Chapter 1 The Plunge Into the Fray

When Company Commander Rikuzen Ichifu ordered his entire company of Japanese soldiers to fix bayonets, his company's strength was still relatively intact.

After all, the third line of defense his company was currently defending had not been subjected to heavy artillery bombardment by the Fourth War Area.

The Seventh Company's offensive was too swift, only eliminating a dozen or so Japanese machine gunners. For Rikuzen Ichifu's company of a full one hundred and eighty-four soldiers, this was not an unbearable casualty. Therefore, Company Commander Rikuzen Ichifu was still confident in a bayonet charge. The Chinese soldiers charging were still not numerically superior.

Company Commander Chen Zhiping was well aware that the number of Japanese soldiers was slightly more than his company.

However, he now had no way to retreat. They had already charged to the edge of the Japanese trenches. They couldn't just stop there!

Morale was something that could only be boosted, not dampened!

The Seventh Company's morale was truly soaring. The soldiers were high-spirited and fearless!

Whether it was the company commander or the most ordinary soldiers, they were now looking down on everyone. In the eyes of these ordinary soldiers of the Seventh Company, the Japanese soldiers in front of them were their war merits.

When Ji Deye heard Company Commander Chen Zhiping's order for a bayonet charge, he said with a smile, "Company Commander! My bayonet has been eager for blood for a long time. I only got one Japanese soldier's blood in the fight just now, which is far from enough."

"That's right! I'm going to kill three Japanese soldiers today no matter what!" Bai Zhenggao responded loudly.

"I also want to kill three."

"I want to kill five!" The soldiers hiding behind the carts were reporting their numbers one by one.

According to their plans, the Japanese soldiers still struggling on the front lines would have to die three or four times to meet the goals these soldiers wanted to achieve.

Company Commander Chen Zhiping didn't think there was anything wrong with this. He was most happy to see the soldiers having such aspirations.

Over a distance of several dozen meters, both sides charged forward, colliding in a matter of seconds.

In these dozens of meters, the Japanese soldiers of Rikuzen Ichifu's company only needed to charge twenty meters or so, but in these twenty meters, they paid with the lives of more than twenty soldiers.

Because they were close, the Japanese all rushed out of the trenches, without the protection of fortifications. The Seventh Company's heavy machine guns exerted tremendous power.

However, this only lasted for a few seconds. The Japanese had already rushed to the front of the carts. When they rushed to the front of the heavy machine guns, these heavy machine guns were still spitting fire.

At this time, the soldiers of the Seventh Company also rushed out of the passage just cleared by the carts. The strongest soldiers in the entire company were at the forefront.

Platoon Leader He Gang was the first to rush out of their path. He had just rushed to the front of the Japanese soldiers and shouted, "Kill!"

The rifle in his hand stabbed out like lightning, aiming for the chest of the Japanese soldier in front of him.

Sergeant Major Isonoko, who had just rushed up, was also one of the few brave warriors in Rikuzen Ichifu's company. He also shouted loudly and sent the rifle in his hand forward, parrying the stab coming from the front.

What he didn't expect was that the spear thrust out by the soldier charging in the front was parried, but another spear thrust out from his ribs like a poisonous snake spitting out its tongue.

The speed of this spear was not particularly fast, but it came so cunningly and so secretly that Isonoko didn't realize he was injured until he felt a sharp pain in his lower abdomen.

"First!" Ji Deye's voice sounded behind Platoon Leader He.

He Gang was tall and strong, while Ji Deye was much shorter. He had been hiding behind Platoon Leader He just now, not attracting any attention at all.

This surprise attack was successful. He also rotated his rifle several times, with the bayonet twisting Isonoko's intestines.

One would use the phrase "abdominal pain like twisting" to describe someone in great abdominal pain, but this Japanese soldier, Isonoko, didn't need a descriptor. He was truly having his intestines twisted by a knife.

From the moment Ji Deye started rotating his rifle, he no longer had the strength to hold the rifle.

Platoon Leader He Gang was not an inflexible person either. Taking advantage of the Japanese soldier's illness, he thrust the knife into his heart with a whoosh. This knife was full of force, entering from the front and exiting from the back.

Sergeant Major Isonoko's scream echoed across the battlefield.

At this time, Ji Deye retrieved his rifle, and Platoon Leader He Gang flicked his rifle to the side, throwing the Japanese soldier's body aside.

He took a step forward and shouted, "Kill!" The rifle in his hand stabbed at another Japanese soldier.

