You are ordered to support the War of Resistance against Japan; China enters Level 1 combat readines

Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

While Li Yunlong and his men were pursuing, the Japanese on the other side of the battlefield had already been completely routed after several rounds of devastating rocket attacks!

News of the collapse at the front lines came flying back to the First Army's front-line command post, which was located dozens of miles behind the front.

Kazuo Shinotsuka's face was ashen, and his hand holding the telegram trembled violently.

The current battle situation has completely exceeded his worst expectations!

The Eighth Route Army's firepower and equipment were so fierce that they completely overturned his understanding of the "pacification war" in North China.

"Withdraw! Order the entire army to withdraw immediately! Provide alternating cover and evacuate the He County area! Quickly!"

Kazuo Shinotsuka practically roared as he gave the order.

All talk of revenge, besieging the enemy stronghold to catch reinforcements, and bombarding He County has become a joke.

Preserving the remaining troops and preventing the First Army's core from being broken is the only option.

The commander of the 37th Division, Adachi Tsujizo, had completely lost the coldness and scheming he had shown in Nanjing, his face now showing only horror and blankness.

He fought against the elite Nationalist army in Central China many times. Although the enemy resisted fiercely, their firepower had never given him such a desperate sense of oppression.

In less than five minutes, four artillery regiments were completely destroyed.

Are you kidding me!

He felt that his past war experience had been completely crushed at this moment.

As for the puppet troops, they had long since been utterly terrified.

"Oh my god! Eighth Route Army soldiers, have mercy!"

"Run! Run! Are these Eighth Route Army soldiers? They're even fiercer than the Japanese!"

"If I had known the Eighth Route Army had this thing, I would never have become a traitor! I regret it so much!"

"Forget everything! Drop your things and run!"

……

The puppet troops cried out in despair, completely disorganized, like ants scattered from their nest, wishing they had been given two more legs.

However, even if they had four legs, how could they outrun trucks and tanks?

Li Yunlong personally led a rapid assault group consisting of three Type 99A tanks, fifteen Type 59 tanks, and more than thirty trucks, directly into a group of routed soldiers on the southern front who were trying to rally their forces.

From afar, one could already see through binoculars the group of disheveled Japanese soldiers who were barely managing to regroup under the officers' shouts.

"Hahaha! Those damned Japanese devils, they think they can organize a resistance?"

Li Yunlong stood on the turret of a Type 59 tank, holding binoculars, laughing heartily.

"Want to put up a sign? Did you even ask me?!"

Li Yunlong put down his binoculars, grabbed the walkie-talkie, and roared at the top of his lungs, "107th Fire Squad! Aim at that bunch of bastards huddled together and fire another volley!"

"Smash those sons of bitches to pieces!"

"receive!"

The 107mm rocket launcher vehicle following behind quickly stopped and made brief adjustments.

A few seconds later—

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—boom boom boom!

A dozen or so 107mm rockets, trailing white smoke, accurately struck the group of Japanese soldiers who had just gathered.

The explosion sent flames soaring up again, and limbs and weapon parts flew everywhere.

The newly erected "defense line" flag, along with the Japanese officer who carried it, vanished instantly into the flames and smoke.

The Japanese soldiers who were lucky enough to survive were blown to pieces, and their cries of agony filled the air.

The little bit of resistance that had just been mustered was completely shattered by this second round of precise strikes. The lucky Japanese soldiers were plunged into even deeper panic and began to flee in disarray.

"Tank battalion! Charge! Run them over!" Li Yunlong gave the order and jumped back into the tank compartment.

Rumble—!

The three Type 99A tanks accelerated first, their 125mm thick gun barrels slightly lowered.

The fifteen Type 59 tanks following closely behind roared and formed a wedge-shaped assault formation, their tracks kicking up clouds of dust as they charged toward the ravaged enemy territory with overwhelming force.

The surviving Japanese soldiers watched the approaching torrent of steel, their eyes filled with despair.

Terrified, the Japanese soldiers screamed and fired wildly at the tank with their Type 38 rifles and Type 96 machine guns.

Ding ding ding... pfft pfft...

Bullets hitting the composite armor of the 99A tank leave not even a white mark, and hitting the 120mm equivalent frontal armor of the 59 tank is like a tickle, at most scattering a few sparks.

A few Japanese sergeants, desperately operating the only remaining Type 92 heavy machine guns, fired at the leading Type 99A.

Boom!Boom!Boom!

The 7.7mm full-power round struck the 99A's hull with a dull thud, but that was all; it failed to even trigger the outermost reactive armor.

"Damn it, they don't surrender and dare to resist? Blow them up!" Li Yunlong shouted.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The 125mm smoothbore gun of the 99A and the 100mm rifled gun of the 59 tank fired almost simultaneously.

High-explosive shells are like Death's roll call, accurately landing on those who dare to unleash heavy firepower.

Clusters of fire exploded, and the Japanese heavy machine gun position, along with its operators, was reduced to parts and blood mist.

"Each vehicle fires freely to wipe out the remaining enemy!" Li Yunlong ordered again.

On the top of the tank, the rows of 12.7mm heavy machine guns, which can be used both as anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons, were laid flat.

3辆99A加15辆59坦，整整18挺12.7毫米重机枪！

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat—! ! !

The gun muzzle spat out a foot-long tongue of fire, like the most stern father of the Japanese soldiers, sweeping towards the fleeing and trying-to-hide Japanese soldiers.

A 12.7mm full-power round will obliterate a person upon impact!

In an instant, severed limbs and dismembered bodies flew everywhere!

The Japanese have completely collapsed!

The steel torrent relentlessly swept across the area.

Beneath the tracks lay only flesh and mud.

When the infantrymen on the trucks behind them jumped off with shouts, ready to charge into battle and wreak havoc alongside the tanks, they rushed forward and were all stunned.

What decent resistance was there left? What lively Japanese soldiers were there?

On the devastated battlefield, only burning wreckage, craters emitting blue smoke, and mutilated Japanese corpses scattered everywhere remained.

Occasionally, one or two severely wounded but not dead would fall into pools of blood, groaning weakly, too weak to even lift their weapons.

"This...that's it?"

A new recruit, clutching a Type 56 assault rifle, was dumbfounded; he had been bracing himself for a bayonet charge.

So, when we say "cleaning up the battlefield," we really mean just cleaning up the battlefield?

Does it mean exactly what it says?

"Commander, stop bombarding!"

"Leave some Japanese soldiers for the brothers to practice on!"

"Machine gunner, stop firing! Conserve your bullets!"

……

The same scene was playing out almost simultaneously on the front lines under the command of Ding Wei and Kong Jie.

The fierce artillery fire, the relentless crushing of the enemy forces, the deadly mopping-up of vehicles with heavy machine guns... the Eighth Route Army carried out an efficient and brutal harvest in a way that was completely beyond the comprehension of this era.

"That was awesome! That was fucking awesome!"

Kong Jie sat on a captured, still-starting Japanese tricycle, watching the enemy skirmish line being crushed by tanks ahead, and slapped his thigh excitedly.

"I've fought so many battles over the years, but today's was the most exhilarating! This battle was so satisfying! So incredibly satisfying!"