Machine Gun Duel
Zhan Dongdong looked up at the mountain top and glanced around, asking Da Yun: "Grandpa Da Yun, is this where the machine gun duel took place back then?"
Zhan Biao smiled and said, "Dongdong, did you also call him that?" Xiaoyu also walked up with the support of Gu Xian's arm and heard this sentence: "How can't it be called? It's so intimate. And besides, in the past, he was always called Dashun, just because you changed it to Daguai. From now on, Daguai will be called for a lifetime."
"Here is the battlefield where the machine guns were dueling back then. Two infantry companies, one heavy machine gun company, and two artillery squads, more than 700 devils bled to death here. All these below are bullet heads."
"We used to dig up a lot of bullet heads and shells here when we were kids."
Sakura asked Zhang Biao in a low voice, "Grandpa Zhang, can I pay my respects to the Japanese who died here?" Zhang Biao smiled brightly: "This child, you can, it's okay. This isn't Yasukuni Shrine either. Come on, Grandpa will accompany you."
Zhang Biao stood up straight, lowered his head and stood solemnly, closed his eyes and said in a low but clear voice: "Japanese friends who died under my gun back then, rest in peace. We are not fighting now, our children and grandchildren are interacting peacefully and friendly, I hope you will tell your own children and grandchildren to live their lives well and not to invade everywhere like before... Don't look at this old bone of mine, but I can still use the heavy machine gun..."
As Zhang Biao spoke in a low voice, Sakura, who was standing beside him, bowed her head repeatedly towards the land, as if she was moved.
Actually, Zhan Biao had been paying attention to the movement at the foot of the mountain while talking to Tan Ying and others. After Tan Ying and others went down the mountain, all personnel entered the pre-divided positions. Zhan Biao and Xiao Feng held binoculars, with a rocket launcher propped up beside them, and two soldiers beside them served as loaders.
Qiang led five other junior brothers, each guarding a heavy machine gun as the main shooter, with one deputy shooter holding the ammunition chain or plate next to them. The Maxim heavy machine gun used a long canvas ammunition chain for feeding, while the Type 92 heavy machine gun used a 30-round metal cartridge plate for feeding, which was more dependent on the deputy shooter to reload the plate compared to the Maxim.
Da Yu led seven soldiers, each holding a light machine gun, lying in a simple bunker, with several soldiers arranged beside them to replace the barrel and supply ammunition. There were also three machine guns at the entrance of the cave at the foot of the mountain, held by Duozi and Pan Shitou. The remaining seven or eight soldiers were nervously loading bullets into the spare magazines for the light and heavy machine guns.
The mountain was quiet again, the noise of earlier had disappeared. The sunlight shone quietly on the top of the mountain where the anti-Japanese soldiers were stationed like a group of statues. At this time, Xiaobao and Xiaoyu came up with a big basket of vegetable dumplings, silently passing through everyone, handing out the dumplings to the soldiers who didn't even turn their heads, and distributing a water bottle to each person.
Light and heavy machine guns and grenade launchers were all aimed at the Japanese army at the foot of the mountain, but now the distance was about 1,000 meters, only the heavy machine gun could hit. The light machine gun had an effective range of 800 to 900 meters, while the rifle's effective range was only 300 to 400 meters. It seemed that the Japanese were also underestimating the situation, thinking that there were only two heavy machine guns on the mountain that couldn't do much harm, and they wouldn't have many bullets, so they built simple shelters with a swagger, but these shelters were not for covering their bodies, just for stabilizing the machine gun mounts and artillery mounts. Another thing they underestimated was that they didn't know there were grenade launchers on the mountain! Now the straight-line distance was 1,000 meters, but the horizontal distance was only four or five hundred meters, and since they were standing high, they could throw farther, the range of the Type 89 grenade launcher would far exceed 700 meters. Moreover, the special Type 89 grenade was a contact fuse that exploded when it hit the ground, unlike the Type 91 hand grenade which had a delayed fuse that would explode in mid-air after 6 or 7 seconds if the distance was too long. In other words, the Japanese were also within the range of the mountain's grenade launchers.
