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

At the head of the Eight-Character Bridge, Huang Xing walked to Bian Yun's side.

The fifty-year-old brigade commander's face was still stained with blood, but his eyes had regained the sharpness of a commander. He pointed to the building, his voice low:

"Brother Bian Yun, to be honest... our brigade has already lost over a thousand lives for this building."

"On the first day, a regiment charged, and less than a company returned."

"The next day, three German-made 160mm heavy guns were brought in—our division's most prized possessions. They bombarded us all day long."

He gave a wry smile:

"As you can see, there are now several dents in the wall, and the Japanese soldiers inside are eating and sleeping as usual."

"Later we thought, if the hard approach doesn't work, we'll try the soft approach—we'll organize a suicide squad, strap on explosives, and try to blow open a breach."

Huang Xing paused, his eyes reddening:

"Thirty-seven brothers rushed up with explosives. The closest one got to within ten meters of the building... and was riddled with machine gun fire."

"The explosive charge detonated, but only a thin layer of skin was scraped off the wall."

He looked at Bian Yun, his eyes filled with despair, but also with a last glimmer of hope:

"Do you... have a solution?"

Everyone looked at Bian Yun.

Lu Bei, Lin Mo, Lei Gang, Su Yue.

Huang Xing and the officers of the 264th Brigade behind him.

And further away, there are soldiers who have just experienced life and death and are now bandaging their wounds.

Bian Yun felt the weight of those gazes.

He closed his eyes and looked at the countdown in his mind:

[Countdown to the Third Return to the People's Republic of China: 1 hour and 09 minutes]

The numbers are jumping.

1:08:59

1:08:58

……

He opened his eyes and looked at the steel behemoth.

"Anti-aircraft missiles can't penetrate it," Bian Yun said calmly. "Anti-tank rocket launchers won't work either. Thermobaric weapons... if they explode internally, they're effective. But from the outside, they'll at most burn the walls black."

He paused:

"We need something more substantial."

Lei Gang panicked: "What's heavier? We've already brought the heaviest ones!"

"Not enough." Bian Yun shook his head. "We need howitzers to deal with this kind of fortification."

"A howitzer?!" Huang Xing gasped. "How big would that be? How are we going to transport it? Our three 160mm howitzers are already at their limit. Any heavier, and the roads won't be able to support them, and we won't be able to hide them—"

"It wasn't transported from the ground," Bian Yun interrupted him.

He looked at everyone and spoke slowly and deliberately:

"It will be brought over directly from 2025."

silence.

Then Lu Bei's eyes lit up: "You mean—next time you travel through time, take a howitzer from your 8-cubic-meter space and bring it over to assemble?"

"Yes." Bian Yun nodded. "Eight cubic meters. If planned carefully, it's enough to carry the disassembled parts of a medium-caliber howitzer, plus basic ammunition."

Lin Mo frowned: "But assembly takes time, requires tools, and also artillery..."

"I can bring the tools," Bian Yun said. "I can bring the artillery too. And..."

He looked at Huang Xing: "Brigade Commander Huang, your unit should have some veterans who know how to operate artillery, right?"

Huang Xing nodded vigorously: "Yes! Although most of the cannons have been fired, the gunners are still here."

Su Yue then pulled up the weapons database from 2025.

The screen displays the parameters of various howitzers:

"PL-96 122mm howitzer".

"PLL-05 120mm self-propelled mortar-howitzer".

The latest PCL-181 155mm self-propelled howitzer boasts the greatest firepower.

Bian Yun's gaze lingered on the last item.

"155 millimeters," he repeated softly. "The grenade weight... 45 kilograms? What about the armor-piercing rounds?"

Su Yue quickly searched: "Special attack projectile, weight 48 kg, explosive charge 12 kg TNT equivalent, designed penetration depth: 2.5 meters reinforced concrete."

2.5 m.

Bian Yun looked at the building.

A 1.2-meter wall is like paper when penetrated to a depth of 2.5 meters.

"This is it," he said. "PCL-181, a 155mm vehicle-mounted howitzer. Disassembled, with key components: barrel, breechblock, recoil mechanism, and fire control system. The chassis and power system are not included; we'll build a makeshift gun mount here."

Su Yue calculated: "The cannon barrel is 8 meters long, broken into two sections, each 4 meters long, with a diameter... requiring at least 1.5 cubic meters of space. The breechblock and recoil mechanism are about 0.8 cubic meters. The fire control system is 0.3 cubic meters. Ammunition... 155mm shells, each with a volume of about 0.15 cubic meters. 8 cubic meters of space, at most..."

She quickly did mental arithmetic:

"The gun components occupy 5 cubic meters, leaving 3 cubic meters for carrying 20 shells. Of these, 10 are ordinary high-explosive shells and 10 are special assault shells."

Bian Yun nodded: "That's enough."

He looked at the building:

"Bring 20 rounds. That should be enough."