Who taught you to be a soldier like this!

Chapter 531 Desperate Counterattack, Seeking Survival from the Brink of Death! [Please Subscribe! Please Vote!]

Just as Zhao Weihong and the others were talking, the rumbling of an engine broke the silence of the forest once again, becoming clearer and clearer to Zhao Weihong's ears.

"Alive again!"

Upon hearing the engine sound, Li Sanqiang immediately became excited, his eyes shining brightly. He picked up the Type 89 rocket launcher from the ground, completely unaware that he was already surrounded.

Zhao Weihong realized that although this kid had a fiery temper, he didn't have any bad intentions; he was just a reckless brute!
In his excitement, Li Sanqiang was about to grab his weapon and start fighting, but after running a few steps in the direction of the sound, he suddenly realized that no one was following him.

Looking back, he saw that the rest of the people in the row were all looking at him with very complicated expressions.

Some soldiers who were on good terms with Li Sanqiang even pointed at Zhao Weihong discreetly, their hints quite obvious.

Seeing this, Li Sanqiang realized that with Zhao Weihong's arrival, he was no longer the temporary commander of the platoon.

Whether or not to fight, and how to fight, is entirely up to Zhao Weihong.

Hearing the increasingly clear engine sound, Li Sanqiang became even more itchy and quickly ran back to Zhao Weihong's side, asking in a flattering manner.

"Platoon leader, we can talk about other things later."

"The enemy is pressing in again. How about we give them a good beating first?"

Looking at Li Sanqiang, whose mind seemed to be filled only with the word "battle," Zhao Weihong pointed at him a few times with a half-smile before making a meaningful gesture.

"No hurries?"

Don't worry, there are people even more anxious than you!

Before Li Sanqiang could realize the deeper meaning behind Zhao Weihong's words, the distinctive muffled thud of an 89-type rocket launcher firing suddenly rang out from outside the forest. The roar of the engine was immediately drowned out by the roar of light and heavy weapons. Zhao Weihong even heard a faint curse.

"Damn! So that's how people know this exists!"

It seems that the troops outside the forest are not only very close to Zhao Weihong and his group, but have also been harassed by the rearguard of the 446th Regiment quite a bit along the way, and have already developed a stress response to the sound of the Type 89 rocket launcher.

Seeing that the other troops had already engaged the enemy, Li Sanqiang became increasingly anxious, scratching his head and constantly looking out of the forest. He would also give Zhao Weihong a pitiful look from time to time, wanting Zhao Weihong to order an attack, but he dared not speak because of Zhao Weihong's absolute authority in the platoon.

Many others in the row, like Li Sanqiang, were eager to participate in the battle that had broken out outside the forest.

Unlike Li Sanqiang, they weren't so reckless that their minds were only focused on "fighting."

From the moment they received the order to cover the rear, these experienced veterans knew that there was no way they could escape.

All they could do was try their best to delay the enemy's attack, and many even thought that "killing one is enough, killing two is a huge bonus."

But Zhao Weihong didn't think that way.

[Take cover and move towards friendly forces]

Because they were too close, Zhao Weihong was worried that the enemy outside the forest would hear their conversation, so she used sign language to give instructions.

Looking at Li Sanqiang's excited face, Zhao Weihong was a little worried, so she deliberately made a sign language gesture in front of him.

[No firing!]

Upon seeing this, Li Sanqiang immediately looked at Zhao Weihong in disbelief.

After meeting Zhao Weihong's unwavering gaze for two seconds, Li Sanqiang immediately looked away dejectedly and slowly crept towards the direction from which the gunshots were coming.

After the fierce fighting in the early stages and the subsequent brutal resistance, the platoon also suffered considerable losses, leaving only seventeen men in the platoon. However, each of them was a veteran sergeant who had participated in many exercises and was very experienced.

Just minutes before, these elite soldiers were thinking of fighting the enemy to the death. Under Zhao Weihong's leadership, they began to steer the exercise in a direction that no one had anticipated!
Judging from the gunshots, the friendly forces were not far away, probably only five or six hundred meters away.

However, Zhao Weihong and her group had a very difficult time covering those few hundred meters. They had to crawl forward and take extra detours, and it took them nearly twenty minutes to reach the rear of the friendly forces' blocking position without being discovered.

At this moment, the gunfire on the position had become very sparse, and the Type 89 rocket launcher and Type 60 mortar, which had been so effective, had also stopped roaring.

