Chapter 45: The First Battle of Slaughter Day

  Liu Mingjiu didn't know that Wang Xiaozhang's team had as many as 400 Japanese Kwantung Army soldiers, or he might have been even more intimidated. Unbeknownst to him, at this moment, after the cannon fire started, he became even calmer. He personally led a team of people and ran to the first trench, took over a Maxim gun from a wounded soldier who was being carried away, and launched a crazy sweep against the bandit troops that had begun to flee in disarray. In his previous life, he had seen all sorts of weapons, but this was his first time operating a Maxim gun with his own hands since coming to this era. The novelty and excitement dispelled his fear, and he quickly fired row after row of bullets at the enemy. Next to him, an ammunition loader who had just joined the security team at the age of 17 and had been grazed by a stray bullet on the face was also extremely excited to see his idol operating the heavy machine gun he was responsible for, and he quickly loaded row after row of bullets into the canvas belt of the heavy machine gun. The two people soon entered a state of frenzy, while the bandits who were fleeing in disarray across from them were in big trouble.

  Less than ten minutes later, the bandits threw down a pile of corpses in front of the array and finally gathered at the mountain pass. The eighth row no longer swept, and Qi Quan ordered the soldiers to start "actual combat target practice". Each soldier aimed at one, hitting the head or heart could kill with one shot was the bullseye, and others were calculated accordingly. Qi Quan actually stood on the top of the mountain, happily keeping records for his subordinates.

  The bandits hiding in the encirclement were finally organized by Wang Xiaotou and Lieutenant-General Kōden with great difficulty. Liu Mingjiu also calmed down, ordered to stop the artillery fire, and shouted at the opposite side: "Wang Darenjia, you and I have no grudges or grievances in the past or present, why are you willing to sell your life for the Zhao family and offend my territory? Although I, Xiao Feilong, am a junior compared to the Four Heavenly Kings, I am not someone who can be bullied at will. I advise you to put down your weapons and surrender with your men."

  "Bang." A sudden gunshot, Liu Mingjiu subconsciously flipped backwards, because he heard that the shot came from the opposite side, and he was standing upright on the battlefield, most likely aiming at him. His guess was correct, as a Japanese sniper had received an order from Lieutenant Colonel Kouda to aim at Liu Mingjiu and fire. Fortunately, Liu Mingjiu reacted quickly enough, flipping back into the trench just in time, and the bullet flew past his head.

  Liu Mingjiu was also startled and broke out in a cold sweat, sitting in the trench for over ten seconds before coming back to his senses. After calming down, he climbed up to the trench and looked at the enemy army that didn't respond with a single word, fiercely issuing orders: "Artillery open fire, cover infantry, 8th company give me suppressive fire, suppress the enemy's firepower. Infantry, launch a charge."

  "Kill!" "Charge!" "Surrender and we won't kill, only punish the ringleaders." "The first battle will be mine, I will surely win." "Those who surrender will not be killed, those who resist will die," Various shouts rose up, after which Liu Mingjiu drew out a war knife from his waist that he had spent 500 silver dollars to have made. This war knife was custom-made at a British firm in Tianjin, using materials according to the formula for military knives used by Liu Mingjiu's troops in later years. It had a double-edged blade with blood grooves and a three-edged hook-like tip. If someone were stabbed by this knife, they would surely die under current medical conditions.

  The bandits charged as soon as they saw the government army, and they were again suppressed by artillery fire, making it difficult for them to get up. They could only fire their rifles one by one. However, they soon discovered that while firing, they also became targets for the government soldiers on both sides of the mountain cliffs over 60 meters high. They had to stop shooting and look for cover everywhere.

  The Japanese army mixed with the bandits quickly reassembled, and more than 300 people shouted under the leadership of that Lieutenant Colonel Kōden, charging towards Liu Mingjiu's troops. Liu Mingjiu heard their shouting voices, was stunned for a moment, stopped in his tracks, turned around and asked Wu Tongjin who rushed out with him: "Did I hear wrong? Japanese devils?"

  "Damn it, no mistake, it's the little Japanese, they're the ones causing trouble." Wu Tongjin didn't wait for an answer and was already rushing to the front with He Yishan, the chief of staff of the Military Colonization General Team. He was a veteran of the Beiyang Army twenty years ago and had participated in the First Sino-Japanese War, where he was shot by the Japanese and lost his left arm before returning to Jianchang and joining the Baoding Security Forces.

  Liu Mingjiu smiled after getting confirmation and waved his hand at Deputy Officer Ding Shaoguan: "Bring me the light machine gun. You have a path to heaven but don't take it, you charge into hell without a gate, you bunch of pigs who've lost all sense of morality, I'll wipe out you first, then I'll wipe out your pig and dog brothers."

  Ding Shaokuan was about to turn around to fetch, but saw that Han Zhen, who was closely following Liu Mingjiu, had already thrown the light machine gun in his hand to Liu Mingjiu. He himself turned and pulled out the horse knife behind him. Liu Mingjiu took over the machine gun, looked at it after opening the insurance, and coldly shouted towards the direction of the Japanese army: "Come on, dog day's little devils, grandpa will help your ancestors leave you on your ancestral land today, brothers, kill me, don't let one go."

