The sun never sets

Chapter 286 Supplement

On Zhima Ridge, Guo Songling was counting the number of soldiers and the amount of weapons and ammunition. Their battalion was affiliated with the Type A Regiment, so the most difficult tasks always fell on them. The Type A Regiment had the best treatment and the heaviest casualties in battle. But as long as they didn't die or suffer injuries that required them to retire, the soldiers and officers of the Type A Regiment would be promoted rapidly.

After a few battles, Guo Songling was promoted to lieutenant colonel. After the war, he could go to the military academy for further studies. After a year, he could become the deputy regiment commander or the chief of staff of the brigade, or the staff of the division. The position was uncertain, but he was definitely promoted. However, that was all in the future. Guo Songling didn't think that far ahead. What he wanted to do most now was to get a haircut, take a hot bath, have a big meal, and then sleep well for three days and three nights.

In the previous battle, Guo Songling led a battalion of troops to capture Gongchangling, and held on there for three days, repelling several counterattacks by the Russian army. Then he continued to move forward and fought all the way to Zhimaling. Now he only had a little over 200 troops, and the supporting firepower was 10 mortars and 3 heavy machine guns.

In view of the heavy casualties of their battalion, Jiang Dengxuan deployed them at Zhima Ridge. Even if the Russian army broke through, they would not go this way. This was equivalent to letting them rest. In the past half month, they had fought too many fierce battles, and it was time for them to take a breath.

Although it was said above that the Russian army was unlikely to go this way, Guo Songling did not dare to delay. After resting for half an hour, he led the soldiers to dig trenches, set up firing points, and then counted the number of weapons and ammunition.

Yang Yuting took a match and struck it on the matchbox. "Sizzle", the match was lit, lighting the cigarette. He took a deep puff, letting the smoke hold in his chest for a long time, and then slowly exhaled. "Huh——", a cigarette afterwards, feeling as happy as a god. Yang Yuting took a puff, and saw the battalion commander Guo Songling coming over. He put the cigarette in his mouth and took out another cigarette, "Battalion commander, want one? This is a Panda brand, even the regiment commander smokes this."

Guo Songling looked at Yang Yuting and did not take the cigarette. Instead, he said, "Don't smoke later. If the Russians take the road ahead, smoking will expose the target."

Yang Yuting was stunned for a moment, put away the cigarette, and said angrily: "The Russians won't take this path."

"How do you know they won't come? Even if the main force doesn't come this way, the small force won't come over? We are at war! We can't relax for even a moment!"

Yang Yuting could only straighten his attitude and said, "The battalion commander is right. I won't smoke after I finish this one!"

When Guo Songling went to check the trenches and firing points, he quickly finished the cigarette in his hand, threw the cigarette on the ground, crushed it with his feet, and said to the soldiers beside him in a bad mood: "What are you looking at? Who among you has not been scolded by the battalion commander? I am not the only one who has been scolded!"

"Haha, I told you a long time ago that our battalion commander doesn't smoke or drink. He is only focused on fighting."

Yang Yuting snorted twice and said, "The battalion commander only told me not to smoke again after I finished smoking. He didn't tell you not to smoke any more. Do you want some? These are Panda brand cigarettes. Our regiment commander, as well as the brigade commander and division commander above us, all smoke these!"

"Yes, of course! Everyone knows that you, Deputy Battalion Commander Yang, are always generous. Come on, everyone, have one!"

Yang Yuting laughed and scolded: "How dare you laugh at me? I can give you cigarettes, but you should say a few nice words first."

The soldiers looked at each other, and then started talking at once, "Deputy Battalion Commander Yang, may you have a baby soon," "Deputy Battalion Commander Yang, may you live a hundred years," "Deputy Battalion Commander Yang, his voice and appearance are still there"... Yang Yuting spat on the ground, "Pah, pah, pah, you crow mouth, you still can't speak? What do you mean by voice and appearance are still there? Don't use idioms if you don't know how to use them!"

"Haha, we are still learning. We will need more guidance from Deputy Yang in the future so that we can make faster progress."

Yang Yuting laughed and cursed a few times, then distributed the cigarettes to the soldiers around him. When there was only one cigarette left, he said to Li Chengxi who was cleaning his gun, "Little Li, have one!"

Li Chengxi stopped what he was doing. He looked up at Yang Yuting with a simple smile on his face. "No, I can't smoke that. It's too choking."

"You don't know how to enjoy good things!"

Yang Yuting shook his head, poured out the last cigarette, held it between his index and middle fingers, and was about to strike a match, but he held back. He put the match back into the matchbox and put the cigarette back. Mumbling something, Yang Yuting turned up the collar of his military uniform, put his hands into his sleeves, lay down on the side, and soon fell asleep.

