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

At 5 a.m., just as the sky was getting light, the independent regiment had already moved covertly to the outskirts of the Maokalefeng coal mining area.

On a small hill 2 kilometers outside the mining area, Zhang Chi, two staff officers, Zhang Guangjun and Tan Zhijie, and three battalion commanders gathered in front of a temporary regimental headquarters consisting of several jeeps and tents, carefully studying the specific plan of the attack.

Zhang Guangjun spoke first in a low voice, with a flash of anger in his eyes:

"When the Johns ruled, this place relied on hired natives to mine coal. Since the Japanese took over, in order to speed up mining, they've crammed captured Allied prisoners of war and expatriates from the Qian Kingdom into the coal mines, forcing them to work day and night."

As the former captain of the Overseas Chinese Volunteer Army, Zhang Guangjun, a real "local tyrant", knows this land like the back of his hand.

He went on to explain, "The Japanese used abuse and food deprivation to control the miners, which had long fueled their discontent. Previously, a Highlander named John Wallace led the miners in two riots, but unfortunately, they failed due to a lack of weapons and ammunition."

"During the last riot, I led the volunteers to provide support from the periphery. The Japanese defense was very tight and they pushed us back directly."

He pointed to the map spread out in front of the jeep and gestured as he spoke, "The coal mining area extends deep into the Maukale Peak. The only way in or out is through this canyon road on the east side. The Japanese have built two large concrete bunkers here and there, tightly sealing off the entire canyon."

Zhang Guangjun tapped his fingers lightly on the map and continued, "There are quite a few machine gun bunkers and hidden bunkers on the edge of the mining area. They form a bunker cluster with the two large bunkers for mutual protection."

"Besides that, there's a wooden sentry tower with a searchlight. Lieutenant Wallace's life or death is unknown, but according to the information he provided last time, this and this are the miners' accommodation areas."

With Zhang Guangjun's introduction, Zhang Chi and others quickly understood the devil's general defense configuration, the miners' accommodation location, the number of supervisors and natives, and other information.

Zhang Chi nodded as he listened, and couldn't help but sigh - with the intelligence support from the Allied Forces, local guerrillas, and local tyrant families in Southeast Asia, the information about the Japs was one-way transparent to him, with no secrets at all.

"Very good, the information is very detailed." Zhang Chi's tone was steady, and his eyes swept over the crowd, "Now it's time for us to attack."

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After having firepower and armor advantages far exceeding those of the Japanese, Zhang Chi did not choose to wait until nightfall to launch a sneak attack, but decisively chose to launch a full-scale attack at 6:30 in the morning when he could better utilize his firepower advantage.

"Mountain Cannon", who was promoted to the commander of the newly established artillery battalion, led the artillery crew to operate 12 John-made QF 25-pound howitzers (pictured), and prepared to carry out covering fire on the Japanese bunkers, barbed wire, minefields and other areas on a hilltop 6 kilometers away from the mining area.

"Set the firing parameters, azimuth 16-00, firing angle 06-80, load number one charge!"

Following the command of "Mountain Cannon", the gun crew quickly turned the handwheels of the elevation and steering machines to adjust the direction of the muzzle.

Then several burly artillerymen worked together to lift the 11-kilogram high-explosive warhead with the impact fuse already screwed in and stuffed it into the gun barrel.

Then another artilleryman placed the propellant bag wrapped in silk behind the high-explosive warhead, pushed both of them deep into the barrel with a ramrod, and finally closed the vertical wedge bolt.

"One test shot—fire!"

As the artillerymen pulled the fuse, a bright orange flame storm gushed out from the muzzle of the QF 25-pound howitzer with a muzzle brake. The earth shook and then dust flew up.

Twelve 88mm high-explosive grenades were quickly fired from the muzzle, drawing beautiful parabolas in the sky and flying towards the Japanese bunkers at high speed with a sharp whistling sound.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Deafening explosions sounded outside the mining area.

