Chapter 97

By the river, Koshiro recognized the situation. He saw that the number of the enemy was unknown, but their fire was intense, completely blocking the path out of the camp. Although his side had more people, how could flesh and blood withstand the metal net? Moreover, they couldn't even find the target of the attack, and they couldn't determine where to shoot.

The order to hold and wait for reinforcements was appropriate at this moment. Although they could escape through the mountain behind the camp, he wanted to wait for the reinforcements to arrive and completely cut off the retreat of this small team, eliminating this Soviet squad. However, he didn't know that Dongku was waiting for his artillery to be destroyed.

At the moment Koshiro issued the order, another artillery unit was moving new mortars from a semi-underground warehouse. Huzi successfully returned to the sniper position and came to Dongku's side.

"Artillery squad, follow me!" Seeing Huzi return safely, Dongku whispered.

With his shout, ten team members quickly crawled out of the grass, following Dongku to withdraw from the position. Only eleven people, including Mengzi and Muzi, remained in the machine gun squad, and Shunzi led a twelve-person sniper squad, plus Huzi and two team members led by Dogdan, forming a mobile support group, holding sniper rifles and constantly looking for targets near the camp gate.

Muzi, Mengzi, and the others, in addition to each having a light machine gun and two boxes of ammunition, also held their own sniper rifles. They accurately picked off the Japanese soldiers as long as no one rushed out of the trench.

Less than two minutes after Dongku withdrew from the position, a loud thud was heard, and a shell fell in front of the camp gate, exploding in front of the second trench.

"They have artillery!!"

Koshiro and Shizumi were startled. Just as this thought arose, several black dots appeared in the sky, followed by a series of explosions.

Koshiro, surrounded by his guards, hid behind the barracks, and the Kiyama detachment, which was waiting to charge near the barracks, also hid behind the rows of barracks.

Just as Koshiro had hidden, the whistling sound of shells came, and they fell directly onto the barracks area.

The deafening explosions filled the barracks with smoke. A newly built barracks, made from the mud bricks of Baqing's civilian houses, caught fire, and the thick smoke quickly spread in the shockwave.

"Suppress their artillery!!"

Kiyama roared.

But in the smoke, their artillery hadn't even arrived, and even if it had, they couldn't see the enemy's mortar position. From the density of the shells, everyone judged that there were at least ten mortars.

"You don't need to aim too precisely. Fire one every three seconds. Once these fifty boxes of shells are used up, your mission is complete." Dongku said while quickly loading the shells.

The other ten team members followed his example, each operating a mortar without a second gunner. Eleven mortars lined up, firing shells one after another. After finishing a box, they made minor adjustments and continued loading without even looking forward.

The dense barrage of the eleven mortars left the Japanese soldiers in the camp and the front trenches no chance to breathe, forcing them to hide from the flying shrapnel.

Boom! A barracks collapsed, and the Japanese soldiers hiding behind it were immediately exposed. In the midst of the flying shrapnel, they couldn't even run, let alone stand up.

"Retreat! Retreat!!"

Koshiro, hearing at least ten mortars, shouted in the explosions, ordering a retreat.

This camp, which seemed to have a tight defense, was a death trap under the accurate suppression of the snipers and the relentless bombardment of the mortars. Staying in the open, unshielded camp was a sure way to die, a senseless sacrifice.

The officers and guards protected Koshiro as they retreated to the foot of the mountain in the explosions, and four messengers conveyed Koshiro's orders amidst the artillery fire.

Just as the messengers reached the trenches and delivered the orders, a muffled explosion occurred, and a ball of flame rose in the trench.

"Ah!!"

A Japanese soldier, covered in flames, screamed and ran a few steps in the trench before collapsing and burning fiercely.

"Flame shells!!"

A junior officer shouted in terror, calling for a retreat.

Before he could finish, several more muffled explosions occurred, and balls of flame mixed with yellow smoke rose in the trench. The flames were hard to extinguish, and the yellow smoke was even more dangerous, causing breathing difficulties and a runny nose and tears. It turned out to be thermite flame shells and chemical gas shells.

In the moment the flames and yellow smoke rose, the Japanese soldiers in the bunkers could no longer stay. If the flame shells entered the bunkers, they would be cooked. The gas shells were even more deadly, and they had no gas masks, so if they were surrounded by the gas, they would lose their fighting ability and be at the mercy of the enemy.

At the mortar position, Dongku, with a skilled team member, was loading special shells into the mortars, specifically targeting the trenches. The shooting inside the camp was done by others, without precise aiming, just random bombardment.

Even so, the soldiers in the trenches, who had suffered little before, now dared not stay, and they fled into the camp.

