The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 336 Fierce Firepower
It took the second row of the mounted infantry company just over five minutes to completely wipe out a Japanese infantry squad that had rashly rushed in.

When the battle was over, Ou Yuxiang, the second platoon leader of the horse-mounted infantry company of the Advance Column, looked at the Japanese corpses piled up on the village paths, the large pools of blood flowing everywhere, the Type 38 rifles, the Type 99 light machine guns, the Type 89 50mm grenade launchers, various equipment, and the dense layers of limbs and arms blown up by grenades. Ou Yuxiang had a sense of unreality for a moment.

When he was in the military academy, every subject of squad combat training and platoon combat training that Ou Yuxiang learned in the textbooks was extremely complicated. From attack to defense, from individual soldiers to squads, platoons, and other small units of different levels and levels, there was knowledge everywhere and every subject was very complicated.

But this platoon-level ambush battle just now was carried out so quickly and so simply. Ou Yuxiang only remembered that during the entire battle, all he did was to pull the trigger of the box gun in his hand, concentrate all his strength and fire fiercely, shooting, strafing, and firing at every Japanese soldier he could see.

Then, Ou Yuxiang’s first battle that he independently commanded after graduating from the military academy ended just like that!
In just over five minutes, a fully equipped infantry squad of the Japanese army was wiped out so cleanly and efficiently!
Such a battle naturally made Ou Yuxiang, who had just graduated from military school, feel dazed and unreal.

However, Ou Yuxiang's momentary trance and sense of unreality were quickly dispelled by the cheers of the sergeant platoon leader beside him.

"Platoon leader, we have wiped out all the Japanese. Damn, this submachine gun is really powerful. As long as we have enough bullets, we are not afraid of 100,000 Japanese."

The sergeant platoon leader excitedly raised the hot MP28 submachine gun and shouted to Ou Yuxiang with a grin.

At the feet of Sergeant Major General Ou Yuxiang were densely packed golden 7.63mm Mauser pistol shells, spent submachine gun magazines, and rows of Mauser pistol magazine clips.

Many blackened golden shells still emitted billowing heat and a pungent smell of gunpowder. Two dark green empty ammunition boxes of 7.63mm Mauser pistols lay quietly in the corner, as if silently telling the huge amount of ammunition consumed in the battle just now.

砰

砰

Da da da

Da da da

Two crisp rifle shots and two short bursts of fire were heard again, followed by painful wails and the sharp sound of helmets being pierced. Several sharp-eyed veterans in the second row discovered the Japanese wounded soldiers who were not dead among the pile of corpses, and decisively fired several precise shots at them with Czech-made vz24 rifles.

The shooters of the general-purpose machine gun squad on the roof also used the MG34 light machine gun to fire short bursts of three shots at the pile of Japanese corpses. Amid the rhythmic collision of the metal bullet belt of the MG34 machine gun, blood flowers burst out from the pile of Japanese corpses.

After several rounds of follow-up fire, the Japanese troops in the second row of ambush area no longer made any movement.

The cheers of the platoon commander, the intermittent sound of supplementary gunfire, the smell of blood and gunpowder in the air, and the empty shells on the ground made Ou Yuxiang put aside the distracting thoughts in his mind. He quickly followed the command tasks he learned in the military academy and said to the platoon commander calmly: "Platoon commander Wang, you go and notify all the squads to be on guard on the spot. Have squad one send a squad to search and see if there are any Japanese soldiers who have not been killed yet."

Then, Ou Yuxiang gave an order to the messenger behind him: "Go to the command post and report to the company commander and Commander Zhao, and tell them that the battle of our platoon has ended. About a squad of Japanese troops that broke into our platoon's defense area has been completely wiped out by our platoon."

"Yes!"

Amid the clanging sound of metal colliding, after the sergeant platoon and the messenger walked away stepping on the spent shells on the ground, Ou Yuxiang let out a long sigh, smiled, and waved the hot handle of the twenty-shooter in his hand in the air, shouting: That’s great!

It took Ou Yuxiang's platoon just over five minutes to cleanly and efficiently wipe out an entire infantry platoon of the Japanese Army. This result was indeed shocking enough, but it was also inevitable.

The Japanese infantry squads were equipped with only rifles, light machine guns and grenade launchers. The various weapons they were equipped with were not suitable for close combat at all. Their basic firepower was the Type 38 rifle, and their supporting firepower was the Taisho 11-year Type 99 light machine gun and a 50mm caliber grenade launcher.

As the basic firepower, the rifle has a low killing efficiency in combat. The Taisho 11-type light machine gun and grenade launcher, which are the core of firepower support, are more suitable for medium and long-range combat under field combat conditions, but are somewhat stretched in close combat.

