Sergeant Nagasawa Shunji constantly heard the agonizing screams and moans of the Japanese soldiers amidst the artillery fire.

They were all wounded by shrapnel.

In the beginning, some soldiers or medics would rush over to provide aid, trying to carry the wounded off the battlefield.

But after half an hour, no more medics came. He didn't know if they were dead or just too afraid.

He also kept seeing Japanese soldiers blown into the air by artillery shells. These bodies flying in the air either shattered into pieces or were torn apart. In any case, no complete corpse would ever return to the earth.

After half an hour of bombardment, no one cared about the wounded Japanese soldiers on the defense line. Every soldier wondered who would be the next to die.

Every soldier knew they were doomed to be blown to pieces sooner or later, so there was no point in struggling.

They never expected the bombardment to last a full two hours.

Sergeant Nagasawa Shunji didn't know how he survived. By the end, he could no longer hear the voices of the other Japanese soldiers, only the sound of exploding shells and the trembling of the earth.

Time after time, he was buried by the loosened soil in the trenches, and each time he struggled out, he found that the trenches had been leveled.

Then he was buried again by the soil from the explosions. He didn't know how many times he crawled out like that. Finally, the artillery bombardment was over.

He hadn't heard Captain Tangasawa Yusuke's orders.

However, while enduring the strafing from the planes, Sergeant Nagasawa Shunji also noticed that the attacking troops had entered the area where the artillery squadron had test-fired.

A look of schadenfreude filled his face as he waited for the attacking troops to suffer the same ordeal he had: to be fiercely bombed, bombed to death!

Even the regimental commander couldn't dissuade Captain Ji. What could he do?

However, Company Commander Jing was also very happy that Captain Ji was in his company: with Captain Ji leading the team, the speed of the charge and the morale of the troops would definitely improve by leaps and bounds.

There wasn't a single soldier in the entire company as strong as Captain Ji. He really didn't know whether she had been a hospital director in recent years or had been fighting the Japanese on the front lines all along.

Jing Liquan would never have guessed that although Ji Wudi had been a hospital director for the past few years, she had actually established a training base for herself.

Every day she was crawling and rolling around on the training ground of this base. The sweat she shed was definitely no less than the sweat he had shed in battle.

When Ji Wudi led the First Company to rush up Wushi Ridge this time, they didn't encounter any decent resistance along the way.

When the First Company occupied the mountain peak, they could still see dozens of Japanese soldiers running down the mountain empty-handed, fleeing in panic.

Squad Leader Fu Dequan pointed at the fleeing Japanese soldiers and said, "They've even丢弃丢弃丢弃丢弃丟弃丢弃丢弃their weapons. These Japanese soldiers are scared out of their wits. They have no ability to fight anymore."

Ji Wudi ordered, "Chase after them!"

The distance between the two sides was still three or four hundred meters, making it a bit difficult to catch up.

However, for Hua Xiao and the others, it was not a problem at all. After sweeping around, they returned: Wushi Ridge had been replaced by their own people.

There was still a group of Japanese soldiers running away at the foot of the mountain! Without even needing to communicate, Hua Xiao had already swooped the plane towards the fleeing Japanese soldiers, using the machine gun bullets to sweep them away like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.

Those who slipped through the net were so frightened that they knelt on the ground and didn't dare to move. Nagasawa Shunji didn't dare to move now. He was afraid that if he moved even a little, he would end up like Captain Tangasawa Yusuke, with half of his body shot through by machine gun bullets.

Hua Xiao and the others didn't just provide support on one hilltop today. They were flying and strafing over the entire Huangxi defense line, providing the same support to all three attacking regiments.

These ground-attack aircraft provided the most direct support to the attacking troops, constantly clearing the road ahead of them.

Jiang Yuanwu was flying fighter planes and firing at the rear of the Japanese defense line, which made Captain Eguchi Toshio furious to the point of vomiting blood: the two squadrons he had kept as reserves were discovered by the fighter planes in the air while they were still in the assembly area.

Then the two squadrons were subjected to a frenzied attack by the fighter planes: machine gun strafing, machine cannon bombardment!

That wasn't the end of it. The assembly area of the two squadrons was not far from the headquarters of the battalion. These Japanese soldiers who were suddenly attacked instinctively ran towards the battalion headquarters.

This caused Captain Eguchi Toshio's battalion command to also be attacked, and even the temporary medical station next to it was affected.

The fighter plane attacks had not stopped yet, but Captain Eguchi Toshio's battalion's reserve forces had been completely disintegrated and could not provide any support to the Japanese soldiers on the front lines.

Captain Matsushima Taiji's mission was to defend Xiaofengjian (Little Peak Point). When he first came to Xiaofengjian, he was extremely satisfied with this place.

The mountain peak was not high, but it had cliffs on three sides and a narrow road on the front.

At the time, he said, "A single squad with a machine gun can守得死死的 (defend this hilltop to the death)."

"This is truly 'one man guarding the pass, ten thousand men cannot pass'!

Furthermore, if we use a few more machine guns to block the road more than a hundred meters away, this Xiaofengjian seems to have been specially chosen to guard the road."

The Japanese soldiers of the entire squadron were also very satisfied with this position. Defending here, even if the enemy organized thousands of people to attack, they would not be able to rush up.

Squad Leader Koda Jiro主动请缨 (volunteered): "My squad will guard this road and guarantee that no force in this world can pass through here."

The squad leader's enthusiasm had to be maintained, so Captain Matsushima Taiji immediately gave the task of defending the small road leading up the mountain to the Koda Squad.

The mission of the Yamamoto Isamu Squad and the Kuriyama Tomohito Squad was to establish梯次阻击阵地 (echeloned blocking positions) on the mountain peak. Their mission was not to block the troops attacking the hilltop, but to block the enemy on the highway not far away.

If the enemy wanted to pass through that highway, they would be subjected to a barrage of gunfire from the two squads on the mountain peak, firing simultaneously from different positions.

The company commander seemed to be slacking off, only giving an order after a long time. Just having everyone wipe the gun barrels took several minutes.

The squad leaders, however, listened to the company commander's orders and strictly executed every command he issued, which made the soldiers very anxious.

These squad leaders were completely different from when they were infantrymen. Their movements were as slow as those of an eighty-year-old man, and when they wiped the炮管 (gun barrels), they did it as if they were抚摸 (caressing) them, as if they were afraid that rubbing too hard would傷了炮管的皮 (damage the skin of the gun barrels).

The squad leaders wiped slowly while explaining. However, what they were saying was a bit too far-fetched!

The炮管 (cannons) would also be tired, and the铁疙瘩 (iron lumps) would also have a lifespan? Never heard of it before!

Anyway, there were so many炮弹 (shells), everyone should打慢点 (take their time shooting), and they would have to finish all these炮弹 (shells) anyway.

It took a full two hours for the artillery company to finally complete its mission.

The next thing was up to the brothers of the infantry company!