24: Chapter 24 is all? You dare call yourself a tank?

Meanwhile.

Beijing, North China Army Headquarters.

"Hai!"

A Japanese staff officer was reporting:

"Your Excellency, Commander! The enemy tank is advancing westward along the Ping-Shi Line, but its speed has been greatly delayed by our continuous harassment along the way!"

"Currently, it is estimated that the opponent has approached the boundary of Bao County!"

Tada Shun stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the giant map hanging on the wall, a look of having everything under control appearing on his face.

"Yoshi! The delay tactics are very effective! The 27th Division and the local garrison units have done well."

He paused and then asked, "Where is our heavy tank unit?"

Another staff officer in charge of armored unit communications immediately stood up and answered, "Reporting to the Commander! The Type 95 Heavy Tank Battalion sent by the 1st Tank Brigade conducted a forced march through the night!"

"They have currently arrived at the outskirts of Bao County and are completing their final combat grouping and ammunition resupply!"

Shen Wang and the others had rested for a night, but the Japanese had not been idle.

It looked like they were about to catch up.

"Yoshi!"

Tada Shun smiled, his little mustache curling upward.

"Order all units in the direction of Bao County to stop the scattered harassment! Concentrate forces and construct a solid blocking position!"

"At all costs, stall them for me in Bao County!"

"At the same time, order the heavy tank unit to speed up their preparations and crush them for me in Bao County!"

The preparations were almost complete, and Tada Shun didn't want to wait any longer.

Take them out right there in Bao County!

"Hai!"

The orders were quickly recorded and relayed down the chain of command.

Inside the Headquarters, the group of high-ranking Japanese officers all showed expressions of victory being in sight.

Before the fighting had even begun, some Japanese officers were already starting to suck up.

A Major General Brigade Commander said with a smile, "Your Excellency's dispatch of a full ten type 95 heavy tanks this time is truly a stroke of genius! A brilliant move!"

"No matter how strong the defense of that strange vehicle is, can it possibly withstand the repeated bombardment of ten 70mm heavy guns?"

"This firepower density is almost comparable to a single volley from an artillery regiment!"

"Exactly!" the other Japanese officers hurriedly agreed.

"The type 95 heavy tank is currently the most powerful combat vehicle of our Empire!"

"Not only is its firepower fierce, but its 67mm thick frontal armor is also at a top-tier level in the current world!"

"On the China battlefield, no weapon can penetrate it from the front!"

"Victory inevitably belongs to the Empire!"

"Commander Tada is brilliant!"

To be honest, the fact that a single tank had kept these Japanese officers—the lowest rank among them being Colonel—awake all night was already an incredible thing.

They absolutely could not let the opponent escape again this time!

Listening to his subordinates' boasting, Tada Shun slowly sat back in his seat, picked up his teacup, and gently blew on it.

He didn't think there would be any surprises either.

Those were ten whole type 95 heavy tanks!

In China, they were an absolutely invincible existence!

...

The outskirts of Bao County, the only bottleneck leading into the county town.

The Japanese garrison units, having received death orders, became frantically busy like a poked hornet's nest.

This time, they were no longer engaging in small-scale harassment.

Sandbags were piled up layer upon layer, forming a circular fortification nearly as tall as a person.

Behind the fortifications, not only were ordinary type 92 heavy machine guns set up, but several Type 93 13.2mm anti-aircraft machine guns were also brought in!

These weapons, originally intended for air defense, were now leveled horizontally!

Engineers dug anti-tank trenches in the road like madmen; though crude, they were enough to hinder a rapid passage.

Even more wood and rubble were piled haphazardly in the middle of the road, forming one messy obstacle after another.

At the same time, some Puppet Army units were forced to the front lines.

Using their bodies, they formed the final speed bump!

Tada Shun had said 'at all costs'!

These traitors were the cost!

...

Meanwhile, in a relatively open hilly area on the flank of Bao County.

Ten type 95 heavy tanks had completed their final combat grouping.

The tank hatches were open, and the Commanders and gunners leaned out halfway, looking relaxed, even excited.

Since being deployed to the China battlefield, their type 95 heavy tanks had been practically synonymous with invincibility!

With 67mm of frontal armor, those pitiful small-caliber anti-tank guns of the Nationalist Army couldn't penetrate them at all!

As for the Eighth Route Army, they didn't even have decent anti-tank weapons and could only rely on soldiers charging with satchel charges and cluster grenades, sacrificing their lives.

But for the type 95 heavy tank, that was equally futile.

Every time the type 95 heavy tanks attacked, it was an overwhelming advance, a crushing destruction.

It was only later when the Eighth Route Army hid in the mountains that these heavy tanks had nowhere to show their power.

And now, the opportunity had finally come!

"I heard that strange vehicle can't even be penetrated by a 37mm gun?" a Japanese gunner sneered.

"Then let it taste the flavor of a 70mm shell! I want to see if its shell is harder or if our gun is more ruthless!"

"I'm afraid one shot will turn it into a pile of burning scrap metal!"

"It's a shame the enemy only has one tank, we can't play for longer!"

As they spoke, the Japanese soldiers actually began to compete for the credit.

"Hey! Yamada, don't try to snatch this from me! I'm taking the first shot!"

