Not enough Japanese devils to kill? 1.4 billion people volunteer for the Battle of Shanghai.

Inside the brick and stone shop, the angel performed surgery on Xiao Hubei.

Only one step remains.

"Rinse."

Warm saline solution is injected into the pleural cavity through a thin tube to flush away accumulated blood and any possible bone fragments.

"Check for active bleeding."

I used a suction device to remove the rinsing fluid and then observed it carefully for five minutes.

No new bleeding points were observed.

"Lung lobe repair completed."

When the last stitch was put in, the entire surgery took fifty-eight minutes.

It was two minutes ahead of schedule, one hour earlier than expected.

On the sterile form, Xiao Hubei's breathing was steady, and his complexion was rosy, like a sleeping child.

………………

Meanwhile, 3,500 meters away from the ruins on the north bank of Luodian.

A relatively well-preserved rural dirt road.

A Japanese mortar squad is on the move.

Approximately fifty infantrymen were arranged in two columns. In the middle of the column, twelve soldiers, working in pairs, carried three Type 97 81mm curved-fire infantry guns on specially made wooden poles.

The Japanese army called it a "mortar," but it was actually a light mortar. The gun barrel, carriage, and base plate were transported separately, and each gun was also equipped with four ammunition boxes containing high-explosive shells and smoke shells.

At the front of the column, Lieutenant Matsui, the squad leader, rode a thin horse.

Lieutenant Matsui was a veteran in his thirties who had fought in the Northeast and had a faint scar on his face.

It was frowning as it observed the thick smoke rising from the direction of Luodian in the distance through its binoculars.

"Speed ​​up!" it shouted back in Japanese. "We must be at the launch site within an hour!"

A private, carrying a load of gun carriage parts, complained heavily, "Squad leader, aren't there only a handful of Chinese defenders left here? The division's battle report says there's at most one company of remnants left on the north bank of Luodian, and they're almost out of ammunition. Do we really need our mortar squad to go in?"

The anvil's face was pressed against the train commander's panoramic mirror.

This panoramic viewing system, composed of multiple high-resolution cameras and thermal imagers, clearly projects the surrounding 360-degree, 5000-meter range of scenery onto the wraparound screen.

His gaze was fixed on a small area in the upper right corner of the screen.

The area was automatically enlarged.

In thermal imaging mode, more than fifty orange-red heat source signals, representing the human body, are moving along a dirt road.

In the middle of the heat source, there are several larger, rectangular heat signatures—those are mortar components and ammunition boxes.

The distance data is jumping at the edge of the screen: 3527 meters.

It is still slowly approaching.

"Mortar squad," Iron Anvil's voice was calm. "Three mortars, estimated to be Japanese Type 97 81mm caliber. Direction of advance... central area of ​​Luodian. Intended to establish a long-range artillery position."

The gunner's voice came through the headset: "The target is beyond the effective range for direct fire. But if we use the hunter-killer system..."

"It works," Iron Anvil interrupted him. "Has the fire control computer calculated the trajectory?"

"Calculation in progress... Calculation complete. Elevation correction +3.5 degrees, crosswind correction left 0.2 mil, propellant temperature compensation has been included. Using Hunter-Jet type fin-stabilized discarding sabot armor-piercing round, expected accuracy: circular error probable less than 0.5 meters."

"Alright." Iron Anvil's finger rested on the main gun firing button. "Give the little devils a hunter-killer round."

After the hunter-killer was fully loaded, Iron Anvil took one last look at the screen.

Those orange-red heat sources continued to move unnoticed. He could even see the relaxed expressions on the faces of the Japanese soldiers through the high-definition optical lens, and their slightly comical postures as they carried the artillery.

A group of insects that are about to step into hell without realizing it...

A cold smile curved his lips.

Then, press the button.

"Target: Japanese mortar squad, 3300 meters away."

"Hunter-killer type fin-stabilized discarding sabot armor-piercing projectile—"

"emission."