Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 252 Incendiary Bomb

The 6th Regiment Command of the 5th Brigade of the 3rd Division.

On a temporarily reinforced earthen slope, Colonel Kawanami Mitsu, commander of the Sixth Regiment, was observing the burning town of "Shimonoseki" with an elegant posture, almost like appreciating a work of art, holding up his German-made Zeiss binoculars, which he had bought with his own money.

The whistling of shells, the roar of machine guns, and the iconic charging shouts of Imperial soldiers intertwined to create a war symphony that sounded incredibly pleasant to him.

"Hmph, a bunch of stubborn groundhogs." Kawanami put down his binoculars, a contemptuous sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.

His operations staff immediately bowed and reported: "Colonel... Just now, our brave First Company successfully broke into the town! Although we were met with a fierce counterattack from the Chinese army and had to retreat temporarily, a huge gap has appeared in the enemy's defenses! Their casualties must be several times that of ours!"

"Yoshi!"

Kawanami nodded in satisfaction, gently brushing away non-existent dust from his uniform with his white gloves. "The resistance of the Chinese army is nothing more than the dying struggle of a grasshopper in autumn."

Their courage was as cheap as the soil beneath their feet.

Our so-called steadfastness only adds a negligible obstacle to the sharpness of our katana.

He didn't take the brief "repulsion" he had just experienced to heart at all.

In his view, it was nothing more than a perfect reconnaissance mission that successfully depleted the defenders' already dwindling manpower and ammunition.

The unit in the town was an unnamed infantry regiment of the 55th Army of the National Revolutionary Army.

These men held out like cockroaches for several days under the intense artillery fire of the Imperial Army, which was an insult to the Imperial Japanese Army and the "Steel Army" Third Division.

Kawanami believed that this insult would soon be completely washed away.

He turned around and commanded in an unquestionable tone, "Pass down the order! Artillery units, conduct another round of overwhelming bombardment! I want every inch of that land to feel the warmth of the Imperial cannon fire!"

"The Second and Third Companies and the Cavalry Company under the First Battalion, prepare yourselves!"

"As soon as the shelling ends, launch a general offensive! I want to enjoy my dinner amidst the ruins of the town before sunset!"

"Hail!" the staff officers responded in unison, running enthusiastically to relay the order.

Kawanami Michiko raised his binoculars again, his face beaming with the confidence of victory. He could almost see the Chinese army's positions crumbling under the artillery fire, his soldiers shouting "Banzai!" as they stabbed the remaining resistance fighters to death in the ruins.

And he, Kawabata Mitsu, will receive commendation from the brigade commander for conquering this stubborn stronghold. Perhaps, before long, the rank on his shoulder will rise to that of a general.

He squinted contentedly, gazing at the cloudless, azure sky.

What a bright and sunny day! It's a perfect day to achieve victory and glory.

Just then, a strange, low buzzing sound came from the far horizon. The sound grew louder and clearer, as if some huge swarm of metal bees was approaching at high speed.

"Hmm? What's that sound?" Kawanami frowned, raising his binoculars towards the sky in confusion...

At this point, Xiaguan Town could no longer be called a "town," but rather a purgatory repeatedly ravaged by artillery fire.

The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder, blood, and death amidst the ruins.

Ma Wenying, the commander of the 169th Regiment of the 85th Brigade of the 29th Division, was leaning against a crumbling wall, panting heavily.

His left arm was hastily bandaged with strips of cloth, the dark red bloodstains of which had soaked through the entire fabric.

Beside him were the last hundred or so brothers in the entire regiment, each one ragged and covered in blood, their eyes filled with exhaustion, yet still gripping their weapons tightly.

They have held off the Japanese attack for several days.

Suddenly, a rapid and heavy thud of hooves, like the beating of drums, rang out from the outskirts of the town and was approaching at an alarming speed!

"It's cavalry! The Japanese cavalry!" a sentry lying on the roof screamed in terror.

Ma Wenying's heart sank.

The outer defenses had already fallen, and the roadblocks set up in the town to hinder infantry and chariots were completely useless against the high-speed charging cavalry!
Before he could finish his thought, a troop of tall Japanese cavalrymen, like demons emerging from hell, roared out from the street corner.

