Chapter Ninety-One: The Ambush at Twin Dragon Valley, Part One

Before he could finish speaking, a sudden storm of gunfire erupted through the entire valley.

Kazuo Isa had been sitting in the sidecar of a motorcycle, still boasting to the battalion commander seated behind him, who could have imagined that they would be ambushed at such a moment? The soldier riding the motorcycle slammed on the brakes in panic, but they had been moving too fast; when the brake came down hard, the handlebars could no longer be held steady, and the machine veered sharply to one side.

At the same time, another vehicle behind them failed to stop in time and crashed straight into Kazuo Isa’s motorcycle, overturning the sidecar bike at once.

Kazuo Isa was pinned beneath it.

In an instant, men and machines were thrown into chaos.

Caught completely by surprise, the Japanese failed to react for a moment, and their formation broke apart at once.

Taking advantage of that confusion, before the enemy had time to recover, the hidden troops on both sides unleashed fierce fire upon the Japanese column. The crack of gunfire rolled thunderously through the valley, all of it pouring into the enemy force caught in the middle.

At the same time, mines that had been planted in advance within the ambush zone were detonated by the soldiers. Explosions rang out one after another, blowing down those Japanese who had sought cover behind obstacles.

Gunfire roared, flames flashed everywhere.

Because the Japanese had been marching in a dense formation, and because most of the regiment had already entered the killing ground, the moment contact was made they came under such violent attack that their casualties mounted instantly.

The two battalions lying in wait on either side opened fire on the Japanese, and the entire regiment was suppressed so completely that it could not even lift its head.

Japanese soldiers kept being struck down and collapsing to the ground; before long, the earth was strewn with corpses.

Pinned beneath the motorcycle, Kazuo Isa had taken a hard spill and lay stunned for a moment, but he finally came to his senses. He scrambled free from under the machine and had just gotten to his feet when a sharp pain shot through his thigh.

He drew a sharp breath and looked down, only to discover that when the motorcycle had overturned, his leg had been crushed beneath it and broken.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, he saw the ambush force firing with overwhelming intensity. He hurried to take cover behind another motorcycle and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Ambush! Return fire, quickly!"

No sooner had he shouted than a burst of bullets came screaming toward him, forcing him to duck back behind the motorcycle again, too afraid to expose himself. Yet inwardly he seethed.

What a cursed mouth he had.

He had only just said that the Chinese troops hidden in the valley would suffer terribly, and now an ambush had sprung up before his eyes.

It was as if he had become a jinx.

Still, Kazuo Isa had no time to dwell on it. He hurriedly began directing his troops to counterattack.

To be fair, the Japanese were indeed no weaklings; their military training was solid. Though they had been caught off guard at the outset, they adapted quickly, and under Isa’s orders they swiftly organized themselves, seeking cover while returning fire in a disciplined manner.

Ratatat...

Several Japanese soldiers mounted machine guns and aimed them toward the positions on both sides, sweeping the ambushers with suppressive fire.

A hail of bullets cut through the air, immediately forcing back the ferocity of the ambush fire.

Seeing this, the battalion commander on the left shouted loudly, "Brothers, throw grenades! Blow up these sons of bitches!"

More than a dozen soldiers received the order. Each dragged out a crate of grenades, opened it, pulled the pins, waited two seconds, and then hurled them with all their strength toward the Japanese.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Grenade after grenade flew out, crashing into the Japanese formation and then exploding, blanketing the enemy in bursts of fire and shrapnel.

Several Japanese machine guns fell silent at once.

"Ha! Keep throwing, don't stop!" The battalion commander was delighted to see the grenades taking effect and shouted eagerly.

They were lying in ambush in the valley, firing from a higher position, which made it easy to strike the enemy below. The elevation also gave them a great advantage in throwing grenades, allowing them to hurl them directly into the Japanese concentrations with ease.

The Japanese, by contrast, were trapped in the middle, attacked from front and rear alike, and found it difficult to strike back.

It could be said that the terrain of the valley was simply a perfect place for an ambush.

"Dammit!" Seeing that several machine guns had not even had time to show their power before being blown apart, Kazuo Isa clenched his teeth in fury and cursed, "Despicable Chinese troops, hiding here to launch a sneak attack! You are unworthy to be called soldiers!"

He cursed with relish, yet failed to realize that warfare itself was nothing but deception and ruthlessness.

Two ambush forces merely lying in wait there had already been branded despicable by him, and that was only because he instinctively looked down on the military forces of the Republic.

Just then, a battalion commander crouched low and ran over, shouting, "Regimental Commander, sir, this won't do! If we keep counterattacking from here, we are at a serious geographic disadvantage. We'll suffer too many losses!"

Kazuo Isa knew this all too well. But they were trapped between two flanks, forced to fight uphill from below; the position was terribly unfavorable.

If they kept delaying like this, the losses would only grow worse.

And if things were mishandled, there was even a real possibility that the entire regiment could be annihilated here.

At that thought, Kazuo Isa’s eyes hardened. Baring his teeth, he said, "In that case, have the warriors charge! Assault the Chinese positions and kill them all!"

"Yes, sir!" The battalion commander nodded at once and, at the same time, flattered him with a quick compliment: "As expected of the regimental commander, sir!"

But this time the compliment landed badly. Kazuo Isa shot him a glance and said sourly, "As expected of nothing!"

"Stop wasting time. The longer we delay, the more Imperial warriors will die. Order the artillery to counterattack at once. Set up all the machine guns. Once the Chinese firepower has been suppressed, launch the assault immediately!"

"Yes, sir!"

The battalion commander nodded and ran off to organize the charging troops.

The Japanese, once given the order, quickly set up their infantry guns and grenade launchers. At the command, they sent their shells streaking out.

Their machine guns were also all mounted and directed toward the ambush positions on both sides, sweeping the ridgelines with fire.

To prevent being trapped in such a pincer attack, the Japanese split their forces into two parts, each dealing with one side of the ambush.

The Japanese firepower was not just for show; it was indeed formidable.

Under Kazuo Isa’s arrangement, the enemy’s fire suddenly intensified. Even while caught between front and rear, they managed to suppress the ambushers on both sides.

A stream of bullets raked across the positions. Soldiers who had not yet reacted were struck by the fire; their actions, still mid-shot, froze abruptly, and then their bodies went slack and collapsed onto the position.