"A Type 6 rifle, with about 100 rounds of ammunition. How come this devil only has six clips? A bag of sour dried fruit, hawthorn flavor; a kettle with cold tea leaves in it, not bad; a bayonet, and a book?"

Captain Shi examined the leather-bound book in the moonlight and flipped to the first page. The dim light and the "small snails" interspersed among the Chinese characters made it difficult for him to discern its true meaning. However, seeing the date printed on the corner of the page, it seemed to be a diary of some kind.

He pulled a first aid kit from his backpack and a marker from inside. On the last blank page of his diary, he drew four vertical lines—since he had set out on this journey, including this particular enemy, he had killed four. His battlefield experience as a guerrilla and his frequent attendance at the branch of the Anti-Japanese University had taught him how to manage his weight while marching, to better preserve his strength and conceal his presence.

Soon, after an inventory, Shi Yintang made adjustments to his luggage: he gave up the Type 38 rifle that had been with him for a long time but had severely worn rifling, and replaced it with a new gun he had just captured; the grenades produced in the border areas used as booby traps had been used up, and he could only use the Japanese "egg mines" as a substitute; and the only anti-armor weapon, the Turtle Fist, only had one warhead mounted on the launcher and a spare bullet left.

As for supplies, Captain Shi drank the cold boiled water in the Coke bottle and then poured it down with some cold brew tea he had confiscated from the Japanese. As for food, he had two unleavened flatbreads, a pack of round biscuits, and a bag of dried hawthorns. It was enough to keep him going for at least two more days.

"Not enough, not enough, not enough yet." Shi Yintang put the cap on his pen, stuffed the notebook and pen into his backpack, shouldered his gun, and prepared to continue walking east. "Wait, little Japs."

A guerrilla squadron leader who had been a farmer for eighteen years and a guerrilla fighter for two years was marching behind the Japanese front lines, like a vengeful ghost, exuding a silent, cold, and highly calm aura.

Captain Shi has been active in Wuji-Shenze for more than two years. He started as a guerrilla fighter and rose to the position of squadron leader. He is very familiar with every tree and every ditch here.

Just now, the place where I ambushed the lone devil was a place called Dazhi

The village is located not far to the north of Shenze County.

In previous campaigns against encirclement and suppression, Shenze was a frontier area that our army could control for extended periods. Whenever the Japanese army gained strength and recaptured Wuji, the Shenze County Party Committee would provide strong support, assisting the Wuji guerrillas in their retreat, replenishing ammunition, and adding troops.

But now, she was burning in flames.

Even in the early morning hours, just before sunrise, Shi Yintang could still see the blood-red glow of light in the south. This glow spread from behind him to the front and side, stretching out along the Qituo River, as if the river itself wasn't flowing with water, but burning blood.

These Japanese troops advanced along the gravel road from Zhengding to Wuji and then to Shenze. They didn't occupy and mop up villages along the way, or station troops there, as the 110th Division had done. Nor did they, like the Japanese troops of 1938, expand their control zone to encompass every village within a three-kilometer radius on either side of the road. They simply sent out small detachments to establish security, and didn't even pursue the retreating civilians. Instead, they simply set fire to the deserted villages.

It is really "good behavior, no harm done"!

Shi Yintang followed the outer edge of the Japanese search line, racing westward. He watched the many villages encased in trenches engulfed in flames, and saw supplies that hadn't been moved away burn beneath the trenches. He suppressed the turmoil in his chest, carefully observing the Japanese troops advancing along the road and jotting down their general situation in his notebook.

After the first batch of Japanese vanguards that dispersed the guerrillas, there came the Japanese headquarters of more than 2000 people, including rare Japanese tanks, dense Japanese cavalry and endless trucks, which should be the main force of the Japanese.

