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"Whoosh!" A sharp sound sliced through the air. "Get down!" Wang Dacheng suddenly threw himself onto the new recruit, Zhang Gousheng. As they hit the ground, the booming sounds of artillery echoed around them, like a relentless rain of shells landing just outside the trench, sending clumps of dirt and debris rattling against Wang Dacheng's German Steel Helmet.
After a long while, the bombardment gradually subsided. By then, both men were lightly covered in a layer of dirt blown up by the explosions. After a moment, Wang Dacheng lifted his upper body, shook off the dust from his helmet, and glanced outside the trench. He patted Zhang Gousheng's helmet and said, "Zhang Gousheng, get up! The Japanese are about to attack again!"
Wang Dacheng stood up and looked down both ends of the trench, shouting loudly, "Is anyone still alive?!"
Soon, responses came from around him:
"Still kicking!"
"Dacheng, are you calling for souls?!"
"Cough cough, damn it, I'm dying of thirst—got a mouthful of dirt!"
As voices filled the air, soldiers dressed in various uniforms began to rise from the trench. It was no surprise that they looked different; this was a ragtag unit pieced together from various groups. Wang Dacheng scanned each face—some were bandaged up, some leaned on their rifles to stand, while others could barely keep upright against the trench wall. Now, only a handful remained at this position, but who could have imagined that just before this there had been over a hundred strong men in their unit?
The Company Commander had already been killed in the initial assault, and several officers had fallen since then. As the squad leader, Wang Dacheng had no choice but to take on command. The task was simple: hold the position. Yet it was far from easy because facing them were two battalions of the Japanese Army's 116th Division! They had launched frenzied attacks one after another; Wang Dacheng had lost count of how many times they had repelled the Japanese forces. He only knew that since taking command, he had driven back three assaults. Each time, dozens of corpses were left behind by the Japanese Army as they retreated empty-handed, but with every attack, many brothers never stood up again.
Pushing aside his sorrow, Wang Dacheng called for everyone to gather ammunition while counting down the time. Over these past few encounters, he had become familiar with the Japanese Army's tactics: first artillery bombardment, followed by two waves of infantry charges, then more artillery fire before another charge! Fortunately, the terrain was steep enough that Japanese tanks couldn't advance; otherwise, this position on Huangye Ridge would likely have been lost long ago.
Counting down the time in his head, Wang Dacheng estimated that the Japanese Army would soon organize their next wave of assault. He hoarsely shouted, "Brothers! Get into position and prepare for contact!"
The surviving soldiers quickly took their places at their respective positions. Wang Dacheng spread them out a bit; on one hand, he feared that clustering together would lead to being wiped out by artillery fire; on the other hand, he worried about a flanking maneuver from the Japanese Army. He arranged them into a sparse semicircle formation that even covered part of their flank.
"Dacheng! The Japanese are coming!" Zhang Gousheng exclaimed in alarm; his keen eyes spotted the rising flag of the enemy swaying at the foot of the mountain.
"Stop shouting! Get closer and shoot! Save ammunition, kill more Japanese Devils!" Wang Dacheng glared at Zhang Gosheng, the latter part of his statement meant for everyone else.
With no supplies left, Wang Dacheng was both thirsty and hungry, and he believed everyone else was enduring just like him. While one could hold out without food or water, it was impossible to last without ammunition. Wang Dacheng knew that making it through this wave of attacks with the remaining bullets would be a stroke of luck. "Whatever, let's deal with this wave of Japanese Devils first; if worse comes to worst, we can fight hand-to-hand!" Wang Dacheng thought to himself, his left hand unconsciously brushing against the hilt of the Great Sword strapped to his back. Long Feng, oh Long Feng, how long has it been since you tasted blood? He silently chanted in his heart.
Wang Dacheng tilted his head to glance at Zhang Gosheng beside him. "Hey, Zhang Gosheng, are you still scared?" Zhang Gosheng had been conscripted last month; yesterday was his first encounter with the enemy, and when the cannon fired, he had wet his pants! The Company Commander had been right next to him, pointing a finger at him and berating him. He shouldn't have been called Zhang Gousheng but rather Zhang Dog Shit! In battle, he was worse than dog shit! However, after two brutal battles, Zhang Gosheng had clearly changed quite a bit.
"I'm not scared! I want to fight the Japanese Devils and avenge the Company Commander!" Zhang Gosheng grinned at Wang Dacheng. Suddenly, Wang Dacheng felt a pang of sadness; what a young kid he was, smiling so innocently like a younger brother. At this age, he should be in school!
Wang Dacheng forced a smile to mask his feelings and teased loudly, "Zhang Gosheng, as long as you don’t wet your pants again, you won’t embarrass us!"
Laughter erupted around them. After days of war, these men had long since grown indifferent to life and death; instead, they had become more relaxed.
Zhang Gosheng's face flushed red. "Who still wets their pants?! Big Brother Dacheng, don't look at me! One day, I will personally chop off a Japanese Devil's head!" He loosened his grip on the Rifle and grasped the hilt of the Great Sword behind him. His swordsmanship had been taught by Wang Dacheng.
