Looking at the four civilians lying on the ground groaning, no one in the Ninth Platoon dared to say that the platoon leader was right; looking at the half-broken artillery tower in flames and hearing Xu Xiao firing shot after shot towards the west from inside, no one in the Ninth Platoon was willing to say that the platoon leader was wrong.
For Xu Xiao and the entire 9th platoon, the platoon leader abandoned his righteousness and became a bad guy. Only he had the courage and determination to do this. He was really cold, but strangely, the soldiers of the 9th platoon suddenly felt warm in their hearts, because when they replaced themselves with Xu Xiao, the least popular person, in their hearts, they felt at ease.
Ma Liang led the third squad to the edge of the fire and threw a grenade. The nearest bonfire immediately turned into fireworks, and then the edge of darkness immediately spread to the west. The third squad continued to crawl forward, and the first squad followed not far behind the third squad, ready to cover the shooting at any time. Explosions were also heard on the right side several dozen meters away, and the second squad also began to deal with the bonfire.
Luo Fugui continued to fire bursts of bullets near the entrance of the artillery tower, three shots at intervals. Li Xiang huddled behind him and helped him reload the empty magazine.
The darkness stretched forward, about to cover the row of people.
…
The puppet army company commander finally began to panic. The Eighth Route Army was going to use force. The artillery tower could not be taken back. The situation was going to be bad! Having tasted the taste of the Eighth Route Army's charge, these desperate criminals would not turn back once they passed the human wall. It seemed that their recklessness was not born from their parents. Of course, the puppet army company commander did not know that the Ninth Platoon did not intend to fight to the death. He just came to this conclusion based on his experience in previous battles.
The most frustrating thing is that this group of Eighth Route Army is different from other Eighth Route Army. They waste ammunition more than the puppet army. It seems that they have more than 20 guns, but they are really willing to fight. They suppress these useless people under their command and make them unwilling to show their heads. Where did the Eighth Route Army get so many bullets? Suddenly I realized that the Hekouying base was destroyed by them, right? This is most likely the case. Yes! Except for the advantage of numbers, there is no other advantage.
"Captain, commander, the Eighth Route Army seems to be moving forward. What should we do?"
While the civilian laborers formed a human wall to block the nine rows of gunfire, the puppet army's bullets could not penetrate. The only way they could suppress the enemy was to just shoot and knock the human wall down, or order the human wall to lie down.
"Damn it, you have a trick, but I have a ladder. Pass the order, retreat westward, retreat into the darkness, row one to the left, row two to the right, row three follow me." The puppet army company commander decided to fight back and stood up, leaving this bonfire site to you, don't want it. Now we are going to attack you in the dark, we have been tossing around for so long, as long as we delay for a while, the reinforcements of the imperial army will arrive, and then we will attack you from both sides, where can you run!
Sixty or seventy puppet soldiers finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the company commander's order. They were also afraid that the Eighth Route Army would rush over and engage in close combat, but now they no longer had to worry. While the human wall was still there, they slipped out from behind the rocks, climbed out of the shallow pit, and ran towards the night in the west, completely giving up the construction site that was brightly lit by the bonfire.
…
A helmet was pushed up by a small hand, and a pair of beautiful big eyes opened as wide as possible in the darkness, and finally said excitedly: "They ran away! Those bastards all ran away. Did you see the fox? Look quickly!"
A telescope was put down and hung on his chest. His thick eyebrows gradually frowned and he said lightly: "They didn't run away." Then he ordered nearby: "Mule, take the ninth squad into the artillery tower."
After he finished speaking, Hu Yi picked up his rifle, bent down and ran forward.
"Shicheng, take your people to the back and move the goods over."
Shi Cheng followed the sound and saw a dark shadow running towards him, so he led a group to turn around and run.
Ma Liang shouted at the human wall: "The puppet soldiers have run away, what are you waiting for!" Then he ordered a soldier from the third squad to go over and bandage the injured civilians.
At this time, the laborers turned around and looked behind them where there was no one, and finally began to swarm towards the darkness in the east.
As he was running towards the temporary storage area a few hundred meters away, he suddenly heard a chaotic sound of running behind him. Shi Cheng suddenly stopped, turned around, looked at the figures rushing towards him, and asked sternly: "Are all the courageous ones dead? Who still has the courage?"
The soldiers of squad one turned their heads, glanced at the squad leader standing in the darkness, and then continued to run towards the supplies.
The panicked crowd continued to run, indifferently passing by the sides of the stone wall and disappearing into the darkness. Some people were so busy running that they didn't hear clearly what the soldier standing in the darkness said; some people were so busy running that they heard the words clearly but didn't care what they meant; some people heard the words and understood what they meant, but saw the person in front of them disappearing in the darkness in a hurry. Everyone was doing the same thing, so they did the same thing, and walked past the person with peace of mind without even looking at him; some people understood what it meant and felt ashamed of themselves, so they pretended that they didn't hear clearly and didn't understand.
