A small group of Japanese soldiers entered Xiaojiao Village along the western path, and another company of puppet troops entered Xiaojiao Village from the east. This was a battle without suspense, so the Japanese soldiers were not nervous. They followed a road directly to the courtyard in the middle.
When they saw the courtyard, gunshots were fired, injuring two people in front, so the Japanese soldiers hid in the houses on both sides, climbed over the wall and passed through the courtyard, using the cover of the buildings to get close to the west side of the courtyard, and then stopped dispersing. At the same time, they gathered the puppet soldiers who had lost the command of the company commander and prepared to attack. The Japanese knew that they could not take over the courtyard by relying on these puppet soldiers, so they had to do the job of gnawing bones.
The puppet army company that entered the village from the east was given the task of searching for the small group of Eighth Route Army guerrillas in the village. They formed a search line outside the encirclement area of the courtyard, like a pointer on a dial, with the smoking courtyard as the axis point, to sweep the village. The courtyard, the house, the donkey shed, the sheep pen, the chicken coop, the toilet, nothing was left out, turning it upside down and searching it in a mess.
The Japanese soldiers who entered the village happened to pass by the temporary hiding place of Hu Yi and his men, but Hu Yi did not fight. Instead, he took his four men and moved north again along the outer buildings.
Liu Jianqiang and Ma Liang did not understand this. They felt that this was a rare opportunity and they should at least kill a few Japanese soldiers first.
Considering the need to calm the anxious mood of the two ninth-class bones, Hu Yi explained to them.
First of all, the 9th squad and the compound are mutually dependent, the compound is the main one, and the 9th squad is the auxiliary one. The compound is static, and the 9th squad is dynamic, and one plus one is greater than two. The current position cannot be restrained and covered by the direction of the compound. If we take action, we will be exposed and will become an independent fighter. In the end, we will be divided and besieged by the enemy, and there will be no room for maneuver. The gain will outweigh the loss.
Secondly, the Japanese are not puppet troops and cannot be defeated. If you are stuck by the Japanese for a few heads, the consequences will be troublesome and it is hard to say whether you can escape.
So what the 9th squad has to do now is to attack the puppet army from the north again. They have already attacked here once and are familiar with the situation. And because of the casualties of the puppet army last time, the defense here must be weak. The goal this time is to break through and attack outside the compound wall, attack under the compound's nose, so that the 9th squad can become an arm extending from the compound, delaying the attack of the Japanese on the compound, otherwise the compound will not be able to withstand the attack of the Japanese for long, and if the 9th squad is gone, the compound will be finished.
The Japanese had not yet launched their attack on the compound when gunfire suddenly broke out from the north.
At the beginning of the second round, the puppet troops on the north side of the compound were in bad luck. People often say that every failure makes you wiser, but that depends on the time and the person. In the last round, these Eighth Route Army attacked from behind and the company commander was gone. Later, they ran away. The puppet troops thought this was great. So you are here to take our company commander's head? I admire you for succeeding and running away. We can also breathe a sigh of relief. Without the company commander, we are safe, and we don't have to do any work. It's great.
But now, I didn't expect you to come from this side again? What's your purpose? Why do you have to pick on us to cause trouble in such a big village? No, this is shameless.
Another company of puppet troops was still in the south of the village, carrying chickens, food and sheep, searching with great enthusiasm, when gunshots suddenly sounded in the north. Were they discouraged? Tubalu, couldn't you wait a little longer? Are you so anxious to reincarnate? The task given by the imperial army was very clear. They were responsible for the rats outside the compound. They had to split into two groups on the spot, reluctantly giving up the search, and going around to the north from the east and west to squeeze these annoying rats to death.
Although the military police captain was a captain, one rank higher, the highest commander on the scene was the captain of the Japanese squadron. He did not enter the village with the team, but stayed outside the village with the military police captain who unexpectedly came to watch the battle. This was not a big battle, so it was enough to leave it to his subordinates to handle. The battle in the village was commanded by the team leader.
