Chapter 275: The Yangtze River Is the Little Devil's Grave

On the river surface, this fleet silently sailing in the downpour is the Japanese Army's 13th Division 104th Regiment's 1st Battalion, riding five armed gunboats and three transport ships, the holds packed with soldiers and ammunition.

On the flagship's bridge, regiment commander Hai Fu Sanqianxiong stares at the black river surface through a telescope. Rain wets his military coat, but he does not notice. This support for the Yueyang defenders is led by him personally. In his view, it is merely a relaxed armed parade. He believes that as long as his troops appear behind the Xin Qiang River Defensive Line, the Chinese Army locked with the 6th Regiment will instantly collapse.

Hai Fu Sanqianxiong's confidence is not without basis.

The 13th Division, as an elite of the Japanese Army, its division commander Lieutenant General Nei Shan Yingtairang, after receiving Yueyang's request for tactical support, displayed astonishing efficiency.

He not only immediately approved the 104th Regiment's operation, but also at once adjusted the entire 13th Division's defense sector, sternly ordering all units to heighten vigilance to prevent the Chinese Army from exploiting any gaps.

The 104th Regiment's defense sector was originally at Xiaoting, a key stronghold guarding Yichang. Now the regiment's main force has been withdrawn, leaving only a single battalion to garrison. Thus the 13th Division's strength toward Yichang has been further reduced.

Hai Fu Sanqianxiong is not worried about this. He believes offense is the best defense.

As long as he can swiftly resolve Yueyang's crisis, this is a chance to achieve great merit; the th War Zone has even taken the initiative to deploy. Once his regiment appears behind the th War Zone, encircling those China elite in Yueyang, he is sure the headquarters will promote him.

In another hour they will pass Jiangling, after which a smooth downstream waterway awaits.

"Full speed ahead!" he orders the Messenger, his voice full of arrogant determination.

However, while he is immersed in his tactical imagination, he fails to notice that the heavy rain overhead blocks his view, and several cold eyes have already locked onto them via radar. He also does not know that his supposedly unnoticed surprise attack has been exposed to the Chinese Army's sight from the start.

Three P‑38 fighters of Ghost Second Squad have already been circling at high altitude for several rounds. The thick clouds and torrential rain serve as their best natural shield.

On the river surface, the Japanese Army fleet continues to sail in darkness; due to the heavy rain, the soldiers on board do not hear the faint, muffled engine roar overhead.

Only the scattered navigation lights of the fleet and the glaring searchlight sweep back and forth across the black banks, like a vigilant yet uneasy eye.

Clearly, the Little Devils marching on the Yangtze at night are also cautious, not reckless.

Chen Youping glanced at the fuel gauge, then at the unsuspecting target below, and decided not to wait for the battalion commander. The longer the aircraft linger in the air, the higher the chance of being spotted, and the greater the risk of the enemy approaching Yueyang.

"Number Five, Number Six, follow me, attack the ships below!" Chen Youping's voice rang over the radio, tinged with an uncontrollable excitement.

"Yes, Captain!" pilot of Number Five replied.

"At your command, let's send them to meet Yama!" pilot of Number Six was even more direct.

Chen Youping thrust the control stick forward sharply; instantly, the P‑38 "Lightning" fighter's engine roared, speed surged. To make the bomb drop more precise, he accelerated while descending sharply, the aircraft like a black blade stabbing the river surface.

On the deck of the Niao Yu Hao inland gunboat, the deck was extremely slippery.

A patrol soldier named Sato curled his neck, leaning against the rail, and whispered to a sergeant named Gao Yu, "Sergeant Gao Yu, this damned weather is lethal, worse than the winter in Manchuria."

Sergeant Gao Yu hummed, pulled a crumpled photo from his pocket, glanced at it by the faint cabin light; the photo showed a young woman smiling shyly.

"Sato, stop complaining. When we reach Yueyang, the regiment commander will give us leave. Then the China flower girl will be huge! Much prettier than this!" He shoved the photo back into his pocket, a lecherous grin on his face.

The photo was Gao Yu's fiancée.

Sato laughed mischievously, about to say more, when Gao Yu suddenly lifted his head, listening with a puzzled ear.

"What did you hear?"

"What?" Sato was stunned for a moment.

"It sounded… like wind?" Gao Yu frowned, an inexplicable unease rising. That wind seemed off, not a simple howl but a… increasingly sharp whine!

Before he could react, Chen Youping's P‑38 swooped down like a deity, tearing through the rain curtain, roaring over their heads!

Immediately after, a blackish object fell from under the wing, bearing a deathly scream, striking the deck of Niao Yu Hao with precision.

"Enemy attack—!"

Gao Yu could only shout this line; the next second, a deafening explosion devoured everything!

The bomb hit the gunboat's midsection; the fragile hull was ripped open by a huge gash, soaring flames mixed with steel fragments and human limbs shot upward.

A 100‑kilogram bomb split the ship's hull in two.

Chen Youping's bomb drop was extremely precise.

Machine guns and small‑caliber cannons, before this horrific blast, became jokes.

Almost simultaneously, Number Five and Number Six dived, each bomb striking a transport ship in the middle of the formation and another gunboat at the rear.

The transport ship, directly hit by ammunition, triggered a more violent chain explosion; the whole vessel erupted like a volcano, disintegrating instantly on the river. The gunboat lost power, spun on the water, thick smoke billowed, and it soon half‑sank.

In just a few seconds, the river surface was filled with two massive bonfires and countless struggling, wailing silhouettes. The surviving Japanese Army gunboats fell into chaos, the searchlights flickered madly, the ship's machine guns fired aimlessly at the sky, wasting ammunition but hitting nothing.

Having landed a hit, Chen Youping immediately pulled up; the fighter traced a graceful arc in the sky, he coldly looked at the human hell below and said over the radio, "Ghost Second Squad, prepare for the second round of attack!"

Sato, caught in the explosion, fell into the icy Yangtze; he might have escaped, but the damaged hull of Niao Yu Hao pressed down from directly above.

No.

It wants to live; it desperately tries to swim to the river surface.

But beneath the hull, something drags it down.

The suffocating feeling nearly makes him lose consciousness; the last image in his mind is a child.

That was in Nanjing!

It cut off the child's head!

And now it will go to hell, receiving the punishment it deserves!

The crimes it committed on the Yangtze banks will also end on the Yangtze.