The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 569 'Tooth Extraction' Begins (Two-in-One Chapter)

Throughout history, those who have achieved great things have all been people of unwavering resolve.

Whether Zhang Lingfu can be considered a man of great achievements is a matter we will not discuss for now; however, he quickly adjusted his rather bleak mindset.

I intend to turn my grief into strength and perform well in the upcoming actions, showcasing my true abilities.

It would also let a shallow woman like Mina, who has a pretty face and a graceful figure, know that it's entirely her fault for not liking him.

Zhang Lingfu is a true hero, far superior to her brother-in-law Hu Biao.

Then it can be said that the ambitious Zhang Lingfu suffered a series of psychological blows in the following period of time...

The first people to inflict psychological damage on Zhang Lingfu were Zanana and Uncle Bo, along with the elite force they led, composed of guards and snipers.

It should be emphasized that, apart from getting a night's rest last night,

Since the start of this war, the team led by Zanana and Uncle Bo has never given up on taking the initiative to attack every night.

They attacked either the Japanese artillery positions and supply depots, or their hospitals and command posts.

Or perhaps they would engage in ambushes and counter-ambushes with small groups of Japanese troops infiltrating the vast wilderness.

Although it wasn't a direct confrontation, Hu Biao and his men's ability to hold out for so long was still a huge help.

During this process, the troops led by the two men naturally suffered heavy losses.

Today, excluding the wounded in the field hospital, the guard battalion, which originally had more than 300 men, has been reduced to only 92.

The original 50 snipers have been reduced to only 23.

Such losses are naturally quite staggering, but like the sifting of sand by waves, they also selected out the most elite group of personnel.

And in the past few days, through the constant practical training from Zanana and Uncle Bo, they have quickly become familiar with and mastered special operations, a completely new type of combat.

Tonight, they served as the spearhead of the entire army, leading the infiltration of C Sand City.

However, it broadened the horizons of Zhang Lingfu and the other members of the 74th Army, leaving them somewhat dumbfounded.

A more specific process is as follows.

Before the War of Resistance against Japan, the city wall of C City had been demolished down to only a short section around Tianxin Pavilion, which greatly reduced the difficulty for the army to sneak into the city.

However, when they reached the edge of the city, Zhang Lingfu and his men took out their binoculars and looked into the city.

Besides seeing a vast expanse of ruins at the entrance to the city, resembling a ghostly scene, one can also see that even as the Japanese soldiers were about to retreat, they maintained a high level of vigilance.

They set up checkpoints and sentry posts at some high ruins and at some intersections.

Although the total number of people was only about thirty, Zhang Lingfu and the others couldn't help but frown upon seeing this.

The main reason was that after a brief analysis, they realized it was almost impossible to quietly eliminate all the Japanese soldiers without alerting the others.

If we don't kill these Japanese devils, how can we sneak into the city and ambush them?

Doesn't this mean that tonight's 'tooth extraction' operation still can't be completed?

This situation continued until they looked at the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment, a small unit of about a hundred men serving as the spearhead; they were quite surprised to find that these men did not show any panic on their faces, but rather an indescribable sense of confidence.

They simply pulled out a piece of coarse gray cloth from the backpack behind them.

Once draped over the body, the figure becomes difficult to spot under the moonlight, achieving a good camouflage effect.

Then, in small groups of several people, they crouched low and slowed their pace, making their way through the ruins toward the Japanese outposts and sentry posts.

Despite being in ruins filled with broken bricks and tiles, these people moved about almost without making a sound.

Their marching speed seemed slow, but it was actually quite efficient; in just over ten minutes, they had hidden themselves near the Japanese sentry posts and outposts.

Zhang Lingfu hadn't even discovered some of the Japanese sentries before.

It was also the sharp squad of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment that sneaked over and stopped in these places that at first glance seemed deserted; feeling something was wrong, he stared and observed for a while before discovering that there was a Japanese sentry lying there.

Good heavens! Do these elite squads of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment have supernatural vision?

If they heard Zhang Lingfu and other friendly soldiers from the 74th Army harboring such doubts, Uncle Bo and Zanana would calmly tell them:
What's the big deal? It's just their basic operation.

