Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 297 Bombardment
Just moments before the more than three hundred cannons were about to roar, a silent battle had already begun on an unnamed hill dozens of kilometers away from the flank of the main battlefield.

In the morning sunlight, the cliff, which is more than 300 meters high, looks particularly austere.

It was like a silent behemoth, overlooking the winding road below. The fierce mountain wind in the morning relentlessly lashed against the bare trees and gray cliffs, making a howling sound.

Suddenly, on the almost vertical, gray-white cliff, more than twenty shadows, almost blending into the rock, began to move with difficulty.

Their movements were subtle yet resolute, like geckos clinging to a rock face. After several minutes, a shadow finally grabbed onto a protruding rock at the edge of the cliff, and with a powerful push, he flipped himself over the edge.

This is a soldier wearing a Shanxi militia special operations uniform.

Without pausing, he immediately grabbed a tree trunk that was bent by the wind on the edge of the cliff, and laboriously raised his submachine gun, pointing the muzzle towards the mountaintop to provide cover for his companions behind him.

The morning sunlight filtered through the sparse shadows of the trees, casting dappled patterns on his face. Beneath the camouflage netting on his helmet, large beads of sweat had already formed on his forehead, sliding down his cheeks.

This cliff has no name. On the Shanxi militia's battle map, it only has a cold code name - No. 87 Unnamed Hill.

According to intelligence, a Japanese infantry detachment was stationed on the cliff, and their mission was to monitor and blockade an important supply road below.

Due to the extremely rugged terrain, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack, the Japanese commander stationed here—Squad Leader Tanaka—appeared very arrogant and complacent.

He did not station any sentries along the cliff edge. In his view, such a steep and precipitous natural barrier was an absolute obstacle, and it was impossible for any Chinese person to climb up here unless they were a reincarnated lynx with wings.

At this moment, if a cat were to look down from the bushes on the mountaintop to the other side of the mountain, it could clearly see the Japanese positions.

A group of disheveled Japanese soldiers were slowly building fortifications. Some of them were even smoking together, and their chatter and laughter could be heard from time to time. They were completely unaware of the impending threat of death.

At the top of the cliff, one militia special forces member after another silently climbed up. They quickly dispersed and formed a semi-circular attack formation, their dark gun barrels already aimed at the Japanese soldiers who were still leisurely chatting and laughing.

"Ah... I really envy Kobayashi-kun!"

A Japanese soldier, slacking off, leaned against an unfinished mound of earth at his fortification, smugly smoking a cigarette. He then kicked the mound in front of him hard, his face full of envious resentment as he muttered:

"Damn it, that guy Kobayashi was so lucky while repairing the trenches that he got his finger cut off by an entrenching tool."

Now he's comfortably lying in a cave at the rear medical station, enjoying the gentle care of the nurses, without worrying about being shelled by the Chinese army, and without having to anxiously go to the front lines. He's so lucky!

His companions chuckled and echoed his sentiments, fantasizing about finding an excuse to "rest" in the rear.

Just then, Tanaka, the squad leader with the sharpest ears, suddenly frowned. He listened for a moment, then nudged the soldier next to him who was still complaining with his elbow: "Hey, wait a minute, listen, it sounds like... there's a sound coming from the mountain."

As he spoke, he cautiously picked up the Type 38 rifle beside him and nervously looked around.

A mountain breeze blew through the woods, creating a rustling sound.

"Captain, you're too nervous. That's just the sound of wind..." The soldier who had been complaining just moments before waved his hand dismissively, clearly looking down on his captain's cowardice.

However, before he could finish speaking, he was horrified to see seven or eight small black dots suddenly fly out from the seemingly peaceful forest in the direction of the mountain peak that Tanaka pointed to.

Those black dots drew precise parabolas in the air, leaving faint trails of smoke, heading straight for the trench where they were!

"No...it's not the sound of wind! It's a grenade!"

Squad leader Tanaka's pupils suddenly contracted, and he let out a shrill scream. Almost instinctively, he shouted those words and then collapsed to the ground.

"Boom... Boom boom boom..."

Almost the instant he lay down, a violent explosion resounded throughout the entire Japanese fortification.

Several American-made MKII offensive grenades landed precisely in the densest area of ​​the Japanese soldiers. The shockwave from the explosions, mixed with dirt, gravel, and torn flesh, sent several stunned Japanese soldiers flying into the air!

"beat!"

Before the smoke from the explosion had even cleared, a soldier from the militia special forces leaped up from the bushes on the hilltop. His Thompson submachine gun, nicknamed "Chicago Typewriter," spat out a frenzied tongue of fire, and dense .45 bullets rained down on the chaotic Japanese troops below.

