Chapter 14 Chapter 10 On and Under the Embankment of Shigong Temple

Staff Officer Li and Company Commander Zhang discussed and considered the terrain here, and felt that the small river in front of him came from north to south, and when it arrived here, it just turned a corner and turned slightly westward.There is a large part of the embankment, facing south from north.Immediately, they rushed to dig a machine gun bunker on the south corner of the embankment.There are two crooked old willow trees just in front of the bunker, which are quite concealed.This embankment controls two pedestrian roads, one is the main road along the embankment corner to Xinmin Bridge, and the other is a small road in a vertical line to the Tongluo intersection of Tianjing Port.So Zhang Lianchang was ordered to take the seventh company to guard the angle of the turn of the embankment, while the ninth company was still hiding behind the embankment, facing east to monitor.With such an arrangement, within thirty minutes everything had stopped, and the sound of enemy cannons coming along Majiapu had turned to the south, and they were indeed rushing towards Guanyin Temple. The white smoke from the cannons was exactly at That aspect goes up.Company Commander Zhang was standing at the southeast corner of the embankment. He had a telephone. He wanted to make a call to the battalion headquarters, but the telephone line was still two miles away. Should he go or not? A messenger came to report that the enemy had been found on the short embankment to the east and was ready to contact.Company Commander Zhang did not leave now. He climbed up, lay down under a cut willow tree, and stared forward. This place can be seen from the southeast. Sure enough, there were forty or fifty enemies on the plain there. They climbed over the short embankment.

The enemy saw a long embankment crossing the road in front of them, and they were quite vigilant. They dispersed their team, went down the path, formed a vertical line in the rice field, and pressed towards the embankment.Behind the longitudinal line, at the foot of the short embankment, two mortars fired on this embankment to cover the enemy's advance.This machine gun bunker was located on the low side of the embankment, so the enemy did not find it. The brothers hid under the embankment. Outside the shooting angle, everyone was very calm.Staff Officer Li and the deputy squad leader both lay down near the machine gun bunker, staring at a group of scattered enemies on the other side of the rice field without moving.The enemy's mortars shot white smoke in front of them, and they fired ten or twenty shots.Seeing that there was no reaction from this side, they stopped firing.The enemy infantry in the paddy field, like a group of wolves looking for food, moved figures on the field, reaching a distance of 300 meters.That piece of terrain happened to protrude, and it was a good opportunity to shoot.Our machine gunners crouched in cover, all nervous.The two eyeballs are almost staring so hard that they protrude from the eye sockets, and the machine gun is held, just waiting for an order.

At this time, the deputy squad leader made a gesture, suddenly! suddenly! suddenly! A burst of bullets flew out from the muzzle of the gun, and seven or eight enemies in front of him fell down in the field.The rest who hadn't fallen quickly fell down.How could this machine gun be willing to let go? Turning the muzzle slightly, it fired again.The enemy's mortars there concentrated their firepower, spraying smoke in four or five places, and bombarded the machine gun bunkers together.It turned out that after the Ninth Company arrived, it had already dug two temporary machine gun bunkers at a considerable distance. Two or three minutes before the mortar bombardment, it had quickly moved its machine guns to a machine gun bunker to the north.Fortunately, this long embankment was higher than Duoduo's body, and the troops were moving behind the embankment, and the enemy could not shoot to stop them.

After the machine guns were placed, the enemies exposed under the embankment quickly moved back into the low fields. From the angle of inclination, it could be seen that the enemies were densely packed, lying down under the cover of the high ground.This is another good opportunity to shoot, chug! chug! chug! There was a loud noise, and it hit several of them again.In this way, the enemy retreated to a lower place, and did not do anything except bombard them with mortars.After a stalemate lasted about an hour, Company Commander Zhang sent two messengers to report to Staff Officer Li. He climbed to the top of a big willow tree to visit and found a group of enemies coming for reinforcements on the southern path.