When Uncle Bo trains a qualified sniper, the first lesson is not to have them practice marksmanship, but to teach them how to hide on the battlefield.

Only by preserving yourself first can you have a chance to kill your target.

Therefore, it was indeed difficult for Zhang Lingfu and his men to find out where the most suitable places to hide were in this ruin, and where Japanese soldiers were hiding now.

For the snipers trained by Uncle Bo in the elite unit, it wasn't difficult; they discovered it one by one through some details.

He gestured to his comrades and circled around to find the hidden sentries behind them.

Even during this process, these snipers were filled with disdain:

As for the Japanese sentries, their stealth skills are like a child's game. If they were trained by Commander Bo back then, their butts would probably be kicked raw by now.

After seeing that all the elite teams had moved into position one by one.

Uncle Bo held his Mauser sniper rifle, while Zanana drew her bow and nocked an arrow, and at the same time, they both let out a series of chirping sounds.

The chirping of crickets was the secret signal for all the elite teams to take action.

Knowing this code, Zhang Lingfu and the others immediately felt their hearts leap into their throats and stared intently ahead.

Then they saw the members of the sniper team suddenly launch an attack.

However, the specific method was not the familiar way they had anticipated: rushing forward with bayonets, covering the mouths of the Japanese soldiers, and then stabbing them with a knife.

Instead, they were holding small crossbows or even pistols, and firing at the Japanese soldiers not far away.

Upon witnessing this scene, not only Zhang Lingfu, but even Li Hanqing, in his immense anxiety and frustration, was on the verge of jumping up and down and cursing.

Using a crossbow in this situation is probably not advisable, as it's a useful tool for spotting sentries.

But with so many people pulling out pistols and firing, the sound of at least thirty or forty pistols firing at the same time would surely wake up all the Japanese soldiers in the city instantly.

If everything has been completely exposed, then what's the point of ambushing the Japanese 13th Tank Regiment?

Everyone should retreat quickly to avoid being surrounded and encircled by the Japanese.

Fortunately, Li Hanqing and Zhang Lingfu only realized what was happening when the order to "retreat immediately!" was already on their lips.

Something's not right! The gunshots aren't right. Although it wasn't that there wasn't a sound at all, from two or three hundred meters away, they could only hear a faint 'poof poof' sound.

If you really think about it, even such an unusually low gunshot is not as loud as the chirping of some insects at night.

Therefore, the Japanese soldiers in the city were not disturbed by such a commotion.

Then a huge question arose in the minds of everyone in the 74th Army: How exactly did these people from the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment manage to do this? Did they use some kind of advanced pistol...?

Unwittingly, they noticed the astonished expressions on Zhang Lingfu's and the others' faces.

The wizard, whose dark circles and eye bags looked rather frightening due to severe sleep deprivation, couldn't help but feel smug.

The pistols mentioned above are all common models.

The excellent noise reduction effect is due to the fact that they were all equipped with DIY mufflers that he and his team made.

It was worth it for him to work for two consecutive nights to finally produce these DIY silencers after learning that Zanana and Uncle Bo's team needed them during night raids.

By the way! Don't be fooled by this muffler; it was made by DIY.

However, the wizard incorporated a large number of advanced designs from later generations into the process, and since he had some simple machine tools at his disposal, the processing and material conditions were better than before.

These DIY mufflers offer some of the best noise reduction capabilities available today.

Compared to those foreign products, industrially produced, proper silencers are even more effective.

In fact, it's no wonder that the people of the 74th Army, including Li Hanqing and Zhang Lingfu, reacted so strongly; they had never even heard of a silencer.

Although this thing was invented in 1908, it wasn't until 43 years later that it was widely used by Uncle Sam's family and the agents of the Great Black Society.

Even Dai's Military Intelligence Bureau has never seen or heard of such equipment.

Therefore, it is perfectly normal that none of the members of the 74th Army, including Li Hanqing and Zhang Lingfu, had ever heard of it.

Of course! The excellent effects of these DIY silencers, and the fact that everyone in the 74th Army was stunned by them, are not important things.

