Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 43 Lead by example
The soldiers behind were stunned as they watched the figure leap out.

"Commander...it's Commander!"

That's right, the one who rushed out and blew up the machine gun emplacement with a grenade was none other than Su Yaoyang, the commander of this newly formed security regiment.

This scene completely stunned the soldiers behind them.

No one expected that the highest commander of an army would work so hard.

Upon seeing this, the platoon and squad leaders behind them immediately became anxious. One of them kicked a soldier hiding behind cover in the backside and yelled, "What are you all standing there for? Get the hell forward! If anything happens to the regimental commander, even if you had nine heads, it wouldn't be enough to cut them off!"

Seeing the murderous look on the lieutenant's face, the soldiers knew that their platoon leader was not bluffing, and they all jumped out of their bunkers and rushed forward.

"Kill..."

Seeing the soldiers jump up, the lieutenant, carrying a Thompson submachine gun, was the first to rush forward.

On the top of the church, more than a kilometer away from the Japanese army's gathering place, Zhang Zhihao, who was personally acting as an observer, peered through the artillery scope and had a clear view of the situation within two kilometers.

He grabbed the SCR walkie-talkie that had just been issued to the artillerymen and shouted, "Target: Japanese Bunker No. 3, distance 1865 meters... Open fire!"

A few minutes later, with a command and several loud bangs, the 107mm mortars positioned on the street behind the church paused, spewing out a cloud of smoke. The six heavy mortars fired six 12.7-kilogram high-explosive shells, which then flew at a speed of 580 meters per second toward their already targeted targets.

"Woo..."

The 107mm high-explosive shell, accompanied by a whistling sound, did not explode immediately after hitting the building where the Japanese troops were hiding, due to the use of a delayed fuse. Instead, it penetrated the roof or beams of the earthen and wooden structure and crashed heavily into the house.

The Japanese soldiers hiding inside the house could clearly hear the cracking sounds of the roof beams, doors, and windows breaking as the shells pierced the soil.

"boom!"

With a huge explosion, the shell that had pierced through the beams and roof exploded inside the house. The house, which had seemed fairly sturdy, was violently thrown into the sky by the internal explosion, and the remains of the Japanese soldiers hiding inside were also thrown into the air, dozens of meters high.

This is the benefit that an excellent artillery commander brings to the troops.

A skilled artillery commander can spontaneously provide artillery support to the attacking forces based on the observed battlefield situation.

Faced with a entrenched enemy force, they would concentrate all their artillery fire to destroy the enemy's bunkers and fortifications through heavy bombardment, clearing the way for the attacking troops and reducing unnecessary casualties.

While the 107mm heavy mortars were bombarding the Japanese troop concentration, the 60mm mortars belonging to the 2nd Artillery Company were also busy, firing shells at the concentration of the 11th Japanese Regiment.

For a moment, the air above the Japanese territory was filled with the whistling and explosions of artillery shells. Experienced veterans could easily distinguish that the ones that made a sharp whistling sound like "hi..." were 60mm mortars, while the ones that made a slightly muffled "woo..." sound were 107mm mortars.

These steel and cast iron shells, accompanied by various whistling sounds, landed on the Japanese positions, exploding and raising thick smoke and flames.

Shells falling into the trenches occasionally tossed up fragments of Japanese soldiers' limbs, while steel shrapnel flying at several times the speed of sound flew across the Japanese positions. By this time, the area where the Japanese soldiers had gathered had completely changed.

"Charge! We must crush them!"

Under the cover of artillery fire, Su Yaoyang led two battalions of over a thousand newly formed security regiment soldiers, charging towards the Japanese positions like a tidal wave. To call it a "position" would be an understatement.

The Japanese 11th Regiment was on the offensive and had not deployed any defensive positions. Especially since the attack occurred while they were eating, the entire regiment was thrown into chaos by Su Yaoyang's charge.

"Whoosh..."

Su Yaoyang kept moving through the streets. The continuous fighting had greatly depleted his physical strength, especially since the Americans' weapons were known for their heavy weight.

Take the Thompson submachine gun in his hand as an example. It weighs 4.9 kilograms when unloaded, and when equipped with a 100-round drum magazine, the weight even reaches more than 10 kilograms. Such weight is a considerable burden even for an adult male.

In particular, he wasn't just carrying a submachine gun; he also had five spare drum magazines, five M24 grenades, two smoke grenades, an M1911 pistol, a bayonet, and other items, which added up to at least several dozen kilograms of weight.

For the average person, carrying such a heavy load would be difficult just to walk, let alone fight.

In other words, after Su Yaoyang's mental strength was enhanced, his body was also strengthened to a certain extent; otherwise, he simply wouldn't have been able to sustain it.

Some people may wonder why Su Yaoyang, as the regimental commander, would work so hard. Wouldn't it be better to command the battle from the rear?

But only Su Yaoyang knew that, although he was nominally a member of the regiment, no one knew better than him what kind of organization the newly formed security regiment was.

To put it bluntly, this was a makeshift operation. Some of the soldiers were recruited by him with silver dollars, some were gathered up by him after his defeat, and some were sent to reinforce him.

These people were originally unaffiliated and did not know each other. They were only temporarily united by him using silver dollars and under the coercion of the Japanese army pressing in. As for loyalty, that was out of the question.

Imagine leading such a unit to charge against the Japanese army. If he, as the regimental commander, doesn't set a good example, the unit could collapse at any moment if the battle goes against them or they encounter any setbacks. In that case, everything would be over.

"squeak……"

When the 530-gram Type 91 grenade was launched from the Type 89 grenade launcher, the sound it made as it flew through the air was somewhat sharp, much like the sound of a long, thin rocket that children often played with in later generations flying through the air—sharp and piercing, and most people would never forget it after hearing it once.

It is often said that the battlefield is the best teacher, and that is absolutely true.

Although he had only been fighting for two days, Su Yaoyang was already very familiar with this sound. When the sharp sound of the grenade launcher rang out, he instinctively dropped to the ground.

"boom……"

With a huge explosion, a shockwave swept over his head, followed by a thick cloud of smoke.

"Da da da da..."

Immediately afterwards, a burst of bullets struck the broken wall not far away, making a hissing sound.

"Damn..."

Su Yaoyang knew without even looking that he was being targeted by the Japanese light machine gun...

(End of this chapter)