The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 21 It is important to learn from experience

After He Wei's demonstration, the soldiers followed suit and dug. Soon, cliff holes and stepping holes appeared one after another in rows of trenches.

"Work harder, brothers. If you sweat more now, you will bleed less later!"

He Wei rolled up his sleeves, took a spade, dug out a shovelful of soil from the bamboo basket at his feet, and sprinkled it on the top of the trench. Then he turned the spade over and tamped it down with the back of the spade with all his strength. The newly sprinkled floating soil was crushed and compacted, and the layers of accumulated floating soil were repeatedly reinforced and compacted. This formed a bulletproof parapet on the trench, which greatly protected the upper bodies of the soldiers.

At the same time, a gap was left every one meter on the chest gun, which served as the shooting arm base and shooting position of the soldiers. Some sandbags were piled on the chest gun rammed earth for reinforcement protection to withstand scattered shell fragments and further shield the nurses. Soldiers, compared to a row of hastily constructed fortifications, the level of protection has been raised to a whole new level.

"Heiwazi, bring two more baskets of soil!" He Wei shouted.

"Platoon leader, here it comes, here it is." Tao Heiwa, holding a basket of soil in each hand, sweating profusely, trotted over in the trench, put the two baskets of soil away, and panted to He Wei .

"Platoon leader, Platoon Leader Wang's fortifications over there have been dug. Platoon Leader Wang asked you to go take a look."

He Wei put down the shovel in his hand and said, "Oh? The position of the machine gun platoon has been dug. Okay, let's take a look!"

After putting down what he was doing and instructing the soldiers in the trenches to work harder, He Wei came to the right wing of the position, where Platoon Leader Wang, with soldiers from the heavy machine gun platoon and several soldiers from the first platoon, were at the position selected by He Wei Build heavy machine gun shooting positions on the top. According to He Wei's plan, although there are only two heavy machine guns, four heavy machine gun positions and complete shooting fortifications and shooting equipment must be built.

The heavy machine guns of the National Army have always been the key targets of the Japanese army. Faced with the completely one-sided artillery disadvantage compared to the Japanese army, He Wei could only build a few more shooting positions, constantly actively transfer positions, form mobile firepower, and constantly maneuver. Effectively reduce the risk of heavy machine guns being killed and extend the existence time of heavy machine gun firepower on the battlefield.

Arriving at the heavy machine gun position, He Wei saw the fortifications dug by Platoon Leader Wang. He Wei was quite satisfied with the fortifications they dug, including the heavy machine gun shooting position, the cliff hole for storing heavy machine gun ammunition and cooling water, and the concealed machine gun. There are also gun holes and trenches for platoon personnel.

This also verified He Wei's previous judgment about Platoon Leader Wang. He had fought many battles and had rich combat and actual combat experience. He was proficient in the use of heavy machine guns, but he lacked the ability to learn lessons and implement them based on actual combat experience with the Japanese army. Improve the tactical literacy and thinking in response. It seems to be the case now. You know how to use heavy machine guns, and you can dig fortifications well, but problems may occur in actual combat.

To put it bluntly, it means that you have suffered a loss and been beaten, and you will not learn from the experience and lessons to summarize and improve. Or the lessons learned and the corresponding improvement measures are only superficial and exist in the battle report compiled after the battle. Failure to implement it in a down-to-earth manner and effectively improve the tactical literacy of the troops can also be said to be not an ordinary sergeant, but a problem that exists in the entire national army from top to bottom.

"Platoon Commander He, how do you think our squad's heavy machine gun shooting fortifications are being repaired?
Platoon leader Wang asked He Wei.He Wei looked at it and saw that there was nothing wrong with it. He nodded and said: "There is nothing wrong with it. Let the brothers work hard and compact it! Then build the other two heavy machine gun positions. These two guns of yours are the treasures of our platoon. They are ours." The platoon's automatic fire support, our entire defensive position is pointing at it and leaning against it."

The honest Platoon Leader Wang chuckled: "Okay, Platoon Leader He, it's just... we only have two guns, why do we need to build four fortifications?"

He Wei said: "Platoon Commander Wang, you are also an old soldier. Did you have a hard time fighting in the border town?"

The original plan of the No. 14 Army, where the 13th Division was located, after entering Shanxi was to reinforce the No. [-] Army, which was fighting fiercely with the Japanese army at Nankou, and also to copy the troops to Peiping. However, due to various reasons, neither of these two tactical goals were achieved. Instead, they started a tug-of-war with the Japanese army in the border town west of Peiping.

The No. 14 Army used three infantry divisions to fight against the Japanese five infantry regiments. They defended for 21 days. Some infantry regiments only had one infantry company left in the end, but they still refused to retreat and refused to give up an inch of ground. After repeated battles, the No. 14 Army became famous, but the 14th, No. 80 80rd, and No. [-] [-]th divisions belonging to the No. [-] Army all suffered heavy casualties.

Platoon Leader Wang patted his chest with pride: "Well, when our [-]th Division entered Shanxi, we fought with the Japanese in the border town. I was able to survive that battle, all because of this gun. Fight to the death with the Japanese."

"Then let me ask you, after your heavy machine gun company has finished attacking the border town, how many heavy machine guns are there left? What are you most afraid of the Japanese? How to deal with them?"

"If I'm afraid, I'm afraid of the enemy's small steel cannons and hand cannons. After the heavy machine gun company of our second battalion fought in the border town, after the six Jinling Type [-] heavy machine guns were shot down, only three and five were left. Three new Jinling-made heavy machine guns were added just six days ago. Our old company commander...the old company commander and a platoon leader were also killed, and three squad leaders were killed. How can we deal with the Japanese steel cannons and hand cannons... To deal with it, we don’t have cannons, so we can only fight with our lives.”

He Wei shook his head and said: "Platoon Commander Wang, why are you so rigid? We can be more lively. If we can't afford to fight, why can't we hide? I asked you to dig more shooting positions. I just want the heavy machine guns to fire and rotate the positions." , forming a roaming firepower, mobile shooting, firing one round at a time, another round at a time, it’s not worth fighting them to the death, right?"

Platoon Leader Wang thought for a while and said with sudden realization: "Swimming... swimming firepower? Hey, sir, you still have a way. I didn't expect it. In the past, I always listened to the commander. Whatever the commander said, we did whatever he asked us to do. Let's just do whatever we want, fight in the same position, and fight until we die. I'm used to it, but look at my stupid head, I'm a big-headed soldier who just can't do it."

He Wei sighed, looked at the soldiers in the machine gun squad, gave a loud shout, and said to Platoon Leader Wang with a smile: "It doesn't matter where you are from, big-head soldiers, and officers who are sergeants have done a lot of good things. Now that you have learned It’s not too late, the dead will be moved and the dead will be moved, especially in a war. You lead the brothers to strengthen the fortifications. You are all good soldiers. After this battle is over... If you and I have not moved our heads, I will ask the brothers in your platoon Drink a lot!”

(End of this chapter)