The nearly one hundred fleeing figures were like a river flowing into the darkness, while Shi Cheng, standing in front of them, was like a reef in the glacier, ignored by the rushing water.
Shi Cheng sighed deeply and lowered his head. He suddenly felt a little sad, but he didn't know why.
When the hurried river completely disappeared behind him, when the disappointed Shi Cheng raised his head again, his sadness faded, because not far in front of him, there were five figures that were not carried away by the water and stopped to become reefs. It seems that although the courageous people are few, they are not extinct and can still be awakened.
So Shi Cheng waved at them and said, "Follow me now!"
…
"Continue to put out the bonfire. They haven't left yet. They are in the darkness in the west. Be careful of sneak attacks!" Hu Yi shouted to Ma Liang and Liu Jianqiang as he ran towards the entrance of the artillery tower.
After entering the bottom floor and adjusting to the darkness, I heard Xu Xiao say, "Platoon Leader, is that you?"
Turning his gaze to the darkness under a firing hole, he finally made out a thin figure sitting at the foot of the wall: "Well. Are you hurt?"
"No. I'm tired."
So he strode towards the stairs, making the wooden steps clatter, and climbed up to the second floor, which had just been built halfway. He first found a gap and looked carefully into the darkness to the west for a while, then turned to the east side, lay on the top of the wall and looked down.
Luo Fugui, Xiao Hongying, Wu Shitou and Li Xiang had just reached the entrance under the wall when a grenade exploded not far away, and the last bonfire east of the artillery tower turned into sparks all over the ground, with a bright red charcoal fire spreading on the ground.
The second and third squads had already climbed across the middle horizontal line on both the north and south sides of the turret, preparing to start dealing with the light sources west of the turret. A dozen figures were carrying boxes, some on their backs and some in their hands, and they didn't unload them until they were behind the second squad, then turned around and went back to move the remaining boxes.
Da da da da da da… The machine gun started firing, a Czech-style, repaired machine gun, with flames flickering in the darkness to the west. It fired a full burst of rounds with great fanfare. Its purpose was simple: to protect the bonfires to the west and delay the speed at which the ninth platoon extinguished them. It depended on time. Then there were sporadic rifle fires, sometimes hitting the firing holes of the turrets, sometimes hitting the darkness to the east of the light.
So far, they have succeeded halfway. Even if they move those boxes here, they have no way to retreat. Now they can only go west. The puppet army's current behavior is unexpected. The more despicable it is, the more trouble it will cause. Even if the bonfire is finally extinguished, the two sides are fighting black against black, but the ninth platoon is carrying more than a dozen boxes of supplies and cannot move fast. If they stick to it like a dog-skin plaster, fighting and retreating, the Japanese will arrive sooner or later. It will be useless to cross the mountain pass, and they will still be caught up.
Unless they abandon the supplies and fight their way through with their fists, the Ninth Platoon can go home. However, this operation will become completely meaningless from beginning to end.
Boom—another bonfire turned the ground red, and the darkness spread westward again. The sound of the explosion brought Hu Yi back to his senses, and he subconsciously took out his pocket watch to check. From the beginning to now, more than an hour had passed, and the first squad had moved all the boxes to the position of the artillery tower. Only the last bonfire was burning on the west side. The puppet army continued to shoot aimlessly, and Runny Nose and Ma Liang were about to finish their current mission.
Bang—a faint gunshot was heard, and Hu Yi was startled, thinking he had heard it wrong. Then there was another gunshot, which was a little unclear due to the interference of the shooting of the puppet army in the west. But this time it was definitely a gunshot, coming from the east. It sounded a little far away, but not far away. The most important thing was that the gunshot should be a Type 38 rifle.
Hu Yi suddenly looked towards the east, thinking that the Japanese might be coming. He didn't know why they were coming so fast. Maybe their position was closer than expected. Maybe the two gunshots were caused by a runaway laborer. It didn't matter. The enemy would appear in about ten minutes. The planned two hours would become one and a half hours. What could he do
Without time to judge, he shouted into the darkness near the artillery tower without hesitation: "Hurry up and put out the last pile of fire. The second squad will go in front, the third squad will provide cover, and the first squad will follow with the goods! After crossing the mountain pass, we will fight on the mountain first, into the mountain. Do you understand? Go into the mountain!" Then he turned around and ran down the stairs, entered the ground floor, and put the rifle into the girl's arms: "Girl, you will be temporarily assigned to the first squad."
