Chapter 106: Gathering matter

"kill!"

"Run!"

...

The soldiers rushed to the No. 2 position with all kinds of weapons with a deafening roar. They crossed my legs and passed by me with bayonets. The enemy's only remaining fourth firepower point could no longer withstand the impact of our army. They fired a few shots in a sparse manner, and soon drowned in the crowd of angry volunteer soldiers.

At this moment, the sound of cannons on the Five Sacred Mountain finally sounded. What surprised me was that the sound of cannons was much denser than I thought. After listening carefully, I realized that many of them were the sounds of mortars. I guess Captain Zhang concentrated all the mortars in the regiment to provide us with artillery fire support.

As the shells roared, the enemy's firepower points in the depths of the 597.9 high ground, the barbed wire fences were blown into the sky one by one. Of course, there were groups of US troops on the position accompanying them.

Volunteer soldiers took advantage of these artillery fire and rushed to various positions on the 597.9 high ground in one go, chasing the fleeing US troops everywhere.

Without rushing up, I trembled and got up from the ground and staggered towards the first fire point.

In the position of the second platoon leader, the two machine guns were still placing the two machine guns, and there were some magazines and shells piled up scattered beside the guns, as if telling me what a fierce war was going on here just now. Not far from the machine gun, there was a large area of ​​enemy corpses lying everywhere, but the figure of the second platoon leader was not seen, only a pile of mud soaked in blood was left behind the machine gun.

I looked around and shouted habitually, even though I knew there was no hope.

Of course no one answered me. I searched in the pile of corpses for a while, and finally found a pair of scattered legs wearing shoes next to the fire point...

This should be left by the platoon leader 2!

It is impossible for the Americans to wear patched liberation shoes, and no one of the volunteer soldiers who died here broke their legs.

Looking at the bloody legs, a desolation flashed in my heart for no reason. All heroes can leave behind is this.

The battle continued. The soldiers who had retreated to the tunnel fought back to the ground and joined forces with the reinforcements sent by Captain Zhang to run away. The sound of gunfire, cannons, and shouts of killing were roaring in his ears, and there was also a hand-to-hand combat between bayonets in the intense part.

Originally, as the commander of the army, I should have rushed forward to command the battle, but for some reason, I don’t want to move at all now.

Maybe I feel tired enough and want to rest for a while; maybe I feel that I have killed enough today; or maybe I am thinking that the situation is now settled and I can no longer worry about the above things...

Anyway, I didn't know what I was thinking at this moment. At that moment, I didn't care about anything. I just squatted in the fire point. After a while, I silently took off my military uniform and put the feet in front of me in the middle... I don't want the only thing left in the second platoon leader in this world to be blown away by the enemy's artillery fire.

Suddenly, there was a burst of cheers coming from the position, and the soldiers shouted with guns:

"Victory!"

"The American devils are retreating!"

...

Several company commanders were worthy of being veterans who fought with the Americans. Before the soldiers could shout, they loudly ordered the soldiers to retreat. The soldiers responded and grabbed a few spoils from the position, retreating into the tunnel like a tide.

I also grabbed the rifle and followed the crowd toward the tunnel.

"Hey! It's so good to fight." In the tunnel with the rumbling sound of cannons, Zhang Jifa clenched his fists and said excitedly: "Now we're angry, look at those Americans still arrogant!"

"Yes! I was itchy when I looked behind me!" Miao Huaizhi also continued, "I wish I could go up and shoot a few times. Company Commander Zhang, this time you have avenged our sacrificed comrades! In the future, we must not let the position be thrown away from us!"

"That's right!" Wan Fulai nodded and said firmly: "These positions are all exchanged for blood and lives by the soldiers. If we lose the positions again, we would be so sorry for them..."

"No, we have to give up our position!" I interrupted without any emotion.

"What?" Miao Huaizhi and Zhang Jifa all looked at me in surprise when they heard this, even Instructor Qin was no exception.

When our army had just won and the soldiers were all in high morale, my words undoubtedly poured a basin of cold water on them.

"Chief of Staff... what did you say? Give up the position?" Miao Huaizhi wondered if he had heard it wrong, and looked at me inexplicably.

"That's right!" I nodded: "After the enemy's artillery is over, the first company and the Ninth Company respectively sent a squad of soldiers to the position to guard. The task of these soldiers is to notify the troops to go up when the enemy comes up. You must choose a good location and pay attention to concealment. When the enemy's artillery fire is fierce, you are allowed to go into the tunnel to hide. Most of the comrades in the Sixth Company and the Seventh Company rest, leaving only one platoon for preparation. I believe that the enemy will wait until dawn before attacking. You can just hold on for three to four hours..."

"I, I don't agree!" Before I finished speaking, Miao Huaizhi opposed: "Chief of Staff, we have lost so many people and paid such a great price. We only persisted for three or four hours and gave up the position! Then, are we worthy of the comrades who sacrificed? Are we worthy of the trust of the organization in our organization? I suggest that we fight against the enemy on the position, and we will kill as much as they come!"

