Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 188 Showing a Movie (Part 2)
Night had completely fallen, and the small village of Daxia Bay was completely shrouded in darkness.

In a relatively spacious courtyard that had been temporarily set up as a projection room, a diesel generator was humming outside, providing power to the projector that would appear bulky to people in later generations.

The beam of light from the projector lens pierced through the smoke-filled air and projected onto a coarse cloth screen hanging on the opposite wall.

The curtain trembled slightly, and countless lights and shadows danced and flickered on it.

The deputy commander-in-chief, deputy chief of staff, brigade commander Chen, Li Yunlong, Ding Wei, Kong Jie and other leaders of the Eighth Route Army were all sitting on long benches or stools, chatting and laughing with each other in a relaxed manner.

Ding Wei nudged Li Yunlong's arm and whispered, "Old Li, I heard that this time it's about the battle between the Shanxi militia and the Japanese 20th Division in Wild Wolf Valley. You fought alongside the Shanxi militia, so tell me, how strong was the Shanxi militia?"

As soon as Ding Wei finished speaking, many people around looked over, including the commander of the 772nd Regiment, nicknamed "Blind Cheng," and other main force regimental commanders.

"Hey Lao Li, tell everyone, how effective are the Shanxi militias really?"

Seeing the gazes of his old comrades and even his former superiors looking at him, Li Yunlong blushed. He really didn't want to talk about that battle, but given the current situation, he had no choice but to speak up.

Moreover, he couldn't boast. He had to remember that the deputy commander-in-chief, division commander, brigade commander, and other high-ranking officers were sitting next to him. If he dared to boast, Brigade Commander Chen would definitely break his legs.

He could only say with a drooping face, "Don't mention it. Last time I led the New First Regiment through the vicinity of Wutai County, I saw the Shanxi militia fighting with the Japanese. I was thinking about whether I could go over and make some profits."

At first, we did catch the Japanese off guard, but the situation reversed after a Japanese cavalry company suddenly appeared, and our casualties began to rise.

Hearing this, Ding Wei frowned: "Old Li... your luck is really terrible."

The surrounding leaders also shook their heads inwardly. Since ancient times, cavalry has always had a natural advantage over infantry. Whether it is mobility, speed or impact, it is far superior to that of infantry.

If Li Yunlong doesn't handle this situation well, the entire New First Regiment could be wiped out.

Kong Jie quickly asked, "Old Li, what happened next?"

"Later..." Li Yunlong seemed a little embarrassed, but seeing so many eyes on him, he gritted his teeth and said, "Later, a battalion of the Shanxi militia attacked from behind in time."

Good heavens, dozens of machine guns unleashed a barrage of fire, inflicting heavy casualties on the Japanese cavalry. Then we began cleaning up the battlefield.

"I&……%##"

Everyone was stunned. What? Dozens of machine guns firing in one burst? Are you kidding me?

Seeing the unfriendly looks from the crowd, Li Yunlong felt incredibly frustrated. He was telling the truth, so why didn't anyone believe him?

Just as Brigade Commander Chen was about to curse, he heard the projectionist's voice from the side: "Officers, everything is ready, we can begin."

Hearing the projectionist's words, he could only glare fiercely at Li Yunlong, vowing to teach the kid a lesson after tonight.

At this moment, the deputy chief of staff also spoke up: "Alright... everyone quiet down... the film is about to begin."

Soon, a line of blood-red characters appeared on the big screen: "Battle of Wolf Valley." The screen suddenly lit up, showing a blue sky. Then the sky suddenly tore apart, and three grass-green bombers swooped down from the clouds, their blood-red insignia on their wings piercing the eyes.

At the same time, two large speakers placed in the yard suddenly emitted a loud roar.

Every officer and soldier present was a veteran who had experienced countless battles. Upon hearing the familiar voice and seeing the scene, many of them reflexively jumped up from their stools and shouted, "Enemy planes... Take cover!"

Chaos erupted in the courtyard. Finally, the deputy commander stood up and shouted, "What nonsense are you playing? This is a movie screening! What are you doing?"

After being scolded by the deputy commander, those people remembered that they were watching a movie. Their faces turned red and they felt a little embarrassed, so they sat down again.

Soon the screen began to change, and a voice came from the speaker: "On July 28, 1938, the Japanese army launched an attack on Wutai County. Under the command of Major General Su Yaoyang, the commander of the Shanxi militia, the soldiers fought against the Japanese 7th Division in Wild Wolf Valley."

On the first day, the Japanese army assembled two infantry regiments, one artillery regiment, and over thirty aircraft from the 39th Brigade to launch a fierce attack on Wild Wolf Valley. The battle was exceptionally intense from the outset.

As the first bomb fell to the ground, an orange-red fireball wrapped in black smoke rose from the ravine, and the shockwave overturned half of a charred pine tree, its burning branches crashing down on the bunker like severed limbs.

As the second wave of explosions followed, the ground convulsed beneath our feet, and a torrent of rubble and shrapnel rained down.

Those watching the movie could see the screen shaking constantly, which shows how dangerous it was during filming.

Then the Japanese heavy artillery followed in quick succession. The shrill sound of shells tearing through the air pierced the sky. The distant mountain ridges collapsed in the explosions, and the smoke and dust surged like giant waves. The whole earth trembled as if it were being pounded by a giant.

Even though they were separated by a screen, everyone knew how much danger the defenders were facing.

The courtyard was completely silent, with the leaders leaning forward and their brows furrowed.

The deputy commander had long forgotten to smoke his cigarette, the long ash hanging in mid-air.

After a long silence, he turned to his deputy chief of staff and sighed, “It seems that we were right not to confront the Japanese head-on. The Japanese have a superior advantage in terms of weaponry and firepower that we cannot match now. If we were to face them and fight a positional war, even if we all went up there, we wouldn’t be able to hold out for long.”

Brigade Commander Chen also whispered to Brigade Commander Wang of the 385th Brigade sitting next to him, "Old Wang... if we take your brigade up there, how long can you hold out?"

Brigade Commander Wang said with a wry smile, "Even if we send our entire brigade up there, in this intensity of integrated air-ground positional warfare, I estimate that we'd be lucky to last two days."

Brigade Commander Chen listened without saying anything, but continued to look at the screen with a somewhat solemn expression.

Then, the sound from the speaker started again.

"Faced with the Japanese army's attack, the Shanxi militia soldiers were not afraid, but launched a tenacious counterattack."

As soon as the words were spoken, a burst of rapid artillery fire suddenly rang out in the valley, followed by countless anti-aircraft guns emerging and firing into the sky...

(End of this chapter)