After hearing the order of the company commander, the people behind quickly organized the machine gunners.

According to the military system of the Anhui Revolutionary Army, a squad is equipped with a light machine gun, while a company has a total of 9 squads, that is, a company has a total of 9 light machine guns.

It's just that in the process of rushing up the mountain, two machine gunners were shot by the bandits on the cottage, and the machine guns were also dropped in the middle of the road, so now there are only 7 light machine guns in the hands of the company commander who can use them.

The commander of the first company was full of hope that after the seven light machine guns were put into use, they would be able to suppress the group of bandits on the mountain in the shortest possible time. After the machine gunners exerted their strength, the firepower of the bandits on the cottage was indeed much weaker, but it was impossible to talk about suppression, and when he looked back, the company commander almost had a crooked nose.

The deputy company commander did organize the machine gunners according to his orders, the problem is that some of those machine gunners are fine, and some are trembling, and they are almost unable to hold their guns steadily, and they can't talk about suppressing the bandits on the cottage at all, if the company commander looks more carefully, he can even see that a few soldiers have been scared to pee their pants because of the bullets flying over their heads from time to time...

"The recruit's eggs really don't fucking work..."

The first company commander also knew that he couldn't blame the people under him, after all, he had only received 2 months of training. And it was the first time to go to the battlefield, and the bullets flew past the scalp, and everyone was afraid, not to mention seeing so many companions fall to the ground.

It's just that they can't retreat now, not to mention military law for the time being, and the bandits in the mountains can't watch them retreat like this. So the commander of the first company immediately named the company. "Pillar, old cow. Junzi, Brother Zhang...", he called seven or eight names in a row, except for one who didn't respond. Almost all of them should be up.

These are his old subordinates in the patrol battalion, although their combat effectiveness is worrying, but they have all seen blood, at least they will not pee their pants like other recruits.

"You're in charge of the machine gunner here, and I'll rush up with someone..."

The deputy company commander also knew that there was only one way at this time, so he nodded. Didn't say anything more.

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At the foot of the mountain, Yin Ziang was watching the battle on the mountain with a telescope, although he couldn't see it very clearly because of the woods. But vaguely, he could still see that his brothers were in the position of the mountain pass.

"If I can have a few cannons on hand...", shaking his head, Yin Ziang shook the thought out of his mind.

Now artillery in the revolutionary army is assigned only to the division level, one artillery regiment per division. Even the regimental level is not eligible. Not to mention him, the battalion commander. Therefore, in the face of an ordinary battle, he could only let the brothers rush to the top. And because the mountain pass is too narrow, he can't send too many troops at all, so he can only let the first company go up first to see if he can make a breakthrough.

But then again, if there were really artillery for them to use, it would not be possible for them to suppress the bandits. After all, this time they were asked to suppress the bandits on the one hand to clear up the local chaos, and on the other hand, to let these troops with too many recruits accumulate some experience. If each unit is equipped with enough artillery, will it still be possible to gain experience?

The location of the mountain pass. The deputy company commander had already run down to organize machine-gun fire.

Those machine gunners couldn't even exert any strength during training because of the tense relationship, but now with the organization of the deputy company commander, they are finally more stable, and the bandits on the cottage are also suppressed and can't raise their heads.

Seeing that there were fewer bullets spilled on the cottage, the company commander seized the opportunity and beckoned a few veterans who had already organized themselves to rush up with enough blasting canisters.

The blasting canister, as the name suggests, is used for blasting.

When the 1st and 2nd Divisions went south and north to sweep away the cities that were still finally Qing government, because there were too few artillery in their hands (the 2nd Division didn't even have a cannon at all), and the caliber was still 75mm light artillery, unless they were lucky, they could only bombard the general city wall for a long time, so when attacking the city, they first tried to rush to the bottom of the city wall with the support of machine guns and other firepower, and then blew the city gate open with explosives.

This was obviously the only way, after all, they couldn't have used the ladder to climb the city wall like they had done in the past, and the casualties would be too great.

However, after the battles of Suzhou and Huizhou were over, Zhang Ying and Bai Runshan both reflected some situations and returned. For example, if the number of existing artillery is too small and the explosives are not very useful, can we get a relatively simple blasting equipment?

Zhang Ying and Bai Runshan's suggestion also opened up some ideas for Yan Shao, the explosive package must not be thought about, that thing just looks at the volume and knows that the road must have nothing to do with the word simple. Yan Shao remembered the blaster that often appeared in war movies in later generations, in later war movies and television, the blaster did not appear less, and it also had a deep impact on Yan Shao's childhood—————— Yan Shao often acted in some war movies on TV when he was a child, such as Dong Cunrui or something, but then again, Dong Cunrui seems to use an explosive bag?

In fact, there have been blasters in Chinese history a long time ago, when Zhang Xianzhong attacked Chengdu Jiancheng at the end of the Ming Dynasty, he once hollowed out a huge tree and filled it with gunpowder as a tool to blast the city wall, which can be regarded as the prototype of China's blasting canister. Of course, such a bulky guy can hardly be compared with the blasting canisters used in modern warfare.