It appears that this blocking force has run out of ammunition for its heavy weapons and is making a final stand with their Type 81 rifles.

Logically speaking, given the situation had escalated to this point, the blocking force should have immediately withdrawn.

Without heavy firepower, the Type 81 rifle's weak firepower alone could not pose any threat to armored forces.

But they persisted on their positions, and the gunfire from the August 1st rifle grew louder and more rapid, showing no sign that they intended to retreat.

"Damn it! We've held them off for almost half an hour, that's enough!"

"The deputy company commander should have already led his men out. Our mission is complete!"

"Keep your grenades ready. On my orders, aim specifically at their lead tank and try to take it down!"

"Yes!"

The sparse responses carried a resolute determination, as if they were ready to die for their cause!
Although it was just an exercise, these brave soldiers treated the place as a real battlefield amidst the smoke and fire.

Looking at the last few soldiers who had fought alongside him until now, the platoon leader from the Sixth Company smiled with satisfaction. Just as he was about to praise them, his attention was drawn to a pebble thrown beside him.

"who!?"

"Don't get agitated, we're on the same side!"

At Zhao Weihong's signal, Wang Fei got up from the ground, raised his hands, and walked toward the remaining eight friendly soldiers.

As the squad leader of the Second Company, a veteran sergeant considered a "treasure of the company," Wang Fei's face was still very recognizable in the 446th Regiment.

The platoon leader of the Sixth Company immediately recognized Wang Fei, quickly lowered his gun, and greeted him warmly.

"Wang Ban, are you alone? Is there no one else?"

With the identity confirmed, there is naturally no risk of misjudgment.

With a wave of his hand, Wang Fei sent Zhao Weihong and the others up from their hiding places and quickly approaching.

The moment the platoon leader saw Zhao Weihong, his brain went blank.

Did the commander of the Second Company of the Red Army get kicked in the head by a donkey?
Otherwise, why would they be willing to leave this man behind to cover their retreat?
However, now is not the time to delve into these issues.

Upon seeing that Zhao Weihong and his group were carrying Type 89 rocket launchers and even Type 60 mortars, the platoon leader was immediately overjoyed!

"Great!"

"You've come at just the right time!"

"We've exhausted all our heavy firepower, and we can't do anything about that turtle shell on the other side!"

"Let's tear off those bastards' shells! Even if we have to withdraw from the exercise immediately, we won't have any regrets!"

However, his enthusiastic suggestion failed to gain Zhao Weihong's approval.

"Time is of the essence, so I'll keep it brief."

"It has been almost an hour since the ambush began."

"The main force should have already withdrawn to the second line of defense. Even if they haven't, there's nothing we can do to help."

"Continuing to engage in head-on confrontations with the enemy's armored forces would be an even worse deal."

"I suggest that our two units immediately form a temporary combat detachment, relocate to the spot, gather other comrades who have lost contact with the rear, and seek a suitable opportunity to fight in enemy-occupied territory!"

"Are you planning to hold a democratic vote, or are you going to have the two of us make the decision?"

Zhao Weihong's words were incredibly revealing, and it took the platoon leader of the Sixth Company a while to fully process them. Were they planning to wage guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines?

In fact, the rearguard units of the 446th Regiment are currently carrying out a blocking mission, which can also be considered a form of guerrilla warfare.

But Zhao Weihong's posture of both gathering the remnants of his troops and relocating on the spot...
It is clear.

The "fighting opportunity" that Zhao Weihong mentioned was by no means the "small-scale skirmish" that this platoon leader thought it was!

All of a sudden.

After Zhao Weihong arrived at the 446th Regiment, a series of extremely dazzling achievements came to mind one after another.

Although Zhao Weihong's "reputation" in the 446th Regiment was not very good, many grassroots cadres wished they could put a sack over his head.

But no one can deny that Zhao Weihong's abilities far surpass theirs!

"Stop with the democratic voting!"

"I agree!"

As he spoke, the platoon leader of the Sixth Company glanced at the dozen or so figures behind Zhao Weihong and thought to himself, "Even if it's a vote, I can't beat you!"

"Alright! The enemy is about to close in, let's find another place to discuss this in detail!"

"Li Sanqiang!"

"To!"

"Take one person with you and keep an eye on the comrades on the other side. I'll take the rest of the group and move over first. You and the other comrade, hurry up and follow the trail."

