Chapter 1 The Nightmare Continues

Captain Nakamura Takuma watched his troops surge toward the defending line, a flicker of triumph igniting within him. Could crushing this force offer a chance to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat?

A thousand-mile dyke crumbles from an ant hole. Could the Nationalists' defense be breached right here?

But as those thoughts took shape, a thunderous series of explosions ripped through the forward positions. The leading ranks of the Japanese soldiers, so clear moments before, vanished in a choking cloud of smoke, leaving their fate a mystery.

Only the forwardmost soldiers, like Squad Leader Ichikawa Daizo, truly grasped the devastation: his squad’s leading elements had been decimated by the sudden barrage, more than half of them sent crashing to the ground.

Sergeant Yuyama Musashi had been swept up in the fervor, charging forward with the rest of the yelling Japanese troops, hurtling headlong into the fray.

It wasn't that he hadn't seen his comrades fall, or noticed the agonizing struggles of the dying scattered across the field.

But Yuyama Musashi had been infected by the zeal of the advancing soldiers, fear replaced by an unshakable conviction: Charge!

It was this singular thought that propelled him forward, obliterating all else. Sergeant Kameshiro Gozaburo felt the same.

Uninterrupted, the entire force would have succumbed to this collective will, each man driven by a single, overriding impulse: Charge!

But then the earth-shattering explosions erupted, tearing through their concentration, the gruesome spectacle and the desperate cries of the wounded shattering their illusions.

Every sound hammered at the minds of those lost in their own fantasies, demanding: Wake up!

Yuyama Musashi gazed at the carnage before him, his steps faltering for the first time. He was abruptly aware of his actions, rooted to the spot in confusion.

Lost and helpless, he glanced around, his eyes meeting those of Sergeant Kameshiro Gozaburo, another fortunate survivor.

Untouched, merely stunned by the blast, he, too, was paralyzed with uncertainty, unsure of what to do next.

Then the foremost ranks of the Japanese soldiers collapsed. Squad Leader Ichikawa Daizo had not foreseen such a disaster. He had anticipated a successful, or at least a hard-fought, bayonet charge.

But he had never imagined being greeted by a storm of iron shrapnel hurled from the explosives.

By the time Captain Nakamura Takuma reached the smoke-filled battlefield, he discovered that the fallen soldiers were more wounded than dead.

The Nationalist defense line ahead was deserted; the wily enemy had retreated fifty meters and established a new, temporary line.

A gasp escaped Captain Nakamura Takuma’s lips: The Nationalists were retreating and resisting, step by step.

With each orderly retreat, hundreds of his soldiers fell. Even with the two battalions combined, they could not withstand such attrition.

Company Commander Chu crawled towards Company Commander Lu. "Company Commander Lu! Your command is brilliant! When did you set up those explosives?"

Company Commander Lu smiled. "We set them up when we first established the line. So many Japanese soldiers are charging today.

There is nothing wrong with us avoiding their attack. When we preserve our land, we preserve both land and people; when we lose our people, we lose both land and people.”

"Are there directional mines laid out ahead of this defense line?" Company Commander Chu asked.

"Yes, from our first defense line to here, all fifty meters are covered. This time, the placement is better, since we have more time," Company Commander Lu said with a smile.

He thought for a moment, then continued, "When we attack, we are like a forest fire; when we retreat, we must be swift as the wind."

Company Commander Chu knew this was criticism of his company's actions. He said somewhat embarrassed, "Company Commander Lu! I understand. My company is fine when we are winning, but we fall apart at the slightest setback."

Company Commander Lu said with a smile, "First, let the soldiers build a spirit of never giving up; retreating is just to better destroy the Japanese soldiers. No unit can attack forever. Sometimes, a direct attack costs too much.

We must also learn to advance in a roundabout way, just like our defense. If we had stayed put on the first defense line, we would already be fighting the Japanese soldiers with bayonets.

But now we are ambushing them. We are not in a hurry, but they are. By retreating these fifty meters, the Japanese soldiers will have to fill this road with at least three hundred corpses.

When the final battle comes, we will have three hundred fewer Japanese soldiers to fight, and the soldiers' casualties will be greatly reduced."

As they spoke, the Japanese soldiers finally reacted, reorganized their troops, and charged towards the two companies' defense line.

What could the soldiers of the two companies do in the face of such a dense rain of bullets?

Captains Nakamura Takuma and Aiba Kaede could only let the Japanese soldiers continue to charge.

In battle, one must seize the initiative, then wane, and finally collapse!

Although the soldiers of the two battalions were charging to survive, among these charging Japanese soldiers.

The bravest and most daring of the Japanese soldiers had already suffered heavy casualties from the directional mines when attacking the first defense line.

Captain Aiba Kaede drew his command knife. "Charge!"

Captain Nakamura Takuma drew his command knife. "Charge!"

The commanders of the two battalions issued orders to charge, awakening the stunned Japanese soldiers.