The Japanese soldier behind Isonoko saw that the Chinese soldier in front had stabbed Isonoko to death in one move. Now, seeing that this soldier's rifle was stabbing at him again, he was very scared, but he couldn't parry. These Japanese soldiers had just rushed up. Even if they wanted to retreat, there were Japanese soldiers standing behind them, and there was no possibility of retreating.

Sergeant Major Kamito Yoshio reluctantly raised his gun to parry. This time, Platoon Leader He Gang's rifle was intentionally or unintentionally aimed at the upper body. He didn't believe himself if he said he wasn't intentionally creating conditions for Ji Deye, who was hiding behind him, to launch a surprise attack.

Sergeant Major Kamito Yoshio encountered the same treatment as Isonoko once again. He parried the spear coming towards the upper body.

But he didn't see the knife coming for the lower body at all. Ji Deye succeeded in his surprise attack once. This was the second time he cooperated with Platoon Leader He. The bayonet accurately pierced the Japanese soldier's lower abdomen.

Then, he skillfully rotated the butt of the gun, causing the bayonet to twist in the Japanese soldier's abdomen. Kamito Yoshio was completely unprepared for the fact that the tall Chinese soldier in front of him actually had a third hand.

Under the excruciating pain in his abdomen, he could no longer hold the rifle in his hand. The abdominal pain was simply unbearable for him.

He dropped his gun in both hands and quickly grabbed the bayonet in his abdomen. He just wanted to stop the rifle from turning anymore.

Sergeant Major Kamito Yoshio felt that this rifle was really going to stir away all his vitality.

Platoon Leader He Gang's first spear was parried by the Japanese soldier. When the second spear stabbed over, the Japanese soldier had already given up resisting.

This time, it was aimed at the Japanese soldier's throat. There was no difficulty in accurately stabbing the Japanese soldier's throat, which made Kamito Yoshio unable to cope. He wanted to protect his abdomen and cover his throat, although these actions were all futile.

But the instinct to survive made him do it anyway.

Ji Deye pulled the rifle back, and the bayonet was still wrapped around the Japanese soldier's intestines. He pulled out a long piece.

Kamito Yoshio wailed in horror and quickly tried to pull his intestines back with his hands. He only pulled twice, and there was still a long section of intestines outside. His body stiffened and fell forward.

Platoon Leader He Gang dodged his body and stabbed another Japanese soldier next to him.

At this time, he heard Ji Deye reporting the number: "Second!"

On the entire battlefield, the soldiers of the Seventh Company were originally just shouting "Kill!" and stabbing at the Japanese soldiers with their rifles.

His voice of reporting the number seemed a little special. Everyone was in the same group, and they knew what it meant when they heard this number.

So, there were immediately people on the battlefield following suit and reporting the numbers: "First!" "Second!"

Such sounds rose and fell one after another. Every time such a sound appeared, it meant that this soldier had killed one or two Japanese soldiers.

This number reporting was even more inspiring than shouting "Kill!" The soldiers of the Seventh Company charged and fought fiercely against the Japanese soldiers like a competition, just so that they could shout out a number loudly after killing a Japanese soldier.

Company Commander Ebihara Yuji could understand the shouts of the soldiers of the Seventh Company. Every sound of these shouts was like a slap in his face.

Hearing the Chinese soldiers constantly reporting numbers, each sound meant that a Japanese soldier had died.

Company Commander Ebihara Yuji was furious and waved his command knife, personally joining the battlefield. He slashed the command knife in his hand at the soldier in front who had just reported the number.

Quan Chengxian had just completed his first kill and was feeling happy when a Japanese commander waved a command knife and slashed over.

Instead of retreating, he advanced and took a step forward, shouting, "Kill!"

The rifle in his hand stabbed towards the Japanese soldier. Quan Chengxian didn't get a single Japanese soldier in the last defensive battle and was feeling frustrated.

He was thinking of killing a few more in this battle so that he wouldn't feel ashamed to speak up when bragging and chatting with his brothers after the battle.

Now, seeing a Japanese commander slashing at him, Quan Chengxian couldn't be happier. Ordinary Japanese soldiers were not rare. Killing a few was not surprising. Japanese commanders were a scarce commodity. Killing one was completely equivalent to killing two or three Japanese soldiers.

Quan Chengxian, who was extremely excited, had a sharp secretion of adrenaline, and the sound of his shouting was even louder by a third.

Company Commander Ebihara Yuji, as his opponent, could clearly feel this. He could feel that the soldier in front of him was like he was on drugs. Each shot was faster than the last, and each shot was more powerful than the last.

He had also changed from the initial attack to the current defense. Company Commander Ebihara Yuji had never imagined that his identity as a commander would greatly stimulate the Chinese soldier in front of him.