The Japanese squad leader was not a fool. He understood the situation clearly. It was not complicated. The outsiders were auxiliary, and the compound was the main force. If they took the compound, the battle would be over. It was that simple. Gunfire started to ring in the north, but he didn't care. It was just a diversion and harassment. The outside tasks had been assigned to the puppet army. Although the puppet army was a bit useless, there were not many Eighth Route Army soldiers, so he was too lazy to divert his attention.
He gave orders calmly. One squad of the Japanese soldiers went south to the main gate, one squad went north to the back door, and the remaining squad started to shoot covertly at the compound from the west side. The purpose was to attract a counterattack so as to estimate the firepower and number of troops in the compound. The two grenade launchers in the squad were left behind and were on standby.
Then gunshots started in the compound, including the Type 99 light machine gun, the Type 38 rifle, the Type 79 rifle, and the Mauser pistol. It was a chaotic mess.
There are a total of seven or eight firing holes on the west wall, and there seem to be only five or six people taking turns firing. Considering that the Eighth Route Army also has to pay attention to other directions, it is estimated that this may be half of their firepower, or even one-third.
There were no machine guns, only rifles and Mauser pistols. However, at this distance, the Mauser pistols were too annoying, with a fast rate of fire and quick reaction, and even had an advantage over machine guns.
The Japanese squad leader waved his hand, signaling a squad next to him to move forward. So, except for the machine gun set up behind the crack in the wall, the rest of the Japanese stopped shooting, began to climb over the wall and cross the courtyard, using the buildings for cover to move forward, crawling and drilling, and soon appeared under the west wall of the courtyard.
A soldier took back his gun from the firing hole, turned around and leaned against the wall and shouted to the courtyard: "Squad leader, the Japanese are at the foot of the west wall."
Shi Cheng listened carefully. The gunshots outside the north wall of the backyard were closer than before. It should be that the platoon leader wanted to attack. He looked up and ordered: "No matter what, the platoon leader may come over. Four people go to the backyard to observe and cover. The rest of you retreat down the wall, go to the main house, and monitor the top of the wall." Then he turned around and ran to the backyard with the Mauser pistol.
The room in the middle of the compound had been built into several walls using grain bags stacked in an interlaced manner. All the doors that could be removed in the compound had been removed, as well as some wooden boards and tabletops, which were all stacked thickly on top of the grain bags in order to create space when the roof collapsed. The roof was directly pressed into a defensive artillery position.
There was originally a small wooden house at the entrance of the granary, but now it has been basically demolished. The grain bags in the granary are used to pile up a thick wall around the entrance. The dismantled wood is placed horizontally on top, and then the top is also covered with grain bags. It is estimated that the thickness is so thick that it will not collapse in a short time.
Li Xiang, Su Qing and No. 21 were still busy at the entrance of the granary, reinforcing the fortifications around them. They looked up and saw Li Xiang running by, shouting at them, "Stop busying yourself. The Japanese have already reached the outside of the wall. Li Xiang, you are responsible for guarding this position, Su Yushi, you go directly to the granary."
The three men heard the noise and quietly went into the grain fortifications, but Su Qing did not go down. He wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeve, pulled out his revolver, and began to monitor the wall that Li Xiang was facing. Number 21 also picked up his gun and silently monitored the third direction.
Why are the gunshots in the north so intense? Because the puppet troops in the north are angry.
We will fight whether there are people around or not, and we will fight even if we can't see. We will fight even if we know we can't penetrate the wall. These Eighth Route Army soldiers are so hateful that we will fight together and fight them until they understand. We have super firepower in this yard and surveillance from all directions. If you dare to come over, you will be in trouble. If you know what's good for you, you'd better stay away from here and find another target.
The puppet soldiers fired their guns randomly, sweating profusely, and looking around. They were most afraid of being hit by grenades, but no one dared to run around. Who knows if they are in this alley now? There was movement just now. What if they get shot if they go out? Damn it, just keep fighting. This is called fire suppression.
