lerbook Chapter 285 Air Raids Over North China
Chapter 285 Air Raids Over North China
"Heavyweight black card, Banzai, Banzai..."
"charge!"
The dense gray crowd, treading through the mud, roared as they charged forward, their formation so tight it resembled a moving wall.
500 meters.
Four hundred meters.
On Chen Jiajun's position, there was still a deathly silence.
The soldiers in black lay prone in the muddy trenches, their fingers on the triggers, and they could even hear their own strong heartbeats.
"Young Marshal, the Japanese have advanced to within 350 meters. Should we engage them?"
Shen Li's voice rang out in the headset and command post, tinged with urgency.
Chen Zijun stared intently at the densely packed Japanese soldiers in front of him, his eyes twitching slightly.
"Wait a little longer, let them squeeze in a bit more."
"Only by firing at close range can the maximum power of the 88mm diameter be unleashed."
Three seconds later, the Hirata Regiment's infantry had rushed to a distance of nearly 300 meters, and the ferocious expressions on their faces could even be seen.
Chen Zijun swung his arm down suddenly, the sound booming like thunder in the command post.
"Fire!"
"Boom, boom, boom, boom!"
In an instant, the entire wasteland trembled violently.
Twenty-four 88mm cannons, hidden behind the defensive line, simultaneously spewed out dazzling flames.
The massive muzzle storm instantly shattered the rain curtain ahead, producing a sonic boom.
The 88mm cannon firing horizontally is an extremely terrifying, game-changing attack on the battlefield.
Originally designed for air defense, this weapon has a straight trajectory and extremely high velocity. The high-explosive shells it fires will produce a devastating explosion the moment they hit a person or the ground.
High-explosive shells, moving at speeds imperceptible to the naked eye, pierced the dense ranks of the Japanese troops in an instant.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
A huge orange-red fireball exploded amidst the Japanese soldiers.
The violent shockwave from the explosion instantly tore everything within a ten-meter radius to shreds, with limbs and debris flying everywhere.
Tens of thousands of metal fragments raged wildly in the air, like the razor of death, mercilessly reaping lives.
With a single shell, an entire infantry squad vanished in a cloud of blood and fire in an instant.
"What... what kind of cannon is this?!"
"How could the Chinese have such heavy artillery?!"
The Japanese major was terrified when he saw the large area around him that had been cleared away in an instant. He screamed at the top of his lungs.
However, he was met with an even more intense roar of artillery fire.
Twenty-four anti-aircraft guns fired continuously at an extremely high rate of fire, and shells rained down on the Japanese charging troops.
What was originally a dense, imposing "Banzai" charge formation has now become the most deadly act of suicide.
The soldiers at the forefront of the Hirata Regiment were wiped out in an instant, and blood mixed with rainwater gathered into red streams on the muddy wasteland.
"Da da da da da da!"
At the same time, the thirty-six MG34 general-purpose machine guns positioned on both flanks also opened fire.
A sharp, piercing roar, like tearing linen, echoed across the plains.
The dense barrage of metal bullets formed an insurmountable crossfire network, sweeping down rows of surviving Japanese soldiers from the artillery fire.
This was not a battle at all, but a one-sided massacre.
Colonel Hirata stood on a distant hillside, completely frozen in place.
Before the defensive line, flames soared into the sky and blood mist rose.
His prized elite squadron suffered heavy losses, losing more than half of its members in just ten minutes.
"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"
"Which unit is this?!"
"How could they have such terrifying firepower?!"
Colonel Hirata was trembling violently, and he nearly dropped the binoculars in his hand.
"Colonel, let's retreat! If we don't, the entire regiment will be wiped out here!"
The staff officer, his eyes red, cried out as he pulled on the reins.
"Trying to leave?"
On the anti-aircraft artillery position of Chen Jiajun, a young gunner had locked onto the Japanese officer on horseback on the hillside through an optical sight.
"Squad leader, enemy commander spotted! Target 1100 meters away, wind direction northwest. Prepare to fire!"
"Fire! Use high-explosive armor-piercing rounds! Send him to heaven!"
The artillery squad leader spat viciously.
"boom!"
An 88mm specially made armor-piercing high-explosive round was fired from the barrel.
The high-speed spinning shell, accompanied by a piercing whistle, instantly swept across more than a thousand meters of empty space before the battle.
Before Colonel Hirata could react, the shell struck him precisely in the chest.
"Boom!"
A huge explosion resounded on the hillside.
Warhorse, colonel, and staff officer were instantly torn into countless charred fragments by the violent steel force, leaving not even a complete skeleton behind.
"The regimental commander has been killed in action!"
"The Colonel is dead!"
The remaining Japanese troops, now without command, completely collapsed. They dropped their weapons and retreated in a frenzy.
The three thousand elite troops who came with great momentum returned with only a few hundred dejected and defeated soldiers.
On the battlefield, smoke and cold rain gradually mingled together.
The soldiers of Chen's army, seeing the enemy army fleeing in disarray, erupted in thunderous cheers.
Those former warlord soldiers who were hiding in the back and watching were all gaping, too shocked to speak.
For the first time, they realized that fighting the Japanese could be so exhilarating.
Shen Li strode into the command post, his face filled with barely suppressed elation.
"Young Marshal, that was exhilarating!"
"The Hirata Regiment, with its three thousand elite troops, was completely wiped out by us in half an hour!"
"That old devil Hirata didn't even leave a single hair behind!"
Chen Zijun slowly withdrew his gaze, his expression remaining calm, showing no pride whatsoever despite this resounding victory.
"This is just the first battle; the high command of the Japanese army will soon receive the news."
"They will absolutely not allow the dignity of the Japanese Empire to be trampled on like this. Their counterattack will be ten times more ferocious than this."
"Pass down the order: all units must immediately take cover for air defense and inventory their ammunition..."
However, before Chen Zijun could finish speaking...
A muffled, oppressive buzzing sound suddenly came from the sky.
"Buzz, buzz, buzz."
The sound grew louder as it approached, causing the air to tremble slightly.
Chen Zijun's expression suddenly changed, and he looked up at the overcast sky.
At the edge of the horizon, more than thirty Japanese heavy bombers pierced through the clouds, hurtling towards the exposed anti-aircraft artillery positions with sharp whistling sounds.
"Air raid!"
"Anti-aircraft artillery battalion, lock on at the desired elevation angle immediately and shoot them down!"
Chen Zijun's icy voice rang out again on the battlefield.