Chapter 158 Assembly Place

The US artillery fire fell on our army's positions one by one, and its intensity was no less than the bombing at the Battle of Shangganling. Not only that, dozens of enemy aircraft were added to the sky above the high ground, circling like flies, and from time to time, diving down with sharp roars to throw heavy bombs and incendiary bombs on the high ground. The temperature in the tunnel rose rapidly, and the air became extremely turbid and stuffy, which made the soldiers almost breathless.

I know this very well when the US military targets our reverse slope positions. Their shells do not have much destructive effect on our tunnel fortifications. The reason is that the tunnel fortifications are built on the reverse slope, and most of the shells are blocked from the forward slope.

However, the bombing of aircraft is different. They can completely set the airdrop target at the counter-subsidence of the 597.9 Highland. In addition, the power of heavy aviation bombs is much greater than that of shells. Once they are lucky enough to hit the tunnel entrance or fragile part, it is very likely that the tunnel will collapse or block it. In this way, the volunteer soldiers in the tunnel can be killed, and the volunteer soldiers can be sealed in the tunnel, so that they cannot reinforce the top positions.

Fortunately, the 597.9 highland is very steep, which means that the exposed target is very small, and the enemy aircraft's explosion rate is also very small. In addition, the visibility of the smoke surrounding the highland is very poor, so the enemy's bombs are not very threatening to us. However, the incendiary bombs made us complain... It made the entire tunnel look so hot like a fire cage. The soldiers were all sweating like rain, and they took off their cotton jackets at the same time. What is even more unbearable is that the incendiary bombs burned out the air around the vents, making the air in the tunnel become thinner and thinner, so that I didn't even dare to light the kerosene lamp, so I could only use a flashlight to shine the map on the desktop and fell into deep thought.

In fact, the US military does not need to make any effort to bomb us like this. They only need to attack us for another hour... In just one hour, we may have no soldiers available. And they can easily occupy all positions of our army, and even tunnels that they could not take away after fighting for nearly a month.

Of course, the US military does not know this, so it is still doing such useless work.

However, the result did not seem to have changed, because after the bombing, they will definitely charge us again, and we still can't stand until dark. From this perspective, I would rather hope that the US military can bomb for a longer time, preferably until dark...

But I also know that this is impossible and unrealistic!

What should I do? Under the aperture of the flashlight, I stared at the 597.9 high ground on the map and asked myself over and over again!

Do you still take the soldiers back to the tunnel like before? This may be a solution. If we die, we will have no benefits to the battle situation. If we retreat to the tunnel to preserve our strength, we can at least ensure that the tunnel is in our hands. At least the US military that has occupied the surface positions will still be in a state of ease. At least we still have the opportunity to cooperate with reinforcements to launch a counterattack on the surface positions...

At least so many may be enough to make me find a sufficient reason to give up the surface position. But I am still unwilling to accept it because I know very well that all positions on the 597.9 high ground are easy to defend but difficult to attack. If we give up the surface position like this, we don’t know how much the price it will cost to capture it.

Then block the gun hole like Huang Jiguang did? Then rush towards the enemy's machine gun fort with explosives as before, like the counterattack surface positions? All this is not what I want. Moreover, this time we have to face the elite US 187th Airborne Regiment. Once the 597.9 Highland fell into their hands, even if we still have so many heroes who are desperately pushing it up, we may still not be able to grab the position back.

As long as we persist for a long time, until it gets dark, the situation of the battle will change drastically.

So I'm not willing to give up!

There are more than a hundred soldiers in the tunnels in the highlands. Is they also transferred to defend?

This doesn't seem to be appropriate. Now there are still five or six hours before dark, so I can only hold on for two hours when I transfer them to the ground, and the result is the same. And the consequences are also very serious. I, who just attacked the 537.7 Highland, of course I know that there is no danger to defend that highland. After our army attacks, the only thing we can rely on after hiding is the tunnel fortifications there. If we lose all the tunnels in the 537.7 Highland, then what will happen next is not difficult to imagine. Those tunnels will soon be occupied by the puppet troops stationed in the South Mountain of the 537.7 Highland, and then they will be transformed into bunker fortifications by them. At that time, if our army wants to regain the 537.7 Highland, we have to face the enemy bunkers and shells with flesh and blood...

"Chief of Staff!" As I was thinking hard, Instructor Qin, who was also worried about this issue, reminded him: "Would we report this situation to our superiors and listen to our superiors' thoughts!"

"Is it useful to report to our superiors?" Li Baocheng said helplessly: "What the superiors can do is send reinforcements to us, and the American plane is staring at us! Who can still walk alive in this broad daylight!"

"Then you have to report too!" I sighed deeply: "Now is the critical moment of the 597.9 Highland. The situation is very critical. The surface position may not be able to be defended. Let's report, and our superiors are ready!"

