Yamashita Kyūsei's nascent hope, this time, gradually sank into darkness, just like the surrounding environment.

Darkness enveloped him, and he trembled in the darkness, not daring to make the slightest sound.

At this moment, Yamashita Kyūsei felt countless pairs of eyes watching him in the darkness.

They could pounce on him like wolves at any moment, tearing his body to pieces.

Yamashita Kyūsei's gaze followed the direction in which Captain Mizumoto Kaede Saburō's unit was heading. There was a glimmer of light in front of their advancing formation.

The light moved forward with the advancing troops, as if Captain Mizumoto Kaede Saburō was forever bathed in it.

Suddenly, amidst the light, bursts of red light flashed.

The charging Mizumoto Kaede Saburō's unit, enveloped in light, their horses and riders all screamed in agony and fell.

Yamashita Kyūsei saw the red light flash before hearing a series of loud explosions.

A feeling of relief suddenly arose in his heart: Just a little help was all I needed, just a little help!

In this once silent area, someone suddenly couldn't help but laugh in pain, "Haha! Good! Good! Retribution!

Who told them not to save me!"

There were quite a few people who felt the same way.

Someone immediately chimed in, "That's right! A team that abandons its comrades shouldn't be rescued.

They deserve it."

In that instant, these people, watching the destruction of Mizumoto Kaede Saburō's entire unit, suddenly seemed to forget their pain.

They began to denounce their comrades.

While Mizumoto Kaede Saburō's unit continued to charge forward, the sweeping fire from both sides never ceased.

Even when this cavalry unit entered the pre-set bombing zone, Liu Laopao and Xiao Dongbei didn't tell their soldiers to reduce their firepower.

It wasn't until most of the cavalry unit had been brought down by the directional mines that the remaining dozens of riders charged into the darkness.

Only then did Liu Laopao and Xiao Dongbei order their troops to cease firing.

They began to rush towards the area where a large number of warhorses and Japanese soldiers had fallen.

Sasaki Dōichi, the regimental commander, didn't see any of this.

At this time, he was organizing his troops and breaking out towards the northeast.

The Gotō unit, tasked with clearing the way, had already advanced over thirty meters.

There were defending soldiers in this direction. Captain Gotō Haruka had personally seen the muzzle flashes that had been exposed during the shooting.

Defending the northeast was Ye Dadan's Sixth Squad. All day, their mission had been to block the Japanese soldiers and prevent them from breaking out.

When they saw the Japanese cavalry charging towards Liu Laopao's direction, Ye Dadan even said with envy, "Liu Laopao is going to eat his fill tonight."

Just then, his direction was suddenly illuminated by Japanese flares, and Japanese artillery shells followed.

"The Japanese are trying to escape from our direction!" Li Xian had told them about the military principle of making the real seem unreal, and the unreal seem real.

Ye Dadan became excited. "Brothers, it's our turn to feast."

They couldn't directly confront the Japanese flares. Now it was night, and the darkness provided the soldiers with the best camouflage.

As long as they hid in the darkness, the Japanese would no longer be able to find them.

But the Japanese were in the open, making them the best targets.

Ye Dadan's Fifth Squad immediately buried several directional mines in front of the position, similar to Liu Laopao's tactics.

There weren't many people left on the forward blocking position; most of them were hidden in the darkness.

As the Japanese tried to retreat, vulnerabilities immediately appeared in the defenses of the other directions.

The first to sense this change was the Direct Line Unit.

Under their powerful firepower, the Japanese heavy machine guns and grenade launchers had been putting up a fight.

Now, that resistance had stopped, leaving only scattered rifles and machine guns.

In particular, the machine gun fire had been reduced to only two points.

Lin Fan felt a sense of urgency. He could already see the Japanese artillery pieces not far away.

He was afraid that the Japanese were going to destroy the artillery.

Those cannons were now his; he couldn't let the Japanese destroy them.

Lin Fan ordered, "Increase the speed of advance! Make sure to protect the cannons."

At the order, all the soldiers of the Direct Line Unit, hidden in the shadows, rushed out, charging towards the artillery pieces.

