The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 208 Anti-aircraft guns leveled, military court

There were more than fifty Japanese soldiers huddled below the high ground, either huddled or crawling. Everyone tried their best to avoid exposing their bodies to avoid being attacked by the Chinese army.

Therefore, no one paid attention to the gasoline barrels dropped on the high ground. However, as the five gasoline barrels got closer and closer to the bottom of the high ground, the sound of the collision between the gasoline barrels and the rocks on the hillside became louder and louder. Something strange.

Dong Dong - Dong Dong

The sounds of steel colliding were heard by many Japanese soldiers in the highlands, including their supreme commander, Captain Sakamoto. Captain Sakamoto hid behind a stone, pointed at a commander of the squadron, and shouted: "See what's going on up there?"

The Captain Cao rolled over and climbed over. He raised his head carefully and saw five strange-looking gasoline barrels tumbling down on the hillside more than a hundred meters away. They looked like ordinary military gasoline barrels, but the gasoline barrels looked like ordinary military gasoline barrels. There seems to be something extra on the barrel.

In order to understand the situation, the Cao Commander raised the Cao Changjing to observe, but as soon as he saw the gasoline barrels clearly, the Cao Commander's face suddenly turned pale, because he saw clearly that the gasoline barrels were tied with mortars. Artillery shells and yellow explosives. Although he did not understand what was in the gasoline barrels dropped by the Chinese, but since they were tied with mortar shells and yellow explosives, the gasoline barrels must be used by the Chinese army to attack the enemy. Explosives, and it is self-evident who the enemy being attacked is.

"Baga, what are you doing standing still? What's going on up there?"

Captain Sakamoto cursed loudly, but even after shouting a few words, the commander Cao didn't respond. The furious Captain Sakamoto had to stand up and observe by himself. At this time, the five gasoline barrels were only a few dozen meters away from the bottom of the highland.

When Captain Sakamoto saw the gasoline barrels tied with grenades and explosives, he immediately understood everything. The blood on his face disappeared. At this time, two more gasoline barrels hit the big rocks on the hillside hard, and were then knocked out. It flew up and hit the bottom of the high ground from mid-air.

"Run!"

Captain Sakamoto shouted the last words of his life, and on the high ground, He Wei also shouted the shooting order almost at the same time.

"Machine gun, shoot!"

The brief firing order was transmitted to the command post of the anti-aircraft artillery battery, and Company Commander Chen also shouted into the phone with great momentum: "Fire the whole company!"

The base gun next to Company Commander Chen fired first, and the fourth gunner of the machine gun stepped hard on the machine gun's firing pedal.

Dong dong dong - dong dong dong - dong dong dong

Bursts of fire erupted from the muzzle of the Sulothong 20mm machine gun, and more than a dozen 20mm armor-piercing incendiary explosive shells came out in response. For the Sulothong machine gun artillerymen who have long been trained in air combat, shooting Of course, the stupid and slow gasoline can is not a problem.

In the midst of lightning and flint, the benchmark gun continuously fired an entire magazine and then accurately hit the gasoline barrel in mid-air. Seven or eight 20mm armor-piercing explosive and incendiary bombs easily penetrated the thin iron oil barrel. The oil barrel burned and exploded, hitting the 82mm yellow phosphorus mortar shell and TNT explosive block that were equipped with instant fuzes.

The armor-piercing bullet penetrated the body of the mortar shell, penetrated the explosive block, and exploded and burned inside the yellow phosphorus bomb body and the explosive block. Finally, this bullet was composed of yellow phosphorus bomb, gasoline, high explosives, and sugar. The mixed gasoline bombs exploded in the air and rained down on the Japanese troops below the high ground.

Dong dong dong - dong dong dong - dong dong dong

Boom

The remaining five Sulotong machine guns of the anti-aircraft gun battery also opened fire one after another, hitting other gasoline barrels. Flames suddenly rose from below the high ground. Captain Sakamoto and the commander Cao didn't even have time to dodge, and watched helplessly as balls of flames appeared in the sky. Then they were surrounded by the flames, and the Japanese troops hiding in the blind corners and behind the rocks below the high ground were swallowed up by the flames without realizing it.

Gasoline mixed with sugar ruthlessly surrounded more than 50 Japanese soldiers. It could be seen that the flaming liquid gasoline swooped down like meteor showers and fireflies, turning the open land below the high ground into a sea of ​​​​fire, burning withered and yellow. The thatch is peeling off loudly.

