Chapter 4: Alley Battle! Alley Battle! (Part 1)

  It was around 6 o'clock in the morning, which is the darkest time before dawn in winter.

  Yue Weihan was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, cultivating his spirit, when a sudden hurried footsteps came from afar, and soon after, Cao Xinglong's voice rang in his ears: "Sir, something is wrong!"

  Yue Weihan turned his head lazily and said, "What's wrong?"

  Cao Xinglong pointed to the left front, where a dozen National Army officers were busy, and said anxiously: "I didn't attend military school, but I also know that machine gun firepower should be set up at a commanding height with good shooting range. But here can't even be considered an absolute commanding height, the shooting range is not right either, and the machine guns are placed in a way that can't block the city wall gap at all?"

  Yu Wei Han calmly said: "Is there anything else?"

  "There are also." Cao Xinglong nodded, and then pointed to the left and right sides of the broken walls, saying, "There are also these two places, and the two machine gun firing points that have been built here are also not good, it's the same problem, the shooting angles are all wrong, putting the machine guns in these positions can't seal off the city wall gaps at all!"

  Yue Weihan retorted: "Who told you that these three firepower points are used to block the city gate?"

  "What?" Cao Xinglong said in surprise, "If it's not used to block the gap, what is it used for?"

  Yue Weihan pointed behind Cao Xinglong's back with a smile and said: "Turn around and take a look at your back, you'll understand."

  Cao Xinglong subconsciously turned his head and saw the main thoroughfare in Baoshan City, which was already lined with circular street barricades facing the direction of the gap. However, between the circular street barricades and the gap was a large area of rubble, as a result of the Japanese army's massive artillery bombardment yesterday morning, which not only destroyed a section of the city wall but also destroyed many civilian houses inside the city wall, leaving behind this large pile of rubble. The three hidden firepower points were distributed in a "品" shape on the relatively commanding heights of the three corners of this rubble heap.

  "I still don't get it." Cao Xinglong shook his head, "The little devils aren't fools, they wouldn't be stupid enough to stand in the middle of this rubble waiting for our machine gun fire to kill them, would they?"

  "You'll understand when the time comes." Yue Weihan smiled slightly and asked, "Are all the ambush points arranged?"

  "According to the superior's intention, the snipers of the sniper squad have already occupied the commanding heights with good shooting conditions on both sides of the main street, and I also made it clear to them that the primary target for sniper killing is the little devil's officers at all levels, followed by machine gunners and grenade throwers, and finally ordinary soldiers."

  "Hmm." Yue Weihan nodded, and suddenly a cold killing intent burst forth on his face. He said in a stern voice, "Cao Xinglong, just wait and watch the show. You little devil wants to play alleyway fighting with me? That's called looking for death, humph!"

  Yue Weihan's words are not bragging, as a military history enthusiast, he has done considerable research on street fighting, mountain warfare, jungle warfare and special operations. In his decade-long career as a mercenary, Yue Weihan has also put the various military knowledge he mastered into practice, accumulating a wealth of practical and targeted combat experience.

  To say the least, Yue Weihan's tactical literacy is absolutely at the master level in this era.

  As they spoke, the sky gradually brightened up, and the Japanese artillery fire was about to arrive on schedule. However, since the National Army retreated its defensive line, the threat of the Japanese artillery fire had been greatly reduced. Because all around Baoshan were Japanese positions, the Japanese naval guns and large-caliber heavy artillery with long range but poor accuracy were afraid of mistakenly hitting their own positions, so they basically no longer participated in the shelling.

  The focus of the bombardment was the area around the Dongcheng Gap, and it is clear that the Japanese army still chose this place as a breakthrough.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, as soon as the bombardment stopped, the Japanese army mobilized a force of about one reinforced company, and under the guidance of two tanks, they quickly approached the Dongcheng gap. In less than a moment, the Japanese vanguard was already within a distance of less than 200 meters from the city wall gap. However, what is puzzling is that the city walls on both sides of the gap were still eerily quiet.

  Japanese army frontline observation post.

