Overhead, artillery shells whistled past, but Brigade Commander Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu paid them no mind.

His sole concern was the advancing line of Japanese soldiers.

He knew the reconnaissance plane circling above was from the Special Operations Brigade, but he disregarded it.

Brigade Commander Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu placed all his hopes for victory on the troops charging ahead.

Goro Beto's battalion launched their attack on the positions of the Third and Thirteenth Regiments.

They perfectly evaded the artillery bombardment.

Now, they had reached the foot of the Special Operations Brigade's hill.

Battalion Commander Goro Beto urgently spurred his troops to charge faster.

From a distance, Regiment Commander Hazama Sota, witnessing this, pressed forward with his entire regiment.

Except for one battalion occupying the Nalian hill, the entire Forty-third Regiment charged in this direction.

Regiment Commander Hazama Sota, assessing the situation, realized that the Special Operations Brigade's artillery fire was mainly concentrated in the middle of the advancing troops.

By rushing forward three hundred meters, they could avoid the shelling.

Eventually, the heavy artillery fire shifted to the rear.

Those troops at the front suffered less damage.

At this moment, Jia Shusheng's Third Regiment and Shang Wenxuan's Thirteenth Regiment had completed their bombardment of the gunboats.

The Japanese gunboats were no longer firing or attempting to escape, simply sitting idle on the riverbank.

They were utterly defeated.

Of the eleven gunboats, two had capsized. The remaining nine floated on the water.

Not a single Japanese soldier on board was alive.

No one manned the weapons to retaliate.

It wasn't that the thousand-plus Japanese soldiers on the eleven gunboats had been completely annihilated.

It was simply that the Third and Thirteenth Regiments' assault was so fierce that the gunboats' weapons were rendered unusable.

Commander Niizumi Reo of the Eleventh Battle Squadron was forced to make a painful decision:

The entire Eleventh Battle Squadron would abandon ship and head ashore to join the Twenty-second Brigade in fighting the Special Operations Brigade.

With the Japanese gunboats ceasing resistance, Jia Shusheng immediately redirected the two regiments' artillery to attack the Japanese troops who had just successfully evaded the heavy artillery bombardment, initiating a saturation barrage.

The Japanese soldiers who had already charged to the front, those who were now less than two hundred meters from the Special Operations Brigade's position, once again perfectly evaded the artillery fire of the Third and Thirteenth Regiments.

It was only when Regiment Commander Hazama Sota was still five hundred meters away from the Third and Thirteenth Regiments' positions that he understood:

The artillery on the forward positions wasn't just targeting the navy.

Nearly a hundred cannons suddenly bombarded his entire regiment, instantly turning the Forty-third Regiment, which had just successfully evaded the shelling, into a scene of wailing and devastation.

But this wasn't the end.

Three planes swept in along the railway line from west to east, reaching Hazama Sota's regiment.

Intense machine-gun fire raked through the Japanese troops who were lying prone on the ground, seeking shelter from the artillery bombardment.

Regiment Commander Hazama Sota witnessed his own communications officer's head being struck by a bullet, showering him with blood and brains.

In this single strafing run, countless soldiers in his regiment were killed or wounded.

The three attack planes flew over Jia Shusheng and his men, the turbulence causing their clothes to flutter.

If they hadn't personally witnessed these three planes wreaking havoc on the Japanese, Jia Shusheng would have ordered them shot down.

Aside from a tiger painted on the underside of the fuselage, the planes bore no other markings and didn't resemble the planes the Special Operations Brigade had previously captured.

They looked extremely simple.

However, as long as they were fighting the Japanese, that was all that mattered.

Regiment Commander Hazama Sota had just ordered his troops to stand up and continue their charge when he saw, to his dismay, that the three planes had circled in the air and were returning.

They began strafing from the front of Hazama Sota's regiment, moving towards the rear.

Were these three planes going to strafe all the way back from east to west?

How could they possibly fight a battle like this?

The Goro Beto Battalion, at the very front, was once again spared from the strafing because they were too close to the Third Regiment.

The attack planes feared hitting their own comrades.

Battalion Commander Goro Beto was overjoyed, thinking himself a lucky general.

Neither the artillery bombardment nor the strafing had harmed his battalion in the slightest.