The explosion of the 82 yellow phosphorus mortar bombs added fuel to the burning of gasoline. After the yellow phosphorus deflagrated, it produced dense white smoke and soaring flames. To a certain extent, the burning effect of these yellow phosphorus bombs was better than Gasoline is even more terrifying, because not only can yellow phosphorus not be extinguished when burned, but it will also burn the human body until only bones are left.

The imported yellow phosphorus filled in the 82 mortar will burn all the skin and flesh when it adheres to the human body after the explosion, leaving only the bones. After the explosion, it will produce cloud-like flames, and all surrounding creatures will be burned. Its fatal method is to cause the victim to burn and peel off from the outer skin, then burn to the muscles, internal organs, and until the bones are left, that is, the victim must be burned to death.

It is no accident that the chemical troops of the national army include the Jinling-made 82 mortar equipped with yellow phosphorus bombs. Although this weapon cannot be called a chemical weapon, its terrifying killing effect and terrifying killing process are No less inferior to the most rudimentary biological and chemical weapons.

When the yellow phosphorus in the bomb explodes, it will be crushed into many fine particles and dispersed in the air. These particles quickly spontaneously ignited in the air and quickly formed white smoke clouds. As a result, white smoke clouds, yellow flames and red fluid flames after gasoline deflagration mixed together to form a picture of hell.

The result of the superposition of all kinds of terrifying weapons was that the howling of ghosts and wolves suddenly sounded from below the high ground. More than fifty Japanese soldiers all turned into burning men, running around, shouting for help, and some people were Rolling on the ground, some people kept tearing their clothes in an attempt to put out the flames burning on their bodies.

Unfortunately, all this was in vain. The sticky burning flames stuck to the Japanese soldiers' clothes and could not be removed. Chief Cao and Captain Sakamoto who first discovered the gasoline barrel were lucky. Captain Sakamoto was ignited by the flames all over his body. Later, knowing that he could not survive, he pulled out the Southern Type 14 pistol from his waist and gave himself a good blow. However, the commander Cao was directly hit by a 20mm machine-gun shell and was beaten to pieces, but it was still a good blow. way of death.

The remaining Japanese troops were not so lucky. They all lost their weapons and were struggling in the flames. Dozens of them ran around in the open ground, rolling and shouting, while bursts of cheers broke out on the high ground.

Whether it was the command post of the 956th Regiment, the officers and soldiers of the anti-aircraft artillery company, or even the officers and soldiers of the special agent platoon and mortar platoon led by Fu Chen who were tasked with blocking the retreat of the Japanese army, they saw the Japanese army being beaten like this. Everyone applauded.

The officers and soldiers of the anti-aircraft artillery company all stopped shooting in a tacit understanding after completing their mission. They did not want to continue to waste precious imported machine shells on these Japanese soldiers who were bound to die, and they did not want the Japanese soldiers to die in pain. They could only let these invaders burn in the blazing flames. Only a painful death from burning can comfort the souls in heaven of countless sacrificed officers and soldiers and dead people. This is the fate that the invaders deserve.

The tragic scene not only made the Chinese officers and soldiers applaud, but also frightened the ten Japanese infantry squadrons in front of the obstacle area, many Japanese infantry, and even the regiment artillery squadron, brigade artillery squadron and rapid fire that were already on the front line. The gunners in the artillery squadron were shocked by the scene before them, and even slowed down the firing speed of their weapons.

There is no other reason. This is the first time for many Japanese soldiers to see such a scene, and it is also the first time to see one of their own people fall to such an end. They watch each of their comrades being burned by the flames in front of their eyes, burned to coke, and brought to the rear. The shock of the Japanese army is beyond words.

In the Japanese army's forward artillery observation post, Captain Katagiri Gurō of the 9th Infantry Regiment and Captain Ohno Nobuaki of the 20th Infantry Regiment both lowered their heads sadly. There is no doubt that this sound is not as good as the artillery. The tragic howl announced the total destruction of the 6th Squadron of the 9th Infantry Regiment and the 1st Squadron of the 20th Infantry Regiment.

In order to rescue their respective subordinates, Katagiri Gorō and Ohno Nobuaki both left their respective regiment command posts and came to the forward artillery command post to coordinate the rescue operation. They both signed a letter requesting the division's artillery to increase its firepower. As soon as the call was made, the front suddenly changed and turned into a sea of ​​​​fire. At this point, the so-called rescue operation was "over before it even started."