Like other soldiers, after fighting several battles, Yang Yuting also learned to sleep anywhere and anytime. He could even fall asleep on the battlefield with the roar of artillery.

"Dig the anti-gun hole 20 centimeters deeper! What are you trying to protect against if it's so shallow?"

"Dig another trench vertically to connect this section with that section!"

"Is this a machine gun position? Can you set up a machine gun? Hmm? How did you do that?

Training? Dig again! "

It felt like he had only slept for a while when Yang Yuting was woken up. Before he even opened his eyes, he heard the hoarse voice of the battalion commander Guo Songling. He yawned, stretched his body, and asked the person next to him, "Who is so unlucky that he was scolded by the battalion commander again?"

"The replacement soldiers sent later are all rookies who have never fought in a war."

"No wonder we were scolded. That's not right. We are the main battalion of the Type A Regiment. We should be supplemented by the Type B Regiment. Why are new soldiers being sent here?"

"I don't know. The battalion commander also looks unhappy."

Yang Yuting was the deputy battalion commander after all, and he still had to take care of the army's affairs. He stood up, dusted himself off, and walked quickly towards Guo Songling, "Battalion commander, what's going on? Why are there no new soldiers for our battalion?"

Guo Songling's face darkened, and he said unhappily, "Are new soldiers no longer soldiers? It's better to have additional troops than to have none at all!"

Yang Yuting thought to himself: You are obviously unhappy, but you are still angry with me. This is outrageous!

He smiled and asked, "How much heavy firepower and ammunition have been replenished? We don't have many shells left. Each heavy machine gun has less than three ammunition belts. Didn't the regiment replenish us?"

"No, absolutely nothing! Just a platoon of riflemen, each with sixty rounds of ammunition and two grenades!"

"Didn't you bring anything to eat or drink?"

"I do have this. I carry three days' worth of rations with me."

Yang Yuting couldn't help but feel annoyed. "It's better not to replenish it. We don't have enough food! What does Captain Jiang think?"

Guo Songling waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about it. Take some people to fetch some water. It's okay to be without food for a while, but without water, people will die."

Chapter 287 Suddenly

Anyway, at least some riflemen were added, and the defense of Zhima Ridge was greatly strengthened. Although no food was brought, and there were no mortars, field artillery, or heavy machine guns and other supporting firepower, it was good to have dozens more rifles.

Regimental commander Jiang Dengxuan and deputy battalion commander Yang Yuting all believed that the Russian army would not take the path below Zhimaling, but Guo Songling still made serious preparations for the battle. He led the soldiers to dig trenches and set up firing points, and everyone was exhausted. Finally, it was night and they could finally rest.

There were rumbling sounds coming from the distance, and flashes of light appeared in the sky from time to time, as if there was thunder.

Guo Songling looked through a telescope in the direction of the sound. It was pitch black, with occasional flashes of light, as if he saw something, but in fact, he couldn't see anything clearly. Yang Yuting came over and said, "A fight has started."

"Yeah, the fight started."

"After this battle, the Russians will be driven away, and we Northeasterners will finally have survived."

Guo Songling put down the telescope, glanced at Yang Yuting, and said, "Arrange a few people to stand guard, and let the rest go to rest."

"Yes!"

Perhaps it was because of their incompatibility. Although Yang Yuting could get along well with the soldiers, Guo Songling just didn't like him very much. He could even say that he was a little disgusted with him. This was different from his scolding of other soldiers. Guo Songling felt that Yang Yuting was not a good soldier, but more like an official.

No, it was not just because of this. He disliked many officers in the army, but he didn't just dislike Yang Yuting.

There was something inexplicable that made Guo Songling feel disgusted when he first saw Yang Yuting. Guo Songling buried these things deep in his heart and never mentioned them to anyone.

He was not a talkative person and was not good at getting along well with other comrades, so no one thought it was wrong. Even Yang Yuting did not think there was anything wrong with it, and even thought that Guo Songling's attitude was natural. If it were not for this personality, Guo Songling's ability to lead troops in battle would not have been a battalion commander now.

The sound of gunfire in the distance rumbled all night, and only died down a little the next morning. The soldiers picked up firewood, dug a smokeless stove, and used the marching pot to cook some porridge and wild vegetable soup, and then ate something in a hurry. Eating the strange-tasting field rations, everyone missed the food in the garrison.

During the war, the army was issued canned beef, mutton and fish, and sometimes canned yellow peaches and oranges, but the quantity was small and they were eaten up in the previous battles. Because they tasted delicious and could reduce the weight, the soldiers always tended to eat the cans as soon as possible. After eating, the empty boxes left could be used to hold water or to set up cordons. If an enemy or wild animal hit them, it would make a crisp sound.

