Shi Kaiyun and his entire regiment watched as the Guizi (derogatory term for Japanese soldiers) position that had just blocked their team's advance was instantly engulfed in fierce artillery fire.

The soldiers of the Special Operations Company didn't shout, and no one urged them on.

More than a hundred men, hunched over and bent at the waist, heads lowered, charged directly towards the Guizi position amidst the raging artillery fire.

Mortar shells fired by the Special Operations Company's artillery were still exploding on the position.

These soldiers simply charged forward, straight into the smoke-filled air.

A miraculous scene unfolded as the soldiers charged into the smoke.

As soon as the Special Operations Company's soldiers charged into the Guizi position, which was thick with smoke, the shelling on the first line of defense ceased.

Chen Sichuan led the first platoon to attack the left flank of the Bayeda Ying (transliteration) Squadron; Liu Laopao (transliteration) led the second platoon to attack the center of the Bayeda Ying Squadron; Jia Shusheng (transliteration) led the third platoon to attack the right flank of the Bayeda Ying Squadron.

The three teams simultaneously charged into the first line of defense of the Bayeda Ying Squadron.

The Guizi, who had been lying on the ground to avoid the Nationalist army's artillery fire, found their entire line of defense in disarray after being bombarded.

Most of the soldiers were already dead, and the surviving few hadn't even managed to stand up before being pinned down by the charging soldiers of the Special Operations Company.

Shi Tianyun didn't hesitate and commanded his regiment to charge forward.

The first, second, and third platoons of the Special Operations Company were clearing the battlefield on the first line of defense.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth platoons had already charged towards the second line of defense of the Bayeda Ying Squadron.

They didn't stop at all, ignoring the shells still exploding on the second line of defense.

It wasn't that these soldiers were fearless, but that they had absolute trust in their company commander.

The company commander wouldn't let the shells hit them!

While the fourth, fifth, and sixth platoons were clearing the battlefield on the second line of defense, the first, second, third, and seventh platoons charged towards the third line of defense of the Bayeda Ying Squadron.

This rolling tactic, like waves crashing against the shore, came one after another.

From the time they received the mission to the time they took down the three lines of defense of the Bayeda Ying Squadron, the soldiers of the Special Operations Company spent less than five minutes.

Regiment Commander Shi Tianyun looked in amazement at the three lines of defense after the smoke cleared.

Now he could clearly see that on each of the three lines of defense, there were more than a hundred Guizi – that was a Guizi company stationed on each line!

The officers and soldiers of the 767th Regiment looked at the Guizi corpses lying on the ground, each one clicking their tongues in amazement: so many Guizi, more than a dozen machine guns.

If they had used their regiment's method of a direct assault, they would have lost half the regiment today before they could have charged up here.

Battalion Commander Tsukishiro Yuta watched helplessly as his two squadrons' defended positions were taken over by the attacking team in five minutes.

What angered him even more was that not even a single signal soldier from the two squadrons had managed to escape.

Major Fujiwara Yuzhen's expression changed: this team's combat power was even higher than he had anticipated.

He immediately ordered, "The entire team is to halt all attacks and focus on defense."

Now he needed to consolidate his forces, firmly hold this position, and block the retreat route of the 128th Division.

As for the task of annihilating this team, he would leave it to the 18th Division, the Sato Detachment, and the 114th Division!

What Fujiwara Yuzhen didn't expect was that when his Fujiwara Special Forces retreated from behind the 382nd Brigade, they were actually doggedly pursued by troops sent by the 382nd Brigade, who were now under attack from both sides.

This was completely unexpected.

It was clear that the team's position was already teetering on the brink, yet they still refused to accept his good intentions!

Major Fujiwara Yuzhen also felt a little flustered.

He hadn't expected this team, which had blocked the 18th Division for five days, to be so formidable.

The 382nd Brigade defended the right flank of the entire 128th Division, which was also the most critical area.

If the entire 128th Division were to retreat, they would definitely have to pass through here.

That was why Gu Jiaqi had stationed a brigade here.

Brigade Commander Tan Wenlie watched as the Guizi attacking from behind his right flank began to retreat.