Suddenly, the ground near the Japanese bunkers was engulfed in flames, large sections of barbed wire and wooden barriers were overturned, and rising flames and smoke enveloped the battlefield.

However, because the impact point was slightly to the west, the Japanese concrete bunker was not directly hit and remained standing.

The explosion caught the mine's defenders and the native overseers off guard. They stood there for a moment, stunned by the smoke rising in the distance, until a roar broke their daze:

"Enemy attack! Quick, grab your weapons and get into the fortifications!"

A captain shouted at the top of his lungs, ordering the Japanese soldiers to quickly enter the trenches and bunkers.

Immediately, shrill whistles rang out throughout the mining area, and a large number of miners were driven back to the accommodation area by the supervisors with whips, while the Japanese soldiers ran towards their battle positions with rifles in hand.

The entire mining area was like a pot of boiling water, in chaos.

On the other side, the soldiers of the reconnaissance platoon, carrying walkie-talkies and hiding near the enemy bunkers, immediately reported the results of the artillery attack to the regiment headquarters:

"Hello, regimental headquarters? This is White Owl No. 4. Impact point 40 degrees to the left, close range. The Japanese bunker is intact. I repeat, intact."

This information was quickly transmitted to the regimental radio station along with radio waves, and then transmitted to the artillery battalion.

Over 6000 meters away, at the artillery position, the "mountain gun" pushed and pulled the artillery slide rule a few times and quickly calculated the direction correction: "Azimuth to the right, 0-14, firing angle plus one!"

Soon, the second round of artillery fire began again. Grenades flew across the sky like giant dragons, followed by several loud noises of "Boom! Boom! Boom!" The smoke on the outer positions of the mining area rose again, blowing some unsuspecting Japanese soldiers into blood mist and broken limbs.

"Left 10, long shot!"

However, the radio came again with the message: "Left 10, long shot!"

After this round of corrections, the Japanese bunker was still not hit accurately. The "Mountain Cannon" frowned slightly, realizing that more precise adjustments were needed.

At the same time, Hao Yi, the battalion commander of the first battalion who was in charge of the main attack, saw the enemy position engulfed in flames. He felt as if countless ants were crawling in his heart, making him feel itchy and uncomfortable.

Coming from the Gui army, he had no concept of "artillery preparation" at all. He only knew that according to past experience, after a few rounds of artillery fire, it was time to launch a charge.

So he grabbed the microphone of the mobile phone and called out anxiously: "Commander, the heavy artillery has fired two rounds. Should we go up?"

Soon, Zhang Chi's voice came through the receiver, a hint of sarcasm: "We've only fired two rounds, why are you in such a hurry? Do you think we're just cannon fodder? The enemy fires three mortar rounds, and then you yell, 'Brothers, charge!'?"

There was a hint of pride in his voice. "These are all the shells left by John. Don't feel bad. In the past, it was the Japs who bombed us. Today, let them have a taste of being covered by artillery fire."

In this operation, Zhang Chi dispatched all his trucks and half-track vehicles, carrying two bases of artillery shells.

He felt that instead of letting the artillery battalion train to build earth mounds and scarecrows every day, it would be better to practice on the Japanese.

"Just wait patiently. First, we'll prepare the artillery fire for an hour, and then you can lead a battalion and follow Matilda of the tank company to collect the bodies of the Japanese." Zhang Chi said slowly and casually on the radio.

Hao Yi put down the microphone of the walkie-talkie and muttered to himself: "An hour of artillery preparation? The Japanese artillery regiment's artillery bombardment usually only lasts 15 minutes!?"

He smiled bitterly and shook his head: "My Lord, are we so arrogant?"

This veteran, who joined the Gui army at the age of 14 and fought for 15 years, did not realize for a moment that he had been reborn from a ragtag army and became a member of a force with strong firepower and excellent equipment.

This kind of confidence that came from within made him feel a little overwhelmed.