Chapter 9: The War Chariot Rushes Forward with a Crash

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  First to unleash its fury were the dozens of directional mines hidden on both sides of the Japanese army's marching column, instantly equivalent to a dense steel hailstorm from a regiment's worth of light weapons firing in unison. An entire company or more of Japanese troops fulfilled their comrades' wishes before they came to China - "Yusei sakusen" (lit. "to die on foreign soil"), while over a hundred others lay on the ground, wailing in agony as they slowly crawled forward with big strides towards Yusei sakusen.

  Of course, this was just the beginning of a big meal, and even the appetizer couldn't be counted. The shockwave from the directional mine explosion had not yet dissipated when the sound of mortar shells breaking through the air "whizzing" could be heard above the Japanese army's heads. The Japanese were indeed well-trained, and upon hearing the shell sounds, they almost simultaneously dropped to the ground. However, unfortunately, the shells did not land but exploded in mid-air at a height of 15 meters, and many people who had dropped to the ground did not get up again amidst the steel rain.

  Facing airburst shells, the clever Japanese soldiers quickly realized that lying on the ground was tantamount to waiting for death. It would be better to charge out desperately, perhaps there might still be a way to survive. However, they soon discovered that this approach was also unsafe, as dense bullets and grenades flew in from the surrounding hills. Although these caused relatively little harm compared to the shells, they effectively pinned them down on the spot, not daring to move.

  What made the Japanese soldiers feel suffocated was that the machine guns had a range of over one kilometer and were all located within pre-built solid and hidden bunkers. The Type 92 heavy machine guns and grenade launchers in the hands of the Japanese army were completely useless against them. In other words, they could only endure being beaten.

  There were also soldiers who set up 60mm mortars to counterattack, but the enemy had a kind of rapid-firing grenade launcher that, although not as powerful as the 60mm mortar, had an extremely fast firing rate. Very quickly, several mortar teams were defeated in the crossfire and were blown to pieces along with their guns.

  The Japanese soldiers' attempts at resistance were repeatedly crushed by the enemy's firepower, and they could only passively endure being battered.

  At this moment, Sasaki's head was already sweating profusely. In less than five minutes, there were nearly a battalion of casualties, which was unimaginable in the past. As soon as he heard the sound of artillery shells breaking through the air, he knew he had encountered a tough opponent - at least 100mm or more heavy artillery could produce such a sound. When the shell exploded among his troops, he almost fell off his horse. Good heavens, this was the power of a 150mm howitzer! It wasn't strange that the 120mm mortar shells had the same power as 150mm howitzer shells, after all, the travelers brought products from the 21st century, and their power exceeded those of this era without exception.

  Although he was in a desperate situation, Sasaki was indeed an elite student of the Military Academy. At this moment, he understood that it was not the time for him to reflect on his own arrogance and mistakes, such as deploying troops in marching formation and failing to send out reconnaissance units in the combat zone. When he came to his senses after being shocked, he quickly judged the enemy's intention - which was to suppress his troops in this small plain and slowly torture them with heavy firepower until everyone died. He had used similar tactics many times before, of course against the Eighth Route Army, but when one day the Eighth Route Army repeated this on him, he also had to learn from the Eighth Route Army. At that time, he immediately issued an order: "Let the tank troops open the way, and the whole army will break through from the front!" At the same time, he had to put aside his pride and send a message to the headquarters, which was always high above: "Our army encountered an exceptionally strong enemy, requesting air support and reinforcements." Although doing so might lead to a severe reprimand - if he could survive - being scolded was still much better than the whole army being annihilated.

  However, Sasaki apparently did not understand the difficulties of his armored units. At this moment, in front of two tank companies was a hill that was not steep, and although the road through the middle of the mountain was narrow, it was not difficult to pass through, provided there were no two monster-like heavy tanks.

  At that time, the situation was such that when the shells had just fallen into the crowd, the two tank squadron leaders had already realized that they were ambushed. Although the enemy's artillery was busy using a storm of shells to abuse the infantry and temporarily had no time to take care of them, this did not mean that they were safe.

  In the face of this situation, the two squadron leaders immediately contacted a battalion commander, planning to occupy the front wooden mountain, open up a breakthrough for the ambushed troops. It should be said that the two squadron leaders' ability to respond to emergencies was still very good, but since it was an ambush war, there must have been someone guarding this important high ground.

  When they were 1000 meters away from the top of the mountain, they were shot at by large-caliber machine guns on the mountain. At first, the two squadron leaders ridiculed this behavior of using machine guns to shoot tanks - this was clearly a waste of bullets. However, as the two Type 94 light tanks were hit and caught fire, and the infantry behind them fell down, they realized that their laughter earlier was truly foolish.

  At that moment, all the Type 95 light tanks fired at the distant large-caliber machine gun firepower point with 37mm cannons. Just after a burst of shells suppressed the machine guns, two Type 95 tanks were blown to pieces. The perpetrators were two heavy tanks they had never seen before, which exceeded their imagination.

  At this moment, the two tanks with smoking barrels blocked the road, and the black muzzles pointed directly at them, proving their enemy relationship. In the face of these big guys, the Japanese tanks turned their cannons to aim at them. The 37mm shells were much lighter, and the Japanese tanks quickly reloaded and fired the first round.

  Although the Japanese artillery was very accurate, 12 tanks hit eight times at a distance of 1000 meters, but except for blowing off some oil skin and a big light on two tanks, the only effect was to produce a clear "ding" sound. This result left all the Japanese stunned.

  Immediately afterwards, the Japanese drivers rushed forward without thinking, "Maybe getting closer will have some effect." All the Japanese tank commanders had this idea, which should be said was not bad. However, in front of these two T55 tanks, this was a bit like a blind man lighting a lamp - a waste of wax.

  The equivalent of 200mm thick frontal armor and 80mm thick side armor seemed to far exceed the penetration depth of the 37mm cannon on the Type 95 tank. However, their actions were not without effect, at least allowing the two big guys to shoot empty for two rounds.

  At this moment, due to excessive tension, the crew members of the two T-55 tanks had already scolded each other. The tank commander scolded the gunner "blind", the gunner scolded the loader "lazy", the loader scolded the driver "stupid", and the driver scolded the tank commander "fool". Although it was their first time participating in a tank battle, and the crew members' driving skills were extremely unfamiliar, such uncivilized behavior was understandable. However, the cursing still had an effect, and in the third round of simultaneous fire, both tanks achieved new results, and two Japanese Type 95 tanks became scrap metal flying into the sky.

  "It's not fair!" Almost every Japanese tank driver was shouting. Indeed, the two big guys in front had been hit by more than 30 shells, but except for peeling off the paint, there was no effect at all, even within a distance of less than 50 meters. But if the opponent gave themselves just one shell, even a near-miss, it would overturn the entire vehicle.