Section Fifteen Brief Repairs

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  Due to the enemy's swift retreat, the three battalions of rapid troops that arrived in a hurry were slightly delayed and only managed to eliminate over 100 enemies, while suffering more than 150 casualties themselves. However, the spoils of war brought some comfort to Shen Fei Hu. They captured 12 105mm howitzers, 20 M3 half-track artillery tractors, 6 trucks loaded with various types of ammunition, 7 trucks loaded with cannonballs, 5 trucks loaded with field rations, 3 trucks loaded with canned goods, one truck loaded with coffee and crown prince sugar, as well as a mobile shower vehicle.

  A large amount of ammunition allowed the Independent First Division, which had consumed more than half of its ammunition in the fierce battle, to replenish its ammunition to two bases.

  November 4th, at dawn, the independent first division received an order to retreat and began a brief reorganization. The 1st regiment also rushed from Guchang. At this point, the first battle ended, with our army annihilating over 30,000 enemy troops, including most of the US Army's 8th Cavalry Regiment, the 99th Field Artillery Battalion, a battalion of the 10th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment, a mortar battalion of the British 27th Brigade (the "Desert Rats" of North Africa in World War II), an enhanced company of the US 24th Division, and the entire puppet army's 9th Division and two regiments of the 8th Division.

  The enemy's retreat caused our army, which relied only on iron-clad feet, to lose the opportunity to annihilate the enemy. After ten consecutive days of fighting, with not insignificant casualties and exhaustion, and with ammunition and food exhausted, our army stopped pursuing the retreating enemy and began to withdraw for reorganization and replenishment of supplies.

  Our army on the west line retreated to Xinyizhou, Guicheng, Taichuan, Sunghwa-ri and Myohyang-san under orders, and dispatched a portion of troops for defense in depth. Meanwhile, the elite 9th Troop of Song Tiemou's North China Field Army began entering Korea.

  In a small hillside village in Suomin, soldiers armed with guns were scattered around, carefully searching every rustling sound. In a wooden house, two rows of silent people sat on either side of a long table.

  "How come, no words now? Who was it that patted his chest and guaranteed me to eliminate the enemy with minimal casualties at first? Hmm?" I slammed my hand on the table, "Bullshit! Chief of Staff Zhang, you come and read out the glorious achievements of our Independent First Division!"

  "Our army annihilated over 1,400 American troops and more than 400 puppet troops, captured 7 tanks and destroyed 5, seized 12 105mm artillery pieces, 3 90mm high-altitude guns, 4 M16 self-propelled high-altitude guns, 6 recoilless guns, and 7 Super Bazooka rocket launchers. Our army suffered over 2,300 casualties."

  "Hmm, not bad at all, even the fake army has eliminated over 400 people! Shen Feihu, I'm asking you why didn't you timely intercept and take position? Over 1,200 American troops were let go right in front of your eyes, aren't you the one who said you've been yearning to fight the American troops until you're exhausted? Then why don't you fight?! Eliminating over 100 enemies but suffering over 150 casualties yourself, do you think it's worth it just because you gained a lot of supplies?"

  "Sir, it's already half past four and the sky is almost dark. The winding road is unfamiliar, and even the guide who led us here has gotten lost. Moreover, there are scattered enemy troops harassing us along the way, which has prevented our army from breaking through!" Shen Feihu said with a sense of grievance.

  "Oh, you still have a reason! What's the point of using your assault team to rush in? Your small squad managed to sneak in just in time. Can't even hold off the enemy for a few minutes? The enemy's firepower unfolded so quickly? And when attacking scattered enemies, you still need to deploy the entire battalion, haha! Using an ox knife to kill a chicken has come at the right time!"

  "And you Zhao Zilong, launched an ambush, and in the process of eliminating more than half of the enemy, suffered over a thousand casualties. Are the American planes coming out to bomb you at night, and they're even bombing accurately?"

  "Sir, I'm sorry, I didn't lead the team well and caused too many casualties this time," he said, choking back tears. "A man bleeds but doesn't shed tears. If you're a man, don't cry in front of me. I don't want to hear your apologies, I just want to hear your summary and views on the next battle."

