Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 69 Confrontation
Looking at Su Yaoyang, who was smiling at him, Li Tao felt a burning sensation on his face.

My words of rejection to Su Yaoyang yesterday still ring in my ears, but I never expected to be slapped in the face so quickly. There is nothing more heartbreaking than this.

For a moment, Li Tao even considered turning around and leaving, but in the end, reason prevailed over shame.

He took a deep breath and snapped to attention, giving Su Yaoyang a military salute. "Sir... we were ignorant yesterday, please forgive us."

Seeing the major, who had been so arrogant yesterday, now submitting to him, Su Yaoyang laughed and stepped forward, firmly grasping his hand:
"Hey... Battalion Commander Li, you're exaggerating. I'm just a self-proclaimed, unorthodox regimental commander. If I were in your shoes, I would have made the same choice as you. You don't need to apologize for it."

The most important thing now is that we've met again, which proves that we're destined to fight the Japanese together, don't you think?

Feeling the warmth from his palm, Li Tao was both moved and ashamed. "Sir, you're so kind!"

Su Yaoyang waved his hand and said, "What's so magnanimous about it? We're all Chinese, all fighting the Japanese. If we fuss over every little thing, wouldn't we just make ourselves a laughingstock?"

At this point, his expression turned serious: "Battalion Commander Li, you must know our situation. The Japanese have completely surrounded us."

I only have a little over four thousand remnants of my army at my disposal, but I'm facing over a hundred thousand vicious Japanese devils. There's a high chance I'll die here.

"Now, are you still willing to work for me?"

Li Tao smiled faintly, "Those in the department are already dead. It's a miracle they're still alive."

"As long as I can fight the Japanese devils, what does it matter if I die?"

"it is good!"

Su Yaoyang nodded in satisfaction: "In that case, I hereby appoint you as the battalion commander of the newly formed Nanjing Security Regiment's Fourth Battalion. Take office immediately!"

"Yes, sir!" Li Tao solemnly saluted Su Yaoyang.

After returning the greeting casually, Su Yaoyang suddenly said, "There's something else I forgot to tell you. I'll be appointing two more battalion commanders later."

"The three of you share a common order: to form your teams by dawn tomorrow. Within two days, or at the latest the day after, you will be with me at the front lines fighting the Japanese. Can you manage that?"

“I…” Li Tian hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth, “I can!”

"Alright...Go on!"

Reorganizing and rebuilding nearly three thousand defeated soldiers into a fighting force within a single day would normally be an impossible task.

Are you kidding me? In such a short life, the lower-ranking officers probably don't even know all the soldiers under their command. How can they fight a war in this state?

However, special circumstances call for special measures. Under the pressure of life and death, Su Yaoyang managed to select Li Tao and two other captains from the routed soldiers, appointing them as battalion commanders of the fourth, fifth, and sixth battalions, respectively.

The newly appointed Li Tao and the other two battalion commanders worked tirelessly, managing to set up the framework for the fourth, fifth, and sixth battalions before nightfall.

Not enough officers?
Don't be afraid... You were a second lieutenant before? Good... Now you're a first lieutenant, go be my deputy company commander... What? Who's the company commander? Whoever survives to the end of the battle will be the company commander.

That night, Su Yaoyang summoned all officers of battalion level and above to the church cellar for a brief meeting. The only topic was to do everything possible to delay the Japanese offensive and inflict maximum damage on the Japanese until they showed a weakness.

"Remember... our goal is to inflict maximum damage on the Japanese while finding a way to break out of Nanjing; this is our ultimate objective."

"Sir, what if we can't fight our way out?"

The person who asked this question was the newly appointed battalion commander of the Sixth Battalion by Su Yaoyang.

This man, who just a day ago was a lieutenant and deputy company commander, was a typical Shaanxi man—dark-skinned and with an honest, simple appearance. If he took off his uniform, no one would recognize him as a soldier. Su Yaoyang gave him a deep look: "If we can't fight our way out… I'll be honored to die here alongside you all. Battalion Commander Hou, are you satisfied with my answer?"

Hou Tianyou grinned: "Since the regimental commander has said so, what else can a poor man like me with a worthless life say?"

"My life was saved by the regimental commander. Even if I die in battle, it's just repaying him."

Su Yaoyang waved his hand impatiently: "Alright... everyone go and prepare, there's bound to be another big battle tomorrow."

The biting wind, whipping up ice shards, swept away the last trace of warmth from the trench. Zhang Wenshan lay prone in the trench, which was reinforced with frozen earth. The cotton padding at the shoulder of his rifle butt was worn smooth and shiny, and the anti-tank rifle, covered with a thin layer of frost, resembled a lurking black dragon.

These past two days, Zhang Wenshan has taken a liking to a new toy: the PTRD-41 anti-tank rifle.

This 14.5mm anti-tank rifle has a simple structure and enormous power, capable of penetrating 25mm thick vertical homogeneous armor at a range of 500 meters.

His original Springfield sniper rifle was nothing compared to this.

Of course, this gun is not without its drawbacks.

As a light infantry weapon, it was too long and heavy, and the recoil was enormous, so much so that everyone who fired it felt fear when they fired it.

Due to the excellent lethality of this anti-tank rifle, Su Yaoyang delivered two hundred of them at once and distributed them to the front-line positions.

The appearance of this anti-tank rifle caught the Japanese army off guard, and the 19th Regiment suffered greatly from it in the past few days.

"Old Zhang, have a sweet potato to warm yourself up!"

A stubble-bearded veteran in his thirties from the next bunker tossed him half a roasted sweet potato.

Zhang Wenshan didn't reply. He silently took the sweet potato and put it in his mouth, then used a 4x scope to scan a pile of bricks 300 meters away.

The Japanese Type 92 heavy machine gun was cleverly hidden, concealed in a pile of bricks, with its barrel wrapped in white linen and its cooling tube filled with icicles, making it look like a frozen tree branch.

He breathed warm air onto his frozen fingers and suddenly noticed the mound of earth next to the gun rack move... It was a gray creature digging a hole.

"boom!"

The 14.5mm steel-core armor-piercing round whistled out, the recoil causing the tattered cloth on the bunker roof to flutter down like snow.

The bullet first pierced the rabbit, then struck the barrel of the Type 92 heavy machine gun, leaving a trail of blood.

Zhang Wenshan's lips twitched as he pulled back the nearly meter-long bolt, the sound of the brass cartridge case ejecting was so crisp.

If you can't hit people, you can shoot Japanese weapons, such as the Type 92 heavy machine gun.

This is something Zhang Wenshan has learned recently.

Despite the Japanese people's seemingly wealthy and powerful appearance, as an island nation, Japan's resources are actually quite limited. As a result, the Japanese army does not have many infantry support weapons like the Type 92 heavy machine gun.

A standard infantry battalion is equipped with only twelve guns, from which we can deduce that an infantry regiment has thirty-six guns.

Moreover, they are extremely difficult to replenish. It can be said that every one that is destroyed is one less. A regular sniper rifle may not be able to destroy a heavy machine gun, but an anti-tank rifle can easily destroy a heavy machine gun from a distance of several hundred meters. Just one bullet hitting the rear receiver will completely destroy the machine gun.

This is why Zhang Wenxue was so enthusiastic about destroying Japanese heavy machine guns.

(End of this chapter)