119: Chapter 119 Bloodbath at Purple Gold Mountain

Inside the Eastern Military Region livestream room.

General Huang Wei opened the game.

"Good evening, viewers in the livestream room. Today is the first time our Eastern Military Region is streaming this game. The livestream will now be conducted by Major General Huang of our military region, and the participants are active-duty soldiers from our military region."

"Today's featured scenario is the Battle of Zijin Mountain; everyone, please look forward to their performance."

There were two hosts in the livestream room, one male and one female.

Their livestream view was in god's-eye perspective, allowing them to switch angles at will.

Hearing the hosts' words, the audience in the livestream room immediately became boisterous.

"I've been waiting so long; is it finally starting?"

"Haha, are there any betting pools open? Let's see which military region performs the best."

"I feel like finishing with a score of sixty or seventy would be pretty good. I've played several rounds, and every time I couldn't last more than an hour before being wiped out. I get a score of twenty or thirty every time; I'm already mentally broken."

"Isn't sixty or seventy points underestimating them? They should at least get eighty points."

"You'll only know once you play; it's too early to guess now."

At this moment, General Huang Wei entered the game.

The Battle of Zijin Mountain began.

Just after entering the game, a light blue, transparent panel popped up before General Huang Wei's eyes.

[Battle of Zijin Mountain — The "Anvil" Battle of the Battle of Nanjing (December 10-12, 1937)]

[Zijin Mountain has an elevation of 448 meters and overlooks the entire city of Nanjing; its high point, the Purple Mountain Observatory, was designed by German advisors as a permanent fortress.]

[Three-layer circular fortifications: reinforced concrete bunkers + trench networks + minefields.]

[Defenders: Training Corps (German-equipped Division) 1st, 3rd, and 5th Regiments (approximately 11,000 men).]

[Japanese Army main attack: 16th Division, 33rd Regiment. Attachments: 14th Field Heavy Artillery Regiment (24 150mm howitzers). 12th Independent Engineer Regiment (flamethrower squads). 3rd Aviation Group (30 bombing sorties daily), totaling about 6,700 men.]

[Defender casualties were about 10,650, including 9,073 dead or missing, with only 350 successfully breaking out. Casualty rate was approximately 97.5%.]

[Japanese Army casualties were about 3,500, with 1,201 dead or missing; casualty rate was 53.4%.]

[This battle was the defining battle of China's most elite Training Corps, and also its last. After this battle, the name Training Corps ceased to exist.]

Upon seeing this introduction, some viewers in the livestream room immediately located the real-world Zijin Mountain in the city of Nanjing.

Many viewers in the livestream room had never played this game; they were just curious after seeing the military region start a stream, so they came to watch.

They wanted to see how strong the various military regions were.

"Holy crap, I found this place on the map; does it really correspond to reality?"

"If a battle were to really happen in Nanjing, Zijin Mountain would definitely be an important high ground; this place would certainly be a strategic stronghold."

"Isn't Zijin Mountain a scenic spot? Can this place really be a battlefield?"

"Of course it can. The area around Nanjing is mostly flat land; this mountain is the only high point."

At this time, General Huang Wei finished reading the introduction to the Battle of Zijin Mountain.

He took a deep breath.

Unlike ordinary players entering the game, General Huang Wei and his team had deployment time.

It wasn't like ordinary players who start fighting as soon as they enter the game.

They had no reaction time at all.

Of course, their deployment time was not much.

A time displayed briefly in front of him.

December 9th, 17:00.

Subsequently, the time disappeared.

General Huang Wei knew the current time.

And the Japanese Army would attack tomorrow.

As for when they would attack, General Huang Wei did not know.

With time pressing, General Huang Wei did not overthink.

He immediately ordered his adjutant to take inventory of all the defenders' weapons and equipment.

The Battle of Zijin Mountain was held for three days; he felt he could lead his troops to hold it for four.

As for winning, after seeing the casualty ratio of this battle, he didn't have much confidence.

Even with the advantage of being the defenders, they still suffered such casualties.

This shows that this bloody battle must have been extremely difficult.

Previously, during the Battle of Hongkou in the Battle of Shanghai, they were the attackers and held the advantage in manpower and initiative, but even then, winning was extremely difficult.

Now, as the defenders, with solid fortifications and the enemy having only half their manpower, they still suffered a casualty rate as high as 97.5%.

This shows that this battle must have been a lopsided affair.

It is very likely that the Japanese Army's firepower was too fierce.

The gap in equipment between the two sides was too great.

After realizing this, General Huang Wei decided to focus primarily on defense, but at the same time, split off a portion of his troops to use offense as a form of defense.

If all troops huddled in the fortifications, once faced with the Japanese Army's heavy artillery shelling and aerial bombardment, they would only be able to take a beating passively.

If the Japanese infantry took the opportunity to start an attack, they would have no choice but to resist under the artillery fire.

In this way, the casualties would certainly not be small.

It would be better to split off a unit, travel light, and circle to the enemy's rear.

Whether sneaking an attack or harassing the enemy, it could alleviate the pressure on the defense of Zijin Mountain.

If they could hold up the Japanese Army's heavy artillery regiment and prevent the heavy artillery from firing.

Even if this unit were completely wiped out, it would be worth it.

After having some ideas, the adjutant returned and reported the equipment currently at their disposal.

There was a lot of German-made equipment, and the number of heavy machine guns was also not small.

Among them were 24 75mm mountain guns.

This could be considered some good news.

At least there was heavy weaponry, so they wouldn't just be on the receiving end of a beating.

If used properly, they might be able to threaten the Japanese infantry and heavy artillery regiment.

After adjusting the battle plan, a unit of 2,000 men left the Zijin Mountain position under the cover of night.

This unit was specially selected by General Huang Wei; they were skilled in camouflage and could leave without anyone knowing.

Perhaps their combat ability wasn't the strongest, but their camouflage ability was the best in their military region.

They were basically all special forces; for this livestream, General Huang Wei had brought out his strongest assets.

If his performance in this livestream ended up being last among the military regions, he would be famous for all the wrong reasons.

He wouldn't get any praise after the stream either; he would definitely be criticized.

Since he had accepted the challenge, getting first place would be fine, but if he got the other kind of "first," he would be finished.

Late at night, General Huang Wei could not fall asleep.

He attached great importance to this battle; even if he didn't fight the first battle perfectly, it couldn't be too bad.

Many soldiers were also not asleep; they were full of energy.

They didn't know this battle would be livestreamed to the entire network; they were simply unable to sleep.

The time came to 6:00 AM.

Suddenly, a loud noise in the sky broke the tranquility of the Purple Mountain Observatory.

The Japanese Army's heavy artillery regiment began shelling.

Artillery fire poured continuously onto the Purple Mountain Observatory.

General Huang Wei was startled awake by the sound of artillery fire.

He had been resting his eyes in the basement of the observatory, but he hadn't actually fallen asleep.

Hearing the sound of artillery, General Huang Wei didn't feel surprised.

He had long since studied and understood the Japanese Army's tactics.