Volume 3 Chapter 37

  Sun Yingchang received the order, he went back to sit and prepare, then led his battalion and the 70 sharpshooters assigned by Li Bin to leave Tiantai Village and ambush near the Wei Family Gorge railway line.

  As they approached the ruined railway line, the warriors lay in ambush in the snowy ground, quietly waiting. Sun Yutian looked at the seventy sharpshooters assigned to him by Li Bin, each holding a brand-new 24-year-style Mauser 98 rifle, wearing white cloaks, and every one of them was spirited and energetic, lying in the snow for a long time without feeling cold. He couldn't help but sigh: "The troops trained personally by General Zhang are indeed a powerful force! Not only are their weapons good, but the soldiers are also well-trained!"

  Looking at his own soldiers, they were all dressed in gray military uniforms. If they weren't hiding behind the trees, their color would be as conspicuous as a pile of feces on snowy ground. Not to mention concealment, when the devils came, they wouldn't even need to search for them. Moreover, the weapons in his soldiers' hands were all Liuzao Thirteen Year Type rifles, this "German-Japanese hybrid" rifle was clearly inferior to those expert marksmen's Twenty-Four Year Type Mauser 98 guns in terms of performance.

  Time passed minute by minute, and soon an hour had passed, then another hour passed, but the little devils still didn't appear. In the icy snow, some Northeastern soldiers who were frozen to the point of shivering all over began to curse, and some couldn't help but stand up and stomp their feet and rub their hands to warm up. However, those 70 sharpshooters remained motionless, lying on the snowy ground with their guns wrapped in white cloth pointing towards the railway line in front of them.

  Another hour passed, and there was still no movement on the railway line ahead. At this time, Sun Yutian also wondered if Li Bin's intelligence was reliable. He thought to himself: The Japanese wouldn't make a mistake like that, would they? It had only been less than a month since they were defeated in the war of resistance, and they would surrender so quickly to us?

  Just then, a train whistle suddenly came from afar, and an iron-clad monster emerged from the rails two miles away, slowly moving towards Weijia Gou with heavy breathing. This armored train consisted of eight cars, with the first and second cars carrying materials, including steel rail sleepers, due to the severe damage caused by the Righteous Brave Army to the railway, the Japanese iron-clad train had to use two cars to carry repair materials. The third car was a machine gun car, equipped with two 75mm mountain guns and more than ten machine gun shooting holes. The fourth car was an artillery car, carrying a 150mm heavy cannon. In the middle was a temporarily called steam locomotive, behind which the fifth car was another machine gun car, similar to the third car. Cars six, seven, and eight were troop carriers.

  Behind the train, there were about three to four hundred Japanese soldiers and more than a hundred railway workers who were being escorted. Behind them were over ten Type 38 cavalry guns and Type 41 field guns.

  The armored train had just traveled over a mile when the Japanese lookout spotted that the railway ahead was destroyed. He hastily gave the order to stop the train. After the train came to a halt, the Japanese soldiers herded the Chinese railway workers out and began repairing the railway damaged by the Dare-to-Die Corps. Possibly because the train had stopped moving forward, the air inside the cars became too stifling, so the doors of the armored train opened one after another, and all the Japanese got out to stand on both sides of the railway to get some fresh air.

  Sun Yutian counted and was secretly shocked in his heart: Good guy! There are more than 500 devils! It seems that what Zan Zuoshi said is true! However, although the devil's artillery has been seen, the devil's cavalry has not been found yet.

  All the warriors were lying on the ground, not even daring to breathe. Twenty-four water-cooled heavy machine guns and four Czech-style machine guns were pointing at the enemy. Sun Yutian looked at those sharpshooters, he didn't make a sound, because before leaving, Li Bin had instructed him that the sharpshooters would fire first, and then the machine guns could sweep.

  Ma Liqiang, a skilled shooter, fixed his gaze on the head of a Japanese lieutenant, with the rifle's sight aimed at the enemy, ready to fire a fatal shot at any moment. Ma Liqiang was the leader of this team of sharpshooters, and he had been left out of the sniper squad by just one name, due to his poor performance in laying booby traps and handgun techniques. This had always been a source of resentment for Ma Liqiang, who came from a hunting background, and he vowed to kill more Japanese soldiers to earn his place in the real sniper squad as soon as possible.

  Ma Liqiang is the leader of this team of sharpshooters. Everyone else fires when he does.

  The rails crept forward on the roadbed, getting closer and closer to Sun Yutian and his men, from 600 meters to 400 meters, but the Japanese still hadn't discovered those carefully hidden snipers.

  Ma Liqiang made a rough estimate of the distance, adjusted his sights, and when the devil was about two hundred meters away from him, his finger, which had been pressing on the trigger, finally pressed down. A crisp gunshot broke the silence on the snowy plain, Ma Liqiang's shoulder shook slightly, and the bullet flew out of the barrel, spinning towards the lieutenant's head.

