Chapter Fifty: The Beast in Distress

  The deputy commander looked up at the sky and saw two Japanese fighter planes flying towards the Daxing position like old crows in the bloody sunset. The planes were getting bigger and bigger, and the ear-piercing roar could be heard. He said to Ma Zhanshan: "General, enemy planes are coming!"

  Ma Zhan Shan also looked up at the sky and said, "Don't mind it."

  "No, drive the car quickly to the woods on the west side of the road," the deputy officer ordered the driver urgently.

  Ma Zhan Shan glared at his deputy: "We have a machine gun squad, what's there to be afraid of?"

  The deputy officer said urgently: "The machine gun squad can't deal with two fighter planes, I'm responsible for your safety!"

  "What are you responsible for?" Ma Zhan Shan saw the driver hesitate and look at him, he immediately commanded the driver: "Go, rush over at the fastest speed, don't entangle with enemy planes!"

  After receiving the order, the driver stepped on the accelerator and rushed towards Jiang Bridge like crazy.

  The deputy officer saw this and loudly ordered the machine gun squad: "Prepare to fire, don't let the enemy dive down."

  The car sped down the dirt road, kicking up clouds of dust. Enemy planes searching the sky spotted two speeding cars and assumed that these vehicles heading towards Jiang Bridge were high-ranking Chinese military leaders rushing to the Daxing Railway Station war zone. They immediately reported back to their base, requesting additional bombers and fighter jets to intercept the Chinese commanders and kill them. However, they did not know that only these two planes remained in their own air force, while the others had either been shot down or fled.

  Two planes dived towards the car at the same time, Ma Zhan heard the "hissing" sound of the bomb being released and the "whooshing" sound of bullets whizzing past his ears. With two strange howls, a massive cloud of dust and smoke was kicked up from the ground.

  The quick-thinking driver floored it, and another bomb that had been dropped exploded far behind them, the shockwave almost flipping the jeep.

  The enemy plane thought it had hit the target and was pulling up the control stick to return when it found that the car had already escaped from the dust and smoke and was rushing towards Jiang Bridge.

  The desperate pilots made another low-flying approach close to the target, dropped bombs in vain, and prepared for a machine gun strafing run, but were blocked by a dense hail of bullets. One bomber was hit in the fuel tank and immediately burst into flames, crashing into the Nen River. Another plane, unable to get close to the target, flew away helplessly.

  Ma Zhan Shan and his entourage arrived safely at the Daxing Railway Station position amidst intense enemy bombing. The deputy officer only discovered that the jeep had been hit by more than 20 bullets after getting off the car, fortunately no one on the car was injured, while the machine gun squad covering them suffered heavy casualties, all three machine gunners were killed, and Dalu was seriously injured and taken to a medical facility as soon as the car stopped.

  Ma Zhanshan first found Zhao Xiaofeng.

  "Big brother! How did you get up here?" Zhao Xiaofeng hastily asked as he stepped forward.

  "Haha!" Ma Zhan Shan laughed and said: "I've come to see off my brothers who are going to the battlefield!" After finishing, he pointed to the people beside him one by one and introduced them: "This is Jin Kui Bi, Chief of Staff of the Border Defense Army, this is Xie Ke, Chief of Staff, Tang Feng Jia, Deputy Officer..."

  Xu Baozhen saw Ma Zhanshan and Zhao Xiaofeng rushing to the front line under a hail of bullets, and hurried over to report to the Chairman and Commander: "Commander, the Japanese army has broken into a section of our front-line position, I am organizing troops to retake it."

  Zhao Xiaofeng picked up his binoculars and asked towards the main battlefield where flames were raging: "Have the reinforcements arrived?"

  Xu Baozhen replied: "The Wu De-lin Brigade and Saburi Brigade have all been put into the front line."

  "Quick, bring me the map." Zhao Xiao Feng waved his hand at the deputy officer.

  A military map with various coordinates and arrows was spread out on the table. Zhao Xiaofeng asked while looking at the map, "Does the vanguard have a charging force?"

  "Light and heavy machine guns are firing fiercely, and there is also an abundance of troops!"

  "How were the cavalry casualties?"

  "The cavalry's concealment was good, and the enemy planes never found their target."

  "What about the infantry reserve?"

  "The casualties are not heavy, and there are still about 2,000 brave warriors! But the enemy is still occupying that section of Daxing Station. It will be difficult for the enemy's follow-up troops to retake it!"

  Zhao Xiaofeng kept staring at the battlefield outside where cannons were firing continuously, suddenly turned around: "Xu Baozhen, retreat to the guard troops on both wings and counterattack!"

  "Yes, Commander." Xu Baozhen replied.

  "Also!" Zhao Xiao Feng added: "Director Jin immediately ordered the cavalry to outflank from both left and right wings, coordinating with Xu Baozhen's team to attack head-on, requiring speed."

  "Yes." Jin Gui replied immediately.

  The Japanese army finally broke through the Chinese army's position in front of Daxing Station with nearly a thousand soldiers' corpses. The frontline commander, Tieno Shinichi, reported this result to Binmoto. As a military man, Tieno understood that this was only a temporary victory achieved by the artillery at the cost of thousands of tons of steel destroying the surface and underground fortifications of Daxing Station, forcing the defending troops to retreat. The Chinese army would soon organize a counterattack to retake the lost position. Therefore, while reporting the situation to Binmoto, he also requested urgent reinforcements from his unit. However, the terrain at Jiangqiao was narrow, making it difficult for large troops to pass through quickly, which added to the difficulties of the Japanese reinforcements.

