Bright Sword: From Border Region Manufacturing to Major National Heavy Industry

Chapter 193 The bold get rich, the timid starve.

"Baka! Those damned Eighth Route Army soldiers!"

Seeing that three tanks had lost their combat capability, Hojo Naoki's face turned grim. After cursing, he immediately roared, "The rest of the tanks, attack immediately and destroy the enemy's artillery positions!"

Seeing his cavalry suffering heavy losses, Kuroshima Morita dismounted from his horse without regard for his image and ordered, "Follow the chariots and attack! Annihilate the Chinese!"

puff!
No sooner had Kuroshima Morita finished speaking than his new mount let out a mournful neigh and collapsed to the ground.

The new mount had a hole the size of a bowl on its belly, a wound caused by a heavy machine gun bullet.

"Damn it." Kuroshima Morita clenched his fists so tightly they cracked.

Ueno no Mura hurriedly shouted to Hojo Naoki, "Hojo-kun, don't be reckless! Don't be reckless! Be careful of the Chinese lurking in the shadows with their rocket launchers!"

Given the current situation, the Chinese only have one Type 92 infantry gun and one Hellfire cannon, yet they dare to directly confront a tank regiment. They wouldn't have been so bold if they hadn't laid an ambush with rockets.

"Then tell me how to fight?" Hojo Naoki asked.

"Concentrate superior artillery and machine gun fire to clear out any suspicious targets within a 200-meter radius in front of us," Ueno-no-mura said.

“If we clear out any suspicious targets within this 200-meter radius, the enemy will keep shelling us. What should we do?” Naoki Hojo questioned.

The enemy's hell cannons and Type 92 infantry guns are not just for show. If we don't attack them and instead clear out any suspicious targets within a 200-meter radius, won't they just keep bombing us?

By the time we clear out all the suspicious targets within a 200-meter radius, we estimate that our tanks will have been reduced to a few pieces.

"This, this, this..." Uenomura was momentarily speechless.

Yes.

Clearing out the enemy's rocket launchers that they have laid in ambush will take time.

During this time, the enemy's two artillery pieces kept bombarding us, which was indeed a great threat.

However, if the tank regiment rushes over without clearing out the enemy's buried rocket launchers, it's no joke if a dozen rocket launchers come at it all at once.

"Commander, should we retreat?" one of the Japanese soldiers shouted.

"Damn it, if we retreat, what will happen to the military trains and railways in Wangzhuang!" Hojo Naoki cursed.

The Japanese soldier who shouted for retreat fell silent.

We came here specifically to provide reinforcements. We just faced an attack from the Eighth Route Army, and if we had to retreat now, we wouldn't be able to explain ourselves when we went back.

This is truly a dilemma.

boom!
boom!
Just as Hojo Naoki was caught in a dilemma, the shells from the Hell Cannon and the Type 92 Infantry Gun were fired again.

This time the effect was not as good as the first shelling, but it still destroyed two tanks.

In other words, the Japanese side had already lost five tanks in such a short period of time.

The dense barrage of bullets rendered the dismounted cavalry unable to move.

"Baka! Keep attacking! Keep attacking!" Hojo Naoki quickly ordered his troops to continue the attack.

Before Uenomura could say anything, Hojo Naoki roared, "The Eighth Route Army is best at using tricks in battle. They didn't even use rocket launchers when they attacked the Wangzhuang Railway. This reinforcement unit might not even have rocket launchers."

What Hojo Naoki meant was that if the enemy didn't even have rocket launchers, and we rashly retreated, it would be a huge joke.

Now, the only option is to send troops in and take a gamble.

After all, to some extent, the tank regiment was the only unit that could quickly reinforce the Wangzhuang Railway. Even if it had to withdraw, it needed a reason to do so.

Otherwise, I won't be able to explain myself when I get back.

Uenomura remained silent. In this situation, the tank regiment was essentially on the verge of collapse.

