Chapter 191: Mi Long, Guard Company Captures Tonggu Airport

Baka!

Lieutenant Watanabe clutched the edge of the scattered troops' pit tightly, his fingernails digging deep into the soil. He wasn't cursing anyone; he was in fear, trying to grab something to hide his terror. The sudden attack, such powerful artillery, made Watanabe feel fear.

As an officer, he should have led from the front and inspired his subordinates. But now he doesn't even have the courage to lift his head.

His sense of duty and his will to survive are waging a fierce battle, and the latter is gaining the upper hand.

Lieutenant Watanabe felt the intense trembling of the new recruit Sasaki beside him. The kid was only seventeen, his face still showing childishness, but now his expression was blank from fear, his lips trembling, unable to make a sound. Watanabe wanted to tell him "Hold on!", but he knew it was meaningless. He himself couldn't hold on.

The bombardment began a new round of simultaneous fire. This time it felt closer.

Boom—!

A shell exploded ten‑something meters away. The blast wave, like an invisible giant hand, slapped his steel helmet hard, making his head spin.

Earth fell like raindrops, pouring into his collar. He heard Sasaki let out a short, suppressed scream.

Watanabe snapped his head around.

Sasaki was still alive, but his back was a mess of blood and flesh. A shrapnel piece tore his uniform and the muscles of his back. He didn't cry out, only widened his eyes, staring blankly at the pit's soil as if he didn't understand what had happened.

Where is the medic? Watanabe tried to call, but when he opened his mouth his throat was dry as if about to smoke. Moreover, who would dare rush out now? That would be suicide.

Watanabe felt a deep sense of helplessness. Everything he had learned at the military academy—tactics, courage, the Emperor's teachings—became a joke before this overwhelming artillery.

Could their proud Bushido spirit withstand a 150 mm howitzer? No.

They were not fighting the enemy; for the soldiers of the 55th Division, morale plummeted to the extreme in an instant.

The remnants of the 56th Division's 113th Regiment responded quickly, and amid Matsui Hideharu's curses began counter‑attacking the Chinese army.

Previously the Japanese Army used grenade launchers to draw out Huaxia's fire points, but now it was reversed; once a Japanese fire point is exposed, it will be met by several mortar shells and the terrifying harvesting sound of the MG42, all instantly concentrating fire on the Japanese.

Lieutenant Watanabe lowered his head, looking at Sasaki's continuously bleeding wound and those eyes that had lost their spark. For the first time, Lieutenant Watanabe began to doubt this "holy war".

Tonggu Airport.

Mi Long kept his head down, watching his watch, his hand gripping the MG42 machine gun tightly.

Boom boom boom.

The sound of artillery, the attack began.

"Fire at me." Mi Long, who had already scouted the airport, shouted loudly.

MG42 7.92 mm rounds fell like a waterfall onto the defending troops inside the airport. The Japanese occupying the airport had no idea what was happening, because all their attention was on the distant Tonggu City, where the huge noise clearly came from artillery fire.

The Japanese commander at the airport was still puzzled, wondering if the Tonggu armory had exploded.

But as the sound of shells continued, and bullets whizzed past his cheek,

He shouted, "Baka, enemy incoming, enter the position, counterattack, counterattack."

The Japanese reacted quickly.

Even so fast, they faced Jiang Anguo's Guard Company; the most elite soldiers of his Independent Regiment were all within the Guard Company.

And the Guard Company was holding its breath; their Company Commander Jiang Fei had been killed while carrying out a mission, and they wanted to avenge their Company Commander.

"Revenge!"

An unknown Guard Company soldier shouted, and all the soldiers behind him shouted revenge.

"Revenge!"

"Revenge!"

After the Japanese occupied Tonggu, they repaired Tonggu Airport, also known as Yongke Gang Airport, to station fighter aircraft.

The Type 97 fighters that hadn't taken off from Tonggu Airport were taken down at once by the Guard Company's mortars.

Especially the several circular positions inside the airport, likely the Japanese heavy machine‑gun nests, were also immediately suppressed by multiple mortars.

Jiang Anguo's mission for Mi Long was to launch an attack on Tonggu Airport the moment the shells fell, and to capture Tonggu Airport.

"Second Company, flank me from the left wing. Third Company, flank from the right wing. First Company, join me in the center road to launch an attack on the Little Devils, with mortars, machine gunners, covering the advance." Mi Long issued the attack order.

Yes.

Guard Second Company, Company Commander Zhang Yuan.

Guard Third Company, Company Commander Jiang Chao.

Mi Long led the Independent Regiment's Guard Company, and with overwhelming firepower cleared the Japanese from the airport within half an hour, successfully capturing the airport.

Only a small group of Japanese, seeing the unfavorable situation, fled into the woods or headed north; no Japanese thought of running toward the Tonggu direction, as the artillery there was too terrifying.

To annihilate this Japanese force, the Guard Company that Mi Long brought could not form such an encirclement, even though the Guard Company had five hundred men.

Tonggu main battlefield.

When the artillery briefly paused, the roar of tanks sounded, followed by gunfire and shell explosions.

Bu La Deng Bao crouched on the makeshift firing position, feeling as if all his bones were about to be shaken apart by the recent tremor, his ears buzzing; the scene was so shocking it struck straight to the heart.

He spat out the mud from his mouth, carefully lifted his head, and brought the scope of his Mauser 98k sniper rifle up to his eyes.

In the lens, the whole Tonggu trembled slightly; he steadied himself, as the ground was being shaken and rolled by the bombardment.

Smoke and flash powder filled all of Tonggu, shrouding the opposing Japanese positions.

He patiently searched, inch by inch.

Bu La had the potential to be a sniper, so Jiang Anguo gave Bu La a sniper rifle.

Deng Bao, subordinate to the 2nd Battalion under Yang Zhi, serves as Deputy Company Commander of the Fourth Company.

People are there, guns are there!

The Regiment Commander taught them that fighting is not only about accurate shooting, but also about "finding prey"—finding the fattest, most worthwhile "prey".

This is what makes a qualified sniper; actually, Bu La didn't understand the term sniper, he only knew there were "sniper" in the unit, and he had always wanted a good rifle.

Bu La kept it firmly in his heart.

Suddenly, amid the shaking of the lens, a scene burst in.

Behind a half‑collapsed civil engineering structure on the opposite side, a group of people gathered together. In a battlefield racked with endless artillery, such a dense gathering meant either fools or high‑ranking officers. Bu La's heart skipped a beat.

They steadied their breathing, trying to adjust the focus. Muddy water clung to the lens; they roughly wiped it with the back of their hand, and the view cleared a little.

They saw a military officer brandishing a command sword, roaring something at the people nearby. Even from such a distance, Bu La seemed able to feel that hysterical madness. That fellow's uniform was sharper than the others', and the items on the collar and rank insignia glimmered faintly in the smoke and dust.