In the camp, in just a minute or two, over a hundred shells fell, collapsing all the barracks. The Japanese soldiers, without cover, were either directly killed by the explosions or cut down by shrapnel, suffering even more than the detachment in front of the camp, which was already decimated.

Shunzi and the others never stopped shooting. As soon as they saw a target, they fired, sniping any Japanese soldiers who dared to stand up or shoot.

When the flames rose in the trenches, Mengzi patted his teammate and quickly ran to the 92-type heavy machine gun, firing without hesitation.

The teammate squatted on the side, holding the ammunition belt to reload.

As Mengzi's heavy machine gun fired, Muzi's light machine guns also joined in. They fired at the camp gate, not needing to aim, just shooting into the smoke.

The machine gun fire, like a metal net, mercilessly covered the Japanese soldiers, causing them to fall as they retreated.

The intensity of the battle did not depend on the number of participants. In just three or four minutes, Koshiro's two detachments were decimated, and they had no chance to fight back.

Just as Koshiro, standing at the foot of the mountain, gathered the remnants of the Kiyama detachment and realized that holding out was hopeless, the Yamada detachment in front of the camp was almost gone. Only a few dozen soldiers managed to escape the machine gun fire and the bombardment, reaching the foot of the mountain to join Koshiro.

"Major, the enemy has such firepower, at least a detachment's worth. If they stop the bombardment and charge, we have no heavy weapons to resist!" Shizumi, pale from blood loss, was full of worry.

Koshiro, watching the remnants of his troops struggling in the artillery fire, felt a deep sense of despair. With two detachments, he couldn't even mount a proper counterattack, and the enemy's firepower was not the reason for his failure.

Just as he felt the weight of defeat, a communications officer ran up with a translated message.

The message was from the garrison in Mishan, informing him that the road patrol reported the road to Baqing was damaged and the phone lines were down, and they were sending a message to explain the arrival time of the reinforcements on foot.

Koshiro, regaining his composure, hesitated with the message in hand, just about to order a breakout towards Shuangyashan to join the reinforcements, when another message was handed to him.

The Qixing Bridge was destroyed, and trucks couldn't pass. A temporary pontoon bridge would be set up within an hour, and the reinforcements would arrive on foot.

Reading this message, Koshiro felt a chill down his back. Had the enemy prepared to completely destroy his two detachments? When did the Soviet squad become a large force?

In the explosions, Koshiro had a foreboding feeling. He was surrounded by a large force, and the enemy had long prepared to destroy him.

Just as this thought arose, another message was handed to him.

"Read it!"

Koshiro, filled with anger, didn't even take the message.

"Major, the reinforcements from Qitaihe will arrive at the damaged road in half an hour, and they are 60 kilometers away, arriving in seven hours."

Buzz...

Koshiro's head buzzed as he read the message. His body swayed, and he realized he was completely surrounded.

"Major, there are reinforcements from Dayezhen!"

Shizumi shouted anxiously.

"Yes!"

Koshiro's eyes lit up, and he quickly ordered, "Send a message to Captain Yogo to see where the reinforcements are and if they have encountered any roadblocks!"

The artillery bombardment continued, but the machine gun fire stopped. The camp was in ruins, the barracks destroyed, the watchtowers collapsed, and the trenches were in disarray, with only a few damaged bunkers left, their 20-centimeter-thick concrete blocks barely standing in the flames, testifying to their fragility.

"Extend the range!!"

Dongku quickly adjusted the mortars, increasing the range, moving the short-range, low-explosive shells to the side and replacing them with long-range shells.

Thud! Thud!

The shells whistled and exploded in the rear of the camp, within 300 meters of Koshiro's position, shaking him as he held the message.

"Extend the range, they are preparing to attack!! Prepare the defense!!"

Kiyama, holding a pistol, shouted.

"No!" Koshiro quickly stopped Kiyama, "Break out towards Dayezhen!"

"Hai!"

Kiyama saluted and quickly gathered the remnants, escorting Koshiro towards the Baqing River to the east.

"Captain! The Japanese are running!"

Shunzi, looking through the binoculars, saw the Japanese moving along the foot of the mountain in the smoke.

"Phew..."

Dongku exhaled, quickly adjusting the mortar, measuring the distance, and firing a shell. Before the shell landed, the other team members also adjusted their mortars, giving a thumbs-up, and several shells whistled towards the Japanese.

In the explosions, half the shells landed among the Japanese, and over a hundred soldiers were thrown into the air.

"Captain, should we chase them?"

Muzi, holding his light machine gun, asked.

"Not yet, let them run five kilometers first."

Seeing the Japanese fleeing like dogs, and the third shell already unable to catch up, Dongku stopped loading the shells and said casually.

---

**End of Chapter**