Staff Officer Li immediately ran to the place where the dike turned.Company Commander Zhang slid down the tree and stopped to meet him, saying: "I'm afraid there are many follow-up troops for the enemy in this area. We should change our tactics and give him a warning before we can withstand it." Staff Officer Li said: "How do you give him a warning? Company Commander Zhang said: "I advocate not letting the enemy know where our machine guns are, and just let him move forward. Below this embankment, the fields are flat, there are no lowlands to the east, and there are several ponds behind the road. When they came over, it was very difficult to move. At that time, they used machine guns to shoot first, and then charged." Staff officer Li bent down and took two steps, hid under the big willow tree pocket, and looked in front of him.Sure enough, outside the sidewalk parallel to the embankment, the soil in the paddy field is only half dry and wet, and all the ridges of the field can't hide the overlooking view here.One or two miles away, there are two or three large ponds, like a small lake, and a stone path for pedestrians, which circles the water a few times and goes here.Then he turned around and said: "Zhang Lianchang, your decision is good, but you have been fighting here at Niubitan..." Zhang Lianchang didn't wait for him to finish, and said: "No problem, our brothers don't feel tired at all." Staff Officer Li saw that his face was red, and his will to fight was reflected in his heart, so he stopped thinking about it.When the mortars over there stopped for a certain period, they fired again and again, clatter clatter clatter, boom! The air was bursting with spontaneous fire again and again.Staff Officer Li told the deputy squad leader who was acting as the company commander over there, just deal with it calmly, and don't pay attention to him when the enemy infantry moves.

At the same time, two enemy planes flew from the southeast corner along the inland river behind the embankment, circling incessantly, under the sound of rumbling motors, machine guns blared.Because there are sparse tall willow trees on the embankment on the west bank, it is afraid of bumping into a tree, so it can't fly as low as it usually does on the ground.Although it fired seventy or eighty times, it did not cause any loss to the troops because of the dikes on both sides and the river bank in the middle.This also shows that the enemy has more intentions, so we should pay more attention to the enemy on the south side.In about twenty or thirty minutes, the enemy on that road has been found on that road.They seemed to be attacking intentionally. They didn't use cannons or guns. They just quietly rushed over along the road with guns.Company Commander Zhang had fully deployed his troops, and transferred his men to wait behind a slope along the embankment.Look at the hundred or so enemy troops, who are already approaching the sidewalk under the embankment.He made a gesture, and immediately aimed the machine gun at the enemy's densely populated place, and fired a burst of fire, releasing a hundred puffs of smoke on the embankment.This was beyond the enemy's expectation, and they lay down in the embankment in a panic.Company Commander Zhang said to charge, and the buglers blew the charge horn under the embankment.Zhang Lianchang took the lead alone, leading the Quanlian brothers, rushing straight down the slope of the embankment.

After the machine gun fire, the enemy panicked and felt that they could not find a better foothold.And facing this long embankment is a cramped upward attack, there is nothing to gain.At this time, the charge horn sounded, and they didn't dare to fight in the muddy field, so they immediately turned around and retreated, and ran away.Naturally, what they meant was to find a sheltered position in a hurry.How could Company Commander Zhang agree to their request here? He was the first one, picked a few brothers who were good at throwing bombs, followed closely, and ran to the sidewalk.A small part of the enemy was on the stone pavement, and most of them had already stepped into the mud field in a panic. Company Commander Zhang first raised his hand and threw a grenade on the pavement. With a bang, four or five people responded in the smoke. fall.The rest of the soldiers who rushed forward were all thrown towards the place where the enemy was densely populated.For a moment, fire smoke and mud splashed and rushed to the sidewalk.The other soldiers have raised their guns and fired at close range.The enemy originally wanted to establish a position here, and then meet them on the embankment.Looking at the situation, it was impossible, so he continued to retreat.Zhang Lianchang didn't dare to follow because he had too few people, so he still came back to the embankment.The enemy in the east also made a corresponding move when the enemy in the south charged forward.The machine guns of the Ninth Company on the embankment fired fiercely at the shadows of the enemies on the ground, and the bullets rained down like green smoke, making them unable to lift their heads.As soon as the South Charge horn sounded, they suspected that this side would also charge, so they shrank and did not dare to move.The enemy in the south retreated, and they dared not move.

When Lianchang Zhang returned to the embankment, Staff Officer Li was very happy. He shook his hand, shook it again and again, and said with a smile: "This is a good battle, this is a good battle! Anyway, from Shigong Temple to Xinmin Bridge On the front line, we have already suppressed the enemy. The chief of staff is very concerned about the situation in this regard, and he should give him a report. I took the phone and went to the back to make a call. I think before dusk, here The enemy will not move." Company Commander Zhang Fengge also agreed with him, so Staff Officer Li asked Zhou Taifu, an orderly, to carry a telephone on his back, cross the small river, follow the path, and walk towards Xinmin Bridge.

