under fire

As the sun completely set, the remaining dark red on the western mountain peaks and horizon slowly turned into light gray.

As night fell, the Japanese soldiers and their collaborators actually sped up their crossing of the river.

They crossed the river from two points, one to the north and one to the south, about 300 meters away from the smoke. The Japanese and their puppet troops were not foolish enough to swim through the smoke from the front and become targets.

The canal surface became chaotic for a time.

Despite the bustling crowd, there was an eerie calm.

The Japanese didn't even routinely use machine guns to fire reconnaissance shots through the smoke.

Those who can swim can swim by themselves, while those who can't swim can grab onto the wooden frames of large carts floating on the river to cross.

Apart from the remaining supply troops, most of the puppet troops had crossed the river upstream and downstream from the Donggu Ferry.

As time went on, the sky grew increasingly dark.

at last.

Ba Gou'er.
The crisp sound of the Type 38 rifle's axle!

Perhaps only one shot was fired, but people with good hearing could tell that the sound was actually three shots fired.

The gunshots instantly shattered the eerie silence on both sides of the canal.

The sharp, three-shot brass whistle pierced through the smoke.

The sound of the copper whistle was the order to fire.

The mortars and grenade launchers deployed by the Ninth Battalion along the reverse slope of the river embankment then emitted thuds of varying sizes.

The gunshots reached the other side of the river, as if they had stirred up a hornet's nest in the early morning.

*Puff puff puff*
Da da da.
Bang bang bang.
The Japanese soldiers on the opposite bank of the river quickly returned fire with their light and heavy machine guns and rifles.

The firepower density of the 10,000-ton platoon was far inferior to that of the Japanese.

The first volley of grenades almost entirely landed on the Japanese light and heavy machine gun and mortar positions on the east bank.

Because the shooter's vision was poor in the smoke and he couldn't see the target, he had no sense of direction and couldn't visually assess the effect of the first round of shooting, so the shooter gradually became anxious.

The next three mortar shells and grenades fired almost all hit the vicinity of the target.

After firing four grenades, the grenadier didn't hesitate to grab the scorching hot grenade launcher and crouch down to slip away into the smoke on the west side, far from the riverbank.

With the river embankment as cover, the best option was to withdraw from the position before the Japanese artillery observers calculated the location based on the impact points and directed the Japanese mortars and grenade launchers to return fire.

Disassembling a mortar takes time, so the gunners didn't disassemble it; instead, they discarded it and crawled directly into the anti-artillery hole on the reverse slope of the riverbank.

The Japanese artillery commander, who had been bombed, was dumbfounded.

This unscientific.

Mortar shells and grenade launchers fired from the smoke across the canal caught the Imperial Japanese Army's top artillery position, which was on high alert and ready to suppress the enemy with firepower, completely off guard.

Fortunately, the Eighth Route Army's firepower was only so-so, and the Japanese soldiers, who had lost a few artillerymen and a dozen grenade launcher operators, quickly organized a counterattack.

The Japanese artillery observer, who had been keeping a close eye on the falling shells and grenades, quickly calculated the target parameters.

Then he yelled out the target location parameters at the top of his lungs.

The counterattack against the Ninth Battalion in Hexi was swift; from the moment the bomb was fired to the moment the first shell left the barrel, it took less than a minute.

Approximate parameters are not the same as detailed parameters. Due to the dispersed locations of artillery positions, the impact points of the shells during the counterattack were quite chaotic.

Even so, almost all the grenade launchers landed near the mortar positions of the Ninth Battalion.

At this point, the Japanese forces on the east bank unleashed their full firepower to suppress the enemy.

The sounds of chicken neck rifles, Type 96 rifles, Type 38 rifles, and mortars firing came in rapid succession.

The muzzles of the light and heavy machine guns trembled, flashing warm halos time and again, and the smoke generated by the continuous firing was quickly carried away by the evening breeze.

The spinning bullets whistled as they flew across the river, creating plumes of smoke.

Artillery shells and grenades flew into the sky, and after reaching their highest point, they rushed to crash into the smoke on the west bank of the canal.

Low-trajectory bullets continued to bombard the inner side of the riverbank.

The bullets, with their high trajectories, whistled as they grazed the edge of the riverbank and flew into the distance, finally plunging into the ground with a soft thud.

