Chapter 46: Block the Enemy's Reinforcements, Give 'Em Hell!
At the command of Kazuo Shinozuka, the entire Northwest Shanxi and the whole Shanxi Province were thrown into absolute chaos.
The Japanese 37th Division, along with the 3rd and 4th Independent Mixed Brigades, rapidly reorganized and advanced toward Zhicheng in three separate columns.
The 37th Division set out from Lincheng, the 3rd Mixed Brigade departed from Anxian, and the 4th Mixed Brigade marched from Wuxian.
Leaving behind only the bare minimum required for garrison defense, more than thirty thousand heavily armed Japanese soldiers, radiating an arrogant and invincible self-assurance, surged mightily toward Zhicheng!
The procession of iron was formidable, reeking of slaughter.
How dare those ragtag Eighth Route Army peasants attempt to engage a full Japanese division? Utterly audacious!
The little Japanese soldiers howled, vowing to exterminate those arrogant Chinese!
The three reinforcement columns advanced from three different directions.
The marching columns stretched for miles. Their steel helmets reflected the pale, frigid light of the winter sun, resembling a migrating forest of steel.
At the vanguard, Type 97 medium tanks and armored cars roared, their treads crushing the frozen earth and churning up blinding clouds of dust and smoke.
Japanese officers inside the vehicles clutched their command sabers, casting disdainful glances with cruel smiles curling at the corners of their mouths.
In the past, those Eighth Route Army peasants had only ever fought guerrilla warfare, striking and running away like irritating flies.
Now, they would finally get to fight a conventional positional war.
"Accelerate! Show those Chinese peasant soldiers what an imperial lion looks like!"
A Japanese colonel perched atop an armored car brandished his saber and roared at the infantry marching on foot.
"I heard it's just a bunch of ragtag Eighth Route Army troops? What a waste of the Empire's gasoline and artillery shells!"
"Hmph, we shall use their skulls to honor the spirit of Major General Sato! Let these Chinese know the price of provoking the Imperial Army!"
The annihilation of the Sato Brigade had already left the Japanese burning with suppressed fury.
This time, old grudges and new scores would be settled all at once!
The Japanese soldiers were brimming with confidence!
One must remember, this operation involved an entire division, two independent mixed brigades, plus the 36th Division stationed in Zhicheng...
Essentially, two-thirds of the First Army's total strength had been mobilized!
It was more than enough to crush everything in their path!
Were it not for the towering barriers of the Taihang and Taiyue Mountains in Shanxi Province, they would have wiped out those Eighth Route Army peasants long ago.
On the other side, the Eighth Route Army was also mobilizing in grand style.
A bone-chilling mountain wind swept across the ambush positions, whipping up the residual snow on the ground.
Behind mountain ridges, gullies, and boulders, the soldiers stood at strict combat readiness.
Compared to just a few days ago, what they gripped tightly in their hands were no longer obsolete Hanyang rifles or Arisakas, but strange-looking, brand-new weaponry exuding the scent of fresh machine oil!
In a temporary fortification, a veteran affectionately patted a PKM general-purpose machine gun mounted on its bipod. "Goudan, hold this steady for me! What do they call this iron contraption again? Damn it, it packs a real punch! Just look at those cooling jackets, look at that ammunition belt!"
Further away in a more concealed mountain hollow, a sharp-shooter hoisted an RPG onto his shoulder.
Squinting one eye, he peered through the rudimentary sight, locking firmly onto the swaggering Type 97 medium tank leading the enemy column down the mountain.
"Target: the lead iron turtle, distance two hundred and fifty, prepare!"
***
Finally, the Japanese vanguard blundered headlong into the death trap without the slightest inkling of danger!
"Fire!" A roar like a thunderclap instantly shattered the mountain stillness!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
In a flash, dozens of blazing tongues of fire tore through the air with piercing screeches, erupting simultaneously from both sides of the hillside!
The RPG-7 rocket-propelled grenade made its earth-shattering debut on the Northwest Shanxi battlefield!