Now, his entire battalion had charged up the slope and was less than a hundred meters away from the Special Operations Brigade's position on the hill.

At this moment, the officers and soldiers of the Special Operations Brigade on the hill seemed to have not yet reacted, still focused on shelling targets in the distance.

Battalion Commander Goro Beto excitedly urged his men: "Faster! Charge!"

He didn't allow his troops to open fire proactively.

He knew that a full regiment was following behind his battalion.

As long as his battalion could charge forward and engage the Special Operations Brigade's troops in close combat, that would be victory. The entire regiment that followed would surely annihilate this force.

Fifty meters!

The two sides were only thirty meters apart.

The Nationalist soldiers opposite them seemed to be stunned. Battalion Commander Goro Beto was thrilled.

Brigade Commander Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu, watching this scene through his binoculars in the distance, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He pointed forward and ordered, "All troops, forward! Forward! Keep going until you reach Dangtu!"

The Japanese soldiers of the entire Twenty-second Brigade, braving the machine-gun fire, began to advance.

Just then, Brigade Commander Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu felt the earth tremble slightly through his binoculars.

The hilltop under attack was suddenly engulfed in smoke, obscuring everything.

It was as if someone in the Special Operations Brigade had cast a spell, blocking his view.

Battalion Commander Goro Beto, being in the midst of it, had a clear understanding.

He heard the sounds of explosives detonating amidst the continuous artillery fire from the hilltop.

Then came countless rustling sounds.

He fell, as if struck by numerous bullets.

The directional mines set up by the Third and Thirteenth Regiments had been detonated.

Only after the directional mines exploded did the machine guns and heavy machine guns open fire.

Jia Shusheng commanded the soldiers of the Third and Thirteenth Regiments to unleash a wave of fire on the remnants of the Goro Beto Battalion, which had been devastated by the directional mines.

This time, he abandoned the usual practice of a full-force charge after such an attack.

It wasn't that Jia Shusheng didn't want to charge forward and mop up the battlefield.

It was just that three hundred meters behind this vanguard force, there was still an infantry force of over two thousand Japanese soldiers.

Although this infantry force had just been hit by their artillery barrage and strafed twice by the three planes, many soldiers remained.

Now, Regiment Commander Hazama Sota, after the strafing by the three planes, ordered his soldiers to charge quickly.

They needed to engage the Special Operations Brigade's soldiers on the hilltop as soon as possible. Otherwise, his entire regiment would only be able to endure the bombardment.

He now understood: the battle wouldn't stop, and neither would the bombing!

Unless the fighting ceased, the bombardment from the opposite hilltop wouldn't stop.

Yokota Sanjuroku, commander of the Eleventh Cavalry Regiment, finally led his remaining three hundred-plus soldiers out of the heavy artillery bombardment zone.

They didn't stop. Yokota Sanjuroku intended to charge directly to the front line.

Just then, the intense sound of machine-gun fire and the frantic roar of airplane engines came from behind.

The three planes swept in from behind. The cavalry was on the road, with nowhere to run or escape.

The soldiers of the entire cavalry regiment scattered in all directions, unable to maintain formation.

The planes strafed along the road, howling as they passed.

After the planes wreaked havoc, the Eleventh Cavalry Regiment, when regrouped, had suffered another forty-plus casualties.

How could they possibly fight a battle like this?

At this moment, Yokota Sanjuroku no longer felt as motivated to continue charging forward as he had been.

What frustrated him even more was that just as the cavalry regiment had gathered its troops and was preparing to continue forward, the three planes that had just flown past returned in formation.

Damn it! How could they possibly fight this battle?

The Japanese cavalry, now experienced in running away, scattered once more.

The planes strafed again, sweeping backward.

In the air, Zhu Qingmao suddenly suggested, "Captain Mao! Should we use a staggered attack pattern with our three attack planes?

Would that be more effective?"

Mao Wenxing immediately replied, "Yes! Each plane maintain a distance of fifteen hundred meters. From west to east, strafe to the end, then fly back and do it again."

This made the soldiers of the Twenty-second Brigade's heads ache: the planes in the sky continuously strafed them.

All the Japanese troops were pinned down and unable to move.

