Chapter 63

  Early winter morning, the sun's radiance makes people feel a bit chilly, trees in the cold wind swing their last few withered leaves, yellowed dry grass has already bent down, trembling to withstand the ravages of the cold wind.

  A distant roar of planes grew louder, the mountain stronghold responded with sharp whistles, and the rear mountain directly responded with gunfire to alert those who were still in doubt. However, all this came too late, two fighter jets and five bombers of the Japanese army appeared above Flying Tiger Mountain, people had not yet reacted, and the bombs fell on the village and barracks, amidst the intense explosion, houses turned into flying dust and smoke, thick smoke obscured the sky, wails of despair filled the air.

  Sun Ergou heard the sound, instructed Guihua to take care of the child, and he himself went out of the door, came to a small mound to observe the situation, and found that the plane was actually flying towards Feihu Village. He shouted "Guihua, hurry up and run!" But it was too late, the house was too conspicuous, three planes dropped bombs one after another, Sun Ergou's home instantly became a ruin, Sun Ergou let out a miserable cry "My child" and fainted.

  Fortunately, it was during the morning exercise, and the soldiers were not in the barracks. However, the Japanese planes recklessly strafed them at low altitude, and even the villagers who escaped were not spared. The large-caliber bullets even cut people in half, and the scene was extremely horrific! After they finished venting their anger, they flew away after making a circle, and several more planes came flying in the sky...

  Xiao Ming was already worried in the hall, and the troops stationed at each regiment called to say that a large number of Japanese troops were rushing towards Fei Hu Zhai. Xiao Ming had no choice but to order them to hold their ground and report back if there were any developments. As the bombing on the mountain continued non-stop, Xiao Ming's heart sank, and he remembered what Mù Cūn had said. He hastily picked up the phone, but couldn't get through, so he called over Shan Wá Zi: "Quickly, go to the back mountain and notify them that Da Long and Ma Liu are on high alert at the back mountain, and all villagers and logistics troops must evacuate into the mountains as quickly as possible!"

  Wang Jinlong, Lin Xiucheng and others all arrived at the hall, asking what had happened. Xiao Ming gritted his teeth and said: "The devils have gone all out this time, it seems they want to swallow us up in one go! They are now bombing the back mountain, wanting to cut off our retreat route, and will soon arrive at the mountain stronghold! Old Lin, you go to Hu Lu Valley, if you can't hold on, retreat to the second line of defense! Old Lü, go to Jiu Dao Wan, if all else fails, blow up the mountain to block the enemy! Order Xu Dage to set up machine guns on the mountain and hide well, do not open fire without orders! Everyone here leave the mountain stronghold, disperse and hide, wait for orders, hurry!" After thinking for a moment, he said to Wang Jinlong: "Big brother, come over, I have something to tell you..."

  As expected, after the enemy planes found that there were no valuable bombing targets behind the mountain, they began to attack each company's position and the mountain stronghold. For a time, the explosions shook the sky and earth, rocks flew everywhere, and thick smoke rose. Fortunately, Feihu Fort was in the belly of the mountain, and it was very difficult for enemy planes to bomb, so they just threw a few bombs on the playground and went to find other targets.

  The Japanese army has completed the encirclement of Flying Tiger Fort and did not immediately launch an attack. They are enjoying the show of the Imperial Air Force: if things go smoothly, taking down Flying Tiger Fort is a piece of cake, no need to risk the lives of imperial soldiers!

  The Japanese planes were already on their third round of bombing the Flying Tigers! With no interference, the pilots even lowered their altitude to its lowest point in order to make precise strikes on ground targets. Just as they had turned around and were preparing for a new round of bombing, intense gunfire suddenly erupted from the top of the mountain, with dozens of light and heavy machine guns roaring out flames, forming a dense web of bullets that the lead plane could not avoid. More than a dozen large-caliber machine gun bullets pierced its belly, exploding the bombs in the cockpit, causing the plane to explode in mid-air, disintegrating into dust. The powerful impact caused the air to stagnate for a moment. The planes behind saw that things were not going well and hastily pulled up their aircraft, randomly dropping a few bombs before fleeing. Without fighter protection, the clumsy and slow bombers were just moving targets!

