"Damn, the phone doesn't work!"

After trying to turn the crank of the old telephone again and again to no avail, the young Japanese naval warrant officer finally threw down the telephone with an irritated face, and he turned around to scan the flat round fort with an area of 50 square meters but less than 3 meters in height, and finally his eyes fell on the short soldier standing near the steel iron gate.

"Hey, 2nd Class Amishi and Yashiro, go check our phone line!" The warrant officer shouted unceremoniously, and although he was the youngest of the group, he had the highest rank.

The short soldier reluctantly glanced at the navy Cao not far away, although it had been nearly ten minutes since the German fleet was discovered outside the harbor, and the opponent's amazingly powerful and numerous naval guns could be used at any time, but the much older navy Cao was unusually calm at this time drinking a small bottle of sake.

Although the artillery manuals of the Navy and the Army are somewhat incomprehensible in terms of details, the prohibition of smoking and drinking near artillery positions and ammunition depots is listed in a conspicuous position, and this battery is both a small artillery position and a considerable amount of ammunition is stored, and it is reasonable to absolutely prohibit open flames and inflammable and explosive materials, but in the Japanese Navy or the navies of other countries, the coastal garrison force is the most boring in peacetime and the most nervous in wartime, and tobacco and alcohol that can relieve emotions are naturally the most popular here. Officers did not usually allow their subordinates to smoke outside the fort at the risk of being blown up, and alcohol, even in wartime, was usually allowed to be consumed as long as there was a valid reason to protect against the cold and strengthen one's courage.

Seeing that the oldest soldier here did not speak, the short man had to walk to the wooden gun carriage in the corner that had been wiped very clean, and at this time there were five Type 35 naval short rifles with the muzzle facing upwards, which was an older manual rifle than the Army Type 38, and in terms of its own performance, it was inferior to the Mauser Type 1898, which was widely used around the world. Under field conditions, the soldiers of the Japanese garrison equipped with such rifles could only bully and bully the poorly equipped Korean guerrillas, and there was no way to compare them with the German Army or the German Marines. However, the Japanese Navy also has its own reasons, first of all, it is impossible to allocate enough Type 38 rifles and Type 38 short rifles for 300,000 naval officers and 100,000 coastal defense officers and men with limited funds, and at the same time, the tens of thousands of old Type 30 and Type 35 rifles in the warehouse will be completely scrapped; Secondly, for the soldiers of the fortress garrison of the Navy. Rifle shooting is placed after artillery shooting, artillery maintenance, identification of enemy warship classes, and even physical training, and they operate their guns far more often than they contact rifles, both in peacetime and wartime, so it is very wasteful to purchase advanced rifles.

Just as the short private was walking outside with the rifle, which had been wiped clean but hadn't been fired in weeks, Navy Cao, who was sitting in another corner, burped loudly and stopped him unhurriedly.

"Hey, you don't have to go, it must be a damn North Korean dry land! It is estimated that the telephone lines around here are now cut off, hum! Did they think the Germans had come to their rescue? A bunch of stupid, self-righteous guys! ”

The short soldier looks at the military cao. Look at the warrant officer still standing next to the telephone. After getting a look of renunciation from the warrant officer, he quickly put the unfamiliar weapon back on the gun rack, and then quietly found an empty ammunition box and sat down.

After giving up the phone. The young warrant officer began to pace back and forth within a two-metre radius, and every half minute or so he lifted his watch to check the time, when suddenly, a few muffled thuds came from outside, and then the electric light on which he relied to distinguish the position of the watch's hands went out, and the whole gun barrier was plunged into darkness.

"Huh? The Germans went on the offensive? 1st class Haishi Kotera Zheno, report the position of the enemy fleet! …… Ah, Juncao, we have to prepare for counter-artillery bombardment. Right! ”

In the darkness, nicknamed "Doll Chief" by his subordinates, he was sometimes anxious and sometimes helpless, and just when he was so nervous that he almost pulled out his saber, a little light like a star appeared not far away, and the beating spark quickly became larger and brighter after a slight movement. When the warrant officer's eyes adjusted to the different light, he found the soldier standing two steps in front of him with a kerosene lamp.

"Don't worry, sir, it's not shelling by the Germans, if I'm not mistaken, damn the North Koreans sabotaged our power lines! Listen. Our mobile unit is fighting them! ”

The warrant officer listened attentively, and there was a faint sound of crackling gunfire in the distance, and the sound was dense for a while and then silent. He let out a long sigh of relief, but before he could say anything, Zhenxiong, a first-class sea scholar who was guarding the observation gate, suddenly shouted:

"Look, the searchlight on our left is out!"

Before the young warrant officer rushed to the observation port, Koji shouted again: "No, the searchlight on our right has also been extinguished!" The sea was pitch black and I couldn't see anything! ”

At this time, the rest of the people in the fort couldn't help it, and they all leaned towards the small temple one by one, only the old soldier Cao was still standing in place.

He never seemed to worry about anything, and seemed to know the habits of the Germans at all points.

"Don't worry, everyone! Even without searchlights, we can judge their actions by the shelling of the Germans! Without a few hours of shelling, they would not have released the boat to land!

Now, let's get back to our respective places! ”

The gunners looked at the soldier who spoke, and then at the warrant officer who was two levels higher than him but at this time looked helpless, although they were still a little uneasy in their hearts, but they all returned to the place where they had just stayed.

"That's right! Jun Cao is right! The warrant officer finally came to his senses, "According to the old practice, the landing of the Germans will not begin until dawn!" ”

About 4 kilometers from the forward artillery fort, there was a concrete bunker hidden 5 meters underground, where the headquarters of the Japanese garrison in Pusan, and like the warrant officer who thought he had read the military examples of modern countries, the commanders and staff officers here shared the same opinion, that the Germans would still carry out a night of artillery bombardment, as usual, and then launch a landing attack before dawn, that is, they would have at least eight hours to carry out the counter-landing force. As everyone knows, at the end of the sea, thousands of German and Mexican soldiers are methodically transferring from ocean-going ships to small and medium-sized ships suitable for landing. For these soldiers, accustomed to the cover of artillery fire, this will be a very special landing operation, but not for the first time and not for the last. (Full Text)