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

The reinforcements' ammunition was not delivered to the city immediately.

The 219th Regiment had just deployed along the highway when the Japanese reserve troops from the Fengtai direction pressed forward. First, steel helmets emerged from the dust, then bayonets, and finally the wheels of two infantry guns. The artillerymen bent over and pushed their guns, while the infantry behind them spread out, like a gray-yellow net covering the Lugou Bridge.

The major lay prone by the ditch, his binoculars still in place, when a shell landed twenty paces in front of him.

boom!

The earthen waves covered half of the row.

"Spread out! Don't crowd the road!"

He grabbed the messenger by the shoulder.

"Tell Wanping City that the ammunition convoy can't get through! Let them hold off the artillery east of the bridge first!"

The messenger crouched low and ran back, but after only three steps, the Japanese heavy machine guns on the east side of the bridge opened fire again.

Da da da da!

The two Czech-made mortars by the roadside were pinned down and unable to lift their heads. The front rank of the reinforcements lay down, while the rear rank was still looking for cover. The mortar crew had just set up their guns when a Japanese rifle volley shot down an ammunition handler.

On the city wall, the deputy battalion commander's eyes reddened as he watched.

"Reinforcements have been pinned down!"

The garrison soldier surnamed Meng clutched the last few bullets, his knuckles turning white.

"We're out of ammunition, how do we press down?"

Zhao Weiguo didn't answer. He lay prone behind the battlements, his binoculars pressed against the cracks in the brickwork. The infantry gun behind the dilapidated house east of the bridge was being adjusted; its muzzle wasn't aimed at Wanping City, but at the 219th Regiment on the highway.

The system's blue lines unfold layer by layer.

[Enemy artillery position: behind the ruined house east of the bridge]

[Burrow: Remains of a wall, a wagon, ammunition boxes]

[Available target: Captured Type 92 infantry gun]

[Ammunition Status: No standard shells]

[Recommendation: Not suitable for improvised shotgun/close-range projectile firing]

Zhao Weiguo turned around abruptly and looked at the Type 92 infantry gun that had been dragged back into the city gate.

"Push the cannon up to the city wall."

The battalion deputy was taken aback.

"No more shells!"

"There's one on the east side of the bridge."

The battalion deputy's eyelids twitched.

"You want to use Japanese artillery shells to fight the Japanese?"

Zhao Weiguo had already run down the steps.

"The ammunition boxes they just left are next to the car outside the hidden door. Send two people to drag them back."

The garrison soldier surnamed Meng immediately stood up.

"Wow!"

"You keep it to shoot."

Zhao Weiguo pointed at the short soldier.

"Shorty, you've been through this secret door before, you know the way. Take the skinny guy with you. Don't carry the crates, break them up and carry them separately. Two shots each, that's enough."

The short soldier hadn't washed the mud off his face, and his mouth twitched.

"Mr. Zhao, you're treating me like a mouse."

Zhao Weiguo handed him a short knife that had been confiscated.

"Mice live a long time."

The skinny soldier pulled the rope and tied it around his waist.

"Let's go, Rat Number Two, follow us."

The two crawled down the steps.

The sound of cannons from outside the city came again.

The major of the 219th Regiment shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Mortars! Fire on the artillery position east of the bridge! Quickly!"

The mortar squad finally fired its first shot.

Boom!

The shell missed its mark and landed on the bank of the ditch, exploding into a patch of concrete. The Japanese artillery didn't stop; instead, they sped up the reloading. One gunner picked up the shell, while another pulled back the breechblock.

Zhao Weiguo squatted down next to the captured cannon, his palm touching the breech and breech.

The breechblock was covered in mud, and the locking ring had a gap. It was fired once last night and is still usable, but it cannot be used carelessly.

After the deputy battalion commander led his men to push the cannon onto the breach in the city wall, the cannon wheels creaked as they rolled over the bricks.

Old Xu leaned against the sandbag, panting heavily as he looked at him.

"Mr. Zhao, if this cannon explodes, we'll both go to heaven together."

Zhao Weiguo wiped the mud off the cannon barrel with his sleeve.

"Stay away from me."

"I won't."

"Then shut up."

Old Xu grimaced and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Footsteps came from under the hidden door.

The short and thin soldiers rolled into the doorway, each carrying two cannonballs, their faces ashen as if they had just crawled out of a grave.

"We got it back! The Japanese devils are still looking for it behind the ditch!"

The skinny soldier put down the shell, his hands still trembling.