"Remember, don't linger in the battle. Once you've finished setting up, get out of there quickly!"

"I still have a great use for your life!"

"Yes!"

After giving his instructions, Zhao Weihong immediately led his men into the depths of the dense forest.

Along the way, the platoon leader of the Sixth Company had a lot of questions on his mind and wanted to ask Zhao Weihong.

However, because Zhao Weihong never stopped moving forward, she couldn't find a suitable opportunity to speak.

They ran for two kilometers through the forest, finally shaking off the armored unit behind them.

Zhao Weihong then stopped and took out several complete maps of the exercise area from her pocket.

This was brought by Zhao Weihong from the company headquarters. It didn't contain any information about the 149th Division's defense zone layout; it was just a simple military map.

"Those who think they're reasonably good at recognizing and using images, gather in front of me!"

As soon as she finished speaking, four or five figures appeared in front of Zhao Weihong.

Apart from the platoon leader of the Sixth Company, they were all experienced and skilled veteran sergeants like Wang Fei, as well as Li Sanqiang, who had just caught up from the rear.

Zhao Weihong maintained the urgent atmosphere of wartime, pointing to the map and gesturing to everyone as quickly as possible.

"I have a task for you."

"Based on the sounds of battle, locate the remaining troops of our regiment responsible for covering the rear and bring them to this location to assemble!"

As she spoke, Zhao Weihong circled a location on the map and then showed it to everyone for identification.

If anyone from the 445th Regiment were present, they would have recognized that the meeting point chosen by Zhao Weihong was the very hill that had caused them so much trouble!

"This place is most likely, no, 100% an enemy artillery position."

"Although the front lines have begun to contract and the enemy's artillery positions may have started to shift, the enemy will not give up such a good position and will definitely leave some artillery behind!"

Upon hearing this, Li Sanqiang once again showed an excited expression and exclaimed.

"Platoon leader, are you planning to lead us to take out the enemy's artillery position?"

Seeing Li Sanqiang, who had been volunteering all the way, Zhao Weihong finally smiled and nodded.

"Correct!"

"However, this is only one of the tasks!"

"Listen carefully! Regardless of who arrives first or last, once you arrive, you must immediately lie in wait and not expose yourself!"

"The enemy's artillery isn't our towed artillery; it's all self-propelled. With our current forces, taking them down is a pipe dream!"

"While there's still time, let's quickly gather more troops and prevent them from being forced to withdraw from this exercise during the meaningless blocking operations to come!"

"Any later, and all of us potential allies will probably perish together with the enemy!"

Upon hearing this, the platoon leader of the Sixth Company immediately scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly.

Just minutes earlier, he had also prepared to perish together with the enemy.

But you can't blame him.

In fact, almost all the rearguard troops harbored this idea.

The most fatal thing about being surrounded and having your escape route cut off is losing the means of communication with the rear.

If they could still contact the command post, they would definitely seize the opportunity to rejoin their unit from a weak point in the enemy's position after the blocking mission was over.

Now, if they choose to retreat, they can only rely on their experience to choose a location to break through, and they might just end up plunging into the enemy's position.

"Sacrifice" is a small matter, but being captured during an exercise would be incredibly shameful!
In comparison, fighting resolutely to the end with the enemy, though not very meaningful, is undoubtedly a more dignified ending.

But Zhao Weihong offered them a third possibility.

A chance to achieve great things and survive against all odds!
"We were abandoned pawns left behind to cover the retreat of the main force."

"But even expendable pawns have their uses. Even if we die, we must die gloriously, taking a huge bite out of the enemy!"

The words fell.

The group, who had been somewhat confused, suddenly seemed to have found their goal. They no longer thought about fighting the enemy to the death, but instead were eager to show the artillery of the 116th Division what it meant to be a divine force descending from the sky!

Seeing that everyone had reached a consensus with her, Zhao Weihong stopped elaborating and instead raised her left wrist to indicate.

"Let's start checking the time now."

"Current time: 4:37 PM, 31 seconds, 32 seconds."

"I'll give you ten hours!"

"Manpower, weapon and ammunition supplies, especially heavy firepower, such as Type 89 rocket launchers, the more the better!"

"Bring back anything that can help in the upcoming battle!"

"At 2:30 a.m. sharp, we launched a raid on the enemy's artillery positions at the assembly point!"

(End of this chapter)