Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Changjin Lake, a Hundred Battles, a Hundred Victories

Chapter 20 Total Annihilation
Judging from the gunshots, one shot was from a Hanyang Type 88 rifle, and the other was from a musket that was outdated and whose age was unknown.

It's a disgrace that over a hundred of them were intimidated by an enemy equipped with such weapons.

"Full speed ahead, wipe out those Chinese!"

The Japanese squad leader shouted angrily.

They, a group of over a hundred people, allowed the enemy to kill the traitor who had just been talking to him right in front of him.

Although he sees traitors as nothing more than dogs, one must consider the owner before beating a dog. Is this slapping a traitor's backside? This is a direct slap in his face!
Urged on by the Japanese squad leader, the Japanese and puppet troops began to pursue the three soldiers who were still fleeing into the valley at full speed.

Once the Japanese soldiers were completely encircled, Chen Ming immediately shouted, "Throw!"

At a command, the soldiers lying in ambush on both sides of the valley threw all the grenades they were holding at the Japanese troops.

This time, they were on high ground, and the Japanese soldiers had absolutely no room to hide.

Under the influence of gravity, the grenades fell towards the center of the densely packed Japanese troops, and many exploded in mid-air.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Fire!" After throwing the grenade, Chen Ming was the first to fire at the Japanese soldiers.

The other soldiers also began firing angry bullets at the Japanese soldiers.

The current district squad has gathered all the firepower of the entire team, a full sixty or seventy rifles, three light machine guns, and one Type 92 heavy machine gun.

With this firepower, they're almost on par with when Li Yunlong first took over the new First Regiment, and they were just a small district squad back then.

The sudden grenade attack left the Japanese soldiers disoriented, and the dense machine gun fire caused them to fall in droves.

"Damn it, the intelligence is false! This isn't a small squad; this is at least the firepower of a Chinese army battalion!" the Japanese squad leader shouted angrily.

He hated the traitor who said there was only one small squad here.

These were Japanese soldiers from 39, well-trained, and even after being ambushed, they quickly began to organize an effective counterattack.

However, the soldiers of the district squad had the initiative and the advantage of terrain, attacking from a high position, leaving the Japanese with no cover.

Even the grenade launcher soldiers and machine gunners who could threaten the machine gun positions were targeted by the sharpshooter squad.

Anyone who dares to touch a machine gun or grenade launcher will be met with a scorching bullet.

The battle lasted for more than ten minutes and was nearing its end when Chen Ming gave the order to charge.

"Da da di—da da di—du ——————!"

As the bugle sounded, the soldiers charged like tigers descending a mountain, utterly annihilating the remaining Japanese soldiers who were still clinging to life.

[Congratulations, Commander! Your team has successfully completed an annihilation battle and earned a Level 2 Marching Badge.]

[Tier 2 Infantry Badge: Troops under your command gain +40% stamina recovery speed during marches]

A notification popped into his mind, but Chen Ming didn't have time to pay attention to it.

"Clean up the battlefield immediately and report on the casualties," Chen Ming said to Da Fei, the first squad leader.

"Reporting to the captain, in this battle, we eliminated 52 Japanese soldiers, killed 63 traitors, and captured 47 traitors."

"Our army suffered 27 casualties, 13 seriously wounded, and 14 slightly wounded."

Dafei reported.

Upon hearing Dafei's report, Chen Ming nodded heavily.

He was actually mentally prepared for such a large number of casualties.

Although this was an ambush that caught the Japanese off guard, the Japanese soldiers were indeed very elite, and their training level was not on the same level as that of the soldiers in the district squad.

Even with the ambush, the advantage of terrain, and the initiative in the surprise attack, heavy casualties were still inflicted. The casualty ratio between the Japanese and the Chinese reached 1:1.

However, if the puppet troops are included, the ratio becomes 1:2, making it a great victory.

"It was too rushed. If I had had enough time to dig a good position, there wouldn't have been such heavy casualties," Chen Ming reflected to himself.

In this ambush, due to the short notice, they didn't even have time to set up cover. The soldiers could only rely on the few available cover on the hillside to exchange fire with the Japanese, which was the main factor in casualties.

But this battle had to be fought, and the Japanese wouldn't give Chen Ming time to prepare.

If they hadn't ambushed the Japanese, they would have bought time for the villagers in the rear to evacuate.

Those who had to face the onslaught of the Japanese soldiers were the unarmed civilians.

"Okay, clean up the battlefield, gather the prisoners, and take the fallen soldiers home," Chen Ming ordered.

"Yes."

Looking at the battlefield filled with smoke, Chen Ming suppressed the sadness in his heart.

He was the commander of more than 300 people, and in the future he will command more people, more battles, and more soldiers.

On the battlefield, Chen Ming cannot act on emotion.

Chen Ming also cared about the soldiers and didn't want them to sacrifice themselves. He wanted to live with them until victory, until the establishment of the new China, and even until the future when the country was strong, so that they could witness their own prosperous era.

However, in war, sacrifices are unavoidable.

All Chen Ming could do was to minimize the sacrifices as much as possible.

After cleaning up the battlefield, Chen Ming ordered that all the naked corpses of the Japanese soldiers and their collaborators be burned.

If too many corpses pile up, it can easily lead to plague. In this era of very poor medical conditions, once you contracted the plague, you could only wait to die.

After everything was over, Chen Ming began to tally the spoils of the battle.

This time, a decisive battle was fought, and all 162 Japanese and puppet troops were wiped out. Four light machine guns were captured, one of which was damaged, along with more than 130 rifles, two grenade launchers, a quantity of ammunition, and other supplies.

It can be said that the Japanese and their puppet troops delivered a huge blow to the district squad this time.

With these weapons and equipment, almost every member of the squad, except for non-combatants, can have a gun.

The soldiers were very happy after the spoils were tallied.

Unlike Chen Ming, who experienced peacetime, they were used to sacrifice.

Although I was saddened by the sacrifice of my comrades, I was even happier that I had won a battle, eliminated many Japanese soldiers, and captured a lot of weapons.

After disposing of the captured supplies and the bodies of the Japanese soldiers, Chen Ming led his soldiers to catch up with the villagers of Xiaowangzhuang who were still relocating.

"Captain Chen, have the Japanese devils been wiped out? Has my son come back yet?" A middle-aged woman with slightly graying hair looked earnestly at Chen Ming.

"The Japanese devils have all been wiped out. Erhu was a good guy; he killed two Japanese soldiers and one traitor. But Erhu..."

Chen Ming looked into the other person's eyes and felt a little scared.

He was afraid to see these villagers, afraid to look into their eyes.

Chen Ming now finally understood why Xiang Yu refused to cross the Yangtze River to the east.

Upon hearing Chen Ming's words, the woman immediately understood what was happening, and tears streamed down her face, but she didn't cry out loud.

Chen Ming felt terrible: "I'm sorry, I couldn't bring Erhu back alive."

"Captain Chen, I don't blame you. Erhu was protecting us and sacrificed himself while fighting the Japanese. He was a good man." The woman comforted Chen Ming with tears in her eyes.

Chen Ming felt terrible. It was the other party's son who had sacrificed himself, but now the other party was comforting him instead.

(End of this chapter)