Long after this wave of Japanese soldiers passed, another large wave arrived. Compared to the elite main force of Japanese soldiers in front, their equipment and condition were obviously inferior. This wave of Japanese soldiers was about the size of two battalions, or about 20 people. They were mainly infantrymen, with only a small battalion infantry gun for firepower. Their means of transportation had changed to horses, mules, donkeys, and even ox-drawn carts. At the same time, as the sun rose, Shi Yintang noticed that from further east, fierce gunfire could be heard.

The Japanese soldiers in front of him were attacking again. His heart tightened and he could not help but quicken his pace. But at this moment, he found that the group of Japanese soldiers who were still marching on the road had separated into a small team of about ten people and began to turn in his direction.

Shi Yintang quickly crawled on the ground, leaped forward a few steps and grabbed hold of the field embankment. He stuck his head out to observe the group of devils emerging from the army of mules and horses.

The leading Japanese officer rode a large donkey, and about ten of them formed two teams and headed towards a small village on the side of the road. They didn't break up into a horizontal formation, nor did they shout or yell. The infantry still carried their rifles on their backs, not directly in front of them, so they probably weren't searching for anyone. Shi Yintang noticed that the village hadn't been burned, and there seemed to be a few chickens inside that hadn't been taken away by the villagers, pecking at something in the open space.

The group of Japanese soldiers lined up at the entrance of the village and stood upright; the officer jumped off the donkey, pointed at the village, then stretched out his hand and waved it towards the village. The group of Japanese soldiers scattered like birds and beasts, and began to disperse towards the village in groups of three or two.

Some people unhooked their rifles and went into the house to search; some looked around and went to the firewood nearby, as if to start a fire; others dropped their guns, opened their arms, and began to drive away the stray poultry. As for the Japanese officer, he stood defenselessly next to the big donkey and started to light a cigarette.

Hmm.....the distance is about 400 meters, my shooting skills should be okay...

Shi Yintang slowly took off the Type 38 rifle from his back, placed the backpack on the ground, and then put the rifle on top, aiming at the Japanese officer. But just as he was about to adjust the scope and aim to shoot, a voice with an accent suddenly came from behind him:

"Hold your fire, comrade! Don't fire like that!"

Chapter 436: Bloody Interception (6) Battle of Nameless Village

(Update)

Captain Shi Yintang began running along the Anti-Japanese Trench. Using the fields and wheat fields beside the ditch for cover, he made a wide circle from the north of the village, turning west to run east. "Seven minutes left."

Shi Yintang quickly slowed down, one hand on the wall of the anti-Japanese trench, and quietly poked his head out to observe the situation. In the small, nameless village, teams of two or three Japanese soldiers shouted and searched house by house. In the open space in the center of the village, someone had already built a campfire. The Japanese soldiers who had been responsible for carrying firewood sat down and wrapped hemp rope, cloth strips, and other things around the longer firewood to make torches. The Japanese also captured a few poultry in the village, tied their legs, and dumped them next to the pile of guns in the center of the village.

One of the roosters crowed in fear and flapped its wings in vain, causing several Japanese soldiers to laugh. Even the smoking Japanese officer came over and kicked the rooster with a smile. The village was small, with only a few houses. It seemed that the Japanese soldiers had almost finished searching the village and were gathering in the center.

"There are still 3 minutes left."

Captain Shi glanced at his watch. Unlike his own, it had a countdown function, and the numbers on the LCD were rapidly jumping. He lowered his body, slowed his breathing, and gradually moved towards the Anti-Japanese Ditch at the village entrance. There was a half-built house there, used for toilets, which just blocked the enemy's sight. From there, the maximum distance to the village entrance would be less than 50 meters, well within the effective range of his submachine gun.

Um......

He finally reached his target. He held his breath, carefully glanced at the nearby Japanese sentry, opened the safety of his submachine gun, and then slowly picked up a stone and placed it in front of him.

"60 seconds left..."

