Gunfight 6: Enemy Bullet Rain

  "Yamamoto asked: 'How can there be four of our people in your camp?'"

  Zhan Biao burst out laughing: "That's our people wearing your military uniforms."

  Yamamoto let out a dry, annoyed laugh: "Not good, not a fair and square fight... This also proves my conjecture. And another question, your firepower was so strong at the time, how many troops did you have?"

  Zhan Biao replied: "To be honest with you, it's just nine people."

  The Japanese troops rushing into the valley slowed down as planes began strafing and dropping bombs on the mountain tops.

  More Japanese troops came from the north mountain pass, and at a glance, it was clear that they had come to rescue the wounded. Some Japanese soldiers were carrying stretchers. They shouted something from afar. San De, wearing a Japanese lieutenant's uniform, picked up the sun flag on the ground, waved it while learning the Japanese shouts, and repeated them to the Japanese troops coming from the south mountain pass. After the response from the south mountain pass came, San De learned to shout again to the Japanese troops at the north mountain pass.

  The four Xiaofeng knew that in order to protect the cave entrance from being discovered, they could not return temporarily. They took advantage of San De's shouting opportunity to make more sufficient preparations for the battle. The Japanese troops on both sides thought these four people were survivors rescuing the wounded, and let them prepare with ease.

  Xiao Feng and Cheng Yi quickly mastered the operation of the 92-style heavy machine gun, preparing a large pile of bullet-filled cartridge boards. Liu Yang and San De swiftly brought over seven or eight boxes of heavy machine gun ammunition for backup. Then, San De, while mimicking Japanese phrases, shouted along with Liu Yang as they stacked the bodies of dead Japanese soldiers in front of the heavy machine gun to use as cover, following Cheng Yi's instructions. Cheng Yi could understand a bit and laughed: "They asked you if there were any Chinese troops over there, but instead, you turned around and asked the Japanese troops on the other side if there were any Chinese troops."

  The guys above were also laughing in tension, and San De this kid couldn't forget to play tricks at any time. Taking advantage of this precious time, the people above also cleared various equipment that was randomly thrown at the entrance of the cave into the cave, while also rushing to load bullets onto the chain.

  The bombing of the plane ended, and the Chinese army on the top of the strange mountain wall did not move. Did they withdraw? The Japanese troops on both sides began to slowly advance towards the middle and continued to shoot at the tops of the two mountains.

  Zhang Biao took a look at the Japanese troops on both sides, it seemed that they were advancing in formation, and about 50 or more people had entered. There were no more Japanese troops following behind. Only a few commanding officers stood at the entrance of the valley.

  Zhang Biao pointed to the Japanese commander at both ends of the valley, arranging Qiangzi and Zhengwen to fire at the bottom after the shot was fired. 400 meters, this is the best effective range of heavy machine guns.

  At this time, the Japanese army had already advanced more than 200 meters and was only 200 meters away from the middle. The Japanese soldiers carrying stretchers on both sides had rushed forward to make contact with the group of Japanese corpses, and at this distance, it was impossible to escape back.

  "Meizi Meizi!" San Dezi's son shouted from downstairs.

  Zhan Biao took a deep breath, twisted his neck and shouted: "Do it!"

  In an instant, the two 92-style heavy machine guns on the ground sprayed out a fan-shaped bullet flow to the south and north sides, swirling towards their former owners. The first few rows of Japanese soldiers fell down like overturned horses. At such close range, the heavy machine gun fire was like a powerful hook punch, causing the hit Japanese soldiers to fall down in shock. Some Japanese soldiers threw their guns into the air as they fell. As the Japanese were caught off guard and panicked, the heavy machine guns on the rooftop operated by Qiangzi and Zhengwen also fired, shooting five or ten rounds at the mountain valley entrance, almost every bullet hitting its target, causing the Japanese officers there to fall down one after another.

  The Japanese army was well-trained, and the Japanese soldiers behind the valley quickly fell to the ground and fired back without being hit by bullets. Several observant Japanese soldiers had already discovered the cave entrance, and the bullets hit the stone wall above the entrance, spewing out strands of stone dust. However, the counterattack of the heavy machine guns was merciless, pouring towards wherever there were shots, often hitting the fallen Japanese soldiers so hard that they jumped up. Even if they could dodge the flat-shooting bullet flow, they couldn't dodge the downward-shooting bullet flow. The two machine guns on the rooftop fired from far to near at the fallen Japanese soldiers, whether dead or alive, as if checking their names one by one.

  Xiao Feng and Cheng Yi manipulated the 92 heavy machine gun, getting more and more skilled with each shot. With the addition of the firepower from the two Maxim guns on the rooftop, the two Japanese infantry squads that entered the valley didn't even have a chance to fight back. The counterattacking firepower was intermittent and almost non-threatening, allowing Xiao Feng and Cheng Yi to slaughter the Japanese soldiers at will.

  With the experience accumulated from the first battle, the second battle made them feel more at ease. The four heavy machine guns had undergone a significant change, becoming confident and passionate. Zhanbiao held a Czech light machine gun in his hand, with spare barrels placed beside him, listening carefully to the movements of the enemy group, wherever there was movement from the Japanese army, he would spray a burst of bullets over there.

