Chapter 143: This Is Way Too Cowardly, Isn’t It?
The red-hot shell casings rolled to the loader’s feet, but the loader paid no attention to them, only focused on slamming the new magazine into the slot.
Zhuang Xiaoman saw through the gun smoke the two Japanese soldiers charging at the front fall like wheat stalks under a sickle, and when a skinny figure was cut in half by a 7.62mm bullet, the explosive pack in his arms was still sizzling with blue smoke.
“Boom…”
Accompanied by a huge explosion, that skinny figure was instantly blasted into pink fragments scattering through the sky by the massive shockwave.
But before Zhuang Xiaoman could catch his breath, John’s voice rang out in the turret again, accompanied by the hydraulic sound of the turret rotating, his voice sounding somewhat distorted.
“Left side, ten o’clock direction!”
Zhuang Xiaoman swung around like lightning, and saw thirty meters away, two Japanese soldiers leaping up from a shell crater at the same time, the leggings of the soldier on the right side already seeping bloodstains, yet he still hunched his waist and charged toward them through the bullet rain.
Seeing these two Japanese soldiers running bent over with explosive packs in their arms, Zhuang Xiaoman suddenly recalled the rats scattered by firecrackers at the temple fair back home, also with that frantic posture of being at the end of their rope.
“Fuck his grandmother!”
Zhuang Xiaoman gritted his teeth, locked the machine gun’s sights firmly on that figure desperately charging toward him, and pulled the trigger.
“Da da da…”
At this time, the infantry behind also caught up, and these men all aimed their rifles at the targets and opened fire, for a moment countless bullets rained toward those two Japanese soldiers.
“Boom… Boom…”
In the violent explosions, the two volunteer attackers were blasted into fragments amid the explosion sounds.
Nagano Shinzo on the city wall watched expressionlessly as the four volunteer attackers successively exploded into fragments, then turned his head and said to the lieutenant behind him: “Next team!”
Soon, another four volunteer attackers rushed out from cover toward the tank.
But this team’s luck was even worse than the previous one; they didn’t even reach fifty meters before being turned into sieves by bullets.
“Next team…”
“Boom boom…”
“Next team…”
Half an hour passed, and six teams of volunteer attackers in a row all became souls under the gun, the shortest team’s survival time after launching not even three minutes.
Watching team after team of volunteer attackers constantly falling under the gun muzzles, the lieutenant responsible for organizing the volunteer attackers watched with his facial muscles twitching continuously.
When he saw Nagano Shinzo expressionlessly raise his hand again, preparing to send out the next team of volunteer attackers, he could no longer hold back and pleaded: “Captain, this can’t go on!
Our brave warriors can’t even get close to the Chinese people’s armored vehicles at all; their firepower is too fierce. This way, we’re just letting our brave warriors die in vain!”
“Idiot!”
As soon as his words fell, Nagano Shinzo immediately slapped him across the face, his cold eyes staring straight at him.
Then he pointed at the tank outside the city continuously shelling the city wall and asked: “Facing the Chinese people’s armored vehicles, what should we do when we don’t even have a single anti-tank gun?
The reinforcements sent by the brigade commander are already on the way, and what we need to do is use every possible means to delay the Chinese people’s advance.
Now tell me, besides sending out volunteer attacker teams, what other way do I have to buy more time for the reinforcements’ arrival?”
The lieutenant was speechless.
Only then did he realize that Nagano Shinzo’s method of continuously sending volunteer attacker teams to their deaths seemed cruel and heartless, but it was actually the only and best method right now.
“Next team…”
Seeing the lieutenant lower his head, Nagano Shinzo continued to raise his right hand…
Facing the Japanese continuously sending people to their deaths, Su Yaoyang and Pi Ruoyu saw everything clearly from behind.
“Sir… the Japs are stalling for time!” Pi Ruoyu saw through Nagano Shinzo’s scheme at a glance. “They want to drag it out until the reinforcements arrive.”
“I see!”
Su Yaoyang put down the binoculars and sneered: “Do the little Japs really think we’re just relying on those few tanks? Then he’s seriously underestimating us. Use the walkie-talkie to ask the 4th and 6th Battalions if they’ve entered attack positions.”
Soon, the communications staff officer reported: “Report sir, 4th and 6th Battalions report they have entered attack positions and can launch the assault at any time.”
“Then what are we waiting for… launch the attack immediately.”
“Yes!”
“Beep beep da da da…”
Nagano Shinzo, who was on the city wall gritting his teeth and continuing to send out volunteer attacker teams to their deaths, suddenly heard bursts of bugle calls from behind, accompanied by urgent gunfire.
Before he could send someone to inquire, someone immediately came to report: “Captain, Chinese troops have launched an attack from our rear; the rear city wall is in emergency!”
“Damn it!”
Nagano Shinzo’s face instantly turned pale. Since he had transferred all the Japanese troops to this section of the city wall, the rear defense was entirely puppet troops.
And he knew all too well the combat effectiveness of those puppet troops; they could bully some bandits with homemade guns and cannons, but against these National Revolutionary Army elites armed to the teeth, persisting for half an hour would already count as them being tough.
In fact, Nagano Shinzo had still overestimated those puppet troops’ staying power. Forget half an hour; the puppet battalion commander responsible for the rear defense collapsed at the sight of those soldiers wearing German-style helmets and German-style uniforms.
“German… German-equipped division?”
This puppet battalion commander’s voice was like that of a frail girl walking at night encountering a group of burly men leering at her in the woods—full of despair and helplessness.
Ever since 1930 when China began military cooperation with Germany, the German-equipped divisions had become synonymous with elites. Although after experiencing the Battle of Shanghai and the Nanjing Defense, the German-equipped divisions were long gone in name only, this didn’t hinder their status in the minds of the Chinese people.
This puppet battalion commander, upon suddenly seeing the opposing side all wearing M35 helmets and 36-style uniforms, his first reaction was that the central army’s elites had arrived and he needed to escape quickly.
Thus, after letting out a cry of alarm, this puppet battalion commander turned and fled, not even having the courage to fire a symbolic shot, which left Huang Guantao, who had originally thought there would be a fierce battle, stunned.
However, in an emergency, he had no time to think much; since the enemy had fled, why be polite—chase after them quickly.
And on the puppet troops’ side, seeing their own commander leading the way in running, what were they waiting for? Hurry and follow. They were just mixing a meal ticket, no need to risk their lives.
Thus, in less than three minutes, a battalion of nearly four hundred puppet troops had all run clean away. When Li Tao led the 4th Battalion charging in, he even saw three abandoned Type 92 heavy machine guns, five or six Type 11 light machine guns, and Hanyang-made rifles scattered all over the ground.
This was the scene Li Tao saw when leading the 4th Battalion charging into the county city’s rear defense line.
“No way… are the Japs this cowardly now?”
Seeing this scene, Li Tao felt unaccustomed for a moment.