The assault corps was equipped differently. As a time traveler, He Wei was well aware of the disadvantages of the Chinese army, so he equipped the grassroots squads of the assault corps with a considerable number of submachine guns, and also equipped them with MG34 general-purpose machine guns to strengthen the machine gun firepower, giving the assault corps powerful automatic firepower and close combat firepower.

Therefore, the assault corps' close combat firepower equipment had a great advantage over the Japanese army's almost zero close combat automatic firepower equipment. Under the close combat conditions, it was natural for the second row to rely on the overwhelming automatic firepower advantage to wipe out a Japanese infantry squad with equal strength in a very short period of time.

Therefore, the victory of the second row can, to some extent, be said to be a victory for He Wei's own tactical thinking.

Soon after the second row's battle ended, the sounds of gunfire from the ambush positions of the first and third rows of the mounted infantry company gradually became sparse. These two rows also achieved the same fruitful results as the second row, completely wiping out the Japanese troops that had broken into their designated ambush area.

The attacking Japanese Machida Squadron only wanted to break into the village as quickly as possible and wipe out the Chinese troops inside, but as a result, they ran headlong into the fire ambush circle set up by the Advance Column in the village. In just five or six minutes, the three infantry squads of the Machida Squadron all suffered devastating blows.

In a courtyard at the end of the entrance to the village, Machida Ichi, the highest commander of the Japanese assault force, was dumbfounded.

He thought that after the three infantry squads dispersed and attacked, they would be able to quickly destroy and clear out the Chinese troops in the village. So after ordering his infantry squads to launch the attack, he stayed in a courtyard with only a dozen soldiers from the squadron headquarters command squad, waiting for the "victory report" from his three infantry squads.

But after the three infantry squads started their attacks separately, before they could receive any reports of victory, Machida heard sudden and intensive gunfire and explosions coming from the attack directions of the three infantry squads. The entire village suddenly went from being silent to being in an uproar.

Since Machida had sent out all his combat forces without leaving any reserve troops, when the enemy situation ahead was unclear, he did not reinforce the only remaining command squad, but only sent two soldiers from the command squad to conduct reconnaissance.

Soon, the two soldiers of the command squad withdrew and brought back extremely shocking news to Machida, that is, the three infantry squads that attacked forward were almost simultaneously attacked by intensive firepower from the Chinese army.

What’s even worse is that all three infantry squads were blocked by the Chinese army’s firepower and were trapped in three narrow paths!

Only then did Machida realize that he had been tricked and ambushed by the Chinese army.

Immediately afterwards, before Machida could come up with a way to rescue his subordinates, the gunfire that had lasted for only five or six minutes suddenly stopped. Then, Machida sent soldiers from the command squad to scout the situation.

This time, the soldiers of the command squad sent by Machida Ichi brought back two soldiers covered in blood. The two soldiers belonged to the second and third squads of Machida Squadron, and they were lucky enough not to fall under the intensive ambush firepower of the Chinese army and escaped with their lives.

After questioning the two soldiers, Machida Ichi finally understood the details of the ambush on the second and third squads.

Only these two soldiers from the two teams survived, and the rest of the officers and soldiers were killed by the Chinese army.

Of the three infantry squads under Machida Squadron, one person escaped from the second and third squads. As for the fate of the first infantry squad, which was also ambushed but no one escaped, it was self-evident at this point.

Machida Hajime was crawling in the corner of the yard, looking at the dozen or so soldiers in the command squad and the two "lucky ones" who had escaped. While he was stunned and extremely shocked, he also had an unreal mood and feeling, just like Ou Yuxiang, the platoon leader of the second platoon of the mounted infantry company who had just easily wiped out a squad of Japanese troops.

However, Ou Yuxiang's feeling of unreality came from the glorious achievement of easily annihilating a fully equipped Japanese infantry squad in just over five minutes.

Machida's sense of unreality came from the heavy loss of three infantry squads in just over five minutes.

Of course, the loss of three infantry squads, if rounded off, is actually not much different from the strength of an infantry company.

In other words, in just a short while, Machida himself didn't even see the shadow of the Chinese army, and his infantry company was almost wiped out.

In just over five minutes, the infantry company of more than a hundred people was reduced to a dozen people. Three infantry squad leaders were all killed, and only two soldiers survived.

According to the Japanese army's calculation definition of combat losses, Machida Ichi's infantry company was already in a state of "total destruction" at this time, and could be considered to have been completely annihilated and had lost its combat effectiveness!

Of course, despite suffering such heavy losses, Machida Hajime was, after all, an infantry squadron captain with rich combat experience. In such a desperate situation, he still decisively issued the next battle orders to the dozen or so subordinates left around him.

