The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 21 Fireline Promotion
...When fighting on the front lines, after communications are cut off, many people on the battlefield often do not know that they have been promoted on the front line because of their military achievements.

Or maybe because of a mistake, he was demoted to a lower level.

But the officers behind us also didn't know that such promotions and demotions would have no effect on our fighting on the battlefield.

This kind of promotion and demotion would be more effective if they sent a Czech light machine gun...

...Excerpt from Hu Biao's diary collection "Hu Shuo"...

What caught Wang Peng's attention most was naturally the little tank of the Japanese devils in front of the position.

One side of the track of this thing is broken, but the two light and heavy machine guns inside are not broken, because there is still a complete side of the track, and it can be controlled to rotate in place to adjust the shooting angle.

Once full fire is opened, the firepower is quite fierce.

In addition! Here is a brief introduction to the terrain of position No. 7. There is a large pond on the left, and it is impossible for the Japanese to attack by swimming across it.

On the right is a paddy field with newly planted rice seedlings and deep water. The ridge between the two rice fields has been destroyed.

If the Japanese wanted to attack from here, they could only step on the deep mud in the paddy field. Not only would their movements be very slow, but they would also be the best target.

Therefore, they could only pass through Position No. 100, which was about meters long between the pond and the paddy field.

Besides! The little bean tank has a certain bulletproof capability. At least the Japanese Type 38 rifle, light and heavy machine guns and other weapons cannot penetrate the shell of this thing from the front.

So as long as they sneak in when the Japanese are not paying attention, it will become an excellent firepower point, and can even be described as a machine gun fortress, completely blocking the No. 100 position which is about meters wide.

It would be a wonderful thing to think about using the Japanese tanks to fight the Japanese.

Thinking of this, Wang Peng almost laughed out loud.

The only problem is that there are only five of them on the position now, and they need to select one who can operate the tank simply to control the little guy and constantly adjust the shooting range.

In addition, at least one person is needed to operate the machine gun and fire.

That's right! These two people can't be too tall. People like him and Hu Biao, who are 1.8 meters tall, are definitely not suitable. Because this thing is designed for the Japanese soldiers' body shape, they will get stuck if they get in and can't move at all.

Then the three people outside were unable to completely stop the Japanese from approaching Xiao Douding from both sides.

As long as the battle lasts too long, the Japanese will eventually get close and blow up the tanks.

Of course, the Japanese were bound to pay a considerable price before blowing up this tank; if you think about it this way, the result seems not bad.

With this idea in mind, Wang Peng expressed his thoughts to the other four people.

A second later, Gao Yi raised his hand and said, "I can drive an excavator a little bit, so I should have no problem steering the little tank back and forth.

It’s a pity that I can’t repair it, otherwise it would be more effective if it were connected to tracks.”

Just as the voice fell, Zhang Wei, a young man from the society, also said:

"Fuck him! Leave the machine gun operation to me. I'm going to use the Japs' machine guns to fight the Japs and avenge my old squad leader."

After finalizing the personnel to operate the Little Bean Tank, the assignment of the remaining three people became easy.

Zhou Kun held the Czech-style rifle as a machine gunner, and Wang Peng held a Hanyang rifle, acting as a sniper-like role.

Hu Biao was equipped with two guns, an MP28, which he would fire when the Japanese got close, and a Hanyang rifle when they were farther away.

However, people didn't have high expectations for Hu Biao, who had only fired five rounds of bullets with a 56 semi-automatic rifle during his military training in college.

The Czech style that Zhou Kun is holding can at least fire in bursts, right?
After the five people were assigned, Gao Yi and Zhang Wei began to discuss how to avoid the Japanese's attention once the Japanese artillery bombardment ended, so as to climb out of the position and get into the small tank.

Hu Biao and the other three also began to discuss how to repair the trenches and firing points later.

As a result, at this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps came from the left side of the trench. He hurriedly looked over with his gun, only to find that there were more than 20 frightened men who were rushing into the trench with their backs hunched.

It was the familiar military uniforms they were wearing that prevented Hu Biao and the others from pulling the trigger.

"Brothers, which unit are you from?" Hu Biao asked with his finger still on the trigger.

