Chapter 87: Taunggyi Alley Battle

Far away in Lashu, Jiang Anguo, it was only 4 a. m., yet he was extremely awake.

He had already received a System Prompt, instantly gaining tens of thousands of points; he was puzzled, and upon checking found a big fish inside, which gave Jiang Anguo 8,000 points.

That is to say, the Eighth Company or Li Yi's side killed a colonel, providing Jiang Anguo with a large amount of points.

When the colonel was at the previous system level, a kill was worth 4,000 points, but after the Upgrade it became 8,000.

"Alright!"

"These bastards should be killed; only dead Japanese are good beasts!" Jiang Anguo shouted furiously while sitting on the bed.

He no longer felt like sleeping.

Taunggyi, the Japanese Army command post was pierced by a single 81 mm mortar round, and the Japanese Army's combat system instantly fell into chaos.

The Whole Company of the Eighth Company knew nothing of this; after the troops entered Taunggyi, the Whole Company had already ordered the mortars to cease fire, leaving only the 50 mm mortar to advance with them.

In urban street fighting, mortars are of limited use. If an enemy Little Devil position is encountered, a mortar shell can be useful; otherwise, it would be better to equip more MP40 Submachine Guns!

He had set up two machine guns behind Taunggyi, i. e., at the direction of their advance; it wasn't that they didn't bring machine guns into Taunggyi, but there was nowhere to deploy them, so the Company Section's two machine guns served as cover for the 81 mm mortar.

Another purpose was to prevent the Japanese from escaping from here.

In fact, the Whole Company's position was not on a main road but on a Small Road.

Jiang Anguo had conducted street fighting and urban combat training with all troops; Company Commander Yao Quanyi's specialty is street fighting, and he directed and rehearsed it with the others.

The Japanese Army command post fell into chaos, and with Expeditionary Force soldiers appearing at the rear, the troops lost the desire to fight.

There were also no clear signs of a total rout.

Instead, under their respective battalion commanders, the Japanese slowly withdrew from Taunggyi, heading toward Taunggyi's southeast, the direction leading from Taunggyi to Reilem.

The Whole Company ordered three Platoons to form a classic "pin" formation. The front Platoon advanced in the center, the two flank Platoons staggered slightly behind, forming opposing corners, able to support at any time and prevent flank ambushes. The whole force moved at an unhurried pace, as if not fighting but conducting a restrained hunt.

Street fighting is the stage for submachine guns. Every soldier of the Eighth Company carried a "flower mechanism" (the colloquial name for a Thompson submachine gun), which proved more useful here than any rifle. The long Type 38 rifle was cumbersome in narrow corners and doorways, while the submachine gun's compact size and ferocious firepower were made for this environment.

"Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!"

A Japanese soldier just stuck half his head out from a corner; before he could aim, a burst of bullets sprayed at him, punching a blood‑smeared hole in his face, and his body fell limp.

The Eighth Company's soldiers crossed the corpse expressionlessly; after confirming he was dead, they habitually thrust a bayonet into his heart area.

This is not cruelty; it is a lesson paid for with countless lives in a blood‑soaked battle, warning against any luck, and Jiang Anguo had specifically reminded them before departure!

"Hand Grenade!"

A calm voice from the Whole Company came from the rear of the formation.

In Chinese street fighting, hand grenades are equally useful.

A soldier instantly fished a wooden‑handle hand grenade from his waist, pulled the fuse, paused a second in his hand, then hurled it forward with force. The grenade traced a perfect parabola, landing precisely among a Japanese unit retreating down the street.

"Boom!"

A deep, booming blast sent dust swirling; countless scorching shrapnel and broken bricks sprayed outward. The Japanese soldiers were torn to pieces in an instant, blood mist mingling with smoke filled the entire alley.

Before the smoke cleared, the front Platoon's soldiers, brandishing submachine guns, surged forward and sprayed another burst at the still twitching bodies on the ground.

When Japanese soldiers dug in inside houses, the Whole Company never let its troops make reckless frontal assaults—that would be the most foolish tactic. It would command the troops to silently flank to the side or rear of the house, finding the windows sealed with planks.

"Two, go in!"

Following the order, two hand grenades were shoved through the window gap. Immediately, two muffled explosions and screams erupted inside.

A moment later, the soldiers kicked open the main door, rushed in, and eliminated everything still breathing with bayonets. Efficient and with minimal cost.

Of course, war is always brutal, and the Eighth Company was not unscathed. A young soldier who had just turned a corner was hit in the neck by a Japanese sniper on the second floor; arterial blood spurted high, he clutched his throat, eyes wide, fell silently, and his body twitched uselessly on the ground.

The Whole Company saw this, its gaze dimming for an instant, then immediately ordered the fire team behind them, "Machine gun, suppress the second‑floor window!"

The Eighth Company's casualties kept appearing, but the number of Japanese they killed was greater.

Deep in the alley, a half‑destroyed building still hid a dozen or so surviving soldiers. They were terrified by the Eighth Company's cold, efficient tactics, huddling together and trembling.

War is always that cruel.

"Front troops, watch out, we are Chinese!" the Eighth Company soldiers shouted.

They had already identified their own forces advancing toward the interior of Taunggyi.

Amid the tense atmosphere, the Whole Company withdrew its raised hand, almost firing.

"Alright, brothers, amazing!" a 598 Regiment soldier said.

Because they had warned each other in advance, no friendly fire occurred; on the battlefield, everyone was on edge—anyone with a weapon standing opposite you was an enemy.

At 07:50, the Eighth Company had already linked up with the th Division's soldiers.

The Whole Company lingered little and immediately reached the th Division's command post outside the city.

Dai Anlan placed his command post on the front line of the position, only two hundred meters from Taunggyi.

"Whole Company Commander, you did well!" Dai Anlan shouted loudly.

The Whole Company showed no excited expression, only the dust on its face indicating the recent fierce fighting, "Division Commander, quickly have the warriors withdraw from Taunggyi."

The th Division staff officer Zhou Zhizai asked doubtfully, "Why is this?"

"Division Commander, dawn is breaking, Japanese combat aircraft will arrive soon, the Japanese surely know that only our troops remain inside Taunggyi; if they drop bombs on Taunggyi then our losses will be severe," the Whole Company explained.

The Expeditionary Force launched its attack at dawn precisely to avoid Japanese aircraft.

Dai Anlan immediately ordered all troops to exit Taunggyi and promptly notified headquarters; the Fifth Army's attacking force also slowly withdrew from Taunggyi.

Sporadic gunfire still echoed inside Taunggyi City; not all Japanese had withdrawn, and some remained scattered within Taunggyi.

After receiving the retreat order, each Expeditionary Force unit promptly seized nearby captured Japanese equipment and left Taunggyi City.

They then immediately fell back into the woods on Taunggyi's west side to evade Japanese aircraft bombing.

The 600th Regiment also found the Japanese 113th Regiment's command post, but inside there was nothing useful; even Colonel DaSuJiaShi's corpse had been taken away by the Little Devil.

They could only take some scattered documents, likely left behind in the Japanese retreat before they could be destroyed, hoping to find useful information.

When the Whole Company retreated, it also forgot the Company Section's machine guns and mortars behind it; by then it was too late, and they could only hope the enemy would find cover on their own.

(Blessed villagers! Chapter 60 has over 30 spots, it's fast, fast, no, okay, qualified)