Behind him, more than twenty special forces soldiers also appeared at the same time. While using their submachine guns and Garand rifles to provide suppressive fire, they pounced on the Japanese positions like tigers descending from the mountain.

The Japanese soldiers stationed here were completely stunned by this sudden, textbook-perfect attack! The soldiers who were just bragging and joking around were now completely blank, with only the instinct for survival remaining.

Like startled rabbits, Xiaochuan and the others scrambled and stumbled as they rushed down the mountain, desperately trying to escape this death trap.

But it was too late. The special forces soldiers, positioned on higher ground, unleashed a hail of bullets that instantly felled most of the Japanese soldiers attempting to escape. Blood stained the newly repaired fortifications.

Without hesitation, the special forces soldiers leaped into the trench.

Faced with the remaining enemy, they didn't even bother to fire again, instead drawing their swords and bayonets and fiercely stabbing at the Japanese soldiers who were still putting up a last stand. The cold blades pierced into warm flesh, making a series of "thud" sounds.

The entire battle lasted less than three minutes.

Soon, faced with these enemies who seemed to have descended from the heavens as gods of death, the remaining dozen or so Japanese soldiers, whose spirits had already collapsed, could only throw down their weapons, raise their hands with trembling hands, and choose to surrender.

And just as the crucial high ground at No. 87 was cleanly and decisively captured by the Shanxi militia special forces.

"Boo! Hah! Hah!"

Three signal flares, two red and one green, were launched into the sky with a sharp whistling sound, exploding into three brilliant yet deadly fireworks under the morning sky.

This is the signal for a general offensive!
Almost at the same time the signal flare was launched, a series of truly deafening cannon shots began to resound through the sky!
"fire……"

"fire……"

On the artillery positions behind the lines, Zhang Zhihao and Xiong Junfeng used all their strength to issue the orders.

The gunners of more than three hundred cannons suddenly pulled the rigging, and the huge cannons jerked violently backward. Then, one after another, cannonballs carrying revenge and destruction flew at a terrifying speed of hundreds of meters per second, emitting a shrill whistling sound as they tore through the air, like a swarm of locusts passing through the sky, and flew towards the Japanese army's position.

Before today, if any ignorant fool had dared to ask Li Yunlong, "Hey, Lao Li, have you seen the artillery fire?"

That person will definitely get kicked in the butt by Li Yunlong until it's bruised and battered, and then drowned in his spittle.

Damn it, who do they think they are?
Since joining the Huangma Uprising, Li Yunlong has been in the army for more than ten years. He has crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and has fought countless battles, big and small. Bullets are like everyday life to him.

Hasn't he experienced enough shelling from both the Japanese and the Central Army?

However, when he saw what was happening before him, he was completely stunned.

He was lying face down on the trench, the cigarette butt in his mouth had fallen to the ground, his eyes were wide open like saucers, and his mouth was agape enough to fit an egg.

What did he see?
That wasn't the "shelling" he was referring to. It wasn't just scattered shells falling and creating a few craters.

That was...that was a storm of steel! A torrent of destruction!
As the signal flare rose, he saw countless shells soaring into the sky from the horizon behind him, forming a deathly cloud in the air, and then almost simultaneously crashing down on the Japanese positions!

"Boom... boom boom boom..."

The deafening roar, beyond description, continued unabated, and the earth trembled violently as if a dragon were turning over.

Despite being far away, Li Yunlong felt as if his internal organs had shifted during the terrifying tremors.

Immediately afterwards, the entire Japanese position was engulfed by towering plumes of thick smoke and flames.

Countless fragments of rock, soil, twisted steel, and even torn limbs were blasted high into the air by the devastating shockwave, and then fell like rain.

Within seconds, the entire Japanese position was completely transformed into a veritable death zone of flames, debris, and thick smoke.

"Fuck..."

Li Yunlong muttered to himself, then a near-maniacal smile spread across his face. "This...this is what you call a damn artillery barrage! It's exhilarating...it's fucking exhilarating!"

But what surprised Li Yunlong was not only this, but also the timing of the shelling.

As time went on, Li Yunlong gradually sensed that something was wrong.

Isn't it an artillery bombardment? It's been more than ten minutes, why hasn't the bombardment stopped? How can the infantry charge if the bombardment doesn't stop?

Half an hour passed... and the shelling continued. It was then that Li Yunlong realized something was wrong.

"Damn it, Li Gaoyuan didn't tell us the shelling would last this long! That spendthrift, how many shells are going to be wasted? That's all money!"

(End of this chapter)