While Lin Fan and the others were on their way to Xiaoqi Town, Xiao Dongbei and the more than one hundred men of his Fourth Detachment, who had been left behind in Dingshan to receive the tanks, were anxiously watching the shells fall incessantly.

Regimental Commander Wan Shi-tong watched as countless enemy shells landed in the trenches they had dug, a pained expression on his face. "My tanks! My tanks!"

Xiao Dongbei's expression wasn't any better.

Jia Chengbi had driven tanks and fought in battles before. During the defense of Sihang Warehouse, he had driven a tank, hunting down the enemy with great efficiency. Of all the men here, he was the one who wanted a tank the most. No one else came close.

Seeing the increasing intensity of the enemy fire, Jia Chengbi couldn't hold back any longer. "Squad Leader! Can I go get one of the tanks?"

Xiao Dongbei had been suppressing his anger at the enemy artillery, with nowhere to vent it. Hearing Jia Chengbi's reckless request, he immediately exploded. "With the enemy bombing this heavily, how could anyone charge up there? Anyone can see that! Are you trying to make me angry on purpose?"

He raised his foot to kick him. But seeing Jia Chengbi's weathered face, Xiao Dongbei couldn't bring himself to do it. The man was a whole cycle older than him; he couldn't kick him!

The soldiers of the Special Operations Company saw Xiao Dongbei's foot raised and unsure where to land, and they all started laughing.

Jia Chengbi quickly stepped forward, grabbing Xiao Dongbei's foot with both hands and gently lowering it. "Squad Leader! I found a way out for you! Just let me go! If we don't get the tanks out now, the enemy shells will destroy them all."

Xiao Dongbei sighed. "You think I don't want to? But you know the enemy shells are about to destroy the tanks. If I let you go, whether you get a tank out or not, the Company Commander will skin me alive."

The other tankers had glanced at each other, wanting to step forward and try to persuade Xiao Dongbei. But when they heard him mention the Company Commander, they quickly retracted their half-extended feet.

These men knew that Lin Fan wouldn't risk their lives just to save a few tanks. As the Company Commander always said, "People are more important than dead objects."

But these soldiers also knew how much the Company Commander valued those tanks.

Xiao Dongbei knew that Lin Fan wanted the tanks to spearhead their breakout. As a high-ranking member of the Special Operations Company, he knew the Company Commander's plans.

Jiangyin Fortress would eventually have to be evacuated. The Company Commander simply wanted to kill more enemies here, but he definitely didn't want to sacrifice the entire Special Operations Company. He also wanted to grab some of the artillery that the Nationalists abandoned during their retreat and take it with them!

Wan Shi-tong watched the enemy fire continue for twenty minutes without any sign of stopping. He was even more grateful for Lin Fan's earlier warning. If his troops were still on the front lines, how many would have survived this barrage? He didn't even want to think about it!

Thirty minutes later, the enemy fire suddenly ceased.

Xiao Dongbei roared, "Charge!"

The soldiers of the Special Operations Company immediately rushed forward, some carrying artillery, others holding guns, moving with lightning speed.

Regimental Commander Wan Shi-tong couldn't understand it. Whose lines were these? They were charging even more resolutely and faster than his own troops!

He couldn't let others seize his own territory. Regimental Commander Wan Shi-tong immediately became anxious. "Eighth Company, Ninth Company, move out! Move out! We can't let our brothers who came to help charge ahead!"

Ninth Company Commander Xia Min'an quickly charged out. "Ninth Company! Follow me!"

A company commander who led from the front was one who cared for his subordinates.

Xiao Dongbei charged ahead, and they saw that the enemy had already reached the deep trench that the 618th Regiment had dug. Enemy soldiers were jumping into the trench one after another.

"Machine guns!" Xiao Dongbei immediately roared.

Wan Jun, the machine gunner behind him, immediately went prone, not caring that he hadn't reached a proper position yet. He immediately opened fire.

A dozen light machine gunners who were charging with him also went prone on the spot and immediately opened fire.

The others continued to charge forward, including the heavy machine guns.

