The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 331 Outpost 3
Outside the camp of the advancing column, under the shining starlight, the entire land was silent. On the muddy road between the fields, a team of more than seventy people quietly got out.

Liu Yonggui, the second lieutenant and platoon leader of the first platoon of the horse-mounted infantry company that advanced into the column, and also the first platoon of the special agent company directly under the assault corps, led the team at the front. Following him were three infantry squads under the first platoon, one machine gun squad and a mortar squad.

As soon as they walked out of the village, this combat outpost of more than 70 people quickly entered a combat-ready marching formation, slowly moving forward along the road in a column formation of two infantry squads - machine gun squad - mortar squad - infantry squad. Drive in.

Although every soldier in the team was wearing a variety of casual clothes, they had already put on a combat vest unique to the Assault Corps.

Weapons and equipment that are easy to make noise, such as bayonets and grenades, are tied tightly with ropes. The bipod of the Czech light machine gun of the infantry squad, the mg34 machine gun tripod of the general machine gun squad and the mm mortar of the mortar squad The gun tripods were all tied tightly with cloth strips, and all weapons were wrapped in camouflage such as hay and branches.

The marching team of more than seventy people made no other sounds except for the slight friction and trampling of the shoes on the feet of the officers and soldiers against the ground.

Walking at the front of the team were the first platoon leader Liu Yonggui, the first platoon messenger, sergeant platoon attached, Liu Lu and other three former Japanese Army Rangers, and the second platoon leader Ou Yuxiang of the horse-riding infantry company.

Liu Yonggui, the leader of the first platoon, was calm and relaxed, swinging a tree branch in his right hand and holding an unlit cigarette in his mouth.

Liu Lu and other three Rangers followed Liu Yonggui obediently, not daring to make any sound. However, the second platoon leader Ou Yuxiang, who was beside several Rangers, was very uneasy and even a little nervous.

Ou Yuxiang is 23 years old and a native of Guangdong. After graduating from high school in 1935, he was admitted to the twelfth phase of the Central Military Academy in Jinling, which is also the infantry department of the twelfth phase of the Whampoa Military Academy.

After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the Central Military Academy moved westward to Wuchang, and Huangpu Phase 12 only announced its graduation in February this year after a brief graduation ceremony was held at the Left and Right Banner Barracks in Wuchang.

After graduation, Ou Yuxiang was left at the Wuhan branch to prepare to serve as the district captain for newly recruited military students. After Wang Yuanling, the former education director of the Wuhan branch, was transferred to the assault corps, Ou Yuxiang also left the Wuhan branch and came to serve in the assault corps. After the assault corps became an army, , was appointed as the second lieutenant platoon leader of the second platoon of the special agent company directly under the commando corps.

Compared with Liu Yonggui, the first platoon leader who was born in the army and had rich combat experience, although Ou Yuxiang received three years of military education at Huangpu Military Academy, he was only a new officer who had never fought in a war.

The reason why he was asked to join the first platoon this time was because in the general subject education of Huangpu Military Academy before the war, officer students were required to choose one of five languages: Russian, German, English, Japanese and French. Ou Yuxiang took Japanese as an elective when he was in the military academy. , knew some Japanese, so he was specially sent to keep an eye on Liu Lu and several other Rangers to prevent these former Japanese soldiers from causing trouble before the battle.

Ou Yuxiang, who was on the battlefield for the first time, was a little nervous. He held his German-made twenty-shot wooden case pistol tightly in his right hand and stared at Liu Lu and the other two Rangers closely, making Liu Lu and the others sweat on their backs. DC.

Liu Yonggui glanced back at the nervous Ou Yuxiang, put the unlit cigarette in his mouth to his ear, and said with a low smile: "Platoon Commander Ou, relax."

Ou Yuxiang nodded, looking enviously at Liu Yonggui who was calm and composed, relaxing a little, but he didn't let go of the twenty ring he was holding tightly.

In this way, Liu Yonggui led the reinforced platoon combat outpost from the camp and advanced 800 meters in a combat-ready marching formation. Liu Yonggui suddenly stopped.