  The head of that devil officer "swoosh" burst open like a watermelon kicked by someone, and with a jerk, it fell heavily into the snow like a wooden stake.

  The leader's gunshot was the order, all the god gunmen opened fire at the same time, seventy rifles spat out seventy tongues of flame, these god gunmen who could kill a devil with one shot immediately knocked down more than thirty devils. That's because many people aimed at the same target, otherwise it should be seventy devils killed.

  Gunfire broke out, and the Northeast Army soldiers' Type 24 heavy machine guns and Czech-style light machine guns fired together. Five crimson bullet marks whizzed through the forest, sweeping towards those devils who were caught off guard, instantly knocking down over thirty of them like grains of rice.

  The Japanese moved quickly, and the Japanese soldiers who were hit immediately fell to the ground, pulling the bolt of their guns towards the Northeast Army and firing bullets. The devils who should have been on the armored train jumped onto the car in a flurry, but at this time another round of gunfire rang out, and more than a dozen devils who had just grabbed the door handles fell from the train to the snowy ground.

  A Czech-style machine gunner suddenly fell on the machine gun with a pair of penetrating blood holes in his head. It was caused by the Japanese sniper's shooting, but although the Japanese soldiers' marksmanship was accurate, they had not received sniper training and did not know that they should deal with the sniper first. The Japanese sniper had just fired a shot when he was hit by a bullet from Ma Liqiang, which blew open his skull, and he fell headlong into the snowy ground.

  A Japanese Type 3 heavy machine gun had just fired its second shot when a 7.92mm bullet pierced the head of the gunner. The assistant gunner took over, only to be knocked down by another shot immediately.

  Chinese workers forced to repair the railway by devils heard gunfire and dropped their tools, fleeing in all directions. Seeing the fleeing workers, a devil lieutenant on an armored train opened the hatch and stuck his head out, waving his command knife in the air: "Kill them! Kill those lazy Chinese!"

  The crackling sound of gunfire echoed, and the wicked bullets struck those fleeing workers from behind. Those poor Chinese fell one by one in the snowy ground, dyeing the white snow into a crimson red.

  Suddenly, a bullet of revenge shot onto the armored train, accurately hitting that devilish lieutenant who was brandishing his command knife. "Dang" went the sound as the command knife fell on the roof of the car, and the devilish lieutenant's head completely disappeared from the top hatch. His corpse thudded back into the car with a "plop".

  Because the snipers were well hidden, and the Northeastern Army's machine gun fire attracted the Japanese army, the Japanese considered Sun Yu-tang's Northeastern Army as their main opponent. The busy Japanese artillery hastily set up their cannons, and a Type 38 cavalry cannon fired a shell that accurately landed on the position of a Chinese ZB-26 machine gun that was firing intensely. A flash of fire appeared on the snowy ground, and snowflakes flew into the air. Two machine gunners and a heavy machine gun were thrown into the air from the ground and fell back down. A shell fired by a Type 41 mountain cannon landed among three Northeastern Army soldiers who were firing, exploding and sending bloody snow flying into the air.

  Armored trains spewed out tongues of toxic fire, beating the snow-covered ground and sending snowflakes flying. Northeastern soldiers who were hit fell one after another, their fresh blood seeping into the pristine white snow and bursting into gorgeous flowers of blood.

  "Hit! Give me a hard hit on these damn things!" Seeing his brothers fall one after another, Sun Yutian lost his mind and pulled out his pistol to fire into the air.

  "Company Commander! Don't get entangled with the enemy! Withdraw quickly!" Ma Liqiang, who had already put away his rifle, rushed past Sun Yutian's side and pulled him back, stopping his reckless action.

  At this point, Sun Yutian regained his senses. He remembered what Li Bin had said and waved his hand: "Withdraw!"

  The warriors who received the order began to retreat one after another. At this moment, the armored train turned its barrel and a 75mm shell landed among two Northeastern Army soldiers who retreated slower than others, exploding instantly. In an instant, the two men were reduced to bloody rain and flesh fragments mixed with flying snowflakes scattered all over the sky.

  The armored train moved slowly, the cannon and machine gun shooting holes spewing out one wave after another of fierce flames, attacking the Northeast Army soldiers from behind. Many retreating soldiers fell down again. The Japanese infantry saw the Northeast Army retreat, all stood up, and chased towards the direction where Sun Yutian and others were retreating.

  "Brothers, protect those sharpshooters! They are the pillars of our country!" Sun Yutian roared.

  "Sergeant! You retreat first! I'll cover your back!" a machine gunner holding a Czech-style machine gun yelled.

  Just then, a horseshoe sound came from afar, and the ghostly cavalry that Sun Yutian had not discovered appeared! Hearing the horseshoe sound, Sun Yutian was anxious, he knew that relying on the infantry's two legs, it was definitely impossible to outrun the cavalry! He himself and the soldiers of this regiment were willing to sacrifice, but what he worried about was these godly marksmen, they were all Li Bin's treasures!