Brigade Commander Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu had just given the order for the entire army to advance! Now, they couldn't even stand up. How could they possibly advance?

The misery of the entire Twenty-second Brigade wasn't over yet.

Three attack planes were already more than they could handle.

Then nine more fighter planes and three bombers flew in.

With these twelve planes joining the battle, the first planes to arrive on the scene finally turned back.

Xiao Jianying and the others had run out of ammunition and were returning to resupply.

Braving the incessant bombing and strafing, Brigade Commander Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu finally saw the battlefield that had been shrouded in smoke.

The Goro Beto Battalion, which had charged forward, had all fallen to the ground.

It was unclear whether they had been pinned down by the Special Operations Brigade's firepower or completely annihilated.

The Hazama Sota Regiment, following behind the first wave, was now approaching the Special Operations Brigade's position.

Were they preparing to launch a second attack on the Special Operations Brigade's position?

Brigade Commander Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu looked at Commander Niizumi Reo, who had returned to his side.

This useless commander, with eleven gunboats at his disposal, hadn't provided the infantry with even the slightest assistance.

The navy was truly trash!

Brigade Commander Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu looked disdainfully at the naval commander, who had rushed up in a panic.

Before he could speak, Kuroiwa asked, "Why did you abandon all the gunboats?"

Commander Niizumi Reo said resentfully, "Those men on the opposite side focused all their artillery on us.

We silently endured all the bombardment to help you!"

Brigade Commander Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu sneered, "The navy is consistent!

You suddenly abandoned ship halfway through the battle.

Now, the Special Operations Brigade is pouring all its firepower onto my troops.

How are my infantry supposed to fight?"

Commander Niizumi Reo was displeased. Anyone could trade insults.

He sneered, "What about the Twenty-second Brigade's mountain artillery regiments?

What about the artillery of each regiment?

Fight back! Resist!

Don't just let the Special Operations Brigade's artillery grind you into the ground!"

Brigade Commander Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu could only pretend to focus on the situation on the battlefield and ignored him.

Commander Niizumi Reo also knew that this wasn't the time for bickering. He suggested to Brigade Commander Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu:

"The Special Operations Brigade's firepower is too fierce, and their planes are constantly strafing overhead.

Brigade Commander, please send a telegram to Commander-in-Chief Enju Roku immediately, requesting air support."

Brigade Commander Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu was still angry and sneered, "The naval air force is so strong, why don't you request it?"

Commander Niizumi Reo said regretfully, "The communication equipment broke down after I returned to the Atake from here.

I can't request reinforcements from the rear.

The Special Operations Brigade has so much artillery and so many planes now.

Without air support, this battle will be really difficult today."

Brigade Commander Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu also felt that this battle was going badly.

Finally, he reluctantly ordered, "Send a telegram to the headquarters of the Central China Expeditionary Army:

The Twenty-second Brigade of the Eleventh Division has arrived within five kilometers of Dangtu County.

Encountered fierce resistance from the Special Operations Brigade, who used artillery and planes to bombard our brigade.

The Eleventh Battle Squadron of the Navy suffered a complete defeat with eleven warships lost.

Our brigade has suffered heavy casualties. Please send an air squadron immediately to suppress the Special Operations Brigade's heavy artillery and planes."

The telegram was sent.

Both Japanese commanders knew that even if the planes from Nanjing took off immediately to provide support, it would still take at least ten minutes.

In the meantime, they had to persevere.

The entire Forty-third Infantry Regiment was advancing towards the hilltop ahead.

When the Forty-third Regiment was bombarded by heavy artillery, the commander of the Forty-fourth Infantry Regiment, Mitsuhashi Kota, ordered his troops to disperse onto the slopes. When the heavy artillery fire focused on the road, his regiment suffered relatively few casualties.

However, the Forty-fourth Regiment suffered considerable damage in the subsequent strafing by the planes.

Now, Commander Mitsuhashi Kota led his entire regiment, standing on the hilltop and observing the battlefield:

The Eleventh Naval Battle Squadron on the riverbank had completely given up resisting. Not a single living Japanese soldier remained on the gunboats.

He couldn't see the situation on the front lines clearly. Everywhere he looked, there were wounded soldiers.

Those wounded soldiers lay in pools of blood, groaning and wailing.

