The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 368 Pockmarks (Bonus chapter 3150 for the creation of a pornographic photographer)

The fierce battle between the two sides at Gaofeng Pass was decided in less than five minutes.

As the old saying goes, the tough fear the stubborn, and the stubborn fear the reckless. Under the leadership of Hu Biao, the commander of the Subei Independent Regiment, the latter was clearly the case.

Especially Hu Biao, AT, Heixing, Bo Shu and other veterans.

Relying on their superior physical abilities compared to the Japanese soldiers, and their already quite proficient "Eight Blades of Breaking the Edge," virtually no Japanese soldier could withstand three of their strikes.

They kept cutting down Japanese soldiers, and in the process, they tried to cut off their heads.

This greatly boosted the morale of our side, and also terrified the Japanese soldiers who saw it.

When the Japanese soldiers finally reached the position, there were still more than 300 of them. Half of them were killed in a very short time, and the remaining 150 or 160 Japanese soldiers no longer had the courage to fight.

A private, who had been in the army for less than a year, yelled and threw down his rifle, climbed out of a breach in the trench, and began to flee down the mountain.

The remaining Japanese soldiers lost even the last bit of courage they had left to fight.

They abandoned their current opponents and joined the fleeing group heading down the mountain.

The brothers, who were already seething with anger from the previous Japanese air raids, were not about to let the Japanese escape so easily.

Many men bit their broadswords and machetes, then used their free hands to gain leverage at the edge of the trench, and flipped over to continue the pursuit.

Some even wanted to replicate the initial battle that morning, driving the Japanese soldiers away and scattering their starting positions at the foot of the mountain.

This included the thug, a young man, and Old Qian, a seemingly ordinary middle-aged man.

The two had only chased after him for seven or eight steps when an angry voice came from behind: "Come back, come back! If you don't want to die, come back right now!"

Looking back, they found Hu Biao, Hei Xing, AT, and a few others shouting anxiously in their direction.

Instinctively, the thugs stopped and turned back towards the trenches, but Old Qian's reaction was a little slower.

By the time I realized what had happened, another two or three seconds had passed.

In just two or three seconds, a boundary between life and death was drawn, giving the two novice transmigrators, the thug and Old Qian, completely different fates.

As Lao Qian was jolted awake by the shouts, he stopped and turned around, when a huge commotion came from the sky to his right.

The thugs, Old Qian, and dozens of brothers who had chased after them instinctively looked in the direction from which the commotion came.

To their horror, they saw two Japanese planes swooping down from the black smoke overhead, one after the other; as they turned to look, the machine gun on the nose of the first plane was already firing wildly at the ground.

At most a second later, another plane joined the strafing.

The bullets formed streaks of fire, ploughing the ground behind them and kicking up clouds of dust.

Faced with such a deadly crisis, the thug running ahead leaped into the trench just in time.

Although somewhat disheveled, he managed to save his precious life.

But some of the older money wasn't so lucky; even in the midst of a crisis, he knew to lie down wherever he was.

He still supported himself on his knees and elbows, lying down in a semi-prone position. Theoretically, this reduced the lethality of bullets and shrapnel, but it was still completely ineffective.

After his body was swept by a fiery snake, the dense barrage of bullets pierced him through the chest, splitting him in two.

Those who are frequently strafed by airplanes know that if your body is broken in the middle, you won't die immediately. You can still say your last words and even have a smoke.

However, if the blow is broken at the chest, the person will die instantly.

Thus, Old Qian, this ordinary middle-aged man, met his end; their time-traveling team suffered a loss on the very first day of the battle.

After witnessing this scene, Hu Biao, along with veterans like Hei Xing, AT, Cang Guan, and Bo Shu, all sighed helplessly.

Old Qian, this unremarkable middle-aged man, had been observed by them, intentionally or unintentionally, during the battle.

At the time, I was thinking that this middle-aged man was actually a ruthless character who didn't talk much; I was going to train him well and give him more responsibilities so that he could grow up faster.

However, the battlefield is fraught with too many uncertain dangers.

If even seasoned veterans like them could encounter accidents, let alone a newbie like Lao Qian, they could only feel frustrated and helpless about Lao Qian's death.