Zhan Biao and the others were creating miracles that many people later found unbelievable on the basis of bravery, not because the devils were easy to beat, but because they knew how to fight. He and Xiao Feng, Qiangzi were all holding binoculars, closely observing. When the Japanese army was digging trenches, Zhan Biao didn't take action, when the Japanese army pushed the infantry artillery over and lifted the heavy machine gun into the trench, he still didn't take action, as a heavy machine gunner, Zhan Biao was waiting for an opportunity.
Until the Japanese artillerymen were in position and the heavy machine gunners had entered their emplacements, this was the pre-attack adjustment phase, which usually lasted three to five minutes, including test firing, before entering regular shooting. Zhan Biao was waiting for this stage! He was waiting for someone! Waiting for the main shooter!
Only then did Zhang Biao wave his hand towards the four heavy machine guns that had been hiding, and the deputy gunner quickly removed the covering branches. The six heavy machine guns emerged majestically on the mountain top like a proud rooster. Down in the valley, the well-trained Japanese army's heavy machine gun company commander and Matsuyama Taisha were also observing the movement on the mountain with binoculars. Matsuyama sucked in a breath of cold air as he saw the four new heavy machine guns appear through his binoculars, and the company commander shouted "Not good!", but it was already too late. Zhang Biao twisted his neck and shouted out his characteristic command: "Fire!"
Originally, Zhang Biao had made up his mind as soon as he saw the Japanese army dispatching a heavy machine gun squadron. He knew that the power of the heavy machine gun came from a skilled shooter. If the main and deputy shooters of each machine gun were shot down, even if there were three or four shooters, the machine gun would be useless. Especially today's terrain was high and low, no matter how far away the enemy's position was, it could be seen at a glance, as long as the enemy could hit me, I could hit him more easily. So he arranged for everyone to use the method of pre-emptively shooting the enemy's heavy machine gun shooters, trying not to let them shoot bullets, and killing the enemy before they drew their swords. Otherwise, it would be difficult to deal with the firepower of the 12 heavy machine guns and four infantry cannons when they were opened. Zhang Biao ordered six heavy machine guns to stare at the two adjacent Japanese heavy machine gun shelters, while light machine guns and rifles were responsible for blocking the infantry attacking the mountain. As for Zhang Biao and Xiao Feng's rocket launchers, their main target was the Japanese infantry cannons, with each launcher responsible for two infantry cannons, also aiming to kill the main cannon operators.
As soon as Zhang Biao shouted "Fire!", the six heavy machine guns and two grenade launchers worked together with great enthusiasm. Of course, they also needed to test fire, but these godly marksmen quickly found their targets after a brief test shot. The Japanese army's heavy machine gunners fell down one by one like being electrocuted, and the heavy machine guns were also knocked over. The infantry cannons were shrouded in smoke from the grenades, firing 20 rounds per minute! Zhang Biao loudly reminded everyone to remember the current shooting parameters so that they could still aim at their targets even when there was smoke.
The Japanese light machine guns fired back crazily, but since the Japanese themselves set up their heavy machine guns outside the effective range of the enemy's light machine guns, their light machine guns could only be a mere show. Matsuyama saw this scene with a very heavy heart: who were these people on the mountain, they were really too cunning! How come they still hid four heavy machine guns quietly! And rocket launchers! Moreover, the accuracy of their shooting was astonishing! Yoshino had some complaining tone: "Knowing that they have so many heavy machine guns and rocket launchers, we shouldn't have shown our entire position here."
The commander of the heavy machine gun squad immediately ordered the second batch of heavy machine gunners to charge up, trying to get them to fire bullets. But the fate of this batch of shooters was still to fall there, and even the bodies of the previous batch were not retrieved. A heavy machine gun company, if 12 heavy machine guns are locked down, this company is finished! Two artillery squads, if four infantry cannons cannot fire shells, these two squads are also finished!