Regardless of the fact that the entire brigade's line of defense was currently under attack by the Guizi from the front, he immediately ordered a company under his command to relentlessly pursue the Guizi, not allowing them to retreat leisurely.

Tan Wenlie had already received the division commander's order: "The entire division is to retreat to the second line of defense at the train station."

To accomplish this goal, they had to kick away the Guizi blocking their rear.

Now that friendly troops were attacking the Guizi, and his unit could hold back a portion of the Guizi, they could reduce the pressure on the attacking friendly troops.

At this moment, Gu Jiaqi was leading the division's last reserve team and the officers' team towards the Guizi who had cut off the communication between the division headquarters and the 382nd Brigade.

Although the 128th Division had issued a retreat order, the Guizi had cut off their retreat route.

In reality, the troops were still unable to retreat, and the various regiments of the 128th Division were still holding their ground.

The 382nd Brigade was guarding the division's retreat route and was now under attack from both sides.

The troops sent to support them had launched two consecutive attacks, but they had failed to reach the 382nd Brigade's position, as they were intercepted by the Guizi midway both times.

Gu Jiaqi was unable to send more troops; at this critical moment for the division's survival, he could only personally lead all the personnel of the division headquarters to charge into battle.

This time, Gu Jiaqi organized a team of more than five hundred people and charged towards the Guizi team that had cut off communication between the division headquarters and the 382nd Brigade.

The team blocking their way was the Amami Yusuke Battalion of the 114th Division.

At this time, the Amami Yusuke Battalion was also fighting very hard: this battalion had to cope with attacks from two directions simultaneously.

The 382nd Brigade had been constantly organizing teams to attack them.

The 128th Division had not stopped attacking either.

It was precisely when Lin Fan and his team had temporarily stopped bombing that Gu Jiaqi led his team to launch an attack.

Lin Fan heard the shouts and continuous machine gun fire coming from the left.

From their position, at a distance of about 2,500 meters, the soldiers of the 128th Division were charging towards the Guizi in the middle from both sides.

These bravely charging soldiers were blocked by the Guizi's heavy machine gun fire.

Lin Fan didn't see any fire support from the division headquarters' direct artillery company and felt very strange.

Actually, it wasn't the fault of Hua Yuande and his artillery company.

They had just test-fired three mortar shells, but they were unable to accurately hit the position guarded by the Guizi.

On the contrary, in three attempts, they had hit the 382nd Brigade's position twice and the 128th Division's reserve team once.

As a result, the soldiers of the entire artillery company no longer dared to fire rashly.

Lin Fan estimated the distance and ordered, "All guns, turn to the seven-thirty direction."

His artillery squad's seven guns immediately carried out his order.

Lin Fan carefully adjusted all seven guns before continuing to order, "Rapid five-round bursts! Fire and move!"

Gu Jiaqi watched as the Guizi's three heavy machine guns constantly swept towards their direction.

With such dense firepower, if they couldn't take out those three heavy machine guns first, not to mention the five hundred men they had, even if they had another five hundred, they wouldn't be able to break through!

Tang Gaoyi, the company commander of the division headquarters' engineer company, volunteered, "Division Commander! Give me ten minutes. I'll take a platoon to blow up those three heavy machine guns."

Gu Jiaqi looked at the Guizi's temporary position opposite them.

The three heavy machine guns were clearly placed on open ground.

If they had direct-fire guns or if the mortar fire was more accurate, they could quickly take them out.

But sending people to charge up and blow them up was too unlikely.

The Guizi's current position was only temporary, with a wide field of vision, unlike a fortress with blind spots.

Gu Jiaqi shook his head, "Gaoyi, don't go. This isn't something that can be blown up."

He ordered, "Bring our machine guns and suppress them."

There were only two light machine guns in the team organized by the division headquarters.

Using light machine guns to suppress the enemy's three heavy machine guns was already difficult.

What's more, there were still seven light machine guns firing on the other side.

Just as everyone was at a loss, a string of shells suddenly landed on the Guizi's snake-like position.

These shells accurately exploded on the Guizi's position.

Regardless of where these shells came from, Gu Jiaqi stood up, "Charge! Follow me!"

The entire team had been suppressed here for a full ten minutes. The most recent team to come to support them had been suppressed here for nearly an hour.

