One man's resistance against Japan, I mobilized a million people to aid Shanghai.

Northern foothills of the Rocky Mountains, Spokane River Valley

Li Xiangdong, commander of the First Army Group, stood in an observation post on a mountain ridge, looking through binoculars at the opposite bank of the valley.

"Damn it..." he muttered, putting down his binoculars. "What the hell is this place?!"

In the telescope's view, the Spokane Valley resembles a fissure cleaved open by a giant axe of a god, no more than three to five kilometers wide, with near-vertical cliffs on both sides, ranging in height from two hundred to five hundred meters.

At the bottom of the valley, the Spokane River surged continuously, with a flow rate much greater than expected.

Even more deadly is the terrain: in the middle of the valley, the Eagle Army has destroyed all three road bridges, leaving only a few dilapidated railway bridges.

On the ridges on both sides of the valley, the outlines of concrete fortifications can be vaguely seen; these are the defensive positions that the Eagle Army has been frantically building over the past ten days.

Chief of Staff Li Gan unfolded the battle map:

"Commander, based on reconnaissance, the Eagle Army's defensive deployment in the Spokane Valley is as follows:"

"The north bank, which is the side where our troops are located, has abandoned its forward positions, and the Eagle Army has retreated entirely to the south bank."

"South bank defense line: three-tiered defensive positions."

"The first line of defense is on the edge of the valley, mainly consisting of minefields, barbed wire, and machine gun bunkers. The second line is on the mountainside, and the third line is on the ridgeline, where 105mm howitzers and heavy machine guns are deployed."

"The enemy's artillery positions have not yet been discovered."

"The troop strength is estimated to be at least 200,000."

Li Xiangdong spat, "Two hundred thousand against five million? This isn't war, it's herding sheep into a slaughterhouse!"

"But the terrain is extremely unfavorable to us."

Li Gan pointed to the map, "The valley is five kilometers wide at its widest point and only 1.2 kilometers wide at its narrowest."

"If all five million troops of our army were deployed, nearly one hundred thousand soldiers would have to be crammed into every square kilometer, which would be impossible to deploy effectively."

"In reality, the number of troops that can be deployed on the front line will not exceed 50,000."

"What are you going to do with the remaining four million nine hundred and fifty thousand? Just watch from the sidelines?"

Li Xiangdong scratched his head in frustration. "Jia Gu said this is a feint attack, that we should fight fiercely and aggressively to draw the Eagle Army's reserves over..."

"But with this terrain, I can't even spread out my troops, how am I supposed to fight?"

Li Gan paused for a moment and then said:

"Commander, Marshal Jia's intention is to create a great deal of momentum, not to actually break through."

"We can use a series of attacks to create the illusion that our army is launching a continuous and fierce offensive."

"At the same time, we bombarded the area with artillery and air force to make the Eagle Army mistakenly believe that this was the main direction of attack."

Li Xiangdong stared at the map for a long time, and finally slammed his fist on it:

"Alright! Then let's fight! Pass on my orders—"

His voice echoed in the cave:

"First, artillery groups, bombard them!"

"All artillery, regardless of caliber, fire at the other side of the valley!"

"If you run out of shells, ask logistics for more; if logistics runs out of shells, ask Jia Gu for more!"

"Tell the artillery commander that within three days, I want to see the hills on the south bank of the Spokane River leveled three feet!"

"Second, the first to tenth infantry corps will form the first wave of attacks and launch a probing attack two hours later."

"Do not rush in. Probe the location of the firing positions, find out the minefield layout, and clear the way for the following troops."

"Third, engineers, build a bridge for me!"

"No matter what method you use, at least ten heavy-duty pontoon bridges must be erected across the Spokane River within 24 hours!"

"If the Eagles dare to bomb, we'll set up another one! Let's see who can outlast whom!"

Fourth, the Air Force...

Li Xiangdong paused for a moment, then said, "Send a telegram to Jia Gu requesting air support."

"Tell him that the northern front needs at least five hundred bombing raids to completely raze the Eagle Army's ridgeline positions!"

The order was quickly relayed.

At 5:30 a.m., the first shell tore through the darkness before dawn.

Li Xiangdong's artillery group was his proudest asset, consisting of fifty artillery regiments and more than three thousand artillery pieces, ranging from 75mm mountain guns to 150mm heavy howitzers, with a variety of models but an astonishing number.

Some of these artillery pieces were captured American weapons, while others were Japanese mountain guns.

At this moment, the three thousand cannons opened fire in succession on a twenty-kilometer stretch of position on the north bank of the Spokane River.

The scale of the shelling exceeded everyone's expectations.

The first salvo, with the roar of three thousand shells firing simultaneously, caused the earth to tremble violently, and dust fell from the top of the observation post.

The shrieking of shells streaking across the sky was like a continuous chorus, as if Death were sharpening his knife.

Then came the explosions on the other side of the river.

Firelight!

The flames continued unabated!

From the edge of the valley to the mountainside and then to the ridgeline, the exploding fireballs bloomed one after another like flowers of hell.

Smoke, dust, rubble, and severed limbs were thrown into the air, only to be thrown up again by new explosions.

The shelling lasted for a full forty minutes.

When the last shell landed, the forward positions on the south bank of the Spokane River were completely destroyed.

The barbed wire was torn up, the minefield was detonated, and most of the earthen and wooden machine gun bunkers were destroyed.