  The Chinese garrison troops Wu De-lin and Sa-li-bu two regiments rushed up from the left and right wings of Daxing Station, while the guard regiment that had retreated to both wings also launched a desperate counterattack, mixing with the Japanese army that had entered Daxing Station. At this time, someone shouted:

  "Commander Zhao! General Ma has arrived!"

  "General Ma and Commander Zhao are with us!"

  The soldiers who were eating in front saw Ma Zhan Shan and Zhao Xiao Feng personally directing the troops to counterattack, their emotions became even more high.

  "Charge!"

  "Kill him!......"

  The two banks of the Nen River suddenly erupted in a cacophony of killing sounds, with flames shooting into the sky. The fierce battle of fire and blood could be seen from ten miles away.

  Hamamoto received a battle report from Tanihata Shin'ichi and charged into the intense battlefield with his dare-to-die corps, using soldiers' corpses to block the Chinese army's counterattack, expanding the results, and taking down the entire Daxing Station, opening up the road from Jiang Bridge to the provincial city.

  At this time, he still had the interest to indulge in fantasy: as long as this battle was won, the magnificent gold medal would be pinned on the left side of his symbolic power rank pocket.

  Bin Okabe picked up the telescope and saw Chinese officers and soldiers holding machine guns and rifles rushing quickly to the lost position, as if they would live or die with the position.

  Binmoto was stunned: Wasn't the Heilongjiang army a Chinese army? Since the Japanese army came out, except for being defeated in Fengtian, all other places they went to, the Chinese army fled in disarray, but here, not a single soldier or officer ran away. Is he the second Zhao Xiaoping?

  Seeing this scene, Binmoto felt some fear and ordered Tanahashi Shinichi in a severe and somewhat flurried manner: "Quickly organize the troops to fight a decisive battle with Ma Zhanshan's Chinese army."

  As the order of Hamamoto, the Japanese Kwantung Army's suicide squad wrapped with explosives rushed to the Chinese position. The Chinese soldiers found out and opened fire at the same time, hitting the explosives, only to hear the "boom" sound of explosions, these victims of Japanese militarism went up to the sky with the rising smoke.

  All this took place within the range of Binbo's vision. He did not put down the telescope in his hand, and the distance that was brought closer presented a tragic scene before his eyes: Japanese soldiers tore open a bloody path with their own bodies, but this bloody path was soon sewn up again by the flesh of Chinese soldiers.

  Tian Dexin organized the troops to counterattack at Daxing Station, and the two armies clashed together. Binmoto suddenly found that a Chinese cavalry was rapidly approaching the frontline command post where he was located. If he stayed here any longer, he would be surrounded by the cavalry. Although he shouted loudly that it was the greatest honor for soldiers to die in battle, he did not want to die at the hands of Chinese soldiers. He gave Tian Dexin a dead order: "You are the frontline commander, and you will stay on the battlefield to fight to the death. I will rush back to request more artillery support."

  As soon as he finished speaking, Binmoto immediately disappeared into the gunfire with his entourage. Tanahata Shinichi looked at Binmoto's flustered escape and shouted loudly: "Bastard, you're the coward!" But he didn't dare to retreat, because then Binmoto would find all sorts of reasons to shoot him dead. Now his only way out was to die fighting.

  It was now dusk, and the reinforcements from Binmoto had not yet crossed the river, while the Chinese army grew more courageous. Tani Hisao could no longer hold on. He saw his troops quickly collapse under the Chinese attack, and the positions they had gained were recaptured by the enemy, leaving behind only the bodies of Japanese soldiers. Tani also saw Chinese cavalry charging towards him, their raised sabers glinting in the cold light, and he felt a great fear of death. He loudly ordered his troops to retreat, but before he could do so, a burst of machine gun fire swept across the area in front of him, and the Chinese soldiers who appeared before his eyes shot him down to the ground. Several soldiers lifted him up.

  He was hit, and the blood on his leg gushed out "gushing" sound. He knew that the red stuff wouldn't flow for long, and he would soon fall like a dry ball on the frozen black soil blown by the cold wind, accompanying his soldiers, forever buried in a foreign land. He hated the Chinese, hated Ma Zhan Shan, and even more hated the stupid Commander Hinomoto, who forced him to die while he himself fled faster than a rabbit.

  "Damn it!" Tieno Shin'ichi roared like a dying beast making its last struggle: "Take back the position, fight to the death!"

  But the soldiers no longer listened to his orders, each scrambling to escape for their lives. He was no longer a formidable commander, his commands drowned out by the intense gunfire, like the growls of a black bear. His trembling hands reached for the explosives pack on his body, his masterpiece from when he led the dare-to-die corps into the Battle of Daxing. Once again, he saw the blood slowly flowing from his pant legs. Closing his eyes, he pulled the detonator cord tied to his body. A loud explosion, and the evil spirit of this Japanese soldier came to an end.

  Mad Killer is especially grateful to readers who have given rewards! Bowing! It was you who gave me the motivation! I will continue to work hard!