afterglow

Chapter 48 Situation Reversal

Although it felt like he hadn't lost consciousness for a long time, when Zhou Changfeng woke up, the surrounding light was obviously much dimmer.

Because he saw Xie Wancheng wandering around at the first sight, so the first thing he said was to chase him away, "Aren't you going to take over the command?! What's the situation now?"

With a helpless face, Xie Wancheng gave a wry smile, and said in a deep voice, "Well... Battalion Commander, don't worry, it's already past five o'clock in the afternoon, Battalion Commander, you have been unconscious for more than two hours, now..."

"Battle situation, just talk about the battle situation!"

"Uh...the enemy army attacked again at [-]:[-] p.m., advancing from all directions. The three teams in the south of the city were in good condition, but the first team in the north of the city lost contact and was cut off by a wave of enemy troops. The enemy army in the west of the city was very strong. Suddenly, it rushed to our side again, and I sent the reserve team into the battle and repelled them."

Zhou Changfeng felt dry in his mouth, licked his lips, and asked: "How is the situation of the first team now?
Xie Wancheng pointed to the north, and replied: "The situation is unknown. The two squads of the reserve team encountered a detachment composed of tanks and infantry from the enemy when they were detouring northeast of the city. However, there is still a firefight in the north of the city, and there are at least two of our heavy machine guns ringing, so we should be able to hold on."

Zhou Changfeng nodded and said casually, "Where's my kettle?"

"No, I'm not sure if your internal bleeding is serious or not. You shouldn't drink water now." The second lieutenant of the military doctor walked over and asked again: "Sir, how do you feel now?"

"The painkiller injection in the afternoon hasn't worn off yet, so I don't feel it now."

"Then let's lie down and rest first, the enemy army has already retreated."

At this moment, the dense gunfire in the distance to the north suddenly weakened?
All the people present suddenly became alert, and turned their heads to look north of the city at the same time.

"It's not a big problem. It should be that the enemy is retreating." Zhou Changfeng blinked and listened for a few seconds, "Listen, there are at least two Type [-] heavy machine guns still ringing, and the sound of the Vickers heavy machine gun It's gone."

The sounds of the two are very special, and it is not difficult to distinguish them after staying on the battlefield for a long time-the sound of the Type [-] heavy machine gun is similar to that of a hammer hitting a nail, which is a short and clear "listen" sound; while the Vickers heavy machine gun is It was a loud "thump, thump, thump" sound.

After a while, the gunfire from our own side gradually stopped, and two green flares were fired from the north of the city.

The British and Indian troops who broke into the city and fought for most of the day chose to give up and began to withdraw from the battle under alternate cover.

The fierce exchange of fire turned into sporadic gunfire, and the little Dmagee seemed to be calm again.

The exhausted officers and soldiers sat down one by one like deflated balls, leaning against the ruined wall with their guns in their arms and remained silent, as if rejoicing for the rest of their lives after the catastrophe.

"Stay alert! Take turns eating!"

It was getting darker and darker, and the continuous dark clouds that had been gloomy all day had dissipated now, and the western sky reflected the sunset glow.

Zhou Changfeng asked the communication platoon to send a concise telegram to Lingzhi headquarters, saying:

"Report to Lingzhi Headquarters. The staff has been fighting fiercely for three days to seize Demaji. They have blocked the enemy's advance to the east. The enemy has withdrawn and returned to defense. The mission has been completed. A total of more than a thousand enemy troops were killed and wounded, and more than [-] tanks were destroyed. Shot down an enemy plane and captured one of the pilots alive. In addition, our side suffered a lot of losses and was unable to fight again. Sincerely.

A character [-] troops
telegram at noon

After that, the [-]st Battalion sent a telegram to the brigade headquarters to report the specific situation of the Wilson Task Force, but there was no response.

Logically speaking, the main force should already be very close to De Maji, and the leading unit may arrive tonight.

"Strange thing, can you still get in touch in the morning?" Xie Wancheng said with some worry.

"Probably keeping the radio silent." Zhou Changfeng waved his hands with a tired face, and said relaxedly: "Don't worry, we should rest when we should, just stay alert."

Later, when the painkiller injection in the afternoon wore off, Zhou Changfeng felt a dull ache all over his body, but it was relatively weak and did not affect his sleep.

Because he hadn't had a good rest for several days, he slept very deeply the night the fierce battle ended.

However, when it was halfway through Yinshi, dense gunshots and continuous bangs suddenly sounded in the distance to the east of the city?
But the firefight lasted very short, ended in about a few minutes, and then rang out again after a while, and this was repeated about four times.

The awakened Zhou Changfeng came to the window, listened carefully for a few seconds, and guessed: "It should be the leading unit of the large army fighting with the enemy's small infiltration unit."

War is not simply a frontal battle. The side that occupies the initiative will often send small groups of troops to infiltrate from multiple directions to cut off the enemy's connection with the outside world, and at the same time act as sentries and screen guards.

In the past few days, the British and Indian troops have dispatched many reconnaissance teams and combat patrols to infiltrate around Demaji, and several of them are lurking near the east of the city.

The reconnaissance battalion of the mixed third brigade had already arrived, and the limited-scale British and Indian troops naturally couldn't compete with it, so they retreated quickly.

Realizing that the main force of the Ming army was about to arrive on the battlefield, Wilson immediately ordered all ministries to make defensive preparations, rearrange firepower points, adjust defense lines, and organize circular positions.

The dozen or so howitzers of the British-Indian Fourth Artillery Battalion ended their deployment and began to gather and hang on trucks for transfer and deployment; the remaining twenty or so tanks of the Fifth Royal Tank Regiment also went to their respective locations under the guidance of soldiers holding signal sticks. The assigned battle position.

On the city side, a platoon from the reconnaissance battalion had already entered cautiously, got in touch with the first battalion, and immediately began to lay telephone lines.

According to the order of the brigade commander Huang Taize, the reconnaissance battalion was deployed on the right terrain in the east to establish a solid stronghold in advance for the large troops that arrived later; Firepower configuration.

About an hour later, the [-]th and [-]th Battalions also arrived, followed by the Engineer and [-]rd Battalions.

Around [-]:[-], the brigade headquarters, the second battalion, and the anti-aircraft artillery team arrived, and immediately began to set up the command post on the spot. Only Huang Taize, who was tired and bright-eyed, ordered an immediate attack.

The fourth battalion mainly attacked the No. [-] highland, the fifth battalion turned north to the flank of the enemy's main position, the third battalion attacked the enemy from the front, and the second battalion entered the city and was ready to respond at any time!

After a brief silence of less than two quarters of an hour, the peaceful midsummer night was broken again.

There was a sudden sound of guns and artillery, and the 80mm mortars of several battalions fired one after another. One after another, the mortar shells fell on the defense line of the Wilson contingent, and flares and flares of various colors continued to rise into the night sky. The battlefield here is like daytime.

Major Sampson bowed and walked quickly into a bunker to report the situation to Major General Wilson.

He anxiously said: "Your Excellency, we are in trouble, they are surrounding us! The circular position has been attacked by at least [-] Chinese troops in two directions, and the B company of the Raigal Battalion claimed that there are still an unknown number of Chinese infantry in the northeast. Move quickly in the direction!"

"They are faster than we expected. According to yesterday's air reconnaissance, they should not arrive until noon tomorrow." Wilson frowned, reached out and tapped the map, and said solemnly: "We must persist until morning, and then we will be in the air again." Retreat with support!"

(End of this chapter)