Volume 2 The Second Battle Chapter 34: Battle of Hill 299 (VIII)
"Huzi, Huzi..." I avoided the area with the heavier fire and trotted all the way to the first line of defense. I shouted to Huzi, "Huzi, do you have any bullets?"
"Big eight?" Hu Zi said in embarrassment, "No, there were still quite a few when we beat back those American devils, all over the ground, but we didn't have time to clean up the battlefield and then..."
"We don't have many bullets now!" The old squad leader continued, "The Japanese set the fire just in time. We didn't have time to get our guns and bullets. Otherwise, the Americans' submachine guns would have helped us hold out for a long time. But now the fire has turned everything into scrap metal. There are only a few grenades left."
"Oh!" It turned out that the Americans had this idea. After hearing what the soldiers said, I realized that the US military used napalm bombs at this time and intended to prevent us from replenishing ammunition.
When I thought of this, I began to feel uneasy. I felt uneasy without bullets. The next battle would be difficult to fight.
Moreover, I glanced at the trenches from front to back. Once the Yankees dropped the incendiary bombs, even if the volunteer soldiers had air-raid shelters and had experienced incendiary bombs last time, they would still suffer heavy casualties, right? At this time, there were only about forty people holding guns in the trenches, and some of them had burns of varying degrees.
I know that they are just holding on with their willpower. It won't be long before the toxicity of the gasoline bombs will make them unconscious, and then...
I dare not think too much, this is really a very cruel thing for us who lack medicine and medical conditions. It is even more cruel than being beaten to death or burned to death on the spot, because even they themselves know that this is almost a terminal illness, almost a death sentence, but they have to continue to suffer in this war-torn world, without a moment of peace!
"Platoon Leader Cui, Platoon Leader Cui!" Liu Mingquan ran to my side holding a gun, quickly put it on the trench, turned around and asked excitedly: "You were the one shooting in the back just now! The one that hit the enemy tank! What happened?"
"Who else could it be if not this guy?" Hu Zi paused and said, "I knew you were weird. You could blow up tanks with a gun, and you even destroyed four of them in one go..."
"Hey, hey..." At this time, Captain Zhang whispered, "Be prepared for battle. The enemy is coming soon. Why are you still talking so much nonsense?"
"Yes!" At this time, everyone dropped the topic and looked down the mountain.
The trenches were littered with charred, steaming corpses, both American and volunteer soldiers. Some of those burned to death had distorted faces with white teeth showing, as if showing me how much pain they were in before they died.
The high ground had just been bombed with napalm bombs, and there were fires everywhere, which greatly hindered the advance of the US troops. They certainly knew the power of these napalm bombs, and they carefully used fire extinguishers to put out the fires on the road while advancing.
Their eagerness to escape made them attack again without waiting for the fire to die out.
The flames all over the mountain made them believe that there were no living people there.
Thinking that there were no living people up there, they walked towards the top of the mountain with confidence...
This time, there were about five or six hundred American soldiers attacking. With so many people, it seemed very crowded. This was somewhat different from the usual skirmish formation of the US military. Perhaps it was because they believed that not many people could survive under the napalm bomb. Some of them didn't even raise their guns.
Some American soldiers turned up the collars of their military uniforms to cover their mouths and noses to avoid the smell of burnt corpses along the way; some American soldiers even held their guns with one hand and covered their mouths with the other, with disgusting expressions on their faces. It seemed that this was the first time they encountered such a situation.
"Huzi!" I asked quietly, "Do we have any more grenades? How many do we have left?"
Huzi looked around and waved his hands from time to time. After a while, he came to me with a few grenades and said, "Platoon leader, there are only four left!"
"That's enough!" I nodded, gave one to Hu Zi, the old squad leader, and Liu Mingquan beside me, and held one myself. Then I pointed to the most blazing fires in front of the position and said, "When the battle starts, Platoon Leader Liu, you will be responsible for blowing up that place, Hu Zi will blow up that place, and the old squad leader will blow up that place. The rest of the land is left to me!"
"Okay! This time we'll let those Americans have a taste of the gasoline bombs!" Everyone quickly understood my intention and dispersed along the trenches, looking for the most advantageous position to drop bombs.
I ran to Captain Zhang and said, "Captain, can I take command for once?"
"What's the matter?" Zhang Shuguo looked at me with some confusion.
"This... this is hard to explain!" I couldn't help but said anxiously, "The Japs are coming up..."
"Okay!" Zhang Shuguo thought about it and nodded, saying, "If you shout 'shoot me', I'll shoot!"
"Yes!" I saluted, not daring to be negligent, and stared at the American troops rushing towards the position.
Almost every American soldier in the front row had a fire extinguisher in his hand, and they carried rifles and submachine guns on their backs, putting out fires left and right as they walked. At first glance, it looked like a white wave rushing towards Huoyan Mountain, and the fires were extinguished little by little wherever they passed.
It was getting closer. The U.S. troops were already close to the Volunteer Army's position, only about 40 meters away. They did not dare to be careless. The soldiers in the back row raised their weapons and aimed at the position. However, due to the slow speed of firefighting in the front, the U.S. troops in the rear were crowded together, with their toes touching each other and no longer in a scattered formation.
We were getting closer, only thirty meters away, but they were below us and we were above, and the fire greatly reduced visibility, so they didn't notice us who were waiting for us.
Right in front of me, an American soldier pointed a fire extinguisher at a burning corpse and sprayed it. After a long time, he cursed under his breath, because he finally recognized that the corpse was his comrade-in-arms. Perhaps he surrendered to the volunteers and died from his own incendiary bomb because he had no time to escape.
He sprayed for a while, then half-knelt down and took off the military tag from the neck of the corpse. The American soldiers behind him all showed a look of sadness on their faces.
As they got closer, the hissing sound of the American military's fire extinguishers seemed to be right next to their ears. The top of the mountain was originally covered with white snow, but now it was burned by the incendiary bombs and turned into water that seeped into the soil and rocks, making the area in front of the position muddy. The American military's deerskin boots made a clacking sound when they stepped on it, and from time to time a few American soldiers slipped and fell to the ground, getting covered in mud.
finally……
Several American soldiers holding fire extinguishers pointed their spray guns at the most vigorous fire in front of me. It was time to take action.