However, just as the Japanese soldiers on the front line were shocked and disgusted by the scene before them, they did not know that bad luck was about to befall them.

"Hahaha, good fight. In ancient times, red cliffs were set on fire, but today, your brother He is setting fire to Japanese carrot heads. It's a pleasure."

In the highland command post, Cai Rubai laughed excitedly and kept praising He Wei. The entire command post and even the highland position were filled with cheers. The air was filled with a happy atmosphere. Looking at the dozens of Japanese troops struggling in the sea of ​​​​fire below, The officers and soldiers all clapped their hands and cheered.

Feeling the obviously sparse Japanese artillery fire, He Wei decided to continue to add fire. The machine guns of the anti-aircraft artillery battery were originally hidden like treasures. They were originally intended to be mainly used to deal with armored targets and heavy firearms that might appear by the Japanese army. Now they are dealing with them. The Japanese troops at the foot of these high mountains have already exposed the six machine guns of this company through the open road, so it is better to continue to do something big.

This time, He Wei focused on the Japanese heavy weapons on the front line.

The main force of the Japanese infantry just behind was desperately covering and firing in order to rescue the more than fifty trapped Japanese troops. The infantry machine guns of ten infantry squadrons fired volleys. Wing artillery, brigade artillery and rapid-fire artillery all surpassed the infantry. They marched hand in hand with the first-line infantry. Although the distance between the two sides was now, the light and heavy machine guns and 82 mortars on the high ground were still unable to do anything to them.

However, the Sulotong machine gun has a maximum range of five kilometers and a maximum shooting height of 3.6 kilometers, which is enough to hit these artillery and heavy machine guns. Although He Wei could not determine the total number of these firearms, he could tell at a glance It is estimated that these are firearms directly under the brigade and wing directly of one or two wings.

If you get rid of these things, the Japanese regiment facing you will be severely injured. The biggest gap between the Japanese infantry regiment and the Chinese infantry regiment is artillery. The average infantry regiment of the Chinese army only has six There are mortars on the left and right, and the Japanese infantry wing has four Type 41 mountain cannons, four Type 94 rapid-fire cannons and six Type 92 infantry cannons. The gap between the two sides is like a naked warrior holding a dagger and a The gap between the warriors who are fully armored and holding long swords is average. Now is the best time to knock out the long swords in the hands of the Japanese army.

"Company Commander Chen, take advantage of the Japanese artillery fire to weaken and strike while the iron is hot. Kill the Japanese mountain artillery rapid-fire artillery, brigade artillery and heavy machine guns for me."

After receiving the battle order, Company Commander Chen immediately ordered the company's three artillery platoons and six machine guns to adjust their firing angles and aim their muzzles at artillery of various calibers in front of the main infantry force of the Japanese army. At this time, the Japanese army was still immersed in the sight of their comrades. In the shock and anger of being swallowed by the flames, he had no idea that the danger had come.

"All companies have them, target the enemy's first-line artillery, blasting grenades, and fire salvos on command." Following Company Commander Chen's battle command, the gunners of the six Sulotong machine guns removed the empty magazines and replaced them with The gunners quickly adjusted the height and pitch of the machine guns to attack the 20mm explosive grenade magazines used to attack civil engineering works and infantry.

Compared with gasoline barrels, the targets of groups of Japanese infantry and neatly arranged mountain artillery, infantry artillery, and rapid-fire artillery were much larger and easier to aim. In less than two minutes, several machine gun platoons came one after another. Combat shooting preparations completed.

"Report to the company commander, the second platoon is ready for combat shooting!"

"Report to the company commander, the first platoon is ready for combat shooting!"

"Report to the company commander, the second platoon is ready for combat shooting!"

"The whole company is fine!"

Company Commander Chen immediately yelled: "The whole company has it, open it!"

There was no test firing, but a straightforward cluster shooting. The four gunners of the six artillery pieces stepped on the firing pedal of the Sulotong machine gun almost at the same time. The continuous banging sound of the gun hit the ejection port on the side of the Sulotong machine gun. Throw out the brass bullet casings that were smoking white.

