Under one person: I, Zhang Zhiwei, the arrogant Zhang.

The sky was overcast, with dark clouds looming overhead, as if even the heavens were feeling oppressed by the impending carnage.

Commander Yujiro Takeshita of the Japanese Marine Corps stood on a car, dressed in a neat woolen military uniform, coldly gazing into the distance. They were still far from the Tentong Parish, and he was preparing to issue the battle orders.

The soldiers behind him, dressed in dark yellow uniforms, began to disperse in combat formations, in company and squad units, with each person spaced five to ten steps apart, after receiving his instructions.

They were all highly trained soldiers, and even though they felt uneasy in front of the church, they were still able to complete their combat missions very well.

Although Takeshita Yujiro has been retired for many years, as a naval admiral, he still has considerable experience in land operations.

With over five thousand people, it was impossible for them all to rush in at once, so he divided them into three groups.

He summoned his chief of staff.

"General!" The chief of staff jogged over.

“Now I’m giving you the battle orders. Write them down!” Takeshita Yujiro said.

The chief of staff immediately took out his notebook, ready to take notes.

Takeshita Yujiro pondered for a moment and said, "I will proceed as follows: the army will be divided into three parts. I will lead two complete battalions, about 1,200 men, to attack the main gate and square in front of the Tiantong Cathedral. Ten medium tanks will lead the way in a wedge formation, with their cannons pointed at the main gate of the cathedral. We will open fire once the general attack begins."

"Behind the tank, twelve Type 92 heavy machine guns were set up behind temporary sandbag bunkers, forming a crossfire network. Further away, four Type 41 75mm mountain guns were deployed."

"Another force of about 800 men was responsible for the left flank. This force was equipped with five light tanks and marched west along the main road. After receiving the order to attack, they moved to the side and rear of the church complex, cut off possible retreat routes, and captured the church-affiliated hospital and orphanage buildings."

"The right-wing assault group, also about 800 men, along with the remaining four tanks, bypassed the main church to the east, heading straight for the church's supply warehouse and the shantytown where refugees gathered."

"The tactical intent this time is clear: to create pressure from multiple points, disperse defensive forces, and ultimately achieve encirclement."

"The remaining two thousand or so men are the reserve force, controlling the surrounding streets and alleys and responsible for establishing an outer blockade. Today, not even a bird is allowed to fly out of this area."

After the order was issued, the various units took action. The engineering squads, carrying demolition charges and explosive packs, took their positions. The communications soldiers began setting up the radios. The sergeant, wearing a white armband and holding a pistol, silently patrolled the ranks with a cold and stern gaze.

With everything prepared, Takeshita Yujiro looked at the distant cathedral and grinned maliciously.
"Let's begin. Let these Chinese know what the wrath of the Empire is like!"

With his command, the war machine roared into action instantly!

The first to launch an attack came from naval guns on the Huangpu River and fighter jets in the air.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Several destroyers and cruisers anchored on the river simultaneously turned their guns and began calibration. On the newly arrived main ship, a large-caliber high-explosive shell, accompanied by a piercing whistle, pierced the sky and landed heavily on the open ground two hundred meters southeast of the cathedral.

This was not for a precision strike, but a test firing. The huge shockwave shattered the glass on the entire street. People inside and outside the parish felt a violent jolt beneath their feet. The shockwave spread in a ring, and the windows of the surrounding buildings shattered at the same time, creating a deafening crash.

Panic was raging within the parish; many people were screaming and crying out, while others were calling for the arrival of the Heavenly Tong Sect Master.

The young believers who had previously been armed with wooden sticks and iron bars, ready to fight the Japanese pirates to the death, witnessed the terrifying explosion not far away and felt the intense shock. Their previous courage to face death suddenly faltered.

It's no wonder they acted this way. It's only human nature to react this way. Faced with a life-or-death crisis and intense gunfire, how many people could truly remain fearless?
Not to mention them, even the Fire Cloud Evil God, the Landlord and Landlady, and others felt a chill run down their spines. They were indeed top-tier extraordinary individuals in the world. If they were in ancient times, they would definitely be fierce generals capable of defeating thousands or even tens of thousands of people. But in this era, facing such fierce firepower, they had no choice. If they charged in, they would only face certain death.