"Yes!" Instructor Qin listened and immediately called the regiment headquarters.

"Let me do it!" Instructor Qin raised the stepper phone and was about to speak, but I picked it up.

I am not used to anything, but I will tell you good things, and I will throw them to my subordinates.

"Captain Zhang!" I wiped the sweat beads on my head, and I took a breath in the turbid air and said to the microphone: "Captain Zhang, the combat effectiveness of the US 187th Airborne Regiment is much beyond our imagination. We suffered a lot of casualties, and more than 200 casualties were killed in more than two hours of battle. Now we only have more than 100 people left. If we continue to fight like this, it is afraid it will be difficult to stick to it!"

"Well!" Captain Zhang, who was on the other end of the microphone, was obviously surprised when he heard my words. The first thing he said was: "I'll send reinforcements up right now!"

"Captain Zhang!" I stopped me and said, "It is useless to send reinforcements. Past experience tells us that sending reinforcements at this time will not play any role in the battle situation except for letting the soldiers die in vain!"

There was a silence on the other end of the walkie-talkie. After a long time, Captain Zhang sighed and said, "Or, you retreat to the tunnel! We will formulate a combat plan and counterattack at night!"

"I want..." I nodded with difficulty and replied, "I think this is the only way!"

"Chief of Staff!" At this time, Li Baocheng stood up and said, "Ask Commander Zhang if you can let the artillery bomb the position until dawn!"

"Oh!" I couldn't help but burst into tears when I heard this, and soon told Captain Zhang to Li Baocheng's words.

But Captain Zhang's words disappointed us again: "Architecture is used very frequently during this period, and our shells are no longer stocked!"

After pausing for a while, Captain Zhang asked, "By the way, can you cooperate with the artillery, minimize casualties and persevere until dark!"

"Captain Zhang!" I replied helplessly: "Shangganling is very steep, and the enemy is attacking on the right slope. It is difficult for our army's artillery shells to hit them!"

"But..." Then I quickly thought: "We can find ways to kill their follow-up power to weaken their offensive!"

Thinking of this, I didn't bother to speak, so I handed the walkie-talkie to Guidance Qin, raised the flashlight and shone it on the map on the desktop.

The enemy's attack time these days is too regular, and they launch a charge around 8 o'clock every morning. Of course, this is because it is not until 8 o'clock in the morning. But... why didn't I think about why the enemy can launch a charge so on time? Every time they charge, several battalions of troops rushed forward, and in order to achieve the purpose of continuous attacks, the second echelon troops will continue to replenish!

With such a huge army, how did they charge at our positions at the same time? If these troops were not assembled in advance, it would be difficult for people to believe.

My flashlight went down the road between the 597.9 Highland and the highland where the enemy was located. Like other places in North Korea, all the nearby places are mountains connected to mountains, and there is almost no open area that can accommodate large troops.

Apart from……

"Yes, it's here!" The light from my flashlight moved to a few hundred meters away from the upper right corner of the 597.9 Highland, and stopped. It was a valley, a valley full of trees. With trees, it means it is difficult for us to find that there are troops hidden inside. Moreover, because its location is relatively low, it hides under the shadow of the peak of the 597.9 Highland, so few shells can explode there.

If I guess correctly, whether it is the US military or the puppet army, they gathered here before the attack.

So I immediately grabbed the walkie-talkie and shouted at the microphone: "Captain Zhang, there is a valley in the upper right corner of the 597.9 Highland. Have you seen it?"

After a while, Captain Zhang replied: "I saw it! What's going on?"

"I suspect that the enemy's attacking troops gathered in this valley!" I replied excitedly: "I hope the artillery troops can bomb this valley. If we bomb correctly, the enemy's attacking troops will suffer great casualties, and we will have hope to defend our positions!"

"No problem!" Hearing this, Captain Zhang agreed: "You still hold on to the position and leave it to me to bomb this valley!"

"Yes!" I responded and hung up the phone.

But then I realized what risks I was taking when I decided to Captain Zhang just now. What if the enemy didn’t gather in that valley? Then we might end up losing all the money!

Just as I was thinking, the sound of cannons outside suddenly stopped.

I gritted my teeth, immediately made up my mind, and shouted at the soldiers: "Go to the position! People are in the position, and I swear to live and die together with the position!"

Although I don’t know much about Sun Tzu’s Art of War, I also know that I cannot hesitate on the battlefield, especially the commander. I still don’t go to the position. For a simple commander, it’s just a matter of choosing one of two. If you choose the right one, you win, and if you choose the wrong one, you lose, and at least one-half of the winning side.

But for an indecisive command, just as he was hesitating, the best fighter had already slipped away from him. When he thought of the answer, there was actually no choice, and he had no choice but to lose.

Because I knew this, I made a decision very simply.