Withdrawal is out of the question; we have no choice but to grit our teeth and keep going.

Otherwise, if the Wangzhuang Railway is torn down, the military trains suffer losses, and the reinforcements fail to provide adequate support, no one can bear the blame.

Seeing the Japanese tank regiment pressing forward, Gao Liujin laughed and said, "Haha, great! I was really worried that these little devils wouldn't be able to withstand the pressure and would retreat. Rocket launchers, get ready!"

Once the Japanese tank regiment reached its designated position, Gao Liujin quickly ordered: "Rocket launchers, fire!"

Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
……

Under Gao Liujin's command, eighteen rocket launchers opened fire, and eighteen rockets immediately roared toward the Japanese tanks.

boom!
boom!
boom!
……

Eighteen rockets, like fireworks, shot into the ranks of the Japanese tank regiment, immediately hitting thirteen Japanese tanks.

These tanks either exploded into fireballs, billowed thick smoke, or were overturned by the shockwave of the explosions.

The Japanese cavalry following these tanks also paid a heavy price, with most of them being hit by shrapnel from artillery shells, resulting in over a hundred casualties.

"Hahaha, well done! This rocket launcher is damn useful!" Gao Liujin laughed loudly upon seeing this. "Hurry up and give those little devils another salvo, hahaha."

The rocket launcher soldiers quickly moved to new positions while reloading their ammunition.

Seeing the thirteen tanks destroyed and the trails of rocket smoke still lingering in the air, Naoki Hojo was stunned: "Baka! This is impossible! How could this be?!"

Previously, he had been questioning whether there was a problem with Uenomura's command.

Now that I've seen the cannon on that shoulder with my own eyes, I truly understand how terrifying it is!
It's terrifying that a single soldier can destroy a large number of our tanks and armored vehicles.

before!

The Chinese had no anti-tank weapons and could only charge forward with explosives, which we could easily mow down with machine guns. Now, their shoulder-mounted cannons are incredibly accurate against tanks and armored vehicles; they're practically our nemesis!

Once the tank regiment is restrained, it means it can no longer act with impunity as before.

"Retreat! Retreat now! If we don't retreat, it's all over!" Ueno no Mura screamed like a pig being slaughtered.

Hojo Naoki realized what was happening and, without any hesitation, shouted, "Retreat! Retreat now!"

The remaining Japanese tanks didn't even have time to adjust their front ends, so they reversed at top speed on the spot.

Some Japanese cavalrymen were even unable to dodge in time and were innocently crushed, letting out a bloodcurdling scream:
"Baka, my leg."

"Baka! Don't you look behind you when you back up?"

"Baka! Don't you have eyes in the back of your butt? You're pressing on my arm, baka!"

……

"Baka, you idiot, don't you dare run over my horse, baka, baka!" Although Kuroshima Morita's mount was shot, it was not yet dead.

The warhorse was run over by a reversing tank, its head crushed, and it died instantly. Kuroshima Morita roared in anger.

But the reversing tank completely ignored Kuroshima Morita's shouts and continued to reverse frantically.

Kuroshima Morita was pulled onto the command vehicle by Ueno no Mura, who was evacuating: "Kuroshima-kun, the horse is ruined."

"Even if the horse is ruined, I still have soldiers I haven't taken with me!" Kuroshima Morita shouted wildly.

The troops retreated hastily, leaving many wounded soldiers behind.

"There's no other way, the Eighth Route Army has sounded the charge." Ueno no Mura pointed to the Eighth Route Army soldiers who had already charged forward.

boom!
boom!
The Hellfire Cannon and the Type 92 Infantry Gun opened fire again, hitting two more tanks, which exploded on the spot like fireworks.

Uenomura's expression immediately twitched again.

Both of these tanks belong to his command.

After this crushing defeat, his tank regiment is now down to only four tanks, including his command vehicle.

