Rise From Eight Hundred

There was no sound on the battlefield, because there were not many people alive on the entire battlefield.

Even if they were still alive, they were stunned for a long time. The sudden fierce artillery fire made them all faint.

For this battle, the 17th Division had made sufficient preparations. The soil of Xuehua Mountain was not dominated by rock layers like the Niangziguan area. Many trenches on high ground could be dug to a depth of nearly 2 meters.

Anti-artillery holes, which are extremely necessary fortifications, are even more important. The relatively primitive forest provides enough wood to basically ensure that an infantry platoon has two anti-artillery holes, and a single soldier has more than a dozen anti-artillery holes.

If replaced with 75mm mountain guns, these anti-artillery holes and trenches are enough to provide cover for the soldiers.

But facing the terrifying 105-caliber howitzers, the trenches are still too shallow after all. Anti-artillery holes also seem so fragile.

"Help him! Help him! My brother is still inside. Come and help me dig him out!" A soldier with a black face, a second lieutenant collar badge and only one arm covered in blood, cried and staggered along the trench that had collapsed in several places, shouting.

Until he met a soldier who was well-dressed and sitting in the trench with his legs straight, he was tripped by his outstretched legs. Ignoring the blood flowing from his head again, the second lieutenant grabbed the soldier who tripped him and roared angrily in his hometown accent: "Damn it, what are you doing sitting here? Come with me to save him!"

However, the soldier ignored him and just stared at the second lieutenant with a weird look on his face without saying a word.

Then, as the second lieutenant shook wildly, a mouthful of black blood with a few pieces of fragments spurted out of his mouth, his head drooped, and he died.

His internal organs had long been shattered in the terrible shock wave formed by the explosion of the shell. The slightest movement would also cut off the last trace of life.

The bodies of soldiers who died silently, though they looked uninjured on the outside but whose internal organs were damaged, could be seen everywhere in the trenches.

That was because the terrible power of the 105mm howitzer explosion was enough to kill people just by the violent vibration of the ground, without even the flying shrapnel and shock wave.

In the bombardment, lying on the ground with your whole body was also a wrong way to avoid the coming of death.

The current composition of officers and soldiers of the 17th Division was that there were less than 3,000 veterans, 5,000 new recruits who had just joined the army for less than half a year, and another 4,000 were just rescued from prisoner-of-war camps.

The equipment was upgraded from shotguns to cannons, and it was much better than last year, but the quality of the soldiers was actually not as good as before.

"Dead, dead again." As the soldier's head drooped, the second lieutenant's hand suddenly froze, and he muttered to himself.

Wiping away the tears rolling down his eyes with the back of his dirty hand, the lieutenant seemed to cheer himself up: "I don't believe that there will be no living people in the whole company."

However, as he raised his head, wherever he looked, there were soldiers lying in the trenches or lying in very strange postures. The lieutenant knew that they were dead without checking.

As for those outside the trenches, there was no need to look. Even if there were any, they were blown away. In the face of the air wave that could destroy the deep trenches dug under the surface, no one could survive.

The tears that the lieutenant had just wiped away from his eyes finally fell again. He really couldn't find any living people.

He had an entire infantry platoon under his command! This position with two complete trenches covering an area of ​​20,000 square meters was 3 infantry squads with a total of 49 people.

What is despair? Despair that goes deep into the bone marrow.

This is.

When you need comrades, but find yourself alone.

"Ah~~~" Like a lone wolf, the second lieutenant with a broken arm suddenly knelt on the ground, pounded the ground hard, and burst into a heart-wrenching long howl.

The bright and warm autumn sun shone obliquely on the mountains. It was originally the favorite weather for those who lived a peaceful life, but the smoke rising from the battlefield and the burning forest around, plus the lonely and desperate figure of the second lieutenant kneeling there, formed a strong contrast that impacted the human tear glands.

This is war, beauty will only be cruelly smashed!

When the commander of the 3rd Company of the 1st Battalion of the 102nd Regiment on the 521 high ground 300 meters away led two infantry squads to the most advanced high ground of his infantry company, he saw the second lieutenant infantry platoon leader with only one arm left, digging desperately in a piece of rubble with his only remaining arm.

Half of his body was soaked in blood, and his intact right hand was also bleeding.

The place he dug was the largest anti-artillery hole on the 489 high ground.

