Chapter 16: Gunshots at Lugou Bridge
On the night of July 7, 1937. On this day, our nation suffered an unprecedented blow and humiliation, and the inevitable situation after the fall of the three eastern provinces was Chinese a day that our nation could never forget.
Lugou Bridge, southwest of Beiping. The 8th Squadron of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Wing of the North China Garrison Army conducted a live ammunition exercise near the Lugou Bridge. The Japanese "tocigeki" (meaning attack) resounded throughout the process. The sound of big boots stomping on the ground, and the roar of armored vehicles...... There was a full provocation in this voice, and I wanted to say: Chinese soldiers, come to the contest, your northeast and Rehe are occupied by us, and you are all cowards.
Stationed at Lugou Bridge was the 1st Battalion and 1st Company of the 219th Regiment of the 110th Brigade of the 29th Army, and every soldier was staring closely at the Japanese soldiers' exercises, the distance was too close, as if they could grab a Japanese soldier with their outstretched hands, and this distance made everyone in the company raise their hearts to their throats. Shangfeng had an order to pay close attention to the movements of the Japanese army, and if there was any misconduct, he should resist by force, but never fire the first shot.
"Platoon commander, you said that the Japanese are practicing here, are you looking for trouble!" Chen Dabiao was next to Sima Changkong, hiding behind the battlements of the bridge, and used the tattered Hanyang to aim at the rushing Japanese soldiers.
"It's not impossible, the Japanese are very good at finding fault! In the Northeast, in Rehe, it was they who found an excuse to start a war. Observe with some minds! Sima Changkong's gaze did not dare to deviate from the Japanese army a little, and he could not let go of any gaps.
At about 22 o'clock, the shouts of the Japanese soldiers gradually subsided, and the night returned to tranquility, which can be said to be deathly quiet, but it beat the heart of a company.
A bright light came in the direction of the Lugou Bridge, listening closely to the rumbling sound of the armored combat vehicle, getting closer and closer, a squadron of Japanese soldiers lined up in a neat line and followed behind the armored vehicle with bayonets......
"Brothers, all of them are reminded, the Japanese soldiers are coming." The commander of a company greeted the brothers who were guarding the Lugou Bridge. The more than 100 people immediately entered a state of combat readiness, and the two most precious Czech machine guns were also set up on the bridge, and the searchlights shone in the direction of the Japanese army.
Sima Changkong set off an inexplicable impulse and uneasiness in his heart, this group of devils is afraid that the comers are not good, it is good not to exchange fire, once the fight starts, the equipment of the company is too bad, and in the dead of night, it is estimated that the reinforcements are not easy to transfer, no matter what is the thirty-seven twenty-one, prepare first.
"Chinese soldiers at Lugou Bridge, listen, we just heard gunfire during the exercise, coming from your direction. On top of that, after the gunshots, our Shimura Kikujiro 1st Class disappeared. I suspect that some of you have sabotaged our exercises and harmed Imperial soldiers. I'm going to conduct a full search here, and Wanping City will also be searched! "This Japanese soldier Nakasa shouted in a very impure Chinese dialect that he was Setsuro Shimizu.
The company commander stood on the Lugou Bridge, snorted twice at Shimizu Setsuro, stroked the brim of his hat and said, "What evidence do you have that we put the gun?" Lao Tzu and his brothers have been guarding here, except for your chaotic drills, there are no gunshots at all! ”
"The gun statement is clearly from you, and the person who released the gun must be your person, do you know what kind of unfriendliness your cover-up will bring to China and Japan? Immediately evacuate the Lugou Bridge and open the gate of Wanping. Setsuro Shimizu poked his command knife on the ground, as if to tell Ichiren that I wouldn't leave.
"You Japanese are too unreasonable, let's evacuate Lugou Bridge and search Wanping City? Don't be a nuisance! The words of the first company commander were a little excited, but he could not drive away these invaders just by saying that.
"If Lugou Bridge is not found, it means that the person who put the gun has entered Wanping City, and of course we have to go to the city to search!" Setsuro Shimizu's shameless energy became more and more vigorous.
"Lugou Bridge, we will not retreat! Wanping City, don't even think about entering! Don't forget that this is China! It's not that I haven't fought with you, and I want to beat us to the end! The company commander waved his hand, and all the guns were aimed at Setsuro Shimizu and the Japanese soldiers behind him.
At this time, it was already past 12 o'clock in the middle of the night, and the inspection authorities received a telephone call from Kutaro Matsui, head of the Japanese secret service in Beiping. Matsui said that the Japanese army was exercising on the outskirts of Lugou Bridge, and suddenly heard the sound of gunfire, and immediately collected the team to take a roll call, and found that there was a lack of soldiers, and that the person who released the gun was a Chinese unit stationed in Lugou Bridge, and believed that the person who released the gun had entered the city, and demanded that he immediately enter the city to search. The Jicha authorities responded that the gunfire was not fired by the Chinese army, and that the Japanese army's entry into the city late at night might cause local unrest, so they refused. Matsui soon called again, claiming that if the Chinese side did not allow it, the Japanese army would forcibly search for it.
Getting back to the point, after a goosebump-inducing laugh, Setsuro Shimizu led the eighth squadron back.
The brothers of the first company all gave a thumbs up to the company commander. The commander of the first company told the brothers to sleep in shifts in platoons, but he himself did not dare to close his eyes.
It's almost five o'clock, and although it's July, the sun seems to be very lazy on this day.
"Brothers, the first row will be withdrawn and rest for an hour, and the second and third rows will be in place soon." The commander of the first company endured it, but still yawned.
