Chapter 25: The Battle of Gui Xi (1)

  On both banks of the Gui Creek, the military strength comparison between the two sides is as follows:

  The Flying Brigade, with the propaganda effect brought by the previous victory and the reopening of the 259th Regiment, had about three thousand people participating in the Gui Creek battle this time. Not counting other armed forces wandering outside. However, their common point was that they were poorly equipped. The guns captured and purchased were far from enough to equip these people. The Flying Brigade's weapons were mainly Zhongzheng rifles, with a captured infantry gun and a mortar, two grenade launchers, but unfortunately, the ammunition was limited and could not be used continuously. The captured Type 38 rifle also had the problem of insufficient bullets. Therefore, except for the two elite squads that were perfectly equipped, other regiments had some people who only had a big knife in their hands!

  The Japanese troops were well-equipped, with three infantry companies, a machine gun company, eight heavy machine guns, and a mountain artillery squad with two mountain guns. Although they only had 1,500 people, these Japanese soldiers were well-trained, with a certain proportion of first-class marksmen and gunners. Moreover, their ammunition was very sufficient. The Japanese soldiers fought fiercely, and so far, You Fei had not captured a single prisoner, which was also beyond the capabilities of those bandits who always thought about surrendering. If they really wanted to compare separately, You Fei's new recruits had some combat effectiveness close to that of ordinary civilians. The Japanese soldiers could easily deal with three times as many enemies.

  It can be said that the advantages of the devils are still very obvious.

  The war is approaching, and it's no longer necessary to make some fancy moves. You Fei repeatedly instructed to strengthen the defensive capabilities of the position. The trenches should be dug deeper, and holes should be dug on the side, which can increase the survival chances of the soldiers. When the devils charge up, only a few people will be left on the position to block them, and let the devils in - You Fei hasn't reached the point of sending the Big Knife Squad to charge forward, or it would have become the Boxer Rebellion decades ago.

  As the sky gradually brightened, the two armies on both sides of the Gui Creek appeared in the morning wind. In the midst of silence all around, the enemy's artillery spoke out, and the two mountain guns fired alternately, bombarding the front position of the 259th Brigade. The battle began from this moment.

  "Charge!" A Japanese company commander let out a fierce yell. In an instant, the Japanese troops formed a skirmish line and charged forward with bayonets fixed on their rifles.

  On the battlefield, a few people appeared, firing at the charging devils in a burst of gunfire. The devils fell down by the dozen, but in that instant, they were about to charge up too.

  Yóu Fēi watched carefully from behind, how did the scene become devils holding cold weapons to attack, we used guns to shoot, but unfortunately, the firepower was insufficient! Of course, Yóu Fēi knew that these devils valued close combat, often forming groups of three, relying on each other, and could cope with more than a dozen of our soldiers. Was it a good idea to put the devils in the trenches?

  The devils in the distance started firing their rifles, and several soldiers who were not well hidden immediately fell on the front line of the 259th Brigade. The devils' charge was even more suppressed. A few fast runners had already jumped into the trenches.

  Moto smiled, the Chinese army's firepower was too poor. And once the brave warriors of Japan, who were good at close combat, mixed with the Chinese army, it could be said that this battle would be won.

  More than 300 devils jumped into the trenches of the 259th Brigade, and more than 100 devils stumbled in an instant. It turned out that the bottom of the trench was not flat, with shallow pits of various sizes distributed at intervals. Just as the devils stumbled, bayonets and big knives protruded from the earthen wall beside them, and more than half of the over 100 devils who had not yet gained a foothold were beheaded, while the other half were chilled to the bone. How could the soldiers hiding in the sidewall be so accurate? This was related to the great efforts made by You Fei.

  Last night, Yu Fei divided into a thousand people, black lights and fires, dug trenches all night. Don't mention how tired they were, just the ones who sprained their feet had a whole row. Others who wanted to help were strictly prohibited, with orders saying let them save their energy for today's first strike which must be accurate. After accumulating energy all night, can't they put in some effort?

  Some devils didn't even know what was happening, and their bodies had already been chopped into several pieces. This big knife was very powerful when chopping people.

  Yu Fei had hidden another thousand people in the side walls. The devils in the trenches were almost all separated into individuals. The devils also wanted to cooperate with each other, but they couldn't, limited by the terrain of the trenches, and could only act independently.

  Heh heh, sneering coldly in the command center: "Damn it, who says trenches can only block bullets and shells? I'm going to use them as traps! I didn't graduate from military school, I don't have so many rules to follow! Hahaha!"

  Jiang's expression changed as he chuckled and said, "Big brother, we were originally just hooligans! We're still talking about rules with the devils, isn't that a joke?"

  "Hehe! It's really fun!"

