Chapter 25: The Peril of Fengtian

  Rushing to the rear open-air works, Hua Lieyang looked at the Japanese army holding guns and being fierce, calmly picked up the sniper rifle in his hand, and pulled the trigger against a Japanese lieutenant who was rushing forward. At the same time as the gunshot sounded, a bullet flew out of the barrel at high speed, accurately shooting into the lieutenant's brow, and the lieutenant who was shot was stunned. Then the lieutenant saw blood flowing from his brow.

  At this time, the commander of the mortar position covering the Japanese army's charge in the back discovered Hua Lieyang through binoculars and immediately ordered all mortars to fire at the position where Hua Lieyang was located.

  Hua Lieyang, with his keen senses, heard the sound of mortar shells flying towards him and instinctively shouted "Get down!" As he spoke, Hua Lieyang rolled away from the impact zone. After narrowly escaping, Hua Lieyang patted off the dust on his body, picked up his binoculars and gazed at the enemy's mortar position in the distance, muttering: "Damn it! You dare to bomb your grandfather me? I'll take your lives!" With that, he raised his 98K sniper rifle.

  Hua Lieyang soon found the devil commander on the edge of the mortar position, smiling and saying: "I'll take you down first!" As he calmly pulled the trigger. Then, the devil's body officer swayed twice before falling to the ground in the mortar position.

  After a while, Hua Lieyang led his men to repel the devils who attacked from behind and returned to the fortifications behind him, saying: "What's the situation with Master Ma in the front now?!"

  "The devils seem to have given up their attack!" Ma Longhai said seriously. Upon hearing Ma Longhai's words, Hua Lieyang was worried about Fengtian, so he picked up the phone on the table and called out twice without a response. Suddenly, Hua Lieyang became anxious. At this moment, Liu Changgeng walked in front of Hua Lieyang with a telegram and said: "General, Yang Chunduo's telegram!"

  When Hua Lieyang heard Liu Changgeng's words, he asked seriously: "Is it the little devils attacking Fengtian?!" Liu Changgeng nodded when he heard Hua Lieyang's words and said: "Yes! The devils even deployed tanks! But Yang Chundui led a battalion of brothers to block the devil's attack! For now, Fengtian is still in our hands! However, according to the telegram, it seems that the devils are now moving around Fengtian! Their intention seems to be to surround Fengtian!"

  Hua Lieyang thought for a moment after hearing Liu Changgeng's words, then said: "Uncle Liu, send a telegram to Shuang Shu, and have him lead all the brothers to retreat towards Jilin in the direction of nightfall! At the same time, blow up the entire Fengtian!" Ma Longhai, who was on the side, looked at Hua Lieyang with suspicion after hearing his order: "General, didn't we just receive a telegram? Yesterday, September 21st, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Northeast Border Defense Army in Jilin Province, Xi Qia, defected to the enemy with his troops, and the Japanese army occupied Jilin. Why do you still want Shuang Shu to lead the brothers to retreat towards Jilin?"

  Hua Lieyang looked at Ma Longhai's surprised expression and smiled as he leaned in close to his ear, saying: "I've hidden many good things on the old master ridge of Jili! Second Uncle can mobilize tens of thousands of troops at any time once you arrive at the old master ridge!" After understanding Hua Lieyang's meaning, Ma Longhai laughed and said: "I really didn't expect that you had already made preparations!"

  "Now that Second Uncle and the others have retreated from Fengtian, after we've toyed with those little devils for a while longer, it's time for us to retreat too!" Hua Lieyang said calmly.

  "Where are we retreating to?!" Ma Longhai immediately asked back.

  "In any case, I won't leave the Northeast! And even if I were to leave, it wouldn't be now!" Hua Lieyang said seriously. Upon hearing Hua Lieyang's words, the surrounding soldiers all turned to look at him in unison.

  Hua Lieyang saw the gaze of all the warriors and said faintly, "If we leave the Northeast, we will face either being reorganized by the Commander-in-Chief or being disbanded! We can only stick together to have a way out!" Upon hearing Hua Lieyang's words, all the soldiers thought for a moment before saying in unison, "General, we'll follow you and listen to your orders!"

  Hearing the words of the warriors, Hua Lieyang was moved to tears. At this moment, a soldier who had been watching the battlefield exclaimed: "General, look at what those little devils are up to!"

  Hua Lieyang heard Yang Chunbo's shout and immediately picked up the binoculars to take a look. He saw that the little devils were standing behind the 92-style infantry gun, wearing gas masks. Seeing this scene, Hua Lieyang shouted loudly: "Brothers, put on your gas masks! The little devils are going to use poison gas shells!"

  When Hua Lieyang said the three words "poison gas bomb", all the soldiers suddenly panicked. Seeing this scene, Hua Lieyang shouted loudly: "What's the panic?! Poison gas bombs are nothing to be afraid of!" At this moment, Ma Longhai and Liu Changgeng handed out the anti-poison masks they had prepared in advance to each soldier. After distributing them, Hua Lieyang said to Ma Longhai: "Uncle Ma, go send a telegram to Double Uncle, telling him to beware of the little devils using poison gas!"

  The soldiers in the fort had just put on their gas masks when they saw shells falling around the fort, followed by a light mist spreading out. After a while, the poisonous fog gradually dispersed. Watching from afar, Hirokazu Honda smiled and said to Tamotsu Tadokoro: "Tadokoro-san, soon we will be able to occupy Beidaying without firing a shot!"

