You are ordered to support the War of Resistance against Japan; China enters Level 1 combat readines

Similar scenes are playing out all over Jinan.

In a courtyard in the south of the city, an even more appalling scene was unfolding.

Three Japanese soldiers grabbed a young girl, pinned her to the ground, and tore her clothes to shreds, revealing her pale body. She struggled desperately, her fingernails scratching bloody marks on the soldiers' faces.

"Baka!"

A Japanese soldier slapped the girl across the face, and her face swelled up instantly, with blood flowing from the corner of her mouth.

She stopped struggling and just stared at the roof with that empty look in her eyes.

A sparrow flew across the rooftop, chirping away.

It knows nothing.

……

In an alley in the north of the city, an old man knelt on the ground, kowtowing desperately.

"Sir! Sir! Please, please spare my daughter! She's so young! She's only fourteen!"

His forehead hit the ground with a loud thud, and blood streamed down his cheek.

Two Japanese soldiers stood in front of him, laughing loudly. One of them grabbed the old man by the collar, lifted him up like a chicken, and threw him aside.

"Get out of my way, you old bastard!"

The old man got up and tried to rush forward again.

A Japanese soldier drew his bayonet and stabbed the old man in the stomach.

The old man groaned, looked down at the bayonet, then looked up at his daughter being dragged away not far away.

He opened his mouth as if to shout something, but only spat out a mouthful of blood.

Then he collapsed.

"father--!"

The daughter's cries echoed through the alley.

……

Such scenes can be seen everywhere in Jinan.

On the street, the cries of women, the wails of children, and the maniacal laughter of Japanese soldiers mingled together, like a symphony of hell.

Those Japanese soldiers, drunk, turned into beasts. They stormed into houses and abducted women one by one.

Some even did those beastly things right there in the courtyard, in the alley, or on the street.

The sun was high in the sky, and it was a clear day, but the entire city of Jinan seemed to be shrouded in shadow.

……

In a teahouse in the city center, several elderly people sat together.

The cries coming from outside grew more and more heart-wrenching with each one.

An elderly man with white hair was so shaky that he could barely hold a teacup. Tea spilled all over the table, but he was completely unaware.

"What a tragedy... what a tragedy..."

He murmured the same words over and over, tears streaming down the wrinkles on his face.

The thin old man beside him had his head down, his shoulders trembling slightly. His hands were clenched into fists, his nails digging into his flesh until they bled.

"Are we... are we just going to watch like this?"

His voice was so hoarse it didn't sound like his own.

No one answered him.

Another elderly man, who had been silent all along, slowly raised his head and looked out the window.

Outside the window, a young woman was being dragged away by two Japanese soldiers. She struggled desperately, turned her head to look at them, and her eyes were full of despair and pleading for help.

The old man's lips moved, but in the end, no sound came out.

He slowly closed his eyes.

Tears streamed down her cheeks.

"God...please open your eyes..."

He murmured, his voice so soft it was almost inaudible.

In the teahouse, only suppressed sobs could be heard.

. . .

To govern the city.

Before dawn, the team had already assembled.

The morning mist shrouded the vast open space outside the city, but it could not conceal the rows of silent steel behemoths.

Eighty Type 59 tanks stood in neat rows, their gun barrels pointing diagonally to the sky, gleaming with a cold, sharp light in the morning glow.

Eighty Type 63 armored assault vehicles followed closely behind, the mud kicked up by their tracks exuding a fresh scent.

Further on, there were dozens of pontoon bridge vehicles, engineering vehicles, and an endless line of troop transport trucks... hundreds of them, densely packed, covering the entire open area.

The young soldiers have already boarded the vehicle.

They didn't speak, but gripped their No. 56 rifles tightly, their eyes fixed on the high platform ahead. In those eyes, there was tension, excitement, and above all, a long-suppressed desire.

The brigade commander stood on the high platform, scanning the steel torrent below and the young faces, and remained silent for a few seconds.

Then he spoke.

The sound wasn't loud, but it clearly reached the ears of every soldier.

Comrades.

Do you know what day it is today?

There was a moment of silence from the audience, followed by a few scattered replies:

"The days of fighting the Japanese devils!"

"The day of revenge!"

The brigade commander shook his head.

"wrong."

He paused, then raised his voice a few decibels.

"Today is the day the Japanese devils hold their victory celebration banquet."

The soldiers below the stage were stunned.

A victory celebration banquet?

The brigade commander continued, "The Japanese devils are overjoyed with their defeat at Zhongtiao Mountain. They're slaughtering pigs and sheep in Quancheng, drinking and eating meat, and they're even abusing our sisters and bullying our parents—they're celebrating their victory!"

His voice suddenly turned cold.

"But I want to ask you—"

"Was that their victory celebration?"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a gruff voice boomed from the ranks:

"no!"

It's Li Yunlong.

He stood at the front of the Independent Regiment's ranks, his eyes wide like copper bells, the fat on his face trembling.

"That wasn't their victory celebration, that was their—last meal!"

boom--

The audience erupted in cheers.

"Last meal before death!"

"Last meal before death!"

"Last meal before death!"

The soldiers roared, their voices rising in waves, shaking even the morning mist.

Those young faces flushed red, and the veins on their necks bulged, as if they had been suppressing their emotions for far too long and had finally found an outlet.

Li Yunlong turned to his troops and roared at the top of his lungs:

"Listen up, all of you! Anyone who embarrasses me in this battle today will be punished severely!"

"but--"

He paused, then roared:

"Whoever manages to kill a few more Japanese devils, I'll treat them to drinks when they get back! Plenty!"

The soldiers of the Independent Regiment howled like a pack of hungry wolves.

The brigade commander looked at the burning eyes below the stage. National grievances and personal hatred meant there was no need for mobilization!

He slowly raised his right hand, then suddenly swung it forward.

"Set off!"

Rumbling--

The tank's engines roared to life, spewing thick black smoke from their exhaust pipes.

Eighty Type 59 tanks started up one after another, their tracks rolling over the ground with a deep, rumbling sound that blended together like muffled thunder rolling across the earth, making one's heart tremble.

Following that were 80 Type 63 armored assault vehicles.

Further on, came pontoon bridge vehicles, engineering vehicles, and troop transport trucks—hundreds of vehicles forming a long steel dragon, slowly moving forward in the morning light.

The view from above was absolutely breathtaking.

A black torrent of steel spread out from outside the city, like a flood bursting its banks, rushing northward toward the Taihang Mountains.

Smoke and dust billowed, obscuring the sky and the sun.

The mountain pass of the Taihang Mountains is getting closer and closer.

In the lead tanker, a young driver gripped the control lever tightly, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He wasn't afraid; he was excited.

The passenger patted him on the shoulder: "Nervous?"

The driver shook his head and grinned.

"I'm not nervous. It's just..."

He paused, looking at the mountain pass that was getting closer and closer ahead.

"We've been waiting for this day for so long."

The tank roared out of the mountain pass.

A torrent of steel, breaking through the Taihang Mountains!