The Ninth Row left, leaving behind the smell of burning corpses and the blood all over the village, and headed eastward, facing the rising sun.
This was the longest distance march since the 9th Platoon was established. They initially left the wine station, passed Qingshan Village, and headed north into the barren mountains. Later, they met the people led by Secretary Qin who were leading the Japanese far to the northwest. Because there was a traitor among the people protected by Captain Wang, they ran northeast to Niujia Village, and then turned northwest to attack the Japanese transit point. They had already left the territory of Meixian County. Before the mopping-up operation, this was the core area of the friendly army in the north.
There is currently a vacuum zone between the mopping-up line and the blockade line. If we can cross the blockade line to the east and enter the enemy-occupied area, we will be in a good position. Most of the troops have been transferred to the west. Of course, the farther we go in the opposite direction, the safer it is, and the same applies to the enemy-occupied area. After crossing the blockade line, we turn south. Hu Yi judged that he would be in the northern part of Meixian County, Luoye Village, in two days. Even if he could not return to the wine station for a while, he would be home.
There was only one obstacle left for the Ninth Platoon, which was the blockade line in the east. If they couldn't get through, the Ninth Platoon would have to attack the artillery tower again. Even so, it was worth it. No matter how difficult it was to attack the artillery tower, it was better than being crushed to death by the Japanese in the west. It was still too early to consider what the artillery tower would be like, but Hu Yi couldn't help thinking about it. It would definitely be difficult. This was completely different from the preparations made in advance to attack the Lushuipu artillery tower at the doorstep. There was not much time, no advance preparation, and no specific situation. If things went wrong, they would have to fight hard. It was worrying!
This time, two marching medicine boxes were seized in the village, as well as some medicines, simple equipment, and a large number of bandages. All the canned food was distributed to the soldiers this morning, and not a single box was kept. This was because everyone had been living in the barren mountains for several days and the march behind enemy lines was long, so only by eating well could they be energetic. Finally, there was also Hu Yi's inner worry.
In addition, there were eight Type 38 rifles with bayonets, three Nambu pistols, a dozen Hanyang rifles, and some equipment, clothes and shoes, all of which were put together in sacks and buried at a location chosen during the march. A mark was added on Hu Yi's map, and only the bullets, grenades and some bandages and medicines were taken away.
Liu Jianqiang's second squad could have taken this opportunity to change to Type 38 rifles, but Hu Yi did not make any arrangements this time. During the incident in Xiaojing Village, the platoon leader had a private conversation with Liu Jianqiang, and the Type 38 rifles were not distributed to the second squad. Did he think that? The platoon leader did so because Liu Jianqiang got the compass. This time he did not allow them to change and buried eight Type 38 rifles together, which made the second squad feel aggrieved. However, Liu Jianqiang, the second squad leader who always dared to stand up, was very calm and said nothing. Naturally, no one made any noise again.
They were dressed like puppet soldiers, and were walking on the main road. The team was scattered, with three mule carts carrying grain in between. One of them was a special cart according to convention. A man with pigtails was sleeping behind the grain pile, and a man with wide eyebrows and narrow eyes was lying in front of the grain pile, frowning and looking up at the sky. A bear was following nearby, sitting on the shaft from time to time, and talking nonsense with a smile.
"Shi Cheng, you lead people to kill Japanese soldiers every day. What if something goes wrong? I think you really don't mind having too many Japanese soldiers!"
Ma Liang said, "Watch your words! Don't you see what you are doing now? Did you just say the Imperial Army? If you keep talking nonsense, I will kill you on behalf of the Imperial Army!"
"Damn it, you are a perfect candidate for being a traitor. This guy asked you to wear this little piece of clothing, but you are licked by a dog!" Wuliang Xiong said to Ma Liang, and he couldn't help but look back at the second squad leader not far behind him. He burst into laughter and said, "I am confused. Why are all the clothes the same color on Runny Nose? Which group does he belong to? What's the difference between wearing clothes or not? He can't even tell the enemy from us. This is considered a skill, right? Huh? How many people do you think will step on him if he falls?"
Then a piece of dirt flew fiercely from behind and hit the unscrupulous bear so hard that he fell off the car on the spot, and there was laughter all around.
Shi Cheng hurried forward a few steps, and with a small jump, he sat on the shaft where Luo Fugui had just sat. He tilted his head and saw that Hu Yi was not sleeping, so he said, "Platoon leader, I want to ask you something."
"explain."
"Zhao Jieba's machine gun... How should I use it in battle?"
Shi Cheng's squad now has machine guns, and their firepower has been unprecedentedly enhanced. However, he has no experience in how to deploy these machine guns in combat, so he has to run to Hu Yi for help.
In the past, the ninth platoon only had one machine gun in Mule's hand, and they all existed as a separate firepower group beside Hu Yi. Now that Shi Cheng asked this question, some people became curious. Ma Liang ran a few steps to follow Hu Yi's car and waited for the answer; Liu Jianqiang saw that Ma Liang was also listening, so he couldn't hold back and hurried forward, fearing that Ma Liang had learned more than him, and whether he was interested or not, he couldn't listen to a word less than Ma Liang.
