Chapter 578: Soldiers!!

At the pre‑war mobilization meeting, MacArthur, dressed in uniform, stood on the high ground, his gaze sweeping over the soldiers before him, his voice passionate and powerful, echoing through the entire camp: "Soldiers, the Little Devil forces are trying to seize our positions and trample our dignity!"

"They think that because we have lost the Aircraft Carrier, they can do as they please, that we will be cowardly and retreat, but they are wrong!"

"Today, right here, let us teach these Little Devils a lesson, let them know that our American soldiers have never easily admitted defeat!"

"For honor, for freedom, for our compatriots behind us, fight to the end!"

It must be said that MacArthur is a seasoned politician, not a military strategist.

"Whoa! Whoa!" the American Army soldiers at the front shouted in unison, their voices deafening, echoing to the heavens.

They waved the weapons in their hands, eyes ablaze with fighting spirit and fury, all fear and fatigue at that moment turning into resolve for battle.

The soldiers each declared that they would live and die with Brisbane, never allowing the Little Devil forces to advance a step, using blood and lives to guard this final Defensive Line.

Under MacArthur's sunglasses, he looked very satisfied at the frenzied soldiers below.

This is exactly the effect he wanted; the photographers around captured the mobilization meeting well, including the corn pipe in MacArthur's hand.

A few days later, the Little Devil Combined Fleet arrived on schedule in the Brisbane waters; the massive fleet spread across the sea surface, carrier deck aircraft lined up neatly, the battleship's main guns glinting with cold light.

Nan Yun Zhongyi stood inside the command cabin of the flagship Akagi, speaking gravely into the communicator: "Carrier aircraft formation, take off; destroy the American Army coastal defense works and anti‑aircraft gun positions; landing craft, prepare; after the air raid ends, launch the island‑landing operation immediately!"

"Hey!"

From the other end of the communicator came the synchronized response of Little Devil pilots, then dozens of Zero carrier planes roared off the carrier deck, like a black swarm of locusts, racing toward the Brisbane coast.

With bombs mounted under the wings, the pilots' eyes were fanatical, shouting, "Long live the Emperor! Capture Brisbane!"

At this moment the Little Devil pilots were already in a frenzy; they had no idea what hellish fate awaited them.

At the American Army positions, the Reconnaissance Plane had already detected the Japanese Navy's movements.

All units had also entered the positions early.

Many American Army soldiers had never even been to a battlefield; the rifles in their hands trembled along with their arms.

On the coastal high ground, Miller, the Squad Leader of the American Army anti‑aircraft gun position, gripped the breech tightly, staring at the Little Devil aircraft drawing nearer in the sky, shouting to the soldiers beside him: "Attention! Little Devil aircraft incoming! Aim at the target, prepare to fire!"

The soldiers immediately took their positions, adjusted the gun angles, the rangefinder quickly calibrated the distance, roaring, "Distance 8,000 meters, altitude 3,000 meters, target locked!"

"Fire!" at Miller's command, hundreds of heavy anti‑aircraft guns roared simultaneously.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom— Boom— Boom!"

The massive cannon fire shook the ground with a slight tremor, shells whistling toward the sky, exploding amid the Little Devil aircraft, forming dense white fire nets.

A Zero fighter failed to evade, its wing struck by a shell, belching black smoke, plummeting into the sea like a kite with its line cut, the pilot's scream drowned by the explosions.

The Little Devil bomber squadron had not at all expected that the Americans on the ground were already waiting for them.

"Baka! Avoid fire, continue bombing!" the Little Devil carrier plane squadron leader shouted into the communicator.

The remaining aircraft immediately dispersed their formation, low‑level circling, attempting to break through the American Army's fire net, dropping bombs on the American trenches and anti‑aircraft positions.

"Boom!"

A bomb landed beside the American trench, soil and rubble spraying everywhere, several American soldiers buried under the debris; comrades rushed over, digging while shouting, "Hold on! We're coming to rescue you!"

Nan Yun Zhongyi, watching the battle in the sky, grew increasingly grim, roaring at Chief of Staff Cao Lu Longzhijie: "Useless! With so many carrier planes, you still can't destroy the American anti‑aircraft positions! Issue orders immediately, have the landing craft charge, don't wait for the air raid to end, force a landing!"

Cao Lu Longzhijie hurriedly replied, "Hey! Relaying the order immediately!"

On the sea surface, dozens of Little Devil landing craft immediately launched, carrying soldiers of the 2nd Division, rushing toward the Brisbane beachhead.

On the landing craft, Little Devil soldiers wielded Type 38 rifles, eyes fierce, continuously shouting, some even brandishing bayonets, eager to commence island combat.

"Board!"

"Charge! Capture the beachhead, seize Brisbane!" the Little Devil squad leader shouted, waving his sword.

"Kill the chicken, give give!"

The Little Devil troops went berserk, charging toward the beachhead.

At the Brisbane beachhead, soldiers of the American Army 41st Infantry Division huddled in the trenches, staring intently at the incoming Little Devil landing craft. Platoon Leader Johnson, holding an M1 Garand rifle, shouted to the troops, "Hold steady! Don't panic! Wait until the Little Devils are within 50 meters, then fire! Let them taste our power!"

The soldiers nodded, fingers on the triggers, eyes resolute, fixed on the approaching landing craft.

"Distance 200 meters! 150 meters! 100 meters!" the observer reported loudly.

"Fire!" at Johnson's command, the machine guns and rifles in the trench roared together, "rat‑rat‑rat—bang bang bang—" the dense gunfire poured down like a torrential rain, bullets raking the Little Devil landing craft.

Little Devil soldiers were hit one after another, falling onto the landing craft; blood ran down the hull into the sea, staining a swath of water red.

"Baka! Counterattack! Quickly counter!" the Little Devil squad leader roared, ordering his men to retaliate, but the landing craft had no cover; the Little Devil soldiers were exposed to the American fire, like live targets, constantly being hit and falling.

A landing craft was struck by American heavy artillery; with a "Boom" a massive blast, the craft was instantly shattered, none of the Little Devil soldiers aboard survived, and broken hulls and corpses floated on the sea.

"Continue the charge! No retreat! Those who retreat, die!" the Little Devil regiment commander roared into the communicator, forcibly ordering the following landing craft to keep advancing.

A few landing craft luckily got close to the beachhead; their hatches opened, Little Devil soldiers poured out, charging toward the American trenches, brandishing bayonets, shouting, "All out!"

"Brother, grab your bayonet and go all out against the Little Devils!" Johnson shouted, leaping out of the trench first, bayonet in hand, charging at the incoming Little Devil soldiers.

Facing the Little Devil soldiers already charging, the Americans realized that firing in close combat was no longer wise, so they fixed bayonets onto their rifles.

They engaged in hand‑to‑hand combat with the Little Devil soldiers.

A Little Devil soldier thrust his bayonet forward; Johnson sidestepped, swung his blade back, piercing the soldier's chest; the Little Devil soldier let out a howl and fell to the ground.

American soldiers leapt out of the trench, engaging the Little Devil troops in close‑quarters combat; the clanging "ding‑ding‑dang‑dang" of bayonets, the shouts and screams of soldiers intertwined, the scene was extremely gruesome.

However, in the melee, the Americans clearly still lacked experience and courage.