Chapter 15: Waiting

"Boom..."

I was idle this day, and I was knocking on the stones with the soldiers in the tunnel. Suddenly, there was a burst of bombing that passed by tightly, which made the tunnel buzzing sound.

The soldiers were no longer surprised by such things, but just looked at the entrance of the tunnel slightly and continued to work hard.

"You'll kill another American!" Zhang Xiaoyu smiled and said, "I don't know which comrade did it. The Americans have been tortured by our cold gun troops during this period!"

"I guess it's from Class 2!" Chen Han swung a hammer and smashed a stone hard: "I heard the sound of the cannons coming from the direction of the mountains."

"Captain Cui!" Zhang Xiaoyu picked up a stone and threw it into a box made of shell boxes, wiped the sweat beads on his forehead and said, "The three squads of our Cold Guns have been fighting at least a few hundred Americans during this period! Tell us which squad has fought the most!"

"Well! I haven't counted this!" I waved the hammer and smashed the iron rod, and replied embarrassedly: "This is it! You have to ask Chief Wang, he has always been doing the counting of the results of the battle."

"What kind of team does he have?" Chen Han smiled and said, "Anyway, the Americans can't eat well during the day, and they can't sleep well at night! I heard that the Americans are spoiled by their young men and soldiers. If they continue to do this, it's not sure that it's not our turn to fight. They all go back to their hometown!"

With a coaxing sound, all the soldiers in the tunnel laughed, and the work in their hands seemed to be getting harder and harder.

As the soldiers said, the US military has no choice but to use our cold gun tactics for the time being. A large part of this is because the advantage they had before was too obvious.

Before the cold gun and cold artillery transport was launched, the US military completely took the initiative on the surface positions and showed a one-sided situation on the battlefield. Although there was no positional offensive and defensive war between the two sides for negotiations and the front line was relatively stable, the firepower disadvantage and equipment shortcomings of our army on the surface positions were fully reflected at that time.

But there is a saying that "there are advantages and disadvantages." It is precisely because the US military had such a great advantage during this period that they were very bold in the construction of fortifications and the selection of camps. Some US military even laid tents for sleeping on the top of the mountain that the Volunteers could observe. In addition, the US military was always accustomed to building fortifications on the front slope, which gave our army a great opportunity to fire cold gun troops.

The soldiers basically mastered the laws of US military combat. They always took advantage of the overly exposed nature of the target and lurked near the entrance of the tunnel. After destroying an enemy, they ran back to the tunnel at the fastest speed. The enemy's subsequent artillery fire could not cause any casualties to the soldiers. This also made the cold gun troops have achieved remarkable results during this period. Some soldiers even attacked continuously and knocked down more than a dozen enemies in one day.

However, the battlefield is like a university, and both sides of the war will study and grow in this military academy. The same is true for the US military. They soon discovered the crux of the problem, and then they orderly retreated from the front slope, moved all the fortifications, camp sites, etc. to the back slope.

This change of the US military quickly brought our army's cold gun troops to a new test. The most direct thing is that the targets are greatly reduced. Secondly, the US military has all hid in the back-slope fortifications or in a relatively hidden place. If we continue to fire cold guns, we will no longer lurk near the tunnel entrance as before. In order to block the traffic line between the two enemy hills, some soldiers even lurk on the front slope far away from the tunnel. This undoubtedly greatly increases the risk of soldiers shooting cold guns, so inevitable casualties...

"Captain Cui!" I was thinking, when Wang Yuehan suddenly appeared in the entrance of the tunnel with blood.

Seeing this, I was stunned. I quickly understood something. I threw down the hammer and iron drill in my hand and turned around and ran out of the tunnel.

"It's Zhang Mancheng from the Second Class!" Wang Yuehan said to me while running: "He and Wu Deshui lurked in the incline of the mountain. After knocking down an enemy, they were still attacked by the enemy without rushing to retreat. The enemy's artillery fire came too fast..."

Before we finished speaking, we had already run into the tunnel. The tunnel was already filled with soldiers from the cold gun troops. The road was full of shocking blood, and the smell of blood filled the entire tunnel. I hurriedly separated the soldiers and ran in. Zhang Mancheng, covered in blood, appeared in front of me. His nose, mouth, and ears covered with disguise, blood oozed out everywhere, mud and blood mixed together, making me unable to see his painful expression at all...

"Sanitary! Sanitary!" I pulled the soldier on my shoulder with the first aid kit on my shoulder: "Why don't you have first aid? Why haven't the wound been bandaged yet!"

"Team, the leader..." The health officer said in a choked voice: "Comrade Zhang Mancheng has already died!"

I couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. After a long time, I sighed and said, "Buried him!"

The soldiers in the tunnel looked at the corpse on the ground silently. After a while, the health officer carried him out...

"Battle those dogs!"

"Yes! Go to avenge Comrade Zhang Mancheng!"

"Come back!" Several soldiers raised their guns and were about to walk out of the tunnel, but they quickly stopped me.