The origins of modern blasters are inseparable from the use of barbed wire in warfare. When a group of farmers in Illinois, USA, invented barbed wire in 1874, it quickly became an insurmountable obstacle for attacking forces in the war. In 1901, when the Second Boer War entered the guerrilla war phase, the British army erected more than 6,000 km of barbed wire in the South African grasslands to deal with the elusive Boer guerrillas.

In the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, Russia used a large number of barbed wire fences in the attack and defense of Arthur Fortress, coupled with machine guns, grenades and other weapons, so that the corpses of Japanese soldiers attacking the fortress were all over the field. In order to be able to effectively remove the barbed wire, 1912. McClintoc, an engineer in the British Army in India, designed a lightweight, man-portable explosives at the Bangalore station. Because of its torpedo-like appearance, it was named 'Bangaloretorpedo'.

Compared to grenades, things like blasters aren't necessarily complicated. In addition, there is an arsenal in Xiangshan. It may be difficult to produce rifles, machine guns, and artillery, but it is not a problem to produce blasters that are similar to grenades.

Therefore, the Xiangshan Arsenal soon took out a batch of finished products, which were not much, but they also distributed more than ten or twenty pieces to each battalion that came out to suppress the bandits this time...

Naturally, this kind of thing is definitely not able to blow up the city wall, but it is still no problem to blow up the city gate or pillboxes, fortifications and other things, and the wooden gate of this kind of bandit cottage is naturally even easier.

On the other side, although it is not clear what the officers and soldiers below are doing when they come with a large pile of cantons on their backs. But the bandits on the wooden walls instinctively sensed that they couldn't be allowed to put it up. So although the machine guns under the pass were very strong, the bandits on the wooden wall still poked their heads out as much as they could.

There was a burst of gunfire, and one of the seven men led by the company commander fell. The blaster he was carrying also rolled to the ground. But at this time, the commander of the first company had no way to care about him, so he could only take the rest of the people and run to the bottom of the cottage.

After reaching a distance of more than 20 meters from the cottage, the commander of a company shouted loudly to several people who were still following behind. "Grenades."

Hearing his words, the remaining soldiers also hurriedly took out the grenade from their arms.

Take advantage of the opportunity for the bandits on the wooden wall to be hit by bullets and can't raise their heads. A company commander and several soldiers threw grenades at the wall. After a burst of explosions. More than a dozen bandits were swept out of the wooden wall.

The bandits had never seen such a weapon before, and the sudden explosion immediately sent them into a panic. Li Ergou, who finally broke free from his addiction to smoking, panicked even more. "Where's the cannon? Where did the cannon come from? Did the officers and soldiers push the cannon over? ”

The grenade may not be very new abroad, but at home people only know about the bombs that the Revolutionary Party often threw during the revolution, and they don't know about the grenade at all. So when the bandits in the cottage were hit by a blow, the first thought in their minds was almost the same as Li Ergou's, all the officers and soldiers came with cannons, only those bandits standing on the wooden wall saw those grenades thrown on the wall with their own eyes. Know what it is.

Taking advantage of the panic of the bandits on the wooden wall, the commander of a company and his men rushed to the gate of the cottage. "Blasters. Fast! ”

Removing the blaster from his back, the company commander said to his brothers.

Hearing his order, several other soldiers quickly took the blaster off their backs.

Soon, almost 10 blasters were thrown in front of the company commander, and after stuffing all the blasters under the wooden door of the cottage, the company commander said to the brothers he had brought. "You retreat first, I'll stay and detonate..."

"Wouldn't it be too dangerous to do that?" the pillar frowned. They still know the power of these blasters, although they are not as powerful as cannons, but they are definitely much stronger than ordinary grenades, and the commander of a company stays here, in case he retreats a little in time, I am afraid that he will also be blown up with the gate of this cottage.

However, hearing the pillar's words, the first company commander just shook his head and scolded. "Obey the order, besides, what's the use of keeping a few more people down."

Hearing the first company commander say this, the pillar nodded helplessly.

Indeed, it is enough to detonate this kind of work, and if you have a few more, it may not be useful, and if something really happens, you may all die together.

Pressed against the wooden wall, the company commander made a few gestures to the brethren at the mountain pass.

Seeing his gesture, the troops in the Yamaguchi position quickly understood what he meant, but after a while, the suppression of the machine guns intensified. And the battle has been going on so far, although it is not long, but it is almost half an hour, and those recruits who have just entered the battlefield have more or less adapted to it, especially those machine gunners, it is not very dangerous to hide in the rear, the adaptation time is faster, and the skills gained in training have gradually been brought into play.

It didn't take long for the bandits on the wooden wall to be almost crushed by them with machine guns, taking advantage of this opportunity, they hurriedly ran out with their guns in their arms, while the commander of a company stood at the position of the wooden door and detonated nearly ten blasting canisters inserted under the wooden door.

Got the blaster ready. They didn't need a pillar to greet them, and the commander of the company had already run to the foot of the mountain as fast as he could, even ignoring the guns and bullets of the bandits on the wooden wall. Later the pillars were described by them. At that time, he looked a little bit of a...