  The bombers, citing the complex terrain and poor bombing results, refused to appear again. They had more important tasks and could not make unnecessary sacrifices for a local armed group. If their colleagues knew that they attacked a small bandit's nest and lost several planes, they would definitely laugh at them! It was better to send two fighter jets to pretend at the right time.

  Watanabe, the commander of the expeditionary force, was carefully observing Heifengxia through binoculars. The order he received was to annihilate Feihu Fort within three days and then head south to complete the encirclement of enemy forces. As soon as he received the order, Watanabe felt that it was unnecessary, with over 5,000 people in his expeditionary force, plus a regiment of Imperial Japanese Army, totaling over 10,000 men, going up against a bandit army, and with air support, this seemed like an overreaction.

  Under the continuous bombing, the opposite side was surprisingly calm, and there was no scene of wailing and fleeing. Except for a bomber that mysteriously exploded, it can be considered that there was almost no defense at all. Watanabe ordered: Artillery to clear obstacles on the road, strike all suspicious targets, prepare to launch an attack!

  For a time, the Black Wind Canyon was filled with the sound of cannons, and the anti-tank stakes on the ground were reduced to dust. To's eyes narrowed as he sneered: So it was just a bluff, those cunning Chinese! He then gave the order to begin the attack.

  Two tanks roared towards the Black Wind Gorge, with a small team of Japanese soldiers following closely behind them, cautiously moving forward. The valley was still quiet, which made the attacking Japanese slightly relieved: bandits were just bandits, and had long been intimidated by the Imperial Army's planes and artillery; it seemed that there were no defending troops in this gorge at all!

  As they approached within 200 meters of the valley, sparse gunfire echoed from the mountain, sounding like no more than a dozen or so guns. The commanding officer directing the charge from behind discovered the problem: he had no idea where the gunfire was coming from. By the time they rushed to the mouth of the valley, half of the soldiers were already lying on the ground, wailing and screaming incessantly. It was unclear whether the enemy's marksmanship was poor or if they simply hadn't intended to kill them.

  The charging Japanese army was in a state of disarray, with gunfire coming from above, and the tanks had no protective effect. At this point, it was impossible to retreat, so they gritted their teeth and followed the tanks into the valley. The valley was relatively calm, but the scattered rocks on the ground affected the speed of the tanks' advance, and also forced the soldiers to be careful with their footing, fearing being tripped by the uneven stones.

  Unintentionally, several black things flew down from the mountain, and when they saw clearly, they were hand grenades emitting smoke. The Japanese army was greatly shocked and lay down to avoid them. Fortunately, they wore thick cotton clothes, otherwise the sharp stones on the ground would have been enough for them.

  The smoke of the hand grenade explosion had not yet dispersed when more than a dozen wine jars were thrown down from the mountain, followed by several torches. The wine jars shattered on impact, and the gasoline inside splashed out, instantly igniting a raging fire in the valley. The Japanese soldiers who were still lying on the ground were caught off guard, their cotton clothes catching fire, and they frantically tried to put it out, but rolling around on the ground only made things worse. They couldn't just wait for death here, so they turned around and retreated back down the mountain. Just as they reached the mouth of the valley, gunfire erupted again, and Japanese soldiers who had been hit fell to the ground, their cries for help echoing through the air.

  Two tanks caught fire, advancing and retreating in a precarious situation. The drivers hastily reversed the vehicles, attempting to retreat. Taking advantage of the opportunity, several wine jars were thrown down from the mountain, accurately hitting the tanks. The flames intensified, and the Japanese soldiers inside could no longer withstand the high temperature. Fearing that the tanks would explode at any moment, they struggled to open the hatches and jumped out, desperately running towards the outside of the valley.

  The Japanese commander stared blankly for half a day before coming to his senses, and hastily ordered the medical soldiers to rescue the wounded, while the mountain also stopped firing, allowing the other side to take the wounded back.