"Captain!" Yang Zhenshan held up his gun and shouted in dissatisfaction: "We are going to avenge Comrade Zhang Mancheng and settle the score with those damn gods!"

"How do you train normally!" I shouted to the soldiers with a reprimanding tone: "Where have you been heavy, calm, and patient? You are qualified to fire cold guns like you? You can also avenge Comrade Zhang Mancheng when you go out? It's better to go out and let those American shells explode into several pieces!"

The tunnel suddenly became quiet.

"Wu Deshui!" I remember Wang Yuehan said that he went out in the same group as Zhang Mancheng.

"Come!" Soon a soldier with blood on his back stood up.

“What’s the situation?”

"I don't know much!" Wu Deshui shook his head and said, "We have knocked down an enemy. We are about to retreat. There is only one minute before and after."

"Mortar?"

"It's not a mortar!" Wu Deshui shook his head and said, "It's the enemy's long-range artillery, with large caliber, and there are not many shells, only six or seven rounds in a round, but it's too accurate. The shells are all hit near the hiding place between us!"

"Um!" I was stunned when I heard this, only one minute before and after?

Although the US military's communication equipment is very advanced, one minute is too fast! Even if they arrange artillery observers at the forefront, at least they have to notify the artillery. Then the artillery needs to adjust the angle and then have time to fire the artillery shells, right?

No matter how fast this is, it is not possible to do it in one minute...

"Don't go to dangerous areas to perform missions for the time being!" I ordered the soldiers: "Only one group of team members are arranged to lurk in each position, and they must be near the tunnel entrance, and other team members must rest temporarily!"

"Yes!" the soldiers stood up and responded.

I returned to the command center with a heavy mood, and I sat down on the stool, staring blankly at the map.

"Captain!" Wang Yuehan handed me a glass of water.

"Yeah!" I nodded, took the teacup and put it on the table, and asked casually: "Chief Staff Wang, how many people have we suffered?"

"Including Comrade Zhang Mancheng, a total of five were sacrificed and one seriously injured!" Wang Yuehan replied.

"What about the results of the battle?"

"In recent times, the enemy has been hiding deeply!" Wang Yuehan said hesitantly: "Sometimes the soldiers lurk on the position for a whole day without gaining anything, so the results of the battle..."

"The results of battle are getting fewer and fewer, but the casualties are getting bigger and bigger!" I couldn't help but sigh when I heard this. This has always been a headache for me these days.

"Captain Cui! You can't say that!" Wang Yuehan opposed after hearing this: "Although our casualties are greater than before and the results are indeed smaller, we have successfully achieved our strategic goals, right? At least we have forced the enemy from the front slope to the back slope, and the enemy did not dare to build a machine gun position on the top of the mountain to implement firepower blockade on our positions. The space for the soldiers' activity has been greatly expanded, and logs can also be transported from outside the tunnel, which is very beneficial to our construction of tunnel fortifications!"

"Yeah!" I nodded, knowing that what Wang Yuehan said made sense.

In fact, this is what we do when we fire the cold gun. Now that we retreat from the front incline to the back incline, the difficulty of shooting the cold gun will naturally become greater and greater, and the results of the battle are reduced and casualties increase are also common.

only……

"The enemy's fire cannon speed is a bit strange!" I said with a frown: "How could they fire shells at the designated location within one minute!"

"I'm also surprised by this!" After thinking about it, Wang Yuehan hesitated and said: "Can they have already adjusted the Yuanyuan..."

"Yes! Why didn't I expect it!" I understood by Wang Yuehan's reminder. Didn't our volunteer army also adjust the various elements to the designated location on the front incline fortifications in advance, and wait for the enemy to attack without adjustment when the enemy attacks? I didn't expect that this move was learned by the enemy, and it was still used for heavy artillery from a long distance.

No wonder they only fire six or seven shots in a round of cannons. They thought they distributed the cannons evenly, and every six or seven cannons controlled one area and then numbered these areas. Once they found that there were enemy snipers in any area, as long as the number of these areas was reported, the artillery did not need to take any action at all, and could fire shells at this designated location as quickly as possible.

"These Americans are really good!" I couldn't help but smile. As the saying goes, "The devil is one foot taller than the demon is one foot taller. On the battlefield, no matter what new tactics appear, the other party will quickly find a corresponding solution and come up with new tactics to counteract.

"Captain, we are now..." Wang Yuehan seemed to have figured out the truth, and a embarrassed look soon appeared in his eyes: "If the Americans continue to fight like this, our battle situation will be no progress..."

I understand what Wang Yuehan meant. In this situation, it is difficult for the soldiers to come forward and shoot, because every area on our position will be under the control of US artillery fire, and almost a single shot will be dead. In this case, the US military is likely to emerge from the back slope again and block our position with anti-aircraft machine guns and other firepower on the top of the mountain.

"Don't worry, Chief of Staff Wang!" I said with a smile: "Do you know why the enemy will find our place as soon as we shoot?"

"I know!" Wang Yuehan nodded and said, "It's because of the smoke coming out after the shooting!"

