Chapter Thirty-Four: Harassment Along the Way

  Zhao Jun led his men to the side of the highway when Oshima Hideki had successfully cleared the landmines at the cost of 6 cars, and the convoy was slowly moving forward along the highway.

  Zhao Jun didn't see Wen Chuanhao and the sniper team, time was pressing, Zhao Jun couldn't find Wen Chuanhao to discuss, he immediately led his men to sneak towards the enemy's convoy.

  Wen Chuanhe let Xu Yougen and Meng Xiaofei retreat to the rear of the devils' necessary route to build an ambush position, while he himself touched 400 meters away from the devils' convoy. He wanted to rely on his own one-man-one-gun to nail down the devils firmly.

  Wen Chuanhao slung the 88 rifle on his back and switched to the 96 sniper rifle. Originally, a sniper changing guns at the last minute was absolutely against the sniper manual, but the bullets of the 88 were too precious, and the Japanese 96 could fully handle the distance of 400 meters. Wen Chuanhao decided to use the enemy's bullets to greet them.

  The first shot hit a heavy machine gunner standing on a car, leaving a small hole in the forehead of this devil after the bullet left with the blood and brain of this devil from the back of the head. The comrade who was still alive just now instantly became a corpse lying in front of him, and the morale of these old soldiers with bloody hands was also severely damaged.

  Gunfire rang out again, a devil was about to jump down from the car, and the bullet flying in the air accurately hit his left eye, dying on the spot.

  Taking advantage of the enemy's frantic jump to find a place to hide, Wen Chuanhao quickly retracted his gun and transferred. Although the enemy could not determine Wen Chuanhao's specific position, they still knew the direction of the gunfire. The 13th Division was one of the strongest divisions in the Japanese army, and the soldiers' reaction on the battlefield was also first-rate. As soon as Wen Chuanhao changed his sniper position, a group of shiny steel helmets came "whooshing" towards him. Before these helmets arrived, the bullets from the Type 92 heavy machine gun had already hit the tree branches, causing them to fall down in profusion, and some smaller trees were cut off at the waist.

  Bullets were rampant beside Wen Chuanhao, and Wen Chuanhao could only bury his head, without any chance of shooting. The situation was extremely urgent, once the devils took advantage of the heavy machine gun's cover to rush up, they would be in a precarious position, so Wen Chuanhao decided to take a risk and take a peek.

  Just as he was about to fire, a gunshot rang out from 300 meters away on his right side. The leading devil fell down in response, and the muzzle immediately drew the attention of the heavy machine gun and the charging devils. How could Wen Chuanhao let go of this opportunity? As soon as the heavy machine gun bullets whizzed past his ear, he aimed at the devil's heavy machine gun on the opposite side.

  "Bang!" Wen Chuanhao calmly pulled the trigger, and a devil machine gunner who was frantically firing in front of him was hit. The deputy shooter next to him hurriedly took over, but before he could fire, he followed his companion to see the great god of heaven.

  After the heavy machine gun fell silent, Wen Chuanhao felt a slight relief and changed his position. The gunfire on the right side continued to ring out, and several charging devils were knocked down. By the sound of the gunfire, Wen Chuanhao knew that Jin Suo had arrived. Previously, Jin Suo had told him about his experience fighting wolves with Grandpa, saying that Grandpa taught him that when shooting, speed was key, otherwise, the wolves would rush up and he would be dead. These few shots were Jin Suo's trademark, for which Wen Chuanhao specifically reminded him not to keep firing in one place.

  However, Jin Suo's gunfire was urgent, indicating that their side was under great pressure. How could Wen Chuanhao let his teammates take the bullet for him? In a series of aiming, firing, and reloading actions, another four or five devils charging at Jin Suo fell to the ground.

  The devils are very experienced. There aren't many of them facing the Chinese, but every shot hits its mark. With each gunshot, one of our men falls down, and almost all of them have been hit in the head.

  "Sniper?" ōshima felt a chill run down his spine as he watched his soldiers die one by one through the telescope, "Could it be that the enemy has a sniper from the 'Divine Eagle' unit?" ōshima had discovered during his research on the tactics of the "Divine Eagle" unit that there were several exceptional marksmen within the unit. From Inada to Nakamura and even Yamashita in Zhūlóngzhèn, each one was killed with a precise shot to the head during battle. At first, ōshima didn't believe that a civilian militia would have snipers, something not even the Imperial Army had specialized personnel for, thinking it was just Chinese hunters who joined the "Divine Eagle". However, he later found out that the "Divine Eagle" unit had clear tasks assigned to these exceptional marksmen, specifically targeting high-value enemy targets. From this, he made an uncertain judgment that the "Divine Eagle" might have specialized snipers. Unfortunately, his guess was confirmed today.