Immediately, the marching column of the reinforced platoon also stopped. Liu Yonggui also picked up the twenties at his waist, raised his right hand and waved it, pulling the sergeant platoon beside him, and ordered in a low voice: "All platoons. Expand according to the battle formation, search forward, and you lead a team from the first squad to search and open the way in front. "

The sergeant platoon, who was carrying an MP28 submachine gun, nodded and immediately began to pass orders among the team.

Soon, the reinforced platoon that was originally marching in combat readiness formation began to deploy in combat formation. The three infantry squads dispersed in a formation of two in front and one in back. Two squads were in front and one squad was left behind. They were equipped with an mg34 The general machine gun squad of the machine gun carried the mg34 machine gun in a combat carry posture and followed the two infantry squads in front, while the mm mortar squad followed up at the rear of the entire row under the cover of another infantry squad.

At the same time as the platoon's combat formation was unfolding, the combat formations of each squad and each team within each squad also unfolded. This reinforced platoon, composed entirely of veterans, was very skilled in various tactical movements and quickly began to advance. The sergeant's platoon also led a three-person forward team to begin the search.

After the reinforced platoon's search formation was deployed, they advanced another kilometer. However, when they had marched almost two kilometers, the sergeant platoon leader who was leading the forward search team suddenly ran back quickly and said to the platoon leader Liu Yonggui: " Platoon commander, there’s a situation ahead.”

Liu Yonggui immediately ordered the entire platoon to stop advancing and asked the sergeant platoon, "What's wrong?"

"Platoon leader, there is a village ahead. You can see the light of fire. There are people in the village. I saw a few gunmen at the entrance of the village and on the roofs. They seem to be Japanese soldiers?"

"His grandma actually encountered me, Old Liu. Send me an order to stop the entire platoon and hide on the side of the road to keep watch. Take me to see what's going on."

The reinforced platoon that was advancing in a powerful search formation immediately stopped advancing. The officers and soldiers gathered in the fields on both sides of the road to be on guard. Liu Yonggui put the gun in his hand and pointed back at the messenger, Ou Yuxianghe. Liu Lu, the captain of the Rangers, said: "You all come with me and go up and have a look together."

Liu Yonggui, with the messenger, Ou Yuxiang, Liu Lu and other three Rangers, led by the sergeant platoon, quietly walked into the mud on the side of the road, using the cover of weeds and crops to bend forward. Under the starlight, he waded through a small stream half a meter wide, and finally met up with the three forward soldiers who had long been prostrate behind a grave and a small tree.

After everyone dispersed and prostrated, the villages in the distance came into view.

Platoon leader Liu Yonggui's eyes widened and he saw a rather large village about seven or eight hundred meters away. Bonfires were rising from the village, and some noisy sounds could be heard from time to time.

By the starlight, Liu Yonggui saw what seemed to be sentries with guns standing on the roofs outside the village. Judging from the round outlines of the sentry's heads, these people must be Japanese soldiers wearing round Japanese-style steel helmets.

There seemed to be low figures moving around on the slope at the front edge of the village at the outermost edge of the village. When he looked carefully, Liu Yonggui estimated that it was a foxhole warning post, and he could even vaguely see a gun in the foxhole. The strange luster of the tube in the firelight.

"Grandma, this guy is really well guarded."

After observing for a while, Liu Yonggui cursed.

"Platoon leader, what should we do, should we fight?"

The sergeant platoon leaned over and asked in a low voice.

"Hit? A spanking? Look at the commotion and the bonfire in the village. There must be a lot of Japs inside. We might be in trouble if we try hard to get ahead, so we should play it safe first."

"Platoon commander, are you just going to do this and watch?"

Liu Yonggui sneered and said: "Since we have met, it would be a pity not to meet them. At least we should capture them alive. At least we can understand the enemy's situation and have an explanation to the superiors."