After the troops were dispersed and lost their organizational structure, even the Eighth Route Army would find it difficult to organize meaningful military operations, whether attacking or retreating. Therefore, Captain Shi's primary goal was to find friendly units that were still organized behind enemy lines.

Even without systematic training in combat tactics, the experienced Shi Yintang could sense that the Japanese were acting with particular haste this time. They hadn't launched a large-scale campaign to clear the countryside, nor had they carried out a thorough mopping-up operation, nor had they even stationed troops along the highways. Instead, they simply looted and burned. Behind the seemingly safe front, many of our army's smaller units and organizations were operating.

However, during this day and more, he saw nothing but Japanese soldiers and didn't see a single one of his own people.

Being a lone superhero was never Captain Shi Yintang's first choice, but due to objective conditions, he couldn't set a high goal for this group of devils: to kill the most valuable target in that group of devils - the smoking Japanese officer - from a long distance, and then evacuate quickly with the help of the anti-Japanese trench.

But now, this situation has finally changed.

There seemed to be a flicker of fire in the distance, and suddenly some kind of super-fast flying insect flew by nearby. The Japanese sentry who was too lazy to approach the manure pit because it was too smelly was hit hard.

Suddenly he fell down holding his stomach.

“Ah ...

He howled loudly, but he was not dead.

This painful howl echoed like a starting gun, echoing throughout the village, but was drowned out by the windswept wheat fields. Several older Japanese soldiers crouched down, hands folded, grabbed their rifles, and tried to hide in the shadows of the mud houses. But unlike the previous Japanese soldiers, most of them just stood there stupidly, turning to look at the struggling Japanese soldier.

"Enemy attack!"

“Guguga—!”

The Japanese squad leader's voice and the rooster's crow continued to echo, a clumsy chorus. The stunned Japanese soldiers finally came to their senses, as if they had been whipped hard by a key belt. Someone immediately reached out to grab the pile of guns leaning against each other, but there were several people trying to do so. After a few people pushed and shoved, they realized that they had to take the guns in an orderly manner.

But it's too late!

A bullet struck the shooter charging toward the machine gun, sending him sprawling backward. Meanwhile, to the north of the village, a strange cloud of smoke rose. A bullet, resembling a giant doll, flew at a steep angle, over 200 meters, and landed in the open space in the center of the village.

It didn't explode immediately, instead crashing straight to the ground. Its top-heavy design and the circular rectifier on the warhead ensured a nose-down landing angle. However, the fuze that triggered didn't detonate the main charge first, but instead transmitted the explosion to the circular device at the head of the round. Then, a section of the primary charge, similar to the 60mm mortar propellant, triggered. With a crisp bang, the silly, oversized warhead actually bounced off the ground and rolled into the air.

Just as the Japanese soldiers were stunned, the bullet, which had flown about two meters away, flashed an orange flame. Boom!

A second-generation anti-personnel ricocheting explosive from the Fushi Arsenal was a truly impressive offering. Over 8 glued steel balls, propelled by over 300g of explosive mixture, exploded, creating a dense cloud of dust around them and sweeping away nearly every living thing within 15 meters!

The roosters' crows stopped abruptly, leaving a momentary silence in the dust cloud. Immediately, a whistle blared from the north of the village, signaling a charge. Two rifles fired alternately, and a Japanese soldier who had just poked his head out to fight back was knocked to the ground.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Prepare for defense!"

The Japanese, who had lost more than half their troops despite not seeing the enemy, did not collapse and flee, preserving their remaining quality and strength. Having lost their squad commander, the NCOs took the initiative to take over command, directing the last five or six men in a desperate resistance.

"The devils haven't escaped, charge!"

Captain Shi Yintang, who had been waiting for the Japanese to flee toward the village entrance, suddenly changed his formation. He pulled the pin on a Japanese grenade, tapped it against a rock, and then charged toward the last few Japanese soldiers in the village. Farther away, a shadowy figure, draped in straw and weeds, raised a Type 38 rifle and, as if emerging from the ground, began pressing toward the village.

