Chapter 131: A Narrow Encounter!

The hundred men from the Big Sword Unit, hastily mobilized, followed the officer toward his company's position. They had expected to catch up in time, but upon arrival, they were met with the sight of the Japanese already advancing.

The soldier’s face turned deathly pale at the sight of the enemy's numbers. This was not just a squad—it was two!

There were at least a hundred Japanese soldiers before them. With only the hundred or so men of the Big Sword Unit he had brought, could they possibly hold them off? The soldier, unfamiliar with the prowess of the Big Sword Unit and relying on his past experiences, felt a sense of dread; in his view, victory seemed impossible.

While the soldier stood stunned, the men of the Big Sword Unit did not waste a moment. They drew their heavy blades and charged forward.

"Baka! Chinese, eliminate them!"

Seeing this, the Japanese captain led his troops into a direct clash with the Big Sword Unit. Watching the hundred-plus men rushing toward them, all brandishing broadswords as if to engage in hand-to-hand combat, the captain’s eyes flickered with contempt and disdain. In his mind, the Chinese were absolutely no match for them in bayonet drills. Even if there were three hundred of them, it would be a fool's errand to attempt to stop his hundred-plus Imperial soldiers. He expected the Chinese forces to melt away like snow under the scorching sun upon contact. Once they defeated this group, they would press the attack against the nearby defenders, slaughtering them all to open the city gates from the inside for the Imperial main force. That would be a glorious achievement!

Thinking this, the captain drew his command sword as the Big Sword Unit closed in. "Charge!" he roared.

Approximately one hundred and twenty Japanese soldiers—nearly half a company—drew their bayonets and rushed to meet the Big Sword fighters. They bellowed slogans of "Long live the Empire!" and "Long live the Emperor!" with deafening intensity. By contrast, the warriors of the Big Sword Unit remained largely silent. After a single, sharp cry from their leader, they surged forward, their blades trailing, and collided with the Japanese lines.

"Kill! Kill the devils!"

The moment they made contact, a brutal, bloody melee erupted. This was a desperate, close-quarters struggle on a narrow street, where bayonets drew blood and lives were traded in an instant. The Japanese soldiers knew they were deep within the enemy’s heart; if they failed to break through, they would be doomed once the main defensive force arrived. No matter how formidable they were, they could not overcome the thousands of Chinese defenders in the city. Thus, the Japanese fought with suicidal intensity.

The Big Sword fighters remained silent, but every swing of their blades was aimed at the enemy’s vitals. A single lapse in judgment meant death under their steel. Within moments of the clash, both sides suffered a dozen casualties. The Japanese captain remained unperturbed, viewing these losses as a normal cost of engagement. He believed that once the Chinese saw the martial prowess of the Imperial soldiers, their courage would crumble, and the slaughter would truly begin.

However, the unfolding reality defied his expectations. The one-sided massacre he anticipated never occurred. Instead, as time passed, the number of his men dwindled rapidly under the blades of the Big Sword Unit. The bayonet techniques the Japanese prided themselves on proved utterly ineffective. The Big Sword fighters easily deflected the Japanese attacks, swiftly identifying openings to deliver lethal blows. Before long, the casualties among the Japanese began to exceed those of the Big Sword Unit. Under the specialized "Blade-Breaking" technique, the Japanese bayonet skills were rendered useless.

The Japanese captain was stunned. This was not what he had envisioned.

"Nani? How is this possible? How can this be?" the captain exclaimed in disbelief. In his experience, no Chinese unit had ever been able to contend with them in close-quarters combat, let alone hold them at bay. Yet here, a mere hundred men were suppressing half an Imperial company.

The bodies piling up on the ground and the agonizing screams filling the air confirmed the impossible truth.

"Hold the line! You must hold! As soldiers of the Great Japanese Empire, how can you be defeated by the Chinese? Eliminate them and wash away the Empire’s shame!" The captain panicked, waving his sword frantically as he shouted.

But no matter how he roared, his troops were forced to retreat, step by step, under the relentless onslaught of the Big Sword Unit. The Japanese were on the verge of collapse.

The soldier who had summoned the reinforcements watched in awe. He had expected the rescue force to be overwhelmed, but in the blink of an eye, they had sent the Japanese into a chaotic retreat. Were these truly the invincible Japanese soldiers he had feared? Were these the same enemies who, in the past, required the lives of three to five, sometimes even a dozen, of their own men to take down?

He stood dumbfounded. As he watched the Big Sword Unit tear through the enemy ranks, a wave of excitement washed over him. "Good! Well killed! You devils, so you have a day like this too!" he cheered loudly.

He had initially intended to join the fray, but he quickly dismissed the thought. He did not want to be a hindrance; with his own amateurish close-combat skills, he would likely be cut down the moment he stepped in. Instead, he stood on the sidelines, shouting his approval with grim satisfaction. He recalled the countless lives lost in the past just to kill a single Japanese soldier, and now, a group of fewer than a hundred men was dismantling the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. It was unimaginable.

The half-company of Japanese soldiers continued to shrink. Under the skilled coordination and relentless pressure of the Big Sword Unit, their losses had already exceeded half their number. Finally, the Japanese captain began to despair. His men were retreating, trying to avoid the brunt of the assault, but they were trapped deep within Dingyuan County. There was nowhere left to flee. The moment they had charged into the city, their fate had been sealed.