Chapter 656 Defense (I)

At midnight, the battlefield finally fell silent after a day of noise. Except for the occasional cannon shot in the distance, there was hardly anything else to be heard, and even the wounded suppressed their groans and waited quietly in the darkness for dawn.

This is Jiulizhuang, the side rear of the Xiuyan battlefield, only Jiuhuali away from the main battlefield, in the daytime battle, there were also 'fierce' battles here, the Japanese army had launched two large-scale attacks on Jiulizhuang, but both were repelled by the Chinese troops holding the high ground near Jiulizhuang.

As a member of the Jiulizhuang garrison, Zhang Guodong is now patrolling the position of his unit and commanding a day's battle, he is indeed very tired, but considering that the Japanese army may launch a night attack, he must be 'spirited' and take turns with other commanders to be on duty at night, and now, it is Zhang Guodong's turn to be on duty at night.

Holding a submachine gun in his hand, Zhang Guodong walked on the position on the top of the mountain in the dark night, and now the moonlight is almost invisible in the night sky, under this kind of light condition. He was a man with mild night blindness, and he was like a blind man, and he could only 'grope' his way forward, which made his progress very slow.

In this dark night, if Japan launches a night attack, the bright lantern is the best target to 'shoot', even if the military medical officer gives painkillers to the wounded, it can only be carried out in the dark.

Zhang Guodong's military uniform pocket was full of painkillers at this time, which he had just received from the battalion headquarters, but now I am afraid it will not be of much use, because just after dark, he ordered the soldiers to send the seriously wounded in the company to the regimental headquarters field hospital, although the lightly wounded did not get out of the line of fire, but they did not need these painkillers.

Since yesterday afternoon, Zhang Guodong's sharp knife company has been arranged by the battalion commander to be on a hilly position northwest of Jiulizhuang, responsible for protecting the flank of Jiulizhuang and the field radio station in the southwest.

In fact, there were no defenders left in Jiulizhuang, and during the daytime fighting, Jiulizhuang changed hands several times, and the artillery fire of the 'warring' sides had razed the entire village to the ground, and it was no longer suitable for establishing defensive positions, and was now only used as a marker. Usually, every battle between the two sides begins with the shelling of Jiulizhuang, and the avenue next to the village has been ploughed beyond recognition by artillery fire, and the road is so potholed that it is no longer possible for vehicles to pass.

In the daytime battle, the Japanese attacking troops used several 'guns' heavy howitzers to carry out a fierce artillery bombardment of the defenders of Jiulizhuang, because the Chinese roundabout troops did not carry heavy artillery, mountain artillery and mortars could not suppress the Japanese artillery fire, so they suffered some casualties in the battle, if it were not for the timely arrival of the bombers of the air force and the destruction of the Japanese artillery positions, the battle of Jiulizhuang would not have stopped so quickly.

Without the support of heavy artillery, the Japanese offensive was immediately contained, and the attack was completely stopped before dark, and finally retreated to Xiuyan, although the intention of the Japanese commander was very obvious, that is, to occupy Jiulizhuang, but the tactical arrangement was very reckless, because Jiulizhuang was holding the road connecting Xiuyan and Gaiping, but the intelligence from the air force showed that the Japanese army in the direction of Gaiping did not have any intention of reinforcing Xiuyan. Even if the Xiuyan Japanese army occupies Jiulizhuang, it will not have any impact on the entire battle situation, and the Japanese army's attack on Jiulizhuang is irrational, and it is an emotional vent after losing its calm.

The anger of the Japanese commander is understandable, because in yesterday's battle, the Xiuyan Japanese 'Gate' suffered heavy casualties, and since the main Chinese forces could not gnaw, then the Japanese army could only gnaw at the roundabout troops in Jiulizhuang.

The above tactical intentions of the Japanese army were told to Zhang Guodong by the battalion commander in the battalion headquarters just now, and the battalion commander also told him at the same time that if everything goes well, the First Army will launch a general attack on Xiuyan at noon tomorrow, and at that time, the roundabout troops holding Jiulizhuang will also enter the battle at the right time to flank the Japanese troops in Xiuyan from the flank and rear directions, and before dawn, the troops must be prepared to guard against the Japanese night attack.

After receiving the order from the battalion headquarters, Zhang Guodong hurriedly returned to the position, strengthened the vigilance measures, and then 'groped' around the position, and found nothing abnormal, except for the wind, the only thing that could be heard was the snoring of some soldiers.

"Password!"

Zhang Guodong walked back to a place not far from the company headquarters, and the sentry's low voice came from the darkness.

"Enterprising!"

Zhang Guodong answered the password, and then flashed into the trench that served as the company headquarters, because the trench was covered with wood, it could be lit here, and when he entered the company headquarters, Zhang Guodong put the submachine gun next to the horse lamp. Then he 'touched' the painkillers from his military uniform and stuffed them into the medical 'medicine' box.

There were a few officers lying in the company headquarters, snoring everywhere, the weather was hot, everyone was basically shirtless, and the military uniforms were hung on the top of the trenches, Zhang Guodong 'touched' the past, and 'touched' and 'touched' in the pockets of those military jackets, and finally 'touched' half a pack of paper cigarettes, 'touched' back to the lamp, lifted the lampshade, lit a paper cigarette, and then sat there, swallowed the clouds and exhaled the fog, and after the addiction to smoking, he took out the written order he had just received from the battalion headquarters and studied it again.

