111: Chapter 111 An eye for an eye! A tooth for a tooth!

On the outskirts of He County, behind a ridge covered in shrubs.

Wang Shuanzi, a soldier from the Independent Regiment's Reconnaissance Company, almost blended in with the mud and gravel beneath him.

Only those sharp eyes peered through the gaps in the foliage, fixed intently on the movements in the open ground below the mountain.

He had been lying here for nearly a day; he even relieved himself where he lay. His pants had gone from wet to dry and back again, yet his body remained motionless, and his breathing was suppressed to the lightest whisper.

In a head-to-head confrontation on an open battlefield, the current Eighth Route Army might still be a bit lacking.

But when it came to lurking, scouting, and guerrilla ambushes in these Taihang Mountains, the Japs weren't even fit to carry their shoes!

In the words of Wang Shuanzi's company commander: "We can lie there for a whole day just to wait for a target, letting our own waste dry in our pants! Can those pampered Little Japs handle that?"

In fact, long before the Japs had completed their encirclement of He County, the Brigade Commander had planned ahead, sending out dozens of elite reconnaissance teams like Wang Shuanzi's. Carrying dry rations and camouflage, they had infiltrated key high points and traffic nodes around He County in advance.

While it couldn't be said that every move of the Little Japs was under the Brigade Commander's surveillance, at least large-scale movements could not be hidden!

The Japs, of course, knew they might be being watched.

But they didn't care; they were even contemptuous!

So what if they saw?

He County was surrounded like an iron barrel; it would be hard for even a bird to fly in. Could these scattered remnants really deliver intelligence inside?

By the time their people took a hundred-mile detour to deliver the news, the opportunity would have long passed!

However, Shinozuka Kazuo and Anda Twenty-Three, despite all their calculations, would never have guessed that these seemingly primitive Eighth Route Army scouts were actually carrying iron boxes on their backs!

It was that old-fashioned backpack radio!

The kind where you could make direct calls!

They didn't need to enter the city to deliver intelligence at all; they could call the frontline headquarters right from the mountains!

At this moment, Wang Shuanzi carefully pulled out the Walkie-talkie microphone wrapped in oilcloth from his chest. Lowering his voice, he reported to the other end in what was almost a breathy whisper:

"Reporting to headquarters, reporting to headquarters, this is Mountain Eagle No. 3!"

"Target area: the gentle slope on the southeast side of Height 379. Confirmed that the Japs are constructing a large artillery position!"

"Observed at least six 105mm Howitzers, with a large number of ammunition boxes piled up. Jap engineers are reinforcing the firing positions... Over!"

Almost at the same time, in the headquarters, similar urgent reports came through on several other frequencies:

"Mountain Eagle No. 1 reporting, artillery position discovered at Height 598..."

"Mountain Eagle No. 5 reporting, a large number of pack horses and artillery carriages entering Area 263..."

...

He County, 386th Brigade Frontline Headquarters.

On the massive map, staff members quickly used blue pushpins to mark at least four newly discovered Jap artillery positions based on the incoming intelligence.

The Brigade Commander, Shen Wang, Li Yunlong, Zhao Gang, Ding Wei, and Kong Jie were all gathered around the map, their expressions solemn.

"It seems the Little Japs can't wait any longer; they're finally going to play for real!"

Li Yunlong stared at those four blue dots. Instead of fear, a spark of excitement danced in his eyes.

"Damn it, after being cooped up for seven days, the soldiers under me have basically mastered their new gear! I was just worrying about where to give them a taste of action! Brigade Commander, give the order! Let's get the bastards!"

Ding Wei and Kong Jie were also rubbing their hands in anticipation: "Brigade Commander! The New First Regiment (New Second Regiment) requests to lead the main assault! We guarantee we'll turn the Japs' cannons into mutes!"

Over these precious seven days, the nearly fifteen thousand men across the three regiments had shown incredible learning ability and combat enthusiasm under immense pressure.

