Chapter 183: Valley Of Hell
In an instant, the Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannon let out a deafening, highly penetrating roar!
“Boom boom boom! Boom boom boom boom boom!”
This sound was not like the shocking rumble of a large-caliber cannon, but more like a massive, high-speed hammer forging steel madly pounding away!
Each shot was accompanied by a huge orange-red fireball over a meter long erupting from the muzzle, instantly illuminating the somewhat darkened hillside shrouded in gun smoke, with thick, pungent smoke immediately spreading out.
Amid the shrill whistle of 20mm projectiles tearing through the air, it struck a line of Japanese troops charging over a thousand meters away. Two soldiers at the forefront suddenly burst like exploding watermelons, with limbs, flesh, and shattered bones flying several meters into the air together.
While Old Cao was firing, scalding brass shell casings poured out like a golden waterfall from the ejection port on the right side of the breech, clanging as they hit the rocks on the position and rolled into the dirt, instantly piling up into a small heap emitting scorching heat.
“Right 50 meters… distance plus 100… good dispersion, maintain suppression!” The spotter beside him reported the coordinates loudly while observing through binoculars.
Here’s a bit of knowledge to share.
Many people don’t understand why machine gunners are equipped with one or even multiple assistants, especially nagging nonstop right by their ears while they’re firing.
This is because the gunner is actually “locked” onto the weapon while shooting.
Heavy machine guns and anti-aircraft cannons produce massive recoil, deafening noise, intense muzzle flash, and spreading smoke and dust when firing.
The gunner must keep his eyes glued to the optical sight（ or mechanical sights）, body pressed against the stock to control the weapon, hands gripping the handles/trigger, with full mental focus on aiming, gun control, firing, and managing recoil.
His field of view is severely restricted to the narrow sight picture of the scope, making it nearly impossible to effectively observe the surrounding environment or the overall battlefield situation.
The spotter, however, has no such restrictions.
He can stand tall（ while staying concealed）, using binoculars, rangefinders, observation scopes, or even the naked eye to observe the battlefield in all directions. He can see the flanks, rear, high ground, and farther distances that the machine gunner completely misses.
Especially since prolonged firing causes the barrel to overheat.
The spotter monitors the barrel condition and assists or reminds the machine gunner to quickly change to a spare barrel when needed, ensuring sustained firepower.
In summary, a heavy machine gun without a spotter is like a warrior with immense strength but deaf and blind— no matter how powerful, it’s easily destroyed or unable to perform effectively.
The spotter’s presence turns the heavy machine gun from a mere weapon into a complete tactical node with perception, decision-making, and strike capabilities.
“Boom boom boom…”
High-explosive rounds kept exploding within the Japanese assault formation.
Dust mixed with gun smoke, metal fragments scattering everywhere and rolling across the scorched earth.
Japanese soldiers hunched their backs desperately charging toward the mid-slope, their khaki uniforms soaked dark with sweat.
Suddenly… a 20mm high-explosive round whistled through the air, striking a tree as thick as an adult’s arm. The tree instantly shattered into dozens or hundreds of sharp wooden splinters, piercing nearby soldiers’ necks with the fresh scent of wood shavings.
As soon as the high-explosive rounds finished, armor-piercing rounds followed, sending clods of earth mixed with human tissue splashing out in a fan shape.
One soldier had just dived behind a dirt mound when the entire mound was blasted to powder by the shell; he futilely clutched half a rock.
The Japanese soldiers desperately realized there was no safe spot on the battlefield. The barrage plowed the ground, instantly kicking up clusters of crimson blood mist, with comrades’ screams heard intermittently and the hollow clang of steel helmets tumbling and colliding in the blast waves everywhere.
“Baka yarou!”
Masasuke Minamimura could no longer suppress his rage and cursed loudly.
These Chinese were truly too unsportsmanlike, actually using anti-aircraft cannons against infantry—doing something so inhumane?
Worst of all, they were just feinting, with few places to take cover to begin with, and these anti-aircraft cannons had freakishly high power; ordinary cover or dirt mounds couldn’t withstand their bombardment at all.
He had personally seen over ten men lacking cover huddle behind a grave-sized dirt slope, only for the opponent to punch right through it with anti-aircraft fire.
The entire dirt slope twisted and disintegrated like it was kneaded by an invisible giant hand; as clods and sand trickled down, the men hiding behind it had already turned into shreds of meat hanging from tree branches, with limb fragments and brain matter everywhere.
Seeing such a gruesome scene, many Japanese soldiers vomited on the spot.
Masasuke Minamimura, charging at the front, finally reached the bottom of a ditch. This spot was too low-lying, in the anti-aircraft cannon’s dead zone, allowing them to catch their breath.
When he recounted their numbers again, he found his company had only eighty-plus men left—meaning over a hundred had fallen during that charge.
Seeing his company reduced to this, Masasuke Minamimura’s heart ached like a knife cut. Though Japanese were known for disregarding life, losing most of the company in one charge left him, the company commander, hard-pressed to escape blame.
“Company commander, sir, the Chinese firepower is too fierce; we can’t get through at all!” A second lieutenant bent over to his side and said indignantly.
Masasuke Minamimura, “Kono, have Kimura and Nakai made it over?”
“They… they…” Second Lieutenant Kono’s tears finally flowed uncontrollably. “They all perished gloriously.”
“What…”
Masasuke Minamimura’s heart sank halfway; that meant only one of his three platoon leaders remained.
Seeing Masasuke Minamimura silent for so long, Second Lieutenant Kono couldn’t help saying, “Company commander, sir, we should… withdraw. The third company can’t take more losses like this.”
“No!”
Masasuke Minamimura replied without hesitation: “If we go back like this, the battalion commander will chop us down without a second thought.”
“But… if we keep charging, the third company will really cease to exist!”
Hearing this, Masasuke Minamimura looked at the scant few soldiers behind him and finally burst into loud sobs…
Masasuke Minamimura didn’t know that as he wept bitterly, his superior’s superior… Infantry Regiment 77 Commander Major Kariori Koichi was also staring at the hellish valley with bloodshot eyes.
He couldn’t fathom how the battlefield, which had been going vibrantly and even advancing steadily moments ago, suddenly shifted tone, with the enemy pulling out a game-changer that caught them off guard.
The consequence of over a hundred Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons firing in unison was countless 20mm high-explosive rounds flying like hail, turning the entire valley into purgatory.
