106: Chapter 106 How tragic is a weak nation?

The sounds of crossfire from the positions below immediately caught Wang Ye's attention. He looked down to see constant explosions and gunfire.

The battle was so intense that he couldn't help but break into a cold sweat for his comrades below.

Even though he already knew the ultimate fate of everyone down there.

However, he was currently in a game and there was a chance he could change its course.

If he could reduce the casualties, Wang Ye was certainly willing to do whatever it took.

"Squad Leader, the fighting down there is brutal," Chen Zheng remarked.

"I wonder if we'll even be alive after this battle is over," Chen Zheng sighed.

"I hope so."

Wang Ye fell silent for a moment after hearing Chen Zheng's words before speaking slowly.

They were facing an offensive from the Japanese 6th Division. This division had over ten thousand men, while they only had six thousand.

Although they held the advantage of terrain and fortifications, the Japanese were no pushovers.

Their heavy artillery and bombers could easily threaten these fortifications.

Even with the terrain advantage, as the Japanese artillery plowed the earth and their planes dropped bombs, the defenders gained no real upper hand.

It was just that the Japanese tactics were relatively outdated—they always followed the same routine: infantry advancing after an artillery bombardment.

If the infantry couldn't break through, they would simply continue the bombardment.

After fighting the Japanese many times, one could see this tactic was almost unchanging.

But even against such a formulaic tactic, the defenders found it incredibly difficult to hold their ground.

This was because, while the tactic seemed outdated, its results were very apparent.

It was especially effective against the China depicted in the game.

Even if one could see through it, there was simply no way to counter it.

Faced with a massive gap in raw power, the influence of tactics was suddenly reduced to a minimum.

So, even though Wang Ye understood that the Japanese tactics were the same old routine,

there was nothing he could do. He couldn't possibly dismantle this strategy with a single rifle.

Even the cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice.

When your equipment isn't good enough, seeing the flaws is useless.

It was like cavalry charging infantry equipped with Maxim guns; they knew the infantry feared close-quarters combat, but they would fall before they could even get close.

Even if they managed to break through by throwing away countless lives, the damage they could deal was minimal.

Compared to their own losses, the enemy's casualties were practically negligible.

This might sound like an exaggeration, but for the China of this era, it was the reality.

The Japanese utilized a combined-arms trinity, with infantry, artillery, and air force all exerting pressure.

Without air superiority, one could only endure the beatings from the planes.

Hearing Wang Ye's words, Chen Zheng fell silent.

They had fought all the way from Shanghai to Jinling.

Shanghai was lost, and now it was Jinling's turn.

Chen Zheng had long since been numbed by this war.

However, one always had to hold onto a bit of hope.

The hope of returning home alive.

His parents and brothers were still waiting for him back home.

At that moment, on the front-line positions, as they faced the Japanese charge, more than just the forward trenches were firing.

In the machine gun nests situated on higher ground, heavy machine gunners on both sides were simultaneously spraying bullets at the Japanese below.

The advantage of the commanding height was utilized to its fullest extent.

Japanese soldiers were constantly falling under the machine gun fire.

The battle was exceptionally fierce.

These Japanese soldiers seemed to have no regard for their lives, relentlessly attacking the 262nd Brigade's positions.

In a machine gun nest, Wang Desheng gripped a Maxim heavy machine gun, firing wildly at the Japanese below.

Thanks to the reinforced fortifications, it was difficult for the Japanese below to threaten him.

He glared at the Japanese, his eyes gradually turning bloodshot.

He fired frantically while the soldier beside him feeding the ammo belt was kept incredibly busy.

The Maxim's firepower was formidable, but it consumed ammunition at a rapid rate.

One person alone couldn't handle it; someone had to be there to help load the ammunition.

Wang Desheng's eyes were now red with killing intent.

The battle had lasted for over ten minutes, and he had already killed dozens of Japanese devils.

Thinking of his comrades who had died on the Shanghai battlefield, a surge of fury rose in his heart.

Now, he would make these Japanese pay for it in blood.

He had long since resolved to sacrifice himself on the battlefield, but he only asked to kill as many Japanese as possible before he died.

That way, he could face his fallen comrades in the afterlife with a clear conscience.

The battle continued for about two hours. With the sun hanging high in the sky, most of the first wave of Japanese attackers were wiped out, with only a few retreating.

By the end of this fight, the barrel of the Maxim heavy machine gun in Wang Desheng's hands was glowing red.

After two hours of continuous firing, even the Maxim's built-in water-cooling system couldn't keep the barrel cool.

Seeing the Japanese being driven back, the physically and mentally exhausted Wang Desheng slumped directly onto the sandbags beside him, panting heavily without any regard for his appearance.

The soldier who had been loading the ammunition beside him had also collapsed on the ground from exhaustion.

That Wang Desheng could fire continuously for two hours was largely thanks to this soldier's non-stop loading.

Otherwise, if the loading speed had slowed down, he would have been forced to stop.

During these two hours of combat, Wang Desheng didn't even know how many Japanese he had killed; he only knew that wherever his machine gun swept, the Japanese fell in swathes.

Seeing so many Japanese fall before his gun, Wang Desheng felt a sense of gratification.

Having killed so many enemies, he could now die without regrets.

In the positions below, the Japanese offensive had been fierce. Although the first wave was successfully repelled, the cost they paid was not small.

Over a hundred Chinese Soldiers had sacrificed their lives.

While they were engaged in combat, the Japanese had also been constantly bombarding their positions with mortars.

Many soldiers had been hit by the shells.

However, the Japanese had only just retreated.

Before Wang Desheng could get enough rest, he heard the whistling sound of shells cutting through the air from the horizon.

Immediately following that, explosions began to ring out continuously across the positions below.

The Japanese had started their bombardment again.

Explosions echoed incessantly across the battlefield.

The trenches, which weren't very deep to begin with, were once again leveled by the Japanese shells.

Many soldiers were hit by the shells, falling to the ground with their fates unknown.

Wang Desheng's expression grew solemn as he witnessed the Japanese bombardment.

The fortification he was in could withstand these shells, but his comrades below were completely exposed to the Japanese fire.

They had nowhere to hide. Only the trenches below offered some cover, but the protection these trenches provided was almost negligible.

Every Japanese shell would hurl the earth into the air before it scattered back down.

The second round of bombardment came and went quickly.

But this time, the losses inflicted on the defenders were even greater than the first.

During the first bombardment, the trenches were still somewhat intact, but many had been flattened after that initial round.

By this second bombardment, the Chinese Soldiers could only huddle in the ruins of the trenches.

If a shell exploded near them, the trenches couldn't completely block the shrapnel.

Once hit by shrapnel, their chances of survival were slim.

Wang Desheng's heart ached as he watched, but faced with the Japanese artillery, they were powerless.

From the Shanghai battlefield to Jinling, the Japanese artillery had been invariably effective.

They simply had no way to counter it.

How tragic it is for a nation to be so weak.