Chapter 300: The Battle of Xiaoting (Part 3)

The whistling that tore through the sky suddenly became sharp, as if it would tear the eardrums.

The P-38 piloted by William led the way, like a black blade cutting through the morning mist.

Not far behind him, two oddly shaped P-38 "Lightning" fighters with twin tails like shark fins roared forward, exuding a suffocating pressure.

These double‑bodied monsters are still uncommon in Asian skies; the aircraft now appearing on the Asian battlefield is the American P-40 fighter, that is, the Flying Tigers.

Its distinctive twin engines emit a low, rumbling roar.

The pilot of the second aircraft is William's senior wingman; through the canopy he stares intently at the red plume slowly descending on the ground. That is the path Mi Long pointed out to them, a shortcut to hell.

As for why they are still called the Ghost Squadron, it's because ever since swapping to P-38 fighters, each sortie includes one aircraft carrying a special bomb.

If the Little Devil (Japanese soldier) dares to use poison gas, sorry, Jiang Anguo will not be lenient!

"God bless, may these bombs grow eyes."

The pilot's finger slammed the red bomb‑release button.

The belly of the P-38 jolted upward, and two hundred‑pound aerial bombs broke free from the rack, tracing an almost vertical death line under gravity, whistling chillingly as they plunged straight toward the Japanese Army positions on the ground.

Boom—!!!

The first bomb pierced precisely into the Japanese Army's densest defensive depth.

A thunderous roar shook the heavens, as if thunder cracked on flat ground. A massive fireball surged upward, instantly devouring a small patch of forest. Soil, rock, and the flesh‑and‑blood bodies, before thousands‑degree heat and a colossal shockwave, were as fragile as paper‑mâché toys.

Immediately after, more explosions merged into a chorus.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The following fighters surged behind, dumping their payloads. The ground boiled instantly; the meticulously built fortifications crumbled like children's sandcastles under the heavy bombs. The blast's shockwave whipped up gale‑force winds, uprooting shrubs within dozens of meters.

At the blast's epicenter, Japanese Army company commander Matsui Takeshi barely had a second to scream.

Just moments before, he had lifted his head, brandishing his command sword high, ready to shout the standard Japanese command "Charge" with Bushido Spirit, hoping to break through the Chinese defensive line.

However, Death gave him no chance to swing his sword.

When the bomb struck, a massive blast wave first flipped him onto the ground, then flames devoured everything. The gleaming command sword warped and melted in the heat, finally becoming a lump of scrap metal.

Matsui Takeshi and the soldiers beneath him who hadn't yet crawled out of the bunker were instantly turned to ash in the horrific explosion.

Thick smoke billowed, blotting out the sky.

"Beautiful." Mi Long, seeing all this from afar, punched a stone, barely feeling the pain.

"Bomb them well! Give me a fierce blast! Blow those damned Little Devils into fragments!"

Mi Long did not wait in place for the bombing; while the fighters bombed the Little Devils hidden in the woods at Wang Jia Chong, his third squad, led by squadron leader Xiahou Ping, had already maneuvered swiftly from the right flank to the northwest of the Little Devil positions.

Why not simply loop around the rear to encircle the Little Devils? Mainly because he feared his own aircraft might drop the bombs on his own men.

Xiahou Ping saw the P-38 fighter that had flown away overhead, whistling past; he immediately issued the order, "While those Little Devils are still stunned, swing around quickly! Cut off their rear, let none escape!"

Yet this group of Little Devils, after losing company commander Matsui Takeshi, were led by Second Lieutenant Kimura Naoki, fighting and retreating using the complex terrain of Wang Jia Chong.

Mi Long, seeing the Japanese firepower diminish, immediately prepared a counterattack.

Any hint of weakness in the enemy must be seized.

"Charge, dispersed formation, don't cluster, let machine‑gun fire suppress the enemy, kill through," Mi Long gestured, leading the first and second squads out of the Trench.

"Kill!"

"Charge!"

"Kill the Little Devils!"

A bullet whizzed past Mi Long's ear; his heart skipped a beat, for if the bullet had been off by a degree, his ear could have been gone.

Mi Long's hand felt blood; at least his ear was still intact.

Without hesitation, Mi Long raised his hand and fired a burst from the MG42 toward the spot where the gun had just fired.

Rat‑tat‑tat!

The Little Devil soldier hiding behind the tree was instantly riddled with bullets and fell.

Squad Leader Duan Qiang, seizing the air raid, ordered his men to set up three machine guns to fire at a point, while the rest followed him, charging the Japanese Army positions.

Luo Dashan, seeing from behind, thought, "Bad, now there's no chance to drink soup."

He leapt from the stone, grabbed his big sword, and shouted, "First Battalion, charge with me, kill the Little Devils!"

"Kill the Little Devils, charge!"

"Kill through."

The Chinese Army never lacks the courage to kill the enemy, especially when the enemy is the Little Devil.

National hatred runs deep, yearning to devour the Little Devils whole!

The First Battalion of the 448th Regiment, led by Luo Dashan, surged forward like a tiger descending a mountain, following Mi Long's unit.

Mi Long was stunned, watching Luo Dashan sprint faster than him, like a wild ox, brandishing his big sword aloft.

"Squad‑Platoon Company Commander, provide submachine‑gun cover," Mi Long immediately ordered.

Don't underestimate the Little Devils; although their main force was bombed by their own aircraft, according to Mi Long's experience and knowledge of the Little Devils, crushing them isn't that easy.

Sure enough, the Little Devils quickly organized a counterattack under Kimura Naoki, fighting while retreating to the second defensive line behind them; though timid at heart, their tactics still inflicted some damage on the Chinese forces.

Fortunately the terrain is jungle; if it were open ground, Luo Dashan's charge would have suffered far greater losses.

Kimura Naoki's eyes lit up as he moved toward the second defensive line at Song Jia Nao.

As for why the Japanese at Xiaoting could set up multiple defensive lines so quickly, an important factor was that the 13th Division left an engineering detachment stationed at Xiaoting.

"Quick, get into the Trench! Counterattack!" Kimura Naoki shouted to the Japanese soldiers beside him.

But when he was only forty meters from the Trench, a long rifle barrel poked out from within, along with a cold machine gun.

It turned out that squadron leader Xiahou Ping, faster than the Little Devils, had seized this defensive line and was waiting for the Little Devils to arrive.

"Fire." Xiahou Ping gave the Little Devils no time to react.

Several Little Devils were about to raise their guns, but were instantly turned into shrapnel by the MG42.

That terrifying chainsaw sound rang out once again.

Mucun Zhi Shu felt that it was a devil; it had to be a devil. Since when has the Chinese army's firepower become so strong, that the Japanese Army soldiers around him fell one by one.

Mucun Zhi Shu covered his chest, feeling a sudden heat in his chest. He loosened his hand and looked: a 7.92mm bullet had pierced his heart, and fresh blood was spouting out.