"boom!"

The 12.7 mm caliber bullet easily passed through the body of a soldier. The power of the bullet continued unabated and detonated the shell held in the soldier's hand!

The huge power of the cannonball exploded the flesh and blood to pieces, and the sky was dyed red in an instant.

But it didn't stop there. Shrapnel cut several soldiers who were close to each other into pieces, and their remaining limbs and arms were abandoned high.

The huge shock wave also overturned a cannon, and the barrel was deeply inserted into the mud.

Fortunately, the distance between the cannons was large enough, otherwise the entire position would have been destroyed at once.

"Buzz buzz..."

The Japanese pilot raised the nose of the plane high, made a circle in the sky, and then dived down from the opposite direction.

The brothers in the artillery battalion had already crawled and hid in the surrounding woods. This time, the Japanese fighter jets targeted the cannon.

"Da da da……"

The sound of the engine intertwined with the sound of the heavy machine gun, getting closer and closer!

Everyone lay on the ground holding their heads, waiting for the thrilling sound to go away.

Suddenly, the whistling of bullets was no longer audible, and the only sound in my ears was the buzzing of the plane.

"Kakaka..."

The Japanese pilot heard the sound of gunfire impacting the air. He cursed angrily and slowly pulled up the nose of the plane.

This pilot had strafed several times in a mighty manner at the Phoenix Mountain position. At this moment, the aircraft's ammunition reserves had been exhausted, and the fighter jet had become a large crow, without any means of attack.

Of course, at this time, the Shen Feng commando had not yet appeared, and the Japanese pilot was reluctant to risk his life, otherwise he would still have one last powerful weapon.

Gao Quan was the first to run out of the woods. He had already guessed the situation of the Japanese plane. He looked up at the sky and saw Japanese fighter jets circling overhead. He had no intention of continuing to attack.

This sudden attack caused the casualties of more than a dozen brothers in the artillery battalion, and one cannon was also lost.

"Quick, quick, quick!" Gao Quan shouted to the brothers, "The Japanese plane is out of bullets, we must seize this short opportunity to continue the bombardment!"

This group of brothers was basically trained by Gao Quan himself. They all inherited Gao Quan's consistent adventurous spirit and returned to their respective combat positions, removed the bodies of their comrades, calibrated the muzzles, and fired in an orderly manner.

"Boom boom boom..."

The battle on Fenghuang Mountain has entered a fever pitch. The Japanese troops are swarming towards the position from all directions. Just when the defenders are feeling extremely strenuous, shells fall from the sky one after another. The attacking Japanese troops are blown up and left with corpses everywhere.

The little Japanese were repulsed again, and the position was still in the hands of the 1st Battalion of the 726th Regiment.

"Xiao Gao!" Zhu Ergou covered his head, his forehead was cut by a flying branch, "We must retreat!"

The Japanese fighter jets were still circling in the sky, and the little Japanese pilots had to keep an eye on the heavy artillery positions of the Independence Brigade, waiting for the arrival of the bombers.

The infantry brothers on Longshan pointed their heavy machine guns at the sky to greet them, but the Japanese pilots just increased their distance and altitude and refused to fly away no matter what.

"Is the battalion commander okay?" Gao Quan asked.

Zhu Ergou shook his head, "We don't have many artillery shells left. Let's retreat after firing these few cannons."

"I see!"

The cannons and artillery shells were captured from the Setani detachment of the Japanese army. After several days of fighting, the captured artillery shells have been exhausted.

"Oh, what a pity, what a good cannon." The blood on Zhu Ergou's forehead had flowed to the corners of his eyes, but he still looked at the remaining three cannons with affection.

"Battal Commander, please retreat first!" Gao Quan pointed to the wound on Zhu Ergou's forehead, "I will take the brothers down before the Japanese bombers arrive, don't worry."

"Okay!" Zhu Ergou no longer insisted, and he didn't want to see his beloved cannon blown up with his own eyes.

After Zhu Ergou left, Gaoquan directed his brothers to fire the remaining artillery shells at the Japanese artillery positions.

"Liu Zhu, I am Gao Quan!"

There was a heavy breathing sound on the other end of the phone, and then a voice said:

"Deputy battalion commander, I am Liu Zhu. Now that the Japs have retreated, there is no need for artillery support for the time being!"

Gao Quan sighed softly,

"The Japs' bombers are coming to us soon. The artillery shells in the camp have been exhausted. We can no longer provide you with artillery support!"

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

"Liu Zhu, did you hear that? The brothers are about to explode!"

