The second attack came, and the puppet army, with a company of troops, still appeared in the southeast of the 9th Company's position. More than a hundred people moved in a large group, wading through the knee-high grass in the sun. From a distance, they looked like a herd of livestock leisurely in the green. Apart from that, it was quiet and windless.
The observation post reported that the enemy was less than a mile away.
This time, no one was nervous at the 9th Company's position, because they had experienced this once before, and the ones who were in the position were the Japanese. The soldiers continued to hide in the foxholes and work in a low profile, each of them sweating profusely and covered in dirt, and the position had already taken shape.
This time, Hu Yi did not lie lazily in Luo Fugui's pit and look at the sky, but appeared at the position closest to the enemy, snatched the telescope from Ma Liang's hand, and pointed it to the southeast.
The puppet army would not come with only one company. Hu Yi frowned even more deeply than before, because the puppet army appeared faster than Hu Yi expected. This should be because the few Japanese devils scattered among the puppet army played an urging role.
"Brother, what do you think?"
"The puppet army should have just arrived, and the main force is resting. This is still not a formal attack."
"If that's the case, three rows of guns at 200 meters might be enough to drive them back!"
Although it was also a tentative attack, the puppet army was not the Japanese, let alone the Japanese cavalry. If they were not fought, they would definitely climb up to the position directly.
"Let them hang around for a while, and bring them closer."
"Within grenade range?"
"Out of grenade range. No machine guns."
…
The process of approaching the enemy was a psychologically tormenting process, especially since the puppet soldiers had only rested for ten minutes after a long march, and their legs were still sore. Every step towards the front position was like pouring lead. In the sun, there was a gentle slope ahead, and the newly turned soil on the slope could be seen, but no guns could be seen.
I couldn't help but start swallowing my saliva, my back was so hunched that it couldn't be any more, my waist was so bent that it couldn't be any more, my palms holding the rifle were full of sweat, and I prayed to God silently: the Eighth Route Army has already escaped, and the position ahead is just a smokescreen to fool the Japanese; isn't it said that the Eighth Route Army can go anywhere, I hope this is true, maybe it is true!
Snap—
A particularly loud shot suddenly broke the vast silence and interrupted the puppet soldiers' prayers. At that moment, two bullets were flying in the air. A Tomosaka rifle bullet flew out of the muzzle of the 44 carbine, flew over a distance of 70 to 80 meters, and rushed directly into the eye socket of the most conspicuous Japanese soldier among the puppet soldiers; a Mauser standard rifle bullet flew out of the muzzle of the Ma Sihuan rifle and also flew towards the most conspicuous Japanese soldier among the puppet soldiers, and hit the Japanese soldier's chest fiercely. The same target was hit by two bullets at the same moment, and before he fell to the ground, he was dead.
Forty or fifty rifles suddenly appeared on the Eighth Route Army's position, and gunfire suddenly broke out; more than a hundred puppet soldiers lay forward in a disorderly manner, firing back in panic, accompanied by a large number of subconscious accidental discharges, resulting in one man being shot in the back.
"Hit me! Hit me hard!"
Amid the sound of gunfire, the voice sounded more like a hysterical cry. The pseudo-company commander, who was at the very back of the attacking team, was lying in the sparse grass more than a foot high and didn't even dare to raise his head, but the order he shouted was very clear.
Screams began to be heard one after another. Some puppet soldiers turned around and tried to crawl back desperately. A Japanese soldier in the rear turned his gun and shouted in bird language, but to no avail. He then shot the puppet soldier who was crawling back, killing him on the spot. Then he pulled the bolt to load the next bullet. There was a crisp metallic sound, and the steel helmet that was not low enough immediately jumped up. Then another bullet hit the Japanese soldier's shoulder, and then another bullet flew over. The Japanese soldier was lying in the grass and no longer twitching. Another bullet whizzed into the soil beside him.
A puppet army machine gun hastily fired half a magazine and then stopped firing. Some broken grass nearby fell to the ground.
