Chapter 29: The Death of Qiū Guài Zǐ

  "Mangzi..." Li Liansheng didn't know when Zhang Daman had already lain down beside him, and it wasn't until he was about to get up to look for him that he discovered this, nor did he know how long he had been there.

  "The dog's day, it seems that the little devil is determined to win, even the 92-type cannon has been moved up...". Zhang Damao looked at Li Liansheng and pressed his half-squatting body down, saying.

  "Yes... in that case our casualties will be even greater"

  "If only we can hold on until nightfall," Zhang Damao said, raising his head to glance at the soldiers huddled in the artillery pit.

  "It seems we have to fight the devils with bayonets...". Li Liansheng said, picking up his binoculars again.

  "Ah, but it's really heart-wrenching to let almost half of the new recruits go up and fight with bayonets... Old Li, you keep an eye on things here, I'll go take a look at the second row and 'pull out' a few more veteran soldiers." Zhang Damao patted Li Liansheng's shoulder and said helplessly before he was about to leave. Just then, Zhao Zhibang suddenly shouted from the single soldier trench: "The devils are coming!"

  "The devils are coming, hurry up, don't hide anymore" Li Liansheng said while grabbing the rifle beside him and rushing into the front trench.

  "Haha Valley... Haha Valley... Pounce to death..." Just as Li Lian Sheng and the other were talking, the Japanese army had already charged forward dozens of meters. In just a moment, the voice of the Japanese commander's shouting could be heard clearly.

  "Zhao Zhibang, didn't I tell you not to fire without permission?!" Li Liansheng had just climbed up the trench, and the Japanese soldier who was charging at the front was shot down by Zhao Zhibang. He immediately shouted while aiming at the Japanese soldiers who were still charging forward. As he spoke, another bullet hit a Japanese soldier in the abdomen.

  "The devils are getting close!" Zhao Zhibang had a clear view in front of him and could see the enemy charging forward. He raised his gun, aiming at one of them, but after hearing Li Liansheng's words, he still didn't pull the trigger.

  "Your mission is to 'shoot' and kill the devils' machine gunner and commander, don't easily expose your target, got it?" The speaker was Zhang Damao. Originally he had planned to go to the second platoon behind Li Liansheng's position, which was also guarding the second line of defense for their regiment, to pull out a few more veteran soldiers, but just as the Japanese army charged up, he called a soldier from the Jingwei Platoon to transmit his orders.

  "The little devil of the Japanese army is getting more and more cunning, he's waiting for our machine guns to fire and reveal their position before using cannons to blast us!" Zhang Damao held up his binoculars, looking at the Japanese military commander who was also searching for targets with his binoculars.

  On the two machine gun positions on both sides of the position, Zhang 'Mist' Dragon and Qi Duizi were intently watching the 'Japanese' army move forward bit by bit. At this time, the distance between the 'Japanese' army and Zhang 'Mist' Dragon's light machine gun was definitely out of range, but the Maxim could just reach it. At this moment, Li Liansheng and Zhang Daman suddenly realized something, and the two of them almost shouted at the same time: "Duizi, stop the Maxim immediately!!"

  But it was too late. Just as they had shouted, the sound of Mark's gun rang out and the two "Japanese" soldiers who were rushing forward fell to the ground.

  "Qi Guai Zi, quickly retreat! Quickly, quickly, quickly..." However, Qi Guai Zi was some distance away from them, and the soldiers who had previously shrunk into the trenches were now lying on top of the trenches exchanging fire with the "Japanese" army. As a result, despite both men shouting loudly at the same time, their voices were still drowned out by the gunfire.

  "Just as Zhang Dabao was about to run out of the machine gun nest, a shrill cry pierced the sky, followed by a loud explosion."

  "Boom! Boom! Boom!" After the explosion, the right side of the position fell silent. The deputy gunner who was busy reloading was thrown into the air several meters high and landed on the rocks in front. Qi Guai Zi also fell into the trench behind him, with large mouthfuls of blood gushing out of his mouth. The Mark IV had been blown to pieces, and Zhang Da Mao watched as Qi Guai Zi shouted loudly and ran away.

  "Quickly, quickly, quickly, be careful..." Li Lian Sheng looked at Zhang Da Meng who was running rapidly, just wanting to pull him back but Zhang Da Meng had already run several meters away.

  "What are you doing, standing there like a fool? Waiting for the little devils to come and crap on your head?" Li Liansheng looked at Zhang Damao's figure, and out of instinct he was about to follow him, but when he saw the soldiers in the trench, especially the new recruits staring blankly at the company commander who was now holding a child and crying, he stopped in his tracks and shouted.

  "Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom..." The enemy's machine gun also caught up and started suppressing fire, and soon the infantry would start a big charge.

  "Zhao Zhibang, take out that 'T-26' machine gun." Actually, there was no need for Li Liansheng to give the order. As soon as the enemy's machine gun had just moved forward a bit, Zhao Zhibang's rifle had already locked onto a target.

  With a loud crack, a rifle bullet flew out of Zhao Zhibang's gun barrel and the Japanese machine gunner who had just fired a few shots fell to the ground motionless. The deputy gunner next to him hesitated for a moment before pushing away the fallen machine gunner, but he was shot down by Zhao Zhibang with his rifle before he could even aim.

  The Japanese army knew that the sniper who had killed four machine gunners and a Japanese officer two hours ago had appeared, and the other two machine gunners hastily hid and did not dare to show their heads again. Without the firepower of the machine guns, the Japanese army, which was about to rush to the foot of the mountain, had to lie down and did not dare to charge forward again. Although the shooting accuracy of the Chinese troops was not as high as that of the Japanese army, at such a close distance and with the advantage of being on higher ground, the casualties they suffered were still unbearable.

  After Markov was knocked down by the enemy's shell, Zhang Menglou also did not dare to stay in the place he had thought was very safe. After all, the cannon and howitzer were much more powerful than the rifle, and if a direct hit landed on the stone in front of him, it would definitely be able to blast those two huge stones into pieces. At this time, he was holding his Czech-style rifle in the trench, constantly moving and occasionally taking aim at opportunities to fire two shots before changing positions again.

  Li Liansheng originally thought that Zhao Zhibang had just fired two shots, and the devils on the opposite side shouldn't have found him so quickly. However, this time he underestimated his opponent. After Zhao Zhibang fired two shots, he was waiting for the other two machine gunners to show their heads when a shell suddenly landed accurately on his head.

  "It's no good" Li Liansheng heard the whistling sound of the shell cutting through the air and his heart skipped a beat. Just as he was about to call Zhao Zhibang back, the shell had already landed, and it just so happened to land right on top of Zhao Zhibang's head in the foxhole. The dust raised by the explosion filled Li Liansheng's view of the battlefield, and he sat down with a thud in the trench, muttering: "It's all over, it's all over..." Originally, after Zhao Zhibang took out two machine gunners with his two shots, Li Liansheng had planned to pull him back. But he thought the enemy wouldn't be able to find them so quickly, so he didn't pull him back.