When Xiao Dongbei led his hundred-plus men into the former second line of defense of the 618th Regiment, he found that the trench, which had originally been nearly a meter deep, was now only thirty centimeters deep. It had previously been designed so that men could move through it crouching without being exposed, but now it could only serve as a temporary position.

Xiao Dongbei shouted, "Hand grenades! Throw them into the trenches ahead!"

Some of the enemy soldiers had already gone down into the wide, deep trench, though it had been partially filled in by the enemy shelling. Those who had jumped into the trench couldn't even raise their heads, let alone fire out.

Throwing hand grenades in now was like catching turtles in a jar. Dozens of hand grenades were thrown in at once.

Those enemy soldiers who had been crowding at the edge of the trench, unable to get down, had gone prone and started firing as soon as they saw the Nationalist soldiers charging.

The machine guns on the Special Operations Company side opened fire, and the enemy machine guns weren't to be outdone. Both sides were in similar situations, with improvised positions.

At that moment, the enemy grenade launchers began firing.

The heavy machine gun of Xiao Dongbei's squad was also in position, but they couldn't find suitable cover and were firing from exposed positions.

The first target of the heavy machine gun was the enemy grenade launcher teams.

Three mortars were moved into position and began firing.

These heavy weapons originally needed dug-in emplacements to protect the gunners before they could open fire. But the situation was too urgent, and they didn't have time to find suitable cover.

Enemy bullets struck the heavy machine gun's shield, ringing loudly.

At that moment, two companies of the 618th Regiment also charged up. They didn't stop at the second line of defense but continued to charge forward.

With the cover of the Special Operations Company's machine guns, heavy machine guns, and artillery, the Eighth and Ninth Companies gained a foothold in the first trench at the cost of a dozen or so casualties.

The enemy soldiers who had been at the edge of the trench were pushed back several dozen meters by the soldiers of the two companies.

Xiao Dongbei ordered, "Move the position forward! Into the trenches ahead!"

The entire company of over a hundred men quickly got up and charged toward the first trench.

As they rushed into the remaining communication trenches, they realized why some of the soldiers had been carrying benches.

The soldiers of the Special Operations Company saw many soldiers of the Eighth and Ninth Companies standing on benches to fire.

Inside the trench, many soldiers were clearing mud from in front of the tanks.

Xiao Dongbei shouted, "Jia Chengbi, Xiang Liguo, Gan Huaxing, hurry! Go try to start them up!"

Then he turned and shouted, "Autocannons! Autocannons! Get over here!"

Wan Shi-tong looked at the hundred-plus men, with light machine guns, heavy machine guns, mortars, and autocannons all lined up on the front line of the trench. He was so envious that his mouth watered. How great would it be if this unit could stay with his troops?

But now, he was most concerned with whether the tanks could still be used.

Jia Chengbi and the others had been inside the tanks for quite some time, first removing the enemy corpses and then personally helping to clear the mud covering the tanks. But they still hadn't started them up.

Regimental Commander Wan became anxious. "Can they still be used?"

"Don't know! Haven't tried yet!"

Xiao Dongbei looked at the enemy soldiers who had retreated slightly. Although they had fallen back some distance, they hadn't retreated completely. They were still holding their ground and trying to break through.

"This is a tenacious force!" Xiao Dongbei thought hatefully. "What I want to break is your tenacity!"

He roared, "Heavy machine guns! Autocannons! Give it to them!"

It was the first time he had been given autocannons to use. If he didn't train with them properly now, who knew when he would get another chance?

The mortars were the most convenient. The gunners fired from inside the trench, with one man standing on a bench directing the adjustments.

The enemy soldiers less than fifty meters away were mimicking the Special Operations Company, throwing hand grenades and firing grenade launchers.

Hand grenades were constantly being thrown into the trench. This wasn't good!

Xiao Dongbei said to Company Commander Xia, "This isn't good! The enemy's courage hasn't been broken. They're not retreating at all. We need to break their courage!"

Regimental Commander Wan Shi-tong asked, "How do we break it?"

"Bayonet charge! Stab them!" Xiao Dongbei said viciously.

