The expeditionary force began to dominate Southeast Asia by recruiting defeated soldiers

In the past, the Qian army, lacking telecommunications equipment, regardless of whether they were from the Red or White factions, would fire flares into the sky as a sign of launching a general attack.

Those orange or green light bullets drew graceful arcs in the air, followed by the soldiers charging under the cover of artillery fire.

But this time, the attack of the newly formed 212th Division was launched in silence.

At this time, in the newly formed 212th Division, a modern force built by Zhang Chi according to the Cold War thinking, every platoon had a walkie-talkie, every battalion had a small radio, and even almost every soldier wore a watch.

Zhang Chi from the command center said, "Inform all units that the original plan remains unchanged. The attack will begin at 05:30."

The officers and soldiers of each unit stared at their watches, waiting for that moment to come.

When the shaking second hand pointed to 12 o'clock again, the general offensive began, and the entire battlefield suddenly erupted in unprecedented shock.

Twenty-four John-made QF 25-pound (88mm) howitzers, under the guidance of the artillery observation team code-named "Nightingale 01", spewed flames at the Japanese.

Artillery shells whizzed down like raindrops over the village where the Japanese were camping. The people in the village had been evacuated long ago, so the artillery regiment opened fire without any hesitation.

"Nearly half of the firepower has been effectively hit. Please continue shooting."

Looking at the Japanese soldiers who were blown to pieces in the telescope, "Nightingale 01" calmly reported the damage assessment and gave the shooting parameters that should be corrected.

In the Qian Kingdom at that time, artillery with a caliber of 75mm or above was called heavy artillery.

After receiving the report from the artillery observation, 24 heavy artillery pieces opened fire again, pouring shells at the Japanese, and the flames swept through the Japanese base again.

Wherever the artillery fire struck, a scorched earth lay. Metal fragments and shock waves formed a storm of destruction.

The Japanese soldiers, who were in dishevel and had just woken up, suffered heavy casualties in the early morning artillery bombardment.

The newly expanded artillery regiment quickly found the best rhythm in practice. It started with a rapid firing of 10 rounds, followed by the artillery observation team providing a damage report and adjusting the target, and then another round of rapid firing of 10 rounds, and so on.

The Japanese in the village soon discovered that the enemy's artillery shells seemed to have eyes.

No matter where they fled, as long as they gathered together, the artillery fire would soon chase them.

With no way to go up to the sky or into the ground, the Japanese soldiers could only take a defensive posture, lying on the craters and the ground, praying that the enemy's artillery fire would pass quickly.

Perhaps the devils' prayers worked. After dozens of rounds of artillery fire, the artillery fire shifted its target and began to suppress Hill 33.

还没等村里的劫后余生的鬼子喘上一口气，2 团 1 营 3 连近200战士就在6辆M8自行火炮（图在作者说）的掩护下冲到了近前。

The M8 'Teapot' light self-propelled howitzer, derived from the M5 Stuart tank chassis, is equipped with a 75mm light howitzer.

Therefore, the Japanese soldiers in the village were soon covered by artillery fire again. The wooden buildings in the village had already been destroyed in the previous artillery fire, and now they were subjected to the fatal kiss of 75mm grenade.

The close-range direct fire of the M8 'Teapot' was obviously more accurate and deadly than the heavy artillery coverage just now. There was almost no cover in the village for the Japanese to take cover.

This left the Japanese exposed to 75mm artillery fire and easily slaughtered.

Those houses that once stood there have now become tombs, and were completely devoured by the artillery fire along with the Japanese soldiers.

The remaining Japanese soldiers, led by several sergeants and corporals, launched a desperate counterattack.

They rushed forward, armed with samurai swords, Type 99 anti-tank grenades, explosives and other weapons they could find, shouting words such as "Tian Nao Heika, Qi Sheng Shi Bei Guo, Ba Hong Yi Yu" that the soldiers of the 212th Division could not understand.

Then they were knocked to the ground in large numbers by the barrage of bullets from the 12.7mm M2HB heavy machine gun on the roof of the M8 "Teapot" and the M1 Garands in the hands of the soldiers.

"Keep moving forward. Use the machine guns to find a good position to blockade the village. We have to drive the Japs out of the village as quickly as possible."

The commander of the 3rd Company, who was leading the charge, was unconcerned with the Japanese's suicidal charge and waved to the M8 'Teapots' to continue moving forward.

The tank tracks continued to move, running over the Japs and driving them into the mud.

The body of a Japanese second lieutenant had merged with the soil, with only his right hand, tightly gripping a samurai sword, sticking out from the ground.

The tank commander, who had half his head out, saw this bizarre scene and couldn't help but mutter, "What are these devils doing? Trying to chop down my tank with a samurai sword?"

In 42, the Japanese invaders in Southeast Asia had not experienced the torture of the White Eagle soldiers in the South Pacific, and of course they did not know what "enemy superior firepower" meant.

Facing the tanks driving into the village, several Japanese artillerymen actually pulled out their 37mm anti-tank guns and placed them on the open ground, as if they were going to have a one-on-one duel with the self-propelled artillery.

However, their childish actions were soon ruthlessly ended.

With a few loud "boom, boom" sounds, these Japanese artillerymen who seemed to have taken mysterious pills and were mentally unstable went to see Amaterasu together with their small cannon.

The two squadrons of Japanese soldiers stationed in the village had already suffered nearly half of their casualties from the bombardment by the artillery regiment, and were unable to form an effective defense after encountering the synthetic armored assault of the 3rd Company.

Soon, a large number of Japanese soldiers were driven out of the village and had to flee towards Hill 33 behind them.

Watching the enemy retreat in disarray, the 3rd Company Commander decisively ordered:

"Clean up the battlefield, set up heavy machine guns and mortars, and be on the lookout for any Japanese counterattacks. Also, notify the higher-ups that the village has been taken!"

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The John QF 25-pound (88mm) howitzer, as the standard artillery of the John Infantry Division, has strong suppression power, and the circular gun mount also allows it to quickly adjust the direction angle.

Therefore, when the Japanese army's four 75 mountain guns tried to conduct counter-artillery operations, the artillery regiment commander "Guoshan Pao" quickly separated 12 artillery pieces and started an artillery battle with the Japanese army with the information support of "Nightingale 02".

The other 12 artillery pieces continued to fire at the Japanese's Hill 33. The Japanese on the position were suppressed by heavy artillery and suffered terribly. They no longer had the energy to rescue the Japanese in the village.

"Have we taken the village on the flank of the highway?" Qi Quan, commander of the 2nd Regiment, immediately gave the order after hearing the report from the communications team. "Tell Li Hongbo of the 1st Battalion and the Tank Battalion that it's time for them to attack."

As the radio transmitted the order, the tank battalion commander Li Hongbo, who had been unable to bear it any longer, led 12 M4A3 (105) medium tanks to rush out of the starting position.

Twelve Sherman tanks formed a steel torrent on the road, covering the two infantry companies of the 1st Battalion in the rear as they launched an attack on Hill 12.