"Why should I go to Shift 1? I can't move the boxes." The little girl didn't understand.
"You have a good shot, cover them from behind." This was the only way Hu Yi could evade the question.
Although she was still a little confused, the little girl with a helmet on her head ran out of the artillery tower with Hu Yi's gun when she thought about having a gun to shoot.
"Fool. Go out and find something to block the entrance for me. Even the stone corpses can be used. The sooner the better."
Wu Shitou first dragged a Japanese soldier's corpse on the ground towards the entrance of the artillery tower.
"Li Xiang, go upstairs and keep an eye on the east side."
There was a sound of wooden planks creaking on the stairs as Li Xiang went up.
Luo Fugui thought he had heard it wrong, and couldn't help asking, "Why are you blocking the mouth?"
"Be prepared to block the enemy. The devils are coming."
"What? This... then... then we don't go out? Use this as a coffin?" Luo Fugui was a little confused.
"Let the rope on your body go down the west wall of the second floor. I think the idiot will definitely block himself outside. Go ahead!"
"Damn... Oh!" Luo Fugui looked at the entrance reluctantly and walked towards the stairs helplessly.
"Xu Xiao." Hu Yi finally shouted towards the corner, but got no response.
He walked over a few steps and tapped the thin shoulder. He seemed to be sitting but fell sideways in the darkness. He immediately squatted down and put his fingers on his neck, then under his nostrils, and felt the familiar sticky wetness. He then touched his whole body on the spot. There were no wounds, so he had to lay him on the ground, and then without further delay, he stood up to find the Type 99 light machine gun in the turret.
…
Boom—the last bonfire turned into gorgeous fireworks amid the explosion, and then the warm light suddenly disappeared. The blockhouse construction site fell into complete darkness, with only the scattered scarlet charcoal fires flickering and emitting invisible smoke.
"Follow me." Liu Jianqiang ordered in a low voice, then pulled the rifle strap and began to crawl forward.
A series of projectiles flew over from far away in the west, whistling past and scattering randomly into the darkness.
Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang... Squad 3, lying in the low place behind Squad 2, fired a row of shots at the flames in the distance. Then Squad 1, who were using boxes as cover not far behind them, fired another row of shots.
The machine gun stopped, and after some sporadic rifle fire from the west, Ma Liang led the third squad to advance, while the first squad began to move boxes forward layer by layer. A little girl wearing a steel helmet was lying in a mud pit. Everyone around her moved forward, but she did not move either, holding a Type 38 rifle and continuing to stand still in the darkness.
Da da da... The machine gun flames blazed again. With a crisp sound, the puppet army's machine gun went silent again. The little girl wearing a steel helmet finally began to move sideways, and after making some space, she picked up her rifle, crouched down, and ran forward crookedly.
As long as you move forward 300 meters to the west, you will pass the mountain pass and be able to climb up the hills on both sides, and you will have the chance to disappear among the mountains.
After a wave of shooting, the puppet army realized that the Eighth Route Army was approaching, but they did not block it. Instead, they retreated a few dozen meters to the west, then stopped and fired another round of random shots.
The puppet army company commander peered into the darkness for a long time but could not see anything. He was very nervous. Although it was not easy to hit each other in the dark, the enemy seemed to be crawling towards him desperately. Once the distance was close enough, he would not be able to see the grenade flying over. It was very frustrating.
"Damn it, let's do it this way. Fight while retreating, and retreat to a place where we can go up the mountain. The first row is to the north, the second row is to the south, all of you stay on high ground. The third row will go over now and find dry firewood and grass, and then light them. We will shoot from three sides from a high position and see what the Eighth Route Army can do!"
Instead, several puppet soldiers heard the company commander's order, turned around and ran westward, preparing to set fire again.
"Hey? Where's the machine gun? Why isn't it firing again? Machine gun!" the puppet army company commander shouted.
"Captain, I can't fight anymore!" the machine gunner answered in the darkness.
"Stuck again? Damn, if I put the machine gun in your hands, you stutterer, it will do whatever you want!"
"It's not a jam, it's a blockage. I got shot in the shoulder by the Eighth Route Army, and there's a hole. Which brother can come over and help me bandage it up?"
"You should have farted earlier! Go over and take over the machine gun and continue firing." The puppet army company commander ordered a nearby puppet soldier.
"No need to replace it. I didn't, didn't, didn't bring the machine gun. I was injured at the time, and we were running, running in a hurry, so I had to leave it there."
"You..." The puppet army commander was furious. Fortunately, he didn't retreat far this time. He turned his head and said, "What are you waiting for? Go and get the machine guns back for me."
The two puppet soldiers rushed out in panic and retrieved their unfortunate machine gun in the darkness...