Yang Daren's Seventh Squad also noticed that the Japanese were retreating.

When the enemy retreats, we advance! When the enemy is tired, we strike!

The Seventh Squad closely pursued the retreating Japanese.

The Gotō unit, after breaking through the defensive perimeter, was met with fierce attacks. In the dark night, these attacks came from all directions.

These Japanese soldiers, who had come out to clear the way, had never been subjected to such attacks.

Tonight, the night was simply too unkind to them.

Even if they didn't fire flares, the people outside were firing them.

Even with heavy casualties, Captain Gotō Haruka resolutely commanded his troops to continue charging.

He ordered, "Keep charging forward, don't look to the sides.

Don't worry about the wounded; let them fight for the Empire one last time!"

Captain Gotō Haruka ordered the wounded to attack in place, returning fire in the direction of the darkness.

Protecting the retreat of the main force.

"The regimental commander is leading the main force behind us; they will take you away!"

After the Gotō unit, numbering over three hundred, had advanced more than two hundred meters, Regimental Commander Sasaki Dōichi ordered Captain Kohara Yūki's artillery battalion to quickly follow.

Captain Kohara Yūki took one last look at the cannons that they had occupied less than three hours ago.

Now, his own people were about to abandon them. He didn't know if he would ever see them again.

Thinking of this, Captain Kohara suddenly regretted it: He should have insisted on destroying the cannons!

Perhaps this was the last time he would ever see them.

Regimental Commander Sasaki Dōichi urged him, "Kohara-kun!"

He still had to respect this heavy artillery battalion, even though it wasn't under his command.

Captain Kohara Yūki immediately replied, "Hai!" (Yes, sir!)

Then he issued the order: "Break out towards the northeast! Everyone, follow me!"

The soldiers who had been paying attention to the situation from afar saw another unit of soldiers rushing towards the northeast.

This made the soldiers of the Masada Tatsuya unit, who were still fighting, even more demoralized.

Some soldiers simply got up and rushed towards that direction.

Regimental Commander Sasaki Dōichi didn't hesitate at this time. He led the regimental headquarters unit of over a hundred men, closely following the artillery battalion.

Just then, the Gotō unit, which had been exposed to the light, suffered a heavy blow.

They encountered the directional mines that Ye Dadan's squad had deliberately left in the gap.

At least ten mines left few survivors among the last soldiers of the Gotō unit.

Only a few dozen soldiers miraculously avoided the attack of thousands of iron pellets.

These soldiers, who had been scared out of their minds, frantically fired their guns in all directions.

They quickly charged into the darkness, wanting to escape the light and embrace the darkness.

These Japanese soldiers all knew that as long as they entered the darkness and were protected by the night, their chances of survival would be a hundred times greater than they were now.

To the despair of these dozen or so Japanese soldiers, even though they had used their fastest speed and charged forward with all their might,

Two more flares suddenly rose in front of them.

There were still a hundred meters of brightly lit road ahead. The group that had just had a dozen survivors now had only seven.

The hail of bullets that had just been fired at the entire unit of over three hundred men was now all aimed at these seven.

This world is too unkind to us!

These were the last thoughts of Kobayashi Eiji, the last to be shot down, just as he was about to cross the hundred-meter illuminated path and enter the darkness.

He was sent into eternal darkness by a series of bullets.

Company Commander Yanagishita never imagined that his company would not return home with glory, but would be completely destroyed in this place, in this dark night.

Satō Yūtarō, seeing the Gotō unit ahead being wiped out, suddenly stopped.

He was an artilleryman, not an infantryman.

Although he now had a pistol in his hand, he was afraid.

The artillery battalion, charging at the front, suddenly stopped. Captain Kohara Yūki asked nervously, "What happened?"

When he learned that the Gotō unit clearing the way had been completely wiped out, he also became hesitant.

He stopped the entire battalion, hoping that Regimental Commander Sasaki could send some infantry to the front to clear the way.

