The captain of the security forces crouched and ran quickly behind the bushes. Although he was not worried about stray bullets, he instinctively changed his speed, took a few quick steps and slowed down a few steps, and rushed into the machine gun position that had just been exposed.
"Who the hell told you to open fire?"
The assistant gunner turned over, threw down the machine gun magazine in his hand and looked at the captain innocently. The machine gunner took the butt of the gun off his shoulder, spat out a mouthful of ash, and didn't even look at the captain's donkey face: "I'm firing back. Now there are no planes and no artillery. There is no need to rush to move the position after sending two magazines. I, the shooter, am not panicking, why are you panicking?"
The captain was so angry that his face turned blue: "I'm scared! The battalion commander's order is to hide! Attack him by surprise! You sold out the whole plan with just two rounds of bullets! I can kill you right now!"
The machine gunner finally turned around and faced the captain, pretending to think: "Shoot me? For whom? For the Imperial Army?"
The captain was choked by this rhetorical question. He felt the sudden silence around him. Everyone knew the answer, but no one had the courage to say it. Everyone was lost. What else could they do except be alive? Sometimes, for some people, the price of being alive is greater than being dead!
…
Captain Wang looked at the captain running over with a look of surprise on his face, and asked, "What's going on over there?"
"The machine gunner was a rookie, and he got nervous and started firing back."
The captain didn't look up at the battalion commander. He held the straps on his chest tightly with both hands, until his knuckles turned white.
After staring at the company commander for two seconds, Captain Wang was not interested in saying anything more. He turned to his subordinates and said, "We have to adjust our deployment now. We should withdraw the ambush and set up a siege!"
"Captain, there are a lot of Eighth Route Army soldiers, and our troops are not too strong. If they really charge at one side, our brothers will definitely not be able to stop them."
"I don't expect you to surround us. Set up firing points outside the town, but don't lay wires. If the Eighth Route Army wants to charge, let them charge, but they have to pay for the passage. We have to make the wilderness full of corpses for the Imperial Army to see, instead of being like those rubbish that can only serve as bullet shells for the Imperial Army! When they rush out, just stick to them and fight them. Don't forget, we are no longer isolated beggars, they are! It's still early before dark, and look at the spacious surroundings. Can't you afford an hour's battle? How did you survive until now?"
Since the beginning of the fight against the Japanese, there have always been casualties and damage to equipment. The more we fight, the smaller the organization becomes, the fewer people there are, and more deaths than replacements. Now we have become a security force, fully equipped and staffed overnight, with plenty of bullets and grenades, and light machine guns deployed to every platoon.
Precisely because they had been through blood and fire, the Japs hoped that they could become role models for the Coordination Army and attached great importance to them. They even equipped this battalion with a Type 24 water-cooled heavy machine gun. Ordinary security troops did not have this treatment at all, because those guys themselves thought this thing was a burden, and the Japs also knew that those rubbish could not protect this thing at all. The most important thing was that only professional machine gunners could use this big trouble correctly. Perhaps this heavy machine gun would be destroyed by the rubbish before it could be carried to the battlefield.
…
A few security soldiers were lazily smoking in a pit. A Type 24 heavy machine gun was beside them, with its mount detached and a spare bolt placed not far away, which had not been assembled yet.
A security soldier came to the edge of the pit carrying a heavy box, stumbled, and fell directly into the pit. The box behind him immediately broke open, and a large stack of canvas machine gun belts fell out. They were all long 250-round belts.
There was a burst of laughter, because just now a machine gun fired and they no longer observed the military code of silence. It was just a fool carrying ammunition fell down, it was not funny at all, and some people even laughed at such a boring scene.
The second lieutenant heard the noise and jumped into the pit. He carefully looked towards Xinglong Town a few hundred meters away and squatted down again: "What the hell are you doing? Why haven't you set up the warehouse yet!" Then he shouted to the surroundings: "Mancang! Mancang!"
The grass not far away moved, and a security guard without a hat sat up in a daze. The dust and grass all over his body fell off. He twisted his stiff neck towards the second lieutenant, revealing an awkward smile that was young, dirty, and revealing a young, thin security guard who was perhaps only seventeen or eighteen years old.
"Why hasn't it been set up yet?" The second lieutenant was not at all sensitive to that stupid smile and asked anxiously with sweat on his forehead.
"No water."
"Fart again! I saw the puddle when I came over here!"
“No water utensils.”
"you"
"They forgot."
The lazy people in the pit quickly put down their cigarettes and complained: "What does it have to do with us? I said long ago that I can't do this shitty machine gunner! Can someone else lift this broken thing? I say, Mancang, why don't you die? If you die, our regiment's heavy machine gunners will be extinct, and we won't have to suffer this living hell!"
Another one vented: "It's all his fault! He was a nuisance! Of course he's alive!"
Everything was fine before, but when he heard this sentence, Mancang's young face turned pale instantly, and his not-so-strong body plunged into the pit, heading straight towards the person who spoke last.
…
There was a loud rumbling noise and people and horses fell to the ground at the entrance of the alley.
Su Qing rushed to the scene and pulled away the soldiers from the third company in front of him. The burly Luo Fugui was being torn and dragged away by several soldiers from the third company. The soldier who was pinned by the bear suddenly regained his breath, curled up on the ground, holding his neck and gasping for air in pain.
The bear was still in a ferocious state: "You called me a mule? Who do you think you are? Only your grandmother has the right to do so!"
"Shut up!" Su Qing's face was livid and his voice was fierce. At this moment, something like this could actually happen. He couldn't believe that everything in front of him was real. Luo Fugui was indeed not a worry-free person, but this was definitely not his style now. Was he crazy
Xiao Hongying suddenly jumped out from the nearby yard, staring at the scene for a long time with wide eyes. Before Su Qing was about to be fair, she stood in front of Su Qing and said, "Report, I have an emergency to report!"
Su Qing knew clearly that this girl was here to save the situation. The so-called need to report alone was a complete nonsense excuse. She needed a place where no one was around to plead for Luo Fugui. It was useless to say anything in front of the soldiers of the third company. However, Su Qing did not intend to let Luo Fugui off easily, even if Xiao Hongying argued.
With a bang, she leaned against the hospital door, with her braids drooping and her head lowered. In Su Qing's eyes, this was a classic look of a wicked girl. Based on this scene alone, he felt that he shouldn't have followed her into the hospital.
However, the one with the pigtails said softly, "Actually... I'm not feeling well either."
"Because... I want Shi Cheng too."
"Just... imitate the fox and pretend to forget."
Outside the wall, the soldiers of the third company could be heard muttering indignantly: "Isn't this insane... How can there be such people... So selfish and heartless... The top beam is not straight and the bottom beam is crooked... They are no good... They are not worthy of being comrades at all..."
The sun was still shining, but Su Qing didn't feel hot at all. She suddenly felt that everyone was living behind a mask, including herself...