Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 74 Special Bullets

A gray observation balloon slowly rose a thousand meters into the air. Beneath the huge balloon was a large basket, which at first glance looked like the open eye of a demon.

Looking at the balloons floating in mid-air, everyone's hearts tightened. Many veterans knew that when the Japanese army raised the observation balloons, it meant that they were about to launch their general offensive.

Su Yaoyang, who came out of the cellar, naturally saw it too. Looking at the balloon a kilometer away, he gripped the necklace around his neck, feeling somewhat annoyed that his mental strength was still not enough.

If my mental strength were a bit stronger, I might be able to unlock the next stage of weapons. At that time, I could produce a batch of large-caliber anti-aircraft guns. Would those little devils still dare to release such lousy balloons in front of me?
For some reason, his unease grew stronger.

"What's going on? Why do I have this feeling that something bad is going to happen? Are those Japanese devils up to something again?"

On the Japanese artillery position, the field artillery regiment commander's triangular eyes narrowed into a thin line, and behind him, sixteen Type 41 mountain guns were lined up in a row.

Next to each mountain gun stood six artillerymen wearing pig-nose gas masks, and behind the guns were rows of ammunition boxes with bright yellow skull and crossbones markings.

The regimental commander ripped open his collar, revealing his bulging neck veins. Two brass buttons on his gunpowder-stained stand-up collar uniform popped off, and his riding boots made a crisp sound like bones breaking as they crunched over the grass.

He then swung his sword and cleaved a nearby tree branch in two, shouting, "Fire!"

"Boom boom boom..."

At his command, the Japanese gunners pulled hard on the gun ropes, and with a thunderous roar, shells were fired one after another.

"Woooo..."

Soon, a wailing sound suddenly rang out from the second-line position, and the soldiers, who were already skilled in artillery fire, quickly took cover in the nearby artillery shelters.

But they soon realized something was wrong; the sound of the shells exploding was unusually low, like the sound of an earthenware jar being smashed.

The expressions of experienced officers and veterans immediately changed.

Li Gaoyuan, who was in the Second Battalion Command Post, suddenly jumped up, grabbed a hat from the table, and shouted sharply, "Poison gas... The Japanese have released poison gas! Everyone, quickly cover your mouths and noses... No... Everyone, put on your gas masks..."

"Quickly put on your gas mask!"

Almost simultaneously, shouts and curses from officers echoed across the position, and amidst the commotion, the position began to be shrouded in thick, yellowish-green smoke.

Li Gaoyuan hurriedly put on his gas mask, grabbed a Thompson submachine gun from the wall, and rushed out. Just as he reached the door, a soldier stumbled into his arms, and Li Gaoyuan held the edge of his gas mask with his calloused palm. The copper filter canister gleamed warmly in the morning light.

"Why are you running!" Li Gaoyuan shouted sternly, "Call the regimental commander immediately! The Japanese have released poison gas. Tell him to put on his gas mask and take good care of the girls and the wounded!"

church
Su Yaoyang burst open the cellar door. He was clutching two gas masks in his left hand, and his right forearm was cut by a slit in the metal, leaving a winding line of blood. His military boots rolled over the debris on the ground, leaving dark red marks on the stone steps.

Song Mei, who was performing surgery on the wounded, was startled when she discovered that the door had been kicked open. She immediately shielded Xiao Lu behind her, her white coat scorched by gunpowder. She only breathed a sigh of relief after seeing who it was. Before she could speak, Su Yaoyang shoved a gas mask over her head.

"Breathe!"

Su Yaoyang's hoarse voice carried a hint of heat as his trembling fingertips pressed the cool rubber ring of the gas mask against her burning skin, the metal buckle clicking crisply. Next, it was Xiao Lu's turn. The little girl was very obedient, simply clinging tightly to Su Yaoyang's waist, her short nails digging into the folds of his combat uniform. The unique scent of a sixteen-year-old girl mingled with her tears, seeping into the gas filter.

When she looked up, her eyes swept over the bloodstain on Su Yaoyang's arm, and she felt a pang of heartache, but she remained motionless as her young master fastened the gas mask for her.

After helping Xiao Lu put on her mask, Su Yaoyang turned around to help Song Mei adjust it, but she suddenly grabbed his wrist as he adjusted the straps, her ash-covered eyelashes trembling.

Through his fogged-up goggles, he saw her lips moving as if she were saying something, but the unspoken words were filtered into a damp sigh.

Xiao Lu clung tightly to Su Yaoyang's chest, her arms wrapped tightly around his, and the three of them fell silent for a moment.

White mist gradually filled the gas masks, and the overlapping breaths of the two women echoed in the confined space. Su Yaoyang suddenly realized that everything he had desperately protected these past few days had been incredibly worthwhile.

The distant explosions shook the ground slightly, but they simply watched the man before them silently, as if this small space was the safest place in the world...

The Japanese army fired poison gas for a total of ten minutes, until the entire position turned into a thick yellow-green fog before they stopped.

Ten minutes later, the entire area fell silent. The pine trees by the roadside curled into dark brown claws, their resin solidifying into amber-like teardrops, enveloping the lifeless cicadas.

A gust of cold wind blew by, and the originally thick yellow-green smoke began to dissipate.

Indistinct figures began to appear in front of the First Battalion's position. A group of Japanese soldiers wearing pig-snout masks began to appear in front of the position. The rubber tubes of the Type 97 gas masks began to twitch rhythmically, like a group of cockroaches that had smelled rotting flesh.

"Commander, the Japanese are coming!" Xu Dapeng said to Li Gaoyuan beside him while keeping a close eye on the opposite side of the position. Because he had been wearing a mask for a while, there was always a layer of water fog on the lenses.

"Shut up, I can see you." Li Gaoyuan shouted angrily, his voice distorted and muffled through the mask. He then addressed those around him, "Listen up, no one is allowed to fire without my order."

Faced with their commander's strict orders, the soldiers suppressed their anxiety and lay prone in the trenches to wait.

The surface of the M1917 heavy machine gun's cooling water tank was covered with fine water droplets, and the machine gunner, Lao Cao, had already lifted the water inlet cap for the third time to check.

In fact, the water level had only dropped by two fingers, but he kept hearing the hissing sound of steam burning metal.

Twenty meters away, in the bunker of a BAR light machine gun, another machine gunner was constantly wiping the gun with a cloth. The gray magazine was so clean that it reflected his image, but his left hand, wrapped with a tourniquet, never touched the trigger.

A soldier in his early twenties next to Lao Cao had his Garand rifle tucked between his knees, his thumb repeatedly scraping the pineapple pattern on the MK2 grenade.

When the first wave of Japanese soldiers reached within fifty meters of the position, Li Gaoyuan finally stood up, kicked over the ammunition box next to him, and roared hoarsely, "Fire for me!"

The moment Li Gaoyuan kicked over the ammunition box, the lurking metal behemoths on the battlefield collectively awakened.

The cooling water tanks of the M1917 water-cooled heavy machine gun were the first to emit white steam. Six fire chains crisscrossed and twisted into the Japanese vanguard. The rubber tubes of the gas masks were torn into pieces and flew into the air along with the jawbone.

Several Japanese soldiers instinctively tried to cover the leaking gas filter canisters, but were then struck by a 7.62mm bullet that pierced their helmets—their brain matter sprayed out from the breathing valve's air intake, like squeezed toothpaste.

(End of this chapter)