The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 668 Escorting the Emperor (Bonus chapter for reader 2019...8817)

As she turned and rushed toward the edge of the rooftop, all that remained in Zanana's mind was the thought of firing at the plaza and turning the tide of the battle.

As I raced along, I reached the edge and looked ahead, and my heart was filled with joy.

Because of her now-powerful eyesight, she could clearly see that on the square about 500 meters away, a group of Japanese soldiers and high-ranking officials from the puppet state of Manchukuo were dancing a waltz with stiff, zombie-like limbs.

Once the gun is set up, the target above can be easily attacked.

Suppressing her immense joy, she took down the oversized 20mm anti-tank rifle from behind her and, using the attached sniper scope, quickly located a target:
The puppet emperor of Manchukuo.

He was still dancing, but his movements were extremely stiff, and he was clearly just forcing himself to keep going.

People in the modern world of China have basically seen this guy's picture in textbooks and online, so Zanana naturally recognized him instantly when she saw him for the first time.

A huge surge of emotion immediately welled up in his heart, and he prepared to take action.

But just as she was calculating factors like wind speed and direction for long-range sniping and preparing to pull the trigger to take down this big fish, she suddenly changed her mind after thinking of something.

What came to mind? This guy can't die yet.

Because killing him would likely drastically alter history, a situation the mysterious being wouldn't allow; besides, letting him live into the future has other uses.

After these thoughts flashed through her mind, Zanana decisively changed her target.

For the same reason, although she saw a Japanese soldier who resembled Umezu Mijiro, the commander of the Kwantung Army, she also regretfully gave up on killing him.

After taking a deep breath, Zanana locked onto a target and decisively pulled the trigger.

The first shot killed a Japanese lieutenant general, along with the woman he was dancing with, causing their upper bodies to explode.

Blood and flesh flew everywhere, drenching the last emperor and his wife, who were only two or three steps away, with their bodies covered in tiny pieces of flesh.

This single shot threw the entire venue into chaos. Countless women screamed, and people were running around like headless flies.

Under the threat of death, these Japanese soldiers and the high-ranking officials of the puppet state of Manchukuo...

Their performance at this moment was no better than that of the Japanese civilians like Shiraishi Asazo before them; in fact, if we were to be honest, it was even worse.

With a single shot, she achieved an amazing effect. Zanana then fired all nine remaining rounds from the magazine of her 20mm semi-automatic anti-tank rifle.

With crowds of people running everywhere, aiming became much more difficult.

Even so, only one of Zanana's ten bullets missed; the other nine all hit their targets.

As for how many people were injured? With 20mm caliber bullets, it's almost impossible to injure anyone; even if the target wasn't killed immediately, they were severely wounded and unlikely to survive in tonight's harsh conditions.

Unfortunately, Zanana's current focus is not on eliminating anyone.

Rather, it was a tactic that she, Huang Adi, and Huang Yizhi paid a heavy price to gain the opportunity to implement; as for whether it was effective or not, one can only say that it was very effective, surprisingly so…

*****
After Zanana made her move, the puppet emperor and his wife, who had never encountered such a life-threatening situation in their entire lives, were completely terrified.

They immediately let out extremely shrill screams.

Then his wife fell straight backward like a wooden stake, apparently having been frightened unconscious.

The last emperor wasn't actually scared unconscious, but that was about it. He slumped to the ground, his crotch reeking of urine, and showed no concern for his wife who had fainted beside him.

With a sobbing voice, she cried out, "Protect the Emperor! Protect the Emperor!"

At his shouts, a group of men, who were probably not even imperial guards, rushed to his side like lightning and shielded him with their bodies.

Although such a method of protection is practically useless against the power of 20mm bullets.

However, Zanana never intended to kill the last emperor, and under these circumstances, the last emperor's fear was somewhat relieved.

Unfortunately, at this moment, Hu Biao and his men finally set up a total of five heavy machine guns of various models more than 400 meters away.

Two of them served as the core firing points on the position, fending off the counterattacks from the Japanese and puppet troops who sensed the danger.

The other three guns, under the personal control of Hu Biao, Xiao Cui, and others, were raised high and began to fire wildly.

It's the kind of gun that fires while simultaneously rotating the muzzle left and right, all in the hopes of hitting as many targets as possible, like trying your luck.

