Chapter 211: Victory

Zhao Dashan pressed himself tightly behind the fortifications, his gaze locked on the mountain below—as the figures of the bandit soldiers completely entered the effective range of the rifles, he immediately lowered his voice and ordered: "Those who have been soldiers, set up your guns! Fire!"

"Bang, bang, bang!" The sound of gunfire suddenly exploded, and the five in the very front were hit and fell to the ground immediately.

Yet the bandit soldiers behind them did not retreat; instead, their bloodlust was stirred. They tilted their necks back one after another to fire at the Shanzhai walls, the bullets "whooshing" through the air and smashing into the fortifications, making a "pitter-patter" sound.

Three refugees on the Shanzhai wall poked their heads out to shoot, but they stayed too long and were shot in the head.

The smell of blood spread instantly, and the gunfire on the Shanzhai wall suddenly thinned out.

Only a dozen or so who had been soldiers were still firing in turns; the remaining refugees were mostly trembling in both hands, struggling even to load bullets. After finally pushing a bullet into the chamber, they held their guns but dared not expose their heads, firing blindly instead.

The bandit soldiers' footsteps drew closer and closer, only fifty meters away from the Shanzhai wall. Zhao Dashan shouted: "Whoever the hell is cowering in the back playing dead! If you don't fire, I'll blow your head off!"

The roar pierced through the gunfire, and the twenty-some refugees shuddered, instantly snapping back to their senses.

They followed the essentials taught to them earlier, quickly poking out to fire; although their movements were clumsy, there was finally some method to them.

The bandit soldiers watched this inaccurate shooting and laughed even more arrogantly. They stretched their necks and shouted: "You stinking beggars! Hurry up and open the Shanzhai gate to surrender! Our Regimental Commander might still leave you a path to live! Otherwise, when we charge up, we'll peel your skin off to feed the dogs!"

Jin Yi lay behind the sandbags, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on the footsteps of the bandit soldiers, his finger tightly hooked on the pull-ring of a grenade.

When the first bandit soldier stepped into the thirty-meter range, he roared fiercely: "Pull the cord! Count to three seconds before throwing!"

Over forty grenades were gripped in their hands, but some forgot to count the seconds, and a few others panicked even more, throwing them without pulling the cords, causing them to land at the bandit soldiers' feet.

"Boom, boom, boom!" The explosions finally rang out, and the forty-some grenades only managed to blow down eight bandit soldiers in the end.

The Security Regiment soldiers began to scatter, lying on the ground and firing at the Shanzhai wall.

They were all trained; their bullets seemed to have eyes. Four or five refugees had just poked their heads out when they were hit in the head, fresh blood splashing onto the fortifications, and the gunfire on the Shanzhai wall went silent instantly.

Zhao Dashan looked at the refugees huddled into a ball and was so angry he kicked the sandbag beside him: "All of you, get up and fire! If you hide now, when the bandit soldiers charge in later, you won't even have the chance to beg for mercy!"

Only then did the refugees tremblingly pick up their guns and start loading, poking their heads out, and pulling the triggers again, their movements clumsily making one anxious.

Zhao Dashan gritted his teeth and pulled the trigger in his own hand—"Da-da-da..." the roar of the ZB vz. 26 Light Machine Gun instantly drowned out all other sounds.

At this moment, the bandit soldiers were only thirty meters from the Shanzhai wall. The machine gun bullets swept over like dense raindrops, and swathes of bandit soldiers fell to the ground in response; screams and wails mixed with the gunfire, echoing in the valley.

Just then, the sound of a Submachine Gun "tu-tu-tu" came from the hill on the left. He Yuzhu pulled the trigger, the bullets sweeping precisely toward the flank of the bandit soldiers, and seven or eight bandit soldiers were instantly knocked down, rolling down the hillside.

Company Commander Feng was stunned by this sudden flanking fire. He wiped the dust off his face and roared as he charged forward: "What are you afraid of! They only have one machine gun! Charge up and we can break the Shanzhai!"

"Company Commander! The machine gun is too fierce!" a Platoon Leader shouted.

"Get the Explosive! Blow the main gate!" Company Commander Feng's eyes were bloodshot; he had long since been blinded by the killing.

A bandit soldier was forced to carry the explosive pack and, hunching his waist, charged toward the Shanzhai gate.

"Not good!" Jin Yi on the Shanzhai wall caught a glimpse of it and immediately raised his Box Cannon, the muzzle aimed steadily at the bandit soldier carrying the explosive pack.

"Bang!" The bullet hit the explosive pack dead center. "Boom—" a loud noise shook the very mountain, and the shockwave instantly blew away the five bandit soldiers nearby; by the time their corpses hit the ground, they were already mangled flesh.

The barrel of Zhao Dashan's machine gun was already burned red, blue smoke rising along the barrel, but he still kept his finger tightly on the trigger.

Jin Yi, meanwhile, gripped his Box Cannon, staring fixedly at the Shanzhai wall; as long as any bandit soldier approached the wall, his bullets would immediately shoot over.