The important thing is that this elite squad in front of us can easily take out the Japanese outposts and sentry posts.

In the following time, led by Zanana and Uncle Bo, more Japanese sentries were eliminated one by one, and the ambush force successfully infiltrated the city, advancing towards the planned ambush location. In this process, the elite team only demonstrated the tip of the iceberg in terms of special operations capabilities.

However, Li Hanqing and Zhang Lingfu still saw the immense value of this new tactic, and they exchanged a glance.

They could see admiration, expectation, and longing in each other's eyes.

It was during this infiltration process that Huang Adi, Lao Yu, Huang Yizhi, and other time travelers, for various reasons, learned a few words of Japanese.

They all changed into Japanese military uniforms, picked up Japanese weapons, and stood in their original sentry posts and checkpoints.

This approach was actually made in case the Japanese 13th Tank Regiment came by and, if they couldn't see any of their own sentries, they might become suspicious.

These were some tasks that had been assigned before we entered the city.

The only difference was that the old car, which was originally intended to be hidden behind a broken wall, suddenly changed its mind after thinking of something.

He called to a few of his men and dragged the five Japanese sentries who had been killed by the roadside into the ruins.

First, they stripped off their clothes and put them on, then each of them stood in the place where the Japanese soldiers used to keep watch, holding a Type 38 rifle.

They even gathered some sand to cover the bloodstains on their bodies and the ground, trying their best to conceal them...

It was quite a coincidence that Huang Adi and the others had just changed their clothes and hidden the Japanese soldiers' corpses.

The main force was also divided into two groups. One group went to a slightly more distant place to build a blocking position in preparation for blocking the Japanese soldiers who would come from other districts of the city to provide support.

The other group of people were scattered along both sides of a street about 800 or 900 meters long, among various ruins and surviving houses.

It was only about 3:27 a.m. when the roar of engines came from the south, and soon it became a continuous sound.

It seems that the 13th Tank Regiment has set off even earlier than Hu Biao had predicted.

However, this is also a good thing, because the longer it drags on, the greater the danger they will be exposed to.

Upon hearing these commotions, Zhang Lingfu's spirits immediately lifted, and he had only one thought in his mind: Hu Biao and the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment had been so arrogant for so long when they infiltrated the city.

Now it's finally time for their 74th Army, especially for Zhang Lingfu, to show off his personal strength.

With this in mind, Zhang Lingfu roused himself and got to work.

First, he commanded his 74th Army brothers to bring over four 37mm anti-tank guns and Mosin-Nagant anti-tank rifles, which they had brought with great effort.

They found a good hiding spot and were ready to fire at any moment.

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Lingfu directed some of his men to set up firing positions in various places.

Even after making the above preparations, I still felt it was far from enough.

When his men found some quilts in nearby houses and ruins, he immediately directed them to fold the quilts and wet them in several large water vats.

Then, working together, they tied the wet quilt around their chests and abdomens.

This tactic was something he learned during the Battle of Nanjing—a rather bloody trick of infantry bombing tanks.

A wet quilt offers enhanced protection and cushioning.

However, it was impossible to completely block the Japanese machine gun fire in this way; it would only make it more painful to die after taking a few more shots.

It's like when they rushed up to blow up the tank, several people lined up in a row.

So the first two or three people, acting as human shields, were able to hold out for a longer time before being killed by machine guns from the Japanese tanks, while the last one was strapped with a large number of grenades.

Or perhaps it's the brothers with explosive charges and anti-tank grenades, trying to get close enough.

If he could, Zhang Lingfu certainly wouldn't want to use the cruel method of blowing up tanks; however, given the current difficult state of the nation, he, as a soldier, had no choice but to issue such an order.

In the process, this also served to let the Japanese and the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment know that their 74th Army was not a coward either.

While Zhang Lingfu was filled with a sense of tragic heroism and resolute determination, he didn't see Annie shaking her head speechlessly after witnessing this scene from afar...

*****
Hu Biao and his men didn't have to wait long before the Japanese 13th Tank Regiment appeared before them.

Under the bright moonlight, their entire regiment was mobilized.