The doctors and nurses from the four field hospitals that accompanied the entire brigade had initially rushed out to rescue the wounded.

As the battle progressed, fewer and fewer nurses rushed out to carry the wounded.

The most urgent problem was that after the battle had reached this point, his Forty-fourth Regiment had suffered at least six hundred casualties, yet Commander Mitsuhashi Kota hadn't even seen a single soldier from the Special Operations Brigade.

The casualties of several hundred soldiers were all caused by artillery and planes.

The Eleventh Cavalry Regiment, led by Commander Yokota Sanjuroku, rushed past him at full speed.

Commander Mitsuhashi Kota saw that there were fewer than two hundred soldiers following Commander Yokota Sanjuroku.

He knew that the entire Yokota Sanjuroku Regiment consisted of 777 soldiers.

Those who hadn't followed Commander Yokota Sanjuroku in the charge had likely gone to be with Amaterasu!

He had just received Brigade Commander Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu's order: All troops forward!

Given the current situation, would they really be able to break through the Special Operations Brigade's ambush ahead by advancing with all troops?

Commander Mitsuhashi Kota didn't know!

But that couldn't be a reason for him to disobey orders.

Regardless of his thoughts, the Forty-fourth Regiment began to advance towards Dangtu.

The Aoyama Yuto Battalion of the Forty-fourth Infantry Regiment had just withdrawn from a bitter battle.

The hill attacked by the Eleventh Transport Regiment had been fiercely attacked by Li Zhize's Tenth Regiment.

The Takabayashi Rokushichi squad sent out by the Fujita Kaede Regiment of the Eleventh Engineer Regiment, not far away, encountered strong resistance from the Tenth Regiment.

The Forty-fourth Regiment sent out a Nakamura Koki platoon to assist in the attack.

Gu Wenwei, the third company commander of the Tenth Regiment, led his troops, under the artillery cover of the company commander behind him.

They launched a fierce and rapid assault and had just reached the hilltop.

He saw that the Japanese soldiers who had occupied the hilltop had suffered heavy casualties.

Many Japanese soldiers lay on the ground, all killed by artillery fire.

The Japanese soldiers under the command of Squad Leader Takabayashi Rokushichi had suffered heavy casualties. Just as the hilltop was about to be lost, an infantry platoon arrived and immediately stabilized the situation.

This angered Company Commander Gu Wenwei: These Japanese soldiers today were so clueless!

I've already reached the hilltop, and they still won't retreat.

He ordered the heavy machine gun platoon of the third company to the front as a stronghold.

The entire company used the terrain to engage in a fierce battle with the Japanese soldiers who had just joined the battle.

The three planes flying in the air swept past the hillside.

Dense machine-gun fire struck the Japanese troops.

Squad Leader Takabayashi Rokushichi had never encountered such a difficult situation.

They were originally just engineers, skilled at building bridges and repairing roads.

Seizing hilltops was already a stretch.

They had just been bombarded by the Special Operations Brigade's artillery and strafed by heavy machine guns from the front.

Now, the infantry platoon that had come to reinforce them had even been strafed by the Special Operations Brigade's air force.

How could they possibly fight a battle like this?

Just as Squad Leader Takabayashi Rokushichi was lamenting, the planes in the air returned.

This time, he couldn't avoid it.

He was hit by the machine guns sweeping past.

Not only Squad Leader Takabayashi Rokushichi, but his entire squad had also been killed by this point.

The Nakamura Koki platoon, which had come to seize the hilltop to replace the Takabayashi Rokushichi squad, was now in a very awkward situation.

Platoon Commander Nakamura Koki looked at the soldiers of the Special Operations Brigade opposite him with frustration.

The soldiers opposite him pushed up five small carts, each carrying a heavy machine gun.

The soldiers hid behind the small carts while firing.

The rifles and machine guns of his platoon couldn't penetrate the shields of those small carts.

The only grenade launchers that could pose a threat to the small carts were suppressed by the heavy machine guns opposite them.

By now, all the grenade launcher operators in the entire platoon had been killed.

On one hilltop, the Special Operations Brigade had come from behind and already occupied most of the position.

If they continued to fight like this for a while, the entire hilltop would be occupied by the Special Operations Brigade's soldiers.

