Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

Around 10:30 p.m., with less than half an hour before the operation, Blind Cheng immediately ordered his men to wake up the resting soldiers.

Let them wake up, so that their combat effectiveness won't be affected during the battle.

The rest of the 772nd Regiment have arrived at their designated locations and are now waiting for the appointed time to launch their attack.

Time passed second by second, and just as eleven o'clock arrived, Blind Cheng decisively ordered his soldiers to launch an attack on the watchtower.

Bang bang bang…

Gunshots rang out, breaking the silence of the night. Several skilled marksmen were the first to fire, taking out the Japanese soldiers guarding the entrance.

The other soldiers rushed towards the pillbox, with many carrying sandbags already filled with sand, quickly building up their positions.

The gunfire also woke up the Japanese soldiers inside the pillbox.

"Enemy attack! Get up!" a Japanese lieutenant shouted. The Japanese soldiers got up, grabbed their weapons, and ran to the bunker outside the watchtower to fire back.

Da da da………

Bang bang bang…

Intense gunfire erupted throughout the area as the two sides engaged in fierce combat. Several machine gunners from the 772nd Regiment continuously fired at the location where the fire was raging, suppressing the Japanese firepower.

"You take command, I'll call the nearby checkpoint for backup!" Inside the pillbox, the Japanese lieutenant gave the order to a Japanese sergeant and then immediately went to the phone to make the call.

"This is the commander of number 15. We are under attack by the enemy. Please send reinforcements immediately!" the Japanese lieutenant said. But as soon as he finished speaking, he heard gunfire coming from the other end of the phone.

"No, we're also under attack by the enemy. I was hoping you could come and help us!" the Japanese soldier on the other end of the phone said.

"Damn it! How could this happen! Immediately request reinforcements from the county seat!" The Japanese lieutenant hung up the phone after saying this and then immediately made a call to the county seat.

As soon as the call connected, the Japanese lieutenant immediately recounted the details of the attack.

"How many enemies attacked you?!"

"There are at least two hundred of them, and their firepower is very strong. We urgently need reinforcements!"

"Okay, I'll report to the higher-ups right away. You guys keep up the pace for now!"

When the phone call ended, the Japanese lieutenant immediately left the bunker and found the Japanese sergeant behind the cover.

"How is the situation now?!" the Japanese lieutenant asked hurriedly.

"The enemy's firepower is strong, but we can still hold on. However, I think we should retreat to the bunker and not fight outside!" the Japanese sergeant hurriedly said.

Although the enemy only numbered a couple hundred, their own numbered only a few dozen, and the enemy's firepower was clearly superior. If their machine gunners hadn't been more accurate, they probably wouldn't have been able to stop the enemy's attack at all.

"Damn it! Retreat to the blockhouse immediately!" the Japanese lieutenant ordered.

"Yes, sir!" The Japanese sergeant nodded and immediately relayed the order. Before long, dozens of Japanese soldiers hurriedly retreated into the blockhouse.

The gunfire from the direction of the Japanese pillbox suddenly stopped.

"The regimental commander, those Japanese devils are backing down because they can't beat us outside!" the political commissar said.

"Machine gunners, suppress the enemy with fire! The rest of you, push forward!" Cheng the Blind immediately gave the order, and he personally led the charge, rushing towards the Japanese pillbox.

Da da da………

The machine gunner kept firing at the windows of the pillbox. Although the Japanese soldiers weren't firing from there, these windows were the very spots where they would fire. When the Japanese retreated to the pillbox, they would definitely choose to fire from these positions.

Soon, Blind Cheng and his men arrived at the watchtower. The door was open, but there were no Japanese soldiers on the first floor; they were clearly hiding on the stairs.

Seeing this, Blind Cheng did not rush to send his soldiers inside, because the Japanese were definitely waiting inside.

Moreover, the terrain inside the watchtower is too cramped, making it unsuitable for large-scale assaults; sending too few people in would be suicide.

This put Blind Cheng in a dilemma. A direct confrontation would result in heavy casualties, and even if they managed to win, the losses would be devastating.

Bang bang bang…

The Japanese soldiers inside the pillbox also began to look for opportunities to fire. Some soldiers were unable to dodge in time and were shot and fell to the ground, while the other soldiers were fighting back.

"Damn it, fire the tear gas!" Cheng the Blind, who was hiding behind the cover, immediately thought of tear gas and gave the order.

Soon, two soldiers took tear gas canisters, pulled the pins, and threw them into the bunker.

The Japanese soldiers guarding the stairs immediately ducked behind cover when they saw something fly in, but the expected explosion did not occur.