At the very front of the column were about fifty Type 95 light tanks, followed by twenty-six Type 89 medium tanks.

At the very end, followed by hundreds of trucks.

They drove slowly, one vehicle after another, on the ancient road paved with bluestone slabs, stretching an astonishing distance of three or four miles.

Even with the encirclement network set up by Hu Biao and his men, they were unable to completely surround them.

However, this is not a big problem. As long as they can surround all the Japanese tanks at once, it will be fine.

Those Japanese trucks won't be able to escape this time.

In addition, each tank was packed with Japanese soldiers.

They were some of the escort infantry units that the Japanese 11th Army temporarily reinforced for the 13th Tank Regiment after the start of the Battle of C-Sha.

With the addition of the original infantry of the 13th Tank Regiment, there are now four companies, totaling about seven or eight hundred men.

They probably just didn't want to walk, which is why they ended up traveling on tanks.

Their unintentional act of slacking off undoubtedly made it much more difficult to take down these tanks; after all, once the fighting started, with these accompanying infantrymen, it would be much harder for Hu Biao and his men to get close to the tanks.

But at this point, they had no choice but to back down.

The only thing to be thankful for, or rather, the fact that seasoned veterans like Huang Adi are quick-witted enough.

The Japanese soldiers of the 13th Tank Regiment never expected to be attacked when they marched into C Sand City.

Even the Japanese tank commanders couldn't be bothered to stay in the cramped tank.

They all poked their heads out of the turrets, laughing and joking with the accompanying infantry sitting on the tanks, completely unsuspecting.

Furthermore, when they greeted Huang Adi and others who were disguised as Japanese sentries at the roadside checkpoint.

Huang Adi and others would often pretend to yawn, feigning a very sleepy appearance.

Then, he simply waved his hand in response, and the Japanese soldiers didn't pay any attention to it, nor did they sense anything was amiss...

Finally, at 3:51 a.m.

The driver of the lead Japanese Type 95 light tank noticed a bamboo pole lying across the bluestone road ahead.

Since the bamboo pole was only about the thickness of an egg, the Japanese driver was not worried at all about how such a thin obstacle would affect the tracks or the vehicle's movement.

They also didn't notice that a stone slab under the bamboo pole wasn't very flat, as if it had been pried open not long ago.

Without even blinking, they drove the tank over them.

What he didn't know was that, according to the prior agreement between the ambush troops, the action of the tank tracks running over the bamboo poles was the signal to attack.

Almost the instant the tracks rolled over, Chen Tang, who was hiding 20 meters away from the roadside, was caught.

In this modern-day PLA, Chen Tang, who had served as an engineer for a period of time, forcefully pressed the old-fashioned detonator in his hand with a ferocious expression on his face.

A moment later, a 10-kilogram TNT explosive charge exploded at the bottom of the tank.

The Type 95 light tank, with a combat weight of 7.4 tons, did not reach 8 tons even with the five Japanese infantrymen sitting on it.

In the midst of the wild explosion, this thing was as light and powerful as a toy.

He was thrown five or six meters into the air before crashing heavily back down into a crater that had just been blasted out, more than a meter deep and seven or eight meters wide.

The vehicle immediately flipped sideways and overturned, and with the large crater in the ground, it completely blocked any possibility for the Japanese tanks behind it to continue forward along this road.

As for the Japanese infantrymen who were slacking off on that tank, they were in even worse shape now.

The two Japanese soldiers who were killed on the spot were actually quite lucky; because the remaining Japanese soldiers were thrown more than ten meters into the air by the powerful shockwave from below.

The fear they felt as they plummeted toward the ground was indescribable.

At the moment it took off, the outer shell of this Type 95 tank was already severely twisted and deformed.

A large number of rivets, parts and other debris flew wildly in all directions, almost hitting Chen Tang and the others who were lying on the side of the road.

But at this point, Chen Tang and his group couldn't care less about these things.

Because after the explosion, all the other personnel lying in ambush on both sides of the road also made their move; the 'tooth extraction' operation officially began...

(End of this chapter)