Volume 1 Deserter's Bloodbath Chapter 33: Battle Results!
Under the cover of artillery, the Japanese army surrounded . The timely reinforcement of the 61st Regiment opened a gap from the south of Xinzhen and counterattacked the Japanese army. After several hours of bloody battle, the 31st Brigade suffered heavy casualties. Division Commander Peng Shan ordered the 33rd Brigade to reinforce. The 33rd Brigade joined the battle in the afternoon. Its 66th Regiment attacked the enemy's left flank from Yuepu to Xiqianqiao, and the 65th Regiment advanced to Xinzhen, attacking the Japanese army from both sides. The battle lasted until dusk. The Japanese army was afraid of being attacked by the 11th Division at night, so they retreated to the starting position and waited for dawn before attacking again.
The setting sun witnessed a bloody day in the Songhu area and could not wait to fall below the sea level. The positions in Xinzhen were filled with screams, and the surviving brothers were busy working.
Repair the positions, collect the bodies of the brothers who died in the battle, and of course, more importantly, send the living wounded back to the town and wait for the civilian workers in the rear to transport them back to the wounded camp.
"Lao Luo, your mission is complete. I've reported it to you! You are no longer a sinner! Have a safe journey!"
Feng E squatted in the crater, sorting out Luo Dacheng's body. When he and another brother carried Luo Dacheng out, Feng E discovered that Luo Dacheng's entire back was rotten, with shrapnel and gravel everywhere...
The sky finally darkened completely. The screams from the positions ceased, and the temporary fortifications were almost finished. There was nothing left to repair in the new town that had been bombed into ruins. The fortifications on the positions relied on bomb craters of varying sizes, and connecting these craters with trenches formed the fastest field fortifications.
Each officer was organizing his own brothers. Lin Yuan gathered the brothers of the Death Squad together. There were not many people left in the entire Death Squad. There were only two officers left from the division headquarters, including Lin Yuan, whose left hand was hanging around his neck.
"The division will not provide us with any more officers. The remaining brothers are all here, less than fifty in total. Choose a few squad leaders for yourselves!"
Lin Yuan frowned and spoke to the ragged remnants of the army.
No one said anything. Any of these veterans here could be a qualified squad leader, but their identities meant that they could only be ordinary soldiers and they had not yet escaped punishment.
"You don't want to do anything? Then count the enemies you killed today! If there are brothers next to you , please report for them. People died, but their contributions should not be forgotten."
"I shot two..."
"I hit three Japanese soldiers, but I don't know ..."
"The big guy next to me, Ding, the machine gunner, killed more than a dozen Japanese soldiers..."
"Luo Dacheng, kill fifteen devils."
"Feng E, Luo Dacheng is not a machine gunner, how could he kill so many? Can you confirm?" Lin Yuan raised his head and asked in surprise.
It is understandable that a machine gunner killed more than ten people. A single sweep of the machine gun can cover a large area. When the Japanese charge, a few magazines can easily kill dozens of people. But if this data is applied to a rifleman, it would be bragging!
"Yes, it was right next to me, I saw it with my own eyes!" Feng E insisted.
"How many did you kill? We all know your marksmanship!" Lin Yuan asked.
"Eight! We can confirm they were killed!" Feng E answered mechanically with an expressionless face.
"Everyone would believe you if you said you killed 15 people. Luo Dacheng is a veteran, and everyone knows his level. No one would believe 15!"
Lin Yuan didn't know what to start writing. The account book in front of him clearly showed that Luo Dacheng was only fifteen kills away from being acquitted. Now that he was dead, some people said that he killed fifteen people, so he became a martyr.
"You are counting the Japanese soldiers you killed on him! Luo Dacheng died in the battle, are you trying to help him get away with it?" Lin Yuan asked.
"Company commander, Lao Luo is dead. He had fifteen and I had eight. This number is definitely not too little or too much. Don't let Lao Luo lose his eyes!" Feng E said through gritted teeth.
"Well, OK, I'll remember this. I'll report Luo Dacheng's acquittal back to the division headquarters right away, and his family will receive the compensation they deserve!"
Lin Yuan thought for a while and was ready to refuse to report it, but when he saw the eyes of more than 40 remnant soldiers around him staring at him, he knew that this was not the time to say that. None of these criminal soldiers had been acquitted yet. If he killed Luo Dacheng, he would probably be shot in the back. This would definitely not be a difficult task for these remnant soldiers.
"Report on the ammunition situation. Those who don't have much ammunition can share it among themselves first. The brain replenishment is on the way, and I will replenish everyone when it arrives!" Lin Yuan stopped recording and closed the notebook.
"I have twenty-three rounds of ammunition and two grenades."
"Fifty rounds of ammunition and four grenades."
"Twelve rounds of ammunition and no grenades."
…
In intermittent reports, the brothers reported the amount of ammunition they had left. The amount of ammunition they had varied. While cleaning the battlefield, they replenished some bullets and grenades from the bodies of their fallen brothers.
Feng E's grenades were useless, but he had even more bullets. With the 200 bullets he received and the more than 60 bullets left by Luo Dacheng, he now had more than 160 bullets. He gave 100 of them to other brothers. Feng E half-lying on the edge of the trench with his eyes closed. A day of fighting had already made him exhausted. He didn't feel it on the battlefield, but once he stopped, his body could no longer support him. Even his growling stomach could not stop him from sleeping.
“Hoo, hoo, hoo…”
Not only Feng E, but all the brothers who were not on sentry duty fell asleep in the trenches, and the snoring sounded without rhythm from the ruined position...
Several soldiers at the rear of the position were carrying several large buckets with great effort, walking over carefully. Behind them were several laborers dressed in civilian clothes, carrying backpacks, and their slightly bent backs showed that the things they were carrying were not light!
"Brothers, it's time for dinner!"
The brothers from the logistics battalion stopped in the trenches. They were divided into several waves and sent to different companies.
The soldiers who were sleeping soundly woke up, opened their bloodshot eyes, and gathered around. No one wanted to sleep on an empty stomach.
"Brothers, we have prepared a lot for today, so help yourself! When you are full, we will send you food again before dawn, so you won't be hungry tomorrow!"
The brothers in the logistics camp shouted loudly. Looking at their brothers wolfing down the food, they felt very sorry for them. The shelling during the day was too fierce, and they didn't dare to send anything up.
“Gurgle, gurgle…”
There was vegetable soup in the wooden barrel. Under the pale moonlight, only a few unknown wild vegetables could be seen floating on the surface of the barrel. The slightly salty taste showed that a little salt was added to it.
As long as it is soup, it tastes better than cold water. The brothers munched on the multi-grain cakes and took a sip of the soup from time to time.
"Captain Lin, call all the brothers over here!"
There were less than fifty brothers sitting around eating and drinking. The brothers from the logistics camp reminded Lin Yuan that they had prepared 150 people for the Death Squadron. Even if there were casualties, in their impression, it was impossible for so many deaths!
"No more, all the living ones are here!"
There was no emotion in Lin Yuan's words, and he was also trying hard to deal with the multi-grain cake in his hand.
"Hey! Damn Japs!"
The logistics brothers squatted on the ground and pounded the ground.
"Take some more, as a snack when you can't sleep at night!"
Two brothers carried a basket of untouched multi-grain cakes and began to distribute them to the brothers in the trenches one by one. It would be impossible to prepare so much and carry it back, so they just let the brothers eat more!
