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

As the sun set, the Japanese offensive was once again repelled, leaving behind a field of corpses.

Colonel Adachi Twenty-Three lost his patience and sent someone to reprimand Yamaguchi Shuntaro.

He didn't want to hear the casualty figures, he just wanted Luodian!

Major Yamaguchi said with a gloomy face:

"Gentlemen, the regimental commander is very angry. If we cannot capture Luodian by nightfall tomorrow, he will replace the Sakamoto Battalion."

This will be a disgrace to the Yamaguchi Battalion!

Captain Kondo, his face dark, volunteered for the mission:

"Commander, please give Company Commander Kondo another chance, I beg you!"

The other company commanders also volunteered, and Yamaguchi Shuntaro's expression softened somewhat. He said in a deep voice:

"Gentlemen, the time has come to serve His Majesty faithfully!"

"Give each warrior double the rations, and after they've eaten their fill, fix bayonets and launch a general offensive. End the battle before dawn!"

All the Japanese soldiers bowed in unison, exuding an air of superiority.

Under the cover of night, Qin Hongtao arranged for the evacuation of all the seriously wounded and fallen soldiers from the Second Company's position.

They had just finished eating their dry rations when the Japanese artillery bombardment began. The soldiers of the Second Company quickly took cover in the nearest artillery shelters, quietly waiting for the Japanese to attack.

The Japanese soldiers had undergone specialized night combat training, and due to their ample nutrition, they had almost no night blindness.

Zhao Yunwen has always attached great importance to this issue. He exchanged a large amount of cod liver oil and vitamin A capsules from the Time-Space Mall and regularly supplied them to the troops. In addition, the troops also had no night blindness due to their balanced diet.

Under the cover of darkness, the Japanese soldiers stealthily approached the main position of the Second Company. Just as Captain Murakami, the adjutant in charge, was overjoyed, several flares shot into the sky.

Captain Murakami screamed in terror:

"There's an ambush! Get down!"

Almost simultaneously, the defending troops' positions were blown up, with all light and heavy firepower unleashed, and even the battalion-level machine gun companies joined in. The intensity of the firepower was unprecedented in the Japanese soldiers' lives.

The Japanese offensive was halted, and they collapsed like fallen leaves in autumn; the more troops they committed, the more they died.

The flares made the Japanese soldiers' movements impossible to hide, and the security regiment's well-coordinated long, medium and short-range firepower, with its comprehensive light and heavy firepower and dense barrage, caused the Japanese night attack to hit a brick wall.

Machine gunner Deng Jiaxing had a blast. In a short time, he emptied half a belt of ammunition, and the number of Japanese soldiers who died under his gun was countless.

This record was enough to earn him a place on the family tree, but he wasn't satisfied. He moved to a new firing position and started firing again, shouting as he did so:

"You damn Japanese devils, I'm here to send you to the afterlife!"

Deng Jiaxing was incredibly skilled with his machine gun. He didn't fire blindly, but instead used continuous short bursts to suppress the Japanese and ensure his first shot hit.

The M1919 medium machine gun was very stable and had a powerful firepower. In the hands of veterans like Deng Jiaxing, it could suppress half a squad with both light and heavy fire, making it impossible for the Japanese to raise their heads.

"Bang!"

A rifle bullet blew off Deng Jiaxing's helmet, startling him so much that he shrank into the trench, muttering to himself:

"May Guanyin Bodhisattva bless you. Once the Japanese devils are driven away, I will have a golden statue made for you."

"You damn Japanese devils, your marksmanship isn't bad. I'll kill you all."

After muttering to himself, Deng Jiaxing moved to a different firing position along the trench and cautiously poked his head out again.

Bullets were still flying everywhere, and the Japanese soldiers were nowhere to be seen; it was all based on intuition.

Firing a gun is very risky, especially for machine gunners. The flashes of fire can easily attract the sharpshooters of the Japanese, who have an extremely high hit rate within 200 meters.

To save his life, Deng Jiaxing could only fire one burst of bullets and then move to another location, engaging in guerrilla warfare with the Japanese.

Both sides fought cautiously, with most people wasting bullets. It looked like a lively battle, but the casualties were not significant.

The Japanese troops' numerical advantage was not demonstrated. They originally planned to take the Second Company's position in one fell swoop, but they were utterly crushed by the powerful firepower of the First Battalion.

The battalion's machine gun company provided fire suppression from 500 meters away, inflicting considerable casualties on the Japanese. Subsequently, the two sides reached a stalemate and fought sporadically for several hours.

Despite their best efforts, the Yamaguchi Brigade was unable to make any progress and had to retreat.

After midnight, the Japanese launched two more small-scale attacks, both of which were repelled by the defending troops and the situation came to a complete halt.