It was under his urging that more than two infantry squads dug overnight, dug a large hole of more than 30 square meters along the mountain wall, cut down more than a dozen large trees for support, and could hide two infantry squads of 30 people.

The soil layer more than 1 meter thick made the second lieutenant of the army sure that this anti-artillery hole could completely withstand the bombardment of 75mm mountain artillery, except for being hit by heavy bombs.

But this second lieutenant of the army who had never experienced the 105-caliber howitzer raging on the battlefield underestimated the power of heavy artillery.

A shell exploded 15 meters away from the anti-artillery hole, and the shell crater more than 1 meter deep, which could hold two eight-immortal tables, proved the power of the shell.

At such a close distance, although the anti-artillery hole was not blown up, it was collapsed.

The two infantry squads hiding in it were all buried.

The reinforcements pulled away the frantic lieutenant and dug desperately with shovels and hands, but it was too late. The soil above the collapsed cave filled all the gaps, and no one could survive the lack of oxygen for more than ten minutes.

As the gray bodies were carried out one by one, the soldiers who stretched out their hands to test the breath and listened carefully to the heartbeat kept shaking their heads. The lieutenant's face became more and more gray, so gray that even the most hard-hearted people couldn't bear to look at it.

We are all soldiers, and everyone knows how it feels to lose a comrade-in-arms who has been with us day and night.

Especially, this infantry platoon, in this terrible bombardment, only he survived.

"Take him down for treatment, tell the regiment medical team that they must take good care of him for me." The captain who rushed here had his face muscles twitched a few times, and when the anti-artillery cave had not been completely cleaned up and there were still a few bodies that had not been carried out, he decisively gave the order.

In fact, his subtext was to save the second lieutenant platoon leader under his command who was promoted from the deputy squad leader of the infantry.

Because, although the shocking wound of the second lieutenant platoon leader's broken arm had been wrapped with military uniforms by the soldiers who rushed over, it was no longer bleeding at this time.

It was not that the bleeding had stopped, but that his blood was almost drained out!

"No, no one can touch me. These are my brothers. I want to see them out." The second lieutenant suddenly screamed wildly, desperately twisting his body that was being forcibly taken away by several soldiers. The wound of the broken arm that had just been roughly bandaged was dripping with blood again, and the severe pain made his dark face twisted and a little scary.

The captain's face was dark, he looked up at the sky, hiding the tears in his eyes, but he didn't want to refuse his subordinate's wish, so he waved his hand, "Forget it, let him wait first!"

Even though he was used to life and death, the Japanese army bombarded an infantry platoon under his command and wiped out all the garrisons on a high ground before they could even fire a shot. For this battle-hardened captain, it was a big blow.

Especially for the captain who had experienced similar scenes before, last year, he was just a second lieutenant platoon leader, and in the end, no more than one infantry platoon in the entire battalion could evacuate the battlefield with him!

I didn't expect that after a year, cruelty would reappear and tragedy would repeat itself!

The pain in his heart was probably no less than that of the crazy second lieutenant platoon leader in front of him.

Finally, the last soldier inside was dug out, his face was very pale, but his face was unexpectedly clean.

That was also a very young soldier, looking at his face, he would never be more than seventeen years old. He was firmly protected by at least five soldiers, unlike other soldiers whose mouths and noses were filled with gravel.

One of the only two medical soldiers in the company who rushed here was ecstatic at that moment. He carefully put his hand under his nose, but could not feel the warm breath he expected. He tore open his military uniform and put his ear on his thin chest to listen for a while. In the eyes of everyone expecting, he closed his eyes painfully and shook his head silently.

"I don't believe it. I don't believe that no one can survive." The second lieutenant broke free from the two soldiers who supported him and rushed over frantically.

"Damn Erdan, you damn well come back to life, your mother is still waiting for you at home! If you don't live, I will be the only one in the platoon. What can I do to defend the position! You damn well come back to life! Come back to life!" The second lieutenant frantically took his hand that was cut by gravel and bloody, and desperately beat on the thin chest of the young soldier.

This scene made all the soldiers around shed tears.

Yes! He was the only one left in a platoon.

Who would be willing to accept it?

As the lieutenant hammered the soldier's chest frantically, a miracle happened.

The young soldier suddenly coughed violently.

