The Third Set of Clashes Six: Friendly Armies Assist Each Other

  Zhan Biao gazed out from among the trees at the mountain below and pointed, saying: "There are still some fish that have slipped through the net. Song Shan and the others escaped from here."

  Zhu Xianchang said: "Brother Biao, isn't it very likely that we can annihilate the Japanese army? If the New Fourth Army attacks from the front..."

  Zhan Biao shook his head and said, "At that time, to tell the truth, we didn't have the intention of completely annihilating the Japanese army. We dared to fight, but after all, the Japanese army had more people than us at that time, and it was not easy to completely annihilate them. However, at that time, the New Fourth Army came from the front to help us. They were worried that we would be at a disadvantage if we fought alone. The Communist Party's magnanimity is admirable."

  Zhang Dongdong also observed the terrain and said: "However, this battle may have annihilated the Japanese army. If Songshan didn't receive reinforcements, he was doomed."

  Watching his own infantry company rush up the mountain, Jinuo suddenly realized that the opponent's silent heavy machine gun was waiting to be fired, and he quickly thought of withdrawing his troops, but it was too late. Zhang Biao had patiently waited for all the charging soldiers to have no time to run back to the foot of the mountain before shouting "Fire!" In an instant, six heavy machine guns and eight light machine guns sprayed long crossfires at a company of over 200 devils. For the 250 soldiers who were not convenient to run, this was simply a nightmare that they could not wake up from. As for Zhang Biao, it should be considered a trivial matter. Because he had heard that heavy machine guns had killed thousands of people on the battlefield during World War I, and they had also experienced killing hundreds of Japanese soldiers in battle last year.

  It was only four or five minutes of shooting, and there were not many people standing on the hillside. Zhang Biao ordered the heavy machine gun fire and mortar fire to start extending, leaving the remaining Japanese troops who were still resisting on the hillside to the light machine guns and rifles. The remnants of the Japanese heavy machine gun squad, artillery squad, and wounded soldiers at the foot of the mountain were again covered by a hail of bullets from the heavy machine guns, with groups of Japanese soldiers falling to the ground from time to time. What surprised Songshan again was that a group of mortars appeared on the hill, not just the two earlier ones but more than a dozen now. Wave after wave of mortar shells accurately fell into the yellow crowd at the foot of the mountain, which had become a chaotic mess. Even the legs of Lieutenant Colonel Yoshino, who was furious, were blown open and he fell to the ground.

  Songshan's special forces were so angry that they shouted loudly, this battle was too embarrassing, unprecedentedly embarrassing. Several officers took off their shirts and held 96 light machine guns to fight to the death. Songshan pointed at the light machine gun and shouted loudly: "Their swords are longer than ours, can't you see? If we hold on any longer, our casualties will be even greater, retreat quickly!" Seeing that the situation was not good, Songshan reluctantly gave the order to retreat.

  Tan Ying, the regiment commander, led the New Fourth Army and guerrilla troops down the mountain foot, but didn't go far. The intense gunfire on the mountain encouraged these anti-Japanese soldiers who were also fierce. Tan Ying was a man with a strong personality, and he couldn't express his feelings about Zhuang Biao's insistence on fighting alone. If he followed his temper, he might have turned around and left. However, as a communist party member, he had a broad perspective on the nation and the overall situation, and shouldn't have personal emotions in the face of major issues. Thinking this way, he ordered his troops to stop, then discussed with Gui Secretary and Shan Team Leader: "From a military standpoint, our anti-Japanese guerrilla forces are outnumbered by the enemy, although Zhuang Biao is acting like a hero, we can't just sit back and do nothing. How about this, we'll go back and set up an ambush on the outer perimeter of the mountain foot. If Zhuang Biao's team encounters danger, we'll rush back to support them. At least we can blow up 20 Japanese trucks and coordinate with the troops on the mountain."

  The New Fourth Army and the guerrilla troops turned around and came back, targeting the Japanese army's troop carrier at the foot of the mountain. Just as Captain Tan and his men approached the truck, they saw a group of Japanese special forces rushing out from the foot of the mountain, just like last time, with over 50 people covering several officers running out. This escaping team was even more disheveled, carrying wounded officers on their backs instead of heavy machine guns and infantry cannons, with the hail of bullets and grenades driving them forward. Captain Tan and Single Team Leader were puzzled, could it be? Was the battle ending so quickly with just a few rounds of gunfire? That was a heavy machine gun company, an infantry company, and two artillery squads!

  Tan Yingchang reacted quickly, just like the situation earlier when this group of Japanese soldiers charged forward and killed 11 of my comrades. He waved his hand and ordered: "Open fire and charge forward, don't let them run to the truck, avenge Sun Paolong!"

  This time, it was not a head-on encounter with the special troops, but a side-by-side confrontation. However, more than 150 soldiers from the New Fourth Army and the guerrilla forces bravely charged forward and blocked the special troops of Songshan and the battalion of Yoshino. The special troops of Songshan had been holding their breath at the foot of the mountain, and when they saw that it was the New Fourth Army again, they did not wait for Songshan's order to attack. They thought that this group of New Fourth Army would be easily defeated like before and could be driven back with ease.

