under fire

People change.

The opponents will also change.

The surviving Japanese second lieutenant was very young.

The reason he was able to become a second lieutenant at such a young age was because he had attended military school, and also, the army was indeed short of troops and grassroots commanders.

He was always depressed because the Army Department did not give him the opportunity to go to the battlefield.

After joining the garrison, he did not live a life of mediocrity like his compatriots.

He used the knowledge he learned in the military academy to conduct in-depth research on the Eighth Route Army guerrillas.

Recently, intelligence agencies have confirmed that the main force of the Eighth Route Army was transferred to northwestern Shanxi to support northern Shaanxi.

The local Eighth Route Army soldiers who remained on the plains were farmers who had developed their skills with muskets, broadswords and spears and were able to fire three shots or at most launch an ambush.

The Eighth Route Army we encountered this time must be the main force, because... they know how to play with mines.

There are also machine guns and small cannons.

They even used grenade launchers to fire flares.

It is obvious that this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers are not ordinary Eighth Route Army soldiers.

Otherwise, the usually patient Eighth Route Army would not have deliberately exposed its strength during the Imperial Army's large-scale sweep.

One can even guess that there may be important people among them!
Thinking of this, the second lieutenant felt a little excited.

What’s the point of the Eighth Route Army’s machine guns and small cannons?
The Imperial Army also has airplanes and heavy artillery.

If you are lucky, you might catch a big fish...

As for being ambushed, that was nothing?
I squatted on the ground and listened to the gunshots for a long time.

Finally, I understood something: the weapons of the Eighth Route Army were of mixed and disorganized types.

Browning, Mauser, Southern pistols.
Water Ranger, Middle Form, Tomosaka Rifle
Czech-style, large-format light machine guns, and Min-24 heavy machine gun.

Large official grenade launcher, large official 60mm curved gun.
Obviously, most of these weapons were captured from attacks on the Imperial Army.

Another small part should be weapons accidentally lost by the Imperial Army.

Judging from these messy weapons and equipment, supply is definitely a big problem.

The Eighth Route Army had previously ambushed the Imperial Army and the Lieutenant's Unit. If nothing unexpected happened, their grenade launchers and hand grenades had probably been almost used up.

What made him a little worried was that the fate of the second squad and the squadron's baggage team was unknown, and the grenade launchers they carried might have fallen into the hands of the Eighth Route Army. The most troublesome thing was the two mortars and a basic supply of thirty rounds of artillery shells brought by the third squad.
The Eighth Route Army is now capable of fighting against himself.

Now there are only more than seventy elite imperial troops under his command, and about one hundred and fifty imperial auxiliary troops.

Poor visibility at night reduced the Imperial Army's ability to kill the enemy at long distances.

If you have the strength of a squadron of the Imperial Army in your hands and you can set up a good defensive position, you won't have to be afraid of any Eighth Route Army troops!

But these imperial army are as stupid as pigs.
If a fight really breaks out, they won't know where to point their guns in the dark.
Most of those local guerrillas are not afraid of death and are good at stealing at night. Even if I take a completely defensive stance, I may not be able to hold out until dawn.

It is not advisable to defend yourself and wait for help and fight with the enemy for lives.

Send men to Donggu Town to order the Imperial Army stationed there to come for reinforcement, which will take at least two hours.

At present, the only way left is to use the darkness to fight mobile warfare with the Eighth Route Army.

The darkness of night was equal to both attackers and defenders, so he decided to give the Eighth Route Army a fierce blow before retreating.

Then take back the initiative on the battlefield, fight if you want to, retreat if you don't want to.

As long as we keep a close eye on this group of local guerrillas and wait for the arrival of the Imperial Army reinforcements at dawn, it will be easy to wipe out this cunning group of local guerrillas in one fell swoop.

The Eighth Route Army clearly used infiltration tactics.

It's not a very brilliant tactic.

After his grenade launchers had used up half of their ammunition, the second lieutenant suddenly ordered a breakout to the east.

The pseudo-battalion commander who ordered his company commander to hastily assemble the troops was somewhat confused: "Why not run west? As long as we cross the canal, we can not only get rid of the pursuers, but also quickly join up with the main force of the imperial army."

Escape? The lieutenant suppressed his anger and explained in a low voice: "We are now located to the north of where the Imperial Army was attacked, and the Eighth Route Army that originally attacked the Imperial Army is attacking us from the south. Therefore, I judge that the Eighth Route Army's troops in the east are empty."

"Taijun, how do you know so much?"

"Listen carefully to the gunshots coming from the south."

"What does this have to do with the gunshots?" The pseudo-battalion commander was stunned.

"The weapons of the Eighth Route Army are in disarray, and there has been no movement in the east until now." The second lieutenant wanted to kill this idiot. The vanguard suffered the greatest losses during the breakout, and for the time being they had to rely on this group of Imperial Army to take the lead. He patiently explained.

"You are wise, my lady!" The pseudo-battalion commander finally had a glimmer of confidence. Who would be willing to swim across the river in the dark in the middle of the night?
It would be dangerous if we were attacked by the Eighth Route Army while crossing the river!
After the 9th Battalion entered the plain.

Each division was basically extremely poor and was unable to provide ammunition supplies to the Ninth Battalion, a major consumer of ammunition.

The guns, ammunition and supplies were almost all sourced from the spoils of war that the Japanese and puppet troops used to support their operations.