Sergeant Yuyama Musashi was awakened by Squad Leader Ichikawa Daizo's order to charge. He did not know what he had been thinking just now, nor did he know why he had suddenly stopped.

Now, Sergeant Yuyama Musashi heard the squad leader's order and watched as the Japanese soldiers around him moved forward again. His feet also mechanically followed suit.

Gradually, the Japanese soldiers, who had suffered heavy casualties, were unified again, and they once again entered a state where they only had one thought.

No matter how dense the bullets sweeping in front of them were, these Japanese soldiers ignored the casualties and continued to charge forward, shouting.

The Japanese soldiers were so tenacious, recovering from the blow so quickly and launching the same pig-突 charge as before.

Such Japanese soldiers made Company Commander Chu Xiuxian and his soldiers feel uneasy: Were these Japanese soldiers unkillable? How could there be so many charging soldiers after so many had died?

Company Commander Lu Lejia had already ordered his soldiers' machine guns to fire, seeing the Japanese soldiers start another pig-突 charge. Company Commander Lu still gave the same order as before: "Except for the machine gunners of the Second Company, everyone else retreats fifty meters to establish a defense line and cover our retreat later."

He wanted to establish a defense line every fifty meters. Company Commander Chu Xiuxian, who had already retreated this way, looked at his soldiers, who were much calmer now.

But the panic and fear on their faces could not be hidden! He thought that there was still a strong friendly force supporting them in fighting the Japanese soldiers. Without Company Commander Lu and his men, his soldiers would have collapsed.

Despite his thoughts, Company Commander Chu still gave the order to retreat. In any case, this time his company's retreat was much more orderly and faster than the first time.

The soldiers' movements were at least not deformed, although they still retreated a few more steps when retreating.

Now Company Commander Chu had realized that the soldiers of the Second Company, who were not walking fast during the retreat, were setting up directional mines.

He intentionally paid attention to the soldiers who were setting up the mines and understood their movements. Company Commander Chu finally learned a trick: The confidence to retreat without panic and disorder lies in planting mines.

His troops must do the same in the future, even if they cannot defeat the Japanese soldiers, they must bury mines when retreating. Even burying a few simple mines can cause heavy casualties to the pursuers, and as long as the pursuers suffer casualties once, their pursuit speed will definitely slow down.

Thinking of this, Company Commander Chu could not help but regret that if he had learned such a method earlier, he would not have been chased so miserably and urgently by the Japanese soldiers in the previous days.

Captain Aiba Kaede saw that the defending troops in front of him, just like before, immediately began to flee when they saw the Japanese soldiers approaching.

They fled: Should the Japanese soldiers chase after them?

This was a question that did not require much thought: These Japanese soldiers had to rush over from this direction in order to join up with the regimental headquarters and retreat back to survive.

After hesitating for a moment, Captain Aiba Kaede raised his command knife again to cover up his weakness: "Charge!"

Sergeant Mukai Kuro had rushed to the front after the Japanese soldiers in front had been almost completely killed. He saw the Nationalist troops in front of him start to flee and immediately became excited, listening to the command from the captain.

He also shouted, "Charge!" Sergeant Inamori Kazuo and the Japanese soldiers around them were all encouraged. They all saw the soldiers of the Special Brigade retreat and thought they were fleeing.

These Japanese soldiers all became excited and charged even faster. Captain Nakamura Takuma was a Japanese soldier who was thinking things over.

He saw the defending troops retreating from the defense line again and began to wonder: Are these Nationalist soldiers really fleeing, or are they setting a trap like before?

Before he could finish thinking, a series of explosions sounded again in front of him.

Everything was the same as before. The Japanese soldiers charging in the front suffered heavy casualties. Sergeant Mukai Kuro, who had been shouting loudly just now, and the Japanese soldiers around him were either dead or wounded at this time. There were very few Japanese soldiers who could still stand.

The excited shouts they had just made turned into loud wails and groans. Company Commander Lu led the machine gun troops back down again.

The soldiers under Company Commander Chu saw the tragic situation of the Japanese soldiers once again. The hesitation and fear on their faces finally disappeared.

The faces of the soldiers began to flush, and they were discussing with each other how to fight next.

They had retreated again and again, and they did not want to retreat a third time. Company Commander Lu smiled and said to Company Commander Chu, "This time, we don't have to retreat anymore. After the third explosion, we will charge up and wipe out the Japanese soldiers."

Whatever Company Commander Lu said now was right! Company Commander Chu could only nod in agreement. He now admired Company Commander Lu to the ground. Two infantry companies were ambushing two battalions of Japanese soldiers.

In a short period of time, the two infantry battalions of Japanese soldiers were beaten so badly that they could not advance or retreat. His two companies had not suffered any casualties, and the morale of the soldiers was getting higher and higher.

Captain Nakamura Takuma, who was already riding a tiger, did not continue to think about the battlefield situation this time. He shouted loudly, "Charge! Charge! Keep charging!"

This time his order was issued much faster, and the Japanese soldiers under him woke up much faster.