  But the new Fourth Army is different now, it's a strong and powerful new Fourth Army, it's a victorious new Fourth Army. More than 100 guns with sufficient bullets fired in unison to suppress the special troops of Songshan. Although the Japanese army was lying on the ground and stopped their fleeing footsteps, they managed to escape beyond Zhu Biao's firing range.

  Japanese soldiers guarding the truck rushed over to respond, and Captain Tan didn't expect that the Japanese army guarding the truck had a small team of troops. He hastily ordered the squad leader to lead the guerrilla team and a platoon to rush over. In the blink of an eye, another battlefield was formed with gunfire ringing out below the mountain.

  On the mountain, Zhang Biao originally saw a group of people escaping from Songshan's shooting range and rushing towards the truck, so he gave up the pursuit and stopped firing. Seeing that Tan Yingchang had blocked them, he was overjoyed and quickly called to order Ermin, Kouzi and Pan Shitou's three machine guns at the foot of the mountain to launch a surprise attack in coordination, and then led his team down the mountain.

  Two civilians and three soldiers, after receiving the order, brought out a light machine gun and rushed to the rear of the remaining enemy forces on Songshan, setting up three Type 96 guns and firing wildly. After all, it was their first time in actual combat today, so the three men's marksmanship could only be described as chaotic.

  As soon as Songshan heard the light machine gun following closely behind, he was shocked and thought that Zhang Biao had jumped down from the mountain. This would mean they were surrounded by enemies. At this time, his usual composure was gone, and he frantically commanded the special forces to charge at the New Fourth Army like a mad dog. Due to this loss of composure, his professional movements became disorganized, and he attracted a bullet that hit him in the shoulder, causing Songshan to cry out in pain and fall to his knees. Fortunately, the responding Japanese squad leader was also well-trained and quickly drove over two trucks equipped with machine guns, and the blood-soaked Songshan hastily led his troops onto the vehicles.

  At the moment when Tan Yingchang was about to escape, his two battalions appeared on both sides, and Tan Yingchang was overjoyed. The three battalions surrounded and pursued from three sides, and the gunfire became more intense. As soon as Songshan saw that he dared not to fight, he ordered the trucks to break through and retreat. A battalion of the New Fourth Army chased after the Japanese truck team with all their might, using their legs. One car had already been disabled on the side of the road. At this time, a Japanese company that came on foot from Kao Shan Town approached, fortunately, Yoshino had arranged for this company to guard here, otherwise, the feeling of being chased and beaten would be too unbearable.

  The Japanese army's firepower was unleashed, and the New Fourth Army stopped in its tracks. At that time, a Japanese company's combat power was not inferior to a Nationalist Army battalion's combat power, and they often chased after the Nationalist Army, causing them to flee in disarray. The Japanese army's firepower had the upper hand against the poorly equipped Eighth Route Army and New Fourth Army. Although the New Fourth Army was blocked, Matsuyama and Yoshino, who were injured, were in so much pain that they didn't have the energy to counterattack, and the entire company retreated back to the county town to treat their wounds.

  Three companies of the New Fourth Army and guerrilla troops arrived in Kao Shan town to rest. Again, Yuan Bo took the lead in organizing the villagers to boil water and cook meals to comfort the anti-Japanese troops. After Captain Tan sat down at Yuan Bo's home, the first thing he did was to have his deputy captain and each company reassign weapons, distributing all the ammunition supported by Zhan Biao evenly throughout the regiment. This time, they had "picked up" a Japanese army company's worth of weapons, with 18 machine guns distributed six per company, in addition to the original three per company, so that each company had one machine gun per squad. Soldiers and guerrilla fighters without guns were all assigned new ones, achieving one gun per person, with 40 bullets per person. The entire regiment was ecstatic.

  Tan Yingchang often sank into thought, and said to Gui Secretary and Shan Team Leader: "This Zhan Biao is really a character, his eight younger martial brothers are all men of great strength, unfortunately one of them died this time."

  Secretary Gui thought for a moment and said: "This might be the reason why Class Leader Zhan didn't let us join the battle, he wants to take revenge himself."

  The squad leader said, "Just now, Zhuang Biao's decision to withdraw us was correct. Zhuang Biao and the devils were fighting with heavy weapons, while we only had light weapons. If we all hid on the mountain top, we wouldn't be of much help, and could only suffer a beating and increase casualties. This young man may not be old, but he has a lot of energy. We should also thank him for giving us so many weapons this time, solving our big problem."

  Tan Ying Chang stood up and pointed to the mountain: "Hmph, this kid just captured more in this battle, a heavy machine gun company has 12 'chicken necks', and another company of 'crooked handles' and rifles. And four infantry guns! What's more, each of these devils with heavy weapons had a self-defense handgun, probably over 200 handguns were captured. It's really enviable. I don't quite understand how he fought earlier!"

  Tan Yingchang turned around and said fiercely: "We must try to bring him and his weapons over to the Communist Party. We need such a strong and brave warrior to fight against the devils. If all the National Army were as good as he is, Nanjing and Wuhan would not have been defeated so badly."

  Secretary Gui said: "He's got a pretty stubborn temper, but fortunately we've already sent two party members in, let's work on it slowly."

  At this time, a messenger rushed in: "Report to the battalion commander, Zhan Banlang has arrived."