Chapter 30

"Japanese troops are about to attack, everyone be careful," the battalion commander shouted. Hu Hao gripped the stock of his gun tightly, worried about Colonel Zhang.

The Japanese troops had changed their attacking force. This time, they came in dense waves, advancing in multiple lines of scattered soldiers towards the Eighth Route Army's position. Hu Hao looked at the explosive pack by his feet, which had been brought over by the first soldier to resupply him, a soldier who had already been killed.

Seeing the Japanese enter his range, Hu Hao decisively opened fire. The front row of Japanese soldiers fell like dominoes, not expecting Hu Hao to shoot from such a distance. They quickly crouched and rushed forward.

Hu Hao's machine gun never stopped, firing and reloading, but the Japanese were too numerous. Despite not knowing how many he had killed, the Japanese were about to break through the defenses on other fronts. The Eighth Route Army had too few soldiers left who could fight.

Hu Hao stopped shooting, picked up an explosive pack, and using his internal energy, threw it high and far, directly into the densest group of Japanese. As the explosive pack was about to land, Hu Hao aimed his sniper rifle and fired.

"Boom"

Numerous Japanese soldiers were thrown into the air, and the explosion left a crater about 10 meters in diameter. Within 30 meters, no Japanese soldier could stand. The Japanese were stunned by the explosive pack, which had killed at least 50 of them.

Hu Hao didn't stop. He grabbed another explosive pack, threw it at a group of Japanese about to break through the defense, and fired. That area became silent, with no Japanese left.

"Captain of the Third Company, go get explosive packs for Er Lengzi," the battalion commander shouted, seeing the effectiveness of Hu Hao's explosive packs.

"Yes, I'll take two men to get the explosive packs."

"Eight road, what weapon is this, with such great destructive power?" General Kano Mistsu, the 27th Brigade commander, asked in shock, seeing the scene.

He had thought his troops were about to engage in hand-to-hand combat, but an explosion had cleared the area in front of them.

"General, it's the Eighth Route Army's explosive pack," a colonel said.

"Eight road, impossible, how can one person throw an explosive pack so far? It's at least 200 meters. Does the Eighth Route Army have a launcher?" General Kano Mistsu asked.

"General, it's an explosive pack. I saw it clearly. The power of the explosive pack is in the shockwave. Our soldiers can survive if they lie down before it explodes," the colonel said.

"Good, pass the order down. When the explosive pack comes, lie down. This will reduce our losses," General Kano Mistsu said.

"Boom" An explosive pack cleared an area, and most of the dead had internal injuries, with blood gushing from their mouths.

Hu Hao was not merciful. He threw an explosive pack, fired, and cleared the area, then threw another, fired, and cleared again.

After half an hour, there was not a single Japanese soldier standing within 200 meters of the position. The Japanese orderlies had all been killed by Hu Hao.

"Eight road!" General Kano Mistsu drew his sword and cut a tree in half. He was furious, trembling with anger. Just as they were about to attack, the explosive packs had killed at least 2,000 Japanese soldiers.

"Continue the attack, spread out. I don't believe the Eighth Route Army has so many explosive packs. When the explosive pack comes, lie down!" General Kano Mistsu shouted to the Japanese around him.

"Yes," a Japanese lieutenant colonel ran to the front of the attacking force.

The battle continued, but Hu Hao's hands were shaking. The Hanyuan Technique was still at the second level, and his physical strength was at its limit. He was drenched in sweat.

"Er Lengzi, how are you?" the battalion commander asked, seeing Hu Hao's body trembling slightly.

"I'm fine, just exhausted. It's up to you now," Hu Hao said. "Do you have any food? I need to eat to recover some strength."

"Yes, I'll get someone to bring you some," the battalion commander said, calling a soldier who was firing to get food, while he continued to fight.

Hu Hao painfully crawled to the front of the trench. Since he couldn't throw explosive packs anymore, and operating the machine gun was also physically demanding, he decided to use his sniper rifle.

He took out his rifle from his back, set it up, and used the scope to observe the Japanese, looking for valuable targets.

"Bang" A Japanese colonel was sniped by Hu Hao from over 400 meters away. It was the new 59th Regiment commander, Nakagawa Jiro, who had been in office for less than a day.

"Bang" Another Japanese officer was sniped by Hu Hao.

In five minutes, Hu Hao had sniped 7 colonels and over 40 lieutenants, scaring the Japanese officers into not daring to command from the front. The Japanese scattered lines were less dense, and the number of soldiers had decreased, making it easier for the Eighth Route Army to handle, but they were still tense. Any mistake could allow the Japanese to break through. At a critical moment, the division's guard company arrived, with fewer than 100 men, but they were fresh troops.

These men brought a lot of ammunition, and as soon as they entered the defense, the Japanese casualties increased.

"Eight road, the Eighth Route Army has reinforcements," General Kano Mistsu said, using his binoculars to see that his troops' casualties were increasing and the Eighth Route Army's gunfire was more intense.

"General, it's getting late. It will be dark on Mount Tianma soon. Even if we take the hill now, we won't be able to advance," a colonel said.

"Eight road!" General Kano Mistsu paced back and forth. The attack was slowing down, and the soldiers were clearly exhausted. If he forced them to continue, it was uncertain whether they could take the Eighth Route Army's position, but it would definitely increase casualties. His brigade had already lost at least half its strength, and out of the 18,000 men in the division, only about 10,000 were still able to fight. He couldn't believe that fighting a 2,000-man Eighth Route Army had resulted in such heavy losses!

General Kano Mistsu couldn't delay any longer, as casualties were still increasing. He went to the temporary tent where Tojo Mitsu was. Tojo Mitsu was being criticized by the North China Area Army headquarters for why a regular division couldn't break through an Eighth Route Army regiment's defense in two days. After hanging up the phone, Tojo Mitsu said to Kano Mistsu before he could speak:

"Have your men stand down. We won't take the Eighth Route Army's position today. Attack again early tomorrow morning."

"Yes," Kano Mistsu turned and went to give the order.