Chapter 89 Devils are coming

After the remnants of the Japanese army retreated from the front peak to the back peak, they also received reinforcements from the follow-up troops of the 109th Regiment.So far, the positions of the two sides are only more than 100 meters apart, and even the clinking of bowls and chopsticks when the other side eats can be clearly heard. Before the Battle of Xiangxi, the Chinese and American Air Forces had completely mastered the air supremacy.Immediately after the start of the battle, the Sino-US Air Force Mixed Regiment dispatched a large number of planes to completely destroy the large and small bridges in the triangle area of ​​Hengyang, Shaoyang, and Xiangtan, where the Japanese army was backed. area ground forces.

The Xuefeng Mountain theater is close to Zhijiang Airport, and the flight radius for fighter jets to reach the front line is very small.In the skies of the war zone, only the Chinese and American planes assisting the battle can be seen. Most of the time, the Japanese planes dare not show up. The troops pose no threat.Sometimes, one or two Japanese planes would secretly fly over the Japanese positions, drop a few bags and flee immediately, but just like this, those who ran slower were still inevitably shot down by the machine guns of Chinese and American fighter planes. During the stalemate, Chinese and American fighter planes circled in the air non-stop, and when they found the Japanese positions, they fired violently.The Japanese army could not freely carry out activities during the day, and they launched more attacks at night. Every time they attacked, they only touched a small group of soldiers, in the form of three or five soldiers. .

The 51st Division has sufficient ammunition, and it will block fire as soon as it gets dark to prevent the Japanese army from sneaking.The disadvantage is that the quality of the troops is uneven. Veterans or officers who have just graduated from the military academy are relatively calm. They fired into the sky in a panic, or shrank in the trenches and did not dare to look up. The Japanese army did not have enough ammunition, and there were not many bullets. However, their strengths were that their soldiers had good physical strength and excellent shooting skills. The bullets they fired seemed to have eyes. Even in the dark, they could give Chinese soldiers, especially recruits, With a lot of damage.

One night, a local boy who served as an orderly temporarily slept with another soldier back to back. When he woke up the next day, the boy found that the soldier was dead—he had been sniped by a Japanese soldier who had been ambushed. The 109th Regiment of the Japanese Army was unable to recapture Mt. Yingxing face to face, so they had to choose another way of copying. This place was Gaozapo located in the northwest of Gyu-dong. Standing on the top of Gaozhapo, you can have a panoramic view of Longtan Town a few kilometers away.There is also a small river near it, and Chinese troops are stationed in villages on the west side of the river.Villager Han Zhicheng was only 13 years old at the time. Out of the unique curiosity and interest of boys at that age in war, he hung out with soldiers all day long and fought fiercely with the troops.

On April 20, Han Zhicheng got into the trench where a sentry was.It was early summer, and the weather was getting hotter, but the soldiers of the 51st Division were still wearing winter clothes, and many of them had lice.The sentry was busy catching lice on his body, Han Zhicheng had nothing to do, just looked around by himself. Suddenly, he saw a few small trees shaking constantly on the opposite hillside. What was even more strange was that these small trees were still moving, and they moved for a while and stopped for a while.Han Zhicheng hastily pointed it out to the sentry, and the sentry pushed him down in the trench without even thinking about it. "That's not a tree, that's a devil! The devil is here!"

The sentinel raised his gun and shot at "Little Tree", and "Little Tree" also fired back.It turned out that this was the Japanese army disguised with tree branches. After crossing the small river, they tried to occupy a highland in the west of Hexi.If this action of the Japanese army succeeds, they can have a condescending view of the position of the 51st Division in Hexi. It's just that they were unlucky, and a little boy accidentally discovered it. Wisdom is not high, Han Zhicheng made a contribution to thwarting the enemy's sneak attack, the company commander of the army praised him for his alertness and agility, and specially rewarded him with a big mooncake for this.

On April 21, the Japanese army once again organized a small force to try to sneak across the river.Before crossing the river this time, some of them were killed by the defenders on Gaozhapo, and others braved the rain of bullets to cross the river and rushed all the way to the hillside. The firepower of the defenders is not a vegetarian. As rows of bullets flew one after another, the Japanese troops fell one after another.In the end, only three Japanese soldiers were left alive. They fled along the river under the cover of lush willows. Raiders don't die just because they've been caught in a cage. On the morning of April 24, just after dawn, a group of Japanese soldiers quickly entered the Camellia oleifera forest and attacked Gaozapo from the side after crossing the river.

Although the Japanese army is still a small force, only forty or fifty people, but all of them are selected death squads.When they reached the top of the mountain under the cover of the morning fog, they were spotted by a squad leader of the garrison at the top of the mountain and immediately asked, "Who is it?" As early as when the 116th Division of the Japanese Army attacked Changde, the "Xuanfu Squad" composed of traitors often helped the Japanese kill their compatriots.They either wore Japanese military uniforms, or only wore a Japanese military cap, but they behaved "more fierce than the Japanese" in front of their compatriots.There were also a large group of traitors from the occupied areas in the 109th Regiment. There was a traitor in this small Japanese army. When he heard the squad leader’s question, he quickly replied, “What are you asking? One of our own!”

Before the words fell, gunshots rang out, and the squad leader fell to the ground.The Japanese army rushed forward quickly, and the defenders did not even have time to complete the simple operations of pulling the bolt of the gun and pressing the bullet, so they could only hold the bayonet and stab the enemy directly. . After hearing the news, reinforcements from the defenders arrived.When they rushed to the mountainside, the shouts of killing on the top of the mountain had stopped abruptly, and the surviving officers and soldiers withdrew from the position, all covered in blood. Most of the Japanese death squads were stabbed to death on the top of the mountain.Just like last time, three people slipped through the net, including the traitor.The three guys lost their way while escaping, so the traitors came forward to ask for directions, but they were discovered by the Chinese army and all were killed.

In this tragic blocking battle, the defenders suffered heavy casualties.The stretcher team going to Gaozapo to transport the wounded ran up and down, overwhelmed. Longtan was only a short distance away, but the 109th Regiment of the Japanese Army tried their best to squeeze through.The head of Lingtian Division had to change the original combat plan and narrowed the mission of the wing to occupying Longtan. To occupy Longtan, one must first completely control Yingxing Mountain and Niuxing Mountain.These two highlands are in a state of stalemate between the two armies. Among them, Niuxing Mountain is also known as "Songshan Highland" in the history of warfare because of the towering ancient pines and roaring forest waves. Occupy this high ground.

The next day, with the support of artillery, the 51st Division repelled the Japanese attack, and then launched a counterattack on the Songshan Highland.During the supplementary training phase, the 51st Division added many young soldiers under the age of 20.Due to the short training time, these soldiers still lack combat experience and skills, so the tactics designed around them focus on effective grenade warfare. This kind of grenade warfare can be skillfully used in positional counterattacks.In Charge, a three-man grenade-throwing squad charged recklessly, throwing grenades from the mountainside to the summit as they charged. In order to regain their positions, the assault troops often organized and launched two or more wave-shaped counterattacks. Some people set fire on the mountainside and attacked the top of the mountain. In the process of defense, the fortifications of Niuxingshan continued to be strengthened. The wood, door panels, furniture, cotton wool, and mosquito nets in the nearby villages became the materials for the construction of the fortifications. boulder pile. The terrain around the boulder pile is open, and the hostile parties on both sides dare not leave the boulder easily or show their heads rashly, lest they accidentally become the target of a gun.So the two armies started a hand-to-hand bloody battle around this natural fortification, first throwing grenades at each other, and then fighting with each other.