Machine Gun II, Severe Blood Loss

  Yamamoto hastily asked first: "I really want to know, where did your army set up an ambush that day? Is it that place?" He pointed to the protrusion on the west side of the mountain wall.

  Zhan Biao nodded and said: "That's right, it was a cave, we were shooting there at the time."

  Yamamoto nodded: "Indeed, it confirmed my speculation. But why did you set up an ambush here? If we didn't take the shortcut, we would have gone along the highway that goes around this mountain."

  Zhan Biao looked at the mountain wall on the east side, where a lush meadow of flowers and grass had grown. He said heavily: "Because we shed blood here."

  That was still in the autumn of 1937. The Battle of Shanghai had entered its final stage. Prior to this, the Japanese army had suffered heavy casualties in the first phase of the war and decided to continue sending reinforcements from within the country, including the 8th, 11th, 18th, and 121st divisions, as well as the Chūyō Detachment (Taiwan Brigade) to land at Hangzhou Bay to support the battle in Shanghai. After nearly three months of fierce resistance, the Chinese defenders retreated. Yamamoto was then a lieutenant and platoon leader in the Chūyō Detachment.

  Zhang Biao was a sergeant of the 81st Machine Gun Battalion, 15th Division, 30th Corps of the National Revolutionary Army.

  At that time, the intention of the Chinese government was correct, luring the enemy to penetrate deeply and fight a protracted war, exchanging space for time. However, in the specific implementation, it greatly deviated from expectations, resulting in a major defeat of the National Army.

  Zhan Biao's heavy machine gun company was a well-equipped and organized unit, one of the few grassroots companies in the Sichuan Army that was established with reference to German troops. The entire company had 6 Madsen heavy machine guns and 8 Czech light machine guns, with sufficient ammunition. At that time, the heavy machine gun company followed the whole regiment from the temporary deployment in central Sichuan, but before they reached their destination, they encountered a large-scale retreat. They saw the National Army troops fleeing in disarray to the southwest under the harassment of Japanese aircraft, amidst the desolate autumn landscape.

  Because the heavy machine gun company had not yet made contact with the Japanese army, morale was still high. Although they had become separated from the battalion headquarters, all 160 officers and men of the company were still together. Lieutenant Colonel Gao Daqing hesitated as to whether to follow the crowd in retreating or stay put and wait for an opportunity to engage the enemy, but seeing the chaotic situation he also retreated westward with a sense of helplessness.

  At noon that day, the whole regiment marched into this valley and was ordered to cook meals on the spot. At that time, the heavy machine guns and light machine guns with straw and leaves were placed in a row on the west side of the valley, and various equipment and ammunition were also put together. 160 officers and soldiers crowded under the east wall of the mountain to eat their heads down. It was supposed to be very hidden in this valley, but after several Japanese planes flew over the valley without discovering them. However, later Zhang Biao and his comrades analyzed that it was the smoke from the cooking class that attracted the enemy plane, and in the great neglect and unpreparedness of the whole regiment's officers and soldiers, three Japanese planes suddenly dived down and dropped two bombs each, four of which accurately fell among the crowded people eating together. It was a matter of an instant, Zhang Biao heard the roar of the bomb and instinctively rolled over... After the explosion, the plane disappeared, the smoke dispersed, and the sunlight still shone on the mountain wall. When Zhang Biao stood up, his mind was blank. Even when he saw many bats flying out from a protruding rock on the west wall of the mountain, he still had the consciousness to think that it might be a cave. He didn't dare to lower his head and had to face the scene that made him shocked and unforgettable for life - the ground was covered with blood, flesh, and broken limbs...

  With one arm broken, Gao Lianzhang demonstrated the composure and decisiveness of a commander in pain. He first assigned some uninjured soldiers to bandage the wounded, then sent another group to intercept medical supplies from friendly forces outside the valley, and finally ordered the burial of the dead on the spot. The final tally showed that out of 160 men in the company, 34 were killed, 48 seriously injured (almost fatal), 29 lightly injured, and only 49 uninjured. Fortunately, the ammunition was stored on the west side; otherwise, there would have been no chance of survival for the entire company after the explosion.

  Because of the blood loss, Gao Lianchang's face was pale after he finished these things, and he frowned at the wounded soldiers and a row of intact heavy machine guns. Zhan Biao also knew in his heart that Gao Lianchang was considering whether to take weapons or people. If they took the wounded with them, 49 uninjured soldiers could barely carry 77 lightly and heavily wounded soldiers, but if they wanted to take the heavy machine guns, even if they were disassembled into parts for convenience, a single Maxim gun had 117 parts, weighing 49 kilograms, plus light machine guns and ammunition, which was impossible for 49 soldiers to carry. In the past, the whole company's soldiers, including six horse-drawn carts, were carrying these weapons.

  Zhan Biao saw that there were many retreating National Army troops on the road who had destroyed their mountain cannons and other heavy equipment. He thought that destroying these machine guns might be the only option. Indeed, Gao Lianzhang made the decision to destroy the machine guns, they had to hurry up and leave the valley to find a field hospital to treat the seriously wounded soldiers, they couldn't afford to hesitate because of minor issues, human life was the most important thing. Gao Lianzhang ordered that boxes of bullets and hand grenades be placed under the heavy machine guns.

  Zhang Biao felt a pang in his heart for these heavy machine guns. It's such a waste to have them destroyed like this, and they haven't even made any contributions to the war effort yet.

  He looked up and saw the bats flying out of the mountain wall, his heart suddenly moved, and he quickly ran to Gao Lianzhang to report: "Report to the company commander, it seems that there is a cave above, I'll go take a look first, if these equipment can be placed, I am willing to stay here."