Zhong Qibao squatted in the shell-proof cave, listening to the roar of aircraft in the distant sky, waiting for the moment when the enemy plane dropped the bomb.
Zhong Qibao is one of the few grassroots officers in the mercenary regiment who has military experience and certain battlefield experience. His father was an artilleryman in the Northwest Army. Later, there was a famine in Shaanxi. At the age of sixteen, in order to reduce the burden on his family, he took Zhong Qibao with him. He led several young men from the same village to follow his father and join the army. From then on, he followed the Northwest Army to fight here and there until the end of the Central Plains War.
Zhong Qibao, who had just turned twenty-two during the Central Plains War, was already an artillery platoon leader. However, after being captured by the National Army, he concealed his identity as an artilleryman and was sent back to his hometown in Shaanxi.
The reason why he concealed his identity was actually because his father was killed by National Army artillery during the battle. Although war is about you killing me and me killing you, there is no great hatred between the two sides because of their different positions, but let it be It was absolutely impossible for him to join the National Army.
Artillery, a technical branch, is also urgently needed by the National Army. If his identity is exposed, it will be impossible to return home.
It wasn't until Zhou Wen was recruiting troops in Lishi that he took several former fellow villagers to sign up for the Lishi Security Team because he heard that military pay and treatment were very high, and that Shanxi belonged to the Jin Army and did not belong to the National Army.
Zhong Qibao had lived in poverty in the Northwest Army for six full years. When had he ever enjoyed such good treatment as a mercenary group? Not to mention the high military salary, Fuyuan Company's branch in Shaanxi also took care of his family and that of several of his brothers. If you are considerate, your family's life will be greatly improved.
Moreover, the harmonious atmosphere in the army has never been seen before. In addition, Zhou Wen and other officers are tolerant and do not beat or scold their subordinates. There is no such thing as the Chinese army's long-standing behavior of withholding military pay, eating empty quotas and drinking soldiers' blood. With his bad habits, he naturally felt a sense of belonging to this army. Anyway, the man from the northwest has a simple idea. If you treat me well and support my family, then I will sell my life to you.
Zhong Qibao heard the scream of falling bombs in the sky, and quickly covered his ears, opened his mouth wide, and waited for the moment when the bomb exploded. These anti-artillery and anti-explosion skills had already been learned in more than a year of training. becomes a knee-jerk reaction.
"Boom - boom" explosions came one after another, and the violent vibrations of the earth almost threw his squatting body up. The gravel and soil on the roof of the anti-gun cave continued to fall down, hitting his helmet with a "dong dong" sound. ", but he was not very nervous in his heart. He knew that plane bombing could not be too accurate. He had already tasted the feeling of being bombed by National Army planes during the Central Plains War, and there was no such solid defense at that time. There are no gun holes, and there are no helmets.
After enduring it for half an hour, the explosion finally stopped, but Zhong Qibao still did not come out of the bomb hole, because the roar of the plane was still hovering overhead. Although these little Japanese had finished throwing the bombs, the people on their plane Machine guns are not vegetarian either, wait a minute.
Sure enough, not long after, I heard the roar of a plane swooping down, and then the "click-click-click" sound of shooting fell from the sky. Immediately, I heard screams and cries coming from outside. Someone was shot, but it couldn't be... Brothers of the mercenary group, Zhong Qibao is very confident at this point. This kind of anti-bombing drill has been practiced countless times in Shanxi. No one in the mercenary group will make such a low-level mistake.
The only thing he was worried about was that the four mountain cannons dragged into the trench would not be blown up. They were really good cannons! It can shoot both curved and straight, it can shoot far and accurately, and it is very light and can be dragged by one person on the flat ground. It is completely different from the heavy and heavy old-fashioned mountain artillery used in the Northwest Army.
At this time, the sound of jingling bells sounded faintly in his ears. Zhong Qibao didn't pay attention at first. Sometimes the explosions were too loud and would temporarily affect his hearing, causing tinnitus in his ears. Only then did he realize that his hands were still holding his ears tightly. When he let go, he found that the phone he had brought into the shell-proof cave rang. Fortunately, the phone line had not been blown down.
When I picked up the phone, I heard Mo Dahai's voice, "Deputy Company Commander Zhong, the Japs' armored vehicles are coming, prepare for the artillery attack quickly."
This is the benefit of convenient communication. As long as the phone lines are not blown down, frontline information can be reported to various units instantly. There is no need for messengers to go around the trenches looking for people at the risk of enemy aircraft strafing, and waste time.
Zhong Qibao perked up as soon as he heard this. I'm going to blow up the sky and the earth. I've never blown up armored vehicles or tanks, but I've fought a lot in training. They were all models made of wood, so there's no way I can fight real ones.
I don’t care about the planes in the sky now. After you have thrown the bombs, your machine gun must be able to penetrate into this deep and narrow trench. Your grandfather and I will be unlucky.
When Zhong Qibao came out of the bomb-proof cave, he didn't even care about the mud all over his body, and said loudly: "Brothers, come out and change the barrel quickly. We are going to fight the big guy. Haha!"
At this time, the second platoon leader Li Han ran over, "Deputy company commander Zhong, what big guy?"
Li Han was an artillery expert who had stayed with Su, and Zhong Qibao admired his artillery skills, not to mention the set of theories that made Zhong Qibao stunned. The two of them usually had a good relationship.
"Brother, it's an armored vehicle. Captain Mo just called. The little devil dispatched the armored vehicle. Each of us brothers will command a cannon. How about a competition? Let's see who is better at your craftsmanship or me, old Zhong? Ha ha!"
When Li Han heard this, he was overjoyed and said: "That's good, this is what we learned in the Soviet Union, and we can still be afraid of you. Brothers, hurry up, hahaha!"
At this time, another voice came, "There's more, Brother Zhong, there's more!"
Zhong Qibao turned around and saw that it was the third platoon leader. This third platoon leader was a fellow countryman who joined the mercenary group with Zhong Qibao. He also worked as an artilleryman in the Northwest Army for several years, so his skills were naturally not rough.
"Well, let's make a deal. The loser will have nothing to eat at night, and the winner will eat canned food."
After the three people agreed, Li Han said again: "Vice Commander Zhong, I suggest that the barrel of the other gun in the third platoon should not be changed. We still have to keep an infantry unit dedicated to fighting the Japs."
Zhong Qibao thought about it. The Japs' infantry would definitely follow behind the armored vehicles in order to leave one door open, so he said to the deputy platoon leader and artillery crew leader of the third platoon who ran over to join him: "Sun Laoer, don't just join in the fun and just use your artillery crew to attack the infantry."
The man named Sun Laoer was also a fellow student of Zhong Qibao. When he heard this, he immediately said with a sad face: "Brother Zhong, we also want to fight armored vehicles, but we don't want you to eat meat and let us drink soup, right?"
"Drink your donkey egg soup and stop making conditions for me. This is an order. Go quickly."
"yes!"
Zhong Qibao usually has a kind attitude towards his new recruits, but he is rude to some of his young subordinates. He is not clear about what should be beaten or scolded. He is afraid that his brothers will think that they don't know the world after being an artilleryman for a few years. It would be totally worthless to be kicked out of the mercenary group for violating military regulations. You can't find such a good unit in the world even if you use lanterns!