  Looking at the yellowish corpses all over the ground, Zhan Biao muttered to himself amidst the gunfire: "Money on the gambling table is not money, people on the battlefield are not human. Can this kind of fight be okay? Are these people really not human? It's simply a massacre." Qiang Zi didn't know if he heard Zhan Biao's words or not, and spat with his mouth ajar: "You say the devils are so fierce, aren't they also human? Bullets can penetrate them just the same, and what they spew out is all blood, haha, pig's blood!"

  Zhan Biao's momentary pity was shattered by the Nanjing Massacre a few months later, and the killing of hundreds of Japanese soldiers at that time was truly insignificant compared to the slaughter of 300,000 Chinese soldiers and civilians. Although Zhan Biao had a hint of pity in his heart, the machine gun in his hand remained ruthless. In a desperate situation, if you don't kill him, you will be killed yourself.

  At this time, Zhan Biao, who was observing the six roads, noticed that there were Japanese soldiers operating something at the northern mountain pass. He picked up his binoculars and took a look, then hastily ordered Qiangzi: "Qiangzi, quickly, northern mountain pass, devils are setting up mortars!"

  It was too late, the Japanese had already launched their grenades. Two grenade launchers fired four rounds in three seconds. The valley erupted in a cacophony of explosions, and the two heavy machine guns below fell silent.

  At that time, the Japanese army had a special fondness for grenade launchers. This weapon, which was between a mortar and a hand grenade, was used by the Japanese army with great skill and was called "small steel cannon" by Chinese soldiers at the time. The grenade launcher was only 413 mm long and weighed 2.7 kg, making it easy to carry and operate quickly. Well-trained personnel could fire more than 20 rounds of grenades per minute. During World War II, when Japanese troops encountered enemies, their first choice of tactics was to shoot a row of guns, then use grenade launchers, and finally charge forward. Those Japanese veterans who used grenade launchers had an accuracy rate of over 95%, and within 400 meters, they were almost always on target. Especially after the Battle of Shanghai, the Japanese grenade launcher became the nemesis of the National Army's heavy machine guns. At that time, a brigade of the National Army had 36 Madsen heavy machine guns, but soon after deployment, 32 of them were knocked out by Japanese grenade launchers. As a result, the National Army's heavy machine gunners could only fire more than 100 rounds before having to change positions.

  As soon as the two heavy machine guns below fell silent, Zhan Biao didn't care about hiding himself anymore and stuck his head out to shout loudly: "Xiaofeng! Chengyi! Are you guys done for?" At this time, Qiangzi's bullets had already reached the Japanese grenade launcher operators at the mouth of the valley, not allowing them to launch a third wave of grenades.

  In the valley, the surviving Japanese troops heard that the continuous firing of the heavy machine guns had stopped and immediately crouched down to start charging. Several light machine guns also opened fire. The combat effectiveness of the Japanese army was tenacious, and even if only one person was left, they would still persist in fighting.

  Zhan Biao shouted a few times, but there was no response from below. Had they all been wiped out? As soon as Zhan Biao thought of this, he became anxious and, regardless of being discovered at the entrance of the cave, picked up a light machine gun and started firing wildly at the Japanese army. He ordered Qiangzi and Zhengwen: "Nail them to death! Not one will be left! Avenge Xiaofeng, Chengyi, Sande, and Liuyang!" The two heavy machine guns changed from their previous single shots to a burst of crazy sweeps, instantly knocking down more than a dozen Japanese soldiers who had stood up.

  Although the Eighth Route Army fought with great momentum, they lacked two heavy machine guns below, which greatly reduced their firepower. The firepower from below was a flat sweep, hitting one big area after another, while the firepower from above could only hit individual points from top to bottom. Moreover, at this time, the Japanese soldiers below had discovered the cave entrance on the mountain wall, and without the threat of heavy machine guns from below, their firepower suddenly concentrated on the mountain wall, strongly suppressing the Eighth Route Army's firepower. The Japanese troops on both sides took advantage of the situation to move forward, gradually approaching the central area in a scattered manner.

  Zhan Biao gave the order: "Er Zhu Zi, Long Jie, quickly prepare hand grenades. This time use their own hand grenades to blow up these Japanese devils who don't know how to die. Qiang Zi and Zheng Wen, you two hold steady!" Zhan Biao had seen the Japanese army approaching and was preparing to withdraw the deputy shooter to use hand grenades in close combat. But as soon as he finished speaking, Zheng Wen let out a loud cry, fell to the ground with a thud, and two bullet holes suddenly appeared on his left upper arm, with fresh blood gushing out. It was a through-and-through wound from a Type 38 rifle. This time they lost one heavy machine gunner and also lost one grenade thrower. Zhan Biao shouted in distress: "Long Jie, quickly bandage Zheng Wen!" Then he threw down the light machine gun, grabbed the heavy machine gun that was about to fall over, and started firing wildly.

  Just as Zhang Biao felt the situation was becoming increasingly critical, suddenly from below came the sound of heavy machine guns firing again, and it was two heavy machine guns this time. The five people on the rooftop were invigorated, and Zhang Biao's mouth twitched as he almost cried out loud.