"Yes! Chief of Staff!" Zhang Jifa also suggested: "The 597.9 high ground is easy to defend but difficult to attack. We paid such a great price to get the position back. How could we give up so easily?"

"I also agree with perseverance!" said Wan Fulai, the company commander of the 6th Company: "Our casualties are indeed very large, but the enemy's casualties are greater than ours. What's more, if you hand over the position to the Americans and then take the position back at night, you will have to pay a considerable amount of casualties. It is better to fight with the Americans on the position. This may be a small price to exchange for greater casualties from the enemy!"

It is undeniable that the soldiers' statements are also reasonable. From the perspective of the enemy's casualties, perhaps holding the position can only exchange for greater casualties by the enemy at the minimum price. After all, although our army can counterattack in the dark, the enemy occupied the favorable terrain at that time. After all, the price we paid from the bottom of the mountain was not much better than sticking to it.

But I'm not just thinking about this.

"Comrade Gao Yongxiang, Comrade Li Debin!" I did not answer the soldiers' doubts, and turned around and called out the two new faces in the tunnel.

"Come!" The two soldiers stood up and stood in front of me.

The two of them were the company commanders of the two companies sent by Captain Zhang to reinforce our counterattack. Commander Zhang knew that we had a lot of casualties, so he ordered them to complete the counterattack mission and stayed in Shangganling as supplementary forces.

"Company Commander Gao, Commander Li!" I nodded to them, shook hands with them one by one and said, "First of all, we welcome your arrival. You have cooperated well with our counterattack and laid the foundation for our successful restoration of the superficial position!"

Of course I have to say that, but in fact, I and other company commanders knew that their arrival almost disrupted our sneak attack plan. However, in the subsequent counterattack, they did make up for our lack of troops.

"This is what we deserve!" The two company commanders saluted me at the same time.

"Did the superior bring us any instructions?" I asked casually. In fact, I could guess what instructions the superior would give us without asking.

Sure enough, Gao Yongxiang quickly stepped forward and replied: "Report to the Chief of Staff, Commander Zhang asked me to tell you that you must firmly grasp the 597.9 highland and 537.7 highland. The head of our 135th Regiment can be broken, blood can flow, and the position cannot be lost!"

"Yeah!" I nodded and fell into silence again.

"Chief of Staff!" Instructor Qin walked up to me and suggested: "We revolutionary soldiers just have to obey orders. Since the regiment commander has given such an order, do you see..."

"Instructor Qin!" I asked back before he could finish his words: "We gave up the superficial position and retreated to the tunnel. Is it just that we lost the position?"

"Retreat to the tunnel is indeed not a loss of the position!" Instructor Qin replied: "But we are in a passive state of being beaten! And from the perspective of casualties, there is not much difference in doing this..."

"Our mission is to hold the position, not to kill many enemies!" I stood up and said, "How many bullets do we have and how many people do we have? How many guns do we have to block the enemy's attack?"

After I said this, the soldiers were all speechless. This is also the reality in front of me. The number of people is free to be strong. With the reinforcements of the 5th and 8th companies, we can still get more than 300 people on the high ground, but the ammunition is getting smaller and smaller. Although Commander Zhang organized some of the people to send, most of the ammunition failed to pass the enemy's artillery blockade line. The ammunition sent was not enough for us to supplement our losses tonight.

"Comrades! We need to consider the actual problems!" I said heavily: "When yesterday, during the daytime battle, comrades all knew what it was like to lose ammunition when resisting the US military's attack on superficial positions. If we attacked like yesterday, I am afraid that our ammunition could not last for an hour, let alone support it all day?"

"If there is not enough ammunition, we will fight with bayonets!" Miao Huaizhi raised his rifle and said.

"Yes!" Zhang Jifa also agreed: "You can also smash it with stones. Even if we all sacrificed our lives, we cannot lose our position!"

"If we all sacrificed, how can we not lose the position?" I asked back.

Looking at the soldiers' fighting spirit, I really don't want to pour cold water on them, but I can't let them go wrong like this.

"Chief of Staff, then your plan is..." Instructor Qin asked.

"I think our focus is to defend the position, not kill the enemy, nor to sacrifice bravely!" I explained: "Comrades! As revolutionary soldiers, we must of course have the spirit of not being afraid of sacrifice and daring to fight against the enemy. If we can defend the position after sacrifice, then I will not stop you from holding onto the position! But the fact is not the case. If we fight against the enemy on the position and sacrifice on the position, what will happen next? The happiest thing is the enemy, and they can safely attack the main peak of the Five Sacred Mountains!