After the ceasefire, Battalion Commander Zhang Yi replaced the Second Company with the Third Company. The Second Company held off the Japanese for a day, suffering more than half of its casualties.

After the two company commanders handed over their positions, Qin Hongtao led the Second Company to the rear to rest. Upon seeing Qin Hongtao, Battalion Commander Wang Guohua immediately bombarded him with questions:

"How many brothers are left?"

Qin Hongtao said with a gloomy expression:

"48 people were killed and 35 were seriously injured."

Qin Hongtao didn't mention minor injuries, and Wang Guohua didn't pry. At this stage of the battle, almost everyone was injured, making it impossible to count. Anyone who could still fight wasn't considered a wounded soldier.

The security regiment consisted of four platoons (including a machine gun platoon), each with 54 men, plus a reconnaissance squad and an 8-man company headquarters, for a total of 237 men.

The number of seriously injured and killed reached 83, and if you include the lightly wounded, the entire unit was crippled.

Wang Guohua patted Qin Hongtao on the shoulder and said:

"The brothers are all good! Take good care of the wounded brothers after you go down."

Qin Hongtao gave Wang Guohua a military salute with his only remaining left hand, and the latter solemnly returned the salute, watching Qin Hongtao's indomitable figure disappear into the dawn light.

At the Yamaguchi Battalion headquarters, the Japanese soldiers were also licking their wounds. Lieutenant Captain Inoue, with a grim face, said:

"Yamaguchi-kun, all three infantry companies have suffered heavy casualties. Matsuki Company is down to only one squad, Kondo Company has suffered more than half its casualties, and the machine gun company has lost three heavy machine guns. Only the fourth company is still intact."

The entire battalion suffered 117 dead and 61 wounded.

This naturally did not include the lightly wounded, and Major Yamaguchi angrily cursed:

"You idiots, a bunch of useless trash!"

"There are still more than ten hours left, and I don't want to hear any more casualty figures."

After breakfast, let's continue the attack!

Captain Inoue hummed in agreement and left to distribute the breakfast as his adjutant.

Sosuke Ishii received his rice ball, along with a can of beef and a few pieces of fruit candy—a ration only available during combat.

After fighting fiercely from 8 p.m. until dawn, Private First Class Ishii was so hungry that his stomach was practically sticking to his back, and he stuffed a rice ball into his mouth.

Ishii's squad suffered 3 dead and 3 seriously wounded. Such heavy casualties left the survivors with no will to speak.

Fukuda Ginji, covered in wounds, walked over dejectedly and plopped down next to Ishii Sosuke, saying in a low voice:

"Nishimura-kun didn't come back, and Kamiya-kun lost both his legs in the explosion. Even if he were saved, he would be a cripple."

Nishimura, Kamiya and they were classmates who joined the army together and were assigned to the same squad.

Before coming to Shanghai to fight, they were so excited on the ship that they couldn't sleep. The commander said that they could destroy China in three months.

Nishimura also thought the commander was too conservative; a month would be enough.

Fukuda agreed, but he didn't want the war to end too soon, as he hadn't accumulated enough merits yet.

Sosuke Ishii rolled his dead fish eyes and said:

"It's better to be a cripple than to die on the battlefield."

Fukuda-kun, if I don't come back, please take my ashes back and bury them under the cherry blossom tree at the village entrance.

"I'm leaving Minako in your care!"

Fukuda Ginji's eyes lit up instantly. He had liked Minako since he could remember, but unfortunately, she only had eyes for Ishii Sosuke.

Fukuda thought he would never be able to have Minako again in this lifetime, but Ishii Sosuke's words gave him endless hope, and a sinful thought suddenly popped into his mind.

I wish Ishii-kun wouldn't come back...

"Ishii-kun, don't say discouraging things. We will definitely make it back to our hometown alive."

Minako, you'd better take care of yourself!

Before the two had finished their cans of beef, the death knell sounded. Ishii hastily swallowed the rest of the can, unsure if he would survive lunch.

"Boom boom boom..."

"Boom boom boom!"

The artillery barrage began as scheduled. Led by the squad leader, Saber, Ishii, gun in hand, stealthily charged toward the defending troops' position.

"BOOM BOOM BOOM!!"

A volley of shells landed in the Japanese troops, taking down more than a dozen, including Ishii's squad leader.

This kid is unlucky; half of his body was blown off, and he's struggling desperately with both hands, letting out painful screams.

Still shaken, Ishii bent down even further.

Fukuda was much braver, standing tall and charging for over a hundred meters.

A tongue of fire erupted from the opposite position, sweeping across Fukuda's body and turning him into a bloody mess.

Ishii was so frightened that he fell to the ground; he was now the only one left of his classmates.

This war was far more brutal than they had imagined.