Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 52 The Final Showdown (Part Two)

Seeing Su Yaoyang come in, Huang Guantao couldn't help but complain, "Damn it, it looks like the Japanese are going to stick with us to the bitter end."

Early this morning, I sent a platoon to scout the rear. The Japanese cavalry immediately advanced, but luckily the platoon leader reacted quickly and pulled back; otherwise, the platoon would have been wiped out.

Su Yaoyang sat down, took out a bag of biscuits from his pocket, and handed it to us while eating, saying, "That's for sure. If I were Guo Qideng, I wouldn't let us off the hook either."

Don't forget that we took out their deputy detachment commander and regimental commander yesterday. If we hadn't kept us here, he probably wouldn't have been able to stay as detachment commander for the rest of his life.

Just you wait and see, it won't be long before the Japanese launch an attack.

"boom……"

No sooner had Su Yaoyang finished speaking than a violent explosion was heard ahead, and the observation post quickly began to report.

"Sir, the Japanese army is launching an attack on our Block 1."

"I hope Lu Shaobin won't disappoint me," Su Yaoyang murmured, gazing at the thick smoke rising in the distance.

In order to delay the Japanese army, Su Yaoyang and his two companions set up two defensive lines in front of the church. Block 1 was located at the forefront, and the Japanese army had to take it if they wanted to attack the church.

The battalion stationed in Block One was led by Lu Shaobin.

Although Su Yaoyang treated everyone equally in terms of equipment, the battalion was composed of the fewest experienced veterans and mostly deserters, making it undoubtedly the weakest in combat power.

To put it bluntly, the reason the Third Battalion was placed at the front was to deplete the Japanese army's manpower. Neither Su Yaoyang nor Li Gaoyuan or Huang Guantao placed their hopes on the Third Battalion...

Zhang Wenshan lay quietly in the ruins, covered with a strip of cloth disguised with withered branches. A Springfield M1903A4 bolt-action sniper rifle, also wrapped in rags, was silently positioned in front of him.

Here's something to correct: many people, upon first seeing the name Springfield M1903A4 bolt-action sniper rifle, immediately mistakenly assume it's a Japanese rifle.

Actually, that's not the case. This gun was developed by the Springfield Armory in the United States under license from the Mauser Armory in Germany. The rotating bolt action was modeled after the German M1898 rifle, so it can be regarded as a variant of the Mauser rifle.

Because of its high performance and accuracy, this rifle was used as a sniper rifle after being equipped with a 4x scope.

Unlike his companions who preferred the Garand rifle with its extremely high rate of fire and powerful firepower, Zhang Wenshan preferred this bolt-action sniper rifle, which, although not fast in rate of fire, had high accuracy.

Moreover, Zhang Wenshan was extremely talented in shooting, so after careful consideration, the company commander agreed to the guy's request and granted him the right to move around freely.

The Japanese army launched an attack on Block 1 half an hour earlier. The battle was extremely fierce from the very beginning, with the Japanese army using various weapons such as Type 92 infantry guns, Type 92 heavy machine guns, and grenade launchers to attack Block 1.

The Third Battalion was not to be outdone. Relying on makeshift fortifications and abandoned buildings, and under the cover of 1917 water-cooled heavy machine guns, Browning M1918 light machine guns, Garand rifles, and more than ten mortars, they launched a resolute counterattack, and the battle was extremely fierce.

Zhang Wenshan, lying on the top of a bombed-out building with only his eyes showing, did not attract anyone's attention. He simply used a 4x scope to quietly observe the movements of the Japanese troops in front of him.

Suddenly, a group of Japanese soldiers came into his line of sight.

This was a team of artillerymen, struggling to move a Type 38 75mm field gun forward. Zhang Wenshan turned his head and saw that in that direction, an M1917 water-cooled heavy machine gun was relentlessly pouring bullets at the attacking Japanese troops. In order to capture that firing point, the Japanese used weapons including grenade launchers and Type 92 heavy machine guns to attack it, but not only did it have no effect, it also cost them more than ten lives.

It seems the Japanese are really desperate; they've even brought over field artillery.

Zhang Wenshan dared not be negligent. He heard a "whoosh!" sound, pulled back the bolt, and immediately released the safety to aim at the artilleryman walking at the very back.

"Bang!" Without the slightest hesitation, Zhang Wenshan pulled the trigger. With the sound of the gunshot, a spray of blood flew from the chest of the last Japanese soldier, who fell to the ground without uttering a sound.

Gunfire erupted all around them, and the Japanese soldiers, busy pushing their cannons forward, did not notice that their comrades behind them had been hit, and continued to advance with great difficulty.

Zhang Wenshan pulled back the bolt, and a bright orange cartridge case jumped out of the chamber. When he pushed the bolt back in, a 7.62mm full-power rifle cartridge was chambered.

"boom……"

Zhang Wenshan pulled the trigger again, only to feel a sudden jolt in his shoulder, followed by a slight tingling sensation that traveled from his shoulder to his fingers.

He cursed inwardly; the recoil of this thing was really strong.

When he put his right eye back on the scope, the Japanese artillerymen finally realized that two of their comrades had died.

The Japanese soldier was hit in the head, and half of his head was blown off instantly. The splattered blood stained the ground crimson.

Terrified by the horrific scene before them, the soldiers put down their cannons and picked up their rifles to fire wildly in all directions. However, with explosions and gunfire everywhere, the gunshots fired by Zhang Wenshan from hundreds of meters away were not very noticeable.

The howling of the cold wind further disrupted the artillerymen's hearing, making it impossible for them to tell where the bullets were coming from.

"Bang!" Zhang Wenshan did not stop firing despite the Japanese artillerymen's panic. He aimed at a Japanese soldier carrying a sword and pulled the trigger.

The method for quickly identifying Japanese commanders on the battlefield is very simple: as long as you see someone holding a sword, just shoot at him and you're guaranteed to be right.

"Whizzing……"

Apart from the occasional stray bullets whizzing overhead, the Japanese artillery posed no threat to Zhang Wenshan. In fact, they hadn't even noticed where the bullets were coming from; they were simply firing aimlessly from any direction they could find cover, fear creeping into their hearts.

"Whoosh..."

Amid the whistling of bullets, the Japanese artillerymen, already terrified by the horrific scene before them, saw yet another comrade hiding behind a gun mount have his head torn apart by a bullet, with red and white matter, like a tomato sauce, splattering around him as if he had been hit in the head.

In just a few dozen seconds, half of the original artillery squad of more than ten people was killed or wounded. Finally, one Japanese artilleryman, unable to bear the psychological pressure, threw down his weapon and turned to run away.

By the time Zhang Wenshan stopped firing, everyone except the three fastest artillerymen had fallen into pools of blood.

(End of this chapter)