Now the only thing left in the army was field rations, namely fried noodles and compressed biscuits. The compressed biscuits were so hard that they could crack walnuts, and the taste of fried noodles was hard to describe. They were called "fried noodles", but they were not the kind of long, round, or square noodles, but powdered, and tasted like pouring wood ash into your mouth.

When conditions permit, the soldiers prefer to pour the fried noodles into the pot and cook them. It tastes better when it becomes a paste than when eaten directly. There was some noise on the battlefield, and Guo Songling couldn't help but frown, but thinking of the many fierce battles he had fought before, and the fact that almost everyone's cheeks were sunken, he didn't say anything.

However, Guo Tielian's kindness did not last long.

After the soldiers finished their meal, he urged them to check their weapons and equipment and continue digging trenches. If the trench was deep enough, they could extend it to both sides, and if it was long enough, they could dig another trench at the back.

The veterans waved their arms and dug pits silently, but the new soldiers couldn't help complaining, "Battalion commander, we have already dug trenches according to the standards, why do we have to keep digging!"

Hearing someone dare to complain, the veterans looked over here while digging holes, and some of them laughed, "Ha! How dare you question the battalion commander's decision! You're really brave!"

"You're new here, weren't you like this when you first came?"

"Nonsense, I wasn't that stupid when I first got here!"

On the battlefield, Guo Songling's face quickly turned dark. He sneered and said, "I don't know what you learned in the recruit camp, but it's best to forget all those sermons! People will die in war. Digging more pits will reduce bloodshed, do you know?"

He shouted the last few words so loudly that the faces of the soldiers who were shouted at turned pale.

"Hahaha, look at them!"

“That feels good!”

"Satisfying? How about making a bet? Those new recruits will be yelled at again today!"

"Well... let's bet! What's the prize?"

"I still have a piece of candy. What about you? Hey, why aren't you talking... Captain!"

Guo Songling said with a straight face: "Gambling is not allowed in the army, don't you know?"

"Um, Captain, we are not gambling, we are just... just..."

Guo Songling snorted and said, "The instructor was injured and sent to the hospital, but things in the camp are not left unattended!" He turned his head and shouted to a distance: "Yang Yuting!"

"Have!"

"Enforce the team's discipline! If there's any gambling again, I'll hold you accountable!"

"Yes!"

When Guo Songling went to inspect other places, the old soldiers who had just pretended to work seriously laughed at the man who was being scolded, "You are still talking about the new recruits, but you are also being scolded, right?"

"Am I being scolded? It's obvious that the battalion commander is concerned about me!"

Yang Yuting couldn't stand it anymore. "You are really stubborn. So many people have seen it, and you still talk nonsense? You lie with your eyes open... Hey, Xiao Yang, why are you running so fast?"

The scout ran up from the bottom of the mountain. When he passed by Yang Yuting, he didn't even stop, but left a message, "The Russians are coming! There are a lot of people and artillery!"

"What? Really coming?"

"I told you the battalion commander wouldn't let us do useless work!"

"Prepare for battle!"

After hearing the news brought by the scouts, Guo Songling's expression did not change. He just asked, "How many people are there?"

"There is at least one division, with a line of troops stretching out five or six miles, and at least six field guns!"

Guo Songling pondered for a moment, then ordered: "Run fast and tell the regiment that the Russians are coming."

"Do you need reinforcements?"

Guo Songling shook his head. "I don't think the regiment commander has any extra troops. You just need to pass the message on. If the regiment commander has a reserve force, he will send it over. If not..." He paused, "We have to stop the Russians by ourselves."

Chapter 288 Hunters

The Russians' breakout was smooth at first because they were already experienced. They had been ambushed too many times in the Northeast, and they had developed the ability to run away when they saw the situation was not good. But when the shells fell into the Russian ranks, the breakout turned into a disaster.

Many troops were in chaos, and everyone was running eastward, forgetting their assigned tasks. Grand Duke Nicholas was only going to withdraw half of the army, but even if it was only half of the army, it would still be 100,000 people. Of course, so many people would not go along one road, but would be divided into several routes.

He had a high prestige in the army and a strong control over the troops. Even when he was in a situation where he had to flee, he was still able to firmly control the troops, but he could only control the troops he was in. The other troops soon fell into panic after being blocked by a small group of the People's Army.

The Russian soldiers threw away their cannons, heavy machine guns and anything else that would become a burden, and carried rifles, or nothing at all, with a single-minded focus on running away. When they encountered an ambush, the Russian army's first reaction was not to organize troops to drive the Chinese away, but to rush over from the sidelines or run away in a detour.

