Chapter 136: Destroy the Little Japanese Tanks!

"Goodness!"

A defending soldier gasped, staring at the aftermath of the explosion with a look of utter shock in his eyes.

Before him, the Japanese tank that had been rampantly shelling their position was now reduced to a twisted heap of wreckage. The entire vehicle had been blown into a hollow shell; aside from retaining the basic contour of a tank, everything else had been utterly obliterated.

The Japanese soldiers trapped inside had been completely vaporized in the blast, leaving not even a trace of bone fragments behind!

"Th-this... is this our weapon?"

Seeing this, some of the soldiers sucked in a sharp breath and spoke in stunned disbelief.

They could hardly believe that what they were seeing with their own eyes was real!

Yet, the still-burning skeleton of the tank remained undeniably planted on the ground, silently testifying that all of this was indeed real!

Soon, they snapped back to their senses, instantly erupting into a fierce wave of cheers!

"Good! A smashing hit! Blow all those Japanese tanks to hell!"

"Blast them to pieces, blow these bastard Japs to Kingdom Come! Let's see them act arrogant now!"

"Brothers, counterattack! Lay down heavy fire and wipe out the Japs!"

In an instant, the soldiers' morale skyrocketed. The gloom that had previously weighed them down was instantly ignited, and they charged into the counterattack against the Japanese like madmen.

A relentless storm of firepower rained down upon the Japanese troops, pinning down even those who were under the cover of tanks and making it impossible for them to raise their heads!

Having scored the first success, the soldiers of the anti-aircraft machine gun battery felt their confidence soar. They smoothly began reloading their shells and resumed firing at the Japanese forces.

Because these dual-purpose anti-aircraft and anti-infantry cannons were originally designed to shoot down fighter planes and required a high rate of fire, they could churn out a dozen or so shells every single minute.

Under the skilled operation of the soldiers, the cannon shells were spat out with rapid, successive thuds—like a string of firecrackers—pounding relentlessly against the Japanese tanks.

In just a short moment, three Japanese tanks had already been knocked out.

At this point, the remaining three Japanese tanks finally panicked!

They hurriedly tried to turn around, eager to flee the area and evade the devastating cannon fire. However, turning a bulky tank around in such a short amount of time took considerable effort.

"Baka! The Chinese actually have anti-tank weapons! Damn it all!" Asakusa Taitaro's face drained of color, turning hideously ugly as he cursed in rage. He then yelled frantically, "What are you idiots standing around for?! Turn the tank around and run! Do you want to be blown to smithereens by the Chinese?!"

Asakusa Taitaro's heart was consumed by boundless fury. He had originally thought this would be an easy trip to claim some quick glory, only to be summoned and severely reprimanded by Wakisaka Jiro.

He had expected Wakisaka to negotiate with him, but instead, Wakisaka had directly contacted his brigade commander on the phone. Not only had the brigade commander chewed him out unmercifully, but he had also ordered him to fully cooperate with Wakisaka's operations!

As for that humiliation, he—Lord Asakusa—had magnanimously swallowed his pride and endured it!

But right now, this was completely unbearable!

The thought of three tanks being blown to smithereens one after another under the Chinese bombardment made Asakusa's heart twitch with agony!

He had thought he was coming to carve up easy meat, only to run into a hard nut to crack. Now look at it—not only had he failed to get a single bite of meat, but he had also broken his teeth in the process!

These tanks were his capital!

And now, three of them were lost just like that. His heart was bleeding!

With such catastrophic losses, how was he supposed to report to the brigade commander when he returned to the armored brigade?

The brigade commander had already reprimanded him once over this matter; if more losses occurred, he would utterly fail to give an account to the brigade commander.

By then, he would undoubtedly be branded as utterly incompetent in the eyes of his superior.

He knew his military career was effectively finished.

As these thoughts raced through his mind, another violent explosion echoed in his ears. Asakusa knew that yet another tank had been destroyed!

That made four!

Four tanks had already been blown up, which meant there were only two left on the entire battlefield!

At this realization, Asakusa's expression shifted drastically. He shouted in a panic, "Quickly, quickly retreat from here! Order Tank Number Three to follow right behind us to shield us from the Chinese shells!"

Paralyzed by the fear of death, Asakusa ordered the other tank to tail him, acting as a human shield to absorb incoming artillery fire and cover his escape.

However, no sooner had that tank pulled up behind Asakusa's vehicle than a deafening roar rent the air—the tank following him was struck by a shell and blown to pieces!

At this sight, a cold sweat poured down Asakusa's back, soaking his uniform!

Thank goodness that tank had moved up behind him, otherwise it would have been his own tank taking the blast!

Even so, he was still in extreme danger!

There was only the tank beneath him left on the entire battlefield; all the others had been annihilated. Naturally, the Chinese would now concentrate all their firepower on him. When that happened...

The mere thought of overwhelming artillery fire crashing down upon his position left Asakusa drenched in cold sweat. He shrieked at the top of his lungs, "Hurry, retreat! Get us out of here!"

By now, the tank had completed its turn and was rapidly reversing down the slope.

Although the Ha-Go light tank was lightweight, its performance left much to be desired, and its speed was quite sluggish. Even though it was now withdrawing at full throttle, it would still take a moment to clear the battlefield.

However, would the defending soldiers give him the time to escape?

The answer, naturally, was a resounding no!

"Thud, thud, thud..."

Several artillery shells whistled through the air in rapid succession like a stream of shooting stars, tracing white trails across the sky as they hurtled straight toward the tank.

The tank desperately tried to swerve, but its clumsy frame was simply too slow to react in time!

Amidst the shocked gazes of everyone present and the terror-stricken expression on Asakusa's face, the shells slammed directly into the target.

"No—"

Asakusa let out a shrill scream, which was instantly swallowed by the deafening roar of the explosion.

...

As the smoke and dust cleared, a wreckage so mangled that its original tank model was unrecognizable lay at ground zero of the blast. A charred tank skeleton, crackling pyrotechnics burning from the intense heat, and steel frames venting plumes of dark smoke were all that remained.

Seeing this scene, every single Japanese soldier wore an expression of sheer terror.

"The Empire... the Empire's armored vehicles have all been destroyed by the Chinese!"

At some point, a piercing, desperate cry broke the silence of the battlefield. A Japanese officer stared at the sight in disbelief, screaming in terror.

If one listened closely, his voice was trembling uncontrollably, saturated with boundless dread!