Volume 2 The Second Battle Chapter 22 Wuling Bridge
Wulingli is located in an east-west ravine west of Houxianyu Peak. The Taedong River flows southward at the mouth of the ravine. Along the east bank of the river is the main transportation line to Dechuan. The parallel railway and highway bridges span the ravine bottom and estuary, which is Wuling Bridge. Near the bridge, the west bank of the Taedong River is a cliff, so Wuling Bridge constitutes the throat of Dechuan to Nanchuan.
At this time, a group of our volunteer soldiers were hiding in a forest in front of Wuling Bridge, looking at Wuling Bridge from afar but at a loss. There were not many enemies on the bridge. Through the telescope, we could roughly see that there was only one company of American soldiers. It seemed that the Americans also knew the importance of Wuling Bridge, so they sent their own people to defend it.
Although there were few enemies on the bridge, Wuling Bridge was the only passage on the river. Barbed wire was stretched everywhere in front of the bridgehead, and bunkers, barracks, and watchtowers were built. American snipers were on standby on the watchtowers... These were fatal to the volunteer soldiers who did not have heavy weapons.
The barbed wire could slow down the speed of the infantry charge, and the crossfire from the machine guns in the bunkers could kill a large number of volunteers. They could only crowd together when crossing the bridge. If they fought hard and charged forward , even with the strength of a regiment, the volunteers might not be able to cross the Wuling Bridge, which was defended by only one company.
What was even more terrible was that at this time, daybreak was approaching and the pursuers behind them were about to arrive.
"Hey! These Americans are quite capable!" Company Commander Zhang held up a telescope and observed the enemy's firepower points one by one. He couldn't help but take a breath of cold air: "It won't be so easy to defeat them before dawn!"
Although the company commander said so, we who were lying nearby actually all knew it very well. It was not as simple as he said "not that easy". The Americans were quite good at defense and building fortifications. They almost turned the Wuling Bridge into a natural moat.
"Captain, let me go!" Hu Zi shouted from the side, "It's just a few bunkers. Why don't we just go over and blow them up before daybreak?"
"Is it as easy as you say?" Captain Zhang whispered, "What if there is a bunker? What if the enemy finds out that we have defenses? If we want to blow them up, we have to destroy them all at once, leaving no one behind so that our troops can cross the bridge!"
"Company commander! Can you let me take a look?" I said, pointing at the company commander's telescope.
No matter how I looked at them, I felt that there was something strange about these Americans in front of me, but I couldn't tell what was strange. I took the binoculars handed over by the company commander and looked at the American soldiers on guard at the bridge, and then looked at the American soldiers standing on the sentry tower, and couldn't help laughing...
"Hu Zi!" I turned to Hu Zi who was lying beside me and said, "Believe it or not, if I just shout, our troops can cross the bridge."
"What? You...are you kidding me?"
"That's right!" Zhao Yongxin also heard what I said, and came up to me and said, "Do you think these Americans are as easy to fool as the Turkish Brigade? You're still using the same old tricks to deceive people. You think they're fools!"
"Platoon Leader Cui, is this really a good thing?" The old squad leader looked at me doubtfully. Perhaps because so many incredible things had happened to me, he did believe it a little.
"How come there are no more?" I said with a smile, "If you don't believe me, how about we make a bet? Let's bet... on the biscuits on you! Do you dare?"
"Let's bet!" Hu Zi took out the biscuits from his pocket and piled them on the towel spread out in front of me.
"Count me in!"
"Count me in, too!"
…
In just a short while, the biscuits in front of me were piled up like a small mountain.
"I don't believe it either. I'll have a few too!" Company Commander Zhang said with a disbelieving smile, "If you can really lead our entire regiment across the bridge with just one word, these biscuits won't be much of a reward to you!"
"I don't believe it either!" Jin Qiulian also threw a few cookies, curled her lips and said, "If you lose, can you afford to pay for it?"
"Don't worry! I can't lose! If I lose, I will compensate you with all my dry food!" Looking at the pile of biscuits, my heart was filled with joy. At this time of food shortage, there is nothing more precious than these.
"Tsk!" Jin Qiulian added disdainfully, "We'll starve you to death and we'll be punished too!"
"Hey! Comrade Xiao Jin, can you please be more polite?"
"Alright, alright, both of you stop arguing, okay?" Hu Zi couldn't stand it anymore, so he pulled me and said, " Platoon Leader Cui, it's time, you shout!"
"Look!" I stood up carelessly and walked out of the forest as if I was taking a walk in my own yard. Then I made a trumpet shape with my hands and shouted to the American soldiers at Wuling Bridge: "Liberate New China!"
Not long after, a sentence of fluent Chinese was heard from Wuling Bridge: "Serve the people! Comrades, which department are you from?"
"What?" Everyone, including the large force behind our company, was stunned by this sudden accident.
With a triumphant smile, I raised my head to the people behind me who were staring with their mouths wide open. Without saying a word, I picked up the pile of biscuits and walked towards the bridge, shouting in the direction of Wuling Bridge: "Comrades! We are from the 353rd Regiment of the 118th Division of the 40th Army, and the regiment commander is right behind us!"
"Don't move!" Before I had taken a few steps, the "American soldiers" on guard raised their guns at me and shouted, "Where is your regiment commander? Ask him to come up and talk."
Look, this is the quality of our volunteer army. They won’t trust others as easily as the puppet army. But this really scared me into breaking out in a cold sweat.
"I am!" Then Commander Chu came up and glanced at me with a strange look as he passed me. Then he shouted to the bridgehead, "I am Commander Chu Chuanyu of the 353rd Regiment of the 118th Division of the 40th Army. Which unit are you from?"
At this time, a soldier in puppet army uniform came out of the bunker and greeted him. When he saw him, he shouted, "It's Captain Chu. I'm Lao Zhang!"
"Lao Zhang? Zhang Kuiyin!" Captain Chu recognized him immediately upon seeing him. He quickly stepped forward, shook Zhang Kuiyin's hand and said, "Lao Zhang, why are you guys on Wuling Bridge, and...dressed like this!"
"This is the order from the army commander!" Zhang Kuiyin explained, "In order to prevent the puppet troops from escaping, let our reconnaissance detachment occupy Wuling Bridge and then blow it up."
"Oh!" Captain Chu smiled bitterly and said, "Just now I almost gave the order to attack, you know? Our own people almost attacked our own people!"
"Yes! Thanks to this young comrade!" Zhang Kuiyin smiled at me and said, "If it weren't for him, we might have really fought!"
