Siheyuan: I, Shazhu, started out as an army and became a general.

Hill 597.9.

The name that would later make the world take notice—one of the main battlefields of Shangganling.

At this moment, all that can be seen is scorched earth.

When He Yuzhu arrived with his engineering battalion, a round of artillery fire had just stopped.

The mountain was barren; not a single tree, not even a single blade of grass, could be found. Only dark, rocky mounds and half-burnt tree stumps remained. The air was thick with the pungent smell of sulfur, and if you grabbed a handful of soil, half of it was covered in scalding hot shrapnel.

The company stationed here is a company of the 15th Army, and the company commander is Zhang Dabiao (not the one from "Bright Sword", but he has the same fiery temper).

Zhang Dabiao glanced at the pile of entrenching tools and steel shovels that He Yuzhu had brought, then looked at He Yuzhu's unbelievably young face, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly.

"Commander He, what are you sending engineers for at this critical juncture? To repair the road? This wretched place of ours will be completely razed by artillery shells tomorrow, so repairing it would be a waste of time."

Zhang Dabiao spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, pursed his lips, and gave me a "you're kidding me" look.

In his view, if the higher-ups were sending "God of War" He Yuzhu, they'd be bringing machine guns to fight. Bringing an engineering battalion to dig dirt? That's like using a cannon to kill a mosquito—a complete waste of time.

He Yuzhu was too lazy to waste words with him and directly activated the [All-Terrain Geological Structure Analysis].

In an instant, the seemingly indestructible rock formations in his vision transformed into a series of three-dimensional, transparent cross-sectional images. He could clearly see where the rock strata were solid, where the structure was fragile and prone to collapse, and where the natural ventilation shafts were—all the information was as clear as if it were etched into his mind.

"Company Commander Zhang, have your men withdraw from the front lines." He Yuzhu pointed to the reverse slope behind the ridge, "Everyone retreat to this side."

"Withdraw?" Zhang Dabiao immediately exploded. "Are we just abandoning the position? What if the enemy gets close?"

"Just leave three observation posts at the front to keep watch." He Yuzhu's tone was calm, yet commanding, leaving no room for discussion. "The rest of you, all of you, go with the engineering battalion and get to work."

"What kind of work?"

"Dig a hole."

Enraged, Zhang Dabiao threw his hat to the ground: "I came here to fight the Japanese, not to be a miner!"

He Yuzhu turned around abruptly, his gaze sweeping across Zhang Dabiao's face like a knife.

"If you want to die, then stay in that half-meter-deep pit."

"If you want to live, and if you want to kill more American devils, do as I say."

"That's an order."

The overwhelming aura of a general descended! Zhang Dabiao shuddered at the murderous intent that seemed to have crawled out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood, swallowing back the curse that was about to come out of his mouth. Good heavens, the murderous aura emanating from He Laohu was even more damn heavy than that of the army commander!

"Fine...fine! I'll dig! If we lose this position, I'll risk my life to report you to headquarters!"

Over the next three days, the atmosphere at Highland 597.9 changed drastically.

The sound of gunfire ceased on the position, replaced only by the ceaseless clanging of chisels striking the stone, day and night.

He Yuzhu fully activated the DNA of the "infrastructure maniac," transforming into a human-shaped, self-propelled construction blueprint.

"Dig down three meters here, and you'll find a single piece of granite—a natural artillery shield!"

"That position, if we make an opening as a firing port, will provide a field of view covering the entire hillside, allowing for crossfire with no blind spots!"

"This side! This side needs reinforcement, use the 'triangular support method' I mentioned, quick!"

The engineers were initially skeptical, but they soon became convinced. Following the lines drawn by He Yuzhu not only saved them a great deal of effort, but also resulted in incredibly stable tunnel structures!

Even more remarkably, He Yuzhu devised a "bottom-up blasting method," using a small amount of explosives to create space inside the rock, which multiplied the tunneling speed several times over.

three days later.

A network of tunnel fortifications, taking initial shape, has already been formed.

Although it's far from being an "underground Great Wall," it's more than enough to hide a company.

On the fourth day, it was just getting light.

The American offensive has begun.

This time, in an attempt to avenge his previous defeat, U.S. Army Commander Van Fleet deployed what could only be described as insane artillery fire.

"Boom—boom boom boom boom—"

It felt like the entire sky had collapsed!

Six heavy artillery shells pounded the high ground every second, shearing the entire hilltop down by two meters! Rocks were blasted into powder, and the soil was repeatedly plowed and turned over.

This is what would later become known as "Van Fleet's ammunition load."

A few kilometers away, Prokov, holding his binoculars, shook his head in despair and said to the old marshal beside him, "It's over. With that kind of firepower, not even a fly could survive, let alone a person. That He, and his troops, are probably already turned to dust."

The old general gripped the binoculars tightly, his knuckles turning white, without uttering a word.

The shelling lasted for a full two hours.

As soon as the artillery fire stopped, two American battalions swaggered up the mountain and began their assault, not even bothering to bend over. In their view, this wasn't an offensive, but rather post-war mopping-up.

But just then—

Just as the advance troops of the US forces were less than 30 meters from the position.

Beneath the seemingly bombed-out rubble, camouflage panels suddenly flipped open with a "whoosh"!

Followed by.

Rows of dark gun barrels suddenly emerged from the ground!

Inside the tunnel, Zhang Dabiao brushed the dust off his hat and looked at the unsuspecting American soldiers outside, who seemed to be strolling through their own backyard. He was grinning from ear to ear.

"Damn it, He Laohu is truly a god!"

"Brothers! We've had our fill of playing cards and listening to the noise in the cave. Now it's our turn to take the stage and put on a show!"

"Beat him to death!"

"Da da da da da—!"

A dense net of fire, like a scythe from hell, erupted violently from the ground!

The American troops at the forefront were immediately stunned!

This isn't a human! This is a damn demon crawling out of hell to steal souls!

At a distance of thirty meters with no cover, they were rows of live targets waiting to be harvested.

In just five minutes, leaving behind hundreds of corpses, the remaining American soldiers scrambled away, crying and screaming as they fled.

At the headquarters observation post.

The old general slowly lowered his binoculars, and a long-lost, heartfelt, radiant smile appeared on his weathered face.

He turned his head and looked at Prokov, whose mouth was agape enough to fit an egg.

"Comrade Advisor."

"It seems our 'groundhog' has exceptionally strong teeth."

He Yuzhu stood at the entrance of the tunnel, dusted off the dust on his shoulders, and looked down at the fleeing American troops. As expected, the system notification sounded in his mind.

[The "Infrastructure Maniac" template has been upgraded!]

[New recipe obtained: High-explosive concrete!]

[Gained new skill: Quick Repair!]

His eyes were deep and unfathomable, as if brewing an even greater storm.

This is nothing.

Now that I'm here, I'm going to turn this 597.9-meter-high hill into a place that will strike fear into the hearts of the entire Western world—the "Heartbreak Ridge"!