Sergeant Mukai Kuro woke up from his confusion. He was only stunned for a moment, and many Japanese soldiers fell beside him.

Then he heard the captain's order, and the surviving Japanese soldiers began to charge again. This time they did not stay for long.

After these Japanese soldiers rushed out of the smoke-filled battlefield, they saw that the soldiers of the Special Brigade were waiting for them in front again.

The same dense machine gun bullets and rifle bullets were poured towards them. Now these Japanese soldiers were afraid.

After suffering heavy blows one after another, they could no longer enter the state of collective thought they had just been in. The steps of these Japanese soldiers began to hesitate, and the speed of their charge slowed down.

At such a distance, the slower their speed, the more Japanese soldiers were killed by bullets. Captain Aiba Kaede saw it in his eyes and was anxious.

He could not help but be anxious now. Just now, he had used the method of a gecko cutting off its tail to survive, leaving behind two squadrons as scapegoats, and then he had desperately led the two squadrons to escape.

After escaping to here, there were not many left of the Okabe Yuto Squadron and the Shinobu Nari Kazunao Squadron.

If there were one or two more explosions like just now, there would be no Japanese soldiers left in his battalion.

But if they wanted to survive, they could only rush forward along this road, and they had to keep rushing forward.

At this time, he hated the Akasaka Yuki Battalion even more. If they had sent a squadron, or even a small team, to attack the Special Brigade from behind, the breakthrough of their two battalions would not be so difficult.

No matter how high the hatred in Captain Aiba Kaede's heart was, the situation on the battlefield continued without any change.

The Japanese soldiers under him still rushed to the second defense line of the defending troops and rushed towards the third defense line. After breaking through the two defense lines laid down by the Special Brigade in a row, these charging Japanese soldiers did not have the slightest happy expression.

Sergeant Mukai Kuro rushed to the defense line that the Special Brigade soldiers had just been defending. On this temporary defense line, he did not find anything of value left by the defending troops.

If he had to find something left by the retreating troops, then it would only be the shell casings they had left behind.

Piles of shell casings were left on the ground, as well as traces left by the soldiers crawling.

Captain Nakamura Takuma, with a pale face, stood on the second defense line, his expression extremely solemn: They did not even have a single wounded soldier?

This is impossible! I don't believe it! Captain Nakamura Takuma looked at the traces on the defense line and roared in his heart.

Looking back at the road that he and Captain Aiba Kaede had traveled, the bodies of Japanese soldiers and the wounded who had fallen along the way were about to cover the road.

And these Special Brigade troops who were ambushing him did not even have a single wounded soldier?

In any case, the defending troops in front began to fire again, and Captain Nakamura Takuma and Captain Aiba Kaede had no choice but to order: "Charge!"

This time, even the two of them did not have the passion they had during the first charge. The two captains quickly realized their mistake.

They immediately waved the command knives in their hands again and shouted hoarsely, "Charge! Charge! Keep charging!"

The two captains wanted to use this to inspire the remaining Japanese soldiers and make them obey orders like machines, charging forward without hesitation.

The Japanese soldiers who received the order did start to charge, but the speed of their charge had slowed down.

This was due to both the decline in physical strength from continuous charging and the loss of fighting spirit from continuous charging.

Their momentum was gone at this time. The mood of fighting like a trapped beast at the beginning had disappeared.

These Japanese soldiers now had the awareness of death. They no longer had the idea of desperately breaking out like they did at the beginning, but rather the idea that they would be relieved if they died.

The Japanese soldiers with this idea became heavy-footed, and their emotions were quickly noticed by the two captains.

Captain Aiba Kaede quickly rushed into the middle of his battalion's Japanese soldiers and shouted loudly, "Charge!" But such encouragement had no effect now, and these Japanese soldiers were not moved at all.

At this time, Company Commander Lu Lejia, on the third defense line, was also mobilizing the soldiers under Company Commander Chu: "Brothers! This time we will not retreat. Aim at the Japanese soldiers and hit them hard, and send these Japanese soldiers back to their hometown."

After the interception of the two defense lines, there were less than four hundred Japanese soldiers attacking in front. The soldiers under Company Commander Chu had already seen victory beckoning, and they were really not afraid this time.

Each of the soldiers concentrated on shooting at the Japanese soldiers.

When Company Commander Chu's troops first entered the battlefield, they had nine machine guns. After continuous combat, the number of machine guns had long exceeded thirty, and they were all firing with peace of mind at this time.

Cooperating with the firepower of the Second Company, a dense firepower network was formed in front of the defense line. The charging Japanese soldiers fell one after another in front of this firepower network.

Although they were still trying to charge forward, the speed of these Japanese soldiers charging had slowed down a lot.

Under such dense firepower, every second that the Japanese soldiers charged was prolonged, they had to pay at least a dozen lives.

Captain Nakamura Takuma obviously had figured it out. He anxiously ordered loudly, "Sprint! Sprint! Charge!"

The captain's desperate order to charge did not move the numb Japanese soldiers, and they still charged forward at a fixed frequency.