Chapter 68

  "The situation is as follows!" The regimental commander unfolded a map in front of us and said: "The troops of my 14th Army are launching an all-out attack on Gangtou, which is garrisoned by the enemy's 345th Division. Our immediate enemy is the troops of the enemy's 316th A Division, with roughly a regimental strength, and they are constantly increasing in number. The mission of the 316th A Division... is to reinforce the 345th Division in Gangtou through Highway No. 10 and coordinate with the 345th Division to attack Laojie. Our mission, on the other hand, is to hold the enemy's throat tightly and not let them pass, to ensure that the battle in Gangtou proceeds smoothly! In other words, as long as we hold out until the victory of Gangtou, the enemy will fail!"

  When I heard this, I was furious - damn it! In the citrus sugar we have an army corps to deal with the enemy division, and all the artillery is used by them... That's like killing a chicken with a bull knife! With three times the advantage of troops to deal with a third-rate Vietnamese division, and what about us? With a new recruit battalion to deal with the enemy's 316a division.

  They don't even think about what the 316a division is. It's a division of the Vietnamese army! Whether it's equipment or personnel quality, they are all top-notch. What makes me even more unbearable is that people say our regiment is fighting against one regiment of the 316a division, but in fact, it's always our company that's at the forefront, and the reason why the enemy hasn't wiped out our company yet is simply because their troops can't deploy on a large scale on the highway and can't pull out this nail.

  "Why doesn't headquarters give us reinforcements!" I asked again, because I knew asking anything else was useless, and only requesting reinforcements would be somewhat realistic.

  Lian Chang cleared his throat, took a deep breath and pointed to the map with difficulty: "The arrangement of our superiors is as follows. Our main force troops are deployed along the 528.3 highland, 391 highland, 263 highland line, preparing for a decisive battle with the enemy army, and... our superiors have always believed that the enemy army is playing a trick of making a false appearance in the east while attacking in the west, so..."

  When I heard this, I understood that our superiors didn't take our 239 highland with not many marks seriously, and they didn't even put us on the defense line. However, it seems reasonable, if we were to put this highland on the defense line, it would form a protruding part, which is easy for the enemy to surround and break through. But... since they have already abandoned this highland, why do they still let us guard here!

  "Long time!" Knife Scar said what was on my mind, he said somewhat discontentedly: "Since the higher-ups didn't plan to keep this 239 high ground, why not let us retreat?"

  "Buy time!" The company commander smiled bitterly and said: "The longer we hold out, the more preparation time other troops will have!"

  "Get the ball!" Knife Scar slammed his fist on the map, cursing unceremoniously: "I think they've been intimidated by that devil's trump card unit!"

  "Shut up!" the instructor shouted from the side: "Don't talk nonsense! The superiors have their own arrangements, and the superiors are considering the victory of the entire battlefield. They are making plans from a strategic perspective, which may inevitably conflict with our immediate interests. However, from a long-term interest and the overall interest of the troops, the superior's consideration is reasonable!"

  The instructor said that, and Knife Scar had nothing to say, but I was secretly sneering in my heart - the fact has proved that the superior's consideration this time is wrong!

  Even if I knew all this, I was still powerless. I was just a small squad leader and my words did not have the power to influence the team's decision-making yet. Besides, how could I say it? Should I tell them that I'm a modern person who knows that in the end, the devils won't be able to make a comeback?

  "Company Commander, Instructor!" The last to speak was Liang Lianbing. He too seemed dissatisfied with the arrangement made by their superiors and said in a low, disgruntled tone: "We can only obey our superiors' orders, but... after fighting these few battles, we're almost out of bullets! Can't have us fight the Viet Cong with stones, can it?"

  Liang Lianbing's words suddenly lit up in front of my eyes, and I couldn't help but think, how did I not think of the ammunition point? If the ammunition is not replenished, even if we sacrifice ourselves here, can we stop the Japanese devils from advancing?

  So I immediately added fuel to the fire and said: "Yes, we don't have much ammunition left either. I estimate that if those devils come again for two more charges... we won't have any bullets to fight back!"

  The fact is that the guns and bullets of the Viet Cong are completely interchangeable with those of our military units, and since it was a Viet Cong attack, our troops were often able to replenish their ammunition from the enemy's bodies... so although the bullets were tight, they weren't as exaggerated as I said.

  "We've already reported this issue to our superiors!" The company commander nodded and said, "Comrades, don't worry, the higher-ups have sent us a supply team, it's estimated that they will arrive in about two hours."

  Upon hearing this answer, I couldn't help but feel a wave of disappointment. How I had hoped that Lian Zhang's words would be: "Because the mountain is steep and the road is treacherous, our troops are having difficulty with supplies, so let's just retreat after we run out of bullets!"