Six trajectories composed of 20mm machine gun shells flew towards the Japanese army. The first to suffer was the artillery squadron of the 9th Regiment. Since it was in the center, it was also the first to be strafed by the machine guns. The wing's artillery squadron had already suffered losses. A wing artillery squad was annihilated by the Secret Service Battalion and the 956th Regiment along with the third battalion of the 9th Wing. More than half of the entire squadron was lost, and only one wing artillery squad remained. There were two Type 41 mountain cannons, and more than a dozen 20mm machine-gun shells came to these two mountain cannons first.

Ding ding dong dong - several 20mm machine-gun shells hit the shield of the Type 41 mountain cannon, easily smashing it to pieces, and then a few more shells passed through the observation port of the mountain cannon's mantlet and hit the cannon. The Japanese gunner behind them beat one gunner's head into a rotten watermelon, and his brains and blood flew everywhere. Several more ammunition soldiers were directly hit by the shells.

Some had their legs broken, and some had bloody holes in their upper bodies. The mountain cannon's high and low handwheels, sights, and level bubbles were all damaged by the blasting grenades of the machine cannon. There were scratches, the ammunition box was exploded, wood chips were flying everywhere, the square gun mount on the back of the mountain cannon was distorted and deformed, sparks flew everywhere, and the telephone equipped by the artillery team was turned into powder by the direct hit of the machine gun.

The wheel of this Type 41 mountain cannon was also hit by multiple machine-gun shells. The wooden mountain cannon wheel could not withstand direct hits from the machine-gun shells and was completely shattered. The Type 41 mountain gun that lost its balance seemed to be lame. He fell down as if his legs were broken.

"Hurry and hide, hurry and hide!"

"It's an enemy machine gun, be careful, hide quickly!"

"My legs are broken, please help me, please help me."

"Squad leader, please help me, I'm dying."

Boom boom-boom

The Japanese artillery position suddenly exploded. Screams, screams, and commands were intertwined. Another mountain gun of the 9th Regiment Artillery Squadron exploded violently on the spot. The gunner of this artillery He was very conscientious and unaffected by the tragic situation of the burning infantry in front. He kept firing at the maximum speed. But just after completing a shooting, the 75mm mountain gun blasting grenade in the barrel had just been released. The Chinese army on the high ground The machine gun opened fire.

Unfortunately, the mountain artillery grenade bound with a quick-fire fuse was hit by the fragments produced by the explosion of the cannon shell. The extremely sensitive fuse immediately activated the detonation function, causing the 75-mm grenade to fly out of the gun barrel before exploding not far away, directly canceling the project. Gate Mountain gun and gun crew.

Except for the machine-gun shells that directly hit the artillery, more machine-gun shells that failed to hit flew over the Japanese artillery, concentrating the Japanese artillery ammunition soldiers and even the infantry in the rear. In front of the machine gun, there was no difference between flesh and blood and paper. , the dense machine shells were like paper shredders, constantly tearing the flesh and blood of the Japanese soldiers into pieces.

The Type 94 rapid-fire cannons of the 9th Infantry Regiment and the 20th Infantry Regiment and the Type 92 Infantry Cannons directly under each brigade also soon suffered. They were riddled with holes from the 20mm machine cannon, and sparks flew and banged. Bang.

Since the artillery of the two regiments is almost lined up, the machine gunners on the high ground can completely cover the Japanese front-line artillery by simply firing continuously. Therefore, the Japanese artillery on the entire front is almost at the extreme limit. It was destroyed in a short period of time. After the artillery shell hit the artillery, the distorted sound of steel collision and deformation and the extremely special explosion sound of machine gun shells came one after another. There were white bullet clouds produced by the explosion of 20 mm machine gun shells everywhere.

The Ninth Regiment's artillery squadron and its gunmen were almost completely wiped out. The personnel of the Ninth Regiment's Type 94 37mm rapid-fire artillery squadron and the Twentieth Regiment's Type 94 37mm rapid-fire artillery squadron were almost wiped out. The casualties were not serious, but the eight Type 94 37mm rapid-fire guns of the two squadrons were all damaged, and even the gun wheels were shattered, losing their mobility.

It is precisely because of this that the personnel of these two artillery squadrons were able to abandon their artillery and retreat quickly. The situation was slightly better for the artillery squads of each infantry brigade. Due to the small size of the Type 92 infantry cannon, its maneuverability was fast, and many of them responded quickly. The Japanese gunners dragged the 92 Infantry Cannon withdrew, so only three 92 Infantry Cannon were destroyed on the artillery position.