The sergeant attached to the platoon shook his head with some regret and said: "Platoon commander, how about we call in the 60 mortar squad from the platoon and fire a few rounds directly into the village to blow up those idiots? The captain said during the lecture that we must not be afraid of the little devils, saying that the 60-gun can hit much farther than the Japanese grenade, and it is more powerful, so it is better to shoot two rounds. "

"Stop talking nonsense, the captain is right, but that's just to encourage us. Now these little devils don't know anything about the situation. It's useless to kill a few by firing cannons at random, but it's just to scare away the snake."

After finishing speaking, Liu Yonggui looked at the messenger beside him and said, "After a while, you will run over and attract the Japanese sentry."

Then, Liu Yonggui looked at the sergeant and said, "Take the brothers from the forward 5 and go up and capture the Japanese who have been lured out. Try to keep them alive."

"Yes!"

"Wait a minute, ask the forward team to leave a rifle for me. You go up to arrest people and I will cover you here. This twenty-ring gun I have is not accurate at all."

Immediately, Liu Yonggui looked at the three Rangers including second platoon leader Ou Yuxiang and Liu Lu, and said with a smile: "Captain Liu, Platoon Leader Ou, we are preparing to capture people alive. You don't have to go, but you are also ready to fight."

"Good! Good!"

Liu Lu smiled and nodded, but he did not make any preparations for fighting. Instead, he put his hands on the ground to prove his innocence and told Liu Yonggui that he would never cause trouble. The other two members of the Rangers also followed the same example, lying on the ground in a very funny way. on the ground.

Of course Liu Lu and the other three were not fools. They knew that the second platoon leader Ou Yuxiang was staring at them all the way with his pistol in hand, and they also knew that this group of Chinese soldiers did not trust them at all.

Now that the battle was about to begin, in order to protect themselves, Liu Lu and others had no choice but to express to Liu Yonggui and others in this way that they would never hinder the battle.

In fact, Liu Yonggui and Ou Yuxiang's worries are indeed unnecessary.

They had no idea that when He Wei recruited these former Japanese soldiers, he took them all kinds of photos that were disrespectful to the Japanese flag and the emperor's portrait. After the commando corps was established, he forced all the rangers to write a memorial to them. The Chinese army expressed its allegiance and cursed the Japanese letter. If these young men dare to have second thoughts, He Wei has a hundred ways to kill them. For this reason, Liu Lu and the Rangers actually have no second thoughts at all. .

Preparations for the battle were quickly made. The first row of superior orderlies responsible for attracting the attention of the Japanese sentries took off all kinds of weapons and equipment all over their bodies, leaving only their upper bodies naked. He took out the steel helmet, put it on his head after smearing it with mud, and crawled behind the grave bag to prepare for the impact.

On the other side, the sergeant platoon, who was preparing to catch the Japs sentry after the messenger attracted them, also prepared for battle with three soldiers from the front line.

There are three people in the forward team. The team leader is a corporal, equipped with an MP28 submachine gun. The other two soldiers are riflemen. The sergeant platoon passed a Czech-made VZ24 rifle from a rifleman. After giving it to Liu Yonggui, he also led three forward soldiers to stare at the front, ready to capture anyone alive.

"Platoon Commander Ou, take it, you're ready to fight too!"

Liu Yonggui took the rifle, handed the twenty gun in his hand to Ou Yuxiang, and winked at Ou Yuxiang and Liu Lu and the other three who were lying on the ground.

Ou Yuxiang understood, nodded and took Liu Yonggui's twenty-gun. He held a twenty-gun in his left hand and placed it on the ground. Ten rings, aiming forward, ready to support the battle.

Liu Yonggui rested his rifle on the tomb bag and kicked the orderly soldier beside him. The orderly soldier with the helmet on slowly crawled out from the tomb bag and crawled slowly toward the village on the ground.

At the same time, the sergeant platoon also climbed forward with three soldiers in the front line.

Time passed by minute by second, and just after the ordering soldier climbed out a few dozen meters, he heard several kicks of his feet stepping on the mud. Then, the ordering soldier suddenly jumped up from the ground, bent down and nimbly walked towards the ground. He ran towards the west side of the village. After he had rushed more than a hundred meters, he suddenly turned around, then fell to the ground and got into a small depression in the mud.