But there were simply too many bandit soldiers, and more and more hooks were being hung onto the wall; two bandit soldiers had already climbed nearly to the top.

"Damn it!" Zhao Dashan's machine gun suddenly made a "click" sound—it jammed. He was so angry he threw the machine gun to the side, snatched a Type 38 Arisaka from a refugee's hand, pulled the bolt and chambered a round in one fluid motion, aimed at the bandit soldier climbing the wall, and pulled the trigger, while roaring: "If you keep hiding and don't fire, I'll blow your heads off right now!"

The thirty-some people behind the cover were intimidated by the roar and finally summoned the courage to raise their guns and fire downward one after another.

He Yuzhu saw clearly from the hill that the refugees' firepower could not stop the bandit soldiers at all. He immediately took another machine gun from his space and set it on a rock; the "da-da-da" sound of gunfire rang out once more.

The appearance of this second machine gun completely crushed the confidence of the Security Regiment—they had originally thought that if they waited until the first machine gun stopped firing, they could break through, but now their backs were completely exposed to the firepower. No one dared to charge forward again, and they turned and retreated one after another.

Regimental Commander Zhai stood in the back, watching Company Commander Feng fall into a pool of blood, his own men also suffering more than half casualties. His legs went soft with fear, and he grabbed two guards and ran down the mountain: "Retreat! Retreat quickly!"

He Yuzhu had long been eyeing him. Seeing him about to run, he immediately turned the machine gun muzzle and pulled the trigger on the three of them.

"Da-da-da..." One magazine was emptied, and Regimental Commander Zhai and his two guards fell one after another. Regimental Commander Zhai's corpse rolled down the steep hillside, finally falling into the mountain stream with a "plop," disappearing without a trace.

The remaining bandit soldiers saw that their officers were all dead and completely lost their backbone. They turned to flee, but He Yuzhu's machine gun had already sealed off their retreat.

They panicked and, catching sight of a giant rock not far away, swarmed toward it, hiding behind the rock and not even daring to poke their heads out.

The refugees on the Shanzhai wall saw that the bandit soldiers had lost their momentum and gradually dared to poke their heads out. Bullets "bang-bang" shot toward the giant rock, and some even gathered the courage to throw a grenade over, scaring the bandit soldiers behind the rock so much they didn't even dare to fire.

He Yuzhu saw that the timing was just right and quietly pressed the Remote Control Button in his pocket with his fingertip.

"Boom!" With a earth-shattering roar, the giant rock was sent rolling by the Explosive hidden underneath, rolling directly into the mountain stream.

The bandit soldiers hiding behind it didn't even have time to scream before they were blown away by the shockwave.

Everyone on the Shanzhai wall was shaken to the ground by this explosion, their guns falling to the ground with a "clatter." They were stunned for a full three seconds before they reacted: how did the crisis that was just inches away vanish in the blink of an eye?

After a brief silence, earth-shattering cheers erupted from the Shanzhai wall. Some were so excited they cried, and some hugged those around them, jumping and leaping.

The Shanzhai gate was pulled open with a "creak," and the refugees excitedly poured out, scrambling for the guns and ammunition on the ground, their faces full of the joy of surviving a disaster.

Zhao Dashan walked over carrying a bayonet and ordered the refugees: "Come here, all of you! Everyone use your bayonet to stab the bandit soldiers' corpses once! Those who don't dare to stab, don't even think about getting half a Big Ocean when we divide them up later!"

The refugees looked at one another; some closed their eyes, their hands trembling as they stabbed their bayonets into the corpses; others had barely approached before they were overwhelmed by the smell of blood, turning to squat by the roadside and retch violently.

He Yuzhu did not join in the excitement. He came down from the hill, patted the dust off his body, and walked straight toward the Shanzhai.

Just as he reached the intersection, he saw Ding Li running over carrying a copper pot. Seeing that he was unscathed, a smile immediately bloomed on her face: "Brother! It's great that you're alright! Hurry and drink some water; I was worried to death hearing the gunfire just now!"

"I'm fine." He Yuzhu took the copper pot and tilted his head back to take a large gulp.

"The explosion just now scared me to death!" Ding Li said, patting her small chest.

"It's still chaotic outside, you hurry back to take care of your mother and don't come out again."

"Got it!" Ding Li nodded and walked quickly toward home, carrying the copper pot.

At this time, Zhao Dashan walked over carrying the jammed machine gun, his face a mix of anger and laughter: "This piece of junk machine gun, it drops the chain at the critical moment! If it weren't for your machine gun saving the day, our Shanzhai wouldn't have been able to hold out today!"

"It's not that the gun is bad, it's that you should have changed the barrel."

"I was in too much of a hurry just now and forgot about that," Zhao Dashan said, patting his own head.

At this moment, Jin Yi ran over quickly and said: "Zhuzi, a dozen or so logistics soldiers ran away. Do you think they'll go to fetch reinforcements?"

"The possibility is still quite high, but let's not think about that for now; let's celebrate the victory first!" He Yuzhu said in a low voice.