After suffering yesterday's losses, today's attack by the British and Indian troops seemed more composed - the offensive formation was sparser, and the infantry's leap forward in groups became more flexible. The arrogant charge of yesterday was no longer seen.
Whenever the Ming army's firepower point is exposed, it will immediately lead to direct fire from the accompanying cruise tanks; several QF 3.7-inch mountain guns are also deployed forward at the offensive starting position to accurately bombard any Ming army machine gun positions that fire.
After more than 180 officers and soldiers of the second team took over the first team, which suffered more than 40% casualties, they did not expect to lose nearly 50 people in just one morning. Captain Sun Cheng's glasses were broken.
Facing the three-pronged attack of aircraft, artillery and tanks, it was still too difficult for infantry alone to deal with it. The Ming soldiers, who were almost always suppressed, could only use field fortifications to defend tenaciously, at the cost of extremely fast casualties.
The enemy's learning speed, or ability to adapt to changes, was within Zhou Changfeng's expectation. The key factor that determines whether an army is strong or not is their learning ability and the speed of adapting to new opponents and new environments.
For example, in the Pacific battlefield, after being severely beaten in several island battles, the Japanese army realized that it was not advisable to counterattack recklessly when guarding an isolated island. They then decisively changed their tactical thinking and gradually consumed the US military with solid fortifications and a defense-in-depth system, leaving the US military on Iwo Jima. I suffered a lot.
Another example is that in a certain peninsula war, the US military was confused and embarrassed by a certain army in the early battles, but it soon realized the opponent's weakness in logistical support, and then switched to "magnetic tactics" to deal with "Washington". Offensive" once turned the tide of the war.
If factors such as industry are not considered, it can be said that war is a process of constant discussion and learning between the armies of both sides. The cost is the lives of soldiers, and the result is to gain the upper hand.
Zhou Changfeng had a very clear understanding of the current battle situation - the British and Indian troops were trying to use their firepower advantage to continuously consume their own effective forces to prepare for the subsequent attack on the city, and then break through the Ming army's defense line that suffered heavy losses in one go!
It was now the thirtieth day, and he was fully confident in the order to stick to tomorrow evening, and was determined to teach these arrogant British and Indian troops a lesson while minimizing his own casualties as much as possible.
Obviously Zhou Changfeng didn't like either of these two words, and the combination made him even more disgusted.
While besieging Highland Zero, the British and Indian troops also dispatched about a company with the support of seven tanks to the northwest of the city, built bunkers on the spot, and fired at the Ming troops in the city with guns and artillery in order to contain them. .
In fact, they sent a small team to the woods to the north, but this small team quickly gave up - nothing else, but the tragic situation was really horrifying.
The woods that had been burning for a day and night were basically extinguished, but there were dots of embers everywhere. There were corpses of British and Indian soldiers everywhere, most of them were burned into a coke-like appearance. It is estimated that at least more than 150 people were buried here. .
At noon, the British and Indian troops suspended their attack, but did not stop the artillery bombardment. The soldiers of the Fourth Artillery Battalion were divided into two groups, one group eating and the other firing.
In the whole afternoon that followed, the British and Indian troops launched four attacks on Highland Zero. Two large-scale attacks rushed into the position, but they were driven out by the Ming army with bayonets and grenades.
During this period, mortar support from the urban area also played a vital role, and half of the base ammunition was consumed in one afternoon.
Zhou Changfeng, who frowned, looked in that direction with his binoculars. Since this morning, the continuous bombardment has not stopped.
Highland Zero, which was surrounded by enemies on three sides, was in danger. Sun Cheng was hit when he personally led the reserve team to launch a counterattack. After holding the position, several soldiers took the risk to take the seriously injured man down on a stretcher and took him back to the city in a long circle.
"Someone come quickly!!!"
"Save our captain!"
There is an operating room on the first floor of the hospital building, which makes it convenient for Mingjun to perform simple surgeries.
Looking at Sun Cheng, whose clothes were almost soaked with blood, Zhou Changfeng didn't know what to say. He turned his head to the side. At this time, the injured person was finishing surgery and the door opened.
The lieutenant surgeon who was the surgeon came out and briefly checked Sun Cheng on the stretcher. His eyes were stern and he said calmly: "This injury cannot be saved unless he is immediately transferred to a major hospital in the rear."
A .303Mk.VII rifle round hit his abdomen, causing damage to his internal organs and massive blood loss. A fragment of a Mills grenade hit his left lung, causing an open pneumothorax. In fact, such injuries were serious even at Yingtian Army General Hospital. Hard to save.
The 7.7×56㎜Mk.VII rifle bullets equipped by the British Commonwealth Army are extremely violent. The internal structure of the bullet is unique. It uses a bullet core with half aluminum in the front and half lead in the back. The structure of being light in the front and heavy in the back makes the center of gravity of the warhead farther back, making it easier to hit. The human body's back can easily become unstable and roll over, causing exaggerated injuries.
While declaring the DAM bullets to be obsolete due to their cruelty, they are also developing fully metal-armored bullets that can achieve the same killing effect. The word "hypocrite" is perfectly correct to describe the sanctimonious British.
After hearing the military doctor's cruel verdict, several people present fell silent.
Sun Cheng, whose face was covered with blood and dust, smiled miserably, then coughed in succession, and more dark red blood spilled out of the corners of his mouth.
"You...have anything else you want to explain?" Zhou Changfeng met his eyes.
"First...earlier...the battle situation was critical. I...organized a death squad. Please...battalion commander remember..." Sun Cheng reported six numbers, which were the soldier numbers, and at the same time he took out a small cloth bag and handed it to passed.
The suicide squad members of the temporary organization have special treatment-double pension, and no matter whether the body is found or not, it will not be counted as missing.
Generally speaking, what soldiers fear and hate the most is being counted as missing after death, because only half of the pension will be paid for missing people; however, on fierce battlefields, it is very common for corpses to be blown up and mutilated beyond recognition. , sometimes even the identity badge is missing.
The blood soaked through the thick bandages, slowly gathered on the stretcher, and then spread around, and soon a pool of blood formed under him.
"I don't know if Madam is pregnant. If... if she is pregnant, let her abort... My family is prosperous. She is still young, so she must choose someone to remarry... She is very stubborn, battalion commander, she must Convince her... I'll give her the pension, and my family won't be short of money either..."
Sun Cheng came from a good family, a scholarly family, and an official family, but he was the only one of his younger generation who chose to join the army. Although his father was extremely dissatisfied, he still relied on connections to get him to join the Forbidden Army, thinking that this would fulfill his youngest son's wish and provide him with stability until he could retire. Unfortunately, it backfired.
Zhou Changfeng nodded without hesitation and solemnly said: "I promise."
"My dad... always felt that joining the army was a loss of family tradition... Humph!" Under the dim light, Sun Cheng, who was breathing rapidly and looking pale, murmured a few words, and finally said: "Give me another shot."
The medical soldier next to him immediately took out another dose of analgesic injection and leaned over to give him a prick. Sun Cheng's expression softened a bit and he waved to Zhou Changfeng to quickly return to take command.
The latter took a deep breath, crossed his hands in solemn salute, and then left quickly.
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[Some people mentioned that the 2-pounder gun did not have high-explosive ammunition. This is a joke that everyone likes to hear. But in fact, the 2-pounder gun has high-explosive ammunition, but because of reliability problems with the charge, the output is very small; the British until It was not until the end of the war that the improved high-explosive ammunition for the 2-pounder was mass-produced. 】