The sound of the messengers trampling on the mud and crops as they ran was particularly harsh.

Such a loud movement quickly startled the Japanese soldiers who were on guard at the entrance of the village. They only heard a few Japanese sentries screaming indiscriminately.

Immediately, two Japanese sentries rushed to the outside of the village with guns in one hand and spread out to search with extreme vigilance. The Japanese sentries standing on the roof also lay down and raised their guns, vigilantly guarding the entrance of the village. The two Japanese soldiers who rushed out were very vigilant. They held Type 38 rifles in one hand, bent down and trotted alternately to cover their advance. They quickly rushed a few hundred meters outside the village, carefully looking for the source of the sound just now.

At this time, the three forward soldiers led by the sergeant platoon also quietly touched the sides and rear of the two Japanese soldiers.

The Japanese soldiers who were guarding the village entrance and sentrying on the houses were still giving orders, but the two Japanese soldiers who went out to search saw that they could not find anything, so they slowly slowed down their search speed and looked around the outside of the village suspiciously. .

Suddenly, there was a bang, and the messenger hidden in the mud suddenly jumped up, bent down and rushed forward in a low posture. The two Japanese soldiers who went out to search were startled. After discovering the messenger, they shouted, He chased after him with his gun raised.

However, before the two Japanese soldiers could chase them far, the sergeant's platoon, accompanied by three soldiers from the front line, emerged from the darkness and pounced directly on the rear of the two Japanese soldiers.

The two Japanese soldiers were caught off guard and soon got into trouble and struggled with four Chinese soldiers. The orderly soldiers who were pretending to escape also ran back to support them.

Since the soldiers in the first row had an absolute numerical advantage and were all veterans, the two Japanese soldiers were unable to resist in the darkness and were quickly captured. One Japanese soldier was beaten with the butt of his rifle after being disarmed. The Japanese soldier who was fighting fiercely was hit in the eye socket by the magazine of the German-made MP28 submachine gun attached to the sergeant platoon of the first platoon. The eyeballs were mixed with flesh and blood, and a ball of red and white mixture exploded out.

The two Japanese soldiers who were captured alive were immediately blocked by the first row of soldiers with gaiters on their mouths. They wanted to shout to notify the Japanese sentries at the entrance of the village that there was an enemy attack, but they couldn't. They had to groan in pain. Unfortunately, This weak muffled hum in the dark night was not enough to convey a dangerous signal to the Japanese sentry at the entrance of the village of an enemy attack.

The first row of soldiers who captured the prisoners pulled the two Japanese prisoners and ran back. However, although the two Japanese soldiers were captured alive, they would not be easily captured. The Japanese soldier who had one eye blinded became angry. He was so cruel that he bit and rubbed him. He took the leggings out of his mouth in a daze, opened his mouth full of blood, and shouted at the top of his lungs in the direction of the village entrance.

A painful scream, roar and Japanese curses also sounded like thunder in the darkness.

In the darkness, Liu Yonggui couldn't see clearly what was going on ahead, nor could he understand what the Japanese in front were shouting, and he suddenly became anxious.

"Mom, what's going on?"

At this time, the second platoon leader Ou Yuxiang, who knew a little bit of Japanese, said: "Platoon leader Liu, the Japanese are screaming in front of us. They seem to be saying it hurts and are cursing randomly."

Hearing what Ou Yuxiang said, Liu Yonggui was overjoyed and said in a low voice: "Okay, since the dog is barking, it's probably done. Platoon Commander Ou, you military school students know a lot and can understand the Japs, good!"

Chirping, there was another burst of yelling coming from the front.

Ou Yuxiang frowned and said, "Platoon Leader Liu, I don't quite understand. The Japanese seem to be asking for help again now."

Liu Yonggui's expression changed, and he immediately raised his Czech rifle and shouted to the front: "Come back quickly! Pull your tongue back, you are calling someone like crazy!"

But before Liu Yonggui finished speaking, with a whooshing sound, a flare flew into the sky.

