Chapter 23: They’re Actually Using Covering Fire?
“Artillery fire… take cover…”
“Take cover… take cover…”
The sudden artillery barrage caught the Japanese troops off guard, and that Japanese squad was instantly enveloped by the artillery fire.
In this ruins devastated by artillery fire, several dilapidated buildings still stood, like torn giant beasts, overlooking the tragic scene around from above.
The crumbling walls had almost completely collapsed, exposing rust-stained yellow earth and stones eroded by the flames of war. The air was thick with acrid smoke, pungent and oppressive, as if every breath was devouring the last hopes of those Japanese troops.
This artillery barrage continued for a full ten minutes before abruptly stopping. When the smoke cleared, the artillery strike site was finally revealed to everyone.
On the pitted ground lay more than a dozen corpses scattered haphazardly; the Japanese soldiers who had been arrogant and overbearing just over ten minutes ago were now reduced to a scene of dead silence.
The uniforms on these dead Japanese soldiers were already soaked in blood, intertwined with the weapons scattered around, forming a horrific and desperate scene of metal and flesh.
Not far away, a wounded soldier was howling in pain. He twisted his body in an attempt to struggle but could only lean weakly against a corner of the ruins, calling for help from his comrades around him.
The anxiety and fear on his face also reflected the despair in the hearts of the soldiers of this Japanese squad.
In this sudden artillery strike, they had no place to hide and could only huddle together, clutching their heads with their hands to minimize exposure.
These experienced Japanese troops knew well that when encountering artillery fire, running around and shouting wildly would only hasten one’s meeting with Amaterasu, serving no purpose; the only thing they could do was squat down and pray they wouldn’t be so unlucky.
“This squad is finished!”
Seeing the miserable state of that squad in the distance, Hasegawa widened his eyes, a flash of pain and disbelief in them.
He never imagined that in just ten minutes, an entire squad would be wiped out right in front of him.
Of course, having reached his rank, let alone the loss of one squad—even if a company or even a battalion was annihilated before him, he wouldn’t bat an eye.
But the problem now was that this squad hadn’t even seen the shadow of the enemy opposite them before being wiped out. How was he supposed to write the after-action report?
Due to the sudden cessation of the artillery fire, the surroundings suddenly became quiet, making the Japanese troops accustomed to the massive roar somewhat unadapted.
Soon, the panting company commander ran over and loudly reported: “Report to Colonel, sir! The previous artillery strike caused Second Squad to suffer 18 killed on the spot, 26 wounded, including 17 seriously wounded.”
Hasegawa fell silent. Typically, a Japanese Army infantry squad numbered around 50 men, divided into three infantry squads（ squads）, 1 grenade discharger squad（ equipped with 2-3 Type 89 grenade dischargers）, and three Type 11 light machine guns.
Now, with 44 casualties in one go, this squad had completely lost its combat effectiveness, making their already limited forces even more stretched thin.
“Baka!”
Hasegawa’s eyes were bloodshot as he stared fixedly at the towering top of the church in the distance, enunciating each word: “Pass the order: after capturing that church, spare the life of that Chinese commander. I want to slice off his flesh piece by piece and make him leave this world in the most painful way.”
“Hai!”
The company commander responded loudly, then asked: “Colonel, sir, should we launch the attack ahead of schedule?”
Hasegawa understood the meaning behind the company commander’s words. Originally, due to insufficient forces, they had planned to wait for reinforcements before launching the attack.
But now the situation was different. The near-total annihilation of almost an entire squad—if he didn’t do something, the news reaching the higher-ups would have a huge impact on his reputation.
“Yo xi!”
Hasegawa gave the company commander an approving glance. “Immediately order First and Third Squads to launch the attack. Make some noise, but be careful not to push too far forward. I feel that the Chinese troops in the church are very strange.”
“Hai.”
With the order given, the Japanese troops finally stopped waiting and began their assault.
Attacks at the Japanese Army company level during World War II were typically conducted as follows:
They would usually divide infantry squads into three teams（ each team 3 to 4 men）, forming a “triangle” or “wedge” formation.
These three teams were divided into assault team（ vanguard） responsible for frontal charges or infiltration, support team（ flank） using light machine guns or grenade dischargers to suppress enemy fire, and reserve team（ rear） to replace casualties or expand breakthroughs.
The first wave of attack would generally deploy one to two squads, quickly approaching the enemy positions, throwing grenades to create chaos; the second wave would then advance to expand gains, followed by the third wave to occupy positions, counter enemy counterattacks, or consolidate the captured area.
Relying on their firepower superiority over the Chinese army and individual soldier quality, the Japanese used this tactic to great success in the early stages of the war.
The Chinese army, facing the Japanese integrated land, sea, and air attacks, could only retreat step by step.
Li Gaoyuan, behind the church wall observation port, saw the faintly visible figures of Japanese soldiers ahead and revealed a grave expression on his face.
He took a deep breath and turned to Su Yaoyang: “Brother Su, this time the little devils are coming for real.”
Facing the Japanese troops approaching the church, Su Yaoyang, experiencing combat for the first time, should logically be afraid, but for some reason, he was not only unafraid but felt eager to try.
He laughed heartily, and vulgar words slipped out: “Afraid of what? Worst case, we die here with the brothers.
Since the little devils are coming seriously, let’s clash with them. I want to see if the little devils have three heads and six arms.
Signal corps, order the artillery squad to continue free artillery fire—blast those sons of bitches!”
“Wait a minute…”
Li Gaoyuan immediately panicked. This Young Master Su really didn’t care about wasting resources; that previous barrage had already expended an entire base’s worth of shells. Continuing like this, their ammunition would be depleted in less than an hour.
But before he finished speaking, the signal corps had already dashed off out of sight. Calling him back to cancel the order would deal a significant blow to Su Yaoyang’s prestige.
“Sigh… forget it…” Li Gaoyuan shook his head helplessly. Anyway, these weapons and ammo were all procured by Su Yaoyang; if he wanted to waste them, let him.
“Jap…”
“Jap Jap…”
“Boom boom boom…”
The artillerymen who received the free fire order couldn’t hold back. Under the observer’s guidance, they unleashed a furious bombardment on the Japanese ahead. Though the accuracy was miserably poor, even the worst aim occasionally hit lucky—unlucky Japanese troops were struck by shells and fell from time to time.