Filled with frustration, Hu Biao grabbed one of the thugs who had jumped into the trench and was still able to get up, and they ran towards a nearby artillery shelter.

At the same time, he shouted loudly, "Take cover! Everyone get into the bunkers and take cover!" Because in his peripheral vision he could see that after the Japanese soldiers on the position had fled, even more Japanese planes swooped down like a flock of vultures.

The Japanese air force began its relentless bombing of the positions once again.

******
About ten minutes later, the Japanese bombers, having dropped all their bombs, were the first to begin returning to base.

However, the remaining dozen or so fighter jets circled over the position for another half hour before returning to base when their fuel was running low.

It was only at this point that the people on the position were able to emerge from their bunkers and move around.

The remaining Japanese troops of the mixed brigade at the foot of the mountain still numbered around 1,600 to 1,700; however, perhaps because they were all frightened by the previous battle, they showed no intention of attacking.

Even after seeing that the airstrikes were ineffective, they didn't even consider shelling for a while.

Thanks to this, Hu Biao and his men also began to busy themselves cleaning up the battlefield and reinforcing the fortifications.

However, throughout this process, everything seemed to be completely unrelated to the thug.

He stood dumbfounded on a bench, staring at Old Qian, whose body had been cleaved in two and was long dead, just a few meters away. Old Qian was one of the newcomers who had just transmigrated with him.

The unfamiliar word 'death' was so concrete and close to this 19-year-old boy.

So much so that his mind went blank, and he felt like he had gone mad.

While busy treating the wounded, Xiao Cui instinctively wanted to go forward and comfort this young man who was like her own younger brother; however, Annie grabbed her arm and she silently shook her head.

Based on her past experiences with time travel, Annie knew this:
If a henchman can overcome this kind of mental block on his own, then he is truly suitable to join the team and participate in the subsequent time travel.

Otherwise, it would be better to die in battle early to avoid further suffering, and not to participate in the future...

At the same time, the novice guard also slowly woke up; the battle on the right flank hilltop position he and Lao Yu were responsible for was now over as well.

He lay down on the edge of the trench, while his brothers were busy working.

His head was spinning, but after a while he came to his senses.

In a previous battle, he witnessed the deaths of the gunner and assistant gunner of a Type 96 light machine gun, and immediately took over the position.

Just as one magazine was emptied and they were frantically changing magazines.

Out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly saw a small black shadow fall straight down about seven or eight meters in front of me.

The guards didn't have time to figure out whether it was a small melon grenade thrown by the Japanese or a high-explosive grenade fired from a grenade launcher.

Driven by the instinct to survive, he closed his eyes and lowered his head.

Before he could even manage to lower his head, the dark mass exploded, and the guard fainted from the intense, stinging pain in his head and face.

After thinking it through, the guard reached out a trembling hand and touched his face, which was still stinging intensely.

Trembling! That's because, besides girls, the old man actually cares a lot about this face; even that guy Hu Biao would go through a whole bottle of Dabao SOD Honey in one winter.

Because he was worried about being disfigured, he couldn't complete this simple action for quite a while.

Fortunately, at that moment, Old Yu, who was passing by, said, "Pockmarked guy! Don't worry, the little injury on your face is nothing serious."

Upon hearing this, the guard breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Then he sensed something was wrong and quickly asked, "Pockmarked guy, who are you calling Pockmarked guy?"

Old Yu didn't say anything, but simply took out a small round mirror and threw it over; the guard picked it up and looked at himself, and immediately understood the origin of the nickname 'Pockmarked'.

On his once fair face, there were now many tiny grains of sand embedded in his skin.

These pebbles weren't fatal, but they were like having a face full of pockmarks; so, according to the transmigrator team's wicked sense of humor, 'Pockmarks' would be their nickname from now on?
"You're such a silent devil! When you do speak, it's either completely silent or it's like you're stabbing right in the gut."

The guard looked at Lao Yu speechlessly.

Old Yu wasn't fazed by this level of criticism; instead, he smiled and said to the guard, "Pockmarked guy! Welcome to the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment."

Only at this point were the guards officially accepted by the veterans...

(End of this chapter)