  The trenches were filled with shouts of killing, and the enemy's cries gradually weakened, everywhere was the sound of soldiers' voices.

  The result of a fierce resistance with big swords and bayonets is often that the enemy's guns are broken in two, their heads split open...

  "The battle is over," said You Fei, "we should withdraw, clean up the battlefield and retreat to the second line of defense."

  When the results of the inventory were reported, You Fei still frowned. The devils had over 200 casualties on our side in this situation. Damn it! Two hundred and one Type 38 rifles were captured, not counting those damaged by the big knife. This shows that the soldiers also fought with their lives!

  "Connect that loudspeaker! Let's start singing! Sing the one where China must be strong!" Yu Fei arranged a 500-person choir, connecting the loudspeakers to the frontline trenches. As soon as they started singing, it had an earth-shaking effect.

  ……

  The commander of the Japanese army, Muto Tomoaki, was satisfied to see that the vanguard had broken into the enemy's trenches, and the Chinese army did not put up any decent resistance. He waited for the Chinese army to raise a white flag and surrender. After waiting for half a day, the shouting and killing sounds from both sides stopped, but the victory signal was not sent out. Had they lost? He shook his head in denial of his own thoughts. However, he had already considered sending support troops up.

  Suddenly, a majestic singing voice rang out.

  China will definitely be strong! China will definitely be strong!

  Look at that national hero Commander Xie

  China will definitely be strong! China will definitely be strong!

  Look at those eight hundred brave warriors fighting alone on the eastern battlefield

  All sides are cannon fire, all sides are jackals and wolves.

  Rather die than retreat, rather die than surrender.

  Our national flag is waving in the midst of heavy siege!

  Waft! Waft! Waft! Waft!

  Eight hundred brave warriors with one mind, ten thousand strong enemies dare not resist.

  Our actions are magnificent! Our spirit is heroic!

  Countrymen arise! Countrymen arise!

  Hurry up and rush onto the battlefield, take the eight hundred brave warriors as an example.

  China will definitely be strong! Definitely strong! Definitely strong! Definitely strong!

  The enemy's face is as pale as earth color, the Chinese army's song, indicates that his vanguard is done for.

  You Fei was overjoyed and said to Jiang Zhuang: "Change it to 'Laozi will definitely be strong', let's make it our military song, what do you think?"

  "Let's just change the first sentence! We are Chinese! Also fought alongside Commander Xie on the Shanghai battlefield, and won't change anything else!"

  Jiang Zhan, you're not muddled at all! You're even smarter than me, your big brother! Hehe, change it like this and let them sing our military song!

  The devil asked the translator next to him what they were singing. The translator happened to hear a sentence: "Laozi must be strong! China must be strong......" The translator said, "Report to the captain, they are saying that China is Japan's father, and 'laozi' means father. It seems like they're saying that as the father, we should be strong."

  No wonder the translator said that, what kind of high-end goods can be equipped for a battalion-level army? The attributes of the Japanese devils themselves make him think that this translation is not wrong.

  "Bean Fujii, take ten people and go check out the situation! Of course, you'll have full artillery support."

  "Haha, yes!"

  The artillery concentrated on the first-line positions and carried out a round-the-clock bombardment. This time, the devils also concentrated on using the mortars equipped with small teams.

  In the gunfire, Lao Tzu's strong singing voice stopped.

  "Go! Tofu-kun!"

  "Wah! Yah! Kill, give, give!" Tofu and ten other fanatical devils shouted as they charged towards the Chinese army's position. They rushed all the way to the front of the trenches! What would be inside the trenches? Before they could think more, they jumped in. Boom, boom, several explosions, smaller than the previous artillery fire, but really hitting the devils.

  This is the tradition of the Flying Tigers, when retreating, they would leave some booby traps for the devils, originally prepared for their main forces, but ended up being enjoyed by Doufeng and those pigs.

  Tofu slowly crawled out of the trench with half his head exposed, his face was black and grey, and his hat was gone. He looked around to determine the direction, then loudly shouted towards Mito's side: "No one! There is no one here! They have all escaped! Come up! They are all gone!" After shouting, he looked at the ten broken bodies of the devils who had come with him, and wiped the sweat from his head. His hat flew away again, but he was still alive. His luck wasn't bad at all!

  A Japanese soldier without a middle section of his belly suddenly cried out clearly in his mother tongue: "Mama!" and then died.

  Tofu sat beside him with a dull and lifeless gaze.

  "Sappers, go and clear!"

  The Matō-ha engineer cleared the trench and finally pushed the front line forward.

  After surveying the occupied position, Motofuji the old devil smiled sinisterly: "Gentlemen! We are about to win, and the Chinese army, thinking they are clever, has dug their own grave. We have just transported new weapons over, which are perfect for this situation! Hehe! God bless our troops! Artillery, switch to the new shells!"