If we can save our strength and retreat to the tunnel, can the enemy attack the Five Sacred Mountains with confidence? We are like a time bomb under their butt, like a nail nailed on them, like a thorn piercing them in their flesh. If they don’t pull us out, they will not be able to attack the Five Sacred Mountains with confidence! That’s why we have to give up the surface position and cannot fight against the Japanese! This way we can better complete the tasks assigned to us by our superiors, otherwise what’s the use of even if we all sacrificed? The Japanese are still stepping on our bodies!"

Listening to my words, the soldiers couldn't help but whisper, some of them were nodding to each other, obviously I had already told them.

"Chief of Staff!" After a while, Gao Yongxiang asked again: "Then what are you asking the soldiers to guard the position for three or four hours?"

"Let's first look at what happens if we don't guard it!" I pointed to the 597.9 and 537.7 highlands on the map and said: "If we don't guard it and go back to the tunnel directly, the US military can easily occupy our surface positions. They will have a lot of time to build fortifications on our positions calmly. With the equipment and speed of the US military, they are enough to build reinforced concrete bunker fortifications on our surface positions in one day. At that time, if we want to counterattack in the night, and then restore the surface positions, it will be even more difficult!"

"Oh!" After hearing this, the soldiers suddenly realized.

"And once we cannot restore the surface position, we will be in a very passive situation!" After pausing, I continued: "The inability to restore the surface position means that we may be blocked in the tunnel by the enemy and completely isolated from the outside world. The enemy's machine guns and cannons have the ability to block any support from the outside world. At that time, not only bullets, but also water, food, and medicines used by the wounded will not be transported. The longer the time, the greater the difficulty will be. We should take advantage of the time when the US military has not yet been able to completely block our supply line in the past few days and try to store materials!

On the contrary, if we can defend the position for a few hours, the enemy will be very tired when attacking the position, and the time to build fortifications on the surface position is relatively less, and the difficulty of restoring the surface position is less, which means that the greater the chance of us getting supplies..."

Listening to my words, the soldiers couldn't help looking at each other, and everyone showed strange expressions on their faces.

"What's wrong?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Chief of Staff..." Instructor Qin hesitated: "Are you talking too far? Can our battle last for so long?"

I was stunned when I heard this, and then I quickly understood. Because I knew history, I subconsciously used protracted war to look at the Battle of Shangganling. I also knew very well that soon, Shangganling would be in a dilemma of being cut off because the US military consolidated fortifications on the surface positions and the volunteers in the tunnel were unable to launch a counterattack again.

In fact, it is not just me. In modern times, almost everyone knew the arduous situation of the supply cut by Shangganling. Later, the superiors even set a rule that "whoever can send an apple into the tunnel will be given a second-class merit to whom". It is conceivable how difficult it was to replenish supplies at that time.

I know this, but the soldiers don’t!

Now the Battle of Shangganling has only been more than a day, and many soldiers may still think that this battle may end in two days! Isn’t it only more than ten days to fight five battles? How long can a small battle in Shangganling last?

But what they didn't know was that this seemingly small battle, a small battle that was only on two high grounds as big as 3.7 square kilometers, had been fought for a month and eleven days. The degree of tragic and arduousness made the entire front look at it and shocked the whole world!

"Comrades, there is a saying that 'If a person has no long-term thinking, he will have immediate worries'." Thinking of this, I hurriedly explained: "War! You have to look farther, not to mention that it is already very difficult for us to get supplies now!"

"The Chief of Staff said it well!" Guidance Qin has been paying attention to the supply situation of the troops during this period. He nodded and said, "These days, because the food in the rear has not been delivered, the food in our tunnel has been almost consumed. Especially the medicine is scarce, and the wounded have basically no medicine available. The water is quite good. There are dozens of buckets of water stored in the "Invincible Pit" that are enough for us to use it for a month. However, some of the water is a bit deteriorating and smelly because of poor protection, and they also need to be dumped and replaced with clean water..."

"Wait!" I quickly stopped him and said, "Don't be busy pouring out the smelly water first, replenish it first, and pour it when there is not enough bucket!"

"Yes!" Director Qin stood up and responded.

"What do you have any ideas about this plan?" I continued, "If you have different opinions, please give them a discussion together to see what are the shortcomings!"

"I agree with this plan!" Gao Yongxiang first agreed: "The Chief of Staff is right. Our goal is to complete the tasks assigned to us by our superiors, guard the 597.9 and 537.7 highlands to protect the safety of the Five Sacred Mountains, rather than to compete with who is brave and who is not afraid of death on this battlefield. That is no different from the brave and fierce robbers, it is not the style of our revolutionary soldiers!"

"I agree!"

"I agree too!"

...

The soldiers all agreed.

"Okay!" Finally I concluded: "Comrades have no objection. So from tomorrow, we will focus on cooperating with the rear transport of materials, strive for quick and large amounts of strategic materials to prepare for the complete defeat of the enemy in the future!"
Chapter completed!