77: Chapter 77: Taking He County! A Great Harvest of Military Merit!

"Is it... over already?"

From the first artillery shot until now, all things considered, it hadn't even been ten minutes!

The fierce street fighting and room-by-room combat that had been anticipated never occurred.

As far as the eye could see, there were only soldiers from the Independent Regiment, moving in groups of three or five, holding their Type 56 assault rifles as they darted quickly through the swirling smoke.

They were clearing out the scattered Japanese Soldiers and Puppet Army who were putting up desperate resistance or trying to hide.

In most areas, all that remained were burning buildings, corpses of Japanese Soldiers everywhere, and dying wails.

Not to mention Shen Wang being stunned, even the Brigade Commander was stunned!

Although he knew this battle was a sure win, taking a county seat in ten minutes was just too damn exaggerated, right?

He had originally wanted to accumulate some experience, but accumulate his ass!

It was only ten minutes, what kind of experience was there to accumulate?

At this moment, the voices of the battalion commanders came through the walkie-talkie:

"Report to the Brigade Commander! The Japanese Soldiers on my side are almost all dead!"

"Same here! The main resistance is gone! Only scattered remnants are left!"

"Satisfying! Brigade Commander, this battle was truly satisfying!"

Finally, there was Li Yunlong's loud voice.

Listening to the various excited voices on the walkie-talkie, the Brigade Commander couldn't help but sigh:

"Is this the crushing power brought by absolute firepower superiority? A regiment of Japanese Soldiers, relying on the county's fortifications, was actually so vulnerable!"

Thinking of this, an unprecedented sense of confidence rose in the Brigade Commander's heart!

In the past, the reason we couldn't beat the Japanese Soldiers wasn't because our people weren't good enough, but because our weapons and equipment weren't good enough!

Now, we also have powerful weapons, while the Japanese Soldiers have become vulnerable!

This battle fully proved this point!

As long as we have equivalent weapons, we are not inferior to anyone!

The Brigade Commander took a deep breath, then picked up the walkie-talkie: "All units, according to the original plan, sweep through the entire county!"

"Anyone who dares to fight back, whether they are Japanese Soldiers or a Collaborator, shoot them on the spot!"

"But pay attention to one thing: absolutely do not disturb the people! In fact, do a good job of pacifying the masses!"

This was something that had been planned beforehand.

The so-called taking a county seat in ten minutes referred to eliminating the Japanese Soldiers' headquarters and main force.

There were still quite a few small groups of Japanese Soldiers and Puppet Army scattered throughout the city.

But the remaining ones, in front of the armed-to-the-teeth Independent Regiment, couldn't pose any threat at all.

That night, the sound of gunfire, explosions, and engine roars in He County almost never stopped.

Sporadically, one could still faintly hear the screams of Japanese Soldiers and the pleas for mercy from the Collaborators.

It lasted until the eastern sky turned pale before it gradually subsided.

...

After dawn, in a temporarily cleared courtyard, the Brigade Commander set up a frontline command post.

Shen Wang, Li Yunlong, Zhao Gang, and others gathered together.

Although they hadn't slept all night, everyone's face was full of excitement and agitation.

Taking a county seat in ten minutes might be a bit of an exaggeration, but taking a county seat in one night was completely true!

At this moment, He County was already completely under the control of the Independent Regiment!

Zhao Gang took a preliminary battle report that had just been compiled and reported to the Brigade Commander and everyone:

"Brigade Commander, Mr. Shen, the preliminary battle results have been calculated!"

"In this battle, our army killed or captured about three thousand eight hundred Japanese Soldiers! Two thousand six hundred Puppet Army!"

"We killed a total of... over one hundred and eighty Japanese and Puppet officers, including the Regiment Commander, Colonel Xiao Pu Ci Lang!"

"The captured ammunition and supplies are countless, the quantity is huge, and they are still being counted!"

"As for our casualties..."

Zhao Gang paused, took a deep breath, and read out the number that made everyone hold their breath:

"Sixty-seven slightly injured, twenty-six heavily injured, killed in action... zero!"

