Chapter 5: The Huge Spoils

  "Yes, Commander, you can rest assured. With me, He Deqing, here, I guarantee that not a single bullet will be left for the Shanxi Army..." He Deqing replied excitedly, turning around to order his soldiers to clean up the battlefield.

  Just as Zhang Hua led a row of soldiers to occupy the Jin army's heavy machine gun position, the instructor led two rows of troops to pursue the enemy's main force within less than 100 meters. Perhaps the Jin army commander had deep concerns about the combat effectiveness of the Red Army. When he saw nearly a hundred Red Army soldiers closely following fewer than 30 Jin army soldiers rushing towards his main force, he immediately ordered his remaining fewer than 300 men to prepare for battle, with five light machine guns set up at the front of the troops under the battalion commander's orders.

  "Rat-a-tat-tat..." Just as he was closely following the retreating Jin army soldiers, charging to within less than 100 meters of the main Jin army force. A burst of crisp light machine gun fire reached Xu Bin's ears, and in the blink of an eye, more than twenty Jin army soldiers who were rushing forward fell one after another like cut wheat into a bloody pool.

  "Halt, get down...". Seeing the scene in front of him, Xu Bin secretly cursed the cruelty of the enemy commander and ordered his soldiers. Fortunately, there were more than 20 Jin army soldiers in front who blocked the bullets, and nearly a hundred Red Army soldiers did not suffer any losses and safely lay on the ground. At the same time, the five light machine guns that followed the charge also moved to the forefront of the position under the instructor's command and began to exchange fire with the main force of the Jin army in front.

  However, the strength of the Jin army was more than three times that of the Red Army. Slowly, casualties began to appear in the special troops lying on the ground. On the other hand, the two heavy machine guns at the Jin army's heavily fortified position, which had been occupied by the company commander, were already being carried back to their own positions by the soldiers.

  "Drip, drip, drop...drip, drip, drop..." Just as Xu Bin was thinking about whether to retreat immediately, a loud bugle call suddenly sounded from the position behind him.

  "Instructor, the company commander blew his whistle and ordered us to retreat immediately..." The communication soldier Wang Goudan, who was following Instructor Xu Bin, heard the familiar whistle and reminded him immediately.

  "Order, machine gunner stay behind to provide alternate cover, the rest of you quickly sweep the battlefield and prepare to retreat..." Xu Bin nodded and shouted loudly. In this way, under the alternate cover of five light machine guns, the soldiers brought back the captured weapons and ammunition safely to their position.

  However, facing the Red Army troops who were constantly retreating, although their own forces were more than three times that of the enemy. But the enemy battalion commander did not dare to pursue. Because he had received a report from a soldier who had been rescued from the heavy machine gun position, and learned that the heavy machine gun position had been occupied by the Red Army, and two heavy machine guns had also been captured by the Communist army.

  The enemy battalion commander raised the binoculars in his hand and saw that his two heavy machine guns had been erected on the Red Army's position. Looking at the machine guns with a blue glow, the wise commander ordered the troops to stop pursuing and changed their formation from attack to defense.

  "Haha... Old Zhang, this battle was truly exhilarating! We sacrificed two soldiers and three were injured, but we annihilated an entire Jin army company. Even their stronghold, the heavy machine gun position, was taken out by us. It's been a long time since I've had such a smooth victory. Following you into battle is really energizing." Instructor Xu Bin said excitedly as he returned to the position and saw Company Commander Zhang Hua fiddling with the heavy machine gun.

  "Right... it's been a long time since I've had such a neat battle. This time we took out their heavy machine gun position, they should be honest for a while. Instructor, take advantage of this period of time, hurry up and count our spoils of war. Set aside a portion to give to the regimental headquarters, leave the rest behind, we'll use it ourselves." Company Commander Zhang Hua ordered.

  "Alright, I'll go check now..." The instructor said, turning around and running towards the pile of spoils.

  The Jin army at the foot of the mountain was indeed as Zhang Hua said. Without the cover of heavy machine guns, and having lost nearly half of their troops, the high temple mountain stronghold was exceptionally quiet in the following time. It wasn't until the special forces company received the order to retreat that the Jin army at the foot of the mountain symbolically fired a round of blank shots before occupying the position vacated by the special forces company.

  "Old Zhang... here, this is the list of spoils we've captured... I really didn't expect it, but there are so many weapons and ammunition. From now on, our special forces unit will never have to worry about lacking guns or bullets again!" Just then, Instructor Xu Bin hurried over, looking like he had just eaten a honey date.

  "Haha, not bad! We captured 106 rifles, three light machine guns, over 10,000 bullets, 430 hand grenades... two heavy machine guns, four boxes of heavy machine gun ammunition, each box containing 2,000 rounds... and we took six enemy prisoners! Haha, Commissar, this battle was a big win for us!" Zhang Hua exclaimed after reading the list.