Faced with this situation, Platoon Commander Nakamura Koki had to make a decision:

"Everyone! Charge!"

He wanted to use the soldiers of the entire platoon to charge into the opposing force and engage them in bayonet combat, a melee.

The two sides were less than thirty meters apart. Infantry could charge that distance in a few seconds.

Platoon Commander Nakamura Koki's order was immediately carried out.

The remaining hundred-plus Japanese soldiers charged out from their hiding places, using the terrain and trees for cover.

They charged toward the Third Company.

Company Commander Gu Wenwei saw that the number of Japanese soldiers was about the same as that of his company.

These Japanese soldiers actually dared to launch an attack?

The soldiers of the Special Operations Brigade valued bayonet training the most.

They practiced it every morning. Seeing the Japanese soldiers with this intention, Company Commander Gu Wenwei didn't decline. The soldiers of the Third Company charged forward.

When the two sides first met, Shao Minxue and Song Kaize were the first soldiers to encounter the Japanese.

This was the first time they had actually engaged in bayonet combat on the battlefield.

The two men tried their best to steady their nerves. The daily morning training had turned the entire bayonet action into a conditioned reflex.

They watched as the Japanese soldiers opposite them charged up, carrying rifles.

Following the training, they stood their ground.

The Japanese soldiers charged up, shouting, "Kill!"

Their left feet stepped forward, and the rifles in their hands thrust forward.

The whole body leaned slightly to the side.

Sergeant Misugi Ritaro charged at the front of the formation, carrying his rifle.

In his heart, imperial warriors never feared bayonet combat.

Now, this young soldier was blocking his path.

Sergeant Misugi Ritaro thrust his rifle forward.

But the rifle was knocked aside by the opposing rifle.

The force of this block was powerful and fast, causing Sergeant Misugi Ritaro's rifle to lose its target.

Just as he was surprised by the opponent's strength, Shao Minxue's bayonet had already firmly pierced his face.

He had been stabbed!

Shao Minxue's movements were even faster, and the rifle in his hand quickly retracted.

Then he thrust again, this time the Japanese soldier didn't try to block.

Sergeant Misugi Ritaro had been terrified by the fact that he had been stabbed.

He couldn't accept this reality at all.

When he fell, his eyes were still wide open.

He died with unresolved grievances!

He wasn't the only Japanese soldier like this.

The soldiers of the entire Nakamura Koki Platoon were very confident before the bayonet combat.

Their division was no weaker than some divisions.

The Eleventh Division was one of the Japanese army's standing divisions.

They hadn't suffered many casualties in previous battles.

The entire platoon only had a dozen or so replacement soldiers.

Ninety percent of the Japanese soldiers were veterans, well-trained veterans.

Today, they suddenly encountered such fierce firepower from the Third Company.

All the Japanese soldiers were somewhat enraged.

They wanted to vent all their anger during the bayonet combat.

But as soon as they came into contact with this force, the soldiers of the Special Operations Brigade didn't collapse.

The soldiers of the Nakamura Koki Platoon immediately fell to the ground.

These Japanese soldiers were stabbed in the chest one by one.

This made Platoon Commander Nakamura Koki extremely angry.

He drew his command sword and charged forward.

In just a short period of time, his platoon had been reduced by more than half.

Less than a hundred soldiers remained.

As the commander of the entire platoon, he had to charge to the front and set an example for the soldiers of the entire platoon.

This was how bayonets should be fought.

Company Commander Gu Wenwei had been at the front of the formation, fighting with bayonets.

He saw a Japanese soldier rushing over, waving a command sword.

He stabbed his rifle forward diagonally, stopping Platoon Commander Nakamura Koki, who was charging forward.

Company Commander Gu Wenwei's thrust was as fast as lightning and as swift as a meteor.

Platoon Commander Nakamura Koki's command sword wasn't slow either. He slashed downward with force.

The sword and rifle collided, scattering sparks.

Taking advantage of the momentum of the charge, Platoon Commander Nakamura Koki slightly changed his sword and slashed at the Special Operations Brigade soldier who dared to block his path.

The Japanese soldier's slash was so fast!

