Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 139 Death Comes
Su Yaoyang was right; the Japanese were completely unprepared for the arrival of the security force.

Shizui Village is located at the junction of Wutai Mountain and Hebei Province, guarding the Hutuo River Valley. Its geographical location is very important, so the Japanese army built a group of bunkers here, consisting of a main bunker and six auxiliary bunkers.

The entire bunker complex was guarded by a company of Japanese soldiers and a battalion of puppet troops. With this bunker complex, the Japanese army firmly controlled the passage from Longquan County to Wutai County.

The location of the bunker complex in Shizui Village was so important that the highest commander here was a captain named Tetsuyuki Nishiyama, which was considered a high-ranking position.

Nishiyama Tetsuyuki got up very early today. After getting up in his private bedroom on the third floor of the main bunker, he lazily washed up and then went to the top floor of the bunker to enjoy breakfast while basking in the sun.

As he was a lieutenant-level officer, his daily ration was 3000 calories, and he could eat staple foods such as rice, noodles or steamed buns, with a small amount of meat as a side dish, and occasionally alcoholic beverages.

In addition, officers have their own dedicated mess hall, equipped with tables, chairs, tableware, and so on.

Of course, lower-ranking soldiers did not have such treatment. They could only eat a mixture of grains such as brown rice, sorghum, and beans, and their meals were served outdoors, using mess kits or even just their hands.

After enjoying a bowl of noodles and a steamed bun, Nishiyama Tetsuyuki had his orderly make him a cup of tea and then sat atop the watchtower to admire the view.

The rising sun stained the blue bricks atop the watchtower blood-red, and Nishiyama Tetsuyuki's fingertips caressed the cracks in the rough porcelain teacup.

Two inferior tea leaves floated in the tea soup. He stared at them as they rose and fell in the ripples, as if looking down at the land beneath his feet that had been licked by the flames of war.

In the distance, the rice paddies rippled with waves of charred brown, and a few burnt locust trees stood forlornly on the horizon. The wind, carrying ashes, brushed past his nose, and he suddenly remembered the maple leaves of his hometown, Kyoto, which were also such a dazzling red.

He couldn't help but exclaim, "What a beautiful view! It's such a pity that such a beautiful land is occupied by those lowly Chinese."

As soon as Nishiyama Tetsuyuki finished speaking, a slight tremor came from the bluestone pavement beneath his feet. He frowned and pressed down on the edge of the table, causing the tea leaves in his teacup to ripple.

"This noise..."

Before he could finish speaking, a piercing metallic scraping sound began to reach his ears.

He looked in the direction of the sound and saw nine tanks crushing the dirt on the road in the distance, their tracks rattling as they rolled up the gravel.

The cannon of the tank at the front suddenly turned, its dark muzzle pointing directly at the pillbox where he was located.

Nishiyama Tetsuyuki suddenly felt as if his breath had frozen, and his whole body instantly felt stiff.

After a while, he finally regained control of his body and rushed to the third floor, pulled down the binoculars hanging on the wall, and then looked through the binoculars behind the firing port.

This glance was significant; what caught his eye was the blue sky and white sun emblem on the tank turret, which, though somewhat blurry, was instantly recognizable.

He staggered, knocking over the table behind him. The teacup fell to the ground with a crisp sound, and shards of porcelain scattered at his feet.

"It's tanks... Chinese tanks... The main force of the Chinese is here!"

Quick... sound the alarm!

"Woooooooo..."

As the alarm sounded, the entire bunker complex began to panic. One by one, Japanese and puppet soldiers jumped out of bed or threw down their bowls and chopsticks and rushed towards the bunkers.

Nishiyama Tetsuyuki's previous expression vanished instantly. Like an arrogant fox suddenly encountering a tiger that had just come down from the mountain, his composure and arrogance disappeared in an instant, replaced by fear and terror.

Arrogance has its limits. He could be arrogant against the local Eighth Route Army soldiers armed with Hanyang rifles or even homemade guns and cannons, but against the Nationalist Army with tanks and heavy artillery, this stronghold was nothing more than a hard eggshell. He grabbed the telephone on the table, shook it a few times, and shouted, "Moshi moshi... This is Nishiyama Tetsuyuki, the commander of the Shizui Village stronghold."

A large number of Chinese troops suddenly appeared outside the stronghold, equipped with a considerable number of tanks, and requested tactical guidance... Requesting tactical guidance.

"boom……"

Just as Nishiyama Tetsuyuki was frantically calling the commander of Wutai County for reinforcements, the lead Chaffee tank had already stopped.

The tank cannon's dark muzzle was pointed at the main bunker where Nishiyama Tetsuyuki was located.

"boom……"

With a loud explosion, a 75mm armor-piercing round easily penetrated the brick wall made of blue bricks and cement.

Smoke and rubble erupted from the bunker, and the sudden burst of firelight illuminated the cracked walls, making them resemble the fangs of a demon.

日军在山西修筑的碉堡多为圆柱形或方形多层塔楼，高度8-15米，直径5-8米，通常分为3-4层。

Most were constructed of brick and stone, with some important strongholds having their outer layers of watchtowers reinforced with concrete, reaching a thickness of 0.3-0.5 meters.

These bunkers and pillboxes can withstand rifle, light machine gun bullets, and grenade fragments, but they are powerless against direct fire from mortars or mountain guns, let alone armor-piercing rounds fired from tank guns.

Tetsuyuki Nishiyama huddled below the firing port, his eardrums ringing from the explosion. Flying cement fragments grazed his cheeks, stinging, but nothing compared to the frantic pounding of his heart in his chest.

One shell... just one shell blasted a huge hole in the bunker that the Japanese had spent months building.

Gunpowder smoke poured in through the bullet holes, swirling in my lungs with the smell of sulfur and blood.

Nishiyama Tetsuyuki saw half of a charred rifle lying in a pool of blood, the barrel still emitting blue smoke.

In the corner lay a mangled body, intestines hanging from a rack like torn ropes. Thick liquid dripped from the edge of a helmet, indistinguishable as sweat or blood.

"Dong dong dong..."

At that moment, a burst of rapid machine gun fire suddenly rang out from all around; it was the Type 92 heavy machine guns from the other bunkers opening fire.

The sound, like that of a woodpecker, was so unique that he could never be mistaken.

Tetsuyuki Nishiyama struggled to run to the firing port and looked over, only to find that a bunker on the right was firing at a tank that was driving on the road.

Unfortunately, the 7.7mm bullets had no effect on the tank except for producing a few sparks.

Of course, the firing of that Type 92 heavy machine gun wasn't without its advantages; it immediately attracted the attention of the tanks outside.

Five seconds... It only lasted for five seconds before three shells struck the bunker almost simultaneously. In a deafening explosion, the bunker flew into the air, and none of the more than thirty Japanese and puppet troops stationed inside survived.

Seeing this scene, Nishiyama Tetsu's heart sank completely. He knew that if nothing unexpected happened, his life would end today, in this bunker in a foreign land.

Watching the tanks in the distance turn their guns back on, he gave a bitter smile, slowly closed his eyes, and quietly awaited death...

(End of this chapter)