under fire

The blinding light illuminated the night sky.

boom.
A thunderclap suddenly erupted in a quiet, open space.

Under the starlight, the newly piled mound of earth burst open violently, just as an experienced puppet soldier had predicted, the violent tremors and impact even causing the ground to crack open.

The grenade buried in the mound of earth was some distance from the explosive charge and did not detonate due to the high temperature at the start of the explosion.

After exploding, the grenade resembled a large mass of shrapnel, scattering in all directions with a strange whistling sound... flying horizontally across the night, crashing and tearing apart the bodies of any puppet soldiers that blocked their advance, and then slamming the mangled flesh and broken bones hard onto the ground.

Without encountering any obstruction, it spun and flew a distance before crashing to the ground.

A mushroom-shaped plume of smoke from the explosion shot dozens of meters into the sky.

The puppet troops near the blast site seemed to have heard nothing afterward; their eardrums ruptured from the intense shockwave, and the high pressure from the blast even crushed the eyeballs of some of them.
The explosion kicked up mud and sand, and the high-speed projectiles, like iron shot fired at close range from a musket, embedded themselves in flesh and tore through skin.

The entire open space seemed to jump suddenly, with sand and stones flying everywhere and smoke billowing.

The fake commander behind him saw at the edge of the billowing dust that several of his men, who had been blown away, seemed to be flailing about in the air. They might be shouting something, but no sound could be heard.

The ground is shaking.

He tried to steady himself…

Boom boom boom.
The ignition delay time of the scattered grenades ended, and explosions were heard everywhere.

The second wave of tremors struck again, though it wasn't as awe-inspiring as the first, it spread far and wide.
The fake regimental commander suddenly realized that almost half of his attacking company had disappeared.
The result was almost exactly as the fake commander had predicted.

The puppet troops, who had already charged to the vicinity of the ambush trenches, were completely terrified by the thunderous explosions behind them and the billowing smoke and dust.

The resounding explosions were a terrifying and awe-inspiring experience that shook their very being.
In the sky, it seemed as if a moon was slowly descending.
Da da da.
After the explosion, the flares fired into the sky emitted a ghastly white light, which the machine gunner could see clearly. The light machine gun stock vibrated gently against his shoulder.

There was about a platoon of puppet troops at the forefront who were thrown about by the shockwave.

They were all terrified and lay prone in the open field, about thirty meters from the trench, where the Japanese had just shelled them.
Two machine gun trajectories tugged back and forth among the terrified figures lying on the ground.

More than twenty grenades flew out of the trenches and crashed into the crowd on the ground.

bang bang
bang bang
More than ten Mauser pistols attached to their holsters were constantly spitting out flames.

Despite the fact that the attacking puppet troops lay on the ground to avoid the secondary explosions of the flying grenades.

However, they were too close to the trenches where the Eighth Route Army ambushed them.

Completely suppressed by the hail of bullets and unable to retaliate, the Eighth Master was really ruthless. The machine gun fired a full burst from the moment it opened fire, without even a moment to pause and catch one's breath!

Then more than ten rifles fired five rounds in quick succession to empty the magazines, and then the second magazines of the two machine guns began to roar.

The puppet soldiers lying on the ground had blood splattering from the bullet holes in their uniforms.

The assault platoon at the forefront... only had about twenty meters left to rush into the Eighth Route Army's trenches, but at this moment they were completely under heavy fire.

The puppet soldiers who were lucky enough to survive crawled back on their hands and knees without saying a word.

It's too close to the Eighth Route Army's position.

Lying in the shell crater left by the Imperial Army wasn't safe either; if they stayed, they'd become targets for the Eighth Route Army sooner or later. The open ground, except for the corpses of their comrades, offered no cover, so they had no choice but to crawl.

Fortunately, the puppet troops in the assault platoon were highly skilled, quick-witted, and decisive. Although 27 or 28 of the 30-plus men in the platoon were killed or wounded, three puppet soldiers still managed to crawl into the smoke and fire that followed the explosion.

Fortunately, the platoon was not completely wiped out.

The time from the charge to the rout was not long.