  Watanabe didn't speak for half a day, and the raging fire seemed to be burning in his heart. He, who had been through hundreds of battles, understood that the other side was just giving him a warning. From the position, the artillery attack was futile, without air support, it would be unknown how many Imperial Army soldiers' lives would be sacrificed to break in! Ordered to suspend the attack, requested air force support, and asked about the situation of the remaining two troops.

  The Japanese army observed the nine bends for half a day and didn't find anything unusual, so the commander beckoned to the regimental commander of the Imperial Army to send someone to investigate. The regimental commander had no choice but to dispatch a company of soldiers, who cautiously entered the nine bends.

  In a short while, intense gunfire and grenade explosions were heard from inside, several government soldiers fled in disarray. The regimental commander asked: "How many people are inside? What is the configuration? Specific location? Speak quickly!"

  The company commander of the Imperial Guard, still in a state of shock, panted and said: "Report to the regimental commander, inside it's all twists and turns, nothing was seen clearly, hand grenades were falling from above, before the brothers could get up, another burst of gunfire came, no human shadow was seen at all, there was simply no power to fight back!"

  The Japanese commander looked at the regimental commander with contempt and ordered the artillery to prepare. The regimental commander was startled and hastily said to the division commander: "Division commander, we can't open fire! Our brothers are still inside!"

  The captain hastily pushed him to one side, sighed and said: "Don't say any more, do you think I want to? Be careful not to provoke them, or how can we rush in again? Let's endure it for now!"

  The Japanese army brought up all kinds of artillery, and the bombardment lasted for half an hour, until rocks were flying everywhere and smoke filled the sky. The commander waved his hand, and a battalion of Japanese troops entered Jiudaowan in batches.

  Lü Jizong arrived at the Nine Turns, and led his men to bury explosives in the mountain valley as soon as possible. As for that company of the Imperial Japanese Army, Lü Jizong hated them even more than the Japanese, so he wouldn't show mercy. If it weren't for the second company commander pulling him back, he wouldn't have spared those few people either. The company commander was experienced and said: "Old Lü, let's go quickly, the devils are about to open fire! Anyway, we've buried landmines there, if there's any movement, we'll come back!"

  The battle of Hulu Valley began with a fierce intensity. The Japanese commander here was not so polite, ordering the Huai Army to go first and the Japanese army to follow, directly launching a charge against Hulu Valley.

  Commander Zhang Xiaoshan of the Sichuan Army gave a stern order: no one is allowed to retreat even a single step! Last time, after losing control of Hulu Valley, the Sichuan Army couldn't hold their heads up high and were determined to make up for past shame.

  As the enemy rushed to within fifty meters, a row of long orders was given, and the soldiers suddenly emerged from the formation, machine guns and grenade launchers continuously firing, and in front of the formation, a piece of the enemy's corpse quickly fell.

  The Japanese army did not stop, urging the Imperial Army to charge forward while setting up mortars and grenade launchers to counterattack. Soon, explosions erupted on the front line, shrapnel flying everywhere, but no one dodged, machine gunners fell, deputy shooters took over, fell again, and someone else took over... In just a few minutes, both sides suffered heavy casualties.

  Lin Xiuzhi and Zhang Xiaoshan closely watched the battle progress on the second line of defense. Lin Xiuzhi felt that something was off, so she said to Zhang Xiaoshan: "Zhang Lianzhang, it's clear that these Japanese are trying to use the puppet army to wear us down. Let's pull one row back and use the terrain to block them for now, and first avoid their sharp edge!"

  Zhang Xiaoshan ordered the troops to retreat to the second line of defense. At this time, only a dozen or so people were left in the first company. The company commander smiled wryly and said: "We can't retreat! As soon as we do, the little devils will follow us immediately! Go back and tell the battalion commander, tell the commander, we haven't disgraced the Sichuan army, I'm going home!"

  The Japanese army saw that the firepower in front of them had weakened a lot, and with a wave of their commander's war sword, they surged forward like a tide.

  On the battlefield, there were almost no warriors who could stand up. A row of long guns collected explosives and hand grenades, dragged a broken leg, distributed to several warriors who still had breath, muttering: "Children, let's go home together..."

  At the moment when the Japanese army rushed up, a shocking explosion sounded on the position...