Through the binoculars, Li Xiangdong could even see the bodies of soldiers blown away hanging on the remaining tree trunks.

"Infantry, advance!"

At 6:10 a.m., 100,000 infantrymen leaped out of their trenches and rushed toward the Spokane River.

They carried German-made 98k rifles, American-made M1 Garand rifles... and, most feared by the Eagle Army, the RPG rocket launcher.

The first wave of assault troops quickly reached the riverbank.

Then, hell descended.

"Fire!"

On the hillside of the south bank, Major General Hammond, commander of the 41st Eagle Division, put down his binoculars, his face pale but his voice firm.

He guessed correctly; the Chinese had indeed chosen the Spokane Valley as their main northern attack route.

But what he didn't expect was that the scale of the attack would be so terrifying.

Five million?

Maybe not that many.

But at least a million troops have already reached the riverbank, and there is an endless sea of ​​people behind them.

"Open fire! All artillery positions, fire freely!"

Hammond yelled into the phone, "Tell the lads to hold the line! Reinforcements are on their way!"

The Eagle Army's counterattack has begun.

Although the forward positions were severely damaged, most of the artillery positions on the hillside and ridge remained intact.

More than seventy 105mm howitzers and more than thirty 155mm heavy artillery pieces opened fire simultaneously. Shells landed among the charging crowd on the north bank, each shell creating a death circle with a diameter of twenty meters.

Even more deadly was the machine gun.

From the bunkers halfway up the mountain, hundreds of machine guns spewed fire.

Browning M1917 water-cooled heavy machine guns, M1919 air-cooled machine guns, and even old-fashioned Lewis guns... all the weapons that could fire were firing.

The valley has become a slaughterhouse.

The first batch of clones that rushed to the riverbank fell down in droves.

The river water quickly turned red, and the corpses tumbled and piled up in the rapids.

Some soldiers tried to swim across, but swimming in the river carrying dozens of kilograms of equipment was suicidal, not to mention there was machine gun fire from the other side.

"Sappers! Build a bridge!" the frontline commander roared.

Braving a hail of bullets, the engineering corps pushed the prefabricated pontoon bridge components toward the riverbank.

The first group of engineers had just pushed the components into the water when half of them were mowed down by machine gun fire.

The second group took over, and half of them fell down again.

Within ten minutes, three engineering companies, totaling six hundred engineers, all fell on the riverbank.

"damn it!"

Li Xiangdong, his eyes bloodshot from watching from the observation post, yelled, "Machine guns! Take out those machine gun positions!"

Behind the north bank, mortar positions began to return fire.

82mm and 120mm mortar shells flew along low trajectories and crashed into the machine gun bunker halfway up the mountain.

Some bunkers were hit directly and reduced to ruins.

But many bunkers withstood the shelling thanks to their sturdy concrete fortifications; the machine gun fire only paused briefly before resuming.

"Rocket launcher!" The frontline commander changed tactics.

Soldiers armed with RPGs crawled forward, searching for firing positions among the corpses and shell craters.

"boom!"

A rocket hit the firing port of a machine gun bunker, and the explosion burst out of the port, abruptly stopping the machine gun fire.

"Works! Continue!"

But the Eagles' counterattack was even faster.

After confirming the RPG threat, the anti-tank gun positions halfway up the mountain began to focus on sniping the rocket launcher operators.

Armor-piercing rounds from 37mm and 57mm anti-tank guns can easily penetrate any cover.

A rocket launcher team had just shown their face when they were blown to pieces along with their weapons by a 37mm shell.

The battle reached a stalemate.

The Chinese army had an absolute numerical advantage, but was restricted by the terrain and rivers, making it unable to deploy its forces.

The Eagle Army held a strategic advantage with strong fortifications, but its manpower was insufficient and its ammunition was being consumed very quickly.

At 8 a.m., Li Xiangdong received the first casualty report.

"Two hours into the attack, 17,000 men were killed and over 30,000 wounded, and not a single pontoon bridge was completed."

"Continue the attack!"

He gritted his teeth and ordered, "Second wave of attacks, proceed!"

The battle raged from dawn till night.

Li Xiangdong has deployed 300,000 troops to launch repeated attacks on the valley, but has only managed to capture a few insignificant bridgeheads on the opposite bank, which were quickly recaptured by the Eagle Army in a counterattack.

Three pontoon bridges were erected, but they were all destroyed by artillery fire or sappers.

Five million troops, crammed into a narrow river valley, were like a giant beast locked in a cage, possessing great strength but nowhere to unleash it.

"Commander, we can't keep fighting like this."

Li Gan pointed to the map and said, "Our troops are too densely packed. A single shell from the Eagle Army can cause dozens of casualties."

"Moreover, reinforcements are still arriving in droves. Now, the 80-kilometer stretch of highway from Spokane to the Valley front is completely filled with our personnel and vehicles, causing severe congestion and making it difficult to deliver supplies."

Li Xiangdong stared at the map, his eyes bloodshot.

Jia Gu's order was clear: fight fiercely and aggressively on the northern front to lure the Eagle Army's reserves northward.

But with this terrain, no matter how fierce he is, he can't get through!

"Find another way!"

He roared, "The Rocky Mountains are so long, I refuse to believe there's only one road!"

The staff officers immediately began studying the map.

Five million elite troops are like tigers trapped in a cage, possessing great strength but unable to unleash it.