Although he didn't feel like he had lost consciousness for long, when Zhou Changfeng woke up, the light around him was obviously much dimmer.

Because he saw Xie Wancheng walking around at the first glance, the first thing he said was to drive people away, "Why don't you take over the command?!" What's going on now? ”

Xie Wancheng, who was helpless, smiled bitterly and said in a deep voice: "What... Battalion commander, don't worry, it's past five o'clock in the afternoon, battalion commander, you've been in a coma for more than two hours, and now you're ......."

"The battle situation, just talk about the battle situation!"

"Uh... The enemy then attacked again at three and a half o'clock, advancing in three directions, and the three teams in the south of the city were in good condition, but the one team in the north of the city lost contact and was cut off by an enemy army. The enemy forces on the west side of the city were so strong that they rushed to our side again, and I ordered the reserves to enter the battle and repelled them. ”

Zhou Changfeng felt the dryness in his mouth, licked his lips, and asked, "How is the situation of the first team now?"

Xie Wancheng pointed to the north and replied: "The situation is unknown, the two squads of the reserve encountered a detachment of enemy chariots and infantry when they made a detour northeast of the city, and all but five were killed; Two reconnaissance groups are missing. However, there is still an exchange of fire in the north of the city, and there are at least two of our heavy machine guns ringing in the sound, which should be able to stand up. ”

Zhou Changfeng nodded and said casually: "Where's my kettle?" ”

"No, I'm not sure if your internal bleeding is serious, and you shouldn't drink water right now." The second lieutenant of the military doctor came over and asked, "Sir, how are you feeling now?" ”

"The painkiller injection pricked in the afternoon hasn't taken effect yet, and I don't feel it now."

"Then let's lie down and rest first, the enemy army has retreated."

At this moment, the dense gunfire in the distance to the north suddenly weakened?

Everyone present suddenly became alert, and they all turned their heads to look at the north of the city.

"It's not a big problem, it should be that the enemy forces are retreating." Zhou Changfeng blinked, and listened intently for a few seconds, "Listen, at least two Type 20 heavy machine guns are still ringing, and the sound of the Vickers heavy machine gun is gone." ”

The sound of both is very special, and it is not difficult to distinguish after staying on the battlefield for a long time - the sound of the Type 20 heavy machine gun is similar to a hammer smashing nails, for a short and crisp "listen, listen, listen" sound; And the Vickers heavy machine gun was a loud "boom" sound.

After a short while, the gunfire of your own side gradually stopped, and two green flares rose into the air from the north of the city in succession.

The British and Indian troops, who had been fighting for most of the day, chose to give up and began to withdraw from the battle under alternate cover.

The fierce exchange of fire turned to sporadic gunfire, and little DeMagie seemed to be calm again.

The exhausted officers and soldiers sat down one by one like deflated balls, leaning against the ruins with their guns in their arms and being silent, as if they were rejoicing in the rest of their lives.

"Stay on guard! Take turns eating! ”

It was getting darker, and the dark clouds that had been gloomy for a day had now dissipated, and the western sky was reflected in the sunset.

Zhou Changfeng asked the communications platoon to send a concise and crisp telegram to the Lingzhi headquarters, saying:

"Reported to the Lingzhi Command, the headquarters seized Demagi and fought fiercely for three days, intercepting the enemy's advance to the east, the enemy has withdrawn and returned to the defense, and the mission has been completed. The total number of enemy soldiers killed and wounded was more than 1,000, more than 20 combat vehicles were destroyed, one enemy plane was shot down, and one flying officer was captured. In addition, their own losses were quite large, and they were unable to fight again. Yours sincerely.

A word 1131 troops

Afternoon East Unitary Hour Electricity"

Subsequently, the 1st Battalion sent a telegram to the brigade headquarters reporting the details of Task Force Wilson, but no response was received.

It stands to reason that the large force should already be very close to Demagi, and the leading unit may be able to arrive tonight.

"Strange thing, can you still get in touch in the morning?" Xie Wancheng said with some apprehension.

"Probably on radio silence." Zhou Changfeng, who was tired, waved his hand and said easily: "Don't worry, let's rest when we should rest, just stay vigilant." ”

Later, after the effect of the painkiller injection in the afternoon, Zhou Changfeng felt a dull pain all over his body, but it was relatively weak and did not affect his sleep.

Because he hadn't rested well for several days, he slept very deeply on the night after the fierce battle.

However, halfway through the hour, a dense burst of gunfire and a continuous roar suddenly rang out in the distance to the east of the city.

But the exchange of fire lasted for a short time, ending in a few minutes, and then again after a while, and so on about four times.

Zhou Changfeng, who was awakened, came to the window, listened carefully for a few seconds, and speculated: "It should be the leading unit of the large army that is engaged with the small infiltration detachment of the enemy." ”

The side that occupies the initiative often sends small forces to infiltrate from multiple directions to cut off the enemy's contact with the outside world, and at the same time act as sentry and screen.

The Anglo-Indian army sent a number of reconnaissance squads and combat patrols to infiltrate the vicinity of Demagi in the past few days, several of which were lurking near the eastern part of the city.

The reconnaissance battalion of the mixed 3rd Brigade had arrived, and the small force of the British and Indian army, which was limited in size, naturally could not compete with it, so they hurriedly retreated.

Realizing that the main force of the Ming army was about to arrive on the battlefield, Wilson immediately ordered all units to prepare for defense, rearrange firing points, adjust defensive lines, and organize circular positions.

More than a dozen howitzers of the Anglo-Indian Fourth Artillery Battalion ended their formation and began to be stacked and hung up on trucks for transfer and deployment; The remaining two dozen tanks of the 5th Royal Tank Regiment were also guided by soldiers armed with batons to their assigned positions.

On the urban side, a platoon of the reconnaissance battalion had cautiously entered, made contact with the first battalion, and immediately began to lay telephone lines.

In accordance with the order of the brigade commander Huang Taeze, the reconnaissance battalion was deployed in the appropriate terrain to the east to establish a solid stronghold in advance for the large troops that arrived later; At the same time, several detachments were dispatched to reconnoiter the enemy's situation at night and find out the enemy's deployment and firepower allocation.

About an hour later, the 4th and 5th battalions also arrived, followed by the engineer battalion and the 3rd battalion.

At about midnight, the brigade headquarters, the second battalion, and the battle defense artillery team arrived, and then immediately began to set up the command post in place.

The 4th Battalion was the main attack on Heights Zero, the 5th Battalion detoured north to the flank of the enemy's main position, the 3rd Battalion attacked the enemy from the front, and the 2nd Battalion entered the city and was ready to respond!

After a brief silence of less than two quarters of an hour, the quiet midsummer night was once again broken.

The guns burst out, and several battalions of 80mm mortars opened fire one after another, and mortar shells fell on the defensive line of Task Force Wilson's troops, and flares and flares of various colors continued to rise into the night sky, making the battlefield within a radius of several miles seem like daylight.

Major Sampson bent briskly into a shelter and reported to Major General Wilson.

He said anxiously: "Your Excellency, we have trouble, they are surrounding us!" The Ring Formation was attacked by at least two thousand Chinese troops in two directions, and the Lai Gar Battalion B Company claimed that there were still an unknown number of Chinese infantry moving rapidly in the direction of the northeast! ”

"They're going to be faster than we expected, and based on yesterday's aerial reconnaissance, they should not be there until noon tomorrow." Wilson frowned, stretched out his hand and tapped on the map, and said solemnly: "We must hold out until morning, and then retreat with air support!" ”