The Courtyard House: The Little Red Devil Returning from the Peninsula

The deputy battalion commander caught the command sword, the blood on the hilt sticking to his palm.

A sharp whistle suddenly rang out from outside the city.

It's not a retreat.

The blue line in Zhao Weiguo's eyes suddenly exploded, and more than thirty red dots rose up from the moat at the same time, like a handful of scattered iron nails, heading straight for the southwest gap.

He turned and ran towards the city wall.

"Fake withdrawal! Old Xu, get up!"

Old Xu wiped the blood from his ear and, supporting himself on the scabbard, got up.

"Damn it, my ears are gone, but my legs are still here!"

On the other side of the breach, the sword-wielding squad, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, hadn't even settled in when a dark figure from outside the city rushed to the base of the wall. Two more ladders were erected, and a third, even more sinister one, was placed under the collapsed wall slope. Several Japanese soldiers bent over and pushed an iron plate forward, behind which a grenade launcher was hidden.

The battalion deputy's face turned pale.

"Grenade launcher! Get down!"

thump.

A melon-shaped grenade landed on the city wall and rolled next to the grenade box.

The young soldier's pupils shrank to a point, and he was still holding two hand grenades in his hands.

Zhao Weiguo rushed over and kicked a grenade into the gap in the parapet.

The grenade rolled half a foot.

boom!

The shockwave bounced back from outside the wall, and bits of brick flew past Zhao Weiguo's ear. His shoulder slammed against the wall, and he tasted rust in his mouth.

Old Xu's voice cracked from shouting.

"Mr. Zhao!"

Zhao Weiguo grabbed a crack in the wall to stand up and picked up a Type 96 machine gun.

"Spring plate!"

The soldier carrying the ammunition tray lay on the ground, his hands shaking so badly that he inserted the tray backwards.

"That's outrageous."

Zhao Weiguo snatched it away and slammed it into the receiver.

The grenade launcher squad outside the city was already kneeling, and the assistant gunner was stuffing a second grenade into the mouth of the launcher.

Zhao Weiguo did not sweep the ladder.

The gun barrel was pressed towards the lower right corner of the iron plate.

Da da da!

The bullet whizzed past the ground, striking the underside of the metal plate and sending sparks flying. The Japanese soldiers behind the plate had their ankles ripped open, and several fell to the ground simultaneously. The grenade launcher veered off course, and a grenade slipped from its nozzle, smoking near their own feet.

Old Xu's eyes widened.

"lie--"

boom!

A burst of black fire erupted behind the iron plate outside the city, and the remains of Japanese soldiers and mud were plastered onto the wall.

The knife team let out a thunderous shout.

"kill!"

The first Japanese soldier had already leaned halfway out of the ladder, his bayonet ripping open the cotton-padded coat of a guard. Old Xu lunged forward, bracing the bayonet against his shoulder, the blade grazing his ribs and embedding itself in a crack in the wall.

He gritted his teeth and swung the broadsword upwards.

Half of the Japanese soldier's face flew off.

"Next!"

The second Japanese soldier stepped on his comrade's shoulders and jumped into the gap; the grenade had already been pulled.

Zhao Weiguo saw him raise his wrist.

The blue line draws an arc.

He raised his gun but didn't shoot anyone; he shot at the grenade instead.

Snapped!

The grenade was deflected mid-air and fell back down the ladder.

The Japanese soldiers outside the city looked up, their eyes not yet showing any expression.

boom!

The ladder broke in two.

The defenders at the breach were dumbfounded.

"You can even fight with that?"

When Zhao Weiguo switched guns, his fingers recoiled from the heat. He tossed the pistol to the man.

"Will you pull the trigger?"

"meeting!"

"If you see someone climbing the wall, shoot them in the chest, not in the head."

The garrison soldier caught the gun as if it were a piece of red-hot iron, and his throat twitched.

"My surname is Meng, and I'll return the gun to you if I die!"

Zhao Weiguo didn't look at him.

"Even if you don't die, you'll have to pay for it."

The whistle outside the city changed again.

The red dots began to spread to both sides. The Japanese platoon leader was dead, but they still had a sergeant holding the line. Three Japanese soldiers circled around to the bottom of the gap, and used their bayonets to push a bundle of explosives against the wall.

The deputy battalion commander rushed up the steps, carrying two boxes of ammunition.

"Mr. Zhao, shots have been fired from the Northeast Gate too!"

Zhao Weiguo glanced at the system panel.

There aren't many red dots near the northeast gate; it's just a bluff. The real red line is still under our feet.

"Ignore the northeast gate! They're going to blow up this section of the wall!"

The deputy battalion commander gritted his teeth.

"But what if the second row can't hold up?"

Zhao Weiguo pointed to a lime vat inside the city.

"Move the lime up and pour it down into the gap. Save the grenades for the explosive charges."

The deputy battalion commander was stunned for a moment, then roared.

"Move the lime! Quickly!"

Two soldiers lifted a lime vat, slipped, and scattered lime along the way. Old Xu took half a step back from the gap, his shoulder already soaked in blood.

"fall!"

The entire vat of lime was poured down through the gap.

Screams erupted outside the city. The powder exploded in the night wind, and the Japanese soldiers climbing the wall rolled down, covering their eyes. The three men pushing the explosives at the base of the wall also panicked.

Zhao Weiguo grabbed the grenade, pulled the pin, paused for a moment, and threw it down.

"The explosive charge is on the left!"

boom!

A flame rose from the base of the wall, the explosive charge was thrown out of the moat, and half of the detonator inside detonated, the muffled sound like drumming from the ground. The entire section of the wall shook, and dust fell from the cracks in the bricks, but it did not collapse.

The battalion deputy's eyes reddened.

"We held on! We held on!"

Zhao Weiguo suddenly grabbed the back of his collar and pressed him down.

A bullet grazed the deputy battalion commander's scalp and embedded itself in the wooden pillar of the gatehouse behind him.

In the gray fog outside the city, a Japanese sergeant was firing from a kneeling position, the muzzle of his gun pointed directly at the notch. Zhao Weiguo raised his Type 96 pistol; the magazine was empty.

Click.

Empty sound.

The sergeant raised his Type 38 rifle again.

Old Xu rushed over from the side, but he was a step too slow.

The garrison soldier surnamed Meng lay prone at the top of the battlements, holding his pistol in both hands, his eyes wide open as if they were about to burst.

"Chest!"

Snapped!

The bullet missed, grazing the sergeant's shoulder.

The sergeant turned his gun on him.

Zhao Weiguo picked up the broken half of the bayonet from the ground and swung it out violently.

The broken bayonet flew towards the sergeant with a cold glint in its light. The gunshot went astray, and the sergeant rolled away to avoid the flying blade.

Before he could raise his gun and fire again

The garrison soldier surnamed Meng roared and fired three shots in quick succession.

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!

Three spurts of black blood erupted from the sergeant's chest as he fell backward into the lime fog.

The garrison soldier surnamed Meng knelt on the ground, his hands still holding his gun, his voice hoarse.

"Mr. Zhao, I'm not dead!"

Zhao Weiguo took the pistol back from him and removed the empty magazine.

"The gun wasn't lost either."

Old Xu leaned against the crumbling wall, panting, his mouth full of blood and foam, but his laughter drowned out the fading whistles from outside the city.

"This is a clear calculation."