One by one, the bouncing shell casings fell, trailing smoke.

For a time, mud, rain, dust, and smoke filled the air near the riverbank.

"Ouch... I've been shot!" A soldier hiding in the artillery shelter clutched his arm tightly with both hands, blood seeping from between his fingers and spreading rapidly downwards.

Shrapnel from the grenade explosion cut his arm.

The Japanese soldiers on the east bank continued to fire with light and heavy machine guns.

Bullets flew through the smoke-filled sky above the west bank.

But they could not stop the lives of the three fearless Japanese scouts who had approached the smoke from the north to conduct reconnaissance.

Three Japanese soldiers were shot in the chest and abdomen.

Surprisingly, they were not killed immediately.

He was still rolling, convulsing, and screaming on the ground.

After firing his first shot, the sharpshooter in Li Xiang's company had no interest in observing the surroundings. He and two other soldiers quickly crawled away along the trench, their buttocks sticking out, amidst the whistling of bullets overhead and the occasional explosions near the riverbank.

The man in the middle turned around and said, "Hey, team leader, I have a feeling that if I could hit a Japanese soldier's head from fifty meters away, I'd be ninety percent sure..."

"Hitting the Japanese devils in the heart kills them even faster." The person at the front also turned around to join in the fun.

The rearguard leader said sternly, "On the battlefield, it's more advantageous for us to incapacitate the enemy and turn them into severely wounded..."

“I know… a seriously wounded Japanese soldier needs at least two Japanese soldiers or puppet troops to carry him.”

The leader spoke with some dissatisfaction: "But, once the Japanese soldier recovers from his injuries, won't he be able to go back to the battlefield?"

"In a situation where the enemy is strong and we are weak, wounding the enemy is more effective than killing them. Listen, how beautiful are the screams of the Japanese soldiers who have been shot?"

"Shh, the company commander is ahead!"

The three of them immediately shut up.

Not far ahead, at the edge of the smoke, Li Xiang, his brows furrowed, knelt in the ditch, rifle in hand, peeking out occasionally in the gaps between the explosions of artillery shells and grenades.

His gaze was fixed on the puppet soldiers lying on the ground a hundred meters away in the northwest direction at ten o'clock.

The killing of the Japanese scouts drew enemy suppressive fire from the east bank, prompting a swift counterattack.

This also caused the puppet troops advancing from the north to stop about 100 meters from the edge of the smoke.

Hu Yi lay prone not far from Li Xiang, occasionally raising his rifle to fire.

With each shot fired, the two light machine guns at the newly established Japanese light machine gun position on the west bank ceased firing because the gunner was shot in the chest.

He repeatedly peeked out to fire, then quickly ducked back to avoid the target after killing it.

The enemy's suppressive light and heavy machine gun fire on the east bank of the river was blocked by the river embankment, so the bullets flew wildly overhead but posed no threat.

With the light machine guns hastily deployed by the Japanese troops on both the north and south sides of the river remaining silent, the Ninth Battalion's position currently only suffers from artillery shells and grenade launchers from the Japanese on the east bank, and is hardly threatened by Japanese machine gun fire.

south.

"Only fire at those puppet troops' light machine guns! Don't shoot at those puppet troops crawling forward, make them crawl! Do you hear me? Make them crawl!"

"Mine team, prepare."

"The smoke team must retreat immediately and go back to collect their weapons to participate in the interception."

"God has smiled upon us! Those Japanese devils and puppet troops have stolen our job!" Zhao Ping'an, the new recruit platoon leader who was originally assigned the task of setting off smoke signals, was overjoyed: "Everyone, go back and get your guns! Let's fight the Japanese!"

"Although our marksmanship isn't as good as those guys under Company Commander Li, we can still kill a few Japanese soldiers even with a flurry of shots."

There's no point in comparing people.

As seen by Zhao Ping'an, the new recruit platoon leader, a soldier from the second squad of the first platoon under Li Xiang's command fired only one shot and took down three Japanese soldiers who were approaching the smoke from the south!
The machine guns of the puppet troops to the north swept south, and the bullets hit the edge of the smoke, sending up several plumes of dust.

"Fuck your ancestors!" Zhao Ping'an rubbed his head and slid down against the trench.

