115: Chapter 115: Defeating an Army of 100,000! So satisfying!
Let's set aside one thread of the story and pick up another.
While Li Yunlong and his men were in pursuit, the Japanese Soldiers on the other side of the battlefield had already been completely routed after experiencing several rounds of devastating rocket fire!
The grim news of the frontline collapse flew back like snowflakes to the First Army frontline command post located dozens of miles in the rear.
Shinozuka Kazuo's face was ashen, and his hand holding the telegram trembled violently.
The battle situation before him had completely exceeded his worst expectations!
The Eighth Route Army's fierce firepower and strange equipment had completely overturned his understanding of the "pacification war" in North China.
"Retreat! Order the entire army to retreat immediately! Cover each other and withdraw from the He County area! Quickly!"
Shinozuka Kazuo issued the order almost at a roar.
All talk of vindication, of besieging a point to strike reinforcements, of shelling He County—it had all become a joke.
Preserving the remaining troops and preventing the skeleton of the First Army from being shattered was the only choice.
The 37th Division commander, Anda Twenty-Three, had completely lost the coldness and calculation he possessed in Jinling; only shock and dullness remained on his face.
He had clashed with elite Nationalist Army troops many times in Central China, and although they had resisted tenaciously, their firepower had never given him such a desperate sense of oppression.
In less than five minutes, four artillery regiments had been completely destroyed?
"What kind of joke is this!"
He felt that his past war experience had been completely crushed at this moment.
As for the Puppet Army, they were already terrified out of their wits.
"Oh my god! Eighth Route Army grandfathers, spare my life!"
"Run! Run quickly! Is this the Eighth Route Army? They are even fiercer than the Japanese Soldiers!"
"If I had known the Eighth Route Army had this stuff, why would I have become a Collaborator? I regret it to death!"
"Forget it! Drop everything and run!"
The Puppet Army wailed and cried for their parents, completely losing their formation, like ants whose nest had been bombed, wishing only that their parents had given them two more legs.
However, even if they had four legs, how could they outrun trucks and tanks?
Li Yunlong personally led a rapid assault group composed of three 99A tanks, fifteen 59 tanks, and over thirty trucks, driving straight toward a group on the southern line that was trying to rally retreating soldiers.
From afar, he could already see through his binoculars that group of disheveled Japanese Soldiers who were barely gathering under the scolding of their officers.
"Hahaha! You damn Japanese Soldiers, still trying to organize resistance?"
Li Yunlong stood on the turret of a 59 tank, holding binoculars, laughing with immense satisfaction.
"Want to make a stand? Did you ask me first?!"
Li Yunlong put down the binoculars, grabbed the radio, and roared at the top of his lungs: "107mm Rocket Launcher detachment! Aim for that bunch of bastards huddled together, and give them another volley!"
"Blow these sons of bitches to pieces for me!"
"Received!"
The 107mm Rocket Launcher vehicles following behind quickly stopped and made brief adjustments.
A few seconds later—whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—boom, boom, boom!
Over a dozen 107mm rockets, trailing white smoke, smashed precisely into the pile of Japanese Soldiers who had just gathered.
The flames of the explosion rose again, and severed limbs and broken arms mixed with weapon parts flew everywhere.
The "defense line" flag that had just been erected, along with the Japanese Soldier officer holding it, vanished instantly in the flames and smoke.
The lucky Japanese Soldiers who hadn't died were blasted to pieces, and wails filled the fields.
The tiny bit of resistance that had just coalesced was completely blown away by this second round of precision strikes, and the Japanese Soldiers who were lucky enough to survive fell into even deeper panic, beginning to flee backward regardless of everything.
"Tank battalion! Charge! Crush them!" Li Yunlong gave the order and jumped back into the tank cabin.
Rumble—!
The three 99A tanks accelerated first, their thick 125mm barrels slightly lowered.
The fifteen 59 tanks following closely behind also roared, forming a wedge-shaped assault formation; their tracks kicked up dust, charging toward the messy enemy area with the force of a landslide.
The remaining Japanese Soldiers looked at the steel torrent getting closer and closer, their eyes filled with despair.
The terrified Japanese Soldiers howled, firing wildly at the tanks with the type 38 arisaka rifle and Type 11 light machine gun in their hands.
Clang, clang, clatter... pfft, pfft...
Bullets hitting the 99A's composite armor couldn't even leave a white mark; hitting the 59 tank's 120mm equivalent frontal armor was like scratching an itch, at most sparking a few flickers of light.
Occasionally, a few Japanese Sergeant operated the only remaining type 92 heavy machine gun, firing at the lead 99A.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The 7.7mm full-power rounds hit the 99A's hull, making dull impact sounds, but that was all; they couldn't even effectively trigger the outermost reactive armor.
"Damn it, they won't surrender and still dare to resist? Blow them to hell!" Li Yunlong shouted.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The 99A's 125mm smoothbore gun and the 59 tank's 100mm rifled gun fired almost simultaneously.
The high-explosive shells, like the Grim Reaper's roll call, landed accurately on those spots that dared to expose heavy firepower.
Clusters of fire exploded, and the Japanese Soldiers' heavy machine gun positions, along with the operators, turned into parts and blood mist.
"Each vehicle, fire at will! Clear out the remaining enemies!" Li Yunlong ordered again.
On top of the tanks, those 12.7mm anti-aircraft and ground-use heavy machine guns were leveled.
3 99A tanks plus 15 59 tanks, a full 18 12.7mm heavy machine guns!
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!!
The muzzles spat out foot-long tongues of fire, like the Japanese Soldiers' sternest father, sweeping toward the retreating and hiding Japanese Soldiers.
The 12.7mm full-power rounds would simply blow a person to pieces upon impact!
For a moment, severed arms and limbs flew everywhere!
The Japanese Soldiers completely broke!
The steel torrent rolled over this area without stopping.
Beneath the tracks, there was nothing but mud and flesh.
When the infantry on the trucks behind jumped off, howling and ready to follow the tanks into battle to slaughter the enemy, they rushed forward and were all stunned.
Where was any decent resistance? Where were any lively Japanese Soldiers?
On the devastated battlefield, only burning wreckage, smoking craters, and scattered, dismembered corpses of Japanese Soldiers remained.
Occasionally, one or two who were seriously injured but not dead lay in pools of blood, emitting weak moans, lacking even the strength to raise their weapons.
"This... is it over?"
A recruit holding a Type 56 assault rifle was a bit dumbfounded; he had been bracing himself for bayonet combat.
So, when we say 'clean up the battlefield,' we really mean just cleaning it up?
Literally?
"Regimental Commander, stop shelling!"
"Leave some Japanese Soldiers for the brothers to practice on!"
"Machine gunners, stop firing! Save some ammunition!"
The same situation played out almost simultaneously on the front lines for which Ding Wei and Kong Jie were responsible.
Fierce artillery fire, the ruthless crushing of the steel torrent, the deadly sweeping of vehicle-mounted heavy machine guns... the Eighth Route Army was conducting an efficient and cruel harvest in a way that completely exceeded the understanding of this era.
"Satisfying! It's damn satisfying!"
Kong Jie sat on a captured, still-functional Japanese motorcycle, watching the enemy skirmish line that had been crushed by the tanks in front of him, slapping his thigh in excitement.
"I've fought wars for so many years, but today is the most enjoyable! This battle... it's satisfying! So satisfying!"