Chapter 18: The Japanese Army Goes Mad

  Ito rode on a black Ili horse, looking at the rugged high mountain in front of him.

  Upon receiving the order from Yamaguchi Ichirō Taishō, he and Kawachi immediately set off, galloping over 100 miles, and finally arrived here before one o'clock in the afternoon.

  In order to arrive here in time, they abandoned everything on their bodies except for weapons and ammunition. Each person brought an extra horse, so when one got tired, they could immediately switch to another one and keep running without stopping.

  Ito heard that this method was invented by a nation called Xiongnu in the country where they are currently stationed, and did not expect it to be used on himself one day.

  What a sad thing!

  The Japanese army's cavalry regiment was neatly lined up on the mountain slope, with pure black war horses, shiny leather jackets and trousers, bright war knives at their waists, and guns slung over their backs. It has to be said that the combat demeanor of the Japanese army is still quite good!

  These two cavalry regiments were among the crack troops of the mixed brigade, originally preparing to go to Northeast China to carry out the task of clearing the Northeast Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army and local bandits. Now they have been transferred here due to the Great Wall highlands incident.

  Cavalry was originally not suitable for attacking fortifications, especially on this narrow mountain road, the cavalry's charging speed could not be achieved at all, so the lethality of the cavalry without speed would be greatly reduced.

  Ito and Kawauchi were ordered to arrive at the Great Wall Highlands by 1:00 p.m. and annihilate any Chinese troops that might attack.

  The situation now is that the Japanese army's occupied Great Wall heights have been taken away by the 29th Army, and the defending troops led by Tadashi Tamura have been completely annihilated. Their mission has changed to attacking and taking down the Mengzi Ridge Great Wall heights and eliminating this 29th Army force.

  Fujiwara didn't hesitate, drew his sword and let out a loud yell.

  Japanese cavalrymen dismounted in an orderly manner, releasing their horses' reins and quickly forming up in front of the horses.

  Looking from the mountain, the steel helmets on the heads of the Japanese cavalrymen shone in the sunlight, densely packed, making people's hearts tense.

  Some warriors swallowed their saliva, wiping their wet palms on the bunker. But more warriors were excitedly smacking their lips, as if this was not a ruthless enemy, but a piece of meat delivered to their mouths.

  He Jiguang is one of the most obvious examples, this "madman" brigade commander, who would get excited and have gleaming eyes at the sound of gunfire, and charge forward with a big knife. Under his leadership, the soldiers were always a group of "madmen", a group of madmen yearning for battle.

  "My goodness, so many! This time we're in for it!" He Jiguo rubbed his hands together and blurted out a crude phrase. As the principal of the Baoding Military Academy, He Jiguo was normally very refined, but once on the battlefield, he seemed to transform into a different person - rough and frenzied, like a mad war beast.

  Unlike him, Tie Tou by his side was less boisterous than usual. The death of Yue Hai had made him more subdued. As he listened to the excited whispers of the soldiers, he silently cocked his machine gun; "Brother, watch from above, I'll avenge you!"

  "For the glory of Great Japan Empire, advance!" Ito pointed forward with his combat sword and let out a loud battle cry.

  Suddenly, Japanese soldiers appeared with a few drums from somewhere. A group of Japanese soldiers stood behind the troops, beating them hard, and in the loud drumming sound, about a company of devils charged up the hillside with turtle shells on their heads.

  "Fire!" The artillery platoon leader of the cavalry regiment gave the order, and the signalman's small flag waved heavily. The mortar gunner, who had been ready for a long time, stuffed the shell into the barrel.

  A dull thud, a shell whizzed, drawing an arc flying towards the mountain peak.

  The mountain peak was immediately enveloped in flames and dust.

  The howitzer continued to fire incessantly, and the shells poured down on the Great Wall ridge as if they were free. It seems that the Japanese army has made up its mind to take this peak at all costs.

  Looking at the Japanese soldiers getting closer and closer, the warriors waited, waiting for He Jianguo and Qin Yang to give orders.

  Looking at the Japanese artillery frantically loading shells into the howitzer, Qin Yang said to He Jianguo: "We can't let them keep bombing like this. Our mountain top originally didn't have much cover, if they keep bombing like this, it won't take long before we lose half of our soldiers without even fighting the enemy!"

  "What can we do?" He Jikun also found out, but he had no solution.

  The artillery of the Japanese army was more than 3,000 meters away from the mountain peak in a straight line, and the machine guns on the mountain had a range of only 800-1,000 meters, which couldn't reach that far at all!

  "Then blow it up with cannons!"

  Qin Yang stretched out his right hand, four fingers clenched, with his thumb upright, and measured the distance to the Japanese artillery position in the distance. He turned around and shouted to the special forces team members guarding the artillery: "Distance 3023 meters, coordinates 154, 123, take out those few guns for me!"

  The crew responded in unison! Quickly adjusting the angle and position of the gun through the rangefinder.

  "Target ahead 3023 meters, coordinates 154 by 123, salvo three rounds!"

  As the mountain peak howitzer fired, a cluster of orange-red flames jumped on the Japanese artillery position. A shell accurately landed on the Japanese defensive fortification, which was still relatively tight. With a loud roar, the entire artillery position and personnel and equipment on it flew into the sky.

  Ito and Kawauchi were stunned, they did not expect that there would be such a skilled artillery expert on the mountain peak. According to conventional calculations, the distance between the two sides had already exceeded the range of the howitzer, even the Japanese army could only shoot at the 29th Army soldiers at the forefront of the position, and could only sigh at the howitzers and heavy weapons in the rear. They did not expect that the other side would be able to hit their own artillery, and with such accuracy.

