Chapter Seventeen: It Truly Cracked!
Amidst faint, crisp sounds, one by one, 91-type gas grenades released wisps of yellow smoke, tracing arcs through the air as they landed within the New First Regiment’s position nearby.
“Regimental Commander!” sharp-eyed Zhang Dabiao shouted loudly. “The little devils are using poison gas grenades!”
Li Yunlong naturally noticed the situation as well.
Yet, instead of panic, he remained remarkably calm.
The reason was simple.
The New First Division was well supplied with gas masks.
The affluent Liu Jianguo had ensured every soldier was equipped with one.
The most vital lesson every recruit learned during training was how to deal with the little devils’ poison gas attacks.
Thus, without officers needing to remind them, soldiers within the gas attack zone immediately unfastened their gas masks from their waists and swiftly donned them.
Those in safer positions promptly adjusted their fire allocation, directing suppressive fire into the now vacated zones to relieve the defensive pressure.
Though the soldiers’ swift response assured no major issues, when Li Yunlong glimpsed the yellow-brown gas spreading over the position, engulfing his men, a fierce murderous intent flickered uncontrollably in his eyes.
Those damn bastards!
Always resorting to these underhanded tactics!
They truly deserved death!
His gaze shifted, and he noticed the little devils seemingly using this opportunity to launch a counterattack, prompting a cold smile.
“Just because those little devils have grenade launchers, does that mean we don’t?”
“Zhuzi, cease fire and lure those little devils out for me!”
“Grenade launchers, prepare to give them a fierce barrage!”
Learning from the enemy was no shame.
Liu Jianguo embodied this virtue perfectly.
Without access to rocket launchers or grenade launchers—ideal for close-range mountain combat—the inexpensive grenade launchers naturally became Liu Jianguo’s weapon of choice.
If the devils could use them, why couldn’t they?
In fact, the Great Xia army was also a heavy user of grenade launchers.
Li Yunlong intended to employ the enemy’s own combination of machine guns and grenade launchers to counter the little devils’ charges.
Using magic to defeat magic.
...
Sakata Nobutetsu slipped through a safe area and saw the poison gas grenades successfully land within the New First Regiment’s position.
As yellow-brown gas spread over a radius of more than ten meters, the enemy’s firepower diminished significantly.
Meanwhile, for some unknown reason, the New First Regiment’s artillery had ceased firing.
Sakata Nobutetsu’s heart steadied immediately.
Now was the moment!
He quickly gave a signal to Second Infantry Battalion Captain Ogasawara Goro, who instantly understood.
The chance to make a name for themselves had arrived!
Drawing his katana, Ogasawara stood at the forefront, roaring loudly.
“Charge to death!!!”
In an instant, several hundred little devils across several sectors, wearing gas masks and bearing gleaming bayonets, shouted “Banza!” as they sprinted toward the yellow-brown cloud ahead under the cover of their own machine guns.
At this time, the little devil soldiers were well-fed; their beef cans contained genuine beef, not cheap starch and blood substitutes.
Therefore, their stamina was abundant.
In a flash, they had covered nearly half the two to three hundred meters distance.
Within twenty seconds, these groups would reach the New First Regiment’s front lines.
A confident smile appeared on Sakata Nobutetsu’s face.
At that moment, relying on their invincible bayonet skills and well-trained tactics, they would surely turn the tide!
If given a feather fan, he felt he could even cosplay Zhuge Liang!
The sun was shining, the rain had stopped—he was back in form!
As he thought this, Sakata Nobutetsu boldly began to rise slowly.
He commanded the next batch of little devils to move up, preparing for a second charge.
The ideal was beautiful, but reality was cruel.
Before Sakata Nobutetsu could fully stand, in the next moment, he clumsily fell flat on his face, huddling like a frightened turtle.
“What!?”
He peeked out, eyes wide with terror, looking into the distance.
Out of the yellow-brown smoke, a group of Great Xia soldiers appeared, wearing jet-black heavy helmets.
They were the Great Xia mobilized troops.
These towering, fierce men, assigned by Li Yunlong to heavy machine gun fire, completed their gas-preparedness in mere seconds.
Hating how the gas obstructed their sight, they hoisted fifty-kilogram M2 Browning heavy machine guns barehanded and charged out of the fog.
They aimed their barrels at the little devils barely reaching their chests.
Then, under Sakata Nobutetsu’s despairing gaze, they pulled the triggers.
Ratatata!!!
Shell casings the size of thumbs gleamed in the afternoon light, scattering over the ground.
Before the muzzles, a little devil charging at full speed suddenly and without warning was torn apart.
Indeed, he was split open!
His body exploded like a watermelon smashed by a hammer, disintegrating instantly.
Not a shadow of him remained!
Even if the little devils’ mothers arrived, they wouldn’t recognize their own son!
Witnessing this, both sides—the little devils and Great Xia—felt a chill of dread.
This was no machine gun; it was clearly a cannon!
But the mobilized troops showed no mercy or hesitation.
Like American Marines, they wielded the M2 Brownings, relentlessly mowing down the little devils before them.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunfire roared, and little devil limbs and fragments splattered everywhere.
Despite this, the attacking Sakata Regiment little devils still pressed forward, bayonets fixed.
But it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot—only courting death.
Within seconds, more than five hundred little devils, including Major Ogasawara Goro, became nothing more than scattered chunks of flesh.
Li Yunlong gave Sakata Nobutetsu no time to mourn.
Following swiftly were grenade launchers, whose kill counts were stolen by the mobilized troops.
The rich New First Regiment didn’t care about accuracy like the little devils.
They kept hurling explosive shells relentlessly near the Sakata Regiment’s forward little devils.
Those massed at the temporary counterattack front were blown apart, thrown to the ground, barely able to lift their heads—no chance to counterattack.
Under such furious gunfire and explosions, the Sakata Regiment’s little devils soon numbered fewer than a thousand.
At that moment, Sakata Nobutetsu finally panicked.
If no turning point came now, he might truly die here!
“Messenger!” Sakata Nobutetsu shouted hoarsely. “Immediately contact Colonel Kawamoto at Taiyuan Airfield and the headquarters!”