Chapter 4: Cannon Fire! Cannon Fire!!

  Yuan Shijiang hadn't had his fill of laughter when Lieutenant Huang sent someone to say that the meal was ready. He was also hungry at this time and wanted to quickly wrap up the case, so he asked Cao Tou She: "Since you're retired, why not just live a good life? Why did you go become a spy for the Japanese?"

  The grass-headed snake knelt down and said, "Sir, I'm innocent. The upper officer under the lieutenant, who used to be a soldier with me, has a grudge against me and is framing me on purpose."

  Yuan Shijiang asked: "How did he frame you?"

  The Grass-Mud Horse said: "This story is a long one. In the old days when we were stationed in that place... there was a young widow..."

  Yuan Shijiang found it interesting and was about to continue listening, when a sharp whistling sound suddenly came from the air. Cheng Ziqiang's face changed upon hearing the sound, and he shouted: "The enemy is bombarding!" At the same time, he made a swift movement and pushed Cuiguan mother and son into the corner of the house, using his own body to protect them tightly.

  Wang Yitian and Lang Yiwu were also regular soldiers, having received some training. They knew something was wrong and quickly sought cover, consciously avoiding the glass windows.

  "Boom! Boom! Boom!" The intense explosions made it impossible to tell how many shells had fallen, the ground shook violently, and all the windows in the room shattered. The blast wave from outside blew the shards of glass flying everywhere, and the people lying on the ground felt as if their internal organs had been shaken numb by the intense shock.

  "Ah......!" The cannon fire ceased, and the wails of agony came from all directions to the survivors' ears.

  Under Cheng Ziqiang's protection, Liu Cuicui and her son were shocked and felt a bit nauseous, but they didn't suffer any other injuries. Wang Yitian and Lang Yiwen also escaped unscathed, as Cao Tou was an old soldier who knew how to take cover and avoid the glass windows. However, the four bodyguards standing next to Yuan Shijiang were big and tall, but their tactical skills were terrible. Only one of them quickly hid under the table, while another one was a bit slower and only managed to hide half his body, with his butt exposed outside, covered in shards of glass, and he was now crying out in pain. The other two were even more stupid, hit by shattered glass and turned into a beehive-like state, unable to cry out, only making faint moans. But the one who suffered the most serious injury was Xiao Shunzi, who had no experience in this area and stood there frozen, unable to move. As a result, a large piece of glass flew over and cut open his throat. When Cheng Ziqiang looked up, he saw Xiao Shunzi's throat spraying blood like a fountain.

  Cheng Ziqiang hastily flew over, grasped Xiao Shunzi's neck artery with his hand, and shouted repeatedly: "The soldier of the rescue! The soldier of the rescue!" After shouting twice, he realized something was off and changed his words to shout: "Where is the medic?!" Cao Tou She at this time also came back to her senses from the dizziness caused by the cannon fire, and hurriedly went forward to help.

  Cheng Ziqiang finally had his hands free, and he shouted to Wang Yitian and Lang Yiwu: "Quickly leave the house, the enemy will continue to shell!" After finishing speaking, he saw that Yuan Shijiang was still sitting steadily in the chair, truly unmoved by the collapse of Mount Tai, with a demeanor befitting a great general. Only after taking a closer look did he discover that his eyes were wide open, clearly having been frightened stiff. A small piece of glass had even become embedded in his shoulder, and he didn't seem to feel any pain. Fortunately, thanks to the protection of the guards, they had blocked most of the flying glass for him. In this sense, his luck was still pretty good.

  Cheng Ziqiang saw a guard emerging from under the table, swaying back and forth, and hastily shouted to him: "Quickly take the lieutenant out!"

  The widow and her son were both scared stiff, they had never seen such a scene before. Not to mention anything else, the blood of several wounded people was splattered all over the floor and walls. Even if they wanted to run, they didn't know where to step. Cheng Ziqiang dragged them out of the house with great difficulty.

  The situation outside was even more chaotic, with people running around wildly. The untrained soldiers didn't know how to protect themselves and just ran around in all directions. In fact, only one shell had hit the base's playground during the previous bombardment, while the others fell outside the walls, which were near misses. However, the power of the large-caliber shells was not to be underestimated, and the shockwaves alone were unbearable.

  At this time, a well-trained officer should immediately arrange for the troops to disperse, but neither Wang Yitian nor Lang Yiwu had any experience in this regard. Yuan Shijiang was still recovering from his fright and his pants were already wet.

  Cheng Zi's strong protection allowed Liu Cuicui and her child to escape the house, but only a few steps later, that terrifying screeching sound echoed through the air again.

  "Look out!!" Before Cheng Zi Qiang could even shout, Wang Yi Tian and Lang Yi Wen were already yelling loudly.

  Another round of intense shelling.

  "Don't let your body touch the ground! Your internal organs can't take it!" Cheng Ziqiang shouted into Cui's widow's ear before she fell.

  The explosions didn't stop after the shelling - an ammunition depot had been hit, causing a chain reaction of blasts, and all sorts of fragments and bullets flew in all directions, carrying death's greetings.

  The chain explosion of the ammunition depot had not yet ended, and a third round of shells came flying in. This time the shelling was even more accurate, and another ammunition depot was detonated. Within ten or so minutes after the explosion ended, the entire base was devoid of any signs of life, eerily quiet except for the crackling sounds of burning flames accompanied by the moans of survivors.

  Cheng Ziqiang shook his head, feeling that he hadn't been hurt. The only problem was that his head was still buzzing and his ears were ringing nonstop. He bent down to shake Liu Cuicui, who had turned pale with fright but wasn't injured. However, Xiao Dezhi's eyes were dull, and blood was flowing from her nostrils. Cheng Ziqiang felt for Dezi's pulse and said to Liu Cuicui, "It's okay, she just got a shock and was shaken up. She'll be fine after resting quietly for a few days."

  After comforting Liu Cuicui, Cheng Ziqiang stood up and looked around. The surrounding scene was like hell, with corpses all over the ground, limbs flying everywhere. In places closer to the blast site, not a single corpse was intact. The powerful explosion had torn off the coarse military uniforms from the bodies. Surviving soldiers groaned as they slowly crawled out of the ground, their eyes dull and staring blankly around.

  Cheng Ziqiang took out a handkerchief from his pocket, on which was embroidered a golden star and the letters Eva Lee. He handed it to Liu Cuicui and said: "Cover the child's eyes with this, this is not suitable for children to see."

  A snake with a grass-like head swayed and walked over, saying: "Shunzi is dead, Xiaozi Mao's hair hasn't grown yet. It's his mother's fault, when giving birth to him, she didn't pinch the umbilical cord..."

  Cheng Zi Qiang asked: "Are you hurt?"

  The grass head snake bitterly smiled and said: "I'm just too hard to die, no matter what."

  Cheng Ziqiang helped up Liu Cuicui, put Xiao Dezi on his back and said: "Let's go, the cannon is so accurate, it's either set in advance or there are artillery observers nearby. This place is not safe."

  A burst of cannonballs landed right in the middle of the group of fleeing soldiers, who were all tied together with a large rope and couldn't disperse in time. As a result, dozens of fleeing soldiers and the constables guarding them were instantly killed, leaving only a few barely breathing. Fortunately, they had been interrogated by Yuan Shijiang as spies earlier, or else most of them would have been reduced to a mere puddle of blood and flesh by now.

  Cheng Ziqiang, Cao Toushe and Liu Cuicui had only taken a few steps when a bloody hand reached out and grabbed Cheng Ziqiang's pants leg. Liu Cuicui was already frightened, and upon seeing this, her legs went soft and she fell to the ground with a thud.