A Japanese soldier peeked out and looked at the location of the two tear gas canisters, which were continuously emitting white smoke.

"What's going on? This grenade is just smoking and not exploding!?"

"It's a dud, isn't it?"

"The hand grenades made by the Eighth Route Army are just different."

The Japanese soldiers couldn't help but sneer, and soon, smoke quickly spread.

"Cough cough cough......"

"Baka! What the hell is this thing...?"

When the Japanese soldiers smelled the odor, they immediately began to cough violently, accompanied by a feeling of suffocation.

.

"Give me the machine gun." Blind Cheng immediately took the machine gun from a machine gunner and aimed it at the entrance of the pillbox. As soon as the Japanese soldiers inside couldn't withstand the tear gas and ran out, he would immediately open fire.

.........

Inside the watchtower, the Japanese lieutenant went straight to the second floor as soon as he entered.

"Lieutenant, have they sent anyone from the checkpoint?!" the Japanese sergeant asked.

"No, they were attacked by the enemy too." The Japanese lieutenant shook his head.

"What?! The checkpoint was attacked too?!" the Japanese sergeant exclaimed in surprise. He thought only the pillbox had been attacked, but he didn't expect the checkpoint to be attacked as well.

"Yes, so I called the county town for help," the Japanese lieutenant replied, but he had a bad feeling about it.

"That's good. I believe reinforcements will arrive soon." The Japanese sergeant breathed a sigh of relief.

"The ones who attacked us must be the New 1st Regiment," the Japanese sergeant said again. "Need you even ask? It must be them. I didn't expect that before we could even lay a hand on them, they would turn around and attack us!" The Japanese lieutenant said with certainty, his face filled with murderous intent as he spoke.

"They're courting death! Once reinforcements arrive, we'll wipe them out immediately," the Japanese sergeant replied.

"Something's not right. I suspect the other pillboxes and checkpoints have also been attacked!" the Japanese lieutenant suddenly said.

"What do you mean?!" The Japanese sergeant was puzzled as to why the lieutenant would guess that.

“This new regiment has a lot of men. If they really want to make a move, they definitely won’t just attack one or two places. They will most likely include other pillboxes and checkpoints in their attack targets as well! Moreover, their attack times are also synchronized!” The Japanese lieutenant said his guess.

“That makes sense, and judging from their firepower, only the New 1st Regiment has such fierce firepower.” The Japanese sergeant nodded, agreeing with the lieutenant’s assessment, and offered his own opinion.

"Why did they suddenly decide to attack us?! The New First Regiment hasn't made any moves lately." The Japanese lieutenant was puzzled.

"Could it be that the Northeast Army is involved too?!" the Japanese sergeant guessed. If the Northeast Army was involved, they really couldn't stop them.

"It shouldn't be. As it stands, the people who attacked us don't seem to be the kind of enemies with excellent marksmanship, which doesn't match up with the Northeast Army." The Japanese lieutenant shook his head, feeling that the Northeast Army couldn't possibly be here.

"Perhaps the Northeast Army's real target was the soldiers in the county town; they were only attacking us to besiege the town and catch the reinforcements," the Japanese sergeant said.

"Damn it, if that's the case, asking the county town for help is actually helping the enemy!" The Japanese lieutenant's face changed. He remembered that the Northeast Army's favorite thing to do was to besiege a point and then attack the reinforcements.

If that's the case, then their request for help from the county seat is tantamount to helping the enemy kill their people.

"Lieutenant, call the county town immediately and tell them not to send any more reinforcements," the Japanese sergeant said.

"Hmm." The Japanese lieutenant nodded, and was about to make a phone call when...

"Cough cough cough..." A violent coughing sound came from the first floor.

"What's going on?!" The Japanese lieutenant was puzzled. Just as he was about to go downstairs to see what was happening, he saw a plume of smoke rising upwards.

When he smelled it, a pungent odor hit him, causing him to cough violently.

"Lieutenant, how are you... cough cough cough... what is this... " The Japanese sergeant came over, but he also fell victim to it, choking and feeling suffocated. It was as if an invisible hand was choking him, and even sprinkling chili peppers into his eyes, making his eyes water.

The Japanese lieutenant coughed violently, feeling like he couldn't breathe. He wondered what this thing was—a poison gas bomb?! But how could the enemy have poison gas bombs?!

Come to think of it, poison gas bombs shouldn't be like this, right? Their power is so terrifying that just smelling them makes you feel uncomfortable all over.

