Even if I'm a useless bum at Whampoa Military Academy, I'll be invincible in the War of Re

At the Second Regiment's field command post, Wang Guohua could no longer sit still. He grabbed his binoculars and rushed out, with Chief of Staff Guo Zhenxing following closely behind.

Down the hillside, the Japanese soldiers surged up in dense swarms, a yellowish-brown mass, like a locust swarm passing through.

Guo Zhenxing leaned closer and said:

"Commander, the Japanese are making quite a show of force. Should we open fire?"

Wang Guohua gave the order without turning his head:

"Signal the artillery company: fire twelve rounds first, then open fire!"

"Request artillery support from headquarters!"

"All bunkers, open fire on the Japanese! All units, fire freely!"

As Wang Guohua issued his orders, the Second Regiment exerted all its strength.

The artillery was the first to roar, with more than a dozen cannons from the regimental artillery company firing at the Japanese at full speed. Rows of shells whistled into the enemy ranks, giving the Japanese a taste of being burned alive.

The Japanese soldiers were taken down in droves, each bullet taking away several devils, and the ground was soon littered with corpses lying haphazardly.

The two hundred-plus shells were just an appetizer. Once the Japanese soldiers rushed into machine gun range, the dozen or so bunkers that had been hidden inside the mountain opened fire. Each bunker had one heavy machine gun and two light machine guns, and the crossfire from the thirty or forty machine guns in total became a nightmare for the Japanese infantry.

These were all captured Japanese machine guns, which came in handy. The machine gun emplacements could block the direct fire of infantry artillery, and the Japanese infantry became lambs to the slaughter.

Major General Sasaki was dumbfounded and roared at the top of his lungs:

"Fire! Fire! Blow them up!"

Before long, the remaining dozen or so artillery pieces of the 3nd Field Artillery Regiment joined the battle. Among them, three 105mm howitzers made a huge commotion, each exploding to create a large crater.

The detachment's artillery battalion had been waiting for them to appear. Five Schneider mountain guns were used to target the Japanese heavy artillery positions, while infantry guns and Type 5 mountain guns suppressed other artillery pieces. Anti-aircraft guns were used to target tanks. Zhao Yunwen also revealed all his resources.

With the enemy's artillery positions provided by Zhao Yunwen, the artillery battalion launched a counterattack. As if divinely aided, the Schneider artillery company hit the Japanese heavy artillery group in the first round. With three consecutive rounds of shells, the Japanese's last three heavy howitzers were blown to smithereens.

The worst off were the Japanese tanks. They were expected to achieve great things, and more than a dozen tanks marched in a mighty procession toward the defending army's position, surrounded by infantry accompanying the attack.

All eight anti-aircraft guns of the artillery battalion were laid flat and opened fire fiercely on the tank formation. A single shot could destroy a Type 95 light tank.

Tanks equipped only with 37mm direct-fire cannons were powerless to fight back, like living coffins. Infantry groups were completely useless, and they were also targets of slaughter.

Major General Sasaki felt like dying. He had played all his cards and could only watch helplessly as his warriors were slaughtered.

The guerrilla detachment's firepower exceeded his expectations. Mountain guns, infantry guns, mortars, anti-aircraft guns, and light and heavy machine guns—this heavy firepower woven into a net of fire turned the battlefield into a one-sided slaughterhouse. The guerrilla detachment's hidden bunkers gave the Japanese a huge surprise.

The infantry of the two regiments disappeared visibly. Their only achievement was depleting the guerrilla detachment's ammunition, which was exactly what Zhao Yunwen had in abundance.

Zhao Yunwen, holding the binoculars, watched with great interest and shouted excitedly:

"Shoot them dead! Don't be stingy with the shells!"

The guerrilla detachment had completely suppressed the Japanese artillery and could now freely slaughter Japanese infantry groups.

The Japanese soldiers also showed their most ferocious side, charging forward under the hail of bullets from the defending troops, one after another, ignoring their fallen comrades around them.

"A bunch of lunatics!"

Miyamoto Shunsei cursed inwardly. His legs were trembling, but he dared not stop. The fierce-looking squad leader was driving them away, and if he stopped, he would be beaten to death.

His friend was just a little slower and was cleaved in two by the squad leader. The officer didn't treat these fake Japanese soldiers like human beings at all.

Miyamoto Shunsei regretted coming to China to participate in the war. The suzerain state was not so easy to defeat; even a starved camel is bigger than a horse.

