Volume 3 The Third Battle Chapter 14: Crossing the Imjin River
"Kill!" The soldiers shouted and crawled out of the tunnel. In an instant, tens of thousands of volunteer soldiers, including our regiment, seemed to emerge from the ground, which in fact they did emerge from the ground, and then rushed towards the enemy position without hesitation.
The exit of the tunnel was right on the bank of the Imjin River. As soon as the soldiers got out of the tunnel, they walked onto the Imjin River. The ice on the river was not thick. Only then did I experience what it meant to walk on thin ice. It made a crackling sound when I stepped on it. The ice was bombed by enemy shells. Some places were fragile and some were solid. It is not an exaggeration to compare it to a natural minefield.
What was even more deadly was that at this time the enemy on the cliff reacted, and machine gun flames spewed out of several bunkers that were not destroyed by the Volunteer Army's artillery fire. In an instant, bullets rained down on the soldiers. One soldier after another fell in a pool of blood, and the blood soon froze into blood-red ice on the frozen river surface.
With a sound of "plop", a soldier rushing forward suddenly felt his feet lighten and he fell into an ice cave. Below was the freezing cold river water more than one meter deep. If he got up and quickly changed into the cotton-padded clothes of his fallen comrade , he would have enough time to survive.
But he did not do so. He knew that if he climbed up, the second and third comrades would fall into the ice cave. So he just stood there and let his comrades step on his shoulders and head to rush forward. After a while, he was frozen straight into the river.
Comrades beside him fell one after another, and the blood dyed the entire ice surface red. The bullets from the enemy's machine guns splashed ice powder all around, and the sound of bullets hitting the ice was everywhere.
I couldn't help but stop and kneel on one knee. What I was worried about was not the enemy's firepower, but the fragile ice in front of me. The enemy's machine guns were firing like crazy for a purpose. The enemy's artillery was completely ineffective under the bombardment of the Volunteer Army's artillery and could not destroy the ice. Now they had to pin their hopes on these machine guns. Once the ice was destroyed and a chain collapse occurred, it would not only cause heavy casualties to the Volunteer Army, but also temporarily block the Volunteer Army on the north bank of the Imjin River, buying them some breathing time.
The volunteers also set up several machine guns to suppress the enemy, but because the enemy was hiding in the bunkers, most of the bullets were blocked outside the shelter and did not have much effect.
Some volunteer soldiers set up mortars and quickly adjusted the parameters. However, when they were about to fire, they were shocked to find that the shells could not be inserted because the barrels were shrunk by freezing.
Machine guns are deadly killers of infantry. The whistling bullets in front of them blocked the attacks of the volunteer soldiers like raindrops. Many recruits fell in a pool of blood before they had time to get scared.
Some people say that you can tell the veterans from the new recruits at a glance as soon as they arrive on the battlefield. This is really true. Those charging forward, shouting and firing guns are all veterans, and the new recruits are all lying on the ground. They don't care even though many parts of the river are wet.
I habitually raised my rifle and looked through the sight. I was surprised to see the enemy's helmet in the firing hole. This 2.5x sight was really amazing. I aimed at the enemy's helmet and pulled the trigger without thinking. I saw the head in the sight and the machine gun stopped roaring.
Then I aimed at the other two bunkers and quickly and easily eliminated the machine gunners inside. However, I was unable to do anything about the shooters in the remaining two bunkers due to the angle, as I couldn't see them. However, with three out of five bunkers destroyed, the enemy's firepower quickly weakened, and the volunteer soldiers took advantage of this gap and rushed to the other side of the river.
Although new machine gunners were replaced from time to time in the three bunkers during this process, the machine guns were soon silenced by me before they could fire a few shots. The volunteer machine gunners and mortar operators around me who were busy and flustered were all stunned.
"Damn it! It's amazing!" One of the volunteers looked at me in disbelief and said, "One rifle suppressed the three machine guns in the enemy bunker. What kind of gun is this..."
"Yes!" Another volunteer soldier also whispered, "It looks like a big eight-ball, but there's a small ... It can hit the machine gunner in the bunker at this rate, and every shot hits the target. Its eyesight is as good as Sun Wukong's flaming eyes!"
If they weren't afraid of disturbing me, I suspect they would have snatched my gun away to take a look.
With a crisp sound, the magazine popped out. I quickly pulled out a magazine and loaded it, and once again prepared to shoot at the three bunkers in front of me. The volunteer soldiers had just crossed the Imjin River and were setting up wooden ladders to climb up. At this time, I didn't dare to be negligent at all. I focused on the three bunkers on the cliff through the sight. I would shoot at any bunker that had a machine gunner. After a few rounds, no one in the bunkers dared to come up and shoot...
"Go! Charge!"
After waiting for a while, I saw that no one in the three bunkers dared to fire the machine guns, so I shouted loudly to the new recruits lying next to me, and at the same time pulled a new recruit and ran forward without saying anything. Damn it, most of these new recruits were from my company. It seems that the blood oath and the resolution are bullshit once they arrive on the battlefield.
There were corpses, ice debris and blood everywhere along the way. When you stepped on the ice, you felt like you were floating up and down. Ice water kept overflowing from the ice caves, washing the blood on the river surface, and then quickly froze into pieces of bright red ice flowers. Occasionally, you could see a few volunteer soldiers frozen in the ice caves in a fighting posture.
The recruits seemed to be terrified, and they made horrified noises. Although they ran forward under my urging, the expressions on their faces and the fear in their eyes made me realize that even if they could climb up the ladder, they would not have much fighting power. This made me want to abandon them and rush forward alone, but in the end I held back.
They have never been to the battlefield and have never experienced such brutal battles, so it is normal for them to behave like this. Besides, I am their company commander, and now I am the only one who can help them.
"Go ahead! Go ahead..."
I kept yelling and pushed them up the wooden ladder one by one, watching them climb up slowly with trembling hands and feet.
At this time, there was a grenade explosion from above, followed by a burst of shouting and killing. I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that the volunteer soldiers had taken control of the entire battlefield.
