60: Chapter 60 is progressing smoothly.
Zhou Yang watched their actions; compared to those ordinary players...
The combat proficiency of the Huaxia military soldiers was indeed much higher.
On the battlefield, they moved in three-man cells, utilizing alleyway cover to advance in leapfrog formation rather than blindly charging forward.
This significantly reduced potential casualties.
Even so, casualties were still unavoidable.
Facing the devils' machine guns and cannons,
there would always be unfortunate souls who got hit.
In the virtual conference room of the Eastern Military Region, a group of high-ranking generals watched General Huang Wei's command.
The battle at Bazi Bridge had already begun.
Not only that, but at the other end, Hongkou Airport was also preparing for a siege.
To quickly deal with the devils at Hongkou Airport, an entire Independent Brigade had been assigned to the task.
Scouts had surveyed the Airport's fire points; most were pillbox fortifications, with only a few machine gun nests on open ground.
Seeing these pillbox fortifications through his binoculars, Brigade Commander Qian Hong's brow furrowed slightly.
If these pillbox fire points weren't dealt with, it would be very difficult for them to break in.
Even if they did manage to break in, it would result in heavy casualties.
They had to force the Little Devils out of these pillboxes.
"Do you have any way to deal with the devils in the pillboxes? Or just forcing them out would work," Brigade Commander Qian Hong asked, looking at his Chief of Staff.
"My suggestion is to send in a Suicide Squad carrying grenades and toss them into the pillboxes."
"Of course, it would be great if we had tear gas, but unfortunately we don't. However, we can use Chili powder as a substitute," the Chief of Staff continued.
"Fine, immediately send people to collect all the Chili powder in our brigade," Brigade Commander Qian Hong ordered.
Although the Huaxia military of this era lacked supplies, there was still Chili powder to be found.
After all, it wasn't some scarce strategic resource, but a seasoning found in every household.
Soon, the Chili powder from the entire brigade was gathered together.
"The Chili powder is collected. How should we use it?" Brigade Commander Qian Hong asked the Chief of Staff.
"I've seen some videos before that recorded how mixing Chili powder with grenades and explosives can create Chili powder Tear gas canisters," the Chief of Staff replied.
"You've even seen stuff like that?" Brigade Commander Qian Hong was somewhat surprised.
He really didn't know anything about this.
After all, they usually had specialized Tear gas canisters and had no need to manufacture such crude ones.
But that was under the conditions of a complete modern military industry.
In the current situation, they had no other choice but to make them themselves.
"Yes," the Chief of Staff nodded.
"If we make these Crude tear gas canisters now, how long will it take to finish?" What Brigade Commander Qian Hong cared about now was whether making these crude canisters would be time-consuming.
After all, they didn't have much preparation time left.
"To turn all this Chili powder into Crude tear gas canisters, if you assign me 200 men, it can all be finished within three hours," the Chief of Staff stated.
"Three hours is still too long. I'll give you two hours," Brigade Commander Qian Hong said, shaking his head.
The mission given to him by his superiors was to launch the attack in three hours without fail.
If he gave the Chief of Staff three hours, there wouldn't be enough time left.
"Can you manage that?"
"No problem," the Chief of Staff nodded.
"Good, then get to it quickly."
Hearing this, the Chief of Staff immediately left to get to work.
In less than two hours,
all the Chili powder had been made into Crude tear gas canisters.
Looking at the four hundred-plus Crude tear gas canisters before him, whether they could reduce casualties later would depend on their performance.
Looking at the devils' positions in the distance, Brigade Commander Qian Hong applied to General Huang Wei for artillery support.
He needed to use artillery fire to drive the devils on the ground positions into the pillbox shelters.
After all, the fire points of these ground fortifications were no joke; if they weren't driven away with artillery,
once the attack began, they would certainly suffer heavy casualties.
Soon, Brigade Commander Qian Hong's request for artillery support was granted.
As thunderous roars echoed from the horizon, dozens of shells landed on the devils' positions at the Airport.
These shells immediately blew many devils to pieces.
The remaining devils who weren't killed all scrambled in a panic into the pillbox shelters.
After all, they weren't stupid; failing to find cover in the face of artillery fire meant being a sitting duck.
This sudden artillery strike left them all dazed.
Only after they regained their senses did they dare believe this was a proactive attack by the Huaxia army.
At this moment, Brigade Commander Qian Hong gave the order for the Suicide Squad to charge, enter the Airport quickly, and clear the path for the offensive.
The Airport had two perimeters: a wire fence and an electrified fence.
Soon, these two perimeters were blown open.
Members of the Suicide Squad rushed into the Airport; they were agile, sprinting right up to the pillboxes.
However, the devils inside the pillboxes were no pushovers either.
After the wave of artillery fire, they quickly organized a counterattack.
Heavy machine guns continuously poured bullets out from the pillbox embrasures.
Many soldiers who hadn't yet reached the pillboxes were swept by machine-gun fire and fell to the ground.
Such a bloody scene stimulated the remaining survivors.
But there was no fear in their hearts, only a chest full of rage.
Seeing comrades they knew and were familiar with die before their eyes, even knowing this was a game, they were fully immersed.
"Damn you, Little Devils! Have a taste of a Tear gas grenade!"
A soldier covered in dust crawled to the side of a pillbox; seeing the fire-spitting embrasure nearby, he triggered a homemade Tear gas grenade, timed it perfectly, and tossed it into the opening.
As soon as the grenade was tossed in, it exploded immediately.
It killed the devils operating the machine gun on the spot; besides them, several other devils were also heavily wounded.
Thick red smoke swirled within the confined space of the pillbox.
"Little Devils, here's a few more for you!" Outside the pillbox, that soldier triggered several more Tear gas grenades.
Then he tossed them all inside.
One devil had just run to the machine gun and was about to continue firing,
only to have two Tear gas grenades explode right in his face.
In an instant, blood splattered everywhere, staining the interior walls of the pillbox.
The thick smoke swirled inside the pillbox; additionally, because it was windy outside, the strong wind blew the smoke mixed with Chili powder from the machine gun port into the depths of the fortification.
The devils inside the pillbox smelled the thick smoke and began to cough violently, one by one.
With this fire point ceasing fire, the Suicide Squad members immediately rushed to the next pillbox.
In the rear, Brigade Commander Qian Hong saw that progress was smooth, and a smile appeared on his face.
By now, the main force was already pushing forward.
Once the fire from these pillboxes stopped, they could drive straight in and enter the Airport.
At this moment, many of the devils in the pillboxes were so choked that they fled out of the bunkers.
But just as they ran out, before they could even catch their breath,
countless bullets poured toward them.
Seeing this, the devils still inside the pillboxes immediately didn't dare to come out again.
Inside the pillbox, it was at most some choking; they could hold on for a while by covering their mouths and noses, but running out meant death.
But the Huaxia soldiers catching up from behind wouldn't be polite to them.
Finding the pillbox entrances, they threw grenades directly inside.