"Baka, baka, baka, this damn shoulder cannon..."

On the way back, Hojo Naoki was like a madman, shouting and yelling incoherently.

……

"Damn it, that Japanese tank regiment retreated way too fast." Gao Liujin's troops, on two legs, could not outrun the enemy's wheels and four-legged warhorses.

"Commander, we fought quite well in this battle. This is a tank regiment that fought the Japanese head-on. We took down eighteen Japanese tanks in total. Hehehe." The battalion commander laughed loudly in front of Gao Liujin and said, "In comparison, you still surpassed Commander Kong."

"Damn it, once I get the cavalry organized, none of these little devils will escape!" Gao Liujin cursed, then roared, "Quickly gather all the uninjured horses, don't leave a single one behind."

This attack on the Japanese tank regiment was very effective, but the Japanese cavalry also suffered heavy losses.

In addition to the direct loss of more than 200 troops and horses, the Japanese also had nearly 200 troops and horses that they did not have time to take with them when they withdrew.

If we gather these nearly two hundred warhorses together and collect the equipment dropped by the Japanese cavalry, our cavalry company will be organized.

"Yes, Captain."

The battlefield was quickly cleared, and Gao Liujin led his troops to catch up with the brother units, successfully covering the arsenal's transport team as they entered the mountains.

As soon as the transport team entered the mountains, someone ran up to Gao Liujin to report: "Reporting to the regimental commander, the scouts have sent word that they have found the next Japanese military train along the Japanese railway line."

"Really?" Gao Liujin asked expectantly, "Is this a cargo military train?"

Damn it, they robbed the Japanese military trains twice in a row, both of them were troop transports. It really infuriated me.

How can you make a fortune if you don't scramble for cargo and military trains?

"The scouts reported back that this is a cargo train," the man nodded and said. "The Japanese are urgently moving the cargo off the train, and he has already secretly followed them."

"Hahaha, it seems that I, Gao Liujin, am finally going to be blessed by the heavens!" Gao Liujin laughed heartily upon hearing this. "The goods that the Japanese are urgently transferring must be incredibly valuable. If we follow them and get lucky, we might even be able to find their important warehouse."

"Commander Gao, we have completed our mission and should withdraw now," Gao Xigang, the new commander of the 28th Regiment of the 120th Division, said to Gao Liujin in a serious tone.

The original commander of the 28th Regiment was Ding Wei. After Ding Wei left the 28th Regiment, the deputy commander Gao Xigang was promoted to the new commander of the 28th Regiment.

The 28th Regiment was tasked with assisting Gao Liujin in covering the arsenal's transport team.

"Withdraw? What withdrawal!" Gao Liujin glared and said, "The Japanese rapid deployment force has already been driven away by us. Not a single Japanese soldier from the 115th Division has come over. We've also completed our mission of covering the arsenal. Isn't this the perfect time to make a big splash? You heard what happened just now. My scouts found the Japanese military train. They're transferring important supplies. If we don't go all out and pull off a big heist, how can you sleep at night?"

Moreover, we still have so many rockets left, and we've only fired a few rounds of infantry gun ammunition, plus plenty of ammunition for the Hell Cannon.

Li Muzhi, the director of the border region's arsenal, said that the expenses would be reimbursed.

Someone's claiming ammunition; if we don't hurry, we'll be foolish.

"Commander Gao, although the Japanese rapid deployment force has been defeated, their infantry..." Gao Xigang didn't finish his sentence.

Gao Liujin interrupted, "So what if his infantry has an extra leg compared to ours! Gao Xigang, if you're scared, go back. I'll go have a big meal by myself."

“Afraid? When have I ever been afraid!” Gao Xigang glared and said, “Since the Japanese are urgently moving supplies, we certainly can’t fall behind.”

"Haha, that's more like it," Gao Liujin laughed. "The bold get rich, the timid starve. Let's go!"

……

(End of this chapter)