  "Yes. Firstly, the construction of the fortifications was not solid, my unit built standard trenches along the mountain ridge, with breast walls nearly one meter thick, which could withstand the enemy's heavy machine gun fire, and the enemy's tanks had a low angle of fire, unable to reach our positions. Moreover, according to plan, our army would first attack the enemy's tanks, but unexpectedly, under the 20mm shells of the enemy's M16 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, the trenches were pierced like thin paper, and due to the overly dense deployment of troops on the front line, a single strike by the enemy caused significant casualties."

  "Secondly, when the enemy was stunned, our army did not immediately charge into the enemy's interior to engage in close combat and get close to the enemy. This gave the enemy time to regroup their forces and firepower. Furthermore, there were too few troops harassing the enemy in the rear, only over a hundred, if 200-300 more men had been added, one attack would have been enough to completely disrupt the enemy's formation and organization, annihilating them at a relatively small cost."

  "Okay, so I'll transfer 400 people from the reserve team and a dozen or so platoon leaders from the instructor team to you. That assault platoon is yours too, as well as those four M16 self-propelled guns and three 90mm anti-aircraft guns. Each will send one vehicle and one gun to Zhi Si, and the rest will be transferred back to Han Tian's artillery battalion to form an anti-aircraft company."

  In order to lure the enemy northward and then annihilate them in a mobile warfare, after receiving the order from Commander-in-Chief, our 4th Army broke away from contact with the enemy and retreated. The enemy, still reeling from a series of heavy blows, cried out that ** troops had withdrawn.

  Faced with our army's mobile defense and luring the enemy in deep, the enemy took the bait. The arrogant MacArthur shouted that he would give our army a heavy lesson and boasted that he would end the battle before Christmas. Thus, the US military began the historically laughable "Christmas Offensive". When the exhausted enemy once again picked up their guns, got into cars or boarded tanks, amidst a sky full of curses like "this damn thing" and "damn it", the US military and puppet army launched an attack.

  General Peng wanted to allow the rear troops to rest and also to lure the enemy in, but he was afraid that the mechanized enemy with strong mobility would rush in before our army was ready. Therefore, the ace battalion of the ace division of the ace army, the 335th Regiment of the 112th Division of the 38th Army, held firmly on the Flying Tiger Mountain which had been occupied after a bloody battle.

  It has been a bloody battle for five days, as the supply depot of the US Ninth Army in Gunma was threatened. Since the 3rd, several hundred artillery pieces and 70-80 aircraft have been bombarding us every day, incendiary bombs burning the rocks that were almost turned to mud into black charcoal, and there are no longer any intact trees on the mountain. The 5th and 9th companies defending Flying Tiger Mountain were wiped out in just two days.

  Soldiers wearing charred and tattered cotton-padded jackets, after running out of ammunition, were intentionally drenched in unextinguished flamethrower fuel and then, with flames all over their bodies, laughed as they hugged the onrushing American soldiers, burning to death together. More soldiers charged into the enemy crowd that had already climbed up the mountain ridge, carrying explosive packs. The trenches had long been gone; wherever you scooped up a handful of dirt, there would be several hot shell fragments inside. When the company withdrew, the deputy company commander cried to the battalion instructor on the stretcher, "The Fifth Company is finished!" because only he was left in the Fifth Company. In five days, Flying Tiger Mountain became an abattoir. The bodies of American and puppet troops exceeded 2,000.

  On the night of August 8th, Fan Tian'en, who received the order, led more than 1,700 people, including various wounded personnel, to withdraw from Feihu Mountain.

  A team of Zhang Da Biao came to meet the response, looking at the soldiers of the 335th regiment who were still covered in gunpowder smoke, looking at the dry black bloodstains on the clothes of the lightly and heavily wounded, looking at the white gauze wrapped around their heads dyed black. Led by Zhang Da Biao, they gave a standard military salute to the soldiers of the 335th regiment, then more than 3,000 people in the team raised their hands one after another and gave a military salute.

  Heroes respect heroes, everything is in silence

  The independent 1st Regiment of the 1st Division replaced the 335th Regiment and was ordered to snipe for 5 days in the Jiulongli area.