  After shouting, Liu Mingjiu pressed the trigger in his hand, and the bullets from the Czech light machine gun flew towards those Japanese soldiers, shooting into their short bodies. The other officers and men saw that their superiors did not talk about battlefield rules, holding machine guns and sweeping them, they also became impolite. Following Liu Mingjiu and others, they continued to charge forward while firing.

  The Japanese army's Lieutenant Colonel Hikarida was charging forward when he suddenly saw the Chinese commander, who seemed to be the highest-ranking officer, standing still and saying something to someone next to him. But soon he realized that Liu Mingjiu had taken over the machine gun and launched a charge, shouting a phrase that made everyone on the battlefield understand. Seeing that the Chinese army had abandoned their usual tactics during the charge, Lieutenant Colonel Hikarida, who was standing at the front, was the first to be riddled with bullets by Liu Mingjiu, and as he died, he only managed to shout out two words: "Not right..." What was not right, no one around him would ever know again.

  Liu Mingjiu led his troops and the Japanese army, as well as those bandits who only reacted after seeing the Japanese charge forward and followed behind them, to collide with each other. At that time, more than 300 Japanese soldiers had been reduced to less than half in just a few minutes, and their commander was also killed under Liu Mingjiu's sweep.

  Liu Mingjiu stopped for a moment when he was five steps away from the Japanese bandits, took a deep breath, and then shouted loudly: "The brave will win in a narrow road, brothers, kill!" After shouting, he rushed into the enemy array first, dodged a Japanese soldier's war knife that came face to face, and quickly stabbed his own war knife into the abdomen of that Japanese soldier. The Japanese soldier's war knife also drew a cold light on Liu Mingjiu's shoulder, but it didn't hurt him. After Liu Mingjiu stabbed the knife into the Japanese soldier's belly, he didn't stop, but used force to roll over and cut the Japanese soldier's belly in half horizontally. While rolling over, he dodged two other enemies' falling war knives and swept both of them to the ground with his sturdy and hard legs.

  Liu Mingjiu dodged the attacks of the two men and quickly sprang up from the ground, using his Ring Knife to slash one of the enemy's heads in half. As he slashed, he took a step forward with his body, avoiding another enemy's war knife that was swung at him. After killing the enemy in front of him, Liu Mingjiu immediately crouched down and turned around, stabbing his war knife into the chest of the other enemy who had just attacked him. With a strong horizontal pull, the enemy let out a miserable cry as his chest was torn open with a long gash, his ribs protruding from his body, and even his heart could be seen still beating. No one could withstand such severe injuries, and the enemy, accompanied by a tragic cry, joined the two people who had just been killed by Liu Mingjiu.

  Liu Mingjiu's ferocious and sharp movements greatly boosted the morale of his subordinates, but made the enemies who witnessed the scene nearby tremble with fear. When Liu Mingjiu withdrew his body and charged towards them with his battle knife, they no longer had the courage to confront this devil-like officer and turned around to flee in a hurry.

  "Charge!" "Kill!" Liu Mingjiu was just about to continue pursuing and killing the enemy when a new wave of shouting erupted from behind. Luo Xiliang ran over, stopped in front of him, and shouted: "Jiuzi, Sun Tuanzhang has arrived with his men, and the brothers from the 20th Regiment sent by Liang Shizhong are also attacking those guys from behind!"

  "Haha, alright, no matter who comes, we're the main force now, don't stop, keep charging for me, let our brother units see the prowess of us Beining good sons!" Liu Mingjiu said, and then let out a loud roar: "Brothers, kill for me!" He charged into the enemy ranks again, wielding his war knife. One moment he was slashing horizontally, the next stabbing forward, then beheading someone, and in an instant, another enemy would fall to the ground with a thud. Very quickly, wherever Liu Mingjiu had fought, there were left behind one after another the corpses of the bandit army, each and every one of them leaving this world with a terrified expression. Because among them, many people clearly saw their own war knives about to fall on that young officer's body, only to find themselves dead instead. And that young officer, however, still gave them a cold, chilling smile in the last moment before they lost consciousness.

  The sound of gunfire lasted for half an hour before slowly coming to a stop. Liu Mingjiu became more and more numb as he killed, and the more numb he became, the more he killed. He brought out all the skills he had learned in his previous life in the army, which were useless at the time. When the battle ended, Liu Mingjiu looked at Han Zhen beside him with a cold smile, making Han Zhen shiver. Liu Mingjiu only said one sentence before changing back to his calm expression: "Sixty-nine, one short of seventy."

  Later, Liu Mingjiu's battle on this battlefield was spread out after being transmitted, and for many years, various bandits heard the name "Little Fei Long" and still couldn't forget that he had beheaded 70 heads in one battle, and deeply feared him.

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