14: Chapter 14 Escalation of Border Friction

I

The retaliation from Japan came faster than Li Ling had anticipated.

Five days after the complete annihilation of the fifty soldiers, the Kwantung Army headquarters of Japan dispatched a battalion of regular troops—eight hundred men equipped with four field artillery pieces—to cross the border and advance toward the encampment of the Li Family Army.

The news was relayed back by the Reconnaissance Balloon.

That morning, as Li Ling was eating breakfast, the system suddenly popped up a notification: "Reconnaissance Balloon has detected enemy forces, coordinates forty li to the southeast, approximately eight hundred men, carrying artillery, currently advancing toward us."

Li Ling set down his bowl and chopsticks, his expression darkening: "Eight hundred men? And they have artillery?"

"That is correct," the system said. "It seems they are playing for keeps this time."

Li Ling sneered: "Good, I was just worrying about not having a chance to practice."

He immediately gave the order: The entire Army is to enter a state of combat readiness. The Third Battalion and the Fourth Battalion are to assemble to meet the enemy; the First Battalion and Second Battalion are to remain at the base to prevent the enemy from using a feint to attack elsewhere.

Half an hour later, fifteen hundred men had assembled at the gate of the military camp. Li Ling stood on horseback in front of the formation, his expression serious.

"Brothers, last time fifty Japan devils came, and we wiped them all out. This time eight hundred have come. What do you say we do?"

"Wipe them all out!" fifteen hundred men roared in unison.

"Good," Li Ling nodded. "Move out!"

II

The two armies met on a plain twenty li from the border.

The Japan battalion commander was named Tanaka Masao, a Colonel, forty-five years old. He had participated in the First Sino-Japanese War and the invasion of Taiwan; he was an old fox. He had received orders from the Kwantung Army headquarters to eliminate the elite troops of the Li Family Army, destroy their morale, and ensure they would never dare to oppose Japan again.

Tanaka Masao had originally thought the Li Family Army was nothing more than a rabble, and that eight hundred men with four artillery pieces would be enough to crush them. But when he saw the opposing positions, his expression changed.

The Li Family Army on the opposite side had not formed into dense phalanxes like the old Qingxia Kingdom Army; instead, they were dispersed in skirmish lines, having constructed simple fortifications utilizing the terrain. The soldiers were lying on the ground with their rifles rested on mounds of earth, eerily quiet.

"Colonel, they... their rifles seem different." The adjutant handed him a pair of binoculars.

Tanaka Masao took the binoculars and observed carefully.

He saw the rifles in the soldiers' hands; the barrels were longer than standard rifles, the bodies were more refined, and each person had several strange objects hanging from their waists, looking like Hand grenades, but the shape was different from anything he had ever seen.

"This is impossible..." Tanaka Masao muttered to himself, "How could they have this kind of equipment?"

He had participated in the Russo-Japanese War and had seen the Russian Mosin-Nagant rifles, as well as the German Mauser rifles, but the rifles in the hands of the Li Family Army were unlike any he had ever seen. The craftsmanship, texture, and details of those rifles all exuded an indescribable sense of advancement.

"Colonel, should we retreat for now?" the adjutant suggested in a low voice.

"Retreat?" Tanaka Masao glared at him. "With eight hundred men and four artillery pieces, we can't defeat a bunch of Qingxia Kingdom trash? Attack!"

The Japan Army began to advance, the skirmish lines moved forward, and the artillerymen set up their guns in the rear, preparing for fire support.

But before their artillery could even fire, the Mortar units of the Li Family Army had already seized the initiative.

III

Sixty Mortar units opened fire simultaneously, the shells whistling through the sky and landing precisely on the Japan artillery position.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Amid the continuous explosions, the four field artillery pieces were overturned, and the artillerymen suffered heavy casualties. Before Tanaka Masao could react, the second wave of shells arrived, this time targeting the infantry phalanx.

Sixty shells exploded within the Japan Army; mud, gravel, and shrapnel flew everywhere, and the soldiers were blown to pieces. Although the Japan Army of this era was well-trained, they had never seen this kind of indirect fire support. They had thought they would be safe hiding behind cover, not expecting shells to descend from the sky and land directly on their heads.

"Scatter! Scatter!" Tanaka Masao roared frantically. "Do not bunch up!"

The Japan soldiers were indeed well-trained; they quickly dispersed into smaller combat squads, attempting to reduce casualties from the shelling. But the indirect fire nature of the Mortar units greatly diminished their efforts; no matter where they hid, the shells could always land precisely beside them.

After three rounds of shelling, the Japan Army had suffered over two hundred casualties, and their morale was severely crushed.

"Charge!" Li Ling ordered.

The Red Army's frontal forces launched a charge, one thousand men holding their rifles, shouting battle cries as they rushed toward the Japan Army. Meanwhile, the flanking units also began their operation, circling from both the left and right sides to attempt to encircle the Japan Army.

Tanaka Masao realized things were going poorly and attempted to organize a counterattack, but the firepower of the Li Family Army was too fierce. Those rifles had extremely high rates of fire and extreme precision; as soon as a Japan soldier poked their head out, they would be hit by a bullet.

"Retreat! Retreat!" Tanaka Masao finally gave the order to retreat.

But it was already too late.

The flanking units had already completed the encirclement; eight hundred Japan soldiers were completely surrounded in the center of the plain. They attempted to break out, but every charge was repelled by the intense firepower of the Li Family Army.