With veterans from the Independent Regiment as the backbone, the "veterans leading the recruits" approach had yielded significant results.

Although high-tech units like the Katyusha still needed time to mesh, the soldiers had basically mastered the operational essentials of the Type 56 assault rifles, 40mm rockets, and tank driving, forming a preliminary combat capability.

These seven days were crucial!

The Brigade Commander nodded. This seven-day breathing space was indeed a great gift brought by Mr. Shen's return and the Japs' strategic miscalculation.

However, he was a bit puzzled at this moment.

"comrades, don't be in such a hurry. Something isn't right!"

"Normally, if the Japs wanted a general offensive, the infantry should deploy first, with the artillery providing accompanying support or a rolling barrage, coordinating infantry and artillery to advance layer by layer."

"But look at the current intelligence—the main Jap infantry force hasn't moved; they're still hunkered down in their pre-set positions and ambush circles on the outskirts. Instead, the artillery is feverishly constructing positions!"

Li Yunlong also noticed the anomaly: "Yeah, what the hell are those Japanese sons of bitches up to? Spreading their cannons out like this without moving their infantry, what do they want to do?"

At this point, Shen Wang, who had been quietly observing, spoke up. His voice was calm, yet it sent a jolt through everyone's heart:

"Brigade Commander, everyone, I have a suspicion. These Jap artillery units... might not be intended to support an infantry assault at all."

"Hmm?" Everyone's gaze instantly focused on Shen Wang.

Shen Wang walked to the map and pointed to the four artillery positions:

"Look at this layout. The Jap artillery is distributed in the north, south, east, and west, and the straight-line distance to the urban area of He County is less than eight kilometers."

"This distance is the ideal range for the 105mm Howitzers to exert their maximum power."

"If their target isn't a specific breakthrough point, and not to clear obstacles for the infantry..."

At this, the Brigade Commander's eyes flashed with a sharp light, clearly understanding Shen Wang's meaning.

"Mr. Shen, are you saying... the Japs' target is the entire town of He County itself?"

"Exactly!" Shen Wang nodded with certainty.

"If I'm not mistaken, the Japs plan to conduct an indiscriminate, carpet-style saturation bombardment of He County!"

"To directly destroy all buildings, fortifications, and personnel inside the city... everything!"

"Hiss—!"

Everyone in the command room couldn't help but gasp upon hearing this!

"Beasts! Bastards!"

Li Yunlong instantly flew into a rage, slamming his fist onto the table, his eyes turning bloodshot.

"They won't even spare the civilians? Little Japs, I'll screw your ancestors for eighteen generations!"

Everyone else in the headquarters also paled. Indiscriminate shelling of a civilian city had already crossed the bottom line of conventional warfare!

Shen Wang sneered: "These beasts were never human to begin with! Especially that commander of the 37th Division, Anda Twenty-Three."

"This man was one of the executioners who committed countless blood-soaked crimes in Jinling! Using living people for bayonet practice, holding killing competitions, burning down civilian homes—there was no evil he didn't do!"

"To them, shelling a county town is probably no different from stepping on an ant's nest."

In this era of poor information flow, many people only knew of the Jinling Massacre but didn't know the specific details.

When they heard Shen Wang mention specific details, the temperature in the headquarters dropped to the freezing point.

Li Yunlong trembled with rage, while Ding Wei, Kong Jie, and the others gritted their teeth, wishing they could devour the man's flesh alive.

"Alright! Now is not the time to just be angry!"

The Brigade Commander took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the rage and chill in his heart.

"Since the Japs have played such a foul move, we have to counter it! Think, what should we do?"

"What should we do?"

The corner of Shen Wang's mouth curled into a cold arc, and he pointed to the four blue artillery positions marked on the map.

"We've practically mapped out the coordinates of the Japs' artillery positions right to their bedsides. What else can we do?"

"Naturally... an eye for an eye! Blood for blood!"