And they actually struck it lucky.

Leaving aside the bullets that traced a large arc through the air before falling, they instantly killed or wounded seven or eight people in the densely populated square. And almost every second afterward, someone was shot and fell to the ground.

The scene in the huge Datong Square was in complete chaos.

The most crucial moment was when a guard who had shielded the last emperor with his body was suddenly shot in the forehead, his head instantly turning into a bloody mess.

Without uttering a sound, the dead guard fell into the arms of the last emperor.

Looking right before his eyes, he saw a guard with a clear bullet hole in his forehead, his eyes wide open, his face frozen with resentment and fear.

At this moment, his fear reached its limit, and he shouted desperately, "Protect me! Protect me! Protect me back to the palace! I don't want to stay here!"

At such shouts, the eyes of the guards on the side immediately lit up; after exchanging glances, they reached a consensus.

Seriously! In this day and age, what kind of people could be willing to serve as a bodyguard for the last emperor?

Apart from a few old-fashioned people who still hold loyalist ideas, most of them are either scoundrels who disregard righteousness for personal gain or remnants of the old regime.

These people are already terrified by the current environment and wish they could leave this place immediately.

With Japanese soldiers stationed on one side, they dared not take any actual action.

Hearing the terrified screams behind him, he immediately realized that this guy behind him was the perfect excuse. Even if the Japanese investigated later, as long as enough people were involved, the punishment wouldn't be too severe.

As they retreated eastward, where the fighting was less intense due to the feint attack, they shouted loudly:

Without the slightest hesitation, they either carried the two people on their backs or brandished their weapons to protect them, and began a breakout operation.

The shouts of "protect the emperor!" and "return to the palace!" that they uttered along the way immediately triggered a series of disastrous consequences, like toppling dominoes; after all, there is never a shortage of clever people in any era.

First, the traitors in the square started shouting "Protect the Emperor!" and joined the crowd; together they began to rush eastward.

Among them were some Japanese merchants.

Then, the puppet troops defending the square realized what was happening and joined the ranks, shouting "Protect the Emperor!"

In their desperate attempt to break through and survive, these people's morale surged in a bizarre manner.

Some of them even included armored vehicles and tanks, because they belonged to the Iron Stone Army, a puppet army unit.

With their lives at stake, they ignored the orders from the Japanese officers above them, and with the roar of their engines, they maneuvered their tanks to the forefront.

Unfortunately, Van Gogh and his men, who were attacking from the east, were quick-witted. Upon seeing this, they immediately stopped their attack and pretended to be extremely flustered, hastily retreating to the rear and left and right, thus creating a way out.

This situation led to the situation continuing to deteriorate.

Almost all the puppet troops and a small number of Japanese soldiers also joined this great escape.

Of course, during this escape, they certainly did not forget to shout the slogan "Protect the Emperor," including a small number of Japanese soldiers.

It was as if, all of a sudden, they had become the most loyal followers of the puppet emperor of Manchukuo.

Then the question arises: did Umezu Mijiro and other high-ranking officers of the Kwantung Army do nothing during this process, allowing the situation to deteriorate to such an extent? Of course not.

Brandishing his katana, Mujiro Umezu shouted at the collaborators:

"Stop! Don't back down, or I'll kill you all, and your whole family will be implicated and punished afterwards."

However, everyone ignored his roar and dodged far away when faced with the swinging samurai swords.

Despite shouting himself hoarse, Umezu Mijiro was powerless to stop the situation from deteriorating rapidly.

Just as Umezu Mijiro was about to draw his gun and kill several people, a Japanese colonel led more than twenty Japanese soldiers to rush over.

He grabbed his arm and pulled him away, saying, "Commander, the situation is beyond saving. You can't become a casualty of Hu Biao's forces. For the honor of the Empire, you must retreat immediately."

Upon hearing this, Umezu Mijiro cursed "Baka ya ro" (idiot) under his breath, but he obediently followed the group breaking through and started jogging.

In the chaos, they even forgot some important events, such as the victory celebration and the things they had used to lure Hu Biao and his men into the city.

To be honest, the fighting spirit of the Japanese Kwantung Army was quite strong back then; many soldiers, led by their officers, continued to resist on some barricades.

However, their numbers were small and their morale was extremely low, so they were no longer a problem for Hu Biao and his men...

(End of this chapter)