Volume 2 The Second Battle Chapter 39: Battle of Hill 299 (Thirteen)
"Da da... Da da da..." The sound of machine guns was intermittent. Liu Mingquan was still firing at the US military's firing point. The American artillery suddenly smashed over. Piles of rocks and soil were lifted up. Dead and living bodies were thrown into the sky and torn into pieces and fell down.
None of us went into the air raid shelter because it was obvious that the artillery fire was aimed at Liu Mingquan's machine gun. The shells were blasting all around Liu Mingquan, turning the area in front of the position into a bloody mess. The mud was caused by the blood mixed with the rocks. When the bodies were blown up by the shells, the soil of the entire hill was mixed with blood and minced meat.
After a while, the gunfire stopped. We nervously looked towards where Liu Mingquan was lying through the smoke, but we could not see anything. Just as our hearts sank, the sound of machine guns came from below again.
"Bring your seed!" Hu Zi shouted fiercely.
When the smoke cleared, I could vaguely see a figure kneeling down among the dead bodies, moving back and forth, firing a machine gun at the American soldiers. He was dragging something behind him, which was quite a nuisance. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be his calf that had been blown off. The blood-red part and the white bone were clearly visible, and the bright light hurt all of our eyes.
"Damn it!" Hu Zi cursed, put down the rifle in his hand and was about to rush down, but he was held down by several of us.
"Platoon leader!" Hu Zi cried out with tears in his eyes, "Let me bring him up!"
"You can't go!" My nose felt sore and I gritted my teeth and said, "You'll just die if you go down!"
"It's useless, but I want it too..."
"obey orders!"
…
Everyone was silent. They all knew that no one could go down and bring Liu Mingquan back, even though it was only a distance of a few dozen meters.
I could faintly hear Jin Qiulian sobbing beside me, and I didn't know why my throat suddenly became stiff. I swallowed a few times but didn't let the tears fall.
"Boom boom..." The Americans saw that the guns were still firing from above, and then there was another burst of artillery fire.
In the smoke, we saw Liu Mingquan use his bayonet to pick off his calf and throw it down the mountain, then pick up the machine gun and start shooting again.
"Wow..." Jin Qiulian couldn't hold back any longer and burst into tears. I couldn't control myself either. Tears fell like beads from a broken string. Even the old squad leader, who had seen a lot of the world, was secretly wiping his eyes.
The Yankee artillery kept firing at us, and soon the sky was covered with smoke and shrapnel flew everywhere. The sound of machine guns was intermittent, and finally fell silent.
No one on the battlefield spoke. Some held their guns and lowered their heads, while others stared at Liu Mingquan's lying position and listened with their headphones on, hoping to hear the sound of machine guns...
But I know that we will never hear that lovely gunshot again.
Liu Mingquan's dirty face flashed through my mind, and I kept thinking about him asking me with admiration: "Platoon Leader Cui, how are we going to do this? Platoon Leader Cui, tell me, how are we going to do this?"
"Comrades!" I knew it was time to say something, but after thinking for a long time I still had no idea what to say, because I felt that no matter how gorgeous the words were, they were not enough to describe the battlefield before me, and no matter how fearless the words were, they were not worthy of these heroes who died in battle.
After a long while, I sighed and said, "I won't say anything. We are all members of the Second Company. We fought the American devils for our fallen comrades!"
"Yes, let's fight!"
The soldiers raised their heads, clenched their fists and responded, with a gleam of death in their bloodshot eyes.
Looking at the tattered rifles in the soldiers' hands, I ordered: "Gather some stones, find a few sturdy rifles and bayonets. When the enemy comes, hit them with stones first, then fight with bayonets!"
"Yes!" Everyone responded and went about their business.
Bullets are hard to find in this mountain, but stones and rifles are not hard to find. Soon the soldiers replaced their rifles with new ones, collected piles of stones and waited for the Americans to come up.
"Old squad leader." Xiao Shandong threw down a big rock, leaned over and asked casually, "You have seen a lot. Do you think this person has a next life?"