...

Silence!

The command post was instantly so quiet that a pin drop could be heard!

Although there was a premonition that casualties would be very small, when the result of "zero killed" was read out, the impact brought was still incomparably huge!

Although zero injuries weren't achieved, zero deaths... were still terrifyingly impressive!

The Brigade Commander stood up from his chair abruptly, his body even trembling slightly:

"Zero sacrifices... zero sacrifices to take a county seat garrisoned by a regiment of Japanese Soldiers... this... this is simply a miracle in the history of war! It is a shocking great victory!"

Li Yunlong was even more excited, his face flushed red, and he slammed his fist on the table: "Damn it! Satisfying! Too satisfying! This battle, it truly gives our Eighth Route Army face!"

In one night, taking a county seat at the cost of zero deaths—once this news gets out, it will surely shake the entire Shanxi Province!

No! It will shake the entire North China! Even... shake the entire China!

If... if they could hold this county seat and not let the Japanese Soldiers take it back, then... it would surely inspire countless people!

It can be said that the significance of this attack on the county seat is truly too huge!

The Brigade Commander and Li Yunlong and others turned to look at Shen Wang, all full of admiration at this moment.

"Mr. Shen, thanks to you! If it weren't for your suggestion to attack the county seat, and providing such powerful equipment, we... we don't know when we would be able to..."

The Brigade Commander said, his voice even choking up at the end!

Recovering the mountains and rivers was the dream of these people!

Shen Wang smiled: "Brigade Commander, you are too kind, no matter how strong the weapons are, it depends on who is using them!"

"This battle is entirely due to the command and coordination of the Brigade Commander and Regiment Commander Li, as well as the brave fighting of the Independent Regiment soldiers. This humble one Shen only contributed a meager effort, not worth mentioning!"

Seeing Shen Wang so humble, the Brigade Commander's perception of Shen Wang had reached an extremely high level!

He wished he could become sworn brothers on the spot!

Li Yunlong, Zhao Gang, and others also said various words of admiration.

And just at this moment, the system's prompt finally sounded in Shen Wang's mind:

"Ding! Congratulations to the Host for completing the mission! Reward obtained: Gold-level lottery ten consecutive draws (guaranteed SSR)!"

"Ding! Starting to calculate the military merit points for this battle —"

Following that, Shen Wang opened the data panel:

"Host's direct kill data: ★ Ordinary Japanese Soldier: 256, military merit points + 2560; ★ Japanese Lieutenant: 58, military merit points + 6550; ★ Japanese Major: 7, military merit points + 3500; ★ Japanese Lieutenant Colonel: 3, military merit points + 3000; ★ Japanese Colonel: 1, military merit points + 2000; ★ Ordinary Puppet Army: 45, military merit points + 225; ★ Puppet Lieutenant: 6, military merit points + 300; Subtotal: Host directly killed 376 Japanese Soldiers and Puppet Army, military merit points + 17610"

"Indirect kill data (killed by friendly forces using equipment provided by the Host, profit is one-tenth): ★ Ordinary Japanese Soldier: 3128, military merit points + 3128; ★ Japanese Lieutenant: 31, military merit points + 365; ★ Japanese Major: 6, military merit points + 300; ★ Ordinary Puppet Army: 2555, military merit points + 1277.5; ★ Puppet Lieutenant: 23, military merit points + 105.5; Subtotal: Host indirectly killed 5743 Japanese Soldiers and Puppet Army, military merit points + 5176"

"Taking He County, military merit points + 5000 (cannot be calculated repeatedly)"

Looking at the data on the panel, the corners of Shen Wang's mouth grinned even wider than Li Yunlong's!

Struck it rich! This time I really struck it rich!

"I didn't expect that there would be military merit points for taking a county seat!"

This was beyond Shen Wang's expectations, and could be counted as an unexpected surprise!

Calculating it this way, a total of over 27,000 military merit points were obtained this time!

Plus the gold ten consecutive draws rewarded for completing the mission...