Company Commander Gu Wenwei's rifle hadn't been adjusted yet. Faced with this situation, he shouted and jumped back forcefully.

While he was in the air, the rifle had returned to the basic bayonet stance.

As soon as his feet landed, his left foot immediately stepped forward, and the rifle in his hand thrust at the Japanese soldier who was chasing after him.

Nakamura Koki didn't expect that his sure-kill strike would miss.

However, he didn't panic. He continued to advance, chasing after and continuing to slash at the soldier.

What Platoon Commander Nakamura Koki didn't expect was that the soldier hadn't turned around.

Instead, he thrust again at himself.

This time, Company Commander Gu Wenwei gripped the rifle tightly with both hands and thrust with force.

Platoon Commander Nakamura Koki gripped the sword with both hands and chopped down again with force.

What he didn't expect was that although the other side looked like they were using force, Gu Wenwei's rifle quickly retracted after thrusting.

Then it was thrust out again.

Platoon Commander Nakamura Koki used all his strength in his strike, but he only sliced through the air.

Afterwards, he staggered a bit in order to stabilize the sword and prevent it from plunging into the ground.

Take advantage of his weakness and kill him!

Company Commander Gu Wenwei's rifle was truly using all its strength this time.

The entire bayonet pierced through Platoon Commander Nakamura Koki's chest and emerged from his back.

Gu Wenwei didn't stop. The second thrust pierced Platoon Commander Nakamura Koki's throat.

This time, he couldn't possibly survive.

With the Japanese commander killed, the Japanese soldiers of the entire platoon immediately lost their fighting spirit.

An infantry platoon and a transport squad had been completely annihilated in battle.

This made Infantry Battalion Commander Aoyama Yuto very depressed: the hilltop they wanted to seize had been occupied by the Special Operations Brigade.

Should they continue to send people to seize the hilltop?

This hilltop was clearly not what his battalion wanted. The key was that seizing this position wouldn't mean anything.

During the time they were seizing the hilltop, the transport soldiers who had been blocked behind had dragged the transport mules and horses back.

Commander Mitsuhashi Kota of the Forty-fourth Regiment received Brigade Commander Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu's order: "All troops forward!"

This immediately solved Commander Mitsuhashi Kota's problem.

The Nakamura Koki Platoon, which had died on the hilltop, could be temporarily ignored.

The Japanese soldiers of the Forty-fourth Regiment advanced with difficulty, braving the machine-gun fire.

Commander Li Zhize saw that all his objectives had been achieved.

They had seized five hilltops, and all the Japanese soldiers down the hill had fled forward.

He immediately ordered his troops: "Send people down to place directional mines along the road.

Set up defensive positions on the hilltops.

Block the road and don't let the Japanese escape."

His orders were immediately carried out.

Brigade Commander Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu's order made things very difficult for the Japanese field hospitals.

They had already gathered over two hundred wounded soldiers, half of whom were from the field hospitals themselves.

They were all their doctors and nurses.

The planes flying back and forth and strafing made the field hospitals' treatment completely useless.

Those wounded soldiers who had undergone surgery and been rescued mostly couldn't find suitable hiding places and were hit by the machine-gun fire from the air.

Few Japanese soldiers could endure a second surgery.

There was also a Japanese soldier who was either lucky or unlucky.

Today was already his third time on the operating table.

The first time, he had a shrapnel wound in his right foot.

The second time, he had a gunshot wound in his left foot.

The third time, he had a gunshot wound in his right hand.

Now, should these wounded soldiers follow the field hospital?

At least two healthy Japanese soldiers were needed to carry each wounded soldier.

Wuteng Meishi, the head of the First Field Hospital, looked at the wounded soldiers on the ground.

Finally, he gave a difficult order: "Abandon the wounded! Let's go."

Nurse Chief Xiang Nai Meizi said, "Director! Will abandoning them at this time..."

She didn't say the rest.

Director Wuteng Meishi said righteously:

"According to the Geneva Convention, they should all enjoy the treatment of prisoners of war.

The Special Operations Brigade should treat them, so that they will no longer be subjected to strafing and shelling.

This is the best thing for these wounded soldiers.

Anyway, they have already lost their ability to fight.

If we take them with us, at least a battalion of warriors won't be able to go to the battlefield to fight.