  Tamotsu Jirō saw the excited look of Motokura Kenjirō and smiled, saying: "Motokura-san, I think it's better to be safe than sorry! What if Shina's army has some preparations? The ones who will suffer losses are the brave warriors of the Great Japanese Empire!" Hearing Tamotsu Jirō's words, Motokura Kenjirō smiled and said: "Then, Tamotsu-san, how about we make a bet?"

  "What are you betting on?!" Domenicchi said seriously.

  Motoi Kondo thought for a moment and said, "If I take down the Northern Army without shedding blood, you will be my groom for one month! Conversely, if not, then I'll be your groom for one month!"

  "Alright, Motomenosuke! It's settled then!" said Tomonori with a smile. Upon hearing Tomonori's words, Kenjirō smiled and said, "Then you'd better get ready to be my groom, Tomonori!" With that, Kenjirō drew his sword and walked to the front of the troops, shouting loudly, "Follow me!" And with that, Kenjirō led the troops in a charge towards Kairen's position.

  Hua Lieyang, who had long been prepared, looked at the approaching Japanese army and smiled, saying: "The little devils must think we're all dead from their poisonous gas. Let's give them a good welcome when they get closer!" As soon as Hua Lieyang finished speaking, all the soldiers immediately regained their spirits, rubbing their fists and palms, quickly replacing their bullets with new ones.

  About ten minutes later, Honjō Shigeru led a regiment to appear in front of the fortifications fifty meters away. Seeing the Japanese army approaching, Hua Lieyang pulled the trigger of his submachine gun and ordered: "Fire!" In an instant, the arrogant Japanese soldiers fell in front of the fortifications at Jishanzi. Behind him, Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi saw this scene and immediately ordered: "Artillery use cannon fire to suppress the Chinese army's firepower!"

  After hearing the order of Duo Men Er Lang, a burst of mortar shells and 92-style infantry artillery fell in front of or on top of the fortifications. Instantly, the vision of the soldiers inside the fortifications was obscured by the dust blown up by the bombs. Seeing the dust rising in front of the position, Hua Lieyang immediately ordered: "Use hand grenades to greet the little devils!" As he spoke, Hua Lieyang picked up a hand grenade, pulled out the fuse and threw it out of the fortifications.

  Under the protection of the soldiers, Hontō Kenjirō retreated to the side of Tamon Jirō with a sorry figure. Tamon Jirō saw the returning Hontō Kenjirō and laughed, saying: "Hontō-san, you go down and rest for a while! I can command here!"

  "Then I'll leave it up to you!" With that, Honten Kenjirō bowed to Tamon Jirō and turned to leave.

  After Tokugawa Yoshinobu left, Tominosuke looked at the narrow mountain mouth that had been attacking for a long time and was afraid of losing his troops. At this moment, the telegraph soldier walked in front of Tominosuke with a telegram and said: "General! Urgent telegram from the commander!"

  Tamotsu Shirai took the telegram handed over by the signal soldier and read it. After reading the telegram, Tamotsu Shirai thought calmly for a moment and said: "Launch the final attack on Kyōganjima after dark! Be sure to capture Kyōganjima before dawn!"

  At the same time as General Nogi's telegram, Lieutenant General Yokoyama Shizuo, who had just taken over as the commander of the 8th Division, led the division in another attack on Mukden.

  On the city wall of Fengtian, Yang Chunshuang gazed at the surging Japanese army, a bloodthirsty smile involuntarily appearing on his face! As he watched the approaching Japanese troops, Yang Chunshuang was the first to pull the trigger of his submachine gun. Upon hearing the gunfire, the soldiers on the city wall also opened fire spontaneously.

  The Japanese army, which had charged halfway, was instantly suppressed by the intense firepower. Yokoyama Shizuo, who was watching the changes on the battlefield with binoculars from behind, immediately ordered: "Artillery suppress the Chinese fire! The 5th Infantry Regiment presses forward and strengthens the competition for the Fentian City Tower!"

  After receiving the order, the 5th Infantry Regiment immediately pressed on. With the addition of the Japanese infantry's 5th Regiment and the pressure from the enemy's artillery fire, Yang Chonggui, who had initially gained the upper hand, immediately fell into a disadvantageous position.

  Gradually, under the continuous attack pressure of the Japanese army, Yang Chunshuang and the surrounding soldiers began to feel powerless! Just as the entire defense line was about to be breached by the little devils, Yang Chunshuang suddenly remembered the hidden high-angle machine guns and a small amount of anti-aircraft artillery on the city tower, and he immediately regained his spirit.

  Yang Chun-ting, who was beside Yang Chun-shuang, saw Yang Chun-shuang's expression and immediately asked: "Second Brother, what are you thinking about? Why are you so happy?" Hearing Yang Chun-ting's words, Yang Chun-shuang smiled and said: "Use anti-aircraft guns and cannons to wipe out the little devils!"

  "Alright! I'll go make the arrangements!" Yang Chun Ting said, turning around and leaving. Not long after Yang Chun Ting left, the anti-aircraft guns and cannons that were hidden behind were brought out. After the anti-aircraft guns and cannons were adjusted to a horizontal position, Yang Chun Ting took aim at the opportunity and commanded: "Fire!"

  At that moment, the piercing power of the anti-aircraft machine gun and the anti-aircraft gun made Yang Chunshuang, who was not mentally prepared, jump in fright. After a while, Yang Chunshuang walked to the nearest anti-aircraft machine gun with a smile, replaced the gunner, and personally operated the anti-aircraft machine gun. In the distant command of the battle, Kosugi Kiyoshi saw the soldiers being beheaded and dismembered, and unconsciously raised his stiff facial muscles, saying: "Use artillery to cover the entire city tower of Fengtian! I want to turn the Chinese army into minced meat!"