After suffering such heavy damage, the artillery firepower below the high ground, which had just been very fierce and very hot, came to an abrupt end, leaving behind a field riddled with artillery holes and horrific broken limbs. The ground is a mess.

Dong Dong Dong - Dong Dong Dong

The sound and trajectory of anti-aircraft artillery on the high ground began to become chaotic without warning. However, this was not a good thing for the Japanese army, because the Chinese machine gunners had become red-eyed, and their targets were no longer the Japanese army. artillery.

"Free fire for the whole company, heavy machine guns, infantry, shoot whatever you see. Each gun fires three magazines."

In the command post of the anti-aircraft artillery company on the high ground, Captain Chen's eyes were red, his feet were covered with polished brass machine gun shells, and there was a strong smell of gunpowder and gas everywhere. He was so excited that he even forgot the standard artillery firing command command, and kept saying He gave orders to his subordinates in plain English, and then called He Wei for instructions.

"Batalion Commander He, we are fighting very well. I am now organizing them to shoot at the Japanese infantry and infantry firearms. Each gun fires three magazines."

"Okay, I agree, but three magazines are too many. The Japanese artillery on the high ground and underground should be beaten to pieces by you, but the main field artillery behind it may be too many at any time. Each gun The cannon can only fire two magazines at most, and immediately cease fire and take cover after firing."

"clear."

To be on the safe side, He Wei reduced the amount of ammunition used by the anti-aircraft artillery battery. Two magazines held exactly forty rounds of machine-gun shells. Although not as satisfying as three magazines with sixty rounds, it was still enough for a lot of fun. Company Commander Chen didn't even wait for it. As soon as the modified order was passed on, the six machine cannons opened fire on their own initiative.

This time, the machine gun fire at the Japanese infantry was even more terrifying. Although the ten Japanese infantry squadrons on the front line were deployed in a sparse formation, it was impossible to avoid them under the indiscriminate fire from the machine gun, so the next battle broke out. A tragic scene.

Six machine-guns strafing and firing condescendingly fired at the scattered and prostrate formation of ten Japanese infantry squadrons. The machine-gun shells hit the Japanese ranks in rows. When a shell exploded, a cloud of clouds appeared. White smoke. When the white smoke disappears, you will see the blown limbs and human body parts in mid-air. The impact point of the machine gun is even a line of bullets made of flesh and blood.

Needless to say, what are the consequences of firing machine shells as thick as a baby's arm at the infantry? Many Japanese soldiers were hit by machine shells, torn apart, torn apart, and blown up before they could figure out what kind of firearms they were on the high ground.

Now the six machine guns of the anti-aircraft artillery battery were completely used as extra-large machine guns, blasting the Japanese ranks into clouds of bloody fog. Occasionally, the hail of bullets from the machine guns would sweep across nine Japanese troops. The machine gun position of the Type 2 heavy machine gun or the Taisho 11th-year-old crooked light machine gun position can turn a heavy machine gun or light machine gun into scrap metal with just a few shots.

In fact, when it comes to killing efficiency, machine guns may not be as useful as heavy machine guns when attacking infantry. After all, the sustainable shooting performance and firepower projection speed of machine guns are not as good as that of heavy machine guns, but the killing effect and the bloody degree of the scene are stronger. It is more than ten times greater, and the level of psychological pressure and fear it brings to people is also more than ten times greater.

"Shoot, shoot."

"Fire."

The resilience of the Japanese army is also quite good. In the face of rain of bullets, they can still organize counterattack firepower. Some veterans even insist on commanding light and heavy machine guns to fire on the high ground even after their arms are broken. Many combat-capable soldiers The wounded soldiers also opened fire as hard as they could with their rifles. As a result, the Japanese army's light and heavy machine gun firepower was not suppressed by the machine guns. This shows the Japanese army's fighting spirit and tenacity.

However, after losing the supporting artillery fire of the wing artillery, rapid-fire artillery and brigade artillery, the effect of this light and heavy machine gun firepower can only be said to be better than nothing. Indeed, some heavy machine gun shells hit the Chinese army bunkers on the highlands, giving China The army caused sporadic casualties, but that was all. The outcome of this battle was already determined when the two leading squadrons of the Japanese army were eaten.

(End of this chapter)