Da da da da!

He picked up the submachine gun he had exchanged with his friends and rushed into the village first.

The siege battle between 4 people and 13 people came to an end quickly.

The four people who participated in the battle wiped out all the Japanese soldiers without any injuries. Unfortunately, they had no time to clean up the battlefield, and even because the donkey was frightened and could not pull away, they quickly left the scene without taking anything. Several people immediately evacuated to the northeast, leaving this nameless village before the Japanese army reacted. They went around and around and came to another village.

We found the two hidden horses and continued to march for nearly 3 kilometers.

In order to completely escape the Japanese search range. By this time, several people were able to take a breath and began to introduce their identities to each other.

"Political Commissar of the Ji Zhong Cavalry Regiment, Wang Nairong." A middle-aged man with an unshaven beard spoke in a calm tone. He was covered with wheat straw and weeds for camouflage.

"Fang Zhonghua, a soldier of the Second Company, First Battalion, Jizhong Cavalry Regiment," a young soldier said, unable to conceal his excitement. He carried a powerful, quick-firing cannon, clutching an empty launch tube. "Shi Jiyun, deputy captain of the Nanma Village squad, Third Squadron, Shenze County Guerrilla Brigade," an older guerrilla soldier nodded, clutching a Zhongzheng rifle.

Shi Yintang also extended his hand and shook hands with several of his comrades: "Second Company of the Wuji County Guerrilla Brigade, Company Leader, Shi Yintang."

But just as they were about to have a brief discussion about where this small combat unit should go next, something new seemed to be happening to their east.

The gunfire, which had been going on for almost the entire morning, finally subsided. Then, a plump, round object, resembling an oversized bomb, slowly rose from the horizon, its long tail dragging behind it. "What the hell is that?" Captain Shi frowned.

Chapter 437: Embracing Despair (1) Forming Up to Meet the Enemy

When the sun just moved from the noon overhead to the western sky, the battle situation on the front line of Madian Town took a sharp turn for the worse.

The Japanese army seemed to realize the shortcomings of their morning cavalry and tank assaults, and they paused for a while before launching another attack near dusk. However, this time, they seemed to have identified Wucui Village on the north side of the road as the key to breaking through the dense blockade, and shifted the focus of their attack there.

Nearly half a day's extra preparation time led to an extremely abrupt shift in the Japanese tactics, as if a commander had suddenly changed his temper—or perhaps a new commander had taken over. Under the cover of incredibly fierce artillery fire, the tanks no longer charged like high-speed cavalry, but instead engaged in low gear, covering the crouching infantry and the Japanese engineers carrying equipment and driving tracked vehicles.

These elite Japanese engineers, who were classified as "E" and were sufficient to protect the motorized troops, took advantage of the cover of artillery and tanks, relied on the cavalry's vigilance on the flanks, and used various equipment to work very patiently in the main attack direction: they cleared the concertina wire and chevaux de frise outside the positions, dug up the embankments and road ridges, cleared the sparsely populated shaped-charge anti-tank mines and anti-infantry mines, and even tried to use firewood to fill the anti-Japanese trenches that were enough to stop the cavalry, to open an attack channel for the troops.

At the same time, thanks to a military observation balloon slowly rising in the sky, the Japanese army in North China, with its Type 91 105mm howitzer, a treasured weapon, gained the ultimate commanding advantage on the plains. With its exceptionally high reaction speed, it began to rapidly suppress our counterattacks with a range of over ten kilometers.

12门105毫米榴弹炮联合8门75毫米山炮,甚至还有一些机动步兵带来的大队炮,对阵地上任何敢于暴露自身的我军炮火发动反炮攻击--100迫、82迫击、82高低压..…只消射击阵位被气球侦察到,反压的炮火必然会迅速落下。

The front lines of Wucui Village and Changru Village, which were undermanned and precarious, instantly became isolated boats struggling to survive the turbulent waves!

