Volume 1: The First Battle Chapter 7: Bombardment
With a long "Woo..." sound, a shell exploded without warning not far from the trench. Several defenseless volunteer soldiers were blown far away, and their life or death were unknown.
"Get down! Get down..."
Before I could react, a strong hand pushed me down...
"How cruel!" I cried out in pain, my whole face was buried in the soil, and soon I breathed in a noseful of sand. I was about to struggle to get up, but I was frightened by the loud noises that came one after another, and I lay flat on the ground and dared not move. I realized that it was the enemy's artillery fire.
Lying on the ground, every part of my body could clearly feel the vibration coming from the ground, like a volcano, an earthquake, or even like thousands of horses running by. Sand, gravel, and snow fell from the sky like raindrops, and soon I was buried in the mud. From time to time, a few shrapnel passed by my ears with a sharp whistle, making me dare not look up. I felt my own fragility. Any shell, a small piece of shrapnel, or even a flying stone could easily take my life.
After a long time, the sound of the cannons finally stopped. I touched my limbs and head with fear, but fortunately, they were all there, and I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. If I hadn't been wearing cotton shoes, I would have wanted to see if I had lost a few toes.
Hey...where's my gun?
After digging for a long time, I finally found the beloved Type 38 rifle in the dirt. This thing is a talisman these days, so I have to treat it better in the future.
"Is he an American soldier?" I asked with lingering fear, looking at Hu Zi who was standing beside me as if nothing had happened.
"What's wrong with you?" Hu Zi spat, "I just praised you a few words, and you are acting stupid again? Can American soldiers only fire for five minutes? And they are all small-caliber howitzers!"
"Five... five minutes? And... small caliber..." I was stunned for a long time. The moment just now seemed like half a century to me. I didn't expect it to be only five minutes. It is said that during World War II, several hours or even several days of bombardment were common. If I stayed under such bombardment, let alone several days, even a few hours would make me turn gray overnight like Wu Zixu.
"You've never tasted the Yankee heavy artillery!"
Hu Zi obviously didn't notice that I was so scared that my face turned pale. He looked outside the trench cautiously and said happily, "When we were fighting Chiang Kai-shek, what was the 38th Division called? They used American machine guns and cannons. The 155mm heavy artillery bombarded the mountain and flattened it! Bah... what about the ace division? Machine guns and cannons are useless. I can just blow them up with my Type 38 rifle!"
"Hu...Brother Huzi!" My breathing quickened when I heard this: "So...Brother Huzi also fought against the Kuomintang ?"
"Hey! What's the Kuomintang?" Hu Zi said with a grin, "I have fought against the Japanese before. There are very few soldiers in our 40th Army who have not fought against the Kuomintang! Oh... Look at what I said. I am a rough man, not you, comrade!"
At this moment, Hu Zi's face suddenly turned cold, he straightened the spear in his hand, and said softly: "Here we come! Get ready for battle!"
Following Hu Zi's gaze, I saw that seven or eight large trucks carrying more than 200 South Korean soldiers had arrived at the foot of the mountain. Perhaps because my ears were deafened by the artillery fire, I didn't even hear the sound of the trucks.
I was originally very nervous because of the bombardment, thinking that I would only be beaten, but this sight made me feel relieved. I saw teams of South Korean soldiers jumping off the trucks one after another, cursing, as if they were cursing their own bad luck and wondering why they were the ones who encountered resistance.
The thick American rifles were slung diagonally on their backs, and from time to time they collided with the steel helmets on their heads, making clanging sounds, which reminded me of the scrap metal collectors who had broken pots and pans hanging all over their bodies. The M1 rifle was customized for the tall stature of Americans, and now it looked very uncoordinated when carried on the relatively smaller Asians. Some people even fell down directly when they jumped out of the car due to the acceleration of the M1.
It is said that the M1 rifle was recognized as the best rifle in World War II, and American soldiers never had any complaints about the M1. However, there were constant complaints from South Korean infantrymen. Most of the complaints were that the gun was too big and too heavy, making it inconvenient to escape!
Oh! Children should stop playing with guns. Even if they can’t hit people, it’s not good to hit flowers and plants, right?
Looking at this group of disorganized South Korean soldiers, the tragic deaths of the South Korean soldiers in the ambush just now came to my mind again.
After waiting for a long time, these South Korean soldiers, amid the shouts and scolding of their officers, formed an American-style skirmish formation and moved towards the mountain.
The skirmish formation and the Soviet-style group charge each have their own advantages and disadvantages. The skirmish formation charge has fewer casualties, but the impact is not great, while the group charge is just the opposite. Although the impact is great, the casualties are greater. Especially with the advent of machine guns, the group charge is a more severe test. And it seems to reflect the question of whether to pay more attention to the lives of soldiers or the outcome of the war .
Perhaps they had never encountered any resistance along the way, perhaps they did not know that their opponents were the experienced volunteers, or perhaps they knew that the Yalu River was just around the corner. These South Korean soldiers did not show any signs of fighting. They passed cigarettes and asked for light, talked and laughed along the way. It was probably just a routine patrol ! Some South Korean soldiers did not even take their guns off their backs...
This group of guys must have mistaken us for the remnants of the People's Army. I couldn't help but smile bitterly when I saw this scene. There was a whole company of volunteer soldiers stationed on this hill, at least two or three hundred people. Not only were they all battle-hardened, but they were also in a high position and were waiting for the opportunity to tire themselves out.
Oh... of course I can't be counted as a veteran of many battles... In this situation, the South Korean army's attack with the same force is no different from seeking death. But they don't know that every step forward brings them two feet closer to death.
The sound of a gunshot broke the brief silence in the valley.
The sound of gunfire was the order. The previous bombing had made the volunteer soldiers very angry. They had already aimed at the enemy and were fully prepared. As soon as they heard the gunfire, they couldn't wait to pull the trigger and ruthlessly shoot their bullets of revenge at the enemy.
