Devil's Army

The Japanese's two 100mm howitzers, two small mountain cannons and six mortars began bombing the third regiment defenders at the south gate of Yaobao Town.

The first battalion of the third regiment was stationed at the south gate. As soon as the whistling sound of the Japanese howitzers sounded, the battalion commander withdrew the entire company on the city wall to avoid the artillery fire, leaving only two observers.

"The Japs really think highly of us. They deployed heavy howitzers in such a small town." said the company commander to the battalion commander.

"I heard from our regiment commander that this place is very important. Once it is lost, the Japanese can attack our Tieling County from here at any time."

"This road is not easy to travel. Just now when we were supporting the First Battalion, the car was driving very fast and my butt was almost broken."

"This road is not easy to travel, especially for heavy weapons. That's why the Japanese attacked our Tiaobinshan County from Xiaonan Town last time, and did not attack our Tieling County from here."

"Company commander, the Japs are attacking, more than 200 meters away," the observer reported.

"First Company, get into position immediately and prepare to block the attack." After saying this, the company commander was the first to run to the city wall.

When the Japanese infantry was still 200 meters away from the city wall, the Japanese artillery fire stopped and the Japanese began to rush forward.

"Pass it on, pull the string of the grenade two seconds before throwing it down. When I start throwing, you guys follow suit." The first company commander said to the soldiers next to him. The soldiers passed on the first company commander's order one by one.

"The Japs are 50 meters away." the observer reported.

"40 meters, 30 meters," the observer continued to report.

"Throw!" After saying that, the company commander pulled the string of a grenade and waited for two seconds before throwing it down the city wall.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom..." The sound of a series of grenade explosions caused the Japanese soldiers who were about to rush up the city wall to fall down one after another.

The machine gunners of the first company took advantage of the gaps between the soldiers dropping bombs to fire fiercely at the Japanese soldiers that were following behind.

After throwing two rounds of grenades in succession, the soldiers immediately picked up their guns and began to count the Japanese soldiers who survived the grenade rain on the battlefield.

The Japanese who almost rushed to the city wall were knocked down by the rain of grenades and rifle bullets, and the Japanese who were a little further away were knocked down by light machine guns and heavy machine guns. This wave of Japanese charge retreated without any suspense.

At this time, the whistling sound of the Japanese artillery shells came from far away. The company commander shouted, "Hide from the artillery," and led the soldiers to run down the city wall and find shelter under the artillery.

Several slow-running soldiers were hit by the Japanese artillery shells, becoming the record of this wave of Japanese bombing.

"The Japs are coming again. We still have 500 meters to go."

The company commander said nothing and just listened quietly to the observer's count.

"400 meters, 300 meters, and 200 meters left." The observer counted anxiously.

"The Japanese are weird. Usually they stop firing when their infantry is still 200 to 300 meters away. Aren't they afraid of accidentally bombing their artillery infantry this time?"

"There are only 100 meters left." The observer continued to count nervously. The soldiers all looked at the company commander. They couldn't wait any longer.

"Go!" the company captain shouted and took the lead to rush towards the city wall.

The soldiers rushed to the wall, pulling out grenades and preparing to throw them down.

At this time, a small mountain artillery shell exploded next to the company commander, and the company commander was blown into the city wall by the shock wave of the shell.

A young soldier rushed towards the city wall where the company commander fell, shouting as he ran: "Brother Long, Brother Long".

The young soldier rushed to the company commander and picked him up, but the company commander's eyes did not open again.

"Ahhh!" the young soldier yelled and rushed up the city wall. He picked up the machine gun next to a sacrificed machine gunner and fired at the Japanese soldiers under the city wall.

At this moment, a bullet shot from somewhere under the city wall and hit the young soldier, causing his machine gun to misfire.

A soldier nearby saw that the little soldier was still breathing and immediately shouted, "Medical officer, medical officer."

The medic heard the shout and ran over. She looked at the soldier's wound, shook her head, and prepared to leave.

The soldier next to her saw that the little soldier was still breathing, so he pulled the medical worker away and stopped her from leaving.

The young soldier smiled, took the soldier's hand, shook his head and said nothing.

The soldier was also puzzled, who could smile so sweetly after being shot.

It turned out that this young soldier and the company commander whom he called Brother Long were from the same village. At that time, 32 people from their village followed Brother Long to fight against the Japanese, and now only he and Brother Long are left.

Now that Brother Long was gone, the thirty-odd people in front of him appeared one by one, Zhuzi, Dapang, Yaowa... He smiled and said to them, I am here, let's fight the devils together.

The little soldier left, smiling all the time.

A deputy company commander took over the baton under the gunfire and led the soldiers to throw grenades and shoot at the city wall, and they managed to repel the Japanese charge.

The Japanese lieutenant saw that both charges had failed, and more than a hundred bodies of imperial soldiers were left in front of the city wall. He slapped the Japanese lieutenant who led the retreat hard in the face and cursed:

"If you had held on for another hour, it would be these devilish troops that would have fallen under the city wall."

The Japanese lieutenant was slapped and spun around, then immediately stood at attention and said, "Hi!"