"Erdan, are you really alive? Damn it, smile at me and see." The lieutenant was obviously stunned by the huge surprise in the surprised eyes of the soldiers around him, and asked in disbelief.

"Ahem, platoon leader, if you hit me again, I might really be beaten to death." The young soldier smiled weakly at his platoon leader.

"Haha, I knew that I wouldn't be the only one left, haha!" The lieutenant laughed wildly.

The soldiers also cheered, but as they laughed, many people cried again.

Howling!

Including the captain who had just hidden his tears!

Just now, it was the commander who hugged his soldiers and cried.

Now, it was his soldiers who hugged his commander and cried.

The second lieutenant platoon leader, whose left arm was blown off and whose blood had flowed countless times, was actually already exhausted. He had been waiting for his soldiers to be rescued with vigorous spirit just now, purely because of a hope that supported him.

When he saw that his infantry platoon finally had a soldier alive, he relaxed, but his exhausted body could no longer hold on.

"Erdan, as long as you are still alive, our platoon is not dead. After the battle, burn some paper for the brothers, and then go home! In view of the fact that all the brothers in the platoon died in the battle, the company commander, battalion commander, and regiment commander will agree." The second lieutenant's dirty face turned pale as paper in an instant, and he moved his lips weakly to the young soldier who turned over and hugged him.

"Platoon leader!"

Then, amid the young soldier's howling, the second lieutenant's head drooped little by little, and there was no sound.

His blood was drained!

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The tragic situation on Hill 489 is just a microcosm of the entire Snow Mountain Hills.

In this round of shelling, the 102nd Regiment of the 17th Division in the Snow Mountain Heights lost 109 people on the spot and 208 people were injured. The total strength of an infantry regiment of more than 2,200 people had not yet officially engaged in battle with the Japanese army, and the casualties were one-tenth.

The white-haired general who had just returned to the division headquarters received the battle report from the 102nd Regiment Headquarters and frowned. Although he had made up his mind to die, the Japanese army's show of strength still exceeded his expectations. I am afraid that this battle will be much more difficult than he imagined.

"Can the artillery observer calculate the approximate direction and distance of the Japanese artillery position based on the trajectory?" The white-haired general looked solemnly at the mountain not far away that was still emitting a lot of smoke.

"There is no way. The artillery that bombarded our division's position in this round are all 105-caliber heavy artillery. According to calculations, the distance is at least 7,000 meters away. Even if my artillery battalion moves forward regardless of life and death, it can't reach them." The major general chief of staff looked helpless.

"If we can't reach their artillery, then we'll attack their infantry. Tell the artillery battalion that as long as the damn Japanese dare to attack, no matter if it's a tentative attack or not, don't be stingy with the shells and shoot them back. If you kill my soldiers, I'll make them pay with their lives!"

"But our artillery shells..." The major general chief of staff hesitated.

"Use as many shells as you can. When you run out of shells, the artillery will carry rifles to the front line. The damn Japanese came up and did this to me. If we give in, they really think that my 17th Division is a soft persimmon." The white-haired general waved his hand, his voice low, but extremely firm.

This is not a fight for face, but morale!

The officers and soldiers of the 102nd Regiment on the Snow Mountain Plateau struggled hard under the fierce artillery fire of the Japanese army, and their morale was inevitably low. The Japanese infantry was naturally in high spirits, but when the 20 mountain guns of the 17th Division did not hesitate to fire wildly, the Japanese infantry was not made of iron and would suffer heavy casualties!

This is called tit for tat, telling their officers and soldiers that they would also have artillery support, and reminding the Japanese with the same fierce attitude that they also have artillery.

The 20 75 mountain guns and the 8,000 rounds of artillery shells carried this time are the biggest confidence of the 17th Division to fight this tough battle with the 20th Division!

But the Japanese Major General Brigade Commander Takagi Yoshito, who was 4,000 meters away, did not know that his opponent still had such a killer, and he was still preparing for the Snow Mountain attack according to his own tactical plan.

However, Takagi Yoshito was extremely cunning!

Unlike the 21st Division, which lost its lieutenant general commander before the main defense line of Niangzi Pass and started to use infantry to attack after artillery preparation, Takagi Yoshito did not use infantry for the whole afternoon.

Bombardment! Bombardment! Still bombardment!

The 105 howitzer rested, and 36 75mm mountain guns continued to fire. Until dark, the entire Xuehua Mountain area was still extremely bright.