  Oshima ordered his troops to stop charging and take cover, not wanting the soldiers who had achieved great military exploits to make unnecessary sacrifices.

  Wen Chuanhe and Jin Suo saw the devils stop charging, and immediately stopped firing. Without a sure shot, they couldn't fire casually, otherwise once their hiding position was exposed, the devils' light and heavy machine guns and grenade launchers would leave them with no place to bury themselves.

  Both sides stood still for a few minutes, but the one who was really in a dilemma was Oshima Hideki. His original plan was to attack the opponent's heart area at the fastest speed, leaving no reaction time for the opponent. Unexpectedly, several cars were blown up by landmines first, and then they encountered the opponent's most elite sniper, which meant that the opponent was delaying their own attacking speed in order to give the main force time to prepare.

  "Sly Chinas!" Tai-sho was about to order the mortar crews to lay down a withering field of fire on all suspicious areas where "Hawk" snipers were suspected of being in ambush.

  Wen Chuanhao and Jin Suo did not stop attacking, their gun barrels were like the scythe of the god of death, coldly pointing at the place where the devils were hiding. Occasionally, one or two devils would accidentally expose themselves, and in an instant they would be knocked out by the ruthless bullets. This made the hidden devils even more afraid to move recklessly, after all, no one wanted to die, especially when their own side had the upper hand.

  The battlefield fell silent again, and Wen Chuanhao had a feeling that danger was approaching due to the sniper's keen sense of survival instinct. The devils neither attacked nor retreated, indicating that they must be up to some sinister plot. Withdraw! This was Wen Chuanhao's first reaction, he lightly raised his hand and made a gesture to Jin Suo, Jin Suo understood, and the two slowly withdrew backwards, leaving their original position.

  As the two came down, they happened to meet Zhao Jun's special warfare team. Everyone agreed that the devils were so reckless and wanted to rush through the highway, they must be eager to take some action. So no matter what the enemy was going to do, this side had to make every effort to hold back the devils and gain enough preparation time for the battalion.

  "Form up, let's go!" The warriors all asked to go into battle.

  Zhao Jun ignored them and sat alone with his head bowed in thought.

  "Get into position, what are you waiting for? Block those little devils quickly!" Another soldier shouted.

  "Block the devils? What can block the devils? Take a good look, in front of us are 600 devils from the 13th Division, they have light and heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, what do we have? Our twenty or so people aren't even enough for the devils to charge at once."

  Zhao Jun did not want to intercept, but unfortunately the enemy's strength was too far apart. These devils were not only numerous but also had strong combat effectiveness, and they also had light and heavy machine guns and grenade launchers. If they were to intercept head-on, they would not be able to hold out for much time, and would instead sacrifice these elite special forces in vain.

  Zhao Jun felt the weight of responsibility on his shoulders for the first time.

  "If we can't stop him, then let him go." Wen Chuanhao suddenly said.

  Zhao Jun raised his head and stared blankly at Wen Chuanhao, his eyes motionless for a moment before he suddenly clenched his fist. "Right, we can't stop these devils, but we can stick to them and make them uneasy."

  Just as they were talking, a loud explosion suddenly came from the side, and the smoke caused by the explosion filled the entire forest, and the warriors instinctively guarded against the surroundings.

  "It's nothing, just the enemy's grenade launcher." said Fumikawa Hiro.

  Zhao Jun saw that the explosion of the grenade launcher was exactly where Wen Chuanhao and Jin Suo were coming from, and he couldn't help but wipe a cold sweat from his brow. The feeling of being a "death god" was indeed keen, if they had walked a few minutes later, everything would have been over.

  "Let the little devils stir up trouble, we'll wait for them in the back." Zhao Jun waved his hand and led the troops to move towards the rear.

  On the way, Zhao Jun took out his own ideas and discussed them with Wen Chuanhao.

  "Big Brother Wen, my opinion is that we divide into two parts. You lead the sniper to attack the devils from the side, and after the devils' attention is drawn away, I'll lead the remaining soldiers to approach the devils from behind and specifically target their rear. What do you think?"

  Wen Chuanhao had no objection, because the equipment of the special warfare team was similar to that of the Japanese army. To effectively attack the Japanese army, they had to get close, but once they got too close and were stuck by the devils, there would be a risk of total annihilation. However, with snipers on one side attracting the devils, the situation would be different, at least making the devils cautious. After all, the sniper's gun was not for decoration.

  Oshima used a mortar concentratively once, and the effect was immediate. The Chinese sniper on the opposite side never appeared again. After confirming that there were no more enemies, Oshima gathered his troops to continue advancing along the highway.