"One of the shells is damaged; I don't know if it's still usable."

Zhao Weiguo picked up the shell and examined the primer, the ammunition belt, and the fuse cap.

"This one isn't needed. There are three left."

The deputy battalion commander gritted his teeth.

"Three-shot firing position?"

Zhao Weiguo pushed the first shot into the barrel.

"The first shot hits the carriage, the second hits the cannon, and the third hits the cannon ammunition box."

The garrison soldier surnamed Meng lay prone by the battlements and gave him updates.

"The wind's died down east of the bridge! The Japanese artillerymen are showing half their bodies!"

Zhao Weiguo lowered his head and adjusted the cannon muzzle.

"Turn the wheel halfway to the left and reduce the pitch slightly."

The gunner's palms were sweaty.

"Mr. Zhao, if you say so, I'll release it."

Outside the city, the muzzle of a Japanese infantry gun flashed.

boom!

An explosion occurred by the roadside, and a light machine gun of the 219th Regiment was overturned. The major rushed over and dragged the machine gunner into the ditch.

"Damn it! Can't we take a bite out of them on the walls of Wanping?!"

Zhao Weiguo's hand rested on the breech of the cannon.

"put."

The gunner pulled the fuse hard.

boom!

The captured Type 92 infantry gun recoiled violently, its wheel slamming into a sandbag, shaking the entire section of the city wall.

The cannonball flew over the moat and hit the carriage on the east side of the bridge.

The wagon was blown to pieces, and planks, horse bones, and ammunition boxes flew up all at once. The cover in front of the Japanese artillery position was gone.

The garrison soldier surnamed Meng slammed his fist into the city bricks.

"I won!"

Zhao Weiguo has already put the ball into the second shot.

"Don't shout. Report the cannon fire."

The soldier surnamed Meng peeked out and then withdrew.

"The cannon's still there! The gunner's fallen, and the muzzle is askew!"

Zhao Weiguo lowered the cannon muzzle by half an inch.

"put."

boom!

The second shot landed behind the dilapidated house.

The flames engulfed half the wall. The Japanese infantry gun was overturned, its wheels rolling twice, and its barrel diagonally embedded in the mud. The two gunners couldn't get up.

The major of the 219th Regiment on the highway suddenly looked up.

"Wanping City destroyed their cannon!"

He drew his pistol.

"All hands, fix bayonets! Mortars create a smokescreen, light machine guns suppress the area east of the bridge! Send ammunition into the city!"

The third shell has been fired.

Zhao Weiguo stared at the pile of shell boxes under the ruined wall on the east side of the bridge.

"Fire this round at the box. After that, retreat the artillery and don't let the Japanese keep an eye on you."

The gunner's throat bobbed.

"put!"

boom!

The shell crawled into the side of the shell box.

Take a breath.

Two breaths.

Suddenly, a huge black and red fireball exploded on the east side of the bridge, followed by a series of explosions. The walls of the dilapidated houses were blown off, and plumes of smoke shot up. The Japanese positions looked as if they had been smashed by a hammer, and the infantry rolled wildly to both sides.

The 219th Regiment seized this opportunity.

"Rush!"

A major led a platoon out of the ditch, followed by an ammunition corps. Four soldiers carried two boxes of bullets, running towards the Wanping city gate with bent backs. Machine guns pressed down on the remaining enemy forces east of the bridge, and mortar shells landed one after another at the edge of the smoke and dust, cutting off the Japanese reserve force outside.

On the city wall, the battalion deputy commander's voice cracked.

"Catch the ammunition! Quickly, catch the ammunition!"

The garrison soldier surnamed Meng lay prone on the battlements, reaching down towards the city walls.

"Brother, throw it here!"

Soldiers from the 219th Regiment pushed ammunition boxes to the entrance of the gate and shouted with their faces up:

"Brothers of Wanping, catch!"

A box of bullets was pulled up to the top of the city wall by a rope.

Another box of grenades came up.

Zhao Weiguo squatted beside the cannon, his fingers numb from the impact of the breech. He watched as a line of cold text appeared on the system panel.

[Coordinated strike successful]

[Enemy artillery position east of the bridge destroyed]

[Friendly supply route briefly opened]

The deputy battalion commander held the newly delivered ammunition box, his eyes red as if they had been scorched by fire.

"Mr. Zhao, the ammunition has arrived!"

Zhao Weiguo picked up a row of bullets and loaded them into the Mauser pistol magazine.

"Distribute it."

Outside the city, the bugle call of the 219th Regiment sounded again.