Chapter 89: Xu Jinbiao, the desperate one
After Qin Yangming entered the city, he stood on the city wall and saw the puppet soldiers retreating into the city. He instantly realized that the other side wanted to engage in a street fight with him.
"Heh, it looks like he's a die-hard traitor. Even though the city has been breached, he still refuses to surrender."
"Fighting street battles, huh, do you think I've fought enough street battles?"
Qin Yangming looked at the empty street and waved to call Duan Peng who was rejoining the team.
"Duan Peng, go and order the troops to fight in a street-level manner. Tell Zhangye to bring over the shields I had people make. Hurry!"
"Yes!"
After receiving Qin Yangming's order, Duan Peng quickly went down to make arrangements.
Before attacking Qinghe County, Qin Yangming took into account the possibility of street fighting.
The pioneer battalion also underwent special training.
There were four people in a group, with the strong ones walking in front holding shields, and behind them were three warriors holding rifles, pistols, and swords respectively.
The precision shooters and machine gunners in each company quickly occupied the high ground.
Any enemy that leaves the house will be killed immediately.
Following Qin Yangming's order, shields were delivered to the county town on carts pulled by mules and horses.
Several strong soldiers walked side by side on the street, pushing simple mobile shields made from the wheeled gun mount of the Goryunov heavy machine gun.
Behind them followed a team responsible for dealing with the enemies in the house and a cart carrying shields.
Every time they passed a house, a soldier took the shield from the cart and went into the room with three other warriors to search for the enemy.
Some more agile warriors climbed onto the roof and observed the situation inside the house from there.
Some puppet soldiers tried to throw grenades out through the window, but were shot dead as soon as they leaned out.
Or after the grenade was thrown down, it was directly covered by a strong soldier's shield and then quickly dodged.
Although the shield was blown up, the grenade fragments were all blocked by the shield. Just be careful not to be hit by the flying shield.
The assault platoon had even more experience. They had stayed in the county town for two days, and they knew very well where in the county town were suitable for machine gun positions for ambushes.
Snipers are specially arranged to watch those positions, and they will shoot immediately if there is any unusual movement.
Although Qin Yangming's method of searching the entire county is very slow.
But the effect is very good.
A shield weighing forty kilograms is enough to block bullets fired by puppet troops or Japanese devils.
In a narrow space like a room, after firing a shot with a bolt-action rifle, there is basically no chance to fire a second shot.
Those puppet soldiers tried to escape by jumping out of the window, but were shot dead by a sniper on the roof just as they left the bunker.
Some puppet soldiers wanted to build a machine gun position, and when the machine gun was set up, they were hit by several small grenades.
In this way, with the assistance of the vanguard battalion, the attacking troops slowly and steadily advanced towards the central area of the county town from the four city gates.
At first, Xu Jinbiao wanted to rely on the streets in Qinghe County to delay the battle until night.
But before the sun set, the Eighth Route Army had already advanced to the central area of Qinghe County.
The remaining several hundred puppet troops all gathered near the Japanese command headquarters in Qinghe County.
Xu Jinbiao was worried that the Eighth Route Army would use artillery to attack, so he quickly ordered his men to take the captured civilians to the intersection.
The Eighth Route Army soldiers who were advancing forward stopped in their tracks when they saw the common people at the intersection. They quickly reported the matter to Qin Yangming and Ding Wei who were communicating on the city wall.
Qin Yangming and Ding Wei listened to the soldiers' reports with disbelief in their eyes.
"Are the puppet soldiers crazy? Do they want to die with the Japanese?!"
Qin Yangming was just talking to Ding Wei. At this rate, they would definitely be able to capture Qinghe County before sunset.
The remaining puppet troops will most likely surrender.
But just as he finished speaking, a soldier reported that the puppet army had captured civilians to resist the attack of the Eighth Route Army!
Ding Wei listened to the soldiers' report with anger on his face.
"Damn it, those puppet soldiers didn't think we would let them go just because they captured the civilians, did they?"
