Chapter 18: Reputation on the Rise {1/3}

  Inside a dilapidated house, all sorts of maps and radios are scattered about.

  Several Japanese military officers were busy handing over the latest telegram to a major general.

  The sound of gunfire all around had never stopped, and now the 11th Independent Infantry Brigade was less than two thousand men.

  The gunfire outside the mountainous area was very fierce, but Sen no Hyogo did not dare to go and reinforce it arbitrarily.

  I really underestimated this opponent, and now I've ended up in this predicament.

  Since hearing the gunfire outside, Sen no Rikyū began dispatching reinforcements to provide relief.

  But the reinforcements were ambushed shortly after they set out and not only failed to achieve their relief mission, but also lost dozens of men.

  The current troops are clearly under the enemy's attack, and Qianli Zhenxiong did not dare to slow down at all, and could only wait for the rest of the reinforcements.

  "Commander, several nearby county towns have been attacked by unidentified Chinese troops, apparently a Nationalist guerrilla unit. They wear military uniforms but use our weapons. The arsenals in each county town have been looted. Our brigade headquarters' location has been breached and the various artillery pieces reinforced by Division HQ have all been stolen. The Mongolian army units are collapsing as soon as they engage the enemy, with no ability to resist whatsoever." Just then, the staff officer walked over with several telegrams in hand.

  "Hachigatsu!" Chirin no Kojirō slammed his canteen to the ground and let out a loud shout.

  The staff officer put down the telegram and quickly walked out towards the outside.

  The current form may not be good, and the staff may not want Qianli Jingxiong's anger to vent on themselves.

  All hope has been lost. Sen no Rikyū still expected these Mongolian troops to come and support him, but now it seems that even their own survival will be a problem.

  "Break through! Organize the troops to break through immediately!" Chihaya Kiyohiko shouted loudly.

  An aide nodded and quickly ran outwards.

  The current Independent Infantry 11th Regiment has only four companies that can continue to fight, and of course none of them are full-strength infantry companies.

  The transport team had no weapons except for the unarmed personnel.

  The six 70mm Type 92 infantry guns of the artillery company were undamaged but became a hindrance to the retreat.

  Looking around at the quiet and deserted mountainous area, Qianli Jingxiong couldn't help but feel some regret for coming to this place.

  He misjudged his opponent's strength and didn't expect their powerfulness.

  "Captain, shall we break through immediately?" The lieutenant beside him ran over and said to Sena Chihaya.

  Sen no Rikyuu nodded and continued on his way forward.

  Just as Sen no Rikyuu hadn't left for a few steps, the sound of gunfire erupted around him once again.

  This time it was much more intense than before, and there were also a lot of mortar shells.

  This is all of Zhou Yulan's troops. After receiving the intelligence brought by Meng Yumei, Zhou Yulan concentrated her own troops.

  She was not a woman who would admit defeat, and she believed that her troops were no worse than Yang Junran's. They could wipe out hundreds of Japanese soldiers, and so could her own troops.

  Under Zhou Yulan's strong personality, the entire female soldier troop was concentrated together.

  The Japanese troops were surrounded by high mountains on all sides.

  "Sister, are these devils going to run away? They've already pulled out their artillery." Chen Qiao pointed at the Japanese army's artillery in the distance and shouted loudly towards Zhou Yulan beside her.

  Because of the gunfire all around, if he didn't speak loudly, Zhou Yulan probably wouldn't have heard him.

  "Qiao Ru, lead a company to the exit and intercept those devils. We can't let them escape." Zhou Yulan put away her pistol and started firing with a standard-issue rifle.

  Chen Qieru received the order and quickly ran over to one side.

  In no time, hundreds of female soldiers followed Chen Qiaoru and ran towards the exit.

  On the guerrilla army's position, Yang Junran was shocked instead.

  The Japanese army here has almost been settled, and Yang Junran is very happy.

  But after hearing the gunfire inside, Yang Junran was indeed very surprised.

  As for Japanese military weapons, there is no one more familiar with them than Yang Junran now. The entire unit was equipped in the Japanese style.

  The gunfire in the mountainous area was clearly from the Zhongzheng rifle and other National Army weapons, and he would never have thought that Zhou Yulan would concentrate her troops to attack the Japanese army.

  "Commander, what's going on? Has Commander Zhou and the Japanese army's troops clashed? It seems to be a fierce battle, otherwise the gunfire wouldn't be so intense." Jin Mingcheng quickly ran over and said to Yang Junran.

  Furrowing his brow, Yang Junran took a look at the number of Japanese troops on the road. There were less than three hundred Japanese soldiers now. With the strength of Jin Mingcheng's Second Battalion, there shouldn't be any problem.