Maybe no more than two minutes...

The puppet troops that attempted to encircle the area from the west did not advance further.

Because, under the illumination of the flares, the experienced fake company commander discovered a mound of earth on the detour route.

There were many seasoned veterans among the puppet troops; even the most naive among them would know that there was something wrong with that pile of new soil.

The messengers behind them did not urge them to move forward.

Therefore, the puppet troops lying on the ground watched helplessly as machine guns, pistols, and grenades from the Eighth Route Army's trenches ravaged their comrades who had rushed to the vicinity of the Eighth Route Army's trenches, but no one had the courage to rush forward to provide reinforcements.

Because the mound of earth illuminated by the flare was too new.

Soon, people began to slowly crawl backward. After being nearly a hundred meters away from the mound, each person felt as if those few minutes had passed in an eternity.

If nothing unexpected happens.

The company that launched the frontal assault was almost completely wiped out in this landmine ambush.

The messenger finally arrived, delivering the order: "The regimental commander has commanded that you remain in place and defend this open area to the west."

The second company commander's ears were ringing: "What did you say? You want us to guard this open area?"

"You've all seen what's going on in the company. You'll have to figure it out yourselves. The Japanese commander doesn't have time to deal with it right now."

"Company commander, how about we run west?" one of his platoon leaders suggested. "Let's run three or five miles first. It'll be at least dawn by then, and we can come back."

Under the starlight.

The Japanese major lowered his binoculars.

His facial expression was complex, as if he was angry, yet also excited after being masochistic.

After a brief silence, he looked at the puppet regiment commander standing beside him, bowing low: "Don't be too sad, the Eighth Route Army... doesn't have many troops. It's just one landmine."

The fake commander stammered, trembling, "T-Tai-jun...we..."

"I saw it." The Japanese major did not get angry, but turned around and waved to the Japanese troops behind him.

He signaled to the Japanese troops to launch an attack, then chuckled at the puppet commander, "My attack... yours... study hard!"

The fake commander didn't expect that the major wasn't angry, but instead personally took charge and brought in the Imperial Army.

He let out a deep breath and sheepishly followed the major, fawningly saying, "Um... Sir, the Eighth Route Army is still using the same old tricks; be careful of their landmines."

"Hey?" The major was a little surprised: "Your suggestion... seems to be useless!"

The major believed that it was unlikely the Eighth Route Army would bury two large landmines in the same location...

A company of Japanese infantrymen quickly dispersed into an attack formation.

The monkey, watching the few puppet soldiers flee back, roared, "Quickly clean up the battlefield!"

"Defend against a second round of enemy artillery fire," the messenger reminded.

"Quickly, quickly, just pick up the weapons and ammunition, and get to the ditch behind us!"

Outside the trenches near the light machine gun crew that had ceased firing.

A soldier, grenade launcher in hand, said, "The Japanese artillery position is about 250 meters away. I'll give them a surprise."

After saying that, he suddenly pulled the firing belt.

嗵嗵
Two grenade launchers fired two grenades in succession, which traced arcs in the air and flew into the darkness to the north.
"Quick loading!"

Two grenades were put back into the grenade launcher.

From another grenade launcher nearby, another flare was fired northward.

The smoke of battle slowly spread across the open ground, providing a little light for the soldiers returning after cleaning up the battlefield.

The Japanese skirmishers crossed the artillery line.

The major ordered the artillery to prepare for shelling.

Suddenly, it seemed as if night birds were calling out in the sky.
Two clicks accompanied
Boom
Two grenade launchers landed on the edge of the artillery position and exploded suddenly.

"Enemy attack! Fire!" the Japanese artillery observer shouted instinctively.

Then, two more grenades came flying, one of which exploded near the mortar.

Clearly, the opponent they encountered this time was no ordinary opponent.

The major abandoned his unrealistic fantasy of quickly crushing the Eighth Route Army.

After obediently instructing his men to deploy their troops according to the manual, he continued to advance using positional warfare tactics.

In his view, everything was utterly insignificant compared to the elite of the Imperial Army. (End of Chapter)