On the way to Berkeley, Kang Mingwei's troops met with the vanguard of the friendly army that was chasing the enemy. Thus, the battle to encircle and attack Berkeley began.
The large force of the friendly army advanced southward along the north of Berkeley, and the troops pressing from the south also launched an attack to the north. In this way, the task of frontal attack naturally fell on the head of Kang Mingwei's unit.
It was raining, one of those summer downpours, and it was grey in the direction of Berkeley, as if hardly anyone lived there.
But the defenders' resistance was very tenacious, and fierce fighting began in the afternoon. Heavy rain caused the battlefield to become extremely muddy, and the battle was very difficult. The soldiers were covered in mud, and they ran and fought silently.
The enemy had dug three or four trenches. When the troops occupied the first trench, they found that the trench was full of muddy water like a small river. The soldiers' feet were soaked in muddy water, and grenades and mortar shells kept exploding around them. It was an anxious battle.
Both soldiers and officers hoped to launch an attack as quickly as possible and end the battle as soon as possible.
"Damn it, is this how people live?"
Once again the director couldn't help but complain. He was already forty years old, how could he have fallen to this point, fighting with them in the muddy trenches in the heavy rain.
If you are not careful, you will lose your life.
"Bang……"
Once again, accompanied by a gunshot, a soldier with his head exposed fell down, and his blood instantly dyed the muddy trench red.
"Damn Yankees."
At a distance of hundreds of meters, a sergeant with a submachine gun fired at the enemy, and the machine gun also fired desperately.
But the fierce counterattack did not restore morale. Morale seemed a little low. A dull and gloomy pain enveloped the entire battlefield. Even the sound of artillery and light machine gun fire had lost its former crispness and sounded so dull in the pouring rain.
The battle went on like this, and the company commander Shinzaburo's face was filled with anger. This fellow from Africa, whose Japanese name was Shinzaburo Mazaki, was from the colonial guards. He fought very bravely, wiping the rain that flowed from his forehead to the tip of his nose again and again, and kept muttering:
"Oh, there's nothing I can do. Oh, there's nothing I can do..."
Everyone knew that if they continued to shoot at each other in this deadlock, the problem would never be solved. If no solution was found, the soldiers would have to stay in the trenches, soaked by the rain, until dawn.
I dare not even think about that kind of situation. How painful it will be for the soldiers, and tomorrow's combat effectiveness will definitely be affected!
"Assault!" Captain Zhen said to himself.
"There is no alternative but to assault."
He lowered his head and carefully examined the situation of his men. It seemed that the loss of troops was not too great, so he finally decided to charge in. In front of him, grenades exploded one after another, only 80 meters away from the enemy's trench.
"OK!"
He shouted, climbed out of the trench with his hands on the soil, waved his samurai sword, gave the order to charge, and was the first to stand up and rush out.
Unfortunately, this assault was a complete failure. If the soldiers were in high spirits and moving in unison, once the company commander had charged out, all the soldiers would have immediately attacked the enemy's position like a large net being pulled out.
However, at this moment, although each of the soldiers hoped to rush forward quickly and end the battle quickly, they had not yet gotten rid of their low morale and depression, which resulted in the entire company's attack being disrupted.
The company commander suddenly shouted "charge" and rushed out. The soldiers around him also shouted "charge" and quickly followed. Unfortunately, the soldiers on the left and right wings moved slower the farther they were from him, and the impact line formed two sides of an obtuse angle with the real company commander as the vertex. There is no doubt that the company commander Shin Saburo naturally became a perfect target for the enemy's machine guns.
As the company commander, Shinzaburo led the charge with a very impressive posture. He held a pistol in his left hand and waved a samurai sword he bought before joining the army in his right hand. He rushed towards the enemy position at lightning speed. This charge was like a mountain pressing down on one's head, brave and heroic. However, when he was about to jump over the obstacle in front of him, his body thrust upwards and he fell headfirst into the mud and water, and never got up again.
Zhao Guodong, who was following the company commander, was injured by flying shrapnel. He tried to crawl to the roadside and use the rubble to protect himself, but his legs were injured by shrapnel and he was in unbearable pain and bleeding. What was worse was that the American soldiers in the distance found him and immediately shot at him. One bullet shot off his index finger. Just as he crawled to the roadside, another bullet broke his right forearm. Then he lost consciousness. Indistinctly, he felt someone dragging him and dragging him to the back.
Under the command of the company commander, the company broke into the enemy's position with an unstoppable force and occupied the trench. However, most of the soldiers in the central part who attacked with the company commander were killed or wounded. The deputy company commander, Lieutenant Guden, immediately took over the command of the company and appointed platoon leader Kang Mingwei as acting deputy company commander.
"What a lucky guy."
After learning that the platoon leader was promoted to acting deputy company commander, the director was a little envious. If nothing unexpected happened, Platoon Leader Kang would soon be promoted to warrant officer. Although he was a temporary warrant officer, he was also an officer, and he even had the opportunity to return to China - according to regulations, he needed to return to China to receive half a year of officer education, and then he would be promoted as an officer like military academy graduates.
I can go home now...
Kang Mingwei certainly knew what this appointment meant. Without having time to think too much, he led two soldiers back to clean up the company commander's body.
A soldier was lying in the mud next to the lieutenant's body, with a bayonet on his gun, guarding the company commander's body. When he saw Kang Mingwei coming over, he stood up and reported with his gun:
"Report that the company commander has died!"
Kang Mingwei did not answer. He knelt on one leg beside the real company commander, turned his body over and placed it on his legs. At this time, he could finally see clearly that the company commander had been hit by five or six machine gun bullets in the head, feet and abdomen. His body was covered with sticky blood plasma and muddy water. The rain was getting heavier and heavier, washing away the mud on his face. His big face with a few sparse beards looked extremely pale.
Kang Mingwei carefully wiped the dirt off Shinzaburo's lips with the cuff of his coat. At this time, two soldiers found two wooden sticks from nearby, took out portable marching tarpaulins from their backpacks, and tied a makeshift stretcher. The shouts of charging and killing rang out again in front. He quickly led the troops to pursue. Of course, Kang Mingwei's platoon command was taken over by the deputy platoon leader, Sergeant Itaro.
Kang Mingwei raised his head and looked at the assault going on ahead, and then looked around at the wounded who were lying in the nearby paddy fields and groaning. Overhead, friendly artillery shells whizzed by. The follow-up troops were already coming up from behind.
In the heavy rain, the car was vaguely visible. After thinking for a while, Kang Mingwei said to the two soldiers:
"Please both of you escort the captain's body to the rear."
Two soldiers quickly carried him onto a stretcher, and Kang Mingwei picked up the real company commander's samurai sword from the mud. Although he didn't know whether the sword was a family heirloom or bought from a pawn shop, he still wiped it clean and put it into the scabbard. Then he picked up the pistol that fell into the mud and stuffed it into his holster, and finally put them all on his body.
He said again when the soldiers were about to carry the company commander's body on the road.
"There are still many wounded here. When you reach the rear, ask the medical personnel to come over immediately."
Then he gave orders to the director who was covered in mud.
"Chief, you stay here and take care of the wounded."
Then he stood there motionless, watching the company commander's body go away, saluted for the last time, and then ran towards the front line through the muddy ground.
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