"The only way is to stay inside the building and wait for the Japanese pirates to break in. The diocese churches have all been renovated and reinforced by the archbishop, so ordinary artillery fire can't destroy them!" Lu Yusheng said.

“If they break in, the parish will suffer heavy casualties, and…” the landlady said, “These past few days, I’ve seen them use naval guns to attack our troops. The power is terrifying. I’m afraid that after a few rounds of naval gunfire, there won’t be many survivors in the entire church.”

"Then what do you suggest we do? With this kind of firepower, unless the leader himself comes, no one can withstand it," Lu Yusheng said.

"I want to test if it can hold up," the landlady said.

Knowing what the landlady was thinking, the landlord quickly said, "You can't handle it."

"I can handle it!" The landlady's eyes were firm. She patted the large bronze bell next to her. It was specially made by her and had been opened up long ago. It was more like a loudspeaker than a bronze bell.

"My sound waves can definitely stop some of the cannonballs!" the landlady said.

Upon hearing this, the landlord didn't try to persuade him any further. He had made up his mind to do it, and no one could stop his wife from doing it.

Just then, the roar of engines came from the sky. Several Type 96 carrier-based attack aircraft swept in from the southeast and circled over the church. They flew very high, with heavy bombs hanging under their wings.

Following closely behind were six reconnaissance aircraft, which provided artillery fire correction.

Just twenty seconds later, true destruction came.

On the Japanese flagship, all four main guns fired simultaneously, while the surrounding destroyers fired all eight main guns at the same time, with all the ships firing in unison.

Not far away, four mountain guns also roared rapidly.

At the same time, attack aircraft swooped down from the sky, opening their belly bomb bays.

Their attacks were highly organized, with the artillery fire precisely calculated. Heavy artillery bombarded sturdy buildings, medium-caliber guns covered streets and open areas, and carrier-based aircraft dropped bombs to destroy large targets.

The shells landed from the outside in, layer by layer, like a plow repeatedly turning over the land.

At this critical moment, the landlord and landlady, carrying the enormous bronze bell, leaped like two nimble swallows onto the towering spire of the church. The landlord was about to hoist the bell onto his shoulders, just as they had done countless times before, acting as a human support.

However, a figure suddenly flashed by, shoved the landlord aside, and picked up the heavy bronze bell himself. It was the Fire Cloud Evil God!
The landlord looked at him in confusion: "Evil God, what are you doing?"

Fire Cloud Evil God grinned: "If you set up cannons, you'll have no defense. What if you get hit by stray bullets? I'm stronger than you, and my skin is thicker, so I'm better suited to tank cannon fire. Your Tai Chi is better for defense; you can deflect incoming stray bullets. Enough talk, get ready!"

The landlord and landlady looked at Fire Cloud Evil God with deep emotion. They never expected that this ruthless and heartless guy, who usually killed without blinking an eye, would actually show righteousness and loyalty in this life-or-death situation.

Seeing this, the members of the escort team below also had tears in their eyes.

"Protect them!"

"Fight them!"

Someone shouted, and dozens of church guards leaped onto the roof. Though they lacked martial arts skills, they formed a human wall around the landlord and his two companions. Even if it meant using their own flesh and blood to shield them from bullets, they were determined to protect this last hope!

Then, a barrage of artillery fire descended.

The landlady took a deep breath, her chest expanding violently like an inflating balloon, as if trying to draw all the surrounding air into her lungs. Then, she exhaled sharply!
"kill!!!!"

The enormous sound exploded, and with the amplification and concentration of the bronze bell, it almost transformed into a tangible shockwave!

This sound wave, like a transparent torrent visible to the naked eye, with a destructive force, violently swept towards the barrage of shells fired by the Japanese fleet!

The sound waves started out highly concentrated, like a sharp sword, but their range expanded with distance, eventually forming a vast net. Since the Japanese naval gunfire was highly concentrated, most of the shells were affected by these terrifying sound waves.

“Rumble——!!!”

The landlady's lion's roar could stir up huge waves of earth and rocks on the ground. When she roared at those high-speed flying shells, it immediately caused a violent secondary explosion!
A series of deafening explosions rang out in mid-air! Dozens of large-caliber naval gun shells were detonated prematurely by the sound waves when they were still hundreds of meters away from the church!