After walking for three or four miles, he had already encountered a telephone wire. Zhou Taifu climbed up the telephone pole and connected the wire.Finally, it went smoothly. The wires leading to the city here were not damaged.After ringing the bell, the switchboard connected me to the teacher's office.At that time, the division headquarters dispatched troops for 24 hours, and there was no spare minute.Yu Chengwan, the division commander, has already finished his fixed work. He is sitting or lying on the bed. On the right wall is a map of Changde with a scale of 1/50,000.On the small table on the left, there is a telephone. He often listens with the receiver in his hand, and his eyes are fixed on the map.He followed Staff Li's phone call and asked, "How is the situation now?" Staff Li reported the battle in detail.When Yu Chengwan was sitting obediently, he stood up suddenly and said excitedly: "Very well, you tell Company Commander Zhang, I will reward him with two thousand yuan first. I will also send a telegram to the Commander. I hope you and Commander Meng This line has been stabilized. Hefu Mountain in the west is also fighting very well, so you can rest assured. Finally, I hope you pay attention to the information on Deshan. It can concentrate power. It is also quite convenient for us.”

Staff Officer Li agreed and said that there would be a call to report at any time in the future. Yu Chengwan gave a few more instructions and hung up the phone.While Commander Yu was on the phone, in the same room, Commander Zhou Yizhong was also on the phone with Commander Yuan Ziqiang of the Battalion Headquarters of Qishan Temple on the Hefu Mountain side.After finishing speaking, he reported to the division commander: "The situation over there is still very good. Up to now, the enemy's situation and the invading enemy we know can be divided into three routes: the first one is from Gangshi who invaded Huangtu Mountain. The vanguard of the 116th Division. All the way from the big house of the Dai family, they went straight to our Yuanyinghe and Li positions. There were about 1,000 infantry and 100 cavalry. All the way from the Panlong Bridge to Zoushi, it was the enemy's first The vanguard of the Third Division. When they arrived in Zoushi, they divided into two groups, crossing the Yuanjiang River with civilian boats and wooden rafts, and attacked Taoyuan; they turned around and went east to attack Helu with more than 20 cannons of various sizes. , in an attempt to join up with the enemy from the Dai Family House."

When Commander Yu heard about it, he fixed his eyes on the map on the wall, and said, "The enemy invaded Zoushi, and this move is quite vicious. He clearly cut off the connection between Changde and the Southwest. In this way, the battle of Heqiu will be divided. The enemy's route is too long, and the flanks are exposed. This deep lone army cannot go back. However, if Taoyuan cannot defend, he must have made a big detour and invaded Doumu Town in Changdenan. Then we will Surrounded by all sides." Zhou Yizhong said: "Master, this view is very correct. We must grasp the two V-shaped areas on the south bank of the Yuanjiang River, and then the two roads leading to Taoyuan and Yiyang will not fall into the enemy's hands. Only our current strength, But I can't take care of the south bank." Yu Chengwan said: "If I don't take care of it, I have to take care of it, I have a plan in mind, let's not mention it now, let's pay attention to the situation of Hewei." As he said, he himself took the phone receiver again and asked for it. A phone call from Battalion Commander He Fu and Yuan. At this time, battalion commander Yuan and Cheng Jianren, who was going to supervise the battle, were guarding the telephone in the small bunker built at the corner of the temple.Then on the phone, when I heard the voice of the commander, I listened attentively in order to accept the order.Yu Chengwan said on the phone: "Battle Commander Yuan, we are satisfied with Hefen's battle this day. But since the enemy has invaded Zoushi, he will definitely attack Hefu with all his strength. I have told you again and again, Hefu It is our holy land. We must sprinkle glorious blood on this holy land. Every time I go to Hefu, I can see the trust that the people of Hefu have in our 57th Division. We must not let them down. I The mortar platoon has been ordered to reinforce you, it will be here soon, you have to make good use of it. Injured brothers, don't stay in Hefu, they can be sent to the rear for treatment immediately. Let me tell you again, Hefu is our holy place "Battle Commander Yuan was very calm when he heard the teacher's voice on the phone, and said: "Everything is done according to the command of the teacher. The teacher wants us to die here, and we will die here." Yu Chengwan agreed and turned the phone hang up.