  "Ah, Old Zhang, to gain such a great victory at such a small cost, this is the first time I've encountered it. And what's even more unexpected is that we can capture so many spoils of war from a defensive battle, it's really astonishing. Hehe... Old Zhang, having captured so many spoils of war, how do you plan to deal with them?" As he spoke, Xu Bin's eyes revealed a hint of greed. Hehe, one should know that for an army lacking guns and ammunition, anyone looking at these weapons would have the idea of taking them for themselves.

  "Haha, Old Xu, this doesn't seem like your usual style..." Zhang Hua said with a smile, teasing Xu Bin's expression.

  "Don't mention me, you're not much better off either. Come on, say it, how do you plan to deal with these spoils of war." Upon hearing Captain Zhang Hua's words, Instructor Xu Bin immediately turned bright red and retorted.

  "Lao Xu, this time we've got so many spoils of war, it's definitely not possible to keep them all. Besides, the battalion commander is also in a difficult situation, and adding to that, we don't have enough soldiers to use them either. I was thinking, let's add the 49 rifles we captured last time, and leave 51 rifles behind. As for machine guns, we'll turn in the light machine guns we were using before, and keep three of the captured light machine guns, one heavy machine gun, half of the bullets, and all of the hand grenades. What do you think of this allocation?" Zhang Hua asked after thinking of a plan.

  "In that case, we'll return more than 55 new guns to the battalion headquarters, over a hundred other types of firearms, five light machine guns and one heavy machine gun..." After hearing Zhang Hua's words, Instructor Xu Bin mentally calculated for a moment, then smiled and agreed.

  "Since the instructor agrees, let's do it now. Taking advantage of the time when the Shanxi army below the mountain is unable to launch an attack, we will also replace the weapons of the first row. As for the heavy machine gun, I estimate that today's battle may not need it, so let's not worry about it for now..." According to Zhang Hua's memory, the blocking of the 10th Regiment would last for about half an hour, and then they should receive the order to retreat from the regimental command.

  "Alright, I'll go arrange it right away..." Instructor Xu Bin smiled and walked towards the row of positions.

  In this way, within half an hour, each soldier in the special operations company had obtained a captured Arisaka rifle. At the same time, each soldier's ammunition pouch was loaded with 20 rounds of ammunition and two hand grenades. With bullets and hand grenades, the soldiers' mood seemed to have relaxed a lot. Everyone was flushed with excitement, as if they had just eaten honey, and were lying in high spirits in the trenches, waiting for the next attack by the enemy's regimental commander.

  The Jin-Sui army in front of them, within this half-hour period, not only did not launch a single attack. Perhaps being hit by the special troops' two counter-charges, they retreated again with mortars for nearly 500 meters, completely exiting the range of the heavy machine guns that the soldiers had just captured.

  "Zhang Lianchang, Zhang Lianchang... The battalion commander orders the special company to retreat immediately to the northern village of Dàmài suburb for reorganization... The battalion commander requires the special company to serve as the rear guard of the entire battalion and cover the main force's retreat." Just as Zhang Hua was thinking about whether to give another blow to the Jin-Sui army at the foot of the mountain, the battalion communication officer ran to his own position with a big sweat on his head and reported.

  "Heh heh, Old Xu, it seems our blocking mission has been successfully completed. Now order the scouting squad to be the vanguard, first and second platoons, third platoon bring up the captured supplies and ammunition closely behind. The guard squad will serve as the entire company's rearguard, reporting the enemy's latest situation at any time." Company Commander Zhang Hua smiled and loudly commanded.

  "Yes, company commander..." Having received the order, the platoon leader immediately began to assemble the troops. In less than two minutes, all 104 remaining men in the company had assembled and stood neatly in front of their squad leaders and instructors.

  "Comrades, today's blocking battle, everyone fought extremely well. We not only successfully completed the task given to our special operations company by the regimental commander, but also achieved a great victory, your rifles and bullets in hand are proof of that. Just received an order from the regimental commander, the regimental commander ordered our special operations company to withdraw from the battlefield immediately as the rearguard of the entire regiment. Let's set off now..." Zhang Hua commanded loudly without saying any more unnecessary words.

  Immediately, the entire position was withdrawn except for the eight remaining soldiers of the guard company. The guard company also withdrew from the position after the main force of the regiment walked out 5 miles away. In this way, the three-hour Gaomiao Mountain blocking battle ended in victory under Zhang Hua's two counter-charges. The special company soldiers carried the captured spoils of war and marched triumphantly on their way home.

  However, the actions of the Red Army on the mountain were not hidden from the Jin-Sui army commanding the battle below, nor their highest commander Wang Jingguo. Seeing the Red Army withdraw from the battlefield, Wang Jingguo was worried about the combat effectiveness of the Communist army and feared that these Red Army soldiers would suddenly launch a surprise counterattack. Because he had already discovered in the recent battle that although these Red Army soldiers were short of guns and ammunition, their combat effectiveness was indeed very strong.

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