Chapter 188: Showing A Movie
Night had completely fallen, and the small village of Dashawan was fully enveloped in darkness.
In a relatively spacious courtyard temporarily set up as a screening room, a diesel generator outside the courtyard emitted a low rumble, providing power to the bulky projector in the center of the courtyard that would seem cumbersome to people in later generations.
The beam of light from the projector lens pierced through the air thick with tobacco smoke and projected onto a coarse cloth screen hanging on the opposite wall.
The screen trembled slightly, with countless light and shadows jumping and flickering on it.
Deputy Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff, Chen Brigade Commander, Li Yunlong, Ding Wei, Kong Jie, and other Eighth Route Army leaders were all sitting on long benches or small stools, chatting and laughing relaxedly with each other.
Ding Wei nudged Li Yunlong’s arm and whispered, “Old Li, I heard this screening is of the battle between the Shanxi Militia and the Japanese 20th Division in Wild Wolf Valley. You’ve fought alongside the Shanxi Militia before, so tell us, how is their combat effectiveness?”
As soon as Ding Wei finished speaking, many people around looked over, including the gazes of the 772nd Regiment Commander nicknamed Blind Cheng and other main regiment commanders.
“Yeah, Old Li, tell everyone, how is the combat effectiveness of that Shanxi Militia really?”
Seeing the gazes of his old comrades and even old superiors looking over, Li Yunlong’s old face turned red. He really didn’t want to talk about that battle, but given the current atmosphere, he had no choice but to speak.
Moreover, he couldn’t brag. After all, the Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Division Commander, Brigade Commander, and other leaders were sitting right beside him. If he dared to brag, Chen Brigade Commander would definitely break his legs.
He could only droop his face and say, “Don’t mention it. Last time, I led the New 1st Regiment through the area near Wutai County and saw the Shanxi Militia exchanging fire with the Japs, so I thought about going over to grab some benefits.
At first, we did catch the Japs off guard, but after a Japanese cavalry company suddenly appeared, the situation reversed, and our troops’ casualties began to increase.”
Hearing this, Ding Wei frowned: “Old Li… your luck is really terrible.”
The leaders around also shook their heads inwardly. Since ancient times, cavalry have had a natural advantage over infantry in terms of mobility, speed, and impact force, far beyond what infantry could match.
If Li Yunlong mishandled such a situation, the New 1st Regiment could face total annihilation.
Kong Jie quickly asked, “Old Li, what happened later?”
“Later…” Li Yunlong seemed a bit embarrassed, but seeing so many gazes fixed on him, he gritted his teeth and said, “Later, a battalion of the Shanxi Militia timely charged out from the rear.
Good grief, dozens of machine guns opened fire in a burst, inflicting heavy casualties on the Japanese cavalry, and then we started clearing the battlefield.”
“I&……%##”
Everyone was stunned. What dozens of machine guns firing in a burst? Are you kidding kids here?
Seeing the unkind gazes from everyone, Li Yunlong felt extremely aggrieved in his heart. He was telling the truth, so why didn’t anyone believe him?
Chen Brigade Commander was just about to curse when he heard the projectionist’s voice from the side: “Gentlemen officers, it’s ready. We can begin.”
Hearing the projectionist, he could only glare fiercely at Li Yunlong, planning to deal with this kid after tonight.
At this moment, the Deputy Chief of Staff also spoke up: “Alright… everyone quiet down… the film is about to start.”
Soon, a line of blood-red large characters appeared on the big screen《Battle of Wild Wolf Valley》
The screen suddenly brightened, showing a scene of blue sky, then the sky abruptly tore open, and three grass-green bombers dove down from the clouds, the blood-red round emblems on their wings stinging painfully into people’s eyes.
At the same time, the two large speakers placed in the courtyard suddenly emitted a rumbling sound.
Which of the cadres and soldiers present wasn’t a battle-hardened veteran? Upon hearing this familiar sound and scene, many jumped up from their stools reflexively and shouted loudly, “Enemy planes… take cover!”
In an instant, the courtyard was in chaos, until the Deputy Commander-in-Chief stood up and shouted loudly: “What nonsense is this? What are you doing? This is watching a movie!”
Scolded by the Deputy Commander-in-Chief, those people then remembered they were watching a movie, their old faces turning red with embarrassment, feeling a burning sensation, before sitting back down.
Soon the screen began to change, and a voice came from the speakers: “On July 28, 1938, the Japanese army launched an offensive toward Wutai County. Under the command of Major General Su Yaoyang, the Shanxi Militia soldiers engaged the Japanese 20th Division in battle at Wild Wolf Valley.
On the first day, the Japanese assembled two infantry regiments from the 39th Brigade, one artillery regiment, and more than 30 aircraft, launching a fierce attack on Wild Wolf Valley. The battle was exceptionally intense from the start.”
Accompanying the first bomb crashing to the ground, an orange-red fireball wrapped in black smoke rose in the mountain hollow, the blast wave toppling half a charred pine tree, its burning branches smashing down like severed limbs onto the bunker above.
When the second wave of explosions followed, the ground spasmed underfoot, with shattered stones and shrapnel raining down.
The people watching the movie could see the screen trembling nonstop, indicating how dangerous the filming conditions were at the time.
Then the Japanese heavy artillery followed, the shells’ shrill whistles tearing through the air, distant mountain ridges collapsing in explosions, smoke and dust surging like giant waves, the entire earth trembling nonstop as if being pounded by a giant.
Although separated by the screen, everyone knew the dangers the defenders had to endure.
The courtyard was deathly silent, the leaders leaning forward with furrowed brows.
The cigarette in the Deputy Commander-in-Chief’s hand had long been forgotten, its long ash dangling in mid-air.
After a long while, he turned to the Deputy Chief of Staff beside him and sighed: “It seems we were right not to engage the Japs head-on. Whether in weapons and equipment or firepower advantage, the Japanese are not something we can match now. If we really faced them in positional warfare, even if we threw everything in, we wouldn’t last long.”
Chen Brigade Commander also whispered to 385th Brigade Commander Wang sitting beside him: “Old Wang… if your brigade were pulled up there, how long could you hold?”
Wang Brigade Commander smiled bitterly: “Even if the entire brigade were pulled up, in this kind of high-intensity air-ground integrated positional warfare, I reckon holding for two days would be good.”
Chen Brigade Commander said nothing upon hearing this, just continued watching the screen, his gaze somewhat grave.
Then, the voice from the speakers rang out again.
“Facing the Japanese offensive, the Shanxi Militia soldiers did not fear, but launched a tenacious counterattack.”
As the words fell, a burst of rapid cannon fire suddenly rang out in the valley, followed by countless anti-aircraft guns emerging, beginning to fire into the sky…