"Commander, leave three people with me here. Leave the rifles, grenades and bullets to me. Take the rest of the people and the soldiers from the second and third squads and rush out of the village. Be sure to report the situation in the village and the ambush to Major Hamamoto. Tell him that there are elite Chinese troops in this village and request him to send reinforcements."

Machida Ichi spoke to the squad leader beside him, his tone full of determination and resoluteness.

The squad leader immediately persuaded, "Captain, there are only a dozen people left in my squadron. It is too dangerous for you to stay here. Please rush out with us."

Machida sighed and said, "There is no need for that. Most of the brave men in my squadron have already died. How can I retreat with dignity? Besides, the village also needs an advance position. Let me stay here with three soldiers to establish an advance position. When the reinforcements sent by Major Hamamoto attack the village, we can also serve as cover."

After saying that, Machida Ichi had already picked up a Type 38 rifle and shouted at the squad leader, "Go quickly!"

"Yes!"

The squad leader agreed reluctantly, and then, after leaving three soldiers to accompany Machida, he left the courtyard with the remaining dozen people and rushed out of the village.

At the same time, unlike the tragic experience of Machida Squadron, there was a festive atmosphere in the command post of the Advance Column in the center of the village.

The commander of the advance column, Zhao Zhanhai, the company commander of the mounted infantry company, Yang Biao, and even all the officers and soldiers in the command post had smiles on their faces.

After the surprise ambush battle in the village ended, the three infantry platoons of the mounted infantry company immediately sent people to the command post to report their respective battle situations. All three infantry platoons successfully eliminated the Japanese troops that broke into their respective ambush areas, and only a very small number of Japanese troops escaped.

The casualties and losses of each platoon were minimal. Apart from the large amount of ammunition consumed, only a few soldiers were slightly injured.

Such a result naturally made Zhao Zhanhai and Yang Biao feel very happy.

In just over five minutes, more than a hundred Japanese soldiers were killed. The speed and efficiency of annihilating the enemy far exceeded the two men's expectations before the war.

The performance of the cutting-edge weapons such as the MG34 general-purpose machine gun and MP28 submachine gun that He Wei equipped the assault corps with in combat also truly amazed the two men.

According to the messengers who came from each platoon to report the results of the battle, the mg34 general-purpose machine guns of each platoon's general-purpose machine gun squad performed particularly well and their firepower was very fierce. Nearly half of the Japs killed by each platoon died at the hands of the mg34 general-purpose machine guns. The ambushed Japanese had no power to fight back against the mg34 general-purpose machine guns with an extremely high firing rate. They were swept away in large numbers, and the Japanese soldiers who were hit were almost in large numbers and were mowed down like rice being cut.

According to the two men's speculation and estimation before the war, if they wanted to eliminate the squadron-sized Japanese troops that broke into the village, they would need the coordination of various submachine guns, machine guns and other firearms in the hands of the infantry and the 60mm mortars to achieve their goal.

According to the original plan, each platoon would first use machine guns to kill as many Japanese troops as possible who had broken into the ambush area. Then, when the Japanese troops who had broken into the ambush area could no longer resist and began to collapse and retreat outside the village, the concentrated 60mm mortars would open fire, blocking the Japanese troops' retreat route out of the village while using artillery fire to kill the remaining retreating Japanese troops.

However, the two men did not expect that without firing a single shot from the 60mm mortar, the three infantry platoons were able to wipe out all the Japanese troops that had broken into their defense zone with extremely high killing efficiency using only the various machine guns in their hands. It can be said that they had exceeded the mission with high standards and high efficiency.

Before the equipment and firepower in their hands were fully utilized, the Japanese troops that broke into the ambush zone of the three platoons were almost wiped out. This time, Zhao Zhanhai and Yang Biao finally tasted the sweetness of the equipment advantage.

Now, the series of actions of the remnants of the Machida Squadron naturally did not escape the eyes of Zhao Zhanhai and Yang Biao. The command squad leader of the Machida Squadron and a dozen Japanese soldiers had just rushed out of the village not far when they were discovered by two people standing on the roof who were observing the enemy situation with binoculars.

The Horse Infantry Company had just achieved the result of almost annihilating a squadron of Japanese troops. Yang Biao was in an excited state. After seeing the Japanese troops retreating outside the village, Yang Biao immediately said to Zhao Zhanhai anxiously: "Sir, there are more than a dozen Japanese running out. Use the 60mm mortar to kill them!"

"No hurry, the real show has just begun. It seems that this battle is easier to fight than we thought. It is a waste to use artillery to bombard these remnants now. It is better to let them go and see what they do next. It would be better to let them lure more devils in. It will not be too late to open fire then."

Zhao Zhanhai said hopefully as he looked at the remnants of the dozen or so Japanese Machida Squadron who were retreating out of the village in a panic.

(End of this chapter)