Seeing a figure running out from under the corner, the bandits who felt a little regretful because they didn't kill the people just now immediately pointed their guns at him, and the first few shots were dodged by the first company commander, and when the second master stood behind the wall and aimed, he heard a loud noise, and most of the bandits standing on the wooden wall became unconscious because of the explosion, even the second master.

And under the mountain pass and the foot of the mountain. Yin Ziang and the others also clearly saw that the wooden door of the cottage and the surrounding wooden wall were all blown up into the sky by the nearly ten blasting canisters.

With nearly ten blasting canisters, it may be useless to blow up the city walls. But it's okay to blow up wooden doors and walls.

It was also because of this sudden that the bandits in the cottage were either killed or stunned, and the rest were stunned. I didn't know how to react for a while. At this time, the commander of the company, who had fled back to the mountain pass, also gave the order in time. Let your brothers charge.

At this time, there were more than a dozen people on the wooden wall who were still relatively sober, and when they saw the officers and soldiers charge, they hurriedly picked up their guns, but unfortunately their brains were also a little dizzy at this time, and there were too many officers and soldiers who rushed up, and they couldn't stop them with more than ten of them, and after a while, more than 100 people in a company had rushed into the cottage from the position where they were blown up.

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Seeing that Yilian had rushed up, Yin Ziang's face also showed a hint of joy. "Good. Well done! ”

At this time, the adjutant leaned over and asked softly. "Battalion commander, do you want to let the other two companies go on as well. After all, we're here to train our troops this time, so we can't just train for a company..."

Hearing the adjutant's words, Yin Ziang nodded approvingly.

On the one hand, the purpose of this crackdown on bandits is to restore local stability, and on the other hand, it is for the purpose of training troops. Do you train soldiers, not to mention that you have to fight tough battles, but you always have to let the soldiers under your command see some blood—————— whether it is your own blood or other people's blood, in fact, there is no difference.

Yin Ziang also used a telescope to see the battle of the company just now, and the whole company of people had more than 20 casualties in the process of suppressing the bandits, although there are reasons for the complexity of the terrain, but the biggest reason is that the soldiers under his command are too nervous.

When they were in the mountain pass, a few soldiers peed their pants, and the machine gunners were so nervous that they couldn't even shoot their guns, which was not mentioned for the time being. When rushing up the mountain, some people were nervous and couldn't take a step, which was the key to casualties.

A few soldiers were just too nervous when they went to the battlefield for the first time, and they suddenly fell while running, so they were shot by the bandits in the mountains, otherwise the casualties this time would have been reduced a lot.

No way, no matter how good the basic training is during training, it's not the same thing when you go to the battlefield.

So Yin Ziang quickly gave the order. "Let the remaining three companies go up, even if they can't get a fight, at least they will take the opportunity to see blood..."

At this time, the establishment of the Anhui Revolutionary Army and the New Army at the end of the Qing Dynasty was the same, with two brigades as a division, two regiments as a brigade, three battalions as a regiment, four companies as a battalion, three platoons as a company, and three companies as a squad.

Naturally, this kind of establishment can also be changed, for example, each regiment is equipped with a heavy machine gun company, each squad in the company has two heavy machine guns, and each brigade is equipped with an additional heavy machine gun battalion. The other division was originally composed of two infantry brigades, that is, four infantry regiments, plus one cavalry regiment, one artillery regiment, one engineer battalion and one baggage battalion, for a total of 12,000 men.

But Yan Shao has always felt that for some of the main forces, it is completely possible to equip each division with two artillery regiments, and other aspects can also be strengthened...

However, these are things for the future, except for most of the arms purchased from abroad, except for rifles, the rest is only a small batch, and the artillery regiments of the three divisions have not been enough, let alone add one more regiment.

On the other hand, with Yin Ziang's order, the remaining three companies also hurriedly sent troops to reinforce them. But in fact, they are also to travel to the Lu, although the bandits resisted quite well when they rushed up in a row, but when the cottage was breached, especially when they didn't know what was going on in the case, the gate of the village was blown open, and the fighting spirit of the bandits suddenly disappeared completely, except for a few who were not afraid of death and resisted there, most of the people were already scattered, but the cottage was so big, but there was no place to hide.

At the same time, Yin Ziang also hurriedly added an order, that is, let them not kill all of them, at least leave a group of prisoners. It's not that he has a good heart or something, it's all an order from the junta.

Naturally, Yan Shao could not be kind, because he knew very well that many bandits in those years were guys who had not been wronged after being shot ten times. However, there are many places that need manpower in Anhui now, especially in the construction of railways and highways, which require a lot of manpower...

Leaving a part of the bandits and letting them build railways and highways in Anhui can not only save some money, but also allow them to atone for their crimes, why not?

In the end, the battle of Caotou Mountain was a complete victory, and the bandits on the mountain were killed more than 20 people, and the remaining 80 people surrendered with all their weapons, which naturally included Li Ergou, the owner of the village. Not long after, more than 80 bandits, including Li Ergou, were escorted to the riverside by the local security forces...

What awaits them will be an endless railway... (To be continued......)