With gunshots and smoke rising, the battle to liberate Xinglong Town officially began.
On the northern front, Hao Ping was covered in battlefield dust, with one foot in the ditch and the other foot leaning forward on the edge of the ditch, looking forward with his hands on the pergola. He had not yet gotten a telescope, but that did not stop him from being full of fighting spirit. After this battle, the Third Company would be pushed to a new peak in terms of equipment, morale, and political significance. It would be reborn and proud of itself. The Third Company would become a giant of the independent regiment!
There were more than 300 soldiers, who were divided into three parts by Hao, and they launched an attack on Xinglong Town from the north, south and west at the same time. The main purpose of this arrangement was to prevent the security forces from escaping in vain and to obtain equipment from the enemy.
All the soldiers were full of fighting spirit, outnumbered, and prepared against unprepared. Although they were nervous, victory was foreseeable, so they were not nervous to the extreme, especially... Each squad leader had "combat experience" because Hao Ping eventually split up the soldiers who had participated in the "Wine Station Battle" and distributed the tasks. He was the tallest among the short ones, and experience was still experience, which was better than having a pure rookie as a squad leader.
On the southern front, the battle was also progressing smoothly.
"Squad leader, I... want to pee."
"What a bear! Are you trembling at such a small situation?"
"This... is still young?"
"Thinking back, the ones I fought with the 29th Company were the Japs! The Japs' small artillery fired and the sand kept falling from the sky. They flattened the wine station. The dirt on my back was so thick that I couldn't even get up, but we still managed to drive the Japs away! What's happening right now is nothing!"
"So... you were lying there until the battle was over?"
"I... I was... I didn't have a gun at the time! You're the only one who talks too much!"
Suddenly, a soldier nearby shouted, "Instructor, the seventh platoon is about to enter the town!"
Then, the instructor of the third company suddenly jumped out from a grass pit, his glasses shining, and he waved his gun high in an impassioned manner: "Comrades! Liberate Xinglong Town! Follow me!"
There was a great chaos. The eighth and ninth platoons, who were in charge of covering the shooting, ran up hastily and hurriedly chased the seventh platoon in front. The roar of killing was as spectacular as the sound of thunder and the sea.
Charges were launched in three directions. However, Hao Ping, who was on the northern front, did not get excited. He still stood in his grass pit, quietly looking at Xinglong Town in front of him and the uneven backs of the soldiers as they advanced. Later, he turned his gaze to the east, where the enemy had also retreated into the town.
The enemy was indeed unable to stop fighting and began to disintegrate as soon as the gunfire sounded. However, they did not flee to the east, which made Hao Ping confused. Wasn't the gap obvious enough
The estimated battle time would have to be extended because of this. How long would it take for a company of security forces to completely clear out the town? It was hard to say. But the battle had already begun, and Hao Ping didn't want to turn back. Even if he couldn't achieve the goal of occupying the town for an hour, he had to fight. There was at least more than an hour left.
All of Hao Ping's judgments were based on the enemy reinforcements coming from the county town. He didn't know that there was a new military camp to the east of Xinglong Town, with a battalion of soldiers, which was the part of Wang Tuan who surrendered on the battlefield. The military camp was not set up in the town because it had just surrendered. The commander Wang, now the battalion commander Wang, was tactful and kept a low profile. He led his men to build barracks and open up land every day to adapt to the situation. He had no time to enter the city to disturb the people, so even the people of Xinglong Town hardly knew that there was such a team to the east of them; the public security army was defeated but not fled, and they were counting on them.
…
"It's the Eighth Route Army... The Eighth Route Army is invading!"
The panic shouting was not close but clear, and more powerful than the gunshots and grenade explosions. Some people were stunned and some felt weak in the knees after hearing it. The adults stopped shouting and the children stopped crying. The streets were full of security forces who had rushed into the town and were running around like headless flies. Xinglong Town, which had just been depressed due to banditry, was suddenly full of life.
The Eighth Route Army is here, what are the Rangers? Screw them all! The end of the world is here!
Five figures separated into a long line in the alley and ran away quickly. The first one was a dog in black, the second one was a simpleton, the third one was a man with braids, the fourth one was a woman in cheongsam, and the last one was also a dog in black, running and looking back.
The street ahead was getting closer and closer, and brighter and brighter. Suddenly, a group of security forces flashed by, forcing Hu Yi to stop in a hurry. He instinctively wanted to raise his gun, but then he remembered that the chamber was empty.
A captain of the security army turned his head inadvertently when passing the street corner, and finally saw the man with a gun in the alley. He also stopped, raised his gun and pointed it into the alley with a furious look on his face: "Run? Run your mother! You are not a human being, but you have a family with you! Don't dream! The Eighth Route Army has surrounded the town! They are coming in! Why don't you gather all you cowards and fight the Eighth Route Army? We only have to hold on for half an hour, do you understand? Useless dogs!"
He thought Hu Yi was a black dog, and Hu Yi was indeed a black dog. He was scolded by the captain of the security army who waved his gun at him and was confused. He could not be sure what was happening just by the noisy gunshots and panic shouting around him. Now there was a captain of the security army who told him the pros and cons in person, it seemed that everything was true.
The security forces passed by in a hurry. The captain was shouting and commanding people in the street to prepare for a street fight. The five people in the alley gasped for a while and said, "Let's do it here!" Hu Yi suddenly said.
Luo Fugui looked around and violently slammed open the nearest broken door. Ma Liang immediately rushed in and quickly searched the broken courtyard and two dilapidated houses: "No one. No water. There is a small window at the back. Behind the window is another alley." He instinctively whispered to Hu Yi who came into the courtyard.
"How is this possible? Are they really ours? How is it possible... could they be from the Third Company?" Su Qing sat on a pile of garbage as soon as he entered the room. He was too exhausted to care about anything else.
Xiao Hongying was the last one to flash in. After closing the broken door, she leaned against the door, not putting away the big-eyed gun in her hand. She stood guard at the door, looking up at the sky, and listening to the noise around her: "Impossible! Even if Hao Ping had eight guts, he wouldn't dare!"
"Who else could it be... Could it be Erlian?"
With a whoosh, Luo Fugui rested on the spot at the corner of the courtyard wall, threw away his empty pistol with a flick of his hand, grinned and said weakly: "Gao Yidao is indeed a psychopath, but he is not stupid, right?"
Following Ma Liang, Hu Yi walked around the dilapidated courtyard and house again, and finally stopped at the door of the house. He looked up at the afternoon sun and was dazzled by it. "The third company, the third company is here."
"Three consecutive?"
Ma Liang then added: "The third company is the closest to here. From the sound of gunfire coming from the north, west and south, it seems that only the third company can do this if they are really our people. Unless the whole regiment comes."
Hu Yi lowered his head against the sunlight, thought for a moment, and then said, "The third company is in trouble."
"Trouble? They can break in, right?" This was the only thing Luo Fugui cared about.
Hu Yi continued to mutter absentmindedly: "How could the reinforcements from the county town arrive in half an hour?"
…