Regimental Commander Sasaki Dōichi coldly ordered, "Keep moving forward! Those who retreat will be killed!

Those who stop will be killed!"

It wasn't that he was heartless, but the only mobile infantry he had at his disposal were the hundred or so men guarding him.

The Masada Tatsuya unit was blocking the attacking Nationalist soldiers from behind, and there was no way to spare a unit to come forward.

Captain Masada Tatsuya was anxiously watching the approaching figures in front of the position.

He had now discovered that the enemy's machine guns were moving.

Not only the machine guns, but even the enemy's anti-aircraft guns were moving. They were able to fire while approaching his position.

"Is this some kind of new equipment?" Captain Masada widened his eyes.

He tried hard to see through the darkness and see the true nature of the continuous fire on the other side.

He finally saw clearly that the continuous fire coming out of the darkness was less than one person high, like a coffin.

It was black and square, charging towards his position.

Now Captain Masada finally saw clearly that the enemy unit had put the machine guns on carts.

He watched helplessly as his soldiers fired bullets, only to see sparks flying on the shields in front of those coffin-like "new weapons."

Captain Masada Tatsuya no longer carried out a comprehensive defense. He ordered, "Retreat to the northeast.

All companies, cover the retreat in stages."

Satō Yūtarō heard the captain's order, but he was still afraid.

He didn't dare to continue walking in the front.

He was an artilleryman, not an infantryman; he shouldn't be doing such a dangerous clearing operation.

With such an example, the soldiers of the entire Kohara battalion stopped.

Captain Kohara Yūki knew that if he didn't get the troops moving now, they might all die here tonight.

He fired his gun: Satō Yūtarō fell!

Captain Kohara Yūki carried out battlefield discipline. He shouted loudly, "Advance! Charge!

If there is any more hesitation, you will be executed on the spot, without leniency."

With Satō Yūtarō as an example, the artillerymen who had just stopped moved like startled sheep.

They immediately rushed forward.

Ye Dadan watched the wave of Japanese soldiers rushing up, numbering seven or eight hundred.

He said with regret, "We shouldn't have pulled all the mines.

There's no way to stop so many Japanese soldiers now."

Fortunately, the Japanese seemed to know that the Fifth Squad's directional mines hadn't been set up yet, and they stopped in place.

Ye Dadan quickly ordered his men to set them up quickly.

Unfortunately, the Japanese didn't stay still for long enough. By the time the soldiers who were setting up the directional mines reached their positions, the Japanese were already approaching.

They had no choice but to set them up hastily. In the darkness, the Fifth Squad set up another minefield in the distance.

When the soldiers of Captain Kohara Yūki's battalion arrived at the place where the Gotō unit had been attacked,

They saw many wounded soldiers on the ground groaning and calling for help.

The soldiers of the Kohara battalion couldn't help but begin to help them.

The Kohara battalion had a total of more than six hundred men, plus the engineering company, it was a little more than eight hundred men.

There were at least two hundred wounded on the ground.

So many wounded, and their injuries were all very serious. Many were clearly beyond saving.

Regimental Commander Sasaki Dōichi discovered that the Kohara unit in front had stopped again.

This time he was truly angry: The Masada unit, which was covering the rear, already had troops following up.

The troops in the lead were still delaying. At this rate, he was afraid he would have to explain himself here today.

This time, Regimental Commander Sasaki Dōichi sent a squad from the guard unit into the Kohara battalion.

Squad Leader Mizutani Unzan rushed to Captain Kohara Yūki and said, "The regimental commander orders: The Kohara unit is to charge forward quickly.

The Masada unit will be responsible for the wounded!"

Kohara Yūki looked at the many wounded soldiers who were being helped forward, and hesitated.

Squad Leader Mizutani Unzan urged, "The regimental commander orders you to execute the order immediately!"

Captain Kohara Yūki had no choice but to order, "Everyone, put down the wounded and charge forward immediately."

Those wounded soldiers who had just been helped up and had taken a few steps were unwilling. "Take us with you!"

Some wounded soldiers pointed their guns directly at the Kohara battalion, who had just been helping them but were now abandoning them.