For a moment, incessant coughing could be heard from inside the watchtower. The Japanese soldiers inside desperately wanted to breathe fresh air, but the tower was filled with smoke, so the only way to get fresh air was to go outside.

But there are enemies guarding outside. Going out means certain death, but if they don't go out, they will probably die too, and their deaths will be even more painful.

At this moment, the Japanese soldiers even threw down their guns. They couldn't bear it any longer and started running outside. They would rather die than stay in this smoke. It was just too uncomfortable.

Cheng the Blind, outside the watchtower, was also ready to attack.

In less than two minutes, some Japanese soldiers started running outside. Several Japanese soldiers didn't even have their guns with them; they were shot dead as soon as they breathed in the fresh air.

Then more Japanese soldiers couldn't hold on any longer and ran outside. They simply couldn't withstand the ravages of the tear gas, which was pushing their physical limits.

Bang bang bang…

Da da da………

Gunshots rang out intermittently, killing all the Japanese soldiers who came out.

After waiting for half an hour, the smoke inside the watchtower had mostly dissipated, and dozens of corpses lay at the entrance.

"Class One, put on your gas masks and go in to check!" Blind Cheng immediately ordered. He felt there might be some survivors in the watchtower, and he couldn't let anyone escape.

As the order was given, the soldiers of the first squad took out their gas masks, put them on, and then carefully entered the pillbox.

boom!
Boom!

Sporadic gunshots could be heard from inside; the soldiers were dealing with the Japanese soldiers who had been choked unconscious.

A few minutes later, the soldiers who had entered the blockhouse came out.

"Commander, all the Japanese soldiers in the pillbox have been wiped out!" The squad leader reported the battle situation to Blind Cheng.

"Very good, clean up the battlefield immediately." Upon hearing this, Blind Cheng smiled and immediately ordered his soldiers to seize the spoils of war.

"Commander, the power of these tear gas canisters is truly terrifying. These Japanese devils can't withstand it at all; they're rushing out one after another," the political commissar said happily. He really hadn't expected the canisters to be so powerful.

Just two tear gas canisters, and the Japanese soldiers inside dropped their guns and rushed out.

"The stuff the commander came up with is really useful," Cheng the Blind Man remarked.
"Yes, if it weren't for the tear gas, we would probably have had to sacrifice more than half of our soldiers to take down the blockhouse," the political commissar nodded and then said.

"Have the casualty statistics been released yet?!" Blind Cheng asked.

"In this attack on the pillbox, we lost fifteen soldiers and were wounded seven, but we eliminated at least thirty or forty Japanese soldiers, which can be considered a great victory," the political commissar responded.

"Very good. Have someone bring the bodies of the fallen soldiers. Oh, and don't forget to take the tear gas canisters from the pillbox. The Japanese can't take these, or they'll notice something's wrong." Blind Cheng instructed again. Although the used tear gas canisters were no longer effective, he still wanted to take them; he didn't want the Japanese to take them.

.........

Meanwhile, the other companies had also finished their battles. Fortunately, they had also brought tear gas, otherwise, they would have suffered heavy losses if they had tried to capture the pillbox.

As for the Japanese soldiers at the checkpoint, they were all dealt with, since the checkpoint's defenses were not as strong as those of the pillbox.

.........

Qinghe County.

The Japanese regimental commander was awakened by a series of urgent knocks on the door. He had just fallen asleep when he was woken up, so he was naturally in a bad mood. When he got up and opened the door, a Japanese major was standing at the door.

"Commander, something bad has happened! All the bunkers and checkpoints have been attacked by the enemy at the same time, most likely by the New 1st Regiment." The Japanese major quickly reported the situation.

"What?! Then hurry up and send reinforcements!" The Japanese regimental commander was shocked upon hearing this and immediately said.

"Commander, I was just about to send reinforcements, but something feels off. Could that Northeast Army unit be involved too?! They love to besiege a stronghold and then ambush reinforcements!"
The key point is that they have a good relationship with the New First Regiment, so it's normal for them to help! The Japanese major responded.

"If that's the case, we really can't send anyone to help!" The Japanese regimental commander immediately calmed down when he heard that the Northeast Army might be involved.

"I think so too. If we send soldiers from the county town to provide support, our losses will be even greater if they are ambushed."
"But what if that Northeast Army unit doesn't respond? If we don't send reinforcements, it's the same as abandoning those soldiers. We'd probably lose over a thousand men in one night," the Japanese major added.

If that Northeast Army unit hadn't been there, they would have essentially watched as the enemy destroyed their fortified towers and checkpoints.

(End of this chapter)