Chapter 92 souvenir hunter

The little prisoner of war did not show up for a long time, and the combat team waiting outside was very anxious. Some people thought that he either returned to the Japanese camp or was killed by the people in the cave. The result was unexpected. The little prisoner of war led a total of nine Japanese soldiers out of the cave and surrendered to the US troops. Colonel Hankins, the guard and battalion commander of the First Marine Division, especially liked this little prisoner of war. He specially wanted him to be with him, and took him wherever he usually went. The two established a deep relationship in a short period of time. .

A few days later, Hankins was killed by a Japanese sniper.The little prisoner of war cried bitterly and insisted that he dig Hankins' grave. In "Blood Nose Ridge", after all, there are very few such good stories. Most of the time, shouting is the same as handing out leaflets, and the silence is like a stone. The Japanese soldiers in the cave are not even willing to shoot, so as not to expose their identity. Location. If they don't slap them all to death, Zhong Chuan and his followers will never let it go.Continuing to drill one hole after another became the only option for the Seventh Marine Regiment.

The first section of the canyon is the most rugged and dangerous position of "Blood Nose Ridge". It is very difficult to attack. When the U.S. military managed to gain an important foothold, they often found that they were already dead and wounded, and even defense became a problem. As a result, they had to retreat immediately, and restarted the next day after replenishing their forces. By this time, the distribution of battle lines on the combat map could no longer be accurately divided, because the positions of the enemy and us had entered a stalemate and were changing at any time.The U.S. military does not have a coherent attack line at all on the battlefield. Every company and even every platoon of the Seventh Regiment is attacking in all directions, and there is a big gap between them.When someone from the rear asked to go to the front line, the front-line commander could only tell him which point to go to, or to a place where the commander knew that his subordinates were still there.

The number of casualties of the Seventh Regiment began to quickly approach that of the First Regiment. Finally, the Fifth Regiment also received an order: "Okay, boys, get ready to receive rations and ammunition. We are going to reinforce the Seventh Marine Regiment in the mountains." After the fifth regiment entered the mountain for reinforcements, it still failed to completely alleviate the crisis of the seventh regiment's soldiers.The 1st Marine Division mobilized all available personnel, and even exhausted the soldiers from the guard battalion of the division headquarters.

After the division's combat soldiers were drawn, non-combatant soldiers were drawn, and the clerical, cooking, communication, and driving soldiers all went to the front line.After these people went to the battlefield, they were still used one by one. A war journalist was alone with a machine gun, so he was injured. The other cook was even more brave, and he actually won a silver star medal that ordinary combat soldiers could only dream of. . Soldiers have become a scarce resource on the front line, and the officers of the Seventh Marine Regiment tried every means to replenish their troops.

Some of the rear personnel like to come to the infantry company between battles, wander around, and search for Japanese equipment that can be taken away. The frontline infantry called them "souvenir hunters".Unlike the "loot maniacs" that Leckie called, the infantry hated this kind of "souvenir hunters" the most, because in their view, "booty maniacs" were comrades in arms who went through life and death, and collected trophies as a matter of course.What are the people in the rear?Have they bled or been shot?He actually wears a Marine Corps hat and shows off outside with his spoils, don't you want to show some face?

But suddenly, the Seventh Marine Regiment gave the green light to the "souvenir hunters": Do you want to go to the front line to pick up some good things?Go, we protect you. After leaving, the "souvenir hunter" was detained and used as a supplementary soldier.The most active in this regard is Major Buckley, the commander of the Seventh Regiment's Armor Company. As long as this major finds a "souvenir hunter" in his "territory", it is like walking on the street and picking up banknotes—"souvenir hunters" "Hunters" are not difficult to recognize, because their appearance is very different from infantry. A typical infantry must be unshaven and blood-red eyes, while "souvenir hunters" are neat, clean, and have strange faces.

Are you a "souvenir hunter"?OK, great!Regardless of whether it was the crew of the escort fleet, the engineers of the naval engineering battalion, or the ground staff of the airport, regardless of whether they had asked for leave from the original unit in advance, they were all arrested, each issued a gun, and then led to the occupied caves to take on defensive tasks. Someone stayed in the front line like this for more than a week, so that the original unit thought he was missing. Not all those behind the front lines were "souvenir hunters" who "stumbled into the dust".Black soldiers in field depots, for example, all raised their hands when an officer asked for their opinion on who would volunteer to serve on the front lines.

The fifth and seventh regiments endured what the first regiment had endured. On October 3, the two regiments jointly launched an offensive. The seventh regiment attacked several target hills in the north and east of the canyon, and the fifth regiment attacked the Five Sisters Mountain in the south. Five Sisters Mountain, as the name suggests, is a mountain top composed of five steep hills.It was the most terrifying terrain encountered by the US military on "Blood Nose Ridge" at that time. The top of the mountain is full of cliffs and cliffs, and there are almost no fulcrums that can be climbed.The Fifth Regiment was caught in a bitter battle at Wusisters Mountain, and casualties had become a matter of time. It seemed that no one could escape this routine sooner or later.

The wounded had to be transported. Due to the rugged mountain road and the steep terrain, it took four people to lift a stretcher off. Everyone in Company K took turns serving as a stretcher bearer almost every day, and Sledge, the mortar man, was no exception. Not only is this a backbreaking chore, it also involves great risk.Super-class Japanese snipers would shoot at the stretcher bearers as quickly as possible, so the stretcher bearers became wounded or dead. Fear and fatigue made the hearts of the stretcher bearers thump. As soon as the wounded were sent out of danger, everyone would immediately slump on the ground and gasp for breath.

Leaving no wounded or companion behind, no matter what the cost, this is the creed that the United States Marine Corps has always adhered to.On his way home after the war, Sledge met a machine gunner from the 321st who shook his hand and thanked him.After questioning, I found out that this soldier was hit by Japanese artillery fire at "Blood Nose Ridge". His army companions abandoned him, and the marines risked their lives to touch him and transport him to a safe place.From then on, he swore that whenever he saw any veteran of the First Marine Division, he would thank him.