The entire Kohara battalion was immediately caught in a situation where they couldn't advance or retreat.

Squad Leader Mizutani Unzan ordered, "Those who threaten Imperial warriors carrying out their mission will be executed on the spot!"

The dozen or so soldiers who had come with him didn't hesitate at all and immediately opened fire on the wounded.

Their actions enraged the wounded, who were already filled with anger.

These wounded soldiers were now desperate: If no one helped them, their chances of survival were close to zero.

So the wounded also opened fire.

The soldiers of the Kohara battalion, encountering a real-life version of the farmer and the snake, were no longer polite.

They immediately returned fire!

This internal conflict was put down in less than five minutes.

Besides adding more than thirty wounded to the ground, there were no other results.

The soldiers of the Fifth Squad, hidden in the dark night in the distance, didn't stop either. They couldn't let these Japanese soldiers escape like this.

Machine guns and rifles fired non-stop.

Now that there was no threat from Japanese artillery fire, all firepower could be brought into full play.

This time, Captain Kohara Yūki finally insisted on taking the thirty or so newly wounded with him.

There was no other reason: It was just because these wounded were all soldiers from his battalion.

The Kohara battalion stopped again, giving the Fifth Squad another five minutes.

It also put the Masada unit, which was covering the rear, under tremendous pressure.

Now everyone in the Special Operations Company was attacking the Masada unit covering the rear.

As the Masada unit contracted its defensive position, the attacks on their position became even more intense.

The Direct Line Unit, the Fourth Squad, and the Sixth Squad all clung tightly to the Masada unit.

They held back the troops left behind to hold them back.

Now it wasn't the Japanese firing flares into the sky.

It was the soldiers of the Special Operations Company who started firing flares into the sky.

The mortar squad, which had been hidden in the shadows, also followed up.

One shell after another rained down on the Masada unit's position.

The Kohara Yūki battalion finally began a rapid retreat.

The thirty or so wounded soldiers in their unit were being helped forward by the soldiers.

The speed of these soldiers was noticeably slower.

To the despair of the Kohara battalion soldiers, after they had just finished walking the road where the Gotō unit had been attacked, they were also attacked in the same way.

Although this time it didn't wipe them out, it also caused at least a hundred casualties.

This time, Squad Leader Mizutani Unzan took the lead.

He ordered loudly, "Keep charging forward, the wounded will be taken care of by the Masada unit."

The Kohara battalion soldiers, who had been frightened by the bombs in front of them, began to hesitate again.

Squad Leader Mizutani Unzan immediately fired a warning shot, "If you don't move forward quickly, I will enforce discipline."

Threatened, the Kohara battalion had no choice but to continue forward.

Along the way, they encountered two more bomb attacks.

When they finally rushed into the darkness, Captain Kohara finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Regimental Commander Sasaki Dōichi, who was following behind him, also breathed a sigh of relief. They were now more than a thousand meters away from Nanzha Town.

There were no more pursuers behind them, and they could rest for a while.

This breakthrough had not been long, but the scene was too dangerous.

Tonight, the attacking soldiers were too cunning, always using those bombs to blow people up.

Along the way, far more people died from the bombs than from bullets.

Sasaki Dōichi looked expectantly behind him. There was another commotion coming from behind, which should be the Masada unit, which was carrying out the rear guard mission, also breaking out.

Sure enough, Captain Masada Tatsuya, led by Mizutani Unzan, arrived in front of Sasaki Dōichi.

Regimental Commander Sasaki Dōichi asked, "How many people broke out?"

Captain Masada Tatsuya replied bitterly, "Less than three hundred!"

"What about you?" Regimental Commander Sasaki Dōichi asked Captain Kohara Yūki.

"Less than three hundred!"

"Six hundred people! Four battalions, and only six hundred people broke out tonight."

Sasaki Dōichi muttered to himself.

He suddenly asked, "Which unit is on the other side?"

"I don't know!" Captain Masada Tatsuya replied with some concern.

"Their equipment is all exactly the same as ours," he added.