Various shrapnel and incendiary bombs wreaked havoc in the positions and mountains.

The entire Xuehua Mountain was like a blazing bonfire, burning from day to night!

The bodies of Chinese soldiers were bleeding, and the hearts of Chinese commanders were bleeding!

But this is an extremely cruel reality. Even though the equipment of the 17th Division has been upgraded from shotguns to cannons, it is still far inferior to the Japanese invaders with heavy artillery.

Chinese soldiers can only rely on tenacity to hold on to their positions.

Just like what Tan Tai Ming Yue wrote in the opening of a battlefield diary titled "The Indelible Number" when she heard that the 17th Division was in urgent need of a group of field doctors for support, she immediately arrived at the 17th Division headquarters in two hours accompanied by a guard platoon, bringing 16 nurses, 4 military doctors and a group of medicines.

"The Japanese artillery fire was fierce, and countless officers and soldiers of the 17th Division were killed and wounded, but they continued to fight and sacrificed!

I saw groups of stretcher teams at the headquarters of the 17th Division!

There were seriously injured soldiers waiting for medical treatment, but more were corpses covered with white cloth!

I have seen such scenes too many times from Songhu to Guangde and then to Taihang, but my heart still trembles!

I dare not look at the pale and young face under the white cloth, even if his comrades asked me to take a photo for them, that might be the first and last time those young lives took photos in their lives, leaving a little memory for their families.

But I know that my hands will shake and blur the lens!

Until I saw the young soldier!

Yes, he was very young, only seventeen or eighteen years old. At this age, if there was no war, he might be a student studying in a school in the city, or a teenager helping his parents work in the village.

However, the man standing in front of me is now a soldier.

He was wearing a dusty dark blue military uniform, carrying a rifle that was not much taller than him, with four grenades on his waist and a belt with more than a dozen yellow bullets on his chest.

When I first saw him, he was kneeling on his knees, like a sculpture, and in front of him was a row of remains! I could feel the deep sadness in the thin body of the young soldier, and I could only wait from a distance.

The staff officer who accompanied me told me that opposite the area where the young soldier was kneeling was his infantry platoon! He was ordered by the battalion to accompany his brothers who died in the battle back to the division headquarters.

Yes, it was an entire infantry platoon, one soldier was kneeling, and all the others were lying!

Really, even though I had long thought that my heart had been hardened by so much cruelty, at that moment my heart was still hurt by this information, and it hurt so much that I stopped breathing at that moment.

Even when I was writing this paragraph, that back figure appeared in front of me again, thin and lonely!

The soldier was finally called out. I didn't know how to interview him, but he was calmer than I thought.

When he learned about my origins, without waiting for me to ask questions, he grinned and told me that his platoon leader ordered him to burn some pieces of paper for all the brothers in the platoon before he died.

However, there was no yellow paper on the battlefield, so he had to borrow a few pieces of white paper from the division headquarters and dirty it in the dirt to turn it into yellow paper.

He has fulfilled the platoon leader's instructions!

When talking about the death of the entire platoon, his platoon leader dug him out of the collapsed artillery hole and died due to excessive blood loss. His brothers in the infantry squad protected him and gained room for survival. But they themselves died silently. When he described all this calmly, I couldn't help but tears streaming down my cheeks, but he remained extremely calm.

If I hadn't seen his extremely sad back earlier, I would have labeled him cold-blooded.

I didn't understand it at the time, but I soon did.

"The platoon leader said that as long as I am not dead, our platoon will not die, and our platoon will continue to fight. Tantai reporter, goodbye!" These were the last words he left for me, and then, carrying a gun on his back, he walked towards The position that once belonged to him.

At that moment, I couldn't hold back my tears anymore.

I understood why he was so calm.

I want to hold him, but I know I can't hold him.

Even if there is a major or lieutenant colonel standing behind him, or even if his division commander is standing two hundred meters away, they can only watch silently, watching this young soldier, carrying a gun on his back, go to the building 1,000 meters away. Still in the scorching burning position!

The Japanese artillery fire has not stopped yet!

Their military orders can make this soldier stop, but how can they stop a soldier's heart?

He will definitely return to Highland 489!

Due to confidentiality reasons, I cannot write down the specific number of this infantry platoon in my diary, but this number will be engraved in my heart and will never be erased! "