Captain Yoshino was furious, but the quality of a soldier and Japanese cunning made him calmly give orders: "Infantry platoon, charge up the mountain! Others throw grenades to cover. Machine gun platoon, prepare to continue!" Yoshino's reaction was quick, he wanted to use infantry to attract heavy machine gun fire, then use hand grenades to create a smoke screen to cover the heavy machine guns and artillery positions, saying that he himself also personally threw two hand grenades in front of the heavy machine guns. Matsuyama couldn't help but admire Yoshino's calmness, knowing that Yoshino was willing to use the lives of his infantrymen to attract enemy fire. He turned his head again to observe the mountain, wondering what countermeasures the enemy would take this time.
In the rolling smoke, the third batch of heavy machine gunners rushed towards the bunker. More than 200 infantrymen held 18 rifles and charged up the mountain slope with a loud shout. But what made Yoshino disappointed and furious was that the heavy machine guns on the mountain did not move at all, despite the large number of people charging forward. The muzzles remained fixed on their original target, as if they could see through the smoke, and continued to fire accurately. The third batch of gunners rushed forward one after another, but none of them moved again after falling down. Fortunately, two heavy machine guns finally fired back, but they were also blocked by the smoke and fired blindly without a target. Moreover, one of them was knocked out before it could finish firing a single round.
Songshan was now utterly shocked and disbelieving, he had not expected or thought that there would be such a commander, facing a group of infantry targets without shooting, but instead staring at the vital point and persisting in biting down! Moreover, it had been calculated early on that there would be smoke and fire to fix the shooting parameters. This opponent was too clever, having taken several turns being smart. If they won this battle, they would win because of this unique persistence.
In this way, the 12 Japanese heavy machine guns each time rushed up to the two shooters, and three batches of people were killed or injured by 72 people! Moreover, all are skilled shooters, including several angry and brave lieutenants who rushed up in the third batch. The heavy machine gun squadron is already a mere shell of its former self. Some ammunition piled up next to the heavy machine guns was also detonated.
The infantry gun's situation was even more miserable, as its target was slightly larger, and a steady stream of grenades rained down from the sky, blasting away the shield and sending the wheels flying... Zhan Biao saw through his binoculars that Zhang was shaking his head: "What a pity, otherwise we could have kept two of these, this thing is great, weighing just over 200 kilograms, and can be pulled by men to move."
Songshan saw clearly that this duel between the two heavy machine guns ended in a miserable defeat for the Imperial Army. What was humiliating was that his 12 heavy machine guns had hardly fired a single bullet. The captain of the heavy machine gun company roared: "The soldiers on the mountain are not real soldiers! Real soldiers should form a battle array and decide the outcome!"
Songshan drew out his command knife, exerted himself to chop down several small trees beside him, then laughed loudly. He was laughing at his own failure and the terror of his enemy. He also shouted to that lieutenant: "You were wrong! They are the true soldiers!"
When not fighting, they can control themselves with an iron will, but when fighting, they are ruthless and merciless. Are they not soldiers?! They wait for the most precise moment to strike, like a cheetah or a tiger, otherwise they would have given the Imperial Army a glimmer of hope by firing too early or too late.
What shocked and intimidated Songshan even more was the opponent's precise shooting, the divine marksmanship that accurately and mercilessly hit the vital points, and it wasn't just one or two heavy machine guns that were so divine, including the grenade launchers which seemed to have grown eyes and never left the infantry gun within a radius of ten meters. This is too terrifying! Without hesitation, without dragging their feet, without any nonsense, what kind of men and what kind of army are they?!
Yoshino gradually calmed down in the laughter of Matsuyama. He found that the heavy machine guns on the mountain had stopped firing, and even the light machine guns had slowly stopped firing. A company of Imperial Army soldiers climbed to the upper part of the slope without the threat of heavy machine guns, and those at the front began to throw hand grenades while rushing forward in a crouched position. At this time, their own heavy machine guns and infantry cannons could not fire even if someone operated them due to the close proximity of the enemy. Yoshino suddenly had an idea, his face twitched several times, and he hastily ordered a halt to the attack, wanting to withdraw the company that was charging forward. Matsuyama also seemed to suddenly understand, helping Yoshino shout for retreat.