The decision to charge directly was not wrong. The initial blocking force of the People's Army was small in number and had limited ammunition. After running out of bullets and mortar shells, they could only watch the Russian army flee from their positions like a tide. The Russian army that chose to take a detour was in a much worse situation.

There were only a few roads that could accommodate the army, and there were troops of the People's Army on every road. Taking a detour would only waste energy. The People's Army not only deployed troops on the main roads, but also on the side roads. Fighting broke out on the main roads, and soon there was also an exchange of fire on the side roads.

After discovering that the Russians had fled, the People's Army launched a large-scale offensive on the front, but made little progress. Kontrachenko personally went to various positions to boost morale. The morale of the remaining Russian troops was somewhat low, but at least they were able to lie in the trenches.

There were guns fired inside. The advantage of the defenders was too great. The Russian army still had sufficient manpower, and it was not easy to take down a position defended by nearly 100,000 troops.

Fights broke out on various fronts. Seeing the low morale of the Russian army, Lin Yongchang wanted to defeat the enemy with a strong attack or force the Russian army to surrender. After discovering that the Russian army was still able to fight, he stopped the large-scale full-scale offensive and returned to the method of using artillery to open a gap.

If the problem can be solved with artillery shells, then it is better to solve the problem with artillery shells. After the gap is opened with artillery, infiltration assault can be used to reduce some casualties. This does not mean that Marshal Lin is ready to let the Russian army escape again, nor does he want to trick the Japanese again.

Two years ago, the People's Army was not strong enough, but now it has enough strength. The reason why the attack on the "Liaoyang Line" was temporarily suspended was that the Rehe Corps had blocked the road to Vladivostok. Under the layers of resistance, the Russian troops who broke through the encirclement, even if they could run to the Yanbian area, they would only jump from one encirclement into another larger encirclement.

To Marshal Lin, the entire war was like playing chess, and everything was clearly arranged. But for the soldiers in it, they could only see the situation around them. Even if the People's Army had an absolute advantage, they still needed the front-line soldiers to fight hard to win the victory.

The goddess of victory has already lifted her skirt, and she must also stand up straight to move forward.

"Hold on! Hold on! Don't shoot without orders!"

Guo Songling looked at the Russian troops in the telescope, turned around and shouted orders to the troops. He was not worried about being heard by the rolling enemy. The Russian troops in the distance made too much noise. The footsteps of so many people alone were enough to cover up all the surrounding sounds.

Scout Xiao Yang said that there were many Russian troops coming, at least one division. Looking at the surging Russian troops, Guo Songling felt that Xiao Yang was wrong. How could this be just one division? There must be at least two divisions!

He only has an understaffed battalion. How can he stop so many Russian troops?

Guo Songling didn't know that Marshal Lin had set another trap in Yanbian, waiting for the Russian army to jump into it. He only knew that he was assigned to Zhimaling to stop the Russian army. Since he was assigned here, he had to complete the task assigned by his superiors. Even if there were only 300 people, he had to stop the Russians here!

"Get closer before you fire!"

Guo Songling shouted, "Hit them hard!"

The Russian troops that broke out from the path below Zhimaling were led by Grand Duke Nicholas Romanov himself. They still maintained their organization and basic morale. After the other Russian troops that broke out were defeated, Grand Duke Nicholas made a prompt decision and abandoned the main road and chose to take the small road.

"Can we defeat the Japanese troops in Vladivostok with only 20,000 men?"

Grand Duke Nicholas Nicholas felt that the problem was not serious. Although the Japanese army was brave, their combat effectiveness was not as good as that of the Russian army, and their equipment was not very good. Even if he only brought back these 20,000 people, it would still be of great use. Some of the troops that broke through the siege could also run back more or less. If half of them were lost, there would still be 40,000 people. Together with the 20,000 people in his hands, that would be 60,000 troops, which was enough.

As long as the Chinese do not cross the border, the 60,000 troops plus the garrison in Vladivostok, and the Primorsky region can continue to recruit some troops, the offensive is insufficient, and the defense against the Japanese army should not be a problem. Will the Chinese really not cross the Sino-Russian border? This is a question.

There has always been hatred between China and Japan. What happened two years ago also proved that the relationship between China and Japan is not so harmonious. The so-called "different mountains and rivers, the same moon and sky" is just a nice-sounding lie. Grand Duke Nicholas was riding on his horse, thinking about what to do next, when he suddenly heard gunshots.

"boom!"

The sound of the Mosin-Nagant firing was so clear that many people around heard it. Grand Duke Nicholas initially thought it was his own people firing, but the heavy machine gun and mortar fire made him immediately realize that it was not the case. "Chinese!"

Several loyal guards hurriedly pulled the Grand Duke off his horse and dragged him into the woods beside the road. "Sir, be careful of the Chinese hunters!"