  They felt that this time they had encountered a more formidable opponent, so they increased their vigilance.

  The Japanese army's mortar was destroyed, and He Jiguo excitedly patted his thigh and turned to ask Qin Yang: "How did you do it!"

  Qin Yang gazed calmly at Ito and Kawakami, who were deploying troops below the mountain, saying: "It's simple, using the height difference and acceleration between us, it can be calculated to hit perfectly!"

  He suddenly realized!

  After a brief flurry of confusion, the Japanese troops reformed their ranks and continued to advance up the mountain with great ferocity, despite having lost artillery support.

  As the Japanese soldiers got closer and closer, they gradually approached the waist of the mountain. He Jianguo fired the first shot at the Japanese army, and then the light and heavy weapons on the 29th Army's position opened fire together, with bullets shooting towards the charging Japanese like a stormy rain.

  The Japanese soldiers in the front row immediately lay down in a row, but those behind them did not hesitate and continued to trample on the corpses on the ground and charge upwards.

  The 29th Army's position was set up in three layers, with about a hundred people in each layer. In the last layer of the position, behind the camouflage, Qin Yang's special forces were waiting inside, waiting for the best opportunity to launch a swift and decisive attack.

  Qin Yang and the special forces team had strongly requested to be deployed on the first line of defense, but He Jianguo considered that as a reserve team, they would have a better effect if they suddenly launched a surprise attack at a critical moment. Therefore, they were finally placed in the back. Only Tie Tou was approved to join the 29th Army soldiers on the third line of defense to block the enemy after repeated pleas.

  Listening to the gunfire in front of them, like beans being stir-fried, the special forces members gripped their submachine guns tightly. They were extremely dissatisfied with not being allowed to join the battle, but they dared not take action on their own due to Instructor Qin Yang's orders, feeling very stifled!

  "Kill!"

  On the mountain road, both sides had already launched a fierce hand-to-hand combat. When the Japanese army rushed to the front after breaking through the 29th Army's shooting, the first wave of charging group had been reduced from the original 300 to more than 100 people. Before they could understand what was happening, the soldiers of the 29th Army on the first line of defense jumped out from behind their cover, tightly grasping their big knives in both hands and charged towards them.

  "Prepare for white blade battle!"

  At the command of the Japanese squad leader, the Japanese soldiers simultaneously pulled the bolts of their Type 38 rifles, and the golden bullets jumped out of the barrels one by one, falling to the ground.

  The rifle was soon empty, and the Japanese soldiers charged at the 29th Army's warriors with their empty guns. But in just over a dozen seconds, more than twenty Japanese soldiers had fallen under the big knife.

  The Japanese infantry manual clearly stipulates that bayonet fighting must unload bullets, and these more than 20 Japanese soldiers can be said to have died on the infantry manual they believed in. Although Japanese soldiers knew that Chinese soldiers liked to open fire when engaging in bayonet fighting, they despised such behavior, but they still unloaded their bullets every time they engaged in bayonet fighting.

  Maybe each nation has different ideas?

  Qin Yang jumped out from behind the bunker, raised his hand and fired a shot, blowing the head of the Japanese squad leader who was shouting and wielding a war knife at the back. "Damn it, fighting is not so fancy, winning is the right way!"

  On the hillside, a flurry of swords and guns erupted, with figures darting back and forth, as earth-yellow or gray-blue clad bodies fell one after another.

  After more than ten minutes of fierce fighting, the Japanese army abandoned over 300 corpses and retreated in a hurry, leaving Qin Yang and others covered in blood.

  Wiping a handful of blood from his face, whether it was his own or the enemy's, He Qi let out a hearty laugh. Today's battle had been one after another, and he had truly indulged in the thrill of combat.

  "Hurry, retrieve the Japanese soldiers' ammunition and guns, and also retrieve their equipment!" Qin Yang ordered the soldiers. Although he was not the military commander of the 29th Army, his repeated acts of bravery in battle had already won over the hearts of everyone. Soldiers admired those who were brave on the battlefield, it didn't matter how much you said, only actions counted.

  Looking at the Japanese corpses all over the mountain slope, He Jianguo suddenly thought of something. He ordered people to strip off the clothes of the Japanese corpses and move them to the mountain path outside the mountain road intersection, then pile them up into a high stack.

  Qin Yang furrowed his brow and lowered his voice, saying: "Isn't this bad?"

  "What's wrong with that? Since they came to invade, they should have such an awakening! Not having them crushed to ashes is already a mercy!" He Jikun let out a hum, his eyes flashing with a mad glow.

  Qin Yang looked at this madman and didn't say anything else.

  Through the telescope, they saw their own soldiers who had been killed and stripped naked, piled up like logs in a narrow mountain road, Ito and Kawachi's faces looked even more difficult than being raped.

  "Hakka, this group of Zha people is too much!" Ito smashed the telescope to pieces, pressed against his war knife and panted heavily, Kawachi also tightly pinched the corner of his clothes, his face was red with anger.

  Seeing their compatriots die and still being treated like this, the Japanese soldiers went completely mad.

  He took off the steel helmet on his head, tied a white cloth strip around his head, then tore off the military uniform jacket. Ito wore a white undershirt, holding a shiny war knife in both hands, and led the charge up the mountain.

  Behind them were a group of Japanese soldiers with white bands wrapped around their heads, bare-chested and carrying rifles.

  He Jianguo's provocative move thoroughly stirred up the ferocity of the Japanese soldiers who were already full of beastly nature. A fierce battle unfolded once again.

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