You were tasked with guarding the Sihang Warehouse, and you brought out a Tiger tank?

Outside Qibao Town, the Japanese soldiers moved quickly and professionally.

In less than twenty minutes, two Type 41 75mm mountain guns and two Type 92 70mm infantry guns were set up on the back of an earthen slope three kilometers away from the stone bridge.

Tatsuhiko Tsuda stood behind the earthen slope, holding binoculars, observing the opposite position.

Quiet.

It's too quiet.

The town across the river was deathly silent. Apart from the few seemingly messy barbed wire fences at the bridgehead, there was almost no sign of any garrison activity.

"Hmph, just making a fuss over nothing."

Tsuda Tatsuhiko sneered.

In his view, this was nothing more than the weak being afraid to show their faces when facing the strong.

"Order the artillery to blow up those barbed wire fences."

"Order the heavy machine gun squadron to conduct reconnaissance firing at the town entrance and bridgehead."

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

A few cannon shots broke the afternoon's tranquility.

The distinctive short, sharp sound of the Type 92 infantry gun rang out, and several 70mm high-explosive shells landed on the barbed wire position at the bridgehead, exploding into clouds of black smoke and mud.

Immediately afterwards, the four Type 92 heavy machine guns emitted their distinctive "clucking" sound, like woodpeckers pecking at a tree trunk.

A hail of bullets struck the stone lions at the bridgehead and the mud on the riverbank, kicking up clouds of dust.

Tatsuhiko Tsuda stared intently at the person opposite him.

Based on past experience, most of the Great Xia army, especially the miscellaneous troops, would have already lost their composure by now.

They either fired wildly in return, exposing their firing positions, or they were so frightened that they scattered and fled.

but……

A minute passed.

Two minutes passed.

The other side remained quiet; not even a single gunshot rang out.

It was as if the town was a ghost town, or a giant tomb.

"What?!"

Tatsuhiko Tsuda frowned, a sense of unease rising in his heart.

"This unit... is quite composed."

He put down his binoculars and waved his white-gloved right hand: "Since you won't come out, then I'll force you to."

"Sapper squad, go up and cut down those barbed wire fences to clear the way for the infantry."

"Hai!"

A dozen or so Japanese engineers, dressed in khaki uniforms and carrying entrenching tools and shears, crouched low and, under the cover of heavy machine gun fire, quickly made their way to the bridgehead.

Their movements were skillful, clearly those of highly trained veterans.

Soon, several leading sappers reached the bridgehead.

Looking at the barbed wire that had been blasted and deformed by artillery fire, one of the engineers grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"The barbed wire fences used by the Chinese are just for show."

He took out large pliers, wagged them around a wire, and prepared to cut it.

Just then—

"Thump!"

A dull, muffled gunshot rang out without warning on the battlefield.

This voice is so unique.

It doesn't make the crisp "click" of the Type 38 rifle, nor the "cluck-cluck-cluck" of the Type 92 heavy machine gun, nor the "tap-tap-tap" sound of the Maxim gun commonly used by the Great Xia army.

It was deep and heavy, with a heart-pounding metallic vibrato.

"Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Tatsuhiko Tsuda's pupils suddenly contracted.

Through the telescope, he witnessed a scene he would never forget.

At the bridgehead, the sapper who was about to cut the wire suddenly jolted.

There were no screams.

Because his upper body, or rather, his right shoulder and entire arm, flew off.

Yes, it flew out.

It was as if he had been slashed with a great sword; the engineer's body instantly turned into a burst of blood mist, with bits of flesh and bone spraying backward in a fan shape.

And this terrifying 12.7mm bullet, after tearing the first person apart, showed no signs of diminishing kinetic energy.

It whistled with death, piercing through the body of the first Japanese sapper and slamming hard into the thigh of another sapper right behind him.

"puff."

The unfortunate sapper felt a chill on his thigh and then lost his balance.

He looked down and was horrified to find that his left leg below the knee... was gone.

The severed area was a bloody mess, with the white bone fragments exposed. Red liquid, like a high-pressure water gun, gushed wildly from the ruptured artery, instantly staining the bluestone slabs of the bridge red.

"ah--!!!"

Only then did the piercing screams finally begin.

Two engineers fell one after the other at the bridgehead.

The one in front was already dead; its mangled body was still twitching nervously.

The one behind him was clutching his broken leg and rolling around on the ground in agony, his screams sending chills down one's spine. But after a few rolls, the screams subsided.

Such bleeding from a major artery can cause shock within seconds, and even a miracle cannot save the patient.

"Baka! What kind of gun is that?!"

Tatsuhiko Tsuda's hand trembled, and he almost dropped the binoculars.

He was a veteran who had seen countless battles, but he had never seen a gun with such terrifying power.

One shot, two lives.

Severed limbs flew everywhere.

This isn't a gun; it's clearly a small-caliber machine gun.

"Knock knock knock knock—"

Before the Japanese soldiers could react, long tongues of fire suddenly spewed from the windows of the third floor of the tallest restaurant across the street and the windows of other surrounding buildings.

The M2HB heavy machine gun, a killing machine affectionately known as "Ma Deuce" by the White Eagle soldiers, has finally revealed its ferocious fangs.

The 12.7mm large-caliber bullets swept across the bridgehead like a combine harvester.

Most of the remaining dozen or so engineers were torn to pieces in an instant, like scarecrows in a storm.

Some had their backs broken, some had their heads explode like watermelons, and some had a bowl-sized, transparent hole punched into their chests.

Only a few quick-witted individuals managed to jump into the river or roll into a ditch and survive by sheer luck.

It was just a single round of crossfire, lasting less than a minute.

The bridgehead was already a hellish place.

"Hide, hide quickly!"

"That's a large-caliber anti-aircraft machine gun! The Chinese have laid their large-caliber anti-aircraft machine gun flat!"

The Japanese company commander at the front was terrified and frantically waved his sword to make all his soldiers lie down.

Colonel Tsuda immediately gave a thumbs up and quickly measured the distance to the restaurant that seemed to be a stronghold of the Great Xia garrison.

Beyond 4 kilometers, the Type 92 infantry gun can't reach it; let's switch to mountain guns.

He roared in exasperation, "Mountain gun squad, blow up that firing point, quick!"

The Japanese artillery reacted quickly.

The two mountain guns immediately adjusted their muzzles and aimed at the restaurant that was spitting fire.

"Ready—Fire!"

"Boom! Boom!"

Two shells exploded on the outer wall of the restaurant, sending brick fragments flying.

The Type 41 mountain gun has a maximum range of 6km, but its trajectory is relatively curved, making it difficult to accurately hit a firing window 4km away. It can only be used for cover firing by chance.

Once the Japanese engineers who had gathered at the bridgehead and the Japanese infantry who tried to follow up were riddled with bullets, the heavy machine gun squad inside the restaurant packed up and moved away.

Only two Type 41 mountain guns remained, still firing haphazardly.