"Yes, why is it gone?" The old squad leader put a bayonet on the rifle he had just found, took off the pipe from his mouth and said, "This person, if you suffer more in this life, you will suffer less in the next life and enjoy more happiness!"
"That's good!" Little Shandong replied happily, "In my next life, I want to live with a good family and have white rice to eat every day!"
"Stupid!" Hu Zi replied, "If you want me, I want a wife to sleep with in my arms every day!"
"Hey, Huzi..." Zhao Yongxin smiled while trying to hold back the pain: "If anyone becomes your wife in the next life, it must be because they have done something wrong in this life!"
"Ha ha……"
Everyone burst into laughter after hearing this, but I was the only one looking at them quietly. I couldn't imagine that they could face their impending death so calmly, because everyone knew that the next time the U.S. military attacked, it would be very dangerous for the seven of us to stop the attack.
Whenever I thought about this, I felt uneasy inside, but I didn’t expect that they didn’t take it seriously at all.
"Devils! The American devils are coming..."
Maybe it was because the Yankees knew that we didn't have many people left, or maybe they had lost confidence in artillery preparation after the previous bombardments, so they didn't prepare artillery before the attack as usual. But they didn't give us much time to prepare before launching another attack.
After a careful look, I realized that although there were only a hundred Americans attacking this time, they were all holding submachine guns. I think they suffered from the previous two battles, when hundreds of people were defeated by dozens of volunteers with bayonets. I think they are not going to fight the volunteers with bayonets this time, but to fight a non-contact battle.
"Look at the Americans ..." The old squad leader forced a smile on his wrinkled face: "I guess they are afraid of us. There are only seven of us. Is it necessary to go through so much trouble?"
"These American devils are really not good enough!" Hu Zi spat disdainfully: "In my opinion, these Americans are like rotten eggs, they look hard on the outside, but as long as you poke them lightly, they are completely hollow inside!"
Hu Zi's words once again drew laughter from the crowd. I was also a little surprised. Hu Zi's simple words vividly described the characteristics of the US military - although their equipment is advanced, their fighting will is not strong.
But this time, I looked at the seven people around me who showed no fear at all, and I realized that we were too few in number this time.
Let’s die. Thinking of the company commander and Liu Mingquan who had just died, I gritted my teeth and ordered, “Get ready for battle!”
Company Commander Zhang died, Liu Mingquan also died, and Zhao Yongxin was injured, so the command naturally fell on me. Before, I was a platoon leader and led dozens of soldiers. Although there are only seven of us now, I still feel that the burden on my shoulders is heavier, because these seven people are the last few people in our entire company.
But the Americans didn't care about that. About a hundred of them still attacked the hill with submachine guns. There was no doubt that their arrangement was right. To deal with the seven of us without bullets, using a hundred or so people would make no difference to using a thousand people. The advantage of having fewer people was that they could be more dispersed, so as to avoid us rushing up and fighting with them again .
"beat!"
When the Americans approached, at my command, stones fell on their heads like raindrops under the gaze of those astonished blue and green eyes.
“Shift!”
I heard the screams and curses of the Americans. They always thought that we had no bullets and that they had no way to do anything to them this time. They didn't expect that we would use the most primitive weapon - stones.
Because of the elevation angle, it was difficult for their submachine guns to hit us in the position. The volunteers were also very careful to protect themselves. They tried not to expose their targets when throwing stones. They just took a quick look at the enemy's approximate position and then threw the stones.
Some people may say that we are not brave enough or majestic enough, but what Ridgway said when facing the doubts of reporters is just right - "Damn it! This is a battlefield!"
If everyone leaned forward to throw stones as majestically as in revolutionary films, they would be riddled with stones before they could even throw two.
Although the stones could stop the U.S. troops for a while, there was no doubt that the damage they caused to the U.S. troops was very limited, unless someone was unlucky enough to get hit on the head. So even if the Americans were weak in fighting spirit, they could not be scared off by stones, and there would be a time when the stones would run out...
