soldiers to carry the wounded one by one to the mountain 'cave'!

"Battalion commander, you're just in time!" As soon as Liu Yun saw me, he screamed from afar, and then ran to me with two braids and said anxiously: "Battalion commander, there are too many wounded, and there is no place to hide...... The mountain 'hole' is too small. There are still many wounded who have nowhere to stay! This is ...... if there is a war."

"Company Commander Chen!" I shouted to my hometown, who was busy directing troops not far away.

"Yes!" The people from my hometown turned to me in response. Of course, he didn't salute me, it's common sense not to salute on the battlefield......

"Immediately organize people to dig a few large air-raid 'holes' to house the wounded!" I ordered.

"Yes!" The people in my hometown took a few people to execute it in person.

This is Yichen also came up and reported: "Battalion commander, the number of wounded is too large, and the bandages and first aid 'medicine' we use to bandage wounds will soon run out. If it goes on like this......"

I couldn't help frowning, this is not a problem I can solve, I hesitated for a while and had to answer helplessly: "Save a little, there will be a lot of wounded tonight, save the first one who is sure to be rescued, can save one one, understand?" ”

"Understood!" Yichen and Liu Yun glanced at each other, as if they didn't understand the seriousness of the problem until this time.

But it's no wonder that the two of them are just hygienists, and they always only care about the wounded and don't care about the military when they go to the battlefield, and they are 'female' soldiers, so it's normal for the soldiers to be reluctant to tell them about the danger.

So I suddenly felt ...... It seems wrong to look at them this time.

"You ...... Take care of yourself! I didn't know what to say, so I left the next sentence and turned away.

"Camp Commander Cui!" Liu Yun's voice behind me made me pause, Liu Yun ran to me in a few steps, and said with a red face: "You have to be careful, you must come back alive, I ...... My dad has something to tell you! ”

"Hmm!" I nodded, and left with my gun in hand, thinking only that I really shouldn't have looked back at them.

Returning to his own line of defense, he tore open a lightly compressed biscuit, stuffed it into his mouth and took a few bites, then raised his binoculars and looked towards the south bank of the Qiqiu River.

Perhaps it was because the power station of the Vietnamese army had been bombed by our army, or because the Vietnamese army had implemented light control, and there was no light in the entire Lang Son. Only a thin layer of moonlight in the sky allowed me to faintly see the overlapping houses on the other side of the river.

There were no tanks, no enemy, and the Vietnamese army disappeared as if it had disappeared. But I knew that they would not rest on their laurels, and that the quieter they were now, the more they were about to attack, and they would surely win the battle......

It's just that whether they can win or not depends on whether our opponent is willing to cooperate or not.

"Report to the battalion commander!" At this time, He Liqiang's voice came from the walkie-talkie: "A large number of Vietnamese troops were found at a distance of more than 1,000 meters to the north and east of our side, and there were several tanks...... There is also in the west, and the enemy is surrounding! ”

At this time, there was a sudden rumbling sound on the other side of the river, and in a short time more than a dozen tanks rumbled into the night. So I knew what they were waiting for, they were waiting for the Vietnamese troops from other directions to arrive and launch a siege on all sides against our army......

This time, the Vietnamese army became smarter, and I couldn't help but smile as I looked at the dozen tanks on the other side of the river. They also knew that if they wanted to force the Qiqiao River Bridge, it would be useless to rely only on tanks. The truth is...... A large number of tanks often caused a blockage on the bridge, which was not conducive to the Vietnamese army's charge. A dozen tanks are just right, and once a few can successfully break through our defense line and occupy the bridgehead, then other tanks and infantry will continue to drive over......

The screeching of "......" aerial shells made me realize that the Vietnamese army had started shelling again. So I hurriedly took the soldiers to put away their weapons and went into the air-raid 'shelter'.

"Boom ......" shells exploded in rows on our positions, and soon our artillery fire began to sound. Suppressing the Vietnamese artillery or bombing the enemy's artillery positions is the favorite thing for our artillery to do.

But what surprised me a little was...... This time, the artillery fire of the Vietnamese army was not suppressed by our troops as usual, and they fired artillery at our positions for ten minutes.

Later, I learned from the artillery that the reason why the Vietnamese army was not suppressed by our artillery fire this time was because the Vietnamese devils came up with a way - they divided the artillery into three parts and arranged them on three artillery positions. One artillery position was fought for a few minutes and then immediately retreated, and then another artillery position was re-opened...... The three artillery positions were like a relay race, and thousands of shells were poured on our position, which was only a few square miles.

This was indeed a great surprise to me, and this extraordinary shelling also caused certain losses to our troops.

The greatest losses were suffered by five companies stationed at the bridgehead. The position of the fifth company was not on high ground, which determined that we could only dig anti-artillery 'holes' at the bottom of the trenches. The lack of thickness of the anti-artillery 'holes' and the fact that the sides were trenches meant that more than two dozen soldiers were either blown up or buried alive......

Judging from this arrangement alone, I can also imagine that the Vietnamese army is determined to win the bridgehead garrisoned by our army.

What surprised me even more was that when I finally got out of the anti-artillery 'hole', I found that the enemy's tanks were already close at hand. The Vietnamese tanks had apparently already crossed the bridge while they were still shelling. At this moment, as soon as the artillery stopped, it accelerated even faster, and rushed towards our position with a group of infantry.

At the top of the line is a T62, which is equipped with advanced night vision devices, which can obviously play a big role at this time. Regardless of whether there were people or not, tank guns, side-by-side machine guns, and so on were "indiscriminately" fighting at our position, and there was even a tanker who was so arrogant that he grabbed a high-altitude 'fire' machine gun outside the hatch and 'fired' bullets in rows in our direction......

Where would I be polite to such a person, and solve his 'sexual' life with a single shot.

"Battalion commander!" At this time, I heard Li Zhifu shouting: "The anti-tank trenches are about to be blown up, let's blow up the bridge!" ”

When I heard this, I couldn't help but look back, but it wasn't ...... The Golan trenches had been turned into small craters under Vietnamese artillery fire.

But...... I don't want to blow up the bridge at the beginning of the war. Because I think it's like admitting defeat like a devil.