Chapter 11: The Start of Battle

  Hearing Duan's words, all three of them felt a little more at ease in their hearts!

  "How many weapons and ammunition do we have in total?" Luo Xiang thought for a moment, then asked Duan Ying, "What about food supplies?"

  "In the warehouses of various camps, a total of 5,214 rifles, 327 light machine guns, and 48 heavy machine guns were found. There were so many bullets that they couldn't be counted. Even if we keep fighting non-stop, it's impossible to finish them off in ten days or half a month!" said Cheng Tianlei, who had just organized the soldiers to search through the warehouses of each regiment and battalion. The discovered weapons and equipment made him both happy and indignant. "In addition, there were 24 Type-19 mortars with over 500 shells. As for the mountain guns and flat-trajectory guns in the artillery company, they couldn't be moved, so we had people remove all the firing pins. Now even if the devils want to use them, they won't be able to!"

  Just thinking about the Seventh Brigade's numerous weapons and equipment, as well as its tens of thousands of soldiers, all because of a single order not to resist, they fled without a fight, handing over the North China Garrison to just a few hundred Japanese soldiers. Cheng Tianlei felt like his lungs were going to burst from anger, let alone how much more furious he was.

  Unfortunately, the order from above forced the thousands of soldiers from the Seventh Regiment who had been preparing to fight against the devils to withdraw reluctantly. Many soldiers left in tears, filled with humiliation and indignation!

  Not everyone has the courage and audacity to defy orders like Zhang Tianlei, risking beheading by openly disobeying. Most troops ultimately chose to retreat in obedience to their commands.

  The preparations for weapons and equipment were quite sufficient, and Luo Xiang's heart was much more at ease. After all, fighting is just about people and guns, with these two things, everything else will be easy!

  And he still has a trump card, but for now, it's not ready to be played out yet. It will have to wait until the timing is ripe, and then give the devils a "surprise"!

  Food preparation is also very sufficient, originally **enough food for thousands of people, just take a part and it's enough for these hundreds of people to eat**, let alone Luo Xiang didn't plan to fight a protracted war here, he believes this battle won't last too long!

  About half an hour after Luo Xiang and his men were ready, the Japanese troops, who had changed their commander for the third time, finally launched an attack. A Japanese soldier wearing a khaki uniform and a steel helmet on his head shouted as he rushed towards the entrance of the Travel Department, behind him more than 20 light machine guns and six heavy machine guns fired loudly, spewing out tongues of fire, bullets hitting the brick wall at the entrance of the department, causing debris to fly everywhere.

  "Everyone hold your breath, wait until the devils get close and then attack!" Luo Xiang crouched behind the nearest cover to the entrance of the barracks, observing the movements of the Japanese troops with binoculars, while reminding the Northeast Army soldiers beside him.

  Although they had been through a battle, when they saw the Japanese soldiers rushing forward like a tide, some of the Northeastern Army soldiers still felt their legs and feet go soft, and they couldn't help but breathe rapidly.

  War is war, no one knows when they will die. A Northeast Army soldier saw his comrade being shot in the head by a flying machine gun bullet, and the hot brain matter mixed with blood splashed onto his cheek, making him feel a surge of nausea and dry heaving.

  "Hoo-ah! Hoo-ah! Hoo-ah!"

  The devil's grenade launcher finally fired, and the 92-style hand grenades shot out of the launcher one by one, whizzing through the air before falling into the courtyard of the brigade headquarters, followed by a continuous explosion.

  The entire courtyard of the Ministry of War was filled with flames, and the choking smell of smoke mixed with mud rose up, spreading out in all directions, invading every person's nostrils and mouth!

  Boom!

  The sniper of the Tiger Tooth Special Warfare Brigade also began to show his might, coldly gazing at the Japanese soldiers crouching beside the grenade launcher through the sniper scope, then lightly pulling the trigger and firing out a bullet of revenge.

  The Japanese soldier crouching beside the grenade launcher suddenly threw his body backward, and then fell out. The bullet hole in the front of his chest was instantly soaked with blood on his uniform.

  Another grenade-throwing soldier was stunned, the Type 92 hand grenade in his hand had already reached the side of the grenade launcher, and his head seemed to have been twisted by something, making a cracking sound at the neck, and then he also fell beside the grenade launcher.

  In a matter of seconds, a large number of Japanese troops armed with grenade launchers fell to the ground, all shot in the head or heart, every single one.

  The Japanese soldiers who followed behind roared and rushed up, grabbed the grenade launcher that still had their comrade's blood on it, loaded the cannonball into it, and continued to fire at the Travel Department's mansion. Under the support of Bushido spirit, they also fought desperately!

  "Boom, boom, boom", Luo Xiang and his mortar troops also opened fire, shell after shell of mortar shells whizzed out, in an instant they burst among the Japanese charging troops, bodies flew everywhere, blood rained down.

  The vanguard troops of both sides have not yet clashed, but the artillery in the rear has already engaged in a fierce battle, reaching a white-hot intensity!

  At this time, the Japanese army's charging troops had already reached a distance of less than fifty meters from the entrance of the brigade, and Luo Xiang and others could even see the pockmarks on their faces.

  "Fire!", Luo Xiang's submachine gun fired first, and at the same time, Cheng Tianlei's Czech-style light machine gun also sounded. The Markov heavy machine gun on the wall of the brigade's sentry post, with its unique "gurgling" sound, naturally did not fall behind, sweeping towards the Japanese army with flashes of death.

  Under the crazy sweep of dozens of machine guns, a small team of devils didn't even rush to the gate, and the loss was already more than half. The remaining Japanese soldiers were mostly injured, suppressed by bullets and crouched on the ground, unable to lift their heads.

  "Fall back!", the Japanese commander behind waved his command sword, directing those Japanese soldiers to retreat, leaving a field of corpses!

  As the Japanese troops withdrew, the gunfire on the battlefield gradually subsided, and occasionally there were one or two more shots, which were Japanese soldiers who could not bear the pain shooting themselves to end their lives.

  The devils withdrew for just a moment, and the artillery bombardment arrived. The sky was soon covered with black dots, and the piercing howls of the shells made one's eardrums ache in waves, as if their heart was about to jump out!

  "Rumble, rumble, rumble!"

  Deafening explosions erupted around people, this time the explosion was not comparable to the 92-style hand grenades thrown earlier, these were truly mountain artillery shells, each explosion left a crater of several meters in diameter on the ground, everything at the crater site had disappeared without a trace!

  Luo Xiang and Cheng Tianlei shrunk their bodies behind the bunker, closed their eyes and endured the explosions that came one after another, letting the shockwaves smash everything that could be blown up onto their heads and bodies, even burying themselves in mud.

  The enemy's bombardment lasted for over ten minutes before it finally stopped, and then the charge began!

  A battle of offense and defense unfolded once again at the entrance of the Travel Department's Grand Courtyard!

  …………

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