Now all the soldiers turned the anger they had just suffered into courage and charged towards the Amami Yusuke Battalion.

Lin Fan and his team's dozens of shells instantly destroyed all the machine gun firepower that the entire Amami Yusuke Battalion had deployed on both sides of the line.

Battalion Commander Amami Yusuke was stunned by the sudden attack of artillery shells.

He quickly realized that he was now under attack from three sides, front, back, and air.

Such an attack was something that his battalion could not withstand.

Battalion Commander Amami Yusuke made a wise choice: "Retreat!"

When Gu Jiaqi led a team of more than five hundred people to charge onto the Guizi position that had just blocked their way, the Guizi had already retreated a hundred meters.

He saw that when this team of Guizi retreated, they were orderly and methodical, without any signs of panic or disarray.

He immediately stopped the soldiers who wanted to continue chasing.

He left a platoon to guard this place, not allowing the Guizi to charge up again, and led the rest of the team quickly towards the 382nd Brigade's position.

Brigade Commander Tan Wenlie saw that the team he had just sent out had achieved its objective, and that the division commander had personally led people to come to their aid, and his heart immediately settled down.

It wasn't just him who saw that reinforcements had arrived.

All the officers and soldiers of the 382nd Brigade on the left saw that reinforcements had arrived, and their morale rose again.

The soldiers of the 382nd Brigade, who had just gone out to clear the path, returned to their original position.

Gu Jiaqi led the reserve team of more than five hundred people and charged towards the hundred or so Guizi that Fujiwara Yuzhen had left behind to cover their retreat.

At this time, Hua Yuanzhen's artillery company could let loose and fire their guns.

They no longer needed to hold back for fear of hitting their own people, as they had done before.

Now they fiercely bombarded those hundred or so Guizi blocking their way, cooperating with the division commander, who was leading his troops in a personal assault.

In Lin Fan's direction, they had already made contact with the main force of the Tsukishiro Yuta Battalion.

This time, they were still doing the same thing as before: artillery bombing! Infantry charge!

However, the infantry charging was no longer just the hundred or so men of the Special Operations Company.

Shi Tianyun, the commander of the 767th Regiment, stood in the middle of the team, personally commanding the troops to charge, charging together with the soldiers of the Special Operations Company.

The entire regiment, nearly a thousand men, a dark mass, charged forward.

In front of them, on the hastily dug temporary fortifications of the Tsukishiro Yuta Battalion, a string of shells kept falling.

Lin Fan knew that at this time, if they couldn't drive away the team in front of them, not only would their Special Operations Company be surrounded by the Guizi, but the entire 128th Division, thousands of men, would be surrounded by the Guizi.

This time, their artillery squad's bombing didn't last long.

The infantry in front had already charged into the Guizi's position.

These battles that were happening behind the 128th Division's line of defense were completely impossible for the Guizi's forward observers to observe.

They only knew that battles were happening behind the 128th Division's line of defense.

The Guizi didn't know how the battle was going.

However, these sounds of gunfire only aroused the Guizi's enthusiasm for attack even more.

Today, on the entire line of defense of the 128th Division, there were scenes of soldiers and Guizi engaging in hand-to-hand combat everywhere.

The 128th Division's weapons were already inferior, and now they were outnumbered by the Guizi.

Such a defensive battle was extremely difficult.

Although the entire division had received the order to retreat to the second line of defense at the train station, three hours had passed since the order was issued, and not a single company had been able to retreat.

All the troops were entangled with the Guizi and were unable to retreat at all.

The Tsukishiro Yuta Battalion and Major Fujiwara Yuzhen's Special Forces, under the joint attack of the 767th Regiment, the Special Operations Company, and the reserve team led by Gu Jiaqi, could no longer hold the position at the road junction.

Major Fujiwara had no choice but to issue the order: "Retreat!"

His five hundred men had already suffered nearly a hundred casualties when they intercepted the division's reserve team.

They had also been bombed by Lin Fan's artillery shells, and now they had suffered more than half of their casualties.

The Tsukishiro Yuta Battalion was no better off than him and had suffered the same casualties.