This order is clearly written, after dawn, if the Japanese army does not come to attack Jiulizhuang, then Zhang Guodong must be prepared, once the regimental headquarters comes to the order, he must immediately leave the position and march in the direction of the Dayang River. Then search for an attack along the river in the direction of Xiuyan and cover part of the main forces crossing the river from upstream.

Zhang Guodong finished studying the order and was about to 'smoke' another paper cigarette, but as soon as he lifted the lantern, he heard an explosion outside the company's command post, and the unique sound indicated that a directional mine had exploded.

Directional mines were all placed in the woods and grass at the front of the position, and it was impossible for the Chinese soldiers to step on those directional mines at night, either some animal touched the directional mines, or the Japanese sneak attack troops stepped on the directional mines.

Without the order of the company commander, most of the officers and men immediately woke up from their sleep. At the same time, the sentry soldiers of the machine gun platoon also immediately fired several flares into the sky with mortars, and the white flares illuminated the entire front of the position, so that the Japanese soldiers who had just come out of the woods were exposed.

At this moment, there were more Chinese soldiers who fired, and the machine guns also "clicked", and then, Zhang Guodong heard the Japanese shouts mixed with the dense gunfire.

"Banzai!"

"Banzai!"

The Japanese army really launched a night attack, and the main direction of attack they chose was the position that Zhang Guodong was responsible for defending, which was located on a low hill northwest of Jiulizhuang.

Because the 'shooting' surface in front of the position had been cleared in advance, in this 100-meter-wide 'shooting' area, hundreds of Japanese soldiers wearing yellow-colored military uniforms appeared in an instant, and they held their rifles with bayonets and shouted and launched a dense charge towards the mountain, completely ignoring the oncoming heavy rain of bullets, and behind them, in the dense woods, there were more Japanese death squads.

"Hit! Beat! ”

Zhang Guodong hurriedly picked up the submachine gun, and several platoon commanders also rushed out of the company command post, and shouted hoarsely with the company commander, and everyone's red eyes looked extraordinarily 'spirited' under the light of the white flares, but because the light changed too drastically, in a short period of time, Zhang Guodong could hardly see anything clearly.

"Dada...... Dadada......"

The machine gun spewed tongues of fire and roared, like a harvester of life, wantonly harvesting the life on the 'shooting' area, and the scorching bullet passed through the flesh and blood body, violently demonstrating the high efficiency of the modern killing machine in the industrial age, in front of this killing machine, any flesh and blood is fragile.

"Smack! …… Syllable! ……”

Rifles also joined the fray in the trenches, far less efficient than machine guns, but their scorching bullets were just as deadly.

Amid the gunfire, explosions rang out from time to time. It was the mines planted at the front of the position to show their lethality, and the flying shrapnel was equally hot and deadly, and the Japanese soldiers who stepped on it were usually immediately blown over in the way of the charge.

Due to the close distance and the need to fire 'fire' flares, the mortars in the company were no longer useful, and the Japanese charge was not stopped by mines, and under the dense rain of bullets, many Japanese soldiers even rushed to a very close place from the trenches.

"Flares! Flares! …… A company, the mortar fired instantly, and it 'fired' rapidly! The coordinates are ×××, ×××! ”

Zhang Guodong ordered the staff officer to pick up the field telephone and shouted to the artillery positions of the other companies nearby, seeing that the Japanese troops on the other side of the woods were still continuously attacking the position, he now not only needed more flares, but also anti-personnel shells, since the artillery of his company could not fire 'fire' anti-personnel shells, then let the friendly artillery in the distance carry out a surpassing 'shooting' attack.

"Tom! Tong! Tong! …… Tong! Tong! Tong! ……”

Friendly artillery support soon arrived, and the sky suddenly became daylight again, and at the same time, dozens of mortar anti-personnel shells landed on the front of the position, and then according to the correction provided by Zhang Guodong, Zhu Yuan quickly extended the artillery coverage area into the woods.

"Boom! Rumble! ……”

Bursts of light were heard in the woods, accompanied by violent explosions, and the continuous Japanese offensive was almost immediately contained, losing the forces behind them, and the Japanese attacking troops in the 'shooting' zone at the front of the position soon fell silent, and the shouts of "Banya" disappeared, and all that remained was the screams of the dying and wounded.

"Phew! What is this called? That's not how to send death. Could it be that Japan defeated Russia with this style of play back then? ”

Zhang Guodong was very surprised, just now he was ready to be shelled, but during the whole battle, the attacking Japanese army did not launch any artillery cover, which can no longer be described as "crazy".

At this time, the battalion commander called to inquire about the battle situation, and Zhang Guodong was full of confidence.

"Hundreds of enemies have been annihilated, and none of our side have died! No reinforcements are needed. Please rest assured, the battalion commander, with me, the position is there! This style of play of the Japanese army is called 'sending to the death method', if the Japanese army is all fighting in this way, we will annihilate as much as we come! ”

Of course, Zhang Guodong did not know that although the Japanese troops attacking his position lacked artillery cover, this did not mean that friendly troops in other positions could easily repel the Japanese attack, and the war was cruel after all, and it was cruel to both sides of the 'warring'.