This is too unfriendly to the Empire."

"Director! Are you serious?

There are so many corpses of prisoners of war outside Nanjing City? Will the Special Operations Brigade abide by the Geneva Convention?" Xiang Nai Meizi asked in a low voice.

"We can do without prisoners, but they can't do without them!

Now our voice is louder, and we have the final say!" Director Wuteng Meishi said loudly.

It wasn't just this field hospital doing this.

The four field hospitals of the Eleventh Division all made the same decision at this time.

They all came from the same unit, with the same ideas, and felt completely comfortable!

Commander Li Zhize saw the Japanese troops running forward quickly.

He immediately ordered his seventh, eighth, and ninth reserve companies to follow the path of the Japanese troops to mop up the battlefield.

They weren't going to chase and kill the Japanese soldiers, but to collect the weapons and ammunition on the battlefield.

At the same time, they would send off the wounded Japanese soldiers on the battlefield.

Xiao Jianying, He Haiqing, and Zhu Qingmao flew back to Changxing, refueled, and reloaded their ammunition.

They returned to the battlefield again.

This time, the Japanese troops on the battlefield were frantically compressing forward.

This gave the Special Operations Brigade's air force a perfect opportunity.

Captain Pan Yongshan and the others had a good air battle with the Japanese in Anji last time, and they haven't had a good fight with the Japanese since.

Today's one-sided massacre of Japanese infantry made the pilots of the entire air squadron extremely happy.

They had been in the battlefield for quite some time and needed to return to refuel.

As soon as they left, Xiao Jianying and the others returned.

The pilots of the squadron knew that the Special Operations Brigade was building its own planes.

At first, they didn't believe that the Special Operations Brigade could build airplanes.

Because they knew that Chiang Kai-shek also had an airplane dream.

And he also established an airplane factory in Hangzhou, but before the factory was occupied by the Japanese, he hadn't built a single airplane.

Chiang Kai-shek used the power of the entire country, but he didn't succeed.

How could the Special Operations Brigade, a small warlord who only occupied a dozen or so counties, succeed?

It had only been a little more than twenty days, and this plane could already participate in actual combat.

Pan Yongshan looked at the three planes flying very slowly and sighed: "Brigade Commander Lin actually succeeded."

Everyone in the entire flight squadron knew what he was talking about.

Guan Guohao said with a smile: "This Brigade Commander Lin really does what he says!"

A few days ago, Lin Fan had really let them fly a transport plane to Wuhan for vacation.

Shen Binhong said with a smile: "I think that plane flies too slowly.

If it encounters a Japanese plane, it can only be a target!"

The entire flight squadron laughed.

After laughing, Pan Yongshan said: "With Brigade Commander Lin around, what kind of plane can threaten this plane?

Brigade Commander Lin said when he was building the plane that he wanted to build a plane that was specifically designed to deal with infantry.

We just saw it. The plane has four machine guns, sweeping all the way over.

The Japanese corpses were everywhere. This is really the nemesis of the infantry!

And this plane is only the first generation.

It will improve in the future."

"Captain is right!"

"Captain is right!"

The pilots in the entire flight squadron immediately started flattering him.

"I wonder how far this kind of plane can fly now."

Nong Xiuzhu said: "If it can reach the range of these Japanese planes..."

He paused, thought about it, and said: "These planes are like bombers, and they need fighter planes to protect them."

"We used to worry that the Special Operations Brigade had too few planes. Now it seems that they will soon have more." Jing Hewei said with a smile.

As they were returning, Yokota Sanjuroku, commander of the Eleventh Cavalry Regiment, finally led his cavalry troops to Brigade Commander Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu.

"Report to the Brigade Commander! The Cavalry Regiment requests to attack!"

Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu looked suspiciously at the cavalry regiment, which only had more than two hundred cavalrymen.

Although he didn't speak, his expression had already asked the question.

"Report to the Brigade Commander! The Cavalry Regiment was bombarded by heavy artillery of the Special Operations Brigade and was also strafed by planes.

The entire regiment only has this many left." Yokota Sanjuroku reported loudly.

"Go! Attack! Crush those soldiers blocking the way!" Brigade Commander Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu accepted the reality.