"Hahaha! Good! If you can chop off a Japanese Devil's head, I'll grant you one condition!"
"Really? Big Brother Dacheng!" Zhang Gosheng asked seriously.
"Really! What do you want?"
"I want to drink! I heard that a man who can drink is a real man!" Zhang Gosheng licked his already cracked lips.
"Alright! Then I'll treat you to a drink!" Wang Dacheng was clearly amused by Zhang Gosheng.
"What if I chop off a Japanese Devil officer's head?!"
"I'll bet three months of military pay against you!"
"Alright! Brother Dacheng! You can't cheat!" Zhang Gosheng's slightly immature voice echoed across the battlefield.
The sound of rapid gunfire erupted, the Japanese Devil was coming!
The Japanese Devil always wasted bullets like this, clearly scared from being shot at. Wang Dacheng sneered, "Listen to my gunfire!" After shouting that, he fell silent, quietly loading his bullets and waiting for the Japanese Army to approach.
One hundred meters! Zhang Gosheng nervously glanced at Wang Dacheng, who tightened his grip on the gun, then relaxed it again, remaining still.
Eighty meters! Wang Dacheng could even clearly see the red sun emblem on the helmets of the Japanese Army soldiers hunched over as they advanced, but he still did not move.
Fifty meters! Wang Dacheng could hear the chattering shouts of the Japanese Army; he aimed at an officer hiding behind two Japanese Devils. This should be a captain, Wang Dacheng thought.
Forty meters! There was a stir in the position; it had never been this close before. Clearly, the other brothers were getting anxious. The attacking Japanese Army had evidently concluded that there were no enemies in the position, and many soldiers straightened up, quickening their charge. Even the Japanese Officer in the back stood tall, drawing his War Blade and shouting excitedly, "New expansion!" completely unaware that death was imminent!
At that moment, Wang Dacheng steadied his aim on the officer's neck and pulled the trigger. "Bang!" As the gun fired, the captain looked shocked as he clutched his throat, making a few gurgling sounds before collapsing.
With Wang Dacheng's gunshot, a barrage of gunfire erupted from the position like popping beans, instantly taking down over ten Japanese Army soldiers. The remaining Japanese soldiers reacted quickly, dropping to the ground to return fire. The Japanese Army in the back swiftly set up machine guns and began suppressive fire on the position, causing several National Army soldiers to fall wounded.
Seeing that their comrades had engaged with the enemy and closed in so much distance, the reinforcements from the Japanese Army surged forward like they had been injected with adrenaline, clearly intending to fill this short distance with their lives. Observing this, Wang Dacheng shrank back and grabbed a hand grenade prepared in the trench. He pulled the pin and tossed it out with a swift motion.
Having trained in martial arts, Wang Dacheng had incredible arm strength and could easily throw a hand grenade seventy or eighty meters. He watched as his grenade flew over the heads of the supporting Japanese Army troops before exploding with a loud bang, causing casualties among them.
Zhang Gosheng also threw a hand grenade at this moment; unfortunately, it landed too close and only scared the front-line Japanese soldiers into hesitating their charge without causing any real damage.
Zhang Gosheng gritted his teeth, clearly dissatisfied with his own strength. Wang Dacheng watched and chuckled. He leisurely picked up a grenade and threw it in a sequence of far, near, and far again. Although the grenades landed at different points and exploded at different times, they failed to inflict mass casualties on the prone Japanese Army. However, they effectively dispelled the idea of a successive charge, causing the Japanese Soldiers to hunker down, hardly daring to show their heads.
Seeing this, the other capable brothers on the position followed suit, while the remaining ones aimed their rifles in search of exposed targets to shoot at.
Noticing that this attack was still not yielding any advantage, the Japanese Army at the foot of the hill signaled for retreat. After repelling them once more, Wang Dacheng let out a sigh of relief. "Count the numbers and organize the ammunition!" he shouted while looking up to observe the situation of the Japanese Army below. If nothing unexpected happened, another round of shelling was about to begin.
Turning around, Wang Dacheng bent over and ran a lap in the trench. The situation was grim; counting himself, only fourteen men remained, most of whom were injured. Two brothers were severely wounded and could no longer move. A wave of sorrow washed over Wang Dacheng. Just yesterday, there had been over a hundred strong men here, but now only this few were left. How could he report this to the Commander? At that moment, Veteran Li Erdan slowly approached him. His left wrist had been severed by shrapnel and was simply bandaged and slung around his neck.
"Dacheng!"
"What is it?" Wang Dacheng steadied himself. "How much longer do we have to hold on? Our unit is almost finished!"
Li Erdan's voice was hoarse as he called out, "Dacheng! Look at those two brothers over there! They are about to die! If we don't get them to the field hospital soon, we will have to watch them die right in front of us!" He shook Wang Dacheng's shoulder, his voice tinged with tears.
Hearing this, Wang Dacheng nervously shook off Li Erdan's hands, his bloodshot eyes glaring at him. "Er Dan, are you going to be a deserter?!" Wang Dacheng bit down each word through clenched teeth as his left hand instinctively reached for the Great Sword on his back.
(To be continued; more exciting content tomorrow!)
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