Bad, bad, bad, bad!

"Political Commissar Lei! You and the comrades who just came up as reinforcements, do not leave the bunker! Wait until the Japanese artillery stops!"

In this miniature "bunker command post" hidden beneath a villager's kitchen, sand and dirt were falling non-stop. Wang Tiechui barked out orders, but his voice couldn't carry far, and the dust from the explosion made him cough. "I know!"

Fortunately, the tunnels and guerrilla bunkers inside Wucui Village were able to provide cover for the troops inside. The collapsed houses turned into piles of earth and rubble, which could also block shrapnel and shock waves to a certain extent.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid! This is the first time for the devils! They themselves are not familiar with it! The density and reaction speed of their artillery fire are far behind our main force!" He loudly comforted the people around him in the face of the rumbling of artillery fire. To be honest, he had never seen devils who could fire such fierce artillery fire, but Wang Tiechui still pretended to be a knowledgeable old man, "This devil is a match for our main force, it's a match made in heaven!"

“Guo Shun!”

Suddenly, he raised his voice a little and rushed to the signalman. "Put down the microphone! Stop shouting 100!"

"Yes!" Guo Shun was startled and quickly turned off the radio's wireless switch.

"If we shout, they will be attacked by the Japanese... Forget it, they won't come even if we shout." Wang Tiechui paused and didn't continue.

If the morning's combined assault was a victory achieved through surprise, this time's artillery, tank, infantry, and engineer coordination had a distinctly "right" feel. Wang Tiechui's mind raced.

Now, he is no longer just an assistant gunner who only needs to serve a "seven-pulled donkey", nor is he a reconnaissance company commander who can infiltrate and raid in mountain valleys, but the commander of a special forces battalion and a front-line commander.

Artillery preparation, tank cover, and even harassment from aviation forces. Wang Tiechui had no time to care about those reconnaissance planes that only carried 50kg bombs at most. He was keenly aware that

The Japanese infantrymen accompanying the tanks were no longer the same group of soldiers in horse uniforms.

These were not dismounted cavalrymen with boots and short rifles, but proper infantrymen—the Japs’ reinforcements had arrived!

The group of devils before him was like a miniature version of the Japanese North China Front: cavalry, tanks, motorized infantry, aviation, heavy artillery, pontoon engineers, and even an independent balloon unit, all gathered together, displaying unprecedented firepower suppression, artillery response, and assault speed. But these devils were just small devils after all. If such combat power was readily available, how could they have been reduced to such a mess in recent years?

Wang Tiechui looked at the watch on his hand - there were less than 3 days left to the goal of "holding for five days".

In other words, I only have to hold on for another two and a half days!

"Comrades, hold on! The devils are fighting against counterfeiting, they can't fool us!"

Finally, as the second round of artillery fire rolled toward the rear of Wucui Village, the Japanese finally deployed their attack formation. This time, nearly two squadrons of Japanese infantry, along with Type 97 tanks, deployed in front of Wucui Village. The Type 97 tanks, far sturdier and taller than the Type 95 light tanks, led multiple lines of infantry and closed within 200 meters of the position.

Thanks to the engineers' work, the minefields, which were already insufficiently dense due to time constraints, were no longer effective. The barbed wire fence that was hastily laid was also cut and destroyed. Apart from the two anti-Japanese trenches surrounding Wucui Village, the communication trenches and anti-Japanese trenches in the distance were disabled or controlled by the Japanese army. All these offensive actions were as standardized as those in actual combat lesson plans.

Or dull.

Once the Japanese army's grassroots capabilities reached squadron level or above, their mobility would rapidly decline. Wang Tiechui quickly reviewed the strength of his forces in his mind—the 1st Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 30th Regiment, which, though damaged, was still intact; the Special Operations Battalion headquarters and guard platoon he led; the support company previously brought by Political Commissar Lei Zhende; and two 82mm high-pressure and low-pressure cannons. It was a pretty good force.