"Why should it be you? My gunner is the most accurate in the whole battalion! We should definitely be the ones leading the charge!"

"Stop arguing! Based on seniority, it should obviously be me, Sato, who fires the first shot!"

"No way! Everyone relies on their own skill!"

"We'll see who's lucky enough to take the prize!"

These Japanese soldiers were each more arrogant than the last.

They didn't take Shen Wang or the 99A he was driving seriously at all.

How could they not win ten against one?

They didn't even need ten against one; just one shot would be enough to blow the opponent to bits.

The 70mm main gun and 67mm frontal armor gave these beasts absolute confidence.

The Commander of the heavy tank battalion smiled as he watched this scene.

The soldiers were howling for blood!

He didn't even need to give a motivational speech!

"Gentlemen! Let us use a clean and decisive victory to tell those rats who only hide in the shadows what a true steel torrent is!"

"What the majesty of the Empire's war machines truly is!"

"For His Majesty the Emperor—crush them!"

"Tenno Heika, Banzai!"

"Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!"

Immediately, the Battalion Commander gave the order to move out.

Ten type 95 heavy tanks, all at full power, drove toward the outskirts of Bao County.

The drivers each stepped on the gas to the floor, fearing that another soldier would snatch the first credit.

...

The scene shifted to the outskirts of Bao County.

The 99A left a trail of smoke, looking extremely domineering.

"Mr. Shen, something seems a bit off!"

Ding Zhijian, who was responsible for observation, frowned and spoke up to warn him.

"The setup ahead... is completely different from before!"

Shen Wang immediately looked forward through the periscope.

Sure enough, at the bottleneck of the main road about a kilometer ahead, several simple defensive lines made of sandbags, timber, and even dug trenches had appeared!

Behind the defensive lines, Japanese and Puppet Army could be seen.

There were quite a lot of them!

It was completely different from the previous small-scale harassment; looking at this posture, the Japanese were prepared for a decisive battle here!

Shen Wang gave a cold laugh and understood instantly. "It seems that after delaying us for so long, the Japanese reinforcements have finally arrived!"

"Since they've set the stage, wouldn't it be rude of us not to go and see?"

"Little Sha, stop the tank! We'll wait right here and see what kind of big move the Japanese have prepared!"

To be honest, Shen Wang was truly curious.

What kind of surprise the Japanese had prepared for the 99A.

Sha Zhenjiang was very obedient and directly braked the 99A to a halt.

Thus, in the wilderness on the outskirts of Bao County, an extremely bizarre scene appeared:

On one side was the Japanese defensive line, waiting in full battle array as if facing a formidable enemy.

On the other side was the 99A, parked all alone in the middle of the road, motionless.

The two sides were a thousand meters apart.

Neither side fired the first shot!

The Japanese didn't fire because they knew they couldn't penetrate the opposite defense.

Moreover, the orders they received were to delay; since the opponent had stopped, the Japanese didn't want to actively seek death.

Shen Wang didn't fire because he wanted to conserve energy for the upcoming battle.

The continuous harassment from the Japanese along the way had cost Shen Wang and the others a lot of energy.

At this time, they needed to rest well.

It must be said, facing at least a battalion of Japanese and an even larger number of Puppet Army, Shen Wang just boldly parked in the middle of the road to rest; few could match this level of courage!

"Mr. Shen, you are the most courageous person I have ever met!"

Ding Zhijian praised him sincerely.

Sha Zhenjiang's eyes were full of little stars, practically dying of admiration.

"Master, you... you are too awesome!"

The word 'awesome' was something Sha Zhenjiang had learned from Shen Wang's mouth.

Although Shen Wang hadn't explained what the word meant, it was still quite easy to understand.

Shen Wang smiled.

It wasn't that he was so awesome; it was all thanks to the confidence the 99A gave him.

"Alright, everyone take the time to rest for a bit."

Thus, this extremely bizarre scene occurred.

On one side, thousands of Japanese and traitors were highly tense, as if facing a formidable enemy.

While on the other side, there was only one tank, and the few people inside were resting with their eyes closed!

However, this bizarreness did not last long—

Rumble...!

The ground suddenly began to vibrate.

"They're here!"

The four people inside the tank were instantly refreshed!

Shen Wang immediately looked toward the sound.

Through the high-magnification gunner's sight, he clearly saw ten 'oddly shaped' tanks crushing their way toward their position!

When Shen Wang took a closer look, he almost laughed out loud.

He saw that those tanks actually had two layers of turrets, one on top of the other!

A larger turret on top was equipped with a short, thick main gun, and a smaller turret below was equipped with another small gun.

The design of these double-layered turrets was so recognizable that Shen Wang identified them at a glance—the Japanese type 95 heavy tanks!

It wasn't that his military knowledge was so profound, but rather that the shape of these type 95 heavy tanks was just too 'bizarre'.

At a time when tanks all over the world were trending toward single-turret, streamlined designs, the Japanese were still clutching this 'antique' level multi-layered turret design as a treasure.

type 95 heavy tank

“Pfft—”

Shen Wang really couldn't hold it in and directly laughed out loud.

After all that, it turned out... this was the killing move the Japanese had been brewing?

"This is it?"