Although Captain Maeda was the commander of the military police, he also understood military affairs. However, his job habits determined that he was a cautious and conservative devil. He did not want the devil to suffer too many casualties. Of course, the security forces were not within his consideration. Battalion Commander Wang was willing to be the vanguard, and Maeda was very happy. He ordered Battalion Commander Wang's troops to attack the town from the west side of Xinglong Town. Because it was afternoon, of course they chose the west side; the Uesugi Squadron set up a blockade position outside the town to prevent the Eighth Route Army from escaping, and at the same time sent trucks back to the county to ask for reinforcements.
The battle began again, and the attackers and defenders switched positions.
There was no resistance from the Eighth Route Army on the periphery, as they were abandoned by the Eighth Route Army. The entire battalion successfully advanced into the town. One company headed straight for the main street in the town, while the other two companies were spread out on the left and right, hiding between the roofs, advancing in parallel, and carefully expanding the scope of control.
Gunshots rang out, and then gunshots rang out again, eventually interweaving into one, becoming more and more frequent and urgent. The dust raised by the grenades also began to rise, blurring and fluctuating in Captain Maeda's telescope.
…
In a private house in the town, children and the elderly were huddled in the corner, shivering. A policeman was guarding the window, his gun pointed at the yard and he was sweating. There was also a policeman guarding the door. Because his right hand was sweaty, he switched the gun to his left hand and leaned against the door frame to listen to the intense noise outside.
"They broke in? Are they the Imperial Army?"
With a slightly trembling voice and excitement, the policeman sitting at the table stood up suddenly with a revolver in his hand. He was none other than the stupid police captain who claimed to be kind. He was so excited that his chest heaved and his eyes sparkled.
"Something's happening!" The policeman at the window suddenly shouted, while raising his gun and aiming at the courtyard wall.
Splash, splash
A figure fell from the wall into the yard, falling on his back, with dust and dirt all over his body. The policeman guarding the window did not shoot into the yard, because it was obviously a petite girl, who was crawling up with her teeth bared. She rushed to the door regardless of the pain and began to pound on it fiercely: "Second Aunt! Second Aunt, open the door! My house is occupied by the Eighth Route Army! Second Aunt..."
The policeman guarding the door suddenly opened it, and the girl lost her balance and fell into the room.
"Shut up! If you keep making a fuss I'll kill you right now!"
The gun was pointed at the girl, and she was so scared that she dared not blink her tearful eyes, so she put the gun down again: "Get out of the way!" The policeman guarding the door closed the door again and leaned against the door frame holding the gun and continued to work nervously.
The woman huddled in the corner murmured subconsciously: "Who... are you?"
Then the woman's pupils began to dilate infinitely, and she could no longer close her mouth, because the dirty girl in front of her was pulling out a pistol. The pistol was much larger than the box, and as eerie as her tearful face that suddenly turned hideous.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang... The sound of rapid firing from a large-caliber pistol shook the room. A blood mist instantly spread over the dark walls. The policeman by the door frame was still slowly sliding down, but his body had become a corpse. The policeman by the window had lost the back of his head, and the entire window was splattered with bloody red dots like a painted plum. The kind-hearted idiot captain looked down at the bloody hole in his chest and rolled his eyes. He slowly fell backwards, knocking over a chair and a table, and lay in a pool of his own blood.
The child finally cried, and the woman finally screamed. The old man who was holding the child and blocking the woman finally understood, and he turned around and shouted at the woman: "Shut up! Why don't you acknowledge our eldest niece!"
She fired six shots in one breath, with the last round in the chamber. She still didn't put down the muzzle of the gun, and kept moving it over the three bodies. Then the door suddenly opened, and a cold-faced, narrow-eyed man walked in. He quickly scanned the environment in the house, and finally glared at the girl: "Why did you act without permission?"
"As I passed through the crack in the door, I saw the muzzle of a gun in the window."
Then another big, dumb guy came in, looking at the bloody wall and muttering, "We are the last two of us! We can't cooperate with you! You are really not cut out for this!"
The girl curled her lips: "At least we have bullets again now."
Three minutes later, the four-member group was moving in the scattered alleys again, two in front and two behind. In front were Hu Yi and Ma Liang, and behind were Luo Fugui and Xiao Hongying. They twisted and turned like four mice, sliding towards the west along the wall.
What could four people do on a battlefield that was in chaos? Nothing. The soldiers of the third company all thought that Hu Yi had run away with his three soldiers, but there was no reason to say that they were deserters, because this was not an order from the superiors, and the ninth company certainly had no obligation to be tied to the third company, and the third company did not need these four people.
Hu Yi asked Ma Liang to follow him in front because they were both still wearing black leather uniforms, so if anything unexpected happened, they would still have room for maneuver; Hu Yi chose to go west because the enemy attacked from the west, and the gunshots proved that it was still the security army. Without the Japs, the four people really could not do anything, but a heavy machine gun could do so many things.