Hu Yi and his companions were helplessly beaten by the puppet army. Every time they crossed the courtyard or turned a corner, they would hear gunshots nearby if they made any noise. Even machine guns would come over if they showed any traces. The five of them were beaten so hard that they rolled and crawled with dust in their mouths, pissed themselves on their pants and broke out in sweats, fearing that the wall around them was too thin and they would be in trouble.
The puppet army's fire suppression was not to be underestimated. The top wall was hit and smoke was coming out. The dirt and debris fell down. The wall next to me was hit by bullets one after another. The incredible thing was... I originally thought that I was going to cross the defense line, but now it seems that I am crossing the fire line. The puppet army huddled in a few key courtyards and did not move. They did nothing but shoot.
In this case, there was no need for the five men to fight. They kept hiding here and there and really became like rats crossing the street. They concentrated their energy on approaching the north wall of the compound.
A squad of Japanese soldiers approached the back door of the northern courtyard along the base of the wall. The small door was closed tightly. They didn't know that the front and back doors had been blocked long ago. Sand and soil were still flowing out of the gap in the door from time to time. This door was no different from a wall, and it was even more difficult to deal with than a wall.
Looking up at the location of the shooting hole on the wall, the Japanese squad leader pointed to a yard outside the back door, which could monitor the entire backyard wall and was in a blind spot for shooting inside the yard.
More than a dozen Japanese soldiers immediately ducked over, put their guns on their backs, jumped over the wall and started to climb inside.
The first Japanese soldier, who had just climbed onto the wall with his arms and legs, suddenly widened his eyes. Across the more than ten-meter-wide yard, another soldier had just climbed onto the other wall, also riding on the wall, with wide eyebrows and narrow eyes, casting the same surprised look at him. In order to climb the wall, neither of them had their guns in their hands. At that moment, the two people who were riding on the wall and looking at each other across the yard felt very embarrassed and stopped for a moment.
"Sergeant, what's wrong with you?" someone asked from behind the east wall.
At the same time, someone behind the west wall spoke in bird language in surprise.
Then with two plops, both of them turned around and fell back without hesitation.
Hu Yi fell to the ground and didn't even get up. He took out a grenade, pulled the fuse and threw it over there, shouting, "The devils are over there!"
At the same time, the Japanese soldiers' chattering could be heard from the other side of the yard.
Just as he finished speaking, there was a gurgling sound and a grenade fell to the ground, bouncing around. The Japanese soldier who fell off the wall over there had the same idea as Hu Yi.
Hu Yi was taking out the second grenade, Liu Jianqiang and Ma Liang were also pulling out the grenades on their bodies. Luo Fugui took a breath and his legs felt a little weak. Wu Shitou rolled and crawled to grab the grenade on the ground, grabbed it and threw it to the opposite side.
Then three grenades flew over the wall from east to west with smoke coming out. Before Hu Yi and the other three could finish throwing the grenades, they heard a clang. The grenade that Hu Yi had thrown first flew back. The two sides across the yard were actually doing the same thing.
"Run!" Luo Fugui suddenly let out a loud shout, shocking the four people around him.
Gurgle... Then three or four more grenades flew over the wall and fell down.
Boom boom… Boom boom boom boom boom…
In the sunlight, continuous explosions suddenly began behind the east and west walls of a small courtyard. Smoke rose alternately across the courtyard that was more than ten meters away. The walls on both sides began to break, crack and splash, shaking the surrounding area, even the courtyard where a group of guards were standing was shaking continuously.
The puppet soldiers leaned out from the top of the wall in surprise.
Shi Cheng panicked and rushed to the shooting hole on the back wall to try to see what was going on.
Su Qing turned around abruptly, but could only see the high wall in the backyard and the smoke rising fiercely outside the wall. However, she forgot to blink. She didn't know that her beautiful black pupils were dilating subconsciously. She didn't know why she was confused, but not afraid...