At that moment, it was as if a series of dazzling yet deadly fireworks bloomed in the sky. The orange-red fireballs merged into one, and the shockwaves and debris from the explosions scattered in all directions, but they could no longer inflict a devastating blow on the church.

This scene thrilled the team of superhumans on the rooftop, and their cheers resounded through the sky!

But the crisis was far from over. It wasn't just naval gunfire coming; heavy bombs were also being dropped from attack aircraft overhead!
The landlady was still yelling, her attention completely focused on the naval guns in front of her, and she had no time to pay attention to what was above her.

Fire Cloud Evil God was also a clever man. Seeing this, he suddenly exerted force with both arms and lifted the large bronze bell on his shoulder upwards, instantly pointing the cannon muzzle towards the sky!
The landlady understood immediately. Following the direction of the bronze bell, the sound waves swept upwards from the front, like a giant windshield wiper scraping through a glass covered in water droplets, directly sweeping into the sky!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Several more loud explosions! The heavy bombs falling from the sky were directly destroyed in mid-air by this domineering sound wave! Huge fireballs exploded below the clouds, the shockwaves rolling and even shaking the attack aircraft flying at a lower altitude, almost causing them to stall and crash.

During this time, stray bullets and shrapnel flew in like locusts.

The landlord's face was solemn, his inner energy surged, and his hands moved, drawing round and dense arcs that formed a slowly rotating yin-yang Tai Chi diagram around his body.

With effortless skill, he deflected all the stray bullets, and even miraculously neutralized one or two small-caliber shells that slipped through the net using a gentle force.

Of course, the landlady didn't stop all the shells; some landed inside the parish, destroying some houses and sending up plumes of smoke and dust.

Fortunately, the people in those areas have already been evacuated, and there were no major casualties.

This scene thrilled everyone who witnessed it, and they all cheered!

Even the foreigners from the Municipal Council who had been closely watching the battle from afar stared wide-eyed, their jaws nearly dropping in astonishment.

"Oh my God! What is that?!" a British consul exclaimed incredulously through his binoculars. "That Chinese woman... she actually detonated a shell with her roar?! This is... this is unbelievable! It's insane! It's absolutely insane!"

In the distance, the scouts of the Jianghu Inn were also frantically recording this astonishing scene, preparing to send it back to headquarters so that the whole world would know about this miraculous battle.

In the distance, Takeshita Yujiro clearly saw this scene through the artillery scope, a scene that left his mind almost blank. The sneer on his face froze, and the corners of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

He had spent half his life on the battlefield and had seen all sorts of situations, but this was the first time he had encountered such a situation—that someone could actually use sound to counter naval cannons?

"Baka!" He spat fiercely, a glint of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes. "I'd like to see how many times you can yell like that! Pass down the order, keep firing! Don't stop!"

He ordered the cannons to fire again.

The landlady gritted her teeth and gathered her strength, attempting to intercept him again. She had practiced Qi cultivation and the Lion's Roar technique for decades; her internal energy was incredibly profound, and her voice couldn't be lost after just one or two roars. She had great stamina!
Once again, she let out a deafening roar, intercepting most of the incoming artillery fire mid-air.

Upon seeing this, Takeshita Yujiro frowned. As a veteran of the battlefield, after the initial shock, he quickly reverted to his cold and calculating nature.

He realized that while the other side's interception method was powerful, it also had limitations, namely that it could only target concentrated firing points.

"Order all units!" he said coldly. "Naval guns and mountain guns, change your firing data! Don't concentrate your fire on the church! Extend your fire to cover all buildings, streets, and open areas around the church! Bomber formations, climb up and drop bombs from different altitudes and directions! I want to catch her completely off guard!"

With his command, the artillery fire rhythm changed. This way, although the firepower could not be concentrated on the most threatening cathedral, it prevented the landlady from completely blocking all the shells as before.

The sky was filled with artillery fire, like a scattered meteor shower, which mercilessly rained down on the parish.

Sweating profusely, the landlady suppressed the discomfort in her throat and unleashed another torrent of sound waves, but this time the projectiles were scattered, and she could only intercept some of them.

But at that moment, lightning crackled through the church, and a bolt of lightning appeared, forming a strange, otherworldly figure. (End of Chapter)