"Oops, I can finally sleep for a while! The second and third rows really slept well, and our first row was worth half an hour's shift! "One of the soldiers just got up and moved his arms and legs. But at this moment, there was a burst of machine gun ...... Five or six bloody holes immediately appeared in the soldier's chest, and his thin body suddenly lost his soul, and he fell heavily on the bridge, and swallowed his breath after two strokes.
It was the Japanese army coming, there were 200 of them, and the two officers led by were holding sabers and shouting "tocigeki", which seemed to be the strength of two squadrons.
"Damn, the Japanese soldiers are calling, and they will call me for a company! Beat! Hit! The commander of the first company picked up the Hanyangzao in the hands of the soldier who had just died and began to shoot in the direction of the Japanese attack.
"Ahh The two most precious Czechs of the company also began to wield, in fact, the most effective machine guns in the entire company were these two machine guns. That Hanyang made to be honest, the Central Plains War may have been the main equipment at that time, but what age is it now, this kind of gun should be placed in the museum.
The rows of Japanese soldiers who were dead rushed to the side of the bridge, the Type 92 heavy machine guns were covering the fire in the rear, and there were three or four crooked machine guns in the middle to supplement the fire net, and the rest were holding 38 covers with bayonets, some charged, some fired.
The soldiers of the first company fell one by one, the Czech machine gunners had already died five, the deck of the Lugou Bridge was covered with blood, and the left arm of the first company commander was grazed by a bullet, and he did not have time to bandage it. The Lugou Bridge cannot be lost, once it is lost, Beiping will be sealed by the Japanese, but now the casualties are ...... The armament is too far behind......
"Sima Changkong! Sima Changkong! You take the second platoon to overtake them from the side and fight them with a hand-to-head battle! We can't beat them just by shooting! The commander of the company shouted as he shot.
"Second row, follow me!" Changkong threw Hanyangzao, took out the Qijia knife from his back, and rushed to the side of the Japanese army with twenty-seven people in the second platoon. Three people have already died in the second platoon.
Kong Xianquan, the commander of the 10th company of the 3rd battalion, arrived at Lugou Bridge with the troops that had been broken into half a company, and told the commander of the first company that Huilongmiao had been lost, and he could only resist the Japanese army here desperately.
Sima Changkong touched the flank of the Japanese army, everyone in the second row showed their blades, and Yang Rong and Deng Zhi also took out red tassel guns and butterfly knives respectively.
"Kill-" Sima Changkong gave an order, and the brothers in the second platoon pounced like a pack of hungry wolves on the Japanese soldiers who were shooting in the direction of Lugou Bridge with all their might, which caught them off guard.
The Japanese soldiers came to their senses, unloaded their bullets, and fought a white-knuckle battle with the second platoon. Sima Changkong's Qi family knife slashed left and right, and all the devils who were close to him were cut off their heads, and the blood like a fountain dyed half of Sima Changkong's body red. Yang Rong also held the red tassel gun to show the Yang family's marksmanship in the devil pile, how can the bayonet have a large attack range of the red tassel gun, and the blade has not touched Yang Rong, it has been picked out in the stomach, so a "strong inch and strong". Although Deng Zhi's butterfly knife is short, it is very flexible, coupled with Deng Zhi's unicorn step, most of the Japanese soldiers who fell at Deng Zhi's feet are missing arms, which is "one inch short and one point dangerous". Chen Dabiao relied on his strength, and with one sword, the Japanese soldiers were cut in half with their guns.
"I'm going to help them!" Company Commander Kong rushed to the Japanese army with 50 men from 10 companies and joined the white-knuckle battle.
"A row, rush up for me too! There are also Czech-style devils in the back of the third row! The first company commander also had red eyes, and his voice was hoarse.
Seeing that the Chinese army had a big blade in their hands, roaring and killing, some of these Japanese soldiers panicked and hurriedly parried, so there was no time to do it, and they all fell under the swords of the Chinese soldiers charging one by one.
At such a close distance, it is easy for heavy machine guns to mistakenly kill their own people, and they are not useful at all. Just when Sima Changkong was in the middle of killing and didn't have time to look behind him, a Japanese soldier took advantage of the loophole and came to stab Changkong in the back of the heart with a bayonet, and waited until Changkong killed the devil in front of him, and it was too late to turn back.
Blood splattered, and there was an "oops" sound. Company Commander Kong blocked the knife with his own body, and the devil's bayonet stabbed deeply into Company Commander Kong's stomach, and Company Commander Kong fell to the ground as if he had hypochondriasis. What Changkong saw in his eyes was blood-red and blood-red, he shouted, his hand raised and fell, and the first wheel of the Japanese soldier rolled somewhere else.
"Brother...... Yours...... Good ability...... Alive...... Kill more devils...... Report ......" Company Commander Kong swallowed his breath before he could say the word "hatred". Sima Changkong felt like his whole body was pricked by a burr, it was painful and hot, and he brandished the Qi family knife to cut out blood red.
Two squadrons of Japanese soldiers were killed and their bodies were scattered.
The Japanese soldiers retreated, leaving behind more than forty corpses. More than half of the more than 100 people who rushed down were also killed or wounded.
This is considered to have repelled the enemy! Sima Changkong thought so. I don't know when the enemy will attack again, maybe soon! Just as Sima Changkong and the others were packing up the weapons and equipment on the dead bodies, black smoke rose in Wanping City, and shells were smashing towards this ancient city. I don't know what happened to the defenders of Wanping City, once Wanping City is lost, it will be meaningless to defend Lugou Bridge.