  "I'll leave the mortar battalion to you, I'll take the machine gun battalion and the third battalion of the first regiment to support their combat. You must thoroughly eliminate them, after eliminating them quickly sweep the battlefield, occupy the position here, prevent the Japanese reinforcements from coming over." Yang Junran said seriously, looking at Jin Mingcheng.

  "General Yang, rest assured, I guarantee the completion of the task," said Jin Mingcheng with a salute.

  Yang Junran nodded and quickly assembled his troops.

  After the troops gathered, they quickly reinforced into the mountainous area.

  Without the burden of the mortar battalion, the troops' marching speed has clearly increased a lot.

  The Type 92 machine gun was lifted by four soldiers and could also run with the troops.

  The 94th's 90mm mortar of the Machine Gun Battalion can also disperse and dismantle the artillerymen who are scattered and acting separately.

  If it were the ten 97-style 150mm mortars of the mortar battalion, they would be heavy loads of over 600 kilograms. Even after disassembly, the weight of each component would still be a considerable burden for individual soldiers. Last time, several soldiers had to work together to carry one component.

  The sound of gunfire ahead was getting closer and closer, Yang Junran had already ordered his troops to prepare for battle.

  The warriors quickly checked their weapons and waited for Yang Junran's order to attack.

  "What's wrong with you, mind your own business and don't come here to stir up trouble." Chen Qiaoru came over immediately after receiving the report and bluntly said to Yang Junran and others.

  "We'll come and reinforce you, or else you won't know what's good for you." Regimental Commander Ji Quan seemed to have lost his patience and immediately responded.

  "Mind your own business, there are already enough of these devils for us to deal with, don't come and make trouble."

  "Each company's artillery and machine gun troops made preparations, the machine gun squad quickly found a suitable firing position, coordinating with the female soldiers' combat, the first company swiftly flanked, the third company immediately launched an attack, the artillery company provided firepower cover, and everyone launched an assault." Yang Junran didn't have time to waste on idle chatter with Chen Qiaoru, directly issuing the order to attack.

  The warriors quickly checked their weapons and deployed in an attacking formation, charging forward.

  At this moment, the Japanese army had made the female soldiers so dizzy that they didn't even know where they were being shot from.

  The exit was sealed off by machine gun fire and now all Japanese troops were hiding, waiting for an opportunity.

  "Commander, we're surrounded. What should we do now?" A lieutenant commander rushed over to Sennojo Kiyoshige, looking anxious.

  "Take a look at the distant high mountains, tell the captain: 'Charge out immediately, otherwise once the remaining Chinese troops surround us, we will have no way to survive.'"

  The captain hesitated for a moment, nodded, and ran back towards his own troops.

  In a short while, more than 100 Japanese soldiers launched another attack towards the exit.

  The 92nd Infantry Division's six 9.2-inch guns continued firing, covering the troops' advance.

  But this time, the firepower was much stronger than before, and occasionally there were several mortar shells coming over.

  Through the telescope, Senichi Kanaya had already seen soldiers wearing National Army uniforms.

  "Hachigatsu, those damned Chinese troops!" Chirin Kojirō shouted loudly, his right hand already drawing out his military sword.

  "Kill him!" Kiri Jinyu shouted loudly.

  The Japanese officers and men quickly launched an attack towards the exit, and Qianli Zhenxiong knew that if he continued to delay here, the Chinese troops surrounding him would only increase.

  No matter how many casualties there are now, we must break through quickly.

  Seeing the Japanese army launching an attack in this direction, Yang Junran, who had originally planned to lead three battalions to launch a counterattack, immediately ordered his troops to resist on the spot.

  The nine light machine guns of the three battalions were quickly set up and continuously fired at the charging Japanese officers and soldiers.

  The machine gun battalion behind had occupied the commanding heights, and the heavy machine guns were firing continuously at the charging Japanese officers and soldiers. The mortars were also rapidly launching shells.

  "You're going too far!" Facing the three battalion soldiers who ignored the female soldier beside them, relying on their strong firepower to push all the female soldiers down, Chen Qiaoru shouted loudly.

  Yang Junran didn't have time to argue with her now, and he continued to fire his formal rifle. At this moment, Yang Junran felt that his whole body was boiling with hot blood.

  The charge of the Japanese officers and men was in vain, two machine gun battalions, a machine gun company, three companies, with a total of eighteen Type 92 heavy machine guns and thirteen Type 96 light machine guns.

  Such firepower was unexpected by the Japanese army. Including the female soldiers' dozen or so machine guns, there were more than 50 light and heavy machine guns in total.

  Japanese soldiers fell one by one on the charging road, and at this time they did not find that the first battalion had already started setting up three heavy machine guns and nine light machine guns in a flanking maneuver.

  "Fire!" With Ji Quan's command, the twelve light and heavy machine guns on the flanks quickly opened fire.

  As for this sudden blow, the casualties of the Japanese army gradually increased.

  Several hundred men of the assault troops quickly took cover, dodging bullets coming from the flank.

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