They wore steel helmets and khaki uniforms, with muskets hanging from their saddles, but the sabers that gleamed with a chilling light in their hands were the most threatening weapons to them.

"Kill the chicken and give it to me!"

The leading Japanese cavalry officer let out a beast-like roar and pointed his saber forward.

The entire cavalry unit instantly transformed into a torrent of steel, rushing into the Nationalist soldiers' makeshift defenses.

Just as a young soldier raised his Hanyang rifle, before he could even aim, a warhorse rammed into him with tremendous force.

He was sent flying like a kite with a broken string. In mid-air, a bright flash of light appeared, and his head flew into the air. The blood gushing from his chest stained the ruins behind him.

"what……"

Screams came and went.

These elite Japanese cavalrymen displayed terrifying dominance in the narrow streets.

They stood high above, their warhorses' hooves trampling wildly, each swing of their sabers taking a life.

The Nationalist soldiers were all wounded and had difficulty moving. Their single-shot rifles were clumsy and ineffective against these fast-moving targets.

Resistance turned into slaughter.

"Damn it!" Ma Wenying's eyes were bloodshot. He had witnessed a veteran who had followed him from Hebei to this place being cut in half at the waist by a cavalryman.

He could no longer bear this humiliating death.

"Brothers!" He drew his Mauser pistol from his waist, fired several shots into the sky, and roared with all his might, "Stand up! We are soldiers! Not pigs waiting to be slaughtered!"

"Fix bayonets! Charge with me! Even if we die, we'll make sure those sons of bitches on horseback leave a hole in them!"

The roar ignited the last vestige of fighting spirit in the soldiers' hearts. "Kill!"

"Charge with the commander!"

The surviving soldiers leaped from behind their cover, bayonets fixed, and charged headlong into the unstoppable torrent of steel.

Ma Wenying charged ahead, his Mauser pistol spitting fire as he knocked a leading Japanese cavalryman off his horse. But more sabers were already coming down at him.

He could already smell the strong, pungent odor emanating from the warhorses and see the ferocious, cruel smiles on the cavalrymen's faces.

He closed his eyes, preparing to face his end.

However, at that moment, a roar that was heavier and more shocking than the sound of horses' hooves suddenly pressed down from the sky!
Just as Ma Wenying and his brothers closed their eyes and awaited death, preparing to meet the sabers with their flesh and blood, a booming sound descended from the sky, growing louder and louder, like the war drums of the gods, instantly drowning out all the noise on the battlefield!

Ma Wenying suddenly opened his eyes, a glimmer of elation exploding in his bloodshot pupils!

He remembered! Just half an hour ago, the brigade commander told him in a hoarse voice on the phone that he should hold on no matter what, because soon... very soon, reinforcements would arrive!
At the time, he thought it was just a joke from the brigade commander to comfort him, after all, where in the entire war zone were there any planes that could still fly? But he never expected it to be true!

"Signal gun!" Ma Wenying almost screamed in a hoarse voice.

He didn't even care about the saber that was about to strike him; he suddenly drew the gleaming signal pistol from his waist, pointed it at the sky, and pulled the trigger without hesitation!

"Whoosh... Bang!"

A red light bullet trailing a long plume of white smoke whistled as it shot toward the Japanese cavalry charging toward them, standing out starkly against the gray sky!
As if receiving the clearest command, the thunder in the sky instantly transformed into the roar of death!

"Da da da... da da da da..."

An unprecedented burst of gunfire, like a chainsaw tearing through steel, erupted from beneath the wings of a fighter jet flying at extremely low altitude!

Six 12.7mm heavy machine guns opened fire simultaneously, and the interwoven fire net, like an invisible giant scythe, swept fiercely across the charging Japanese cavalry!

The enemy cavalry, which had been advancing with unstoppable momentum like a tidal wave, suddenly stopped. Immediately afterward, a series of teeth-grinding sounds of bones cracking and flesh tearing filled the air.

Large-caliber bullets spinning at high speeds possess terrifying kinetic energy.

Neither the strong bodies of the warhorses nor the equipment on the cavalrymen were as fragile as paper in the face of this storm of metal.