The doctor, who was about to bandage the platoon leader, then realized that there was no blood on the platoon leader's hand covering his head; he must have been hit on the head by flying sand.

More than 30 soldiers crawled back through the trenches to the fire brigade soldiers and successfully retrieved their rifles.

Just as they were about to crawl north to join the battle, a soldier's voice rang out from the communication trench: "Instructor Hongying has ordered that all new recruits remain as reserves."

Suddenly, the sharp sound of a mortar shell falling came from afar, and the voice turned into a high-pitched roar: "Everyone down!"

A mortar shell falling from the sky landed right in the trench.

boom.
The messenger was blown out of the trench.
It remained motionless after landing.

A strong stench of blood permeated the surrounding smoke, gunpowder, and dust.

Noise, my ears were filled with the echoes of explosions.

A violent shockwave swept through the trench, stunning more than thirty new recruits.

Dust, mingled with blood, fell in a continuous stream.

Smoke billowed, obscuring the sky and the moon.

East bank.

The Japanese major frowned deeply.

I never expected that the attacking side would be the first to be bombed.

The artillery and machine gun positions were set up directly on the riverbank, which clearly indicated that the Eighth Route Army had pre-marked the firing parameters.

I felt a pang of regret; I had been so careless earlier.

The brief barrage of mortar and grenade launcher fire by the Eighth Route Army inflicted considerable casualties on the Imperial Army's positions.

After observing for a while, I quickly realized that the river embankment was higher than the river surface.

As long as the Eighth Route Army soldiers lay prone in the smoke on the opposite bank, light and heavy machine gun bullets were almost ineffective against them.

It's clearly not completely dark yet.

The western part of the canal was shrouded in mist, as dark as night.
The Eighth Route Army is trying to drag the battle completely into the night.

smoke
smoke!

Do you think the Eighth Route Army can use smoke screens?
The saying goes, "The righteous path is one foot high, but the evil path is ten feet high."
He immediately raised his voice and, amidst the clamor, brandished his command sword, ordering: "Light and heavy machine guns, cease suppression! Fire smoke grenades and chemical bombs with grenade launchers! The puppet troops crossing the river, follow the Imperial Army in a charge, and wipe out the Eighth Route Army in the smoke!"

The Eighth Route Army wants to use smoke? No way!
The Imperial Army and its collaborators that crossed the river outnumbered the Eighth Route Army by far!

I'll crush you!
The Japanese messengers issued commands via flag signals and shouts.

The suppressive machine gun positions on the east bank ceased fire.

After the Japanese and puppet troops who had crossed the river joined up with the vanguard, they began firing smoke grenades into the edge of the smoke where the Eighth Route Army was hiding.

Centered on the position of the Imperial Army Commander Major.

At the 7 o'clock and 11 o'clock positions, the puppet troops who had been sweeping with the Imperial Army for many years were rapidly assembling under the command of the supervising Japanese soldiers.

Perhaps because they encountered very little resistance, the puppet army battalion commander believed that his men were not much weaker than the Imperial Army.

When the Imperial Army scouts were suddenly shot and fell to the ground, there were only a few gunshots in the smoke. What happened next was even more absurd: anyone who got close to the machine gun died.

The fake battalion commander finally realized that he might have met his match this time.

Previously, a continuous line was arranged to surround the smoke westward along the edge of the smoke.

Then they received another order from the Imperial Army: all troops should advance and charge into the smoke.
I had heard that the Eighth Route Army was best at planting landmines.

Currently, we are about a hundred meters away from the edge of the smoke. Given the nature of the Eighth Route Army, it's impossible that they didn't plant landmines.

Fortunately, the Imperial Army started using smoke bombs.

My men didn't have gas masks, and when the smoke came on, who the hell could see whether they actually rushed into it, especially since it was dark and they were in the smoke?

The Imperial Army's order for a full-scale attack could seemingly be accomplished in a different way.

Watching the smoke from the smoke bomb, I couldn't help but be tempted.

What a huge cloud of smoke!
it is good!
With this idea in mind, I quickly looked at the Imperial Army's position on the side closest to the canal.

He glanced back at the Imperial Army's supervisory squad behind him, pondered for a moment, then beckoned to his company commander and whispered a few words in his ear. (End of Chapter)