"People are in the position! Swear to live and die together with the position!"

"People are in the position! Swear to live and die together with the position!"

...

The soldiers raised their rifles and shouted loudly with me a few times, then turned around and got out of the tunnel.

The smoke filled the sky with smoke and dust!

Although the air outside the tunnel was filled with the burnt smell of gasoline bombs and the gunpowder smell of shells, when I walked out of the tunnel, I still felt like I was relaxing, just like a big rock pressing on my chest suddenly no one carried away.

Although the air outside is also smelly and turbid, there is at least oxygen inside it...

I didn't hurry to observe the pit that was several meters deep in the air bomb. I grabbed my gun and stepped on the scorched earth that was still catching steam, and ran towards the top of the mountain.

As soon as the soldiers ran to the position, they raised their shovels and dug them on the position. Although the soil on it was so soft that it could not build a trench, they still had to dig a small pit for themselves to hide. The machine gunners even had to shoot the scorched earth, otherwise, the bipods of the light machine gun might sink into the soil one tall and one short. If the heavy machine gun fired a few shots, the vibration might make it buried in the entirety.

As I was used to, the target was position No. 9. I quickly found a position on the position and lay down. I raised my gun and poked my head out and looked down. Good guy, those Americans have adjusted the tanks again.

Maybe it was because they suffered the last loss, so this time they did not fire smoke bombs. This allowed me to clearly see the tanks lined up in rows at the foot of the mountain. After counting, there were more than 20 vehicles, either looking for a suitable launch position or adjusting the height of the tank gun...

Let’s look at the soldiers of the 187th Airborne Regiment, all of whom were lying in the hidden place at the foot of the mountain, waiting for orders to attack us.

After a while, the enemy tanks were ready. With a command, the tank guns and the anti-aircraft machine guns on the tanks were fired together, and the position became lively. The sound of gunfire, the sound of cannons and the whistling of bullets became a whole. The soldiers of the 187th Airborne Regiment also rushed towards our position with the bullets and the shells carefully.

"Fight!" When the US military was more than 100 meters away from our position, I issued a battle order.

Facing the troops of the 187th Airborne Regiment of the US, I dare not ask them to get closer before fighting. What's more, we are now ammunition, and the main purpose is to delay time. If we can hold on until dark, we will win. So I will not move step by step as usual.

The soldiers immediately pulled the trigger towards the target they selected. Rows of bullets passed by, and the US troops fell into a pool of blood.

I was disturbed by smoke bombs before, so I didn’t notice the scene of the American soldiers of the 187th Regiment being shot dead. This time I could see clearly. Although the way of death was no different from other people, what surprised me was that when they were hit, the bodies often flew very far, which also made almost every person who was shot roll down the incline!

Could it be that this is also a training event for the 187th Corps? I couldn't help but feel a little surprised when I looked at it.

But then I quickly realized that this was caused by the bulletproof vests they were wearing. Although the bulletproof vests could not prevent bullets at this time, they could greatly reduce the penetration of bullets. For example, the turntable machine guns and the heavy machine gun in the hands of the soldiers could have easily penetrated the enemy's body at this distance and caused secondary damage to the enemy that followed. However, since the US military wore the bulletproof vests, the bullet could not penetrate the enemy. All the kinetic energy on the bullet was borne by the US military who was shot.

So, just a row of bullets went down, and the mountain was filled with American soldiers' bodies rolling around on the slope!

This may be why the US military knew that the bulletproof vest could not prevent the bullets of the Soviet-style weapons in the hands of the Volunteer Army, but still wanted to get the 187th Regiment! It seems that our army's machine guns swept down from a high point. If they could penetrate the enemy's body, they could indeed cause a large number of casualties. Unexpectedly, the US military solved this problem in this way. No wonder this 87th Airborne Regiment is much harder to fight than other ace troops...

"Bang bang..." I finished the eight bullets in the magazine in one breath, and several US troops quickly rolled on the inclined surface. But they still charged at us like a tide under the cover of tank cannons and machine guns.

They were divided into several teams, and they were very flexible in protecting each other with the help of craters and stones to attack us. They were very well-equipped, including machine guns, mortars, recoilless cannons, etc., and even the carbines in the hands of ordinary soldiers could be fired continuously. This made the roar of bullets on the position become a piece of bullets, blowing towards us like a gust of wind. The soldiers almost shot at the enemy with bullets and shells, and many soldiers died in the stray bullets fired by the enemy.

Of course, due to the angle, the casualties of the US military are much greater than ours. But I know that the number of US military personnel is much greater than that of us. If this continues, even if the US military does not attack the position, they can still win the final victory!

I wonder if the artillery is ready?

I took the time and looked up at the valley in the upper right corner. But in the smoke of gunpowder, I could see nothing except the US troops charging towards our positions.
Chapter completed!