Chen Chong was not far ahead, and he heard Shi Cheng's question. He had not participated in many battles with the 9th Platoon, but he found that each squad of the 9th Platoon seemed to have its own rules in battle, which was different from other companies. He always felt that he was an outsider and was embarrassed to ask for advice, so he just tried to figure it out secretly. When Ma Liang said that Platoon Leader Hu Yi had fought countless battles with the Japanese in the past and was not comparable to ordinary people, Chen Chong was reluctant to believe it and thought that Ma Liang was bragging.
Although he was not an operator of a machine gun, there was nothing much to say about the question raised by Shi Cheng. As for machine guns, they just needed to be set up for cover. It was just a squad, how could any other arrangements be made? Even the old company commander Wang Peng would have said so. Isn't that how everyone fought
Hu Yi sat up from the grain pile. He didn't expect Shi Cheng to come to him and ask him this question. In fact, even if Shi Cheng didn't ask, he planned to give him some advice later. Now Ma Liang and Runny Nose were both beside the car and followed. The three main squad leaders of the ninth platoon were all there, only the unscrupulous bear who didn't want to make progress ran to the grain car behind to get a seat. It seemed that they could give the three of them a small lesson.
Looking at the road ahead, he thought seriously and spoke solemnly: "If you want to know how to arrange machine guns, you must first understand infantry squad tactics. In fact, machine guns... are part of the infantry squad, but we are poor and don't have that many machine guns. Now... I can tell you about the Japanese infantry squad tactics. In fact, you have all experienced it. If you know how they fight, you will naturally know how you should fight, or how to respond. Tactics are not dead.
In simple terms, the tactics of the infantry squad is to suppress the enemy with machine gun fire first, then the infantry will move forward and use grenades and other means to drive the enemy out of the bunker, and then the machine gun will shoot the enemy who has escaped from the bunker. The Japanese's fighting style emphasizes the joint killing of rifles and machine guns, and they are more focused on rifles for two reasons. One is to save ammunition and reduce dependence on machine guns. The other is that their rifles are accurate, while their Type 99 rifles are really useless.
Let me tell you about the offensive tactics of the Japanese infantry squad. The Japanese advocate offense and place great emphasis on the speed and method of engaging the enemy while on the move. Most squad tactics start from a certain offensive starting point between 600 meters and 400 meters from the enemy. The infantry squad assembles at the starting point, divides into groups, replenishes ammunition, determines the direction of attack, observes the terrain and objects that can be used, determines the cover points of each group during the advance, and other tactical essentials.
Next, the troops were divided into groups and, after waiting for the machine gun group to enter the first firing position, they immediately moved to the first set cover point. After reaching the first point, they launched fire to kill the enemy while covering the machine gun group's follow-up maneuvers. After the machine gun group arrived, they began to suppress the enemy again while covering the infantry groups' forward movement, and the cycle continued.
The infantry squad will stop when they advance to 200 meters from the enemy. At this distance, the squad will launch firepower to eliminate exposed enemy targets and firepower points and attack the enemy's concentrated areas. Remember, if the Japanese start using smoke bombs at this distance, it is not for concealment, but to guide the heavy machine guns and artillery! If it is at night, they will use tracer bullets to achieve rough guidance.
If the Japs had artillery, they would usually launch two rounds of artillery attacks at this time. The first round was a comprehensive attack, covering the entire target position, with the purpose of destroying the firepower; the second round of artillery fire would focus on one side, with the purpose of causing the defenders to be unevenly deployed and forced to maneuver for support, thereby maximizing the killing of the defenders in maneuver and preparing for the final attack. This trick alone has caused us to fill up the defenses time and time again, fill them up, then collapse, then start to retreat, and then never stop, or die. "
At this point, Hu Yi seemed a little absent-minded, as if he could not feel the bumps of the grain cart. He stared quietly at the distant horizon, forgetting the quiet listening around him.
No one spoke up to remind him that he was distracted and off topic, although they were all waiting to continue listening.
After a while, Hu Yi realized the silence around him and sighed: "At the end of the artillery fire preparation, the infantry squad put on bayonets and crawled forward; after the artillery fire stopped, the machine guns began to suppress fire to cover the attacking infantry; after the infantry crawled to a distance of 100 meters from the target position, they started to charge."
Hu Yi didn't expect to end up going off topic, but he didn't want to say any more, so he turned to Shi Cheng and said, "Tactics are not static, they must be changed according to the situation you see. If you understand the enemy's tactics, you will naturally know how to arrange and fight, as long as you are not required to be on the battlefield."
The mule pulling the cart suddenly snorted, and Chen Chong, awakened from his thoughts, realized that he had slowed down enough to catch up with Hu Yi in the mule cart. The fishy smell from the mule's nostrils sprayed on his ears and wet a part of his shoulder.
Chen Chong benefited a lot from the class, and there are still many questions to be digested. The grenade launcher is painful enough, what would it feel like to be bombarded? Unfortunately, I have never experienced it, not even the mortar. Listening to what the platoon leader said, not only did I gain knowledge, but I also had a different feeling. What is that feeling... I can't explain it.
Three cars, a team of fifty-one people, gradually disappeared at the end of the road, and disappeared in the east...