Blood-Red Front

Okazaki's plan was to use combined arms tactics to advance along the main road; however, the naval bombers arrived before the initial-rise tanks.

The carpet bombing by 12 bombers was extremely terrifying. Apart from the 6th Regiment's headquarters church, all the houses on both sides of the town's main road were bombed into ruins, and dozens of Xia soldiers who were hiding inside were also buried in the ruins.

But at the same time, the ruins of the houses also prevented the tanks from moving forward.

"Damn it! What are those damned navy idiots doing?!" The newly formed tank unit, which was originally planning to enter the field, cursed angrily.

However, the naval planes couldn't hear their curses. After bombing, they flew away directly. The helpless army tank units could only grumble and readjust their course, trying to enter Lujia Town through other routes.

The bombers flew away, and the fighter jets that followed began circling and strafing.

As soon as the artillery positions of the 6th Regiment opened fire, the fighter planes of the newly promoted army would immediately swoop down like jackals that had caught a whiff of the scent.

Upon seeing yet another mortar position destroyed, Lin Zhiyuan slammed his fist on the table.

"Call the priests and shoot those bastards down."

Upon receiving the order, Mu Ya didn't say much. She stood in the center of the altar and raised the microphone.

"Four gun positions, targeting the aircraft in the two o'clock airspace."

"Low altitude 800 meters, distance 1200 meters, speed 300 kilometers per hour."

"A volley of fire."

"put!"

"Knock knock knock..."

The four 20mm anti-aircraft guns opened fire simultaneously, and a barrage of bullets instantly appeared in front of the newly launched fighter jet.

Caught off guard, the novice pilot plunged headlong into the blast zone, and the left wing instantly caught fire.

"Enemy anti-aircraft fire! Repeat, enemy anti-aircraft fire!"

"I've been shot!"

The other planes, like frightened wild beasts, immediately increased their altitude.

"Attention everyone! Ono-kun has been shot down!"

"Operational objective changed; priority now is to destroy enemy air defenses!"

The priesthood and the newly launched aircraft engaged in a battle of wits, and the newly launched army's tanks finally found a road of suitable width.

The soldiers who were lying in ambush by the window suddenly heard the roar of an engine.

Peeking out, I saw a Type 97 medium tank rumbling along the main road, followed by twenty or thirty newly promoted soldiers advancing in tandem.

"Holy crap! It's a tank!"

"Da da da..."

The ambushing light machine gun team opened fire.

However, the newly promoted soldiers all hid behind the tanks, and when bullets hit the tanks, they only caused a few sparks.

At this moment, the tank also spotted the machine gun position, and the gun barrels gradually turned towards it.

"boom!"

The shell pierced through the brick wall, and the light machine gun squad inside the room was instantly wiped out.

The newly recruited soldiers behind the tank were overjoyed.

"Yoshi... With war chariots ahead, how can the Xia army resist?"

"Attack! Attack!"

"Kill them all!"

……

Watching the rising tanks and disappearing soldiers of the 6th Regiment on the minimap, Lin Zhiyuan grabbed his helmet from the table and walked out of the regimental headquarters.

Upon arriving at the air defense company near the regimental headquarters, Lin Zhiyuan pointed to a 20mm anti-aircraft gun team and said, "Hand over the air defense duties to the rest of the teams. You're coming with me."

"With armor-piercing rounds," Lin Zhiyuan added.

The anti-aircraft gun team immediately followed, dragging their guns along.

The newly formed tanks continued to advance slowly.

If the soldiers of the 6th Regiment do not fire, the tanks will provide cover for the infantry to approach the house, and then the infantry will go in and clear it.

If the soldiers of the 6th Regiment open fire, the tanks will fire first, followed by the infantry entering the houses along the street to clear them.

The combined arms tactics made things extremely difficult for the 6th Regiment, which lacked anti-tank firepower.

Some soldiers tried to use explosive charges to detonate the explosives, but were shot down by newly promoted infantrymen.

Meanwhile, the newly formed army, which was advancing in stages according to plan, was unaware that just 150 meters away, Lin Zhiyuan had already led anti-aircraft guns through a large hole that had been opened on the back of a house.

Pointing to a wall, Lin Zhiyuan said, "In this direction, make a hole that can be fired from by anti-aircraft guns."

The soldiers had no view at the moment, but they did not hesitate and went up to dig a hole with their pickaxes.

A hole about ten centimeters long quickly appeared in the brick wall.

Lin Zhiyuan and his group were located on an L-shaped street. Outside the cave entrance was a straight road, and on that road, a tank was slowly advancing.

"Do you see the tanks?"

"I see it." The gunner quickly adjusted the gun barrel and aimed it at the tank in front of him.

"Kill him!"

"Knock knock knock..."

The 20mm armor-piercing rounds are extremely powerful; the Type 97 tank's 25mm frontal armor is simply no match for them within 150 meters.

Several bullet holes appeared instantly on the front of the tank, and shrapnel ricocheted wildly inside the tank. The newly recruited soldier driving the tank fell headfirst into the ground.

The tank, which was originally moving normally, veered to the side and crashed into the house, with only half of its rear end sticking out.

The newly recruited infantry, who were originally following behind the tanks, were also exposed to the anti-aircraft guns.

The gunners didn't hold back either, continuing to fire at the newly recruited soldiers.

Even a 6.5mm bullet can cause penetrating wounds when it hits a person, let alone a 20mm artillery shell.

A newly risen soldier hit by a shell will be torn to pieces instantly; even if he is only grazed by a shell, his arms and legs will be instantly shattered.

A dozen seconds later, the shelling stopped, the smoke cleared, and the entire rising army along the way was wiped out, their blood and flesh scattered all over the ground.

There wasn't even a single intact body among the dead rank-and-file soldiers.

"Let's go! Next target!"

Lin Zhiyuan didn't bother to clean up the battlefield; with a wave of his hand, he quickly left the place.

Next, Lin Zhiyuan moved the anti-aircraft gun around Lujia Town.

Tanks, infantry in large groups, and makeshift firing positions—all these targets were within Lin Zhiyuan's strike range.

Faced with the unpredictable artillery shells, the newly promoted army was completely disoriented and couldn't tell which way was which.

The newly promoted soldiers felt as if they were the ones being surrounded by the Xia army, not the Xia army.

Inside the brigade, Okazaki stared wide-eyed at the latest casualty report.

"Baka yarou, how is this possible? Only 6 hours, and there are already over 1000 casualties? Eight tanks have been destroyed?"

"Brigade Commander, Xia Jun was well prepared. They used pre-prepared routes to continuously attack our flanks and rear."

"It now seems that we cannot advance too quickly. We must gradually eliminate the enemy forces and compress their space for operation step by step."

The chief of staff lowered his voice, indicating that the inability to advance rapidly meant that the 14th Brigade would waste a lot of time here.

"Baka!"

Okazaki drew his sword and began hacking wildly at the documents on the table, eventually sweeping everything off the table onto the floor.

However, no matter how angry Okazaki was, he had no other choice.

After venting his anger for a while, Okazaki sheathed his sword again, his face grim, and said, "Maintain the encirclement and advance slowly."

"Tell the troops not to escape from the 6th Regiment. I want to personally cut off their regimental commander's head!"

"Hi!"

……