  But I know this is just a luxury, a beautiful dream.

  So there is only one way left, that is to stay here and defend until the enemy kills us all or our army breaks through the 345 division's defense line first.

  It's like a game now, the main characters are the 316A Division of the Vietnamese army and my 14th Army, while the supporting roles are our regiment and the 345th Division of the Vietnamese army. The question is which main character will eat up the other's supporting role first...

  "Comrades!" The instructor broke the silence, waving his hand and saying: "The situation we are facing is difficult, the task is also arduous, but... We should also see that our superiors have entrusted us with such an arduous task, which is a trust in our company. We must not disappoint our superiors' expectations of us, fight this battle well, and show the spirit of our Second Company, show the momentum of our 14th Army..."

  At this time, the enemy suddenly cooperated to fire a dozen shells, "Boom... Boom..." A burst of explosions interrupted the instructor's lesson, and I couldn't help but secretly rejoice in my heart: I had never liked the enemy's bombardment as much as I did now.

  "Continuous bombardment!" After the cannon fire, Knife Scar raised a most realistic question: "From last night to now, we haven't closed our eyes for a whole day, and the soldiers are all exhausted... Now, those Japanese devils are playing this tactic of exhaustion again. If it goes on like this tonight, I'm worried that the soldiers won't be able to take it tomorrow..."

  "Hmm!" Lian Zhang furrowed his brow, clearly also worried about this issue. In fact, he was afraid that even he himself couldn't take it anymore.

  It's not General Lian's fault, nor is it the fault of us soldiers. After all, we were all raised in peaceful times, and except for a few people like Knife Scar, none of us had ever been in battle just a few days ago. In fact, no one had even seen a dead body before. But now, as soon as we're thrown into this...we're faced with such a terrible environment. The huge contrast is unbearable for anyone, and it's no wonder that some people become cowardly and self-inflicted, or want to desert.

  Suddenly, I remembered an old saying: "The devils' black heart, firing cannons all night and not letting us sleep. How could the devils have thought that we would be so bold as to launch a surprise attack on their artillery positions under the cover of night..."

  Sneak attack on the devils' artillery position?!!!!

  I was shocked by this idea, what a huge courage it takes! We're all exhausted to the point of collapse now, and there are only about 100 new recruits left, who are still reeling from heavy casualties... It's already lucky if we can hold our ground, let alone launch a surprise attack on the enemy's elite artillery position?

  So I made up my mind to keep this idea buried in my belly, even if it rots inside, I won't say it out loud.

  But then I thought: what if we hadn't ambushed the Vietnamese artillery position... wouldn't we have lost this battle? Just like Knife Scar said, let the Vietnamese devils harass us for a night, and by tomorrow they'll probably be able to attack us easily, and my life still won't be saved.

  So it's actually done... Maybe there's still a glimmer of hope.

  So I had no choice but to say: "Commander Lian, look... can we go and launch a surprise attack on the enemy's artillery position?"

  "Are you saying that we're going to raid the artillery position of the Ghost Division?" Everyone was shocked by my words, including the instructor.

  "You're really bold!" Lao Lianzhang said with a bitter smile: "We are in unfamiliar territory, and we don't know anything about the enemy situation. We don't know the deployment of the Vietnamese army or where their artillery positions are. How can we launch a surprise attack? Isn't that just going to get us killed?"

  I didn't want to either, but just to survive I had no choice but to force myself: "As for unfamiliar terrain, Chen Yiyang can handle it. Unclear enemy situation... We can disguise ourselves as Vietnamese soldiers and maybe we can get through, as for not knowing the location of the artillery positions... The devils fire a round every ten or twenty minutes, can't we just follow the sound of gunfire to find them?"

  As I finished speaking, the people around me all showed a thoughtful expression. After a long time, Lian Zhang nodded and said: "If we can take out the enemy's artillery position... it will not only allow us to get some rest, but also deal a heavy blow to the enemy's morale and attacking firepower. Our chances of winning will greatly increase!"

  "Commander Lian is right!" Knife Scar also nodded and said: "The Japanese devils would never have thought that our originally weak forces would dare to divide a team to launch a sneak attack on the artillery position... If we succeed, then our ideological work will not be necessary, this victory will be the best stimulant!"

  "I agree!" Liang Lianbing nodded and said: "Didn't the Vietnamese devils just ambush our artillery camp on Old Street? Let's do it their way, let's give them a taste of their own medicine..."

  Lu Lianchang thought for a moment, gritted his teeth and said: "Alright! Let's do it this way. It's all life or death anyway, might as well go all out! Give him a good one!"