The situation of troop replenishment is slightly better. The county brigade, district squad, militia, guerrillas and other semi-full-time teams can more or less draw some people to supplement the Ninth Battalion... but they are reluctant to release the soldiers who can really fight.

Therefore, most of the soldiers sent to the Ninth Battalion were new recruits, many of whom had not even undergone the most basic drill training.
If the situation is good, they may follow the team to carry out combat tasks such as delivering food and carrying the wounded.
The only advantage is that everyone has practiced sword fighting and stabbing with wooden spears. Generally speaking, the team's weapons are messy, and the quality of the soldiers added is uneven, so the combat effectiveness should be getting worse and worse.

However, the combat effectiveness of the Ninth Battalion became stronger and stronger.

The reason Hu Yi summarized was very simple. The Ninth Battalion's foundation was not bad. Most of the opponents they encountered were puppet troops, and the Japanese they encountered were not the main force.

This low-intensity battlefield is the best crash course training.

In a small-scale battle, the commander can rely on temporary command to make up for the gap between the two sides. However, if a real war occurs, it is entirely possible that they will collapse at the first blow.

Therefore, Hu Yi generally does not fight tough battles.
boom.
The gunshots in the darkness were exceptionally loud, breaking the vast silence in the east.

The sudden sound of gunfire broke the taut nerves in the hearts of the 30-odd puppet soldiers in the vanguard.

More than thirty figures lay forward in a disorderly manner, and hastily raised their guns and fired back at the flash point in front of them.

The pseudo-platoon leader who was acting as the vanguard shouted: "Hit, hit! Hit hard!"

"Cease fire! Everyone, get up." The pseudo-company commander's voice suddenly sounded from the rear: "The Tubalu only have a guard post, they are located to the south, quickly charge to the north!"

The hysterical shouting suppressed the gunfire from the men in front.

The pseudo-battalion commander, who was not far behind the breakout team, lay on the ground and didn't even dare to raise his head.

He was very satisfied with the on-the-spot command of his general and company commander.

Although, one is calling for fighting, the other is calling for a ceasefire...

The team got up again and ran east.

Gunshots rang out continuously in the darkness to the south.

Screams were heard one after another from the crowd running eastward.

"Don't worry, they can't shoot accurately in the dark!" the pseudo-company commander shouted loudly.

Occasionally, some brave puppet soldiers would raise their guns and fire back indiscriminately to the south while running.

The second lieutenant at the back shouted in bird language, but it was useless.

He originally wanted to remind the battalion commander of the Imperial Army that he should send a squad to clear out the Eighth Route Army guard posts that were shooting secretly in the south.

Since it was judged that there could not be a large number of Eighth Route Army troops in the east, the breakout was quite smooth with a platoon of "heavy troops" sent by the Imperial Army to lead the way.

Think about it and forget it.

The Japs mixed in among the puppet army and maintained their battle formation even in the dark, raising their guns and taking turns to cover their retreat to the east.

The night is fair.

Apart from the occasional gunfire, the two sides could not see each other...

Xiao Hongying was helpless.

I watched helplessly as a large number of dark shadows shouted and rushed across the dirt road, running eastward into the darkness.

I just fired two shots, which attracted a large number of bullets in return.

It seemed that they felt safe. In the distance, a puppet soldier with a light machine gun hurriedly fired a full magazine towards the position where the Eighth Route Army had previously fired a black gun.

Bullet after bullet whizzed and puffed into the soil beside her.

Liu Yuanqing couldn't help but feel a little scared: "If the puppet army rushes towards us, we will be in big trouble."

Xiao Hongying raised her head, raised the submachine gun in her hand, and gritted her teeth: "They are lucky not to come here, otherwise I would have piled them all here."

"The submachine gun fired two shots and all the bullets were used up." Liu Yuanqing was very upset: "You will die if you don't brag?"

"What should we do now?"

"What else can I do? It's pitch dark, don't chase after the desperate enemy."

A dark figure hurriedly slid over along the ditch: "Report to Instructor Hong, uh, Instructor Liu, among the enemies running east, some of them secretly stayed behind."

"How do you know?" The instructor usually does not participate in combat command, but when it comes to Xiao Hongying,
"Hehe, Lao Liu and I were responsible for guarding the east side. When a large number of enemies rushed over just now, because there were too many of them, Lao Liu and I lay in the ditch pretending to be dead, and took advantage of the chaos to sneak into the puppet army's rear guard."

"What about Lao Liu?" Xiao Hongying's tone became urgent.

"He stayed in the puppet army. He said he would come back before dawn."

"What if we are recognized by the puppet soldiers?"

"In the dark, put some dirt on your face. As long as you don't say anything, no one will recognize you."

"What if the puppet army is assembled?" Liu Yuanqing's scalp tingled. Isn't this too ridiculous?

"In this situation where everyone is running for their lives in a panic, the puppet soldiers will be left with nothing to do. The puppet army officials will be very lucky." The sentry said with disdain: "Hehe, if the puppet army reorganizes temporarily, Lao Liu will throw two grenades into the puppet army team. I guarantee that when they run away again, they will be caught by rabbits."

"Don't talk about useless things. How many Japanese and puppet troops ran away to the east?" Xiao Hongying interrupted the guard's bragging.

"It was dark, and I couldn't count clearly." The guard touched his head awkwardly. (End of this chapter)