Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 9 Training Corps

The streets, strewn with rubble, stretched out in a maze, the crimson sunset casting dappled light and shadow through the broken buildings.

Scattered all around were wrecked remains ravaged by artillery fire—broken bricks, twisted metal, and overgrown weeds—creating a suffocating yet undeniably real scene. The air thick with the stench of gunpowder, as if telling the tragic story of this city.

In a corner, several ragged corpses lay quietly in the dusty and muddy alley. Many of the bodies were torn apart, and blood stained everything around them.

On this street full of ruins and rubble, a small squad of soldiers dressed in German uniforms and carrying German firearms were moving quickly through the debris. A gunshot rang out from ahead, and before the commander could give an order, everyone scattered and took cover. The whole process took only two or three seconds, which showed that this small unit was definitely a well-trained elite force.

"Bang... Crash..."

Amidst sporadic gunfire, a group of black figures appeared from inside the city gate ahead, frantically running towards them. Behind them, gunshots rang out intermittently, accompanied by excited roars like those of wild beasts.

As the group of black figures approached, the soldiers discovered that they were actually a group of girls around thirteen or fourteen years old, carrying large bags and small packages as they ran desperately in their direction.

They also discovered that among the girls was a boy wearing round glasses and a melon-shaped hat.
Seeing the group of girls running towards them and the Japanese soldiers chasing after them while laughing wildly, all the soldiers fell silent.

The officer in the lead, wearing the rank of major, pondered for a moment, a sharp glint in his eyes, and said in a deep voice, "Xu Dapeng, take a few men to the flank and prepare to fight!"

After the major finished speaking, there was no response for a while. He turned around, his sharp eyes fixed on a lieutenant behind him, and he roared, "Damn it... are you deaf!"

The man crouching behind, holding a light machine gun in his arms, paused for a moment, then said bitterly, "Instructor Li, the training team only has a dozen or so brothers left... We'll be out of the city in one more step."

Instructor Li paused for a moment, then gripped the Type 24 (Zhongzheng) rifle equipped with a scope, and uttered a single word: "Fire!"

A hint of reluctance flashed in Xu Dapeng's eyes, mixed with a touch of determination, before he simply said, "Yes!"

After saying that, he led the three people into the building on the left.

Meanwhile, the group of girls in blue-gray robes ran slower and slower, and several of them even tripped and fell. After being helped up by their companions, they still gritted their teeth and staggered along.

Behind them, the group of Japanese soldiers had actually caught up with them, but they didn't fire. Instead, they laughed lewdly, like cats playing with mice.

Soon, a Japanese soldier caught up with the girl who was running at the back and grabbed her hand, which was carrying a box. The girl screamed and shook her hand off. The box, which was made of rattan, flew into the air and then fell back down, blocking the Japanese soldier's way.

At the same time, Instructor Li, who had been preparing for a long time, pulled the trigger.

"boom……"

With the characteristic dull thud of the Type 24 rifle, a 7.92×57mm full-power rifle bullet, traveling at 755 meters per second, pierced the rattan box and struck the Japanese soldier in the neck.

Amidst splattering blood, the Japanese soldier didn't even have time to react before falling heavily backward to the ground, his face still bearing that ferocious smile until he died.

"boom……"

Immediately afterwards, another 7.92mm bullet struck another Japanese soldier nearby, and then bursts of gunfire erupted from the buildings on both sides of the street.

The Buran light machine gun, Mauser 98K, and MP18 submachine gun opened fire simultaneously, instantly killing or wounding more than half of the dozen or so Japanese soldiers who had caught up. The remaining two Japanese soldiers fled in panic. (Buran machine gun)
MP18 submachine gun

As the Japanese troops retreated, the group of girls passed by Instructor Li and his men. Everyone looked at the ragged soldiers with surprise as they ran past, while the soldiers responded with indifferent glances.

After the girls had all gone far away, Instructor Li said in a deep voice, "Let's go!"

"Yes!"

The soldiers responded in unison and stood up from their bunkers, ready to move forward again. A burst of bullets struck two soldiers who had just stood up from their bunkers, and the two fell silently into pools of blood. The remaining soldiers quickly retreated back into their bunkers.

Accompanied by the sound of machine guns, a Type 94 light tank emerged from the city gate surrounded by a group of Japanese soldiers armed with Type 38 rifles. The Type 91 6.5mm machine gun on the turret was spitting fire at them. Behind the tank were two other tanks of the same model and a large group of Japanese soldiers.

Type 94 tank

Although Instructor Li and the soldiers of the training team fired desperately, their bullets did nothing but produce a spark when they hit the tank.

Seeing this, Instructor Li could only lead the remaining soldiers to fight and retreat. They hid in a group of ruins, and several soldiers wrapped their bodies with grenades and climbed onto the roof, preparing to use their own bodies as bombs to destroy the tank.

Japanese tanks were relentlessly pursuing them. Just as the Type 94 tanks were firing desperately at the training team soldiers on the rooftop, a particularly deep and loud sound rang out not far away.

The machine gun, which had been spitting fire, suddenly stopped firing.

"boom……"

Another loud gunshot rang out, and the Type 94 tank, which had been writhing around, shuddered as if it had contracted malaria, before its engine stalled.

Seeing the Japanese tanks being taken down by the sudden barrage of fire, Instructor Li and the soldiers of the training corps were overjoyed and immediately increased their firepower.

Without the support of Type 94 tanks, the remaining Japanese troops were trapped in the middle of the street and suffered heavy casualties without any cover. They had no choice but to retreat.

Just as they were retreating, two more Type 94 tanks appeared on the dusty street.

Seeing the two more Type 94 tanks appear, despair filled the eyes of all the soldiers in the training unit.

This tank, officially named the Type 94 Ultralight Tank, was later nicknamed the "Little Tank" by military enthusiasts.

The entire crew consisted of only two people, equipped with only one Type 91 6.5mm or 7.7mm machine gun, with a combat weight of 3.45 tons and 12mm of frontal armor (riveted steel plates).

This tank was used by the Japanese army for reconnaissance, communication, guard duty, and pursuit. But this unassuming little tank played an unexpected role in the invasion of China.

Chinese soldiers, equipped only with light weapons, were helpless against this tank and could only rely on soldiers strapped with explosives to their bodies to destroy it by sacrificing themselves.

(End of this chapter)