No officer came out to answer, only a private who looked older answered with lingering fear: "Reporting to the commander, we are the second platoon of the quartermaster company of the 401st regiment, and we have been ordered to bring you some supplies." "Is your platoon leader?" Zhou Kun asked after taking a few glances.

After hearing this, the faces of those people became more and more dejected. The leading man replied:
"Dead, dead! A shell hit us on the way, and the platoon leader and a dozen brothers were killed instantly. Commander, please take over the supplies so we can withdraw immediately.

We were all new recruits in the Zhejiang Provincial Security Corps. We hadn't even been soldiers for half a month and couldn't even shoot a gun properly.

Before we came to Shanghai, the officers said that once we got here we only had to help move things and dig trenches.

As for fighting, we have the elite troops of the Central Army."

After hearing this, Hu Biao and others looked at each other with complicated eyes.

Good fellow! Just like the unfortunate ones from the Third Supplementary Company of the former Soviet Security Corps, they were tricked by their superiors into coming to this meat grinder.

No! Those superiors weren't necessarily lying.

I guess when they made these promises, they had the same intention in mind, but they didn't expect that this war would end up like this...

******
Faced with the baggage troops from Zhejiang Province, Hu Biao did not make it difficult for them to retreat quickly.

After all, staying on the position would mean a risk of death, and he had no right to stay and help; although with the addition of these people, the strength of the position would increase greatly.

Immediately, they were asked to drop their supplies and leave.

But at this moment, a rapid telephone ring rang, and Hu Biao and others realized that the field telephone on the position had not been blown off by the artillery fire just now.

This phone was left behind by a unit of the 11th Division, the elite force of the Central Army and the civil engineering department that previously defended this place.

Otherwise, with the equipment level of the 67th Division, a mere special forces company would not be qualified to have a field telephone.

Hu Biao, who was closest, instinctively picked up the phone.

Before Hu Biao could say anything, a loud voice reached his ears: "Hello, is this Position 7? This is Li Shushen, let Feng Yaozu answer the phone for me."

"This is Position No. 7. Captain Feng was killed in the tank explosion. Now all he has left is his legs."

The commander of the 67th Division was Li Shusen, a lieutenant general in the National Army. Hu Biao had found out about this in the past few days and answered him in a loud voice.

There was no way! The Japanese artillery was still bombarding, but the sound was too quiet for the other side to hear.

After vaguely hearing some curses from the other side, Division Commander Li shouted again: "Then call the deputy company commander over."

"He died too, fighting the devils with bayonets. All the other platoon leaders and squad leaders in the special forces company were killed, leaving only the five of us cooks in the kitchen squad.

That’s right! About twenty supply soldiers just arrived, and their platoon leader and squad leader are also dead.”

Hu Biao was too lazy to continue with the question-and-answer process, so he simply explained the situation on the battlefield clearly, and then asked the key question:
"Sir, the battle has come to this point. Can you please let the friendly forces come up to relieve us so we can withdraw?"

Faced with this question, the other end fell silent. This was mainly because Commander Li really didn't know whether he should tell the cook on the other end of the phone:
The fighting in Luodian was very intense now, and almost all the soldiers he had were sent to support, so there was no reinforcement at all.

An under-staffed Japanese battalion is currently planning to break through the left wing to infiltrate and encircle the enemy. Position No. 7 should be the main breakthrough direction and must not be abandoned.

This was also the reason why he dispatched a baggage platoon from the extremely limited mobile forces at hand to provide support.

Just when Hu Biao thought the field phone in his hand was disconnected, there was finally movement.

The voice of Commander Li on the other side became more polite, and just from this point Hu Biao felt something was wrong: "Young man, what is your name and rank?"

"Hu Biao, Private First Class."

Commander Li: "Okay! In the name of the 67th Division Commander, I will now promote you to Platoon Leader, rank of Second Lieutenant, and all those supply troops will be immediately assigned to your command.

Until I receive the order to retreat, you must hold Position No. 7 for me; remember, this is a death order, otherwise you will be subject to military court."

Then, the person on the other end of the phone hung up.

"Fuck! What the hell is this?" Hu Biao, the newly promoted platoon leader who had only fired five bullets in his life, cursed...

(End of this chapter)