The leading Type 97 medium tank bore the brunt of the assault!
Boom—!!!
With just a single rocket, that once-dreaded iron turtle was pierced right through.
Its entire turret was blown a dozen meters into the air before crashing down into the infantry formation behind it!
Immediately afterward, countless shards of metal and cooking-off ammunition madly reaped the lives of the surrounding Japanese soldiers!
"Nani?!"
The grimace on the face of the colonel brandishing his saber atop the armored car instantly froze, replaced by sheer terror and disbelief.
He didn't even have time to react before another rocket precisely drilled into the body of his armored car!
Boom—!
The armored car was pierced through in an instant as if it were made of paper.
That Japanese colonel, a dignified regimental commander, met his sun goddess without even leaving behind a name.
And this was only the beginning!
More rockets, as if guided by sight, shrieked toward the Japanese armored vehicles and densely packed troop transport trucks!
One must bear in mind that the men firing these rockets were all sharpshooters!
Veterans capable of scoring headshots from a hundred meters away.
Now, giving them RPGs to fire was nothing short of a dimensional strike!
Boom, boom, boom, boom—!
Explosion after explosion erupted wildly along the mountain road! Transport truck after transport truck took direct hits.
Each transport truck carried at least twenty or thirty men!
A single RPG wiped out a whole truckload of Japanese soldiers, which was even more satisfying than blowing up an iron turtle!
The Japanese soldiers inside were tossed out like broken ragdolls, severed limbs mingling with burning gasoline as they splattered everywhere!
"Ambush! Heavy artillery! Take cover! Take cover quickly!" the surviving Japanese officers screamed in despair.
Yet amidst the chaos, their commands were drowned out by an even greater, more terrifying roar.
Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat—!!!
Clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack—!!!
A dull, continuous, and terrifyingly oppressive tearing sound akin to rolling thunder suddenly erupted!
That wasn't heavy artillery; it was a storm of steel far deadlier and more sustained than heavy artillery!
On both sides of the hillside, a thousand PKM and MG42 general-purpose machine guns opened fire simultaneously!
An asphyxiating, dense curtain of lead poured down overwhelmingly upon the chaotic mass of Japanese soldiers on the road below!
"Let 'em have it, boys! Give it to 'em hard! Leave none alive!" the Eighth Route Army soldiers roared.
National animosity and personal vendettas required no mobilization!
A torrential storm of bullets swept across the highway!
Trees as thick as a washbowl were snapped in half, and the frozen earth was plowed into deep trenches!
The Japanese soldiers exposed to the hail of bullets fell in rows and rows, swept down as if by an invisible giant scythe!
Those "imperial lions" who had been swaggering and clamoring to "teach the Chinese a lesson" just a second ago were now completely stunned!
"Baka yaro!"
"Demons! These are devil weapons!"
"Save me! Mother!"
"I want to go back to the homeland!"
"Retreat!"
"Fall back immediately!"
...
Desperation, screams, wailing...
The entire Japanese vanguard was plunged into total chaos, suffering catastrophic casualties!
Within mere minutes, they were completely broken by this sudden, terrifying firepower that far exceeded their comprehension!
On the hillside, the Eighth Route Army soldiers looked down at the hellish scene below, their blood boiling with passion!
No one felt any pity for these beasts!
They were all vile creatures destined for the eighteen layers of hell!
As for the Japanese soldiers who miraculously survived, they scrambled backward in frantic retreat.
To hell with the 36th Division; let whoever wants to save them do it!
Up on the slope, a young soldier who had just joined the Eighth Route Army looked at the frantically fleeing Japanese below, then turned to his squad leader.
"Squad leader, the little Japanese... are running away! Didn't you say they were formidable fighters?"
The squad leader was dumbfounded too.
This was only the first round of strikes, and there was more to come; why were the little Japanese running already?
When word reached headquarters, the commanders were equally stupefied.
Just a single round of firepower had repelled the Japanese reinforcements?
Wait, what happened to your Bushido spirit?