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

I'm angry!

Jiaodong City is a hit!

It's literally a hit!

Twelve warehouses, containing tens of thousands of tons of grain, were all set on fire!

Commander Lu was jolted awake.

The entire bed board suddenly jolted upwards, and the battle map hanging on the wall, nails and frame, crashed to the ground. Dust and dirt fell from the window frame, smearing his face.

He threw off the covers, his bare feet stepping onto the cold floor tiles. Before his mind had fully snapped out of sleep, his body instinctively grabbed the pistol hanging by the bedside.

Artillery fire!

This was Commander Lu's first reaction.

The Japanese heavy artillery, and the impact point was extremely close.

He had spent years dealing with the Japanese in the Yimeng Mountains, and the shock of artillery fire was ingrained in his bones.

What could shake Jiaodong City like this wasn't some small gadget like the Type 92 infantry gun; it was at least a heavy artillery piece, and possibly even a naval gun.

That old bastard Okamura finally couldn't hold back anymore.

"Guards!" he roared, his voice still hoarse from just waking up.

The guards rushed in, their uniforms unbuttoned, rifles in hand, their faces showing the same vigilance.

"Commander!"

"Pass on my order—battle alert! The entire city is on high alert! All troops, proceed to your defensive positions according to the pre-arranged plan! Immediately!"

Commander Lu buttoned his uniform as he walked out, his fingers trembling slightly with anger and tension.

He wasn't afraid of the Japanese attacking. The defense system of Jiaodong City was set up by him and Mr. Shen. The 122mm rocket artillery battalion and the air defense battalion were on standby 24 hours a day.

Even if Okamura brought the entire North China Area Army over, he was confident he could hold them off outside the city.

I was even secretly excited!

You little devils, I haven't even come looking for you yet, and you've already delivered yourselves to my doorstep!

Mr. Shen had been training for a whole month and was worried about where to put his skills to use!

Now it's all good!

The opportunity is coming!

Then, when Commander Lu rushed out of the command post, he saw the flames.

South.

The direction of the granary.

The entire night sky was burned to a dark red, and the billowing smoke resembled a mountain that was constantly expanding, with the base of the smoke column being a glaring orange-red.

Sparks and ashes were swept into the air by the sea breeze, then fell back down in a flurry, like a burning snowfall.

The air was filled with a burnt smell, not the scorching smell of burning firewood, nor the fleshy aroma of a corpse.

It's the charred smell that comes from burnt grain, with a slightly sweet and fishy odor.

Commander Lu stood at the door, his gun slowly lowering.

I was completely stunned!

He just stared intently at the sea of ​​fire, his pupils glowing red in the flames, his lips moving several times.

"Reporting to the Commander!"

The communications soldier stumbled over, his face not showing fear, but a bewilderment that Commander Lu had never seen before.

"It wasn't a Japanese attack, it's the granary! The granary south of the city... it's on fire! All twelve warehouses... are ablaze!"

boom!

Commander Lu's mind felt like it had been hit by a 107mm gun in that instant.

It wasn't artillery fire!

It wasn't an air raid!

It wasn't a naval cannon from the sea!

It's a granary!

"What...what did you say?"

Commander Lu's voice was terrifyingly low, as if he was squeezing out those words with the last bit of strength from deep in his throat.

"The granary is on fire! All twelve warehouses have burned down!" The communications soldier repeated, almost in tears.

Commander Lu swayed slightly. His bodyguard quickly grabbed his arm, but he shoved him away.

He took two steps forward, then suddenly stopped, turned around, and his expression changed from bewilderment to rage, and then from rage to a pain that made everyone around him afraid to look him in the eye.

His face, roughened and darkened by the wind and sand of Yimeng Mountain, was contorted in the firelight, the muscles at the corners of his mouth twitching, and the whites of his eyes bloodshot.

He wanted to curse people, to curse Gangcun for being treacherous, to curse the spies for being cunning, and to curse the guards for being negligent!

But the words were on the tip of his tongue, and he swallowed them back.

Who are you insulting?

He was the supreme commander of Jiaodong City, and he personally arranged all the defenses, guards, and arrangements.

It's better to blame yourself than anyone else!

"I deserve to die!"

"Tens of thousands of tons of grain... transported by sea with great difficulty by Mr. Shen... the grain needed for the construction of the shipyard... the grain needed for 100,000 laborers..."

Commander Lu's voice grew softer and softer, until the last few words were so hoarse they were almost inaudible, as if he were talking to himself or confessing.

"What are you all standing there for!"

He suddenly raised his head, something glistening in his eyes, but he stubbornly refused to let it fall.

"Pass on my order! The guard battalion, the militia company, and all other available troops are to be moved to the south of the city to fight the fire! Every bag you can salvage, every grain you can grab, is precious! Go now!"

When the first fire brigade arrived, the twelve granaries had already burned into twelve volcanoes.

The roofs of the warehouses that were most severely burned collapsed, and tiles and rafters, still carrying flames, crashed down, each impact sending up a shower of sparks on the ground.

Burning grain sacks flowed out of the warehouse entrance like lava, burning wherever they went. The blue bricks on the ground crackled and sputtered, with flames shooting out from the cracks.

The air was so hot that it was hard to breathe; taking a breath felt like pouring a whole pot of boiling water into your lungs.

The soldiers carried buckets of water and enamel basins, and some even grabbed pots and pans from the kitchen and rushed into the fire.

When water is splashed on it, it hisses into white steam, and the flame doesn't even flicker.

Bucket after bucket, basin after basin, the soldiers poured water until their arms were trembling, but the fire showed no signs of abating.

"Stop splashing water! Cover it with sand! Cover it with sand!"

A platoon leader shouted in a hoarse voice, his voice cracking, the last word broken and incoherent.

The soldiers threw down their buckets and grabbed shovels to throw dirt onto the fire.

Covering the fire with sand can suppress the flames, but the grain in the warehouse was piled too high, so even though it was covered from the outside, it was still burning inside.

Someone carried a ladder and placed it on the warehouse wall, intending to climb up and throw soil inside. However, the ladder caught fire as soon as it touched the wall, and flames leaped up the bamboo ladder as fast as a snake spitting its tongue.

A young soldier, only seventeen or eighteen years old and less than a year into his service, was not even as tall as the rifle he was carrying. He was squatting on the ground, clutching a bag of grain that he had snatched from the edge of a fire.

His face was blackened by smoke, leaving only his eyes white, and tears streamed down his blackened face, leaving two deep lines.

He held the bag of grain tightly, as if he were holding a dead relative!

Commander Lu stood at the forefront of the firefighting effort. He had taken off his military overcoat at some point and was only wearing a gray shirt with the cuffs rolled up above his elbows.

He personally carried sandbags into the fire, his face blackened by smoke, a lock of hair singed by the flames, and emitting the stench of burnt protein.

The guard grabbed his arm tightly, begging him to step back, but he pushed him away.

"Get out of here!"

Commander Lu roared, but there was no anger in his voice, only a kind of sorrow that made people want to cry.

"This is all grain! It's the people's food supply! It's the grain needed for the shipyard construction! Get out of my way!"

……

at the same time.

Outside Jiaodong City, on a secluded hilltop, several pairs of eyes were watching the towering flames through binoculars.

"Yoshi!!"