Judging from the situation, the heavy machine gun would not be placed outside the town as a decoration, and must have entered the town. No matter who the machine gunner was, the rules were the same as Hu Yi's, so Hu Yi knew where the heavy machine gun would eventually appear, so he had to take advantage of the chaos when no fixed battle line was formed and get as close to the hunting location as possible.
Among the bricks and tiles, Hu Yi is a fox, a fox that died. He knows that he is not doing this for the Third Company, he is just obsessed, the sound of the Tingmin 24-type heavy machine gun has obsessed him. Even now, when he heard the first sound, his bones were itchy, and now his heart is like taking the risk to meet Zhou Wanping.
…
Although the Third Company has no experience, the defensive position and the brick and tile environment provide them with the greatest protection. Through Su Qing, they also know their current tactical objectives, so they will be firm and tenacious to the end.
Precisely because Wang's battalion had experience, they did not dare to advance too quickly, and tried to move forward steadily. This did not include Battalion Commander Wang, who hoped for a quick victory and gave orders in the same way. However, his subordinates pretended to obey his orders but did not work hard. These inexperienced soldiers always had difficulties to make excuses. Everyone was afraid of street fighting, and keeping an eye on all directions and listening in all directions might not be effective.
The battle in the southwest area of Xinglong Town was in a stalemate. The first part of the Eighth Route Army was holding on to several small areas and refused to retreat. The situation in the northwest area was similar. The battle line had become jagged. Batches of wounded soldiers began to be carried back, screaming and wailing.
The company commander who was commanding the central route to advance eastward was being hit on the head and scolded by Battalion Commander Wang: "The left side said that the brothers were unwilling to use grenades, and the right side said that the terrain was too complicated and they couldn't go any further. You who were crawling along the street also think you can't attack? Huh? I'll give you another half an hour. If you can't take the central intersection, I'll take your head!"
A second lieutenant of the security army was crouching and running hurriedly westward on the side of the street. He was constantly fired at, forcing him to crawl from time to time and find nearby steps and ditches for cover. The end of the long street behind him was the central street intersection. Several two-story buildings surrounding the intersection had become the stronghold of the Eighth Route Army. A Type 99 light machine gun was also there, firing short bursts at exposed targets on the street from changing windows from time to time.
The lieutenant crawled to an open shop on the street, rolled into the door in a panic, and immediately shouted: "Mancang! Why don't you cover me! Get the hell out of here!"
The 24-caliber heavy machine gun was placed just inside the door of the shop. Four security guards leaned against the wall with their hats tilted to one side and smoked. There was a loud rustling sound, and Mancang lifted the door curtain and came out from the room at the back, still chewing the cake he had found. He answered slowly and vaguely, "No water."
"You fucking..."
"The water tank in the back kitchen is empty. I just searched it. It's not my fault."
The second lieutenant was furious: "Are you going to hang yourself on a tree? Are there so many houses nearby with no water?"
"Then... I'll go out and look for it."
"Come back!" The second lieutenant hurriedly stopped Mancang who was about to leave, and raised his hand to point at the people who were smoking: "You go! I'll give you a quarter of an hour, and the heavy machine guns must fire! Otherwise, don't blame me for being rude!"
A few people threw down their cigarette butts and stood up dejectedly. The second lieutenant glared at Mancang fiercely, crouched down and ran out of the door.
The torn door curtain was lifted, and another person came out from the back room, with his hat tilted and his gun not on his back. He walked around the heavy machine gun and came to the door of the shop to take a quick look outside. Then he sat lazily on the ground leaning against the door frame, muttering to himself: "Fate! No one can escape fate! I've had enough!"
Mancang went to the other side of the door and sat down against the wall, staring blankly at the street outside, watching stray bullets occasionally hit the ground nearby or the tiles across the street. Suddenly he asked, "Brother Qiu, can the Eighth Route Army really beat the Japs? With this kind of firepower, why don't I believe it!"
Suddenly there was a noise, and the door curtain of the back room was lifted again. A security soldier was holding the door curtain stupidly without moving, with an empty bucket in his hand.
"You're back so soon?" Mancang looked at the man carrying the bucket under the curtain at the back door, puzzled. "Are you talking?"
Brother Qiu on the other side stared blankly for a few seconds, then suddenly raised his hands and whispered to Mancang: "Don't move! Don't move!"
The bucket fell to the ground with a bang, and the security soldier under the door curtain fell down limply, but the door curtain did not fall down, because there was a man standing behind him, dressed in black with dust on his face, with broad eyebrows and narrow eyes, and an expressionless face. He held a revolver in his right hand and a bayonet that he had just pulled out in his left hand, and blood was dripping down the blood trough.
Mancang was stunned.
Brother Qiu, who raised his hands, turned from shock to stupor, and stammered subconsciously: "Hu... Sir."
The black-clothed man behind the door curtain followed the sound, his expressionless face actually revealed a dull look: "Half-immortal?"
…