125: Chapter 125 They Are All Heroes

In the Command Post of the Purple Mountain Observatory, General Huang Wei learned the news that the Japanese had launched poison gas.

His brows immediately furrowed.

If the Japanese had used conventional offensive tactics, he would not have been overly concerned.

But now they were using poison gas.

This stuff was truly disgusting.

However, he also knew that in war, everything is fair game.

Once on the battlefield, it is always a matter of life and death.

It's just that modern warfare is different from the past.

Everyone possesses poison gas and understands its power.

That is why they choose not to use it.

Just like nuclear weapons; everyone knows their destructive power.

When everyone has them, no one dares to use them first.

Because if it fails to end the war, it will result in mutual destruction.

But when facing a nation without these weapons, they certainly won't abide by so-called treaties in secret.

Therefore, there are things you may not use, but you cannot be without them.

Only when everyone has them will the opponent hesitate; if you don't have them, the opponent will have no reservations at all.

Facing the poison gas, General Huang Wei had no good solution.

The Training Corps was equipped with gas masks, but the quantity was limited.

It was impossible to provide one for everyone; only a small number of Chinese Soldiers could be equipped.

To prevent the Japanese from taking advantage of the situation to attack, General Huang Wei immediately dispatched men to equip a portion of the troops with these gas masks and go intercept the Japanese offensive.

Since the Japanese were using poison gas, they must have been equipped with gas masks themselves.

If the Japanese were to suddenly attack during the gap while the gas was spreading...

…those Chinese Soldiers caught in the poison gas would have no way to resist.

"Adjutant Chen, handle this matter. Hurry, as even a second's delay could cause irreversible losses," General Huang Wei said, looking at the adjutant beside him with a stern expression.

"Yes, General," Adjutant Chen nodded.

He immediately went to the defensive works beneath the observatory to assemble five hundred of the most elite Chinese Soldiers, then took them to the supply depot to collect gas masks.

The gas masks available to the Training Corps were limited.

Because before the war started, they never imagined the Japanese would actually use poison gas.

By the time they realized the Japanese would use poison gas, it was too late to procure more.

Because by the time the procured gas masks arrived in China, the battle would have already ended.

Besides that, there were various other reasons why they didn't buy more gas masks.

The most important one being: no money.

It wasn't that there was no money to buy them, but that there wasn't enough money to equip every soldier.

If they were to equip every soldier with a gas mask, the additional expense would be enough to buy even more weapons.

Of course, a large portion might have also ended up in Commissioner Smith's pocket.

As the most elite unit in China, the Training Corps didn't have many gas masks either.

Although they used German equipment, it was only a portion of their gear.

Compared to a true German-equipped Division, there was still a significant gap.

Even so, it significantly boosted the combat effectiveness of the Training Corps.

This shows just how backward the equipment of other ordinary Chinese armies was.

After receiving the gas masks, these Chinese Soldiers immediately put on their protective gear.

Then, they left the observatory.

By this time, the area outside the observatory was shrouded in a hazy red fog; sunlight pierced through the red mist, casting an orange-red glow everywhere.

These Chinese Soldiers ran toward the positions at the foot of the mountain.

Even with the gas masks on, the Chinese Soldiers still felt their breathing was somewhat labored.

These gas masks could filter out most of the poison gas, but a small amount was still inhaled into their lungs.

However, this gas wouldn't make them collapse and lose combat effectiveness immediately.

But the discomfort was unavoidable.

And the longer they stayed in the poison gas, the more uncomfortable they would become.

Once the activated carbon in the gas masks lost its effectiveness, they would still be poisoned.

Realizing this, the leading battalion commander immediately quickened his pace and shouted to the Chinese Soldiers behind him:

"Brothers, speed it up! Our time is limited! Move! Move! If we are a second late, the Japanese might overrun our position."

After the battalion commander finished speaking, he took the lead and started running.

Hearing the shout, the Chinese Soldiers behind him immediately quickened their pace.

Several dozen minutes later, they arrived at the front-line position.

On the position, the remains of fallen Chinese Soldiers were everywhere. Most had not had time to find cover before the poison gas spread, and their simple cloths were unable to filter out much of the gas.

Some Chinese Soldiers ran over to collect the remains. Most of the bodies were lying on their sides, their hands clutching their mouths and chests, with expressions of agony.

One soldier laid a body flat and felt a pang of sorrow upon seeing the white foam gushing from its mouth and nose.

At that moment, the livestream room feed happened to broadcast this scene.

Many viewers were deeply moved upon seeing this.

"The Japanese really deserve to die for using poison gas. My heart aches to see our Chinese Soldiers die in such agony."

"I can't even imagine how painful that must be."

"They are all heroes! This scene is truly heartbreaking."

"Does anyone know what this poison gas is?"

"Not really sure. This red mist is likely synthetic, but there are many gases with a similar color, so it's impossible to be certain."

"To be able to produce this kind of poison gas, there must have been specialized research, and human experimentation was certainly involved. Perhaps while invading China, these Japanese were also conducting such heinous human experiments in China."

"There must have been human experimentation. Poison gas is a weapon researched by maniacs. If they weren't conducting human experiments in China, would they be doing it in their own country?"

The viewers in the livestream room could not calm down for a long time after seeing this scene.

The Chinese Soldiers on the scene felt the same way.

Being on the scene, the sights they witnessed were even more shocking.

The visual impact of this scene was even more intense.

They were already so uncomfortable wearing gas masks, let alone those Chinese Soldiers who didn't have them.

They could even imagine the despair those Chinese Soldiers felt as they struggled and suffered after inhaling the poison gas.

"Brothers, salute!"

Battalion Commander Zhang Decai felt the same sorrow in his heart as he witnessed these scenes.

He stood straight and saluted the remains of these Chinese Soldiers on the ground.

The other Chinese Soldiers did not speak; they silently stood straight and saluted the remains.

They died on the battlefield fighting against the Japanese.

At this moment, they had forgotten everything; there was only the desire to kill the enemy and seek revenge.

These Chinese Soldiers wearing gas masks immediately took over the position.

Shortly after they took over the position, a soldier spotted the figures of the Japanese.

"Battalion Commander, the Japanese are here! You were right; these Little Devils really came to launch a sneak attack." On the position, a soldier spotted hazy shadows within the red mist.

After careful identification, he confirmed that the shadows below were the Japanese.

These Japanese were wearing gas masks and were swaggering up the hill.

They were not on guard at all.

The Japanese were moving slowly.

Clearly, the poison gas was affecting them as well.