Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 32 Failed Attack
Dense bullets rained down like raindrops, and the Japanese troops exposed on the open ground suffered heavy casualties. In such terrain, the three-on-three squads and alternating cover were all rendered useless.

In less than three minutes, a squad of Japanese soldiers lost more than half of their men. The remaining dozen or so men, seeing that the situation was not good, had no choice but to retreat in a sorry state.

Seeing the Japanese attack so easily repelled, the morale of the defenders on the wall soared, and bursts of laughter and shouts rang out, even including a lot of dialect unique to the three northeastern provinces.

"Baka Yalu..."

As he roared, Morimura Juro slapped the retreating squad leader more than a dozen times.

"You're a complete idiot... You've brought shame to the Imperial Japanese Army!"

Morimura Juro, who witnessed all of this, was furious. In just over ten minutes, a small team had lost more than half of its members, and they hadn't even managed to salvage the bodies. This was the greatest disgrace.

What pained him most was the casualties of his troops. The Third Battalion had already suffered considerable casualties during the attack on Nanjing.

After the two or three attacks, nearly half a company was killed or wounded, which made the already understrength battalion even more stretched. How could he not be furious?

Upon seeing this, the company commander stepped forward and advised, "Commander, the Chinese firepower is too fierce, and the Chinese defenders on the other side are also extremely cunning. They have concealed their machine gun fire very well."

They only used infantry to engage us, often quickly moving away after emptying a magazine, making it difficult for our grenade launchers to find targets. Combined with the open terrain and lack of cover on the other side, this forced our soldiers to risk exposure by charging forward, which was the most dangerous aspect.

Morimura Juro coldly replied, "My eyes aren't blind. I just want to ask you, what's the best way to quickly get to that church and take it over?"

"In my humble opinion, there is no other way but to provide artillery cover or request support from tank units."

"Tank support...artillery cover?"

Nagano Yuichiro looked at Morimura Juro in front of him as if he were a fool.

"Have you considered how you would view me... or our 11th Regiment, if even attacking a small church requires the deployment of tank units and artillery regiments?"

"I understand, but for the sake of the lives of the soldiers of the 11th Regiment, I implore Colonel to reconsider my request." Morimura Juro bent over again, his back almost broken.

"This is impossible!"

Yuichiro Nagano considered for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

Ignoring Morimura Juro's anxious gaze, he pointed to a house more than a hundred meters away and slowly said, "Do you see that? The deputy commander is watching us from behind. Do you know what the consequences will be if the battle continues to go poorly?"

At this point, even the proud Yuichiro Nagano felt a pang of regret. If he hadn't been so arrogant and given Hasegawa a hard time, perhaps the other party would have given him some face.

But now... he was certain that if his attack was ineffective, he wouldn't mind reporting to Major General Kunisaki Sono himself.

Thinking of this, he took a deep breath and said to the communications officer, "Call Major Ayano Onishi."

Soon, a short, stocky major carrying a saber strode over, snapped to attention at Nagano Yuichiro, and shouted, "Commander, what are your orders?"

Nagano Yuichiro said with a gloomy face, "You saw the situation with the Third Battalion just now. The strength of the Chinese defense was really beyond our expectations."

So I've decided that from now on, your battalion and the third battalion will attack the church together, without any distinction between primary and secondary attacks. Your two battalions will attack from the main gate and the flanks respectively.

I will have the artillery company fully assist you; you must take the church! If you still can't take it, then you can all commit seppuku together!

"Hai!"

The Japanese panicked and began a barrage of bombardments on the church with three Type 92 infantry guns and four mortars. The small church was soon filled with smoke, and even the main cathedral was hit by several shells.

"Quick... gauze..." "Alcohol... tweezers..."

The air in the cellar was stuffy and damp. The walls were covered with thick stone bricks, and faint light filtered through the sparse gaps in the wooden planks above, casting dappled shadows.

The ground was covered with murky mud and bloodstains, as if bearing witness to the misfortune that had occurred there.

Each time the cannon roared, the ground trembled slightly, as if even the walls were groaning softly, a stark contrast to the clamor and chaos outside.

Song Mei stood intently beside the wounded soldier, the scalpel in her hand gleaming with a cold light. With a gentle slash, the blade cut open the wounded soldier's abdomen.

Blood gushed out like a tidal wave, starkly bright in the dim light. Without hesitation, she grabbed the tweezers and pinched a spot tightly. Her mind was completely focused; she could only hear her own rapid, heavy heartbeat and the shock of the booming cannons.

With a deft pinch, a shrapnel bullet fell to the ground with a crisp, loud "clang," which sounded particularly jarring in the oppressive and dangerous environment.

The surrounding area was still filled with the continuous artillery fire and the panicked shouts of people, but at this moment Song Mei seemed to be in another world, with only the brief and urgent interaction between her and the wounded remaining.

She quickly finished treating the wound in just over ten minutes and then had the injured person carried away.

Due to the shortage of manpower, all the able-bodied men had gone to fight, leaving the tasks of carrying the wounded and transporting ammunition to women such as Yu Mo and Shu Juan.

With wounded patients constantly arriving, Song Mei has performed seven or eight surgeries since morning, leaving her so exhausted that she can barely lift her arms, but she still grits her teeth and perseveres.

After the last wounded soldier was carried away, she relaxed and staggered, almost collapsing to the ground.

"Sister Song Mei!"

Xiao Lu, who had been helping her all along, quickly supported her.

"Are you OK?"

"I'm fine, just a little exhausted."

Song Mei slowly shook her head. At this moment, her hair was already soaked with sweat, and her pretty face had turned pale.

"Xiao Lu... could you please open a bottle of glucose for me?"

"oh oh……"

Xiao Lu didn't ask any more questions and quickly opened a bottle of glucose and handed it to her.

Song Mei took the glucose and drank most of the bottle in one gulp.

After swallowing most of the bottle of glucose, Song Mei's complexion finally became a little rosier.

She turned her head and looked around. "Xiao Lu... are there any other wounded?"

"No more for now," Xiao Lu shook her head.

"Okay... Now go and take inventory of the medicines, see how much stock is left..."

"boom……"

No sooner had Song Mei finished speaking than a loud bang came from above...

(End of this chapter)