The Japanese soldiers who charged alongside him fared no better; they were riddled with bullets as they charged, and the squad leader was shot in the head.

Before they even engaged in close combat, the infantry group had suffered nearly half casualties, and the rest obediently lay prone on the ground.

Infantry guns were pushed up and fired at the flaming bunker, but the effect was minimal, instead attracting a massacre from the defending artillery.

The guerrilla detachment had more infantry artillery than the Japanese, and they used the same tactics against them, leaving the Japanese completely helpless.

Miyamoto Shunsei lay on the ground firing wildly, only in this way could he embolden himself. The Japanese infantry were suppressed, and the two sides were locked in a stalemate.

Zhao Mancang had room to maneuver again, hiding hundreds of meters away and calling out the names of the Japanese soldiers one by one, focusing on important targets.

He first shot and killed an officer wielding a sword, then successively killed the machine gunner and his assistant, causing no one to dare approach the unusable Type 96 machine gun.

The Japanese company commander was furious and sent two sharpshooters to attack him from both sides, but they were both killed by Zhao Mancang.

The company commander brandished his military knife and cursed him as trash. Zhao Mancang smirked, gently pulled the trigger, and silenced him completely.

Miyamoto Shunsei seized the opportunity and fired a shot in Zhao Mancang's direction, nearly hitting him, which enraged Lone Wolf.

Zhao Mancang fired three shots in quick succession, each aimed straight for a vital organ, and the last shot blew Miyamoto Shunsei's head off.

The Japanese infantry artillery took a risk and finally managed to destroy a bunker, but in doing so, they also lost two cannons.

By this time, the infantry artillery of the 33rd Regiment had been completely destroyed. The fanatical Japanese sent out a suicide squad to blow things up. They strapped explosives to their bodies and charged fearlessly toward the defending positions.

Zhao Mancang aimed at the Japanese soldier and fired. The bullet accurately hit the explosives, and the huge explosion affected four or five suicide squad members. It was a very stress-relieving sight.

In just a few tens of minutes, all of the Japanese tanks broke down, emitting thick smoke; the field artillery regiment had 6 of its 15 cannons left. The Japanese also tried to use anti-aircraft guns to attack the bunkers, which worked very well, destroying 3 in a row. But their luck ran out, as they were covered by the Schneider artillery barrage.

Without heavy firepower, the Japanese could only resort to human sacrifice, just like the Chinese, resulting in heavy casualties.

Zhao Yunwen snorted coldly:

"When I start using overwhelming firepower, I hope you all have an iron will!"

Faced with the guerrilla detachment's three-dimensional firepower network, the Japanese soldiers' mass charges were nothing short of suicide missions. Finally, some soldiers couldn't hold on any longer and threw down their weapons and ran away like madmen.

The Japanese officer raised his hand and fired several shots, killing the officer with a Nambu pistol, roaring viciously:

"Those who retreat—die!"

"Boom boom boom..."

A volley of shells rained down, and the officer was blown to pieces, one of his hands still tightly gripping his gun.

Without officers to keep them in check, the supply soldiers with weak fighting spirit turned tail and ran away. Others followed suit, and soon the situation spiraled out of control.

Tatsumi Kusaba let out a long sigh:

"Sasaki-kun, defeat is inevitable. Let the warriors retreat and we can reconsider our strategy."

Major General Sasaki was still hesitant, but Zhao Yunwen's actions helped him make up his mind.

Zhao Yunwen had been pinned down by the 16th Division for several days, and he had been holding back his anger for a long time. Seeing that the Japanese were in complete defeat, he roared:

"Old Xie, sound the charge! A full-scale counterattack! We won't stop until we break through the 16th Division!"

Xie Polu excitedly accepted the order and left. A short while later, a loud bugle call rang out—the call to charge.

In the middle lane, Wang Guohua shouted excitedly:

"Counterattack! Charge! Everyone fix bayonets and kill the Japanese devils!"

On the northern front, Regiment Commander Zhang Yi also issued the order to counterattack, and the reserve Third Battalion also joined the battle. Even the cook squad leader charged at the enemy with a kitchen knife in hand.

On the southern front, Platoon Leader Yang Guai charged out of the position like a tiger descending a mountain, with all the soldiers in the platoon following closely behind, brandishing their gleaming bayonets and charging at the Japanese.