  Hirano Ichiro was observing the movement of Bao Shan City through a telescope, and upon seeing this, he furrowed his brow. Why had the Chinese army changed their tactics? Usually when the two armies were still 400-500 meters apart, the Chinese army's light and heavy machine guns and rifles would already be firing intensely, but today was unusually quiet, with the two armies less than 200 meters apart, yet there was still no movement!

  In an instant, the Japanese vanguard squad was less than fifty meters away from the gap. At this time, the tank's advance began to be hindered by shell craters and broken walls, becoming extremely slow. The Japanese infantry, who had been thoroughly brainwashed by the Bushido spirit, immediately rushed past the tanks and shouted as they charged up the gap in the wall.

  "Fire!" Along with Yue Weihan's loud roar, intense gunfire suddenly erupted from the broken walls.

  Four Czech-style light machine guns and dozens of formal rifles wove a web of firepower that swept down like a gust of wind, and the Japanese infantry who were shouting and charging forward were instantly knocked down in large numbers. The remaining devils also fell to the ground, while the main force of the devil's company behind hastily began to set up light and heavy machine guns as well as rocket launchers, preparing for a firepower counterattack.

  "Fall back!" At Yue Weihan's order, dozens of National Army soldiers guarding the broken walls and crumbling battlements turned around and retreated.

  When the Japanese army's light and heavy machine guns and grenade launchers blasted the broken walls at the gap, causing stones to splatter and smoke to fill the air, the National Army soldiers had already retreated from inside the gap. The Japanese firepower retaliation almost didn't play any role, only one National Army soldier was scratched on the cheek by flying stones, bleeding non-stop.

  The sound of gunfire stopped, and the Japanese army's vanguard squad smoothly charged up the gap.

  The little devil captain looked down and saw a group of "Chinese fugitive soldiers" fleeing westward along the main street, even abandoning the carefully constructed circular barricades. In an instant, he raised his samurai sword without hesitation, and the 40 or 50 devils behind him suddenly let out a loud roar like beasts, chasing after them with Type 38 Arisaka rifles.

  When Lieutenant Colonel Shōichi Kobayashi led the main force of the battalion across the pass, the vanguard had already advanced deep into the main street of Baoshan City. Only occasional distant gunfire could be heard. He immediately ordered a duty soldier to report to headquarters: "My unit is advancing smoothly, and the Chinese army has completely collapsed. We will soon clear out the remaining enemy in the city..."

  As soon as Kobayashi's voice fell, a fierce killing sound and the sound of clashing blades suddenly came from deep within the main street.

  "Huh, what's this...?" Kobayashi Masao was shocked and quickly turned his head to see that the vanguard squad that had just charged into the main street had retreated like a tide, with a large group of Chinese soldiers exposing their chests and bellies behind them. These Chinese soldiers looked tall and sturdy, with ferocious expressions, each holding high-quality bayonet-equipped rifles.

  The officer who rushed to the front left a deep impression on Kobayashi Masao.

  Almost every time he thrusts, an Imperial Army soldier falls under his bayonet. Although they are extremely far apart, Masao Kobayashi still feels a cold killing intent rushing towards him. It's clear that this Shina military officer is absolutely a top-notch assassin, and he must have learned ancient Chinese martial arts!

  The Imperial Japanese Army, although armed with the spirit of Bushido and having a high standard of bravery, would still retreat when faced with an even more powerful and ferocious enemy, especially when morale was low and they knew they were no match. It was extremely rare for Imperial soldiers to fight to the death without retreating.

  "This is... the Chinese army's desperate counterattack?!"

  Kobayashi Masao suddenly inhaled a breath of cold air, yesterday the Imperial Army was driven out of the city by the Chinese army's desperate counterattack, today they can't repeat the same mistake. Just as he was about to give the order to counterattack, his peripheral vision suddenly caught a glimpse of a glint of light on the rooftop in the distance. The experienced Kobayashi Masao instinctively dodged his head, and a bullet flew past his cheek, the scorching air wave burning his facial muscles.