The 36th Chapter: The Downfall of the Green Tiger

  On the morning of the third day, Zhang Yu led the 4th Company in an attack on the enemy's positions around the high ground surrounding the valley. The M24 tanks, stationed over 300 meters away, used their 75mm main guns to heavily bombard the enemy's strongpoints, while the enemy was shocked to discover that rocket launchers could not reach this distance and were also inaccurate. The mortar fire also failed to hit the tank, which was hidden in the darkness, making it an elusive devil.

  The surrounded enemy soon discovered they had run out of ammunition, and the Chinese army's heavy mortars, after resolving the situation in the valley, began supporting the 4th Company's attack on the high ground. The thick snow on the high ground turned into scalding mud under the hail of bullets, making it impossible for the enemy to repair their fortifications. In desperation, the enemy surrendered before sunrise the next day.

  When the 92nd Infantry Gun was moved up to face the enemy's strongpoints on the high ground, the enemy quickly retreated. Before the enemy planes arrived, the Chinese army had taken control of all the high ground surrounding the valley. The British army responsible for covering the main force and defending the valley, known as the Green Tiger, was surprisingly driven out of the valley, and this happened in their strongest area of expertise - defensive warfare.

  When the 1st Battalion, 2nd Company, and Dai Qiming's machine gun platoon were building fortifications on a small hill not far from the school that controlled the highway, British artillery shells exploded on the hill, causing the soldiers to retreat into the anti-tank ditches. When the observation post reported the enemy was approaching, the Chinese soldiers emerged from their ditches and were shocked to find that most of their fortifications had been destroyed, with trenches flattened and camouflage blown away.

  Under the cover of enemy tanks, the British infantry quickly formed a skirmish line and charged up, only to retreat in the face of the 2nd Company's hail of bullets. However, the 2nd Company and machine gun platoon's Maxims and Type 92 machine guns were soon destroyed by the enemy tank fire.

  After repelling seven enemy attacks, the 2nd Company's company commander and instructors were all killed, with only a small amount of ammunition left. The enemy artillery blocked the road from the valley to this location, causing six batches of over 30 people sent to transport ammunition to be wiped out on their way. Shen Fei looked through his binoculars at the 2nd Company's high ground, worried about the situation and casualties, as well as concerned that the British might break through this high ground from the side of the valley and escape along the highway.

  Although they repeatedly attacked the enemy's flank defenses, it was difficult to break through under the cover of air force and tanks. Tanks could not move during the day and could only launch a general attack at night. On the defensive line with over 200 people, only 30 were left, including 17 party members, including the platoon leader Gou Wazi and Dai Qiming.

  In the counter-attack, Dai Qiming smiled as he collected ammunition from the enemy corpses. As he quickly crawled forward on the ground, he was soon discovered by the enemy machine gunner, who fired a hail of bullets that whizzed past his ears. When Dai Qiming returned with over 20 belts of ammunition and a large bag of hand grenades, only 19 people were left on the defensive line, including himself.

  The enemy began another fierce artillery bombardment and launched a general attack once again.