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

The battle had continued into the third day at noon.

Kunisaki Noboru and the remaining main force of the Japanese army have been completely compressed into this narrow strip of land, less than three kilometers long and less than two kilometers wide, by Lin Feng's troops.

Backed by the Yangtze River and surrounded on three sides, this place has become a complete dead end.

After continuous high-intensity combat, the Kunisaki Detachment's dry rations and ammunition were running critically low.

But these are not the most fatal aspects.

The problem is a lack of water.

That's right, this large Japanese force of over 7,000 men, with over 5,000 still capable of fighting with guns, had completely run out of drinking water.

The weather in December was cold, but the Japanese soldiers would still sweat as they crawled and rolled in the trenches.

A person can survive for several days without food, but once dehydrated, they won't even have the strength to stand up, let alone fight.

In the trenches, you could see Japanese soldiers everywhere with chapped, peeling lips and sunken eyes.

They gasped for breath like dying fish, their mouths agape, their groans becoming hoarse and weak.

Inside the semi-underground command post.

Kunisaki Toru, like a restless wild beast trapped in a cage, paced back and forth in the narrow space with his hands behind his back.

The once meticulously combed Rendan beard now appeared disheveled.

"Still no news from the Central China Area Army Headquarters?!"

Kunisaki Noboru abruptly stopped and roared at the communications officer, his voice sounding like a broken gong due to lack of water.

The chief of staff swallowed hard and reported with difficulty:

"Your Excellency, I have just received an urgent telegram from Commander Matsui."

His Excellency the Commander has ordered the transfer of six infantry battalions from the Amagaku Detachment and four infantry battalions from the Harada Detachment from the Nanjing front.

These two units are disengaging from the battle and heading to the riverbank to collect boats in preparation for crossing and reinforcing us.

Upon hearing that reinforcements were on the way, a glimmer of hope flashed in Kunisaki Noboru's eyes.

"Yoshi! When will they arrive?"

The chief of staff lowered his head, not daring to look Kunisaki Noboru in the eye.

"His Excellency the Commander said... because it is necessary to coordinate with the navy, and it is difficult to collect boats for crossing the river."

They demanded that we... if we hold out for another five days, reinforcements will surely arrive.

"What?!"

Kunisaki Noboru's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he grabbed the chief of staff by the collar:

Five days?!

Look at the soldiers outside, look at our water bottles.

"Don't even mention five days, I can't even wait seventy-two hours!"

He shoved the chief of staff aside, looked up in despair at the leaky roof of the command post:

"Where are the planes? Where are the warships? Where are our allies?"

Are the elite troops of the Great Japanese Empire destined to die of thirst on the riverbank?

Please help! Even just airdropping some water would be helpful!

-----

The Yangtze River is less than two kilometers from the command post.

The rolling river flowed right before their eyes, and the cool sound of the water was a deadly temptation for the thirsty Japanese soldiers.

A group of about fifty Japanese soldiers, led by a sergeant, were trying to sneak up on the riverbank to fetch water, taking advantage of the cover of the large reed beds along the river.

Each of them was covered in empty water bottles, their eyes revealing an extreme thirst for water.

"Stay hidden, crawl over slowly."

The sergeant lowered his voice and directed the soldiers to crawl forward through the muddy reeds.

Fifty meters.

Thirty meters.

ten meters.

With the river water within reach, several Japanese soldiers couldn't resist sticking out their tongues.

Just then.

"Buzzing—"

A deep engine roar suddenly came from the river.

Several LCS fire support ships and torpedo boats, painted with gray camouflage paint, emerged from the river fog upstream like ghosts.

They did not find the Japanese soldiers hiding deep in the reeds.

However, Lin Feng's order to the navy was: blockade the river and kill any living creature that approaches the riverbank.

On the bridge, the commander watched as a flock of birds were startled and flew away from the dense reeds, and coldly gave the order:

"Target: Reed marshes ahead."

"All machine guns and field guns, fire down! Plow through it!"

"Yes."

The next second, flames erupted on the river.

"Knock knock knock knock—"

"Bang bang bang bang——"

The twin-mounted 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns, 20mm Oerlikon machine guns, and 76mm naval guns roared simultaneously.

A dense hail of bullets swept towards the reed bed.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

High-explosive bombs exploded wildly in the reeds, snapping swathes of reeds in half and sending them soaring into the sky.

The Japanese soldiers hiding inside were instantly stunned.

They didn't reveal their exact location, so how did the other side open fire?

Unable to pinpoint the exact location, they simply resort to overwhelming the entire area with firepower?!

This playing style is too extravagant and too outrageous!

"ah--"

"Help!"

The screams were barely audible amidst the explosions.

The 40mm high-explosive shells hit the Japanese soldiers and tore them to pieces.

Blood stained the muddy water, and severed limbs and broken kettles were scattered all over the ground.

After a few minutes of intense fire, the ships on the river sped away.

That reed marshland had been transformed into a bloody slaughterhouse.

Leaving behind dozens of mangled corpses, this Japanese squad failed to collect a single drop of water.

-----

Two o'clock in the afternoon.

The Japanese soldiers, in their despair, finally saw a glimmer of hope.

"Buzzing—"

The roar of airplane engines echoed through the sky.

Dozens of Japanese bombers and Type 97 fighters, urgently transferred from the Nanjing front, appeared above the clouds.

"The plane, it's our plane!"

"His Majesty the Heavenly Locust has not abandoned us; reinforcements have arrived!"

On the ground, the Japanese soldiers, who had been listless, poked their heads out of the trenches, waving their mud-covered caps and cheering excitedly.

Kunisaki Toya rushed out of the command post, raised his binoculars, and trembled with excitement.

However, their cheers had not yet subsided.

Lin Feng's air defense positions had already revealed their ferocious fangs.

"Air raid siren! Enemy planes are attacking!"

"All anti-aircraft gun positions, open fire freely and shoot down these flies!"

Lin Feng stood outside the command post, looking at the sky with a cold smile.

Want to control the air? Have you even asked my air defense network?

"Thump thump thump—"

The first to fire were the 37mm and 88mm anti-aircraft guns deployed behind the positions.

Black fireworks exploded high in the sky, instantly disrupting the formation of the Japanese bombers.

Followed by.

Various 20mm anti-aircraft guns have also been added.

"Knock knock knock knock—"

A string of dazzling tracer bullets soared into the sky, weaving a web of death across the heavens.

The dull, rhythmic gunfire of the M2HB heavy machine gun echoed across the position.

The 12.7mm armor-piercing incendiary bomb, carrying terrifying kinetic energy, hurtled straight towards the Japanese aircraft formation.

But that's not the worst part.

On the front lines of the infantry, dozens of MG42 general-purpose machine guns, equipped with anti-aircraft tripods, raised their muzzles simultaneously.

"Hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss—"

The chilling sound of the "cloth-tearing machine" filled the air.

With a frenzied rate of fire of up to 1200 rounds per minute, it instantly formed an impenetrable barrage of metal bullets in the low sky.

A Japanese Type 97 fighter plane attempting a dive-bombing strafe crashed headlong into the barrage of MG42 fire.

"Bang bang bang!"

The Japanese plane, with its thin skin and large filling, was instantly riddled with holes, and its wings broke off mid-air.

The pilot didn't even have a chance to eject before he crashed into the Yangtze River with the burning fighter jet, creating a huge splash.

Destroy 1 Japanese Type 97 fighter plane, Merit Points +80

The system notification sounded in Lin Feng's mind.