Chapter 47: Returning to the City and Firing Cannons

  The eastern cone-shaped ridge is a small hill fold in the plain, originally a flat land that suddenly lifted up to form a nearly ten-meter-high hill, although not a high peak, but this place can also become a natural stronghold.

  Originally an inconspicuous small hill, this place was now bustling with activity. More than 2,000 troops in different uniforms had gathered on this tiny hill of less than one square meter. Taking advantage of the natural high slope, those standing on the earth slope could see the open plain in front of them very clearly. It would be a delightful thing to set up machine guns on the rack and sweep down from here. Unfortunately, the entire New First Regiment had only ten Czech machine guns, and there were not many bullets either. Normally, it was not allowed to waste even a single bullet for machine guns, so gunners could only practice aiming without actual shooting.

  The personnel composition of the new regiment can be said to be the most complex, with the original Dong Tianhao's bandit gang as the main framework, and a large number of new recruits filling in. These people range from 15-16 years old to 40-50 years old, and apart from the complex personnel composition, the firearms used are also varied. Most people use local-made mountain rifles for hunting, which require almost one minute to load ammunition, and the shooting accuracy is not even worth thinking about. However, this horizontally-loaded fire rifle filled with iron fragments has a considerable killing power at close range, and within 50 meters, it can absolutely turn someone into a beehive. But whether it can kill enemies beyond 50 meters depends on luck.

  Dong Tianhao had a very clear understanding of the new first team, he knew that the new first team was the weakest in combat among the three regimental formations. Although Conical Hill had a high ground advantage, Dong Tianhao did not dare to be careless at all. Therefore, as soon as the new first team arrived at Conical Hill, there was no repair or adjustment, and they immediately started constructing defensive works.

  There were only 137 regiments with specialized engineer battalions, and the new first regiment did not have a specialized engineer battalion. They also worked in a primitive way. Fortunately, Dong Tianhao had experience building defensive fortifications when he was a bandit leader. Although he wasn't a professional, he knew how to build trenches for personnel replacement. The soldiers started working under Dong Tianhao's shouting.

  The weather was extremely gloomy, and Dong Tianhao's heart had no bottom line for the upcoming fierce battle. As the team marched on their way, the Japanese reconnaissance plane circled above them for a long time, and what they saw was probably all seen by the devils. This feeling of being stripped naked and exposed to the public eye was really unbearable.

  "Ah~" Dong Tianhao let out a loud roar towards the sky, using this to vent the pent-up energy in his chest.

  Originally ranked sixth in the row, the one-eyed dragon king San Suo was naturally a ghost with many ideas, so he naturally became Dong Tianhao's personal military advisor.

  Wang San laughed and said, "The master of the house, are you worried about our firepower?"

  "Niang Xipi's, worried about more than just firepower. Look at the people in our group, it's like a motley crew of peasants, only missing the hoes on their shoulders. Those good weapons we got were all allocated to the 137th and 146th regiments first. We're not the brigade commander's direct subordinates after all, damn it! A stepmother's child is still a stepmother's child." Dong Tianhao cursed loudly.

  "Keep your voice down, you big lummox." Wang San nervously looked around in all directions, afraid that what Dong Tianhao had just said would be overheard by others. If these words reached You Fei's ears, it wouldn't be good.

  "I'm not afraid of him, even if he is the team leader. I'll still say it: humph, you don't know how despicable that scoundrel Xu Zhiwei is. He's always pointing and criticizing the equipment personnel of the new first team. That old rustic has a smug face like he's gotten away with something, and you haven't heard how badly he talks about the new first team behind their backs." Dong Tianhao said this, and Xu Zhiwei's teeth clenched with a cracking sound, his two rough hands rubbing together vigorously, as if he was going to rub Dong Tianhao between them.

  Dong Tianhao said sternly, "This time we absolutely cannot lose to the 137th Regiment. We must save face! They went to the most difficult place to defend, Shishi Beach, while we are in the best defensive position, Zhēnzi Ridge. If we still let them win this time, it would be truly shameful and embarrassing to continue living!"

  King Three nodded repeatedly, and Dong Tianhao looked at the brothers in front of him who were digging trenches with all their might. His eyes still filled with worry, King Three's small eyes rolled around, and suddenly he coughed heavily and said in a low voice: "Boss, actually I thought that there should be some good things in the county town that can help us."

  "What good stuff!" Dong Tianhao immediately became spirited.

  "In the county town, those rich and wealthy families had secretly cast mountain cannons in earlier years. In times of war and chaos, who wouldn't prepare some means to defend themselves? Especially those with money who value their lives the most. I've already figured out which families have mountain cannons. To be honest, I've long wanted to get my hands on these cannons, but the battalion commander has strictly forbidden disturbing the civilians. Moreover, people from the other two battalions are watching from the side, so even if I found an excuse to go into those families' homes and got the cannons, there's no way we could use them!" Wang San replied.

  Dong Tianhao's eyes sparkled as he exclaimed, "You scoundrel, why didn't you speak up when the troops left the county town? If I had known earlier, I would have taken action then. Those wealthy merchants holding onto those mountain cannons are useless, they might as well donate them to me to guard this Zhēnzi Ridge. Hmm, you quickly sneak back to the county town and get your hands on those mountain cannons, they should be some big ones, what's their firepower like?"

  Wang San said with a bitter face: "The head of the household, now the captain is still in the county seat. If I go to do this, it's possible that the captain will be shot! Moreover, I heard that the muzzle of those mountain cannons has to be as thick as two bowls, and it's really too big to move around, and it's also very difficult to bring it here. I think we should just forget about it!"

  "Count on you, egghead!" Dong Tianhao shouted loudly. "No matter whether you use horse-drawn carriages, donkey carts or ox carts, or shoulder poles and manual labor, you must get those mountain guns for me! I'll assign a battalion to you, now hurry back and make sure those mountain guns arrive before the devils get here!"

  Wang San let out a loud wail, at this moment he only felt his eyes turning black. He hated that if his mouth wasn't so big, he wouldn't have gotten himself into this miserable task. Under Dong Tianhao's piercing gaze, Wang San didn't dare to slack off anymore and could only go gather people to hurry back to the county town to pull the mountain cannon.

  Dong Tianhao burst out laughing, he really didn't expect that a few powerful mountain cannons would fall from the sky. Xu Zhigui, Xu Zhigui, I'll let you see what it means to have top-notch defense like a golden fortress, Dong Tianhao thought with glee in his heart.