The Cavalry Regiment continued to charge forward. Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu looked at the three planes approaching rapidly from the west.

He already recognized these planes.

These three planes had four machine guns mounted under their wings.

Now, there were four lines of fire connecting the planes and the ground.

The soldiers under his command on the ground were struggling and wailing under these lines of fire.

Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu felt very uncomfortable.

This was the most uncomfortable battle he had ever fought.

Now, all his hopes were pinned on the air support that Nanjing was sending.

Only airplanes could suppress these airplanes.

Only airplanes could destroy the artillery positions of the Special Operations Brigade.

...

In fact, Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu had already figured it out.

As soon as the imperial planes arrived, his troops would launch a full-scale counterattack.

He had to leave all the Special Operations Brigade that ambushed him today.

Let them know that the Twenty-second Brigade couldn't be ambushed by the Special Operations Brigade.

Now, his focus had shifted back to the Nakatani Harutaka battalion of the Forty-third Infantry Regiment.

After the complete annihilation of the Goro Beto battalion, the Nakatani Harutaka battalion took the lead this time.

Battalion Commander Nakatani Harutaka was ordering the Japanese soldiers of the entire battalion to charge toward the hill ahead.

He had seen and remembered the annihilation of the Goro Beto battalion.

Analyzing from the sudden rise of so much smoke, the entire Goro Beto battalion should have been blown up by the Special Operations Brigade's landmines.

However, since a battalion of Japanese soldiers had already traversed the landmines, it was now safe for his battalion to charge.

With this in mind, Battalion Commander Nakatani Harutaka urged the Japanese soldiers to charge faster and faster.

He knew that the entire brigade's way out was here.

The Japanese soldiers of the Nakatani Harutaka battalion were also very unfortunate now.

The Goro Beto battalion hadn't been bombed by artillery at all when they attacked.

Now, the entire Nakatani Harutaka battalion had lost half of its troops when it charged to two hundred meters in front of the Special Operations Brigade's position.

Moreover, the opponent's artillery fire hadn't weakened at all.

What was going on?

At this time, Jia Shusheng was commanding the artillery company of the Thirteenth Regiment to bombard the distant positions.

He specifically chose the places where the Japanese soldiers were concentrated and let the mountain guns and field guns bombard them.

The Type 92 infantry guns focused on bombing the Japanese soldiers five hundred to one thousand meters in front of the position.

The Japanese soldiers within five hundred meters were left to the mortars.

Fourteen companies had seventy mortars.

So much mortar fire was a pain that the entire Twenty-second Brigade couldn't bear.

At least, that was the case for the current Forty-third Infantry Regiment.

Commander Mitsuhashi Kota had never expected that he could avoid the heavy artillery bombardment by rushing to the front.

Now, he had avoided the heavy artillery bombardment, but the small artillery bombardment was even more deadly.

It wasn't that the small artillery was more powerful, but that there were too many of the opponent's small artillery.

There were so many that the entire Forty-third Regiment couldn't find a safe place to take cover.

The entire regiment was under artillery fire.

If he was unlucky, he could be killed at any time.

This feeling was too unbearable for the Japanese soldiers.

Fortunately, the Nakatani Harutaka battalion had already charged to close range and was about to charge into the opponent's position.

As long as they charged into the position, the entire battlefield would be under the control of the Forty-third Regiment.

Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu was focused on the battlefield again.

Even the strafing and roaring of the three planes led by Xiao Jianying didn't distract Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu.

He saw that the Nakatani Harutaka battalion followed the route of the Goro Beto battalion.

Once again, when they charged to thirty meters from the infantry position of the Special Operations Brigade.

He didn't know if it was a psychological factor or if it really happened: He felt that the lens was pulled again.

Or the opposite hilltop moved.

Then there was another wave of smoke.

Kuroiwa Yoshikatsu was a mature commander.

With the experience of the last time, he didn't just think of good things this time.

He knew that the Nakatani Harutaka battalion was finished.

If air support didn't arrive, the entire Twenty-second Brigade would be finished.

They couldn't break through the hill ahead.

This hilltop was like a copper wall, stopping the entire Twenty-second Brigade.

Just then, his eyes saw a glimmer of hope:

Yokota Sanjuroku was leading the cavalry regiment to charge!