…
The gunfire lasted only a few minutes, and the second attack was hastily declared over. The puppet army was defeated, and they fled under the sporadic gunfire. From time to time, the fleeing soldiers fell or were shot, and no one cared. They fled 200 meters in one breath, and the cold gunfire of the Eighth Route Army finally ended. When they retreated to a distance of more than 400 meters, they collapsed in exhaustion and stopped moving. They lost nearly a platoon of troops, and none of the four Japanese soldiers mixed in the company came back.
On the ninth company's position, four soldiers were injured, and one of them was being held down by He Gensheng's bloody hands. He was obviously dying, and his legs were kicking instinctively in a desperate struggle.
Some soldiers watched it all quietly, some soldiers were lying in their foxholes carving lines on their rifle butts, and some soldiers were bragging about their achievements to the people around them. Xiao Hongying threw sand at Tang Dagou, angrily emphasizing her right to fire the first shot! Tang Dagou didn't care about the sand that fell on him at all, and argued that he had accidentally fired the gun!
Luo Fugui was not interested in knowing how many casualties the enemy had suffered, and was indifferent to the voices from the wounded. He just kept glancing at Hu Yi, but Hu Yi's brows never relaxed. So this bear's brows could not be relaxed either, and he instead hugged his Czech light machine gun and looked up at the sky, but the dazzling sunlight was still so high and did not deviate at all.
It was 1:30 in the afternoon and the weather was still fine with no wind or clouds.
…
The pseudo-battalion commander once again came to the cavalry captain who was lying on the grass in the sun, and reported the battle situation hesitantly.
The captain seemed uninterested in listening: "Since your men have rested, it's time to get to work. The Eighth Route Army is right there, so I don't need to teach you how to fight, do I?"
Therefore, the puppet army immediately began to plan a new round of attack. One of the companies that had retreated earlier rested on the spot 400 meters southeast of the Eighth Route Army's position. The three companies that had finished resting, led by the puppet battalion commander, left the temporary cavalry station and moved westward. After reaching the south of the Eighth Route Army's position, two companies were left behind. This time, two companies would attack northward in this direction; the remaining company continued to go west and attack the Eighth Route Army's position from the west as an assist.
One main and one auxiliary pushing from both sides at the same time, it's the most standard way of playing, everyone can do it!
…
"To the south, the enemy is gathering one mile away. One of them is circling to the west, about a company in total!"
The sound did not come from the observation post, but from Ma Liang reporting to Hu Yi. The soldiers fell silent again and could not help but look south. This time the enemy was going to attack seriously, so they checked the status of their guns or counted the bullets consciously.
Hu Yi took the telescope handed over by Ma Liang and observed to the south. Then he turned the camera to the west and observed carefully for two minutes. Suddenly he ordered: "Let the second and third platoons come over here. Chen Chong will monitor the west side."
Originally, the soldiers in the positions had troops evenly distributed in three directions. They began to move. The second row in the north and the third row in the middle all got out of the pits and ran into a row of positions, huddling together. They didn't understand why they were doing this. Even Ma Liang couldn't understand it. He was confused as he looked at the row of positions where the density of troops had suddenly increased.
Hu Yi was not interested in explaining more. The telescope lens was always observing the enemy moving westward. He knew that was the assisting direction. He also knew that when the enemy in the assisting direction reached the position and stopped, it would be time for the attacks from both sides to start simultaneously.
Some people think that there is no skill involved in defending a position, it just requires determination.
In the telescope lens, the enemy's assisting company finally stopped in the west direction, so Hu Yi turned the lens to the south again. More than 500 meters away, two puppet army companies had slowly spread out and began to move forward.
"Fire!"
"… "
"I said fire now! All of the ninth company, including all machine guns!"
Five hundred meters away, it was impossible to aim at the target clearly, but the company commander, who was holding the telescope tightly, repeatedly emphasized the order to fire. The soldiers who were glaring at each other finally came to their senses and, rarely seen, adjusted the sights of their rifles to long-range, mounted the rifles and took aim.
"Brother, what are you doing..."
"We need to make the enemies in the main attack direction crawl slowly. Go tell Chen Chong not to attack the enemies in the west, and keep them as close as possible."
Ma Liang finally understood a little. The speed of the enemies in the main attack direction slowed down, but the speed in the assisting direction did not decrease. This coordinated attack in two directions would evolve into two attacks in succession, with no coordination at all.
…