  What is called a new-style shell is the enemy's chlorine gas shell. This pure chlorine is three times heavier than air and easily settles in low-lying areas, such as trenches...

  In order not to waste precious weapons, Mokoto ordered a small team to attack the second line of defense of the flying troops to test the situation. The bean sprout squad leader, who had just been rescued and found no injuries after being examined by the military doctor, was also ordered to participate in this raid team. Mokoto said with interest: "Bean sprouts! Your luck is good, so go to the front line of the Chinese army again! This time, if you encounter dense firepower, immediately retreat, and the following chlorine gas shells will visit the Chinese army's position. If you retreat late, oh, then there's no way! This time, if you come back, you will all be treated as heroes."

  "Hai! But why can't we wear protective suits and go?" Dou Teng asked in a low voice.

  "Oh! You're an idiot! What's the difference between that and telling the Japanese to run away quickly?"

  The bean paste was filled with sorrow and thought that this time it would really die. The more he thought about it, the more his legs trembled uncontrollably!

  Mato looked at him with disdain, pointed his knife forward and said: "Go!" Tofu followed the soldiers in that small squad, running mechanically.

  The deployment of the second-line trench is far less precise than that of the first-line trench, and time does not allow it! Fortunately, when we came down from the first-line trench, the enemy's weapons and ammunition were re-equipped with more than 200 new soldiers. Although they didn't shoot accurately, the momentum was still impressive. With dense firepower, holding out for a while shouldn't be a problem.

  Just as I was thinking, I saw dozens of devils rushing up from the telescope, and a devil officer inside seemed a bit familiar. Gradually getting closer, that devil officer seemed to have been beaten, came a mouthful of mud, shouldn't be seriously injured! However, the devil officer lay on the ground and refused to get up.

  The enemy squad entered the firing range, and in order to let the new recruits hit more accurately, it was originally decided to release the enemy to a distance of 50 meters before shooting. The enemy squad did not receive an attack, but instead hesitated for a moment before continuing to charge forward.

  Fifty meters arrived! With a single order, the dense gunfire really showed some momentum. The devils were stirred up halfway, and the rest slowly retreated backwards.

  You Fei's mind quickly turned around. The devils didn't mean to charge up, it was clear that they came to send themselves to death. So the officer stumbled and didn't get up. So the small team of devils put down a few corpses and chose to retreat. But why did they let them come to send themselves to death? Was it to probe our firepower? Probing our firepower again is not as good as the devils', this is clear, do we need to probe?

  There must be something terrifying behind this. You Fei felt very uneasy, it was the intuition of a veteran! The scene in front of him replayed quickly in his mind, and he couldn't help but shout loudly: "Full retreat! Retreat!"

  But it's already too late. Just as the withdrawal action had just begun, the devils' stinky shells came over in a hurry. The shells landed on the ground without any flames bursting out, and after a dull sound, a greenish-yellow gas spread out. Under the influence of the gentle breeze, the gas slowly flowed past the trenches and ditches.

  Originally, Mokoto saw the assault team slowly retreating to the rear, and was afraid of being discovered by the Chinese army, so he ordered the stink bomb to be launched ahead of time. The Japanese soldiers who did not retreat were stuck in the chlorine gas, curled up on the ground, their throats and eyes burning with pain, but unable to make a sound. They died soon after. Mokoto said coldly: "They are heroes of the Empire. I just said so."

  Compared to the losses of the Flying Brigade, those few Japanese soldiers are not worth mentioning. Before the poison gas spread, only 400 people retreated, while more than 500 people remained on the battlefield.

  ……

  (PS: About the song "China Must Be Strong". During the Battle of Shanghai, when the Zhabei area where the Sihang Warehouse was located had been fully occupied by the Japanese army, with bloody sun flags hanging everywhere. The soldiers and civilians of Shanghai, who were in the midst of war, saw the Chinese national flag flying on the rooftop of the seven-story Sihang Warehouse building, and they were so moved that their eyes were filled with hot tears. Commander Xie Jinyuan said to his soldiers: "Brothers! We must survive or perish together with the national flag, we will not surrender, and we will fiercely fight against the enemy!" They fought alone for four days and nights, repelling dozens of attacks by Japanese planes, tanks, and artillery. At that time, someone wrote a song called "The Song of the 800 Heroes": ... Eight hundred heroes with one heart, hundreds of thousands of strong enemies dare not confront us, our actions are magnificent! Our spirit is heroic! Compatriots, rise up! Rise up quickly and rush to the battlefield, take the eight hundred heroes as an example, China must be strong! Must be strong!)