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墨書 Inktalez
Japanese Army Position
A Sergeant Major held a telescope, observing the battlefield occupied by the Nationalist Army.
"One thousand meters."
"Eight hundred meters."
"…"
"Five hundred meters."
"Mortar, fire."
"Four hundred fifty meters."
"Machine Gun, prepare."
"Three hundred meters."
"All soldiers ready."
"Two hundred meters."
"Fire!"
With the command of "Fire!" from the Japanese Army officer, the previously quiet Japanese Army Position erupted with a group of khaki Military Uniforms, topped with black steel helmets worn by Japanese Soldiers.
The Machine Gun was the first to shatter the silence of the battlefield, spewing flames like a death sentence, reaping lives ahead.
"Tie Zhu, get down." Wang Shunliu pressed Tie Zhu down firmly beneath him, as the muffled sound of bullets hitting flesh echoed from the body of a fallen soldier not far in front of them.
Wang Shunliu released his grip on Tie Zhu's hand, adjusted his helmet, and cautiously peeked out from behind the body of a comrade, squinting at the distant Japanese Army Position.
It was too far; at a distance of two hundred meters, it was impossible to clearly see a person's head, especially in the chaotic environment of the battlefield.
He pulled his head back in and patted Tie Zhu's shoulder, noticing that Tie Zhu was trembling all over, accompanied by soft sobs.
"Tie Zhu, what's wrong?"
Wang Shunliu nervously checked Tie Zhu's body but found no blood or injuries.
However, as soon as he exposed half of his body, Japanese bullets immediately flew over, striking the surrounding dirt with loud "puffs," sending up clouds of dust that choked Wang Shunliu.
"Shunliu Brother, I want to go home! I want to go home!"
Tie Zhu was terrified by the Japanese. He had just witnessed a row of Platoon Sergeants and several soldiers being shot dead by Japanese bullets. He watched helplessly as his comrades fell one by one without any warning, unable to get back up again.
He was scared; he feared death. He didn't want to die; he hadn't even married yet, and there was land waiting for him to farm back home...
Bullets raged across the battlefield, continuously claiming the lives of Kuomintang Soldiers, forcing them into a position where they could only retreat within a hundred meters.
The Japanese were very accurate with their shooting. Although they couldn't hit every shot, at a distance of one hundred meters, anyone who showed their head would be met with three or four bursts from the Japanese.
Machine Gun fire turned concentrated assault tactics into deadly charges, while Mortars continuously covered the area within five hundred meters in front of the Japanese Army Position, suppressing the Nationalist forces providing support from the rear and splitting the attacking troops apart.
The Japanese opened a pocket to let some Nationalist soldiers in and then tightened the opening little by little, consuming them slowly before letting more in to eat again.
Tie Zhu and Wang Shunliu had been lying there for several minutes. During that time, Wang Shunliu had tried firing a few shots at the Japanese Army Position but had no idea if he had achieved any results.
The first wave of attackers either died on their way forward or were like Tie Zhu and Wang Shunliu, pinned down and too afraid to move.
The charge call of the Nationalist Army sounded again, accompanied by shouts of anger from the soldiers behind. The second wave of attackers was about to advance.
The firepower of the Japanese finally began to subside, like a beast that had eaten its fill, waiting for the next batch of prey to come to its door.
A company’s charge was nearly wiped out in less than ten minutes; the number of survivors was estimated to be less than a third.
Wang Shunliu was lost in thought. At this moment, he and Tie Zhu were still about two hundred meters away from the Japanese Army Position. Around them, aside from a few fallen soldiers' bodies, there was nothing to shield them from bullets.
After looking around for a while, he finally spotted a shell crater about twenty meters ahead, which seemed quite large.
He patted the still-crying Tie Zhu and said, “Stop crying. If you don’t want to die, follow me. Your crying is useless; look at you.”
Tie Zhu continued to sob, but his tears had already run dry.
“Follow me, don’t fall behind.”
Wang Shunliu steadied his weapon and then cautiously crawled forward a meter before stopping again.