但先前的战斗和炮火急袭破坏了环形阵地里的1门82无后坐力炮和2门60迫击炮,且鉴于那个飘在空中的观测气球,后方炮群的100迫和82迫开火支援的效率都很低--日军这种堂堂正正的战法,也正在讲王铁锤逼上正面对决的预设战场。

At this moment, accompanied by a puff of black smoke from the diesel engine, the Japanese tank shifted into a higher gear and began to accelerate forward. A command flag appeared and waved several times. Taking this as a signal, several Japanese officers drew their sabers and slashed forward. The Japanese infantry began to spread out from behind the tanks to the left and right, shouting and charging!

"Tu Qing!!"

The Japanese's change of formation was like a signal, and both sides on the battlefield opened fire immediately.

The presence of tanks and trenches increased the distances between the two sides. The stable FV-D light machine guns began to supplement the Type 99 and 911 rifles of the 30th Regiment, providing valuable automatic firepower that cut down the Japanese infantry one by one. However, the somewhat sparse firepower ultimately failed to break the Japanese formation. Although the Japanese infantrymen were somewhat unfamiliar with the tactics, they remained disciplined. They leaped forward and lay prone under the fire, and with the cover of the tanks, they quickly rushed into the first trench.

The outermost anti-Japanese trench had been ravaged by artillery fire, and the originally steep inner slope had been blown down. The Japanese infantry quickly took up firing positions and set up machine guns to fire back at our troops, while the tanks downshifted and charged upwards towards the slope which had become much flatter, and continued to fire to suppress our machine gun positions.

"gun!"

Someone shouted, and the anti-tank artillery that had been silent suddenly spoke. The two large and one small 382 shells hidden by the ruins suddenly burst into flames, achieving a good result of hitting all three targets - but perhaps due to the problem of the hit angle and the caliber of the shells, only one 82 shell hit the vehicle body, forcing a Type 97 to stop, and the other only broke the track of another tank; as for the 82 recoilless shell, it actually ricocheted and only knocked down a Japanese soldier next to the tank.

Several undamaged tanks turned their gun barrels and aimed at the loudest recoilless gun. The 57mm short-barreled gun on its turret flashed, and the 82mm gun crew flew out of their firing position!

At the same time, several machine guns crossed the firing line, covering the exposed anti-tank gun position. Fortunately, its gun shield was strong, and it was only hit by the bullets, making a ping-pong sound. However, the Japanese tanks, which outnumbered them, had already turned their turrets around, ready to continue firing and destroy this valuable anti-tank firepower!

"Platoon leader Lu, 60mm grenades, set up a preset target in a trench on the western position, 6 rapid grenades! Cover the political commissar! After the fight, change position!" With the penetrating whistle, Wang Tiechui's order spread across the telephone line.

"Prepare the smoke bomb!"

Chapter 438: Embracing Despair (2) Binding the Ronin

Smoke from explosions, burning, shooting, smoke is everywhere on the battlefield.

But at this moment, the soldiers hidden in the second anti-Japanese trench waved their arms and threw a number of smoke bombs that used to be eight-treasure porridge or soda cans out of the trench. Pulling the detonator quickly ignited the smoke agent inside the bomb, turning these well-behaved steel cans into jumping smoke makers.

The choking smoke, carried by the wind, quickly enveloped the Japanese troops in the first trench, blocking their vision and slowing down the movement of the tanks that were climbing or unable to move.

At the same time, the 60mm mortars, which had been held in reserve, finally began to drop shells. Lu Haotian, commanding the remaining artillery, followed Wang Tiechui's instructions and began firing. Facing this known target, they didn't need line of sight, or even aim at the enemy. The 6mm mortars, with their pre-set parameters, had burst their rate of fire beyond their limits. Within a minute, they had unleashed over 20 shells into the Japanese lying, crouching, and firing in the first trench.

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