Immediately afterwards, a burst of bright light illuminated the ground. Against the background of the moonlight and flares, the outlines of the sergeant's platoon and several others who were dragging two Japanese soldiers back were very clearly illuminated.

The reaction speed and tactical quality of the Japanese army at the entrance of the village were also very high. After hearing the cry for help from the captured Japanese army, they fired flares directly.

Ta da da, da da da-
Suddenly, a tracer ballistic missile was fired from the foxhole on the slope at the front of the village, and a crooked machine gun fired a dense rain of bullets. Immediately afterwards, the Japanese sentry on the roof at the entrance of the village also opened fire. Violent crackling gunfire sounded instantly.

"Damn it, come back quickly, save your life first, don't worry about the prisoners!"

Platoon leader Liu Yonggui roared. Although he shouted, his movements were completely calm. He held the Czech-made VZ24 rifle in his hand. He first fired continuously at the Japanese sentry who was firing on the roof, and then destroyed a bridge. After collecting five bullets, the Japanese soldier lying on the roof was hit by a bullet fired rapidly from Liu Yonggui's rifle, and fell helplessly from the roof.

Ou Yuxiang, the platoon leader of the second platoon on the side, applauded when he saw Liu Yonggui actually killing a Japanese soldier at such a long distance, and he admired Liu Yonggui, a platoon leader who was born in the army.

Immediately afterwards, Liu Yonggui put on a new row of 79 bullet bridge clips and fired continuously at the Japanese machine gun position at the entrance of the village to interfere.

Liu Yonggui fired several rows of bullets, and the 79-caliber bullets were fired one after another. Although the Japanese machine gun shooters were not killed, the Japanese machine gun firepower was constantly interfered with, and the machine gun firepower was therefore intermittently unable to fire continuously.

The sergeant platoon and the orderly soldiers who went to capture the prisoners also took advantage of this gap to pull and kick the prisoners to the hidden graves and crops behind Liu Yonggui and others.

Liu Yonggui saw the sergeant platoon accompanying several soldiers and the two Japanese soldiers covered in blood, and asked anxiously: "Who is injured?"

The sergeant of the platoon shook his head: "Platoon leader, brothers are not injured. I asked me to smash the Japs eyes open with a submachine gun. Just now, the Japs machine guns were randomly sweeping and missed us. They hit a tongue. The blood on our bodies is Devil's."

The platoon leader pointed at a Japanese prisoner who was covered in blood. Liu Yonggui looked over and saw that one of the Japanese prisoner's eyes had been smashed to pieces. There was also a big blood hole on his shoulder, and blood was flowing out in a steady stream. They were all half dead.

"Okay! Prepare to retreat."

When Liu Yonggui saw that his goal was achieved, he caught his tongue, threw the rifle back to the rifleman in the forward group, and prepared to stand up and retreat with a smile.

But there was a sudden bang, and just as the flares in the sky slowly fell and the light was about to dim, the Japanese troops at the entrance of the village fired multiple rounds of flares in succession, and the surrounding area once again became like daylight.

Then, many Japanese troops suddenly appeared near the entrance of the village, and the machine gun fire became continuous again. A dense rain of bullets hit the graves where Liu Yonggui and others were hiding, and the loose soil on the graves was blown away. .

About an infantry detachment of Japanese infantry also rushed out from the entrance of the village, bent down and rushed towards the tomb bag.

砰

砰

Liu Yonggui and others also strengthened their resistance firepower. However, due to the long distance, they could not use the Twenty-Rang and Huaji MP28s they had. The available long-range firepower was only two Czech-made VZ24 rifles. The resistance firepower was comparable to the Japanese machine guns. Suppression is much weaker than that.

The Japanese army also quickly noticed this. The light machine gun at the entrance of the village accelerated its firing rate and opened fire violently. The dozen or so Japanese soldiers who rushed towards them also accelerated their speed and rushed toward Liu Yonggui and the others, shouting to kill.

The sergeant platoon looked at the rushing Japanese infantry and said anxiously to the platoon leader Liu Yonggui: "Platoon leader, the enemy is coming. We only have two rifles, and the rest are all close-combat firearms. Otherwise, let the brothers in the platoon Come and support.”