Regimental Commander Wan thought for a moment. "Agreed!"

Company Commander Xia could only agree.

Xiao Dongbei shouted, "Everyone except the machine gunners, heavy machine gunners, mortar crews, and autocannon crews, get ready! Charge!"

At the command, nearly a hundred soldiers of the Special Operations Company charged out of the trench.

The soldiers of the Eighth and Ninth Companies also charged out.

Regimental Commander Wan followed the charging troops out of the trench and noticed that as soon as the soldiers of the Special Operations Company charged out of the trench, they immediately formed triangular formations of three men each.

In less than fifty meters, they had reached the enemy in a matter of seconds.

Shinpan Ryunosuke was the commander of the 116th Regiment. This time, the direction he was responsible for attacking, Dingshan and Wushan, were the most difficult hilltops to capture. These two small peaks were the forward positions of the Xiaoshan Fortress on land. The Nationalist army would definitely defend them to the death!

From the time the heavy artillery brigade began bombarding at ten o'clock in the morning, he had been watching the two hilltops in front of him. Dingshan was on the outside, and Wushan was located slightly inside. If he attacked Wushan first, it would be vulnerable to attacks from the Nationalist army in three directions. Therefore, Regiment Commander Shinpan Ryunosuke decided to occupy Dingshan first.

In the first round of attacks, he had used all his strength, sending out all the tanks and cavalry that were cooperating with him. Unexpectedly, the tanks had fallen into the defenders' trap. The opposing force was too cunning.

Even though the first attack had failed, Regiment Commander Shinpan Ryunosuke was not discouraged. He immediately called for heavy artillery to strike the defenders' newly exposed positions. The artillery of his own regiment also joined in the bombardment.

He had persisted in bombarding for half an hour. Only then did he point to the Dingshan peak in front of him and order Captain Kurosawa Daisuke, "Take your men and capture Dingshan. If you can't capture it, don't come back."

Kurosawa Daisuke's battalion had already lost two companies, more than three hundred men, in the first wave of attacks. They now had fewer than seven hundred combat personnel, plus support personnel, for a total of more than eight hundred soldiers.

Captain Kurosawa Daisuke immediately ordered, "The entire battalion will charge!" He even sent the support troops into the charge.

His vanguard had almost broken into the defenders' positions, but they had been pushed back by the defenders' intense fire. Even though the vanguard had lost two hundred men, Captain Kurosawa Daisuke had persisted and had not turned to flee. He had seen when the defenders charged into the positions that the defenders' forces were insufficient, at least far fewer than his own troops.

As an excellent front-line commander, judging the strength of the enemy was a fundamental skill. Kurosawa Daisuke roughly estimated that the opposing defenders had fewer than five hundred men. This greatly increased his confidence.

He immediately ordered the battalion's machine guns and heavy machine guns to suppress the defenders' firing points. At the same time, he ordered his soldiers to fire their grenade launchers and requested artillery support from the regimental commander. This was why his battalion had remained in front of the positions, neither advancing nor retreating. He was waiting for the arrival of the infantry artillery. The defenders' firepower was too intense.

Captain Kurosawa Daisuke estimated that the enemy had at least fifty light machine guns and five heavy machine guns. His badly depleted battalion could not suppress such firepower.

At that moment, the enemy defenders actually charged out of the trenches! Did they want to engage him in hand-to-hand combat?

Captain Kurosawa Daisuke was overjoyed! Was he afraid of a gang fight when he had more men?

He immediately issued the order: "Charge!" Who was afraid of whom? Bayonets! The warriors of the empire had never been afraid.

During the Russo-Japanese War, the warriors of the empire had not been afraid when facing the tall, burly White Russian soldiers in bayonet combat.

Xiao Dongbei was the most diligent in practicing bayonet techniques in the entire Special Operations Company. He was also one of the first to charge.

The enemy soldier charging towards him was a full head shorter than him.

Xiao Dongbei shouted, "Kill!" The sound came from deep within his core, startling Toji Kanta, who almost dropped his gun. Then a bayonet was thrust into his chest.

