Chapter 37: Awakening
The sun was about to set, and the trees cast long shadows.
Just under the mottled shadows of the trees, more than thirty officers and soldiers of the Northeast Army were sitting together.
There was another person lying down, his head resting on a piece of dead wood and sleeping. That was Shang Zhen.
"I didn't expect that the Japanese's shooting skills would be so accurate." A voice was heard, it was the company commander Hu Biao.
Company commander Hu Biao was speaking, and everyone else was silent.
But they had to admit that the Japanese army's shooting skills were really accurate.
Although they could conclude that the number of Japanese troops was not large, five of them were killed by a cold shot from more than 200 meters away.
Even these veterans are good marksmen and can hit a target with a rifle from 200 meters away, but they would never dare to say that every shot hits the head.
What if they had held out a little longer? They wouldn't have been able to see where the Japanese were hiding. Then, the number of their casualties would have definitely not been five, but ten or fifteen.
Therefore, the company commander Hu Biao was right to give the order to retreat.
While they were retreating with cross-covering, the Japanese army did not pursue them.
Perhaps the Japanese army was originally short of numbers, and they were also afraid of angering the Northeast Army, because just when Hu Biao's company was retreating, Battalion Commander Zhang Lianjie brought the other two companies to reinforce.
According to Company Commander Hu Biao, although they suffered a defeat this time, the bodies of the five soldiers, including Gazi, must be collected.
Then they could only wait until dark.
This situation was not like the breakout from Beidaying. Fengtian had already been occupied by the Japanese army at that time, and no one had the ability to go back to bury the bodies of the fallen soldiers.
This time, as long as it was dark, they could still drag the five soldiers back under the cover of darkness and find a place to bury them.
After all, Chinese people value being buried in peace.
Treat the dead well to show the living that you are good to them. Although it may sound harsh, it is something that must be done if possible to maintain morale.
"Fuck it, why are these little Japanese targeting us? Did we kill their fathers before?!" Wang Laomao cursed viciously.
Forget about boosting others' morale and destroying one's own prestige. They really can't compare with the marksmanship of those Japanese soldiers!
Hu Biao ignored Wang Laomao's angry words and instead said, "Actually, I have seen Chinese soldiers who can shoot so accurately." Hu Biao said again.
"Are our soldiers also able to shoot so accurately? Why haven't I heard of it?" Li Fushun interrupted and asked.
“Of course not, but that guy should be just one person, not like the Japanese who have such accurate shooting skills.
You didn't notice when we were fighting those Japanese, but I did. Three of us were shot almost at the same time. It wasn't just one person who shot us," Hu Biao said again.
When Hu Biao said this, his men took another breath.
A shot in the head from 200 meters away would kill even a sharpshooter, not to mention that it seemed like all the Japanese soldiers were like that.
"That was last year, when we entered the pass and fought against the Northwest Army. I heard from people in other regiments that a fellow from the Northwest Army killed eleven of them from a distance of about three or four hundred meters!
The higher-ups at the time were afraid of shaking the army's morale, so the news was suppressed." Hu Biao fell into reminiscence.
He was already a company commander at the time, but he was not with his troops.
He saw with his own eyes the eleven soldiers who were beaten to death.
Eleven people were lined up neatly, either shot in the head or in the chest.
“And the guy across from me isn’t using a particularly good rifle.
The bullet had a small entrance and a large exit. I saw a fist-sized hole in the right waist of one corpse!" Hu Biao continued.
Although his voice was low, and although the temperature was not very low at that time and there was still warmth under the setting sun, Hu Biao's narration still made the soldiers who listened to him feel cold.
"I even looked ahead. The bullet entered from the chest and exited from the waist." Hu Biao's voice changed a little. He had seen life and death but was still thinking about the cruelty of that shot.
"Why is this happening?" Someone suddenly interrupted. It was Shang Zhen, who was lying on the dead tree, who asked this question. He didn't know when he woke up.
“The bullets he used were either blunt-point bullets that had been ground, or it wasn’t a very good gun.
The bullet has little force, and will roll after hitting the body. When it enters, it goes to the chest, but it is not certain where it will roll out when it comes out, so the exit wound will naturally be greater.
Anyone hit by that bullet would be killed or seriously injured." Seeing that Shang Zhen had calmed down, Hu Biao stopped scolding him.
He was also a recruit, and he had to admit one fact, that is. Although Shang Zhen was very thin and did not look like a strong soldier, his performance as a recruit was better than his own back then.
"What about the sharpshooter on the other side you mentioned later? How is he?" Shang Zhen asked weakly again.
"I don't know. Later we opened fire and I don't know if that guy was killed in the explosion," said Hu Biao.
After Hu Biao said this, everyone sighed slightly.
"With that kind of shooting skills, the Chinese are fighting the Chinese. Oh, it would be great if they could come and fight the Japanese!" A soldier sighed.
His sigh was followed by silence again.
Shang Zhen wanted to ask why Chinese people were fighting Chinese people, but he felt that he had said too much today, so he decided not to ask Hu Biao again.
What Hu Biao meant by the Northeast Army versus the Northwest Army was the war between warlords that was later called the Central Plains War.
At that time, Chiang's Central Army was facing the Northwest Army, the Guangxi Army, and the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army. In the end, the Northeast Army entered the pass to participate in the war and Chiang's victory came to an end.
"You are lucky today. Someone saved you and sacrificed his own life. Remember, don't drag others with you even if you want to die!" At this time, Hu Biao looked at Shang Zhen coldly, and his words became ruthless.
Shang Zhen, who had already sat up, had a gloomy expression and remained silent.
It was only after he calmed down after the retreat that he realized that the pain in his butt was caused by an old soldier named Zhang poking him with the barrel of a gun, which knocked him down.
If I had just knelt there, I would have been a sitting duck given the Japanese army's marksmanship!
But the old soldier named Zhang was also killed by the Japanese army!
Then in this battle during the day, two of his companions died because of him!
After he calmed down, Li Fushun explained the reason to him. If he wanted to survive on the battlefield, he not only had to be smart, but he also had to be ruthless to himself and his companions!
Only someone close to him like Li Fushun could say such words to him. Hu Biao would never say it to him, but Shang Zhen understood.
Of course, what Li Fushun said about being cruel to his companions was that Gazi had already died, and there was no point in crying. He had to ensure that he was alive and saved himself before he could avenge his companions!
All soldiers have a growth process.
But what did Shang Zhen have? He went to the battlefield without any training at all. To survive in the smoke of war, he must have his own real ability and luck, plus the life-and-death protection of his companions!
It finally got dark.
Hu Biao and his men finally walked out of the woods and went to collect the bodies.
The Japanese troops, whose number was unknown but definitely not too many, did not show up either.
They didn't know when the Japanese troops would appear, but they felt as if there were always Japanese people staring at them with vicious eyes in the darkness.
This is the psychological depression that sharpshooters, later called snipers, bring to people.
Finally, two hours later, when Shang Zhen used his own hands to cover the bodies of the fallen soldiers with soil, he secretly swore that as long as he was alive, he would become a sharpshooter, and the Japanese soldiers would tremble all over when they thought of him!