Liu Yonggui shook his head: "No, if you catch the tongue, leave quickly. Retreat as soon as possible. Don't stick with them. Get closer and use a submachine gun and twenty blasts to greet them. Give them a hard hit and then leave."

At this moment, Ou Yuxiang, the second platoon leader who had been watching the three Rangers, noticed a grenade hanging on the backpack of a Japanese prisoner, and he had a plan in mind.

Therefore, the second platoon leader Ou Yuxiang crawled over, returned the twenty-gun pistol to Liu Yonggui, pointed at the two Japanese prisoners and said: "Liu leader, the Japanese prisoners seem to have a grenade on them, use that thing to blast two Send it."

Liu Yonggui came to the Japanese prisoner and found an 89-type 50mm grenade tube and six grenades from the prisoner. He said happily: "Platoon Commander Ou, do you know how to use this thing?"

Ou Yuxiang shook his head: "I only learned about the specific structure of Japanese grenades when I was in the military academy. I have never fired one, but don't they still exist here?"

After Ou Yuxiang finished speaking, he pointed at Liu Lu and other three Rangers who had been lying on the ground.

After receiving Ou Yuxiang's reminder, Liu Yonggui threw the grenade and grenade directly to Liu Lu, picked up twenty rings and pointed at Liu Lu, and said anxiously: "Don't fucking look at it, it's time for you to show off, you motherfuckers." The Japanese used to use this thing to blast the Japanese infantrymen who were charging me with grenades. If you hit them well, I will give you credit. If you hit them badly, I will kill your head!"

"Yes Yes!"

Liu Lu agreed twice, and quickly got up and started taking action with the other two Rangers. The Rangers, a group of former Japanese soldiers, had no problem mastering the use of grenades. Liu Lu skillfully used the Type 89 50mm grenade. The barrel was set up. A Ranger took out a 50mm blasting grenade from the ammunition bag, pulled out the safety pin and put it into the barrel. Liu Lu used the white aiming line on the barrel and combined it with the grenade to target the barrel. After taking aim for a while, I immediately pulled the trigger belt.

boom-
咣

The grenade accurately landed in the center of the charging Japanese infantry detachment. After an 800-gram Type 145 grenade loaded with grams of TNT high explosive exploded violently, more than a dozen Japanese infantrymen were densely packed in an instant. Shrapnel knocked down half of it.

The rushing Japanese infantry detachment didn't even expect that this small Chinese army unit had grenades. They were caught off guard and received a sap blow. They were stunned. Wails and screams came one after another, and people fell everywhere. Japanese corpses in a pool of blood.

"Okay, keep fighting!"

Liu Lu opened fire again, and another grenade hit him, knocking half of the remaining Japanese soldiers off their feet and screaming in agony.

An infantry unit of more than a dozen people was completely wiped out by two sudden grenades.

Liu Yonggui continued to instruct the target: "Keep bombing, blow up the machine gun at the entrance of the village!"

Liu Lu adjusted his shooting at Zhu Yuan and opened fire again. He fired three grenades in succession at the crooked light machine gun that was firing at the entrance of the village. The machine gun position was instantly covered by thick smoke and shrapnel, and the machine gun fire stopped instantly. When they came down, the crooked machine gun that had been shouting for a long time was lifted into the air along with the shooter.

When Liu Yonggui saw this, he shouted twice, and then immediately ordered the prisoners to retreat.

The flares fell again, and the sky became dark again. Seven Chinese officers and soldiers, three Rangers, and the two captured Japanese prisoners quickly retreated and disappeared into the vast night, leaving only the Japanese army in one place. Bodies and the entrance to the village with billowing smoke.

This extremely short outpost battle ended. The combat outpost infantry platoon that advanced into the column achieved the result of killing and wounding nearly twenty Japanese soldiers and capturing two Japanese soldiers at the cost of zero casualties.

And this was just the beginning of the confrontation between the Botian detachment and the Banbishan garrison.

(End of this chapter)