“Tie Zhu, follow me, crawl over slowly.”
“Shunliu Brother, I... I’m too scared to crawl.”
“If you don’t crawl, where will you wait to die?”
After saying that, Wang Shunliu reached out his hand, wanting to pull him along.
A dozen bullets from the Japanese Army's machine gun shot directly at them; their movements had attracted attention.
“Tie Zhu, crawl! Hurry up, or you’ll be shot dead by the Japanese! Quickly, crawl into that crater ahead!”
This time, Wang Shunliu didn’t wait for Tie Zhu and quickly crawled forward himself; staying in the same spot would be asking for death.
Bullets from the Japanese fired again. This time there were fewer bullets, but they were more accurate.
A bullet struck right next to Tie Zhu's head, causing him to jump up from the ground in fright.
Tie Zhu, panicking and at a loss, saw Wang Shunliu crawling ahead and remembered what he had just shouted. He summoned all his strength and sprinted forward, aiming for the shell hole twenty meters away.
"Tie Zhu, get down, quick, get down!"
Wang Shunliu watched Tie Zhu recklessly running across the battlefield like a moving target and shouted anxiously.
The Japanese soldiers were somewhat taken aback that there was still a soldier daring to stand up. They hesitated slightly, and bullets chased after Tie Zhu's footsteps, continuously striking the ground where he had been half a second earlier.
Tie Zhu drew the attention of the Japanese forces, and many hidden Kuomintang soldiers slowly began to shift their positions.
Wang Shunliu also stood up and dashed forward while crouching low.
At the Japanese Army Position, a Japanese Sergeant aimed his Type 38 Rifle at Tie Zhu, aligning the gun's muzzle with Tie Zhu's trajectory while silently calculating the distance.
"Bang!" A faint sound echoed as Tie Zhu fell to the ground.
The Japanese Sergeant nodded in satisfaction, looking for his next target.
On the battlefield
When Tie Zhu reached the edge of the shell hole, he felt something trip him underfoot and then fell flat on the ground. His head struck a rock, and everything went black for him as a flurry of stars danced in front of his eyes.
With his mind blank, Tie Zhu felt someone pulling him very forcefully. He was dragged forward a little distance before he fell headfirst again. This time there was no rock, so it didn't hurt too much.
Wang Shunliu saw Tie Zhu lying at the edge of the shell hole with blood on his head and couldn't help but feel sad. It was hard to believe he had finally met a fellow villager only for him to sacrifice himself on his first day in battle.
He crawled to the edge of the shell hole to see if there were any belongings of Tie Zhu's. If he survived this ordeal, he would take them back home. After all, when someone dies, they should return home; he couldn't let his fellow villager become a wandering soul outside.
Wang Shunliu pulled on Tie Zhu and was about to search his body when he realized that this guy was still alive; he had merely suffered a head injury.
He picked up Tie Zhu and shook him gently. "Tie Zhu, Tie Zhu, are you okay? Tie Zhu?"
Tie Zhu, feeling dazed, heard someone calling his name. It seemed to be Shunliu Brother. He opened his eyes groggily and noticed a reddish hue in front of him, along with a strong smell of blood. Shunliu Brother was looking at him with a worried expression.
"Shunliu Brother, am I injured? Am I dead again?"
Tie Zhu's first instinct was that he was about to die; otherwise, why would Shunliu Brother be so anxious? Why was there blood on his hands? He had no wounds on his body, so it must be his own.
"Don't think like that. You're fine; you just took a fall and scraped yourself. Check if your head hurts a bit."
After hearing Shunliu Brother's words, Tie Zhu thought that might actually be the case. Then he felt a pain in his head and instinctively tried to press down on it with his hands.
"Don't move; let me wrap it up for you."
Wang Shunliu took a bayonet and cut a piece of cloth from the body of a fallen comrade, wrapping it around Tie Zhu's head.
"It hurts, Shunliu Brother, be gentle."
"Just bear with it. Once the battle is over, I'll take you to the medical station for some disinfectant. We can't let it get infected."
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