Chapter 96 Chapter 9: The Chinese Army Is a Good Man (Xiangxi Great Victory)

After contacting the U.S. air liaison officer, the four fighter jets of the Chinese and U.S. Air Forces swooped down, dropped bombs, and strafed the Japanese positions in turn.Amid the sound of rumbling guns, the Second Battalion quickly took over the front line.After battalion commander Li Zhongliang made deployments to the position, he assembled the company commanders and said, "From today onwards, it's up to us. We are soldiers and we must not lose face to the 74th Army. The task of the whole battalion is to stick to the position. Stop the advance of the enemy!" The main peak of Qingyan, which is guarded by the second battalion and the fifth company, is the commanding height on the defensive position, and it is also an important point in tactics. Li Zhongliang demanded: "We must defend to the death at all costs." It's up to you."

Long before the Battle of Changde, when the 17th batch of cadets of Whampoa Military Academy graduated, some of them stayed in school and some of them were assigned to the front line after filling out their volunteers. At that time, there were more than 30 people assigned to the 74th Army.These Whampoa students all joined the army as second lieutenant officers. After many battles, some of them had been promoted from infantry platoon commanders to company commanders by the time of the Xiangxi battle. Zhou Beichen was one of them.He was usually eloquent, but at this time he felt a heavy responsibility, so he only agreed with "yes" and stopped talking.

Xiao Zheng, the commander of the machine gun company, is also a classmate of the seventeenth class.According to the new organization of his machine gun company, there should be four platoons with eight heavy machine guns, but at this time there are only six heavy machine guns, so one platoon can only be temporarily used as an ammunition platoon.During combat, two platoons were attached to the front-line infantry company, and Xiao Zheng himself controlled a mobile platoon and ammunition platoon. In the infantry offensive and defensive system, machine guns play a pivotal role in fire support, so no matter which machine gun platoon, Xiao Zheng and Zhou Beichen must agree in advance on the choice of machine gun positions and the strength of fortifications. The deployment of troops, the progress of fortifications, and the battalion commander's command intentions are also relatively clear.

Seeing that the atmosphere seemed a bit too tense, Xiao Zheng blurted out: "Report to the battalion commander, can we preemptively strike?" Defense can be divided into active defense and passive defense, and preemptive strikes belong to active defense.As a "Hu Ben Division" who is good at defense, this tactic is often adopted by the 57th Division. Li Zhongliang agreed with his subordinates' initiative and said firmly: "Yes, attack him, and show our strength !" The sun is about to set, and it can be predicted that as soon as night falls, the Japanese army will launch an attack.

Suddenly four planes of the Chinese and American Air Forces appeared in the sky. They hovered, dived, bombed, and strafed, overwhelming the enemy so that they could not look up.Under the cover of the air force, a platoon (Yan platoon) transferred from Zhou Beichen Company set out from the right wing of the company and evacuated and concealedly advanced towards the Japanese positions. The first attack of the defenders was completely unexpected by the Japanese army. When Yan Pai reached about 200 meters in front of the enemy's line, the Japanese army remained silent. The advance command post of the Second Battalion was set a little behind the main peak of Qingyan. Battalion Commander Li Zhongliang was condescending and could clearly see the situation of the enemy formation through binoculars.When it was found that Yan's platoon was only about 150 meters away from the enemy's position, as he gave an order, light and heavy machine guns and mortars violently fired at the enemy's position.

Under the cover of powerful firepower, Yan Pai immediately launched a charge. In an instant, the sound of shouts, guns and grenade explosions merged into one. When Yan Pai charged, the Japanese were unprepared, and most of them were not even in firing position.Soldiers rushed in like wolves, and solved the Japanese soldiers with submachine guns or bayonets, thus occupying their left flank positions in one fell swoop.Witnessing this scene, the U.S. air liaison officer couldn't help stretching out his thumb and shouting: "OK!" The Japanese army hastily intercepted it with guns, and at the same time took advantage of the gap when the air force left after dusk, they fired fiercely at Zhou Beichen's position to prevent the Chinese side from continuing to reinforce.

Li Zhongliang decided to accept it as soon as it was good.The whole battalion's mortars, light and heavy machine guns fired salvos, and the suppression of the Shishan artillery company enabled the Yan platoon to withdraw smoothly to its original position.In this attack, Yan Pai captured three Japanese light machine guns, and there were many other trophies. For this reason, the division commander Li Yan personally called to express his condolences. After the attack by Yan Pai, the Japanese army did not launch an attack for two consecutive days and one night, and the defenders got a full rest, which proved that the pre-emptive tactics had paid off.

During this period, vehicles were frequently transported on military roads. Supplies and ammunition needed by the front line were continuously sent up the mountain, and the wounded and sick on the front line could also be sent to the rear hospital in time.The medical staff in the rear hospitals are mainly American aid personnel, not only with high medical level, but also serious and responsible.Some wounded and sick were infected with tetanus, and the hospital had no medicines. They sent a telegram to Kunming, and the U.S. Army Aid to China Headquarters would immediately send planes to drop medicines for first aid.

Such a good logistical situation is rarely seen in previous domestic battlefields. Coupled with the complete control of air supremacy, the 2nd Battalion of the 171st Regiment is more confident in defending Qingyan.At this time, Du Ding, the head of the regiment, also arrived at Jiangkou, and told Li Zhongliang by phone: "You must have the determination to break the boat before you can win the victory of sweeping the hole and plowing the court."