"That's right!" I nodded: "The soldiers all hid very well, but when they fired, they exposed their positions. The enemy knew our location before they could fire shells at the corresponding area, but what if the enemy didn't know our location?"

"Don't know where we are?" Wang Yuehan couldn't help but say in confusion after hearing this: "How is that possible! Qingyan is too obvious on that scorched earth high ground. How can it not be discovered by the enemy?"

"So we have to wait!" As I said that, I immediately ordered Wang Yuehan: "Pass the order and see the enemy re-arranged machine gun positions on the top of the mountain to block the positions on the top of our army. Never act rashly, and don't rush to drive them down. All cold gun operations in the future must be carried out on the blind spots of the enemy's artillery fire on the backside until I have a new order!"

"Yes!" Although Li Yuehan didn't know what medicine I was selling in the gourd, he still firmly executed my order, turned around and walked out of the tunnel.

The next battle situation was indeed as we imagined. Under the control and cover of artillery fire, the enemy gradually returned to the top of the mountain. At the beginning, they just set up a few machine guns on the top of the mountain and fired randomly at our position. Then they used a few wooden men wearing hats to pretend to wander around the top of the mountain to attract us to shoot. Later, when we found that there was no movement on our side, they carefully piled up tall sandbags on the top of the mountain and then installed a few machine guns.

"According to the observation of the soldiers..." Wang Yuehan drew several circles on the map and said: "The enemy's machine gun position is here, here, and here, just now, another one has been added directly in front of the mountain. Judging from their intentions, it is obvious that they want to cut off the connection between the 597.9 highland and the 537.7 highland!"

"Yeah! Not bad!" I nodded: "The terrain in the mountains is lower than the enemy's position, and the area exposed to the enemy's firepower is too large, and it is also very close to the enemy. The US military's addition of machine gun positions in the mountains will indeed increase the difficulty of the connection between the two highlands!"

"Then we..." Wang Yuehan said hesitantly: "Our army lacks communication equipment. If the enemy cuts off the connection between these two high grounds, it will have a great impact on our coordinated operations. Should we..."

"Don't there be phones in the two high grounds? Can you connect to the phone line..."

"Connect the phone line?" Wang Yuehan couldn't help but look at me in confusion and said, "Captain, we only have one phone. If we connect to the phone line, we can't connect to the headquarters!"

"What?" I was stunned when I heard this. Then I realized that the phone used by the soldiers at this time was a single-line telephone. If they were connected to one place, they could not connect to another place. I said that usually the correspondents were running around for the commands from both of us. Why didn't they connect to a telephone line? It turned out that this was the reason.

"Then don't contact us for the time being!" After thinking about it, I ordered: "Give the command of the 537.7 Highland to the headquarters, and let Company Commander Wang report to the headquarters by phone if there is any problem!"

"Yes!" Wang Yuehan hesitated for a while, but finally agreed.

I know what he is hesitating. The volunteer army has always been famous for fighting tough battles and bad battles. Which army is not brave enough to fight bravely on the battlefield and never give in to the enemy's attack. But now the order I give seems to be too weak.

"Where is the leader! Is the leader here?"

"Here, the regiment commander is discussing things with Chief Wang! Wait, you can't go in..."

Before he finished speaking, he saw Hu Zudi and Yang Zhenshan breaking in from outside the tunnel in a hurry, followed by Zhang and Xu, two guards who came to stop them without rushing.

"Captain!" Yang Zhenshan took off his hat as soon as he walked in and said angrily: "I, I can't figure it out!"

"Rareless!" Before I could speak, Wang Yuehan cursed: "Look at you two, there is no organizational discipline at all. You are also invading the command center? You don't even salute when you see the regiment commander? Where can you look like a revolutionary soldier?"

Hearing this, Yang Zhenshan and Hu Zudi bowed unwillingly. Even though they were wearing various disguises, I could still easily see their dissatisfaction.

"What can I understand?" I handed them two cigarettes casually, and didn't care about their disrespect. Soldiers! They are all like this, they are straightforward.

Yang Zhenshan lit the cigarette, took a few sucks and said, "Captain, the enemy has climbed to the top of the mountain again. Our soldiers cannot get out of the tunnel as before. Do you still order us not to act rashly? Is it just that the Japanese are so majestic? I can't figure it out!"

"Yes! Commander!" Hu Zudi continued: "We are not afraid of dying and sacrificing blood, just because we can't afford to lose that person. The soldiers are staring at us! Isn't our troops who fire cold guns doing this? Now that the enemy has come up and still not allowed to fight, what else do we have to do?"

"Did I say no to fight? But it's not time yet..."

"When will we have to wait!" Yang Zhenshan said anxiously: "The soldiers are all so anxious!"

It happened that at this moment, Zhang Mingxue ran in from outside in three steps and shouted excitedly: "Captain, it's snowing, it's snowing!"

"Go back and prepare!" Hearing this, I smiled and patted Yang Zhenshan and Hu Zudi's shoulders and said, "Let's rest for two days, it's time for us to fight the American devils back!"
Chapter completed!