Toji Kanta stared in astonishment at the man who was fighting without any regard for the rules: why was he shouting during a bayonet fight?

Xiao Dongbei twisted his hand on the rifle butt, and the bayonet spun inside Toji Kanta's chest. Toji Kanta's strength had been sapped the moment he had been stabbed. With the twist and the pull of the bayonet, Toji Kanta felt all the strength in his body drain away. He collapsed softly to the ground.

Having landed a successful strike, Xiao Dongbei felt as if a small universe had exploded within him. He shouted, "Kill!" again and thrust out a second time!

The soldiers of the charging Special Operations Company saw their squad leader take out one enemy soldier with each thrust. Everyone was greatly encouraged and shouted "Kill!" as they thrust.

It was just like during training every morning.

"Kill!" The sound shook the heavens.

Gradually, the soldiers of the entire Special Operations Company were immersed in the atmosphere. Everyone's strikes were accurate and ruthless. The shouts of "Kill!" grew louder and louder.

Even the soldiers of the 618th Regiment, who had charged up with them, also shouted, "Kill!" They also shouted "Kill!" with each thrust.

Regimental Commander Wan Shi-tong watched the Special Operations Company soldiers' momentum in bayonet combat and understood why this unit of more than a thousand men could remain in the regular Nationalist army.

Their momentum was simply invincible! It was invincible!

When Xiao Dongbei had suggested charging out to break the enemy's courage, Regimental Commander Wan had been somewhat doubtful. He was afraid of stirring up trouble and getting bitten by the snake.

But seeing their momentum now, he understood that they were simply asking politely. They would have charged out for bayonet combat no matter what.

More than their machine guns and heavy machine guns, Regimental Commander Wan felt that this unit's courage was the most valuable thing. Not to mention that they were so skilled in combat!

Regiment Commander Shinpan Ryunosuke, who was watching the battlefield from afar, immediately agreed when he received Captain Kurosawa Daisuke's request. But before the artillery that Captain Kurosawa had requested had arrived, the soldiers on the front lines had already become entangled.

The defenders had actually launched a bayonet charge against the superior Imperial warriors? A smile appeared on Regiment Commander Shinpan Ryunosuke's face.

He felt the same way as Captain Kurosawa: the empire, because of its lack of resources, had always been very frugal and placed special emphasis on bayonet combat!

Now, with his superior forces, there was no reason to refuse a bayonet charge.

Regiment Commander Shinpan Ryunosuke ordered, "Captain Nakafuku Hyuga, take your battalion to attack Wushan. We have already captured Dingshan."

Captain Nakafuku Hyuga immediately led his troops to attack.

Regimental Commander Wan followed the troops in the charge, engaging the enemy in bayonet combat. As time passed, he noticed something: the less than a hundred men of the Special Operations Company were charging left and right on the battlefield, killing so many enemies that the enemy were avoiding them.

On the other hand, the nearly three hundred men of his own two companies had become the enemy's favorite targets for melee combat.

Whether combat power was good or not depended on the opponent's performance.

The enemy were afraid of the Special Operations Company!

Xiao Dongbei led the Special Operations Company, constantly charging toward the most heavily defended areas.

Captain Kurosawa Daisuke also noticed that the warriors in the front were intentionally or unintentionally avoiding one direction on the battlefield.

The defenders in that direction were charging the fastest and were at the very front. His own soldiers were all intentionally or unintentionally avoiding this advance and were charging toward the defenders in the rear.

This was not a good sign!

Captain Kurosawa Daisuke drew his command saber and pointed it at Xiao Dongbei. "Kill!"

Xiao Dongbei didn't see this performance. But he also realized the problem: he had led the Special Operations Company too far ahead and had become separated from the Eighth and Ninth Companies! Even so, no enemy soldiers were trying to encircle his unit!

No matter what, they needed to stay together! Xiao Dongbei immediately led the Special Operations Company on a diagonal charge. Their charge immediately surrounded the enemy in front of the Eighth Company. There were at least a hundred enemy soldiers within this encirclement.