Liu Zhu's voice was unusually calm at the moment, "Okay deputy battalion commander, I understand!"

"You two, please withdraw quickly. We still have mortars and the artillery battalion is still there!"

Two vague voices sounded on the other end of the phone. It seemed that two people were discussing. After a while, a clear voice came out.

"Deputy Battalion Commander, the 139th Division fought very hard. There are less than 100 people left on the position. The two of us decided to stay and defend the position with the brothers. Goodbye, Deputy Battalion Commander!"

The voice on the other side was still so calm, but Gao Quan's eyes were suddenly filled with tears, "Okay, I will go and tell the battalion commander and brigade commander, take care!"

After hanging up the phone, tears were already rolling down Gao Quan's eyes.

The artillery battalion was initially formed by Zhu Ergou and several veterans. They all only knew how to use simple mortars.

Since Gao Quan came, he has led the brothers in training step by step, starting from teaching professional artillery terminology. After a few months, the brothers have been able to skillfully operate heavy artillery like cannons.

It can be said that the professionals in the artillery battalion were all trained by a high authority, and he knew the name and life experience of every brother under his command.

He respects the choices of Liu Zhu and Liu Zhu, because there are no coward soldiers in the Independent Brigade, and no one will abandon the brothers fighting side by side and escape alone.

Gao Quan wiped away his tears and said, "Explode the cannon!"

These cannons were assembled by the brothers in the artillery battalion themselves, and now they will be destroyed by themselves.

"ah!"

Several brothers were crying and holding on to the cannon for dear life, "Deputy battalion commander, if you want to blow up the cannon, just blow it up with us!"

The infantry's weapon is a gun, and the artillery's weapon is naturally a cannon. No soldier will throw away his weapon.

Even those in high positions are reluctant to part with it, but what can they do?

Even if it can be saved now, it will be blown up tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. The Independent Brigade cannot stay in Xiao County forever.

"Pa bang bang..."

Each of the brothers received a few slaps from him, "If you don't blow it up now, do you want to leave it to little Japan? Drag it away!"

.

Phoenix Mountains.

"Captain Hao, the artillery support is gone!"

Liu Zhu lit a cigarette for himself and Hao Shichang, and leaned against the trench with a lazy expression.

"Ahem..." Hao Shichang was stunned when he heard the news, until he choked on the cigarette in his mouth, "When did it start?"

"From now on." Liu Zhu took a deep breath, slowly exhaled the smoke and said as if talking to himself:

"The artillery shells have been used up, and the Japs' bombers are coming soon. My battalion commander is leading his brothers to blow up the artillery!"

Perhaps hearing the reluctance in Liu Zhu's heart, Hao Shichang patted him on the shoulder and said, "If there is no artillery, then there will be no more. We have been fighting against the Japs without artillery this year. It makes no sense that we can't defend without artillery support."

Stay in position."

"Haha... what Camp Commander Hao said makes sense."

"Brother, please retreat quickly. As long as I have a hundred pounds of rotten meat, the little devil can't even think of crossing Phoenix Mountain!"

Liu Zhu put out the cigarette in his hand and looked at Hao Shichang,

"I'm not leaving. I'm going to stay and fight the Japs with Battalion Commander Hao."

"What?" Hao Shichang stared, "Aren't you an artilleryman?"

"Who said artillerymen can't fight the Japs without cannons!" Liu Zhu said as he picked up a 38 cap next to him, skillfully pulled the bolt and loaded the gun. He smiled and asked:

"Don't you welcome Battalion Commander Hao?"

Hao Shichang looked at the smile on Liu Zhu's face, and he also smiled with his big yellow teeth.

"Haha, welcome, welcome!"

The smiles on their faces gradually disappeared, their expressions gradually became serious, and their two pairs of big hands held each other tightly.

"brother!"

"brother!"

.

On May 20, the 27th year of the Republic of China, the Fenghuang Mountain position outside Xiao County was lost.

The 1st Battalion of the 726th Regiment of the 139th Division of the National Army, including the battalion commander Hao Shichang, all 200 officers and soldiers died heroically for their country.

Facing the siege of the main force of the Japanese Ninth Division, the Phoenix Mountain position tenaciously held on for a day. In this day's battle, the Japanese casualties were close to two squadrons, and the number of casualties was twice that of the defenders.

After the fall of Fenghuang Mountain, the Japanese army set up mountain artillery on it and bombarded the Chinese defenders outside Xiao County from a high position.

In order to reduce casualties, Jiang Dong and Li Zhaoying decided to give up all the peripheral positions and prepare for street fighting with the Japanese army.
To be continued...