They both saw the result of continuing to hold their ground: the attacking team would suffer heavy casualties, but their two teams would definitely be annihilated.

Major Fujiwara Yuzhen looked hatefully at the artillery team in the distance.

He couldn't help but sigh, "This team has such good luck! Why aren't the Empire's planes coming to bomb and strafe them at this time?"

What Major Fujiwara Yuzhen didn't know was that thirty kilometers northeast of this battlefield, an even more tragic battle was taking place.

All the Japanese planes were circling over that battlefield.

In this area, two teams were fighting to the death.

Seeing that the obstacle in front of them had been driven away, Gu Jiaqi didn't allow his soldiers to continue the pursuit.

He ordered another company to stay here to guard.

His division command was here, and he would not retreat any further.

Gu Jiaqi wanted to wait here for his troops to retreat from the front line.

In the previous battle, the Special Operations Company had sacrificed five soldiers, one of whom was a backbone soldier who had come from the rear.

This made Lin Fan feel a little heavy-hearted.

But now was not the time to be sad, and he shouted to the soldiers of the Special Operations Company, "Can we still fight?"

"Yes!"

"Let's go and bring out the brothers of the 128th Division!"

"Bring them out!"

Lin Fan led the Special Operations Company back towards the farthest position of the 128th Division.

Gu Jiaqi prepared to send a battalion of his own men to go with them.

Lin Fan said with a smile, "Division Commander Gu! Your soldiers can't keep up physically. They've been fighting continuously for several hours and can't run anymore."

Gu Jiaqi silently looked at the soldiers under his command.

These soldiers were now sitting on the ground, looking exhausted.

Then he looked at the soldiers of the Special Operations Company, their faces full of vigor, as if they were going to a feast.

He said enviously, "Company Commander Lin leads good soldiers!"

Lin Fan smiled and didn't speak.

Gu Jiaqi continued, "I'm entrusting those brothers of mine to Company Commander Lin. I'll set up a banquet in Jiaxing City and wait for Company Commander Lin."

Lin Fan laughed heartily, "Division Commander, that'll cost you a lot! I'm bringing the entire company."

"You must bring the entire company, not one less. I know you all eat meat. I'll have the chefs in the city prepare a feast of meat for the Special Operations Company and wait for all you brave men!"

Lin Fan saluted and led the team to the left.

He wanted to pull out the troops guarding the farthest position on the left side of the 128th Division, and then everyone would contract all the way, so that it would be easiest to withdraw the men of the 128th Division.

Hua Yuande's artillery company was now conducting guerrilla warfare behind the 382nd Brigade, firing for three minutes and then immediately moving their position.

With the support of the artillery company, and with the Guizi's attack in the rear having been resolved, the 382nd Brigade's line of defense had stabilized.

At this time, it was already two o'clock in the afternoon.

The battle today had been fierce, and the entire company hadn't eaten lunch yet.

They were two kilometers away from the 128th Division's position and still two kilometers away from the farthest position on the left.

Lin Fan stopped and said with a smile, "Ten minutes of rest! Everyone listen up, now is the time to use your reserves. You still have the chocolate you were given, right?"

Wu Xiaobao, Zhao Long, and the others were constantly thinking about the chocolate they had on them.

But they had only heard the company commander say that it was for life-saving purposes, so they had never dared to steal a bite.

Now, hearing Lin Fan ask about it, they immediately said, "Yes!"

The entire company replied, "Yes!"

Lin Fan smiled, "Everyone take it out and eat a piece. Remember, just a big piece, two at most, don't eat your fill."

Before long, the air in this area was filled with the sweet smell of chocolate.

Ji Wudi said with a smile, "This feeling is really good."

Every soldier in the entire company was happy at this time.

Lin Fan had stipulated that everyone could eat two pieces at most, so everyone only ate two pieces.

No one ate more than that, and no one ate only one piece.

Even Ji Wudi and Ji Jiahen, the two girls, carefully finished two large pieces of chocolate.

Watching the soldiers of the entire company eat the chocolate, with happy expressions on their faces, Li Xian asked Lin Fan in a low voice, "How does this stuff, when eaten, make everyone feel so happy, like opium? Will everyone get addicted?"