You were tasked with guarding the Sihang Warehouse, and you brought out a Tiger tank?

Having received the money to buy their lives, the next step is naturally to do work that risks their lives.

Inside the command center, Lin Feng stood in front of a huge sand table.

At this moment, Jiang Yin's surroundings were already covered with countless small red flags.

Each red flag represented a Japanese unit.

"Wow, the Zentsuji Division, the Sendai Division, and the Kyoto Division—three divisions in total. The Japanese are really going all out this time."

To the east, the 11th and 16th Divisions, which he had fought several times during the retreat, had caught up with the fleeing soldiers and reached Jiangyin.

To the south, the 13th Division has fully deployed its forces.

Including the attached independent heavy artillery brigade, cavalry regiment, engineer regiment, and other units, the total number of Japanese troops attacking Jiangyin this time exceeded 70,000.

Jiang Yin's garrison, even with Lin Feng's "overstaffed" Provisional 8th Army, numbered only a little over 40,000.

Lin Feng was given a strict order to hold his ground, but he knew that the Nationalist army's "strict orders" were just that—orders.

When things really come to a head, those who gave the orders run faster than anyone else.

Of course, others can run, but he can't, at least not now!

If Jiang Yin were to fall so easily, the Japanese army could advance right up to the walls of Nanjing, and the hundreds of thousands of defeated soldiers and millions of civilians behind her would become lambs to the slaughter.

-----

December 25st, early morning.

The Xiaoshan position east of Jiangyin.

This is the main attack direction of the Japanese 16th Division.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The Japanese artillery preparation lasted for a full hour.

The Xiaoshan position was almost completely leveled, with scorched earth and mangled limbs everywhere.

In the trenches, the men of the 112th Division from Northeast China were lying face down in the mud.

Their weapons were a motley collection, including Liaoning-made Type 13 rifles, Hanyang rifles, and even a number of old Mauser rifles.

Heavy weapons were scarce, and the entire division had very few decent artillery pieces.

"Damn it, those Japanese devils are going too far."

Division Commander Huo Shouyi spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and pushed away the mud pressing down on him.

He looked at the soldiers around him, their faces young but covered in smoke and fire, and felt a pang of pain in his heart.

This is what it means to be a child without a mother.

Since the Young Marshal was detained, the Northeast Army has been like a headless fly, being dismantled and consumed.

Now, defending Xiaoshan, they finally have the support of their own artillery on the artillery emplacements, but the Japanese artillery fire is even fiercer and more ruthless. Their position is still being suppressed and attacked. It's so frustrating.

"Commander, the Japanese are coming up!"

The watchtower's stern shouts rang out.

At the foot of the mountain, everything was a vast expanse of yellow.

The 33rd Regiment of the Japanese 16th Division launched a mass assault under the cover of more than a dozen Type 89 medium tanks and Type 94 tanks.

The 16th Division was originally supposed to have more than 60 tanks of various types to support the attack.

As a result, during the previous pursuit, the main force of the tank unit inexplicably encountered the "Xiejiaqiao Incident," and dozens of tanks were destroyed in one go.

The tank crewmen who survived all developed a phobia of heavy tanks, went insane, and kept talking about terrifying tanks that couldn't be penetrated...

So now, all that's left to accompany the 33rd Regiment on its offensive are these dozen or so tanks, big and small.

However, even with only a dozen or so tanks, they put enormous pressure on the Northeast Army, which lacked anti-tank firepower.

The battle lines were quickly under attack in many places.

"Onboard".

The Japanese soldiers, bayonets at their sides, surged forward like a tidal wave, following the tanks.

"Beat them! Beat them for me!"

Division Commander Huo Shouyi led his guard company directly to the front line of the trenches to supervise the battle.

He grabbed a rifle and pulled the trigger.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Sparse gunfire rang out.

The Northeast Army fought tenaciously, but this seemed so pale in the face of absolute firepower disadvantage.

As the Japanese tanks advanced, they used artillery and machine guns to call out enemy names.

The simple earthen fortifications were no match for 37mm and 57mm shells, and machine gun positions were eliminated one by one.

The disadvantages of lacking artillery were obvious. Their own machine guns were completely unprotected, while the Japanese machine guns were able to take the opportunity to fire at the Northeast Army's trenches.

"Tanks! The Japanese tanks are coming!"

"Give me the explosives, suicide squad, follow me!"

Several Northeast Army soldiers, clutching cluster grenades and with bloodshot eyes, rushed out of the trenches, intending to blow up the tracks of Japanese tanks.

But before they could even get close, they were mowed down by machine gun fire from the Japanese tanks and fell into a pool of blood.

The defenses are crumbling little by little.

"It's over..."

Huo Shouyi looked at the Japanese tanks that had already reached the front line of the position and closed his eyes in despair.

He was prepared to die for his country.

"Men, young and old, we Northeasterners can't afford to lose face again! Fix bayonets! Let's fight the Japanese devils!"

At this critical moment.

"Buzzing—"

A sudden roar of engines came from the flank of the battlefield.

The sound was heavier and more violent than the Japanese tanks.

Huo Shouyi suddenly opened his eyes.

The trees on the flanks were violently smashed open, and one after another, steel monsters rushed out.

Leading the way were several strange tanks painted in tricolor camouflage, with a low profile, no turrets, but carrying long, thick pipes.

It is the 38(t) Jagdpanzer tank destroyer.

Following closely behind was the tall and imposing Panzer III Ausf. L medium tank.

Interspersed among them were several bizarrely shaped Bison self-propelled guns carrying huge caliber cannons.

"That's... the Provisional 8th Army?!"

Huo Shouyi recognized the fluttering battle flag.

The battlefield fire brigade has arrived.

"Attention all crews, target, Japanese flank, fire freely."

The armored battalion commander's voice boomed over the radio.

"Fire!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The Jagdpanzer's 75mm L/48 anti-tank gun was the first to unleash its power.

This type of artillery, which could threaten Allied medium tanks even in the later stages of World War II, was like using an anti-aircraft gun to kill a mosquito when fighting the Japanese Type 89.

An armor-piercing round whistled out and instantly pierced the side armor of a Type 89 medium tank that was swaggering around.

"when!"

With a sharp crack, the Type 89 tank exploded, its turret flying three meters into the air and turning into a burning pile of scrap metal.

Immediately afterwards, the 50mm long-barreled gun of the Panzer III tank also joined the chorus.

The Japanese tank units were completely stunned.

They were focused on attacking the infantry positions in front of them, never expecting such a fierce armored force to suddenly appear from their flank.

Moreover, the enemy's tanks, in terms of both armor and firepower, completely overwhelmed them.

"What?! A Chinese tank?!"

The Japanese tank company commander screamed in terror and tried to turn the turret around.

But it was too late.

The "Bison" self-propelled gun stopped, its massive 150mm muzzle aimed at the area where Japanese infantry were charging in dense formation.

"Thump!"

A 150mm high-explosive shell landed in the middle of the Japanese attacking formation.

"BOOM—!!!"

An area roughly the size of half a football field was instantly engulfed in flames.

Dozens of Japanese soldiers, along with their weapons, were blown away by the blast wave and turned into flying parts.

"Charge!"

Under the cover of armored vehicles, the newly formed 3rd Infantry Regiment charged out like tigers descending from the mountain.