The warhorses and their riders were instantly reduced to mangled, bloody heaps, tumbling and crashing to the ground in droves. The once-mighty cavalry was now a scene of carnage, with men and horses falling and blood flowing like a river.

"Long live!"

"Our plane! It's our plane!"

Gazing at the menacing fighter jets painted with shark mouth designs, strafing enemy cavalry at extremely low altitudes, the Nationalist soldiers who had just been preparing to die bravely erupted in thunderous cheers.

Overwhelmed with joy at surviving the ordeal, they jumped up and down, brandishing their weapons.

However, before their cheers had subsided, the lead dive bomber gracefully pulled up its nose, and at the same time, a silver bomb shaped like a bucket was gently dropped from under its fuselage.

With a "bang," a small parachute opened at the tail of the bomb, causing it to drift slowly and sway down towards the chaotic street below.

Seeing the bomb lying there so casually, Ma Wenying's ecstatic joy froze instantly, replaced by a deep-seated fear!

"Run...it's an incendiary bomb!" He screamed with all his might.

As the battalion commander, he had certainly witnessed the devastating power of incendiary bombs; this weapon, known as "hellfire," was truly vicious. He would rather be torn to pieces than be even licked by its flames!
The soldiers were startled by his scream, but their survival instincts made them instinctively rush toward the ruins on both sides.

They ran away in less than a second!
"Tom!"

A muffled thud came from behind them. Immediately afterwards, a wave of scorching heat, enough to cook a person alive, swept across the entire street.

A huge, viscous, orange-red fireball suddenly exploded, scattering countless burning oil droplets like living venomous snakes! The center of the entire street instantly transformed into a raging sea of ​​flames!

Amidst the sea of ​​fire, a terrifying, inhuman scream immediately resounded!

The screams of men and warhorses mingled together, creating the most terrifying symphony in hell. The warhorses, engulfed in flames and driven by excruciating pain, charged recklessly out of the inferno. They ran and leaped wildly, the unburnt oil on their bodies dragging flames strong enough to melt steel, scattering them madly to both sides of the street, spreading the embers of death to every corner!
In the sky, the remaining fighter jets clearly showed no sign of stopping. They took turns diving, flying low, and dropping bombs. Dozens of incendiary bombs, weighing between 50 and 100 kilograms, were accurately dropped one after another onto the wide street.

The entire area was completely engulfed in the flames of the fire dragon. In the sea of ​​fire, cavalrymen covered in flames could be seen from time to time, falling from their fiery horses like burning charcoal, only to stand up instantly and struggle and dance in vain in the flames, finally turning into twisted black charcoal.

"what……"

Just then, a Nationalist soldier who had no time to dodge suddenly let out a heart-wrenching scream.

A ball of flame stuck to his arm was burning fiercely, instantly burning through his military uniform and beginning to devour his flesh.

In excruciating pain, he instinctively used his other intact hand to frantically pat the flames on his arm.

"Don't take pictures!"

Ma Wenying, who was closest to him, roared with bloodshot eyes and pounced like a cheetah, slamming the soldier to the ground and pressing his burning arm down with her body.

Incendiary bombs, also known as napalm bombs, are most insidious because they are made of a sticky paste! Patting them on will only cause the burning area to expand, eventually engulfing the entire body, beyond saving!

"Bayonet... use the bayonet to scrape!" Ma Wenying forcefully held down the screaming and struggling soldier, and shouted loudly at another terrified soldier next to her.

The soldier snapped out of his daze, quickly drew his bayonet from his waist, aimed it at the burning oil, and scraped it off fiercely with the tip of the blade!

"Zi..."

With a sickening sound and a stench of burnt skin being scraped away, the wounded soldier let out a bloodcurdling scream, his body convulsing violently. The clump of ointment scraped onto the bayonet continued to burn stubbornly and eerily on the tip.

The most insidious aspect of napalm is that it is virtually flammable, burning anything it touches, and even jumping into water cannot stop its combustion.

If someone gets burned, the only way to save them is to scrape off the burned area as quickly as possible. Otherwise, if the time is delayed, the fire poison will seep into the body, and even a god cannot save them.

(End of this chapter)