IV

The battle lasted less than an hour.

Of the eight hundred Japan soldiers, over six hundred were killed, over one hundred were captured, and fewer than fifty broke through and escaped. Colonel Tanaka Masao was struck by a sniper while attempting to break out and died on the spot.

And the casualties of the Li Family Army?

Twelve killed in action, over thirty wounded.

This was a crushing victory.

After the battle, Li Ling stood on the battlefield, looking at the corpses covering the ground, and remained silent for a long time.

"Young Master, how should we handle these prisoners?" Chief of Staff Zhang Wanshan walked over and asked.

"Interrogate them," Li Ling said. "After the interrogation, those willing to surrender may stay; those unwilling..."

He did not continue, but Chief of Staff Zhang Wanshan understood.

"Understood."

Li Ling turned and left, not glancing at those corpses again.

He was not cold-blooded; rather, he knew that being merciful to these invaders was being cruel to his own countrymen.

V

That evening, Li Ling returned to the military camp, and the system popped up a notification.

"Detected that the host has defeated the Japan Army twice in a row, especially this time annihilating the main enemy force at minimal cost, judged as a minor achievement."

"Lucky draw?"

"Lucky draw." The system paused. "Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Naval Gunnery Training System, capable of simulating various naval battle environments to train the shooting accuracy of naval gunners."

Li Ling was stunned for a moment, then laughed.

"System, are you hinting that I should start developing a navy?"

"It is not a hint, it is a directive," the system said. "Your Army has already taken initial shape, but your navy is still a blank slate. Do not forget, Japan is an island nation; if you want to defeat them, you must have a powerful navy."

Li Ling nodded; he knew the system was right.

No matter how strong the Army is, it can only fight on land. Japan is separated by the sea; if you cannot strike their homeland, they will always have the chance to make a comeback. To completely resolve the threat of Japan, one must have a powerful navy.

"But a navy burns through money much faster than an Army," Li Ling sighed. "The cost of a single Battleship is enough for me to support an entire division."

"That is why you need to hurry up and make money," the system said. "Aren't you doing business with the German Empire? Once that order is negotiated, your navy will have its start."

Li Ling's eyes lit up: "Right, how could I have forgotten about that."

His arms deal with the German Empire was almost finalized; the first order of one hundred thousand rifles would bring him a large sum of capital. He had originally planned to invest all of this money into the Army, but now it seemed he would have to set aside a portion for the navy.

"Three Pre-dreadnoughts," Li Ling calculated in his mind. "System, didn't you say you could provide me with three Pre-dreadnoughts directly?"

"I can, but it requires resource points," the system said. "Each Pre-dreadnought requires five thousand resource points, so three would be fifteen thousand. Calculate it yourself and see if you have enough resource points now."

Li Ling opened the system panel and checked his resource point balance: three hundred twenty.

"...You've got to be kidding me."

"That is why I told you to hurry up and make money," the system said righteously. "Resource points can be obtained through achievements, lucky draws, and loans, or exchanged with the system. If you have money, you can buy resource points, and if you have resource points, you can exchange them for warships."

Li Ling took a deep breath: "Fine, I understand."

He made his decision: accelerate the arms deal with the German Empire, get the first batch of funds as soon as possible, then use the funds to exchange for resource points, and use the resource points to exchange for warships.

The struggle for maritime hegemony begins now.

VI

Three days after the border friction escalated, the news spread throughout the entire Qingxia Kingdom.

Major newspapers scrambled to report it, with headlines becoming more shocking one after another:

"Young Hero Li Creates Another Miracle, Completely Annihilating Eight Hundred Japan Elite Troops!"

"Li Family New Army Combat Power Astonishing, Japan Colonel Killed on the Spot!"

"Great Powers Shocked: Qingxia Kingdom May Be Rising!"

Unlike last time, even foreign newspapers reported on it this time. The headline of The Times was: "East Asia Situation Changes Dramatically, Li Family Army Emerges Suddenly." The headline of The New York Times was: "The Mysterious Young Hero Li, Who Exactly Is He?"

Li Ling looked at these reports, smiled, and then tossed the newspapers aside.

He knew that there was a lot of hyperbole in these reports, and the real test was still to come. Japan would not let this go, and the Great Powers would not sit idly by. He had to seize the time and accelerate the pace of development.

That night, Li Ling called Chief of Staff Zhang Wanshan to the command center.

"Wanshan, regarding this battle, what shortcomings do you think our troops still have?"

Chief of Staff Zhang Wanshan thought for a moment: "The firepower is fine, but the tactical literacy of the soldiers still needs to improve. Some soldiers start firing wildly the moment they get nervous, wasting ammunition."

"Anything else?"

"Coordination needs to be strengthened. When flanking from both sides, the coordination with the frontal assault sometimes gets disjointed, which almost allowed the enemy to break through."

Li Ling nodded: "You are right. These issues need to be resolved through training. Starting tomorrow, training intensity will be doubled; practice two extra hours every day."

"Yes!"

After Chief of Staff Zhang Wanshan left, Li Ling sat alone in the command center, staring at the map in a daze.

His gaze fell in the direction of the Japan homeland, and his eyes became determined.

"Once I have a navy, the first thing I will do is blockade the maritime transport lines of Japan," Li Ling muttered to himself. "Let them know the price of bullying the Chinese people."

Outside the window, the moonlight was like water.

A new day was about to begin.