  Due to the loss of 7 vehicles, Da Dao had no choice but to order some of the devils to get off and march on foot, which greatly discounted the marching speed. Zhao Jun led the special warfare team to follow behind the devils at a steady pace, while Wen Chuanhao and Jin Suo rushed to the front with all their might to join forces with two other snipers, preparing to set up an ambush and give the devils a good scare.

  To avoid the car stepping on landmines again, ōshima had the infantry split into small groups of three or two and walk in front of the convoy. This move almost enraged a lieutenant who was furious at the commander's foolish decision to use Imperial Army soldiers as mine sweepers. The soldiers were already dissatisfied with being unable to go to the battlefield but instead running to the countryside, and the lieutenant's dissatisfaction quickly spread, causing war weariness and fear among the soldiers. The decline in morale directly affected the marching speed. ōshima could only pretend not to see this, as the most important thing now was to hurry to Xiaowangzhuang and thoroughly achieve a victory of annihilation. Only victory is the best way to boost morale.

  Wenjiang River's sniper team found a new sniping position at a small river on the roadside ahead. The highland across the river is about 300 meters away from the highway, and if the devils charge, they must wade through this waist-deep small river, so except for grenade launchers that can pose a threat to themselves, other weapons can only sigh at the river.

  Daisuke didn't expect that the sniper, who he thought had been eliminated, was back to haunt him. "Bang, bang, bang, bang", several crisp gunshots startled a large flock of birds in the forest, and the several Japanese soldiers walking at the front were all shot dead without exception. The Japanese quickly reacted, shouting "Wah wah" as they wildly fired their guns around them.

  The Type 96 sniper rifle had almost no muzzle flash, so it was hard to expose the target. Not a single devil found the trace of the sniper.

  Just as the devils were in a state of confusion, the sound of gunfire rang out again, and another devil was shot dead. In the following minutes, every gunshot was accompanied by a devil falling to the ground, without any suspense.

  The enemy's light and heavy machine guns opened fire again, but this time Wen Chuanhao did not give the opponent a chance to suppress himself. Soon, the enemy's machine gun commander and shooter fell to one side.

  Oshima found that the number of Chinese snipers had increased instead, and prepared to use his trump card - a barrage of grenade launchers. However, Oshima miscalculated this time, as all the devils focused their attention on the front, the special warfare team finally approached the devils from behind under cover.

  Zhao Jun's tactic this time is Sparrow-style Grenade Warfare, a name he just came up with and feels pretty good about. It's all about throwing grenades in clusters at the enemy like sparrows.

  Within 30 meters, more than 20 hand grenades flew out silently from the woods on both sides. Some fell under the feet of the devils, some were thrown into the car compartment, and some hit the back of the devils... Before the devils could figure out what was happening, another spectacular explosion scene emerged, with continuous explosions throwing the devils into chaos. The special warfare platoon took advantage of the chaos to throw another row of hand grenades, with dozens of hand grenades almost blowing the rear guard of the devil's convoy to pieces. The devils in the middle were attracted by the explosion and quickly fired towards the back. A small team of Japanese soldiers rushed towards the hiding place of the special warfare platoon under the cover of machine guns.

  Zhao Jun did not fight, after the second batch of hand grenades were released, he retreated with his soldiers, and of course, before leaving, he used a grenade to hang a few strings as a gift for the pursuing devils.

  Zhao Junyi retreated, and the sniper team on Wen Chuanhao's side also stopped fighting. After continuously killing more than 20 devils, the sniper team quietly left.

  The gunfire from the opposite side suddenly stopped. Oshima Hideki waited for a while and confirmed that the enemy had already escaped, then ordered to count the casualties.

  The outcome of the battle left him even more despondent and enraged, with just one enemy sniper causing 26 casualties on his side, all shot in the head without exception. The news that followed almost made him collapse. Two cars were destroyed, not to mention the Imperial Army's standard-issue hand grenades continuously thrown by the enemy, which caused nearly an entire squad of his own to lose combat effectiveness. What was even worse was that this almost shameless sneak attack had already dealt a huge blow to the morale of the hundreds of Imperial soldiers below. These fearless Imperial warriors on the front lines in China were now one by one filled with despair, and the moans from the stretchers and the bodies of Imperial soldiers covered with white cloth only served to highlight this despair even more.

  A loss in one place is a gain in another. ōshima Eiki became extremely cautious on the next march, no longer rushing along the road, but instead sending people to search along both sides of the highway, firmly protecting the flanks of the convoy, and using grenade launchers to cover any suspicious areas.

  Zhao Jun saw that there was no more opportunity to harass the devils, so he retreated with Wen Chuanhao along a small road towards Xiao Wangzhuang.