Ding Wei really couldn't understand how the puppet army got the courage to capture civilians as human shields. You know, if the puppet army dared to do this, it would confirm their identity as hardcore traitors.
As for die-hard traitors, neither the National Army nor the Eighth Route Army would accept their surrender.
There is only one fate for such a person, and that is death!
Whether it is the agents of the Military Control Commission or the anti-traitor teams of the Eighth Route Army, they will try their best to kill those diehard traitors who dare to arrest ordinary people.
Even the Japanese didn't dare to openly arrest ordinary people to use as human shields.
Especially in this kind of battlefield behind enemy lines.
By doing this, the Japanese were forcing the people to resist, and they also needed a large number of puppet troops to help them control the occupied areas.
All the puppet soldiers recruited locally are related to the locals.
If you capture their relatives as human shields, they can turn around and shoot you in the back on the battlefield.
"Captain Ding, Battalion Commander, what should we do now? Do you want me to lead the assault platoon?"
Duan Peng, who was standing by, saw that Qin Yangming and Ding Wei both had very ugly faces, and asked tentatively.
Qin Yangming thought for a moment and said, "No, hurry up and ask someone to call Deputy Captain Wu over!"
Ding Wei listened to Qin Yangming's words and instantly understood what Qin Yangming wanted to do: "You want Deputy Commander Wu to persuade those puppet troops to surrender?"
Qin Yangming nodded.
“Well, Deputy Commander Wu was coerced by his superiors and had to serve as a puppet soldier for a period of time.
He understands the psychology of the puppet army better than we do. I want Deputy Commander Wu to try and see if he can persuade those puppet soldiers to surrender."
"Otherwise, this kind of thing would be really difficult to handle. None of us is sure we can rescue those civilians from the puppet army."
Ding Wei listened to Qin Yangming's words and nodded, agreeing with Qin Yangming's idea.
"Xiao Qin, should we go to the front to check the situation?"
"Let's go and see what those puppet troops want to do."
"If you just want to stay alive, you can let them go."
"I'm afraid those puppet troops want to delay time, or use the lives of ordinary people to force us to leave Qinghe County."
"Old Li sent a message that the Japanese troops from Xianchi County have already set out and will reach our outer defense line by tomorrow morning at the latest."
"If we can't quickly resolve the situation in Qinghe County and mobilize troops to provide support, I'm worried that we may not be able to hold on later."
"The Japanese have mobilized a battalion of troops and a regiment of puppet troops, a total of 4,000 troops, and heavy weapons."
Qin Yangming listened to what Ding Wei said and nodded: "Well, the cavalry regiment of the pseudo-Mongolian army has been hanging around on the opposite side, and has begun to build a pontoon bridge to prepare to cross the Zhengchuan River."
Qin Yangming looked up at the sun that was about to set and said firmly, "Eight o'clock, we must take Qinghe County before eight o'clock!"
"We need time to repair our fortifications and prepare for defense."
The two of them talked as they quickly walked to the front.
At this moment, the gunfire in Qinghe County has stopped.
The Eighth Route Army and the puppet army were basically confronting each other outside the Japanese command headquarters in Qinghe County.
The Eighth Route Army was worried about accidentally injuring civilians by shooting, and the puppet army was worried that shooting would completely enrage the Eighth Route Army.
No one dared to fire a gun, and they could only shout and curse at each other in front of the battle line.
But the puppet army was clearly no match for the Eighth Route Army.
Even the Eighth Route Army only said three words.
"Bitch traitor!"
"Eighth Route Army, listen to me! Quickly withdraw your troops from Qinghe County, or don't blame me for shooting you!"
Xu Jinbiao was overjoyed when he saw the Eighth Route Army's fearful attitude and kept threatening them to retreat.
"You are using the common people as human shields. Are you still Chinese?"
"You traitorous dogs, aren't you afraid of being punished later?!"
"Hahahaha, I'm already a traitor, why am I still afraid of these?!"
(End of this chapter)
