Chapter Ninety-Six: The Counterattack Storm

Under Long Zhi’s orders, the machine guns of First Battalion were steadily falling silent, their fire growing thinner by the minute. Iso Kazuo had been watching the enemy’s position all along, and now, hearing the gunfire, he could tell that although it was still fairly heavy, it had already dwindled considerably compared with before.

A surge of excitement lit his face.

What did that mean? It meant his plan had succeeded.

Before long, once the Chinese Army’s firepower was spent, he would order the warriors of the Seventh Regiment to gather together and charge as one, taking this position in a single sweep.

At the thought of it, excitement flickered across Iso Kazuo’s face.

And the battalion commander beside him was now overflowing with admiration for him, saying with an expression of worship, “Regimental Commander, you truly saw through it! The Chinese Army’s fire has indeed weakened a great deal!”

“With your brilliant command, those despicable Chinese won’t have bullets for much longer!”

“Excellent!”

Hearing the battalion commander’s flattery, Iso Kazuo looked smug and said with great confidence, “These Chinese may be despicable, but to me they are only so-so. If they think they can deal with us, they are still far too green!”

“Spread the order: once the Chinese Army’s firepower can no longer sustain itself, launch an immediate counterattack and seize them in one blow!”

As he said this, a ferocious smile spread across Iso Kazuo’s face. He drew his command sword, watching the blade flash with a cold sheen under the sunlight, and sneered, “Chinese dogs, all of you will die!”

“Yes!” the battalion commander replied with unrestrained excitement.

...

Iso Kazuo did not have to wait long. The defenders of First Battalion soon had very few machine guns left firing. Although a few were still spitting bullets, their fire was sparse and scattered, no longer posing any threat to the warriors of the Great Japanese Empire.

At this point, Iso Kazuo no longer hesitated. Looking at the defensive position ahead, he drew his command sword, pointed it toward the enemy line in the distance, and roared, “Warriors of the Empire! The Chinese Army has run out of ammunition. The moment for our counterattack has arrived!”

“Charge! Destroy them! Let these lowly Chinese learn the strength of our Great Japanese Empire! Kill!”

At the order, all the already prepared soldiers responded at once. Every remaining man of the Seventh Regiment stepped forward, rifles in hand, and shouted, “Banzai!”

Then, under the officers’ command, they bent low and charged toward the First Battalion’s position.

With the machine-gun fire suppressed, the Japanese grew bolder as well. They no longer advanced in loose formation, but instead surged forward in a dense mass, paying no heed to battle order at all.

At that moment, the Japanese machine guns also began to rage. The stuttering crack of their light machine guns erupted at once, bullets pouring down onto the position and stitching the ground with sprays of flying dirt.

Although their fire was fierce, Long Zhi had already ordered his men to prepare, and the soldiers were all lying low behind the trenches. Not a single bullet struck them.

Still, to keep the Japanese from growing suspicious, some of the soldiers even cooperated by letting out a few screams of pain.

Hearing those cries, the Japanese believed they had successfully suppressed the defenders and grew even more reckless in their assault, their machine guns chattering with still greater fury.

Listening to the rattling fire outside, one soldier who looked like an officer could not help cursing, “Those damn bastards. When the tiger is away, the monkey crowns itself king. Just wait and see how I deal with you!”

Long Zhi cautiously raised his head to check the Japanese distance, then turned back with a smile and said, “Don’t rush. Let them come closer, then give them a hard lesson. We’ll show them what we’re made of!”

The officer naturally understood; he was merely venting at the sight of the Japanese acting so arrogantly.

Even so, he remained patient, crouched on the trench line, waiting for Long Zhi’s command, though the machine gun in his hands unconsciously tightened.

After a while, Long Zhi looked again at the enemy’s distance and saw that the Japanese had indeed taken the bait. From what he could see alone, nearly an entire battalion’s worth of Japanese had already surged forward, and they were now only about two hundred meters away.

Seeing this, Long Zhi immediately raised his rifle, fired once, and a Japanese soldier dropped at once. Then he shouted, “Brothers, open fire!”

The soldiers of First Battalion had been waiting for this moment all along. At the command, they all flipped up and raised their rifles to shoot at the Japanese.

Almost at the same instant, every machine gun also opened fire.

This time, all the light and heavy machine guns of First Battalion fired without the slightest restraint. A terrifying wall of fire formed, a storm of bullets crashing down like a torrential downpour toward the Japanese.

Tat-tat-tat...

Wherever the storm passed, the Japanese troops, who had been advancing so recklessly only moments before, had no time to react. They were struck down in an instant, their bodies jolting as if electrocuted, then collapsing weakly to the ground.

On the opposite side, Second Battalion immediately brought out all its grenade launchers and mortars and aimed them down at the Japanese below.

Caught between attacks from both sides, the Japanese had no time at all to respond. They were utterly stunned in an instant.

Tat-tat-tat...

The Maxim heavy machine guns fired without pause, the clacking of the bolt like a death knell from hell. To the Japanese ears, it was enough to make one’s scalp prickle with dread.

And as the machine guns roared, Japanese soldiers fell in rows.

Some were struck by more than a dozen bullets, even dozens, in a single instant, their bodies torn apart, entrails and organs spilling out, until nothing remained but a mass of mangled flesh.

A battalion commander was leading his men forward, but when the machine guns opened up, he failed to react in time. A burst of bullets slammed into his arm and shoulder, and the searing pain sent him sprawling to the ground with a howl like a slaughtered pig. “Damn it! Didn’t the Chinese Army already run out of bullets? Why is their firepower still this ferocious?”

This kind of fire was even more violent than before. Though he lay on the ground, he could see that of the force he had led, nearly a battalion in all, more than half had already fallen in less than three minutes since the machine guns began firing.

The other half would not last much longer.

No, not last.

They were merely waiting for death to arrive.

The other half of the soldiers were only waiting for death to arrive.

The battalion commander, though unwilling to believe it, had to admit that under such a hail of fire, the remaining soldiers had no chance of survival.

Seeing this, the proud expression that had been on Iso Kazuo’s face turned instantly pale.

His whole body seemed to go weak at once, swaying unsteadily. Watching the carnage, his lips trembled as if he wanted to speak, but not a sound came out.

“Regimental Commander, this is a trap set by the Chinese Army! This is absolutely a scheme by those cunning Chinese!” the battalion commander beside him shouted at the sight, his face twisted in fury, crying out like a madman.