Quan Chengxian just wanted to kill the Japanese commander in front of him quickly and hang the command knife in his hand on his waist. He was afraid that things would take too long. What if a brother suddenly came and gave the Japanese soldier a shot from the side, wouldn't the credit be divided in half?

This would make him feel that his war merits were not perfect! Quan Chengxian, who was一心想吃独食, had quick and powerful movements in his hands and followed closely.

Company Commander Ebihara Yuji was already regretting his decision. He felt that he shouldn't have rushed to the front line so impulsively to fight with bayonets.

Even if he went to the front line, he shouldn't have chosen such a tough bone to gnaw on, but it was too late for him to regret it now.

A long defense is bound to fail! He had defended several times in a row, and this time, while sheathing his knife, the opponent's bayonet cut a big gash on his left waist. Not only was his clothes torn, but he also left a big wound, and blood flowed out at once.

Quan Chengxian finally made a wound on the Japanese soldier, and now he was even more energetic. He didn't give the Japanese soldier a chance to bandage the wound and stabbed at the Japanese soldier again.

Soon, there were more and more wounds on Company Commander Ebihara Yuji's body. Not only were there wounds on his chest, but there were also three deep wounds on his hands that showed the bone.

His whole body was covered in blood, and there was no time to bandage any of the wounds, which quickly caused him to suffer from the aftereffects of excessive blood loss. Ebihara Yuji, who was dizzy and unable to stand steadily, was no longer able to parry.

Taking advantage of the Japanese soldier's carelessness, Quan Chengxian, who was getting braver and braver, thrust the rifle in his hand into the Japanese soldier's chest, this time truly piercing through.

It was no longer like the previous few times, where he just touched the surface, causing the Japanese soldier to only be injured and not die. This time, the rifle pierced through and rotated half a circle, watching the Japanese soldier's rqrp knife fall to the ground, completely no longer resisting.

Only then did Quan Chengxian pull out his rifle and give the Japanese soldier, who had already fallen to the ground, two more shots before going forward to untie the scabbard from his waist and pick up the command knife and insert it into the scabbard.

He loudly reported the number: "Second!"

The proud and loud voice echoed across the battlefield.

Company Commander Rikuzen Ichifu looked at the scene on the battlefield and could not accept the current result at all. On the entire battlefield, the Japanese soldiers under his command had been suppressed and beaten by the Chinese soldiers.

Moreover, the bayonet movements of the soldiers under his command were not only deformed, but they also appeared to be stagnant and dared not charge forward.

This was a situation that had never happened since they had fought. What was going on?

Company Commander Rikuzen Ichifu couldn't understand it: Wasn't this Chinese army the same one that they had suppressed and beaten in October?

It had only been two months, how could their performance on the battlefield have completely changed?

The morale of the Japanese soldiers was low, while the morale of the Seventh Company's soldiers was getting higher and higher. For the soldiers fighting, the officers were rushing to the front to fight the Japanese soldiers with bayonets.

The brothers were all rushing to the front, and one or two of them had already made contributions. What reason did they have not to rush faster? If they were late, they wouldn't be able to kill a single Japanese soldier.

Now, this kind of comparison psychology was making the soldiers of the Seventh Company rush towards the Japanese soldiers one after another. Although the number of Japanese soldiers was still dozens more than them at the beginning, the ratio of the number of enemies and us had already reversed in less than ten minutes of close combat. The number of soldiers in the Seventh Company was already more than the number of Japanese soldiers.

Company Commander Rikuzen Ichifu was anxious and kept ordering from behind: "Kill! Kill!"

Close combat originally tested the courage of the soldiers very much. Ordinary troops would soon collapse in such close-range, bloody fighting.

The Japanese soldiers of Company Commander Rikuzen Ichifu's company had at least the experience of fighting on the battlefield before, so they were not in chaos even though they were defeated at this time. They were not thinking of running away yet.

It was just that one by one, the Japanese soldiers looked at the soldiers of the Seventh Company, who were like dragons and tigers, and a feeling of invincibility had already risen in their hearts.

Sergeant Major Uchiyama Yuto was lucky enough not to be at the front when he was charging, so he could watch the real situation on the battlefield today from behind.

When he saw the Japanese soldiers who were charging at the front falling down one after another, he was shocked: How could this army be so powerful?

The 11th Regiment of the Japanese Army defending Qingyuan belonged to the 5th Division of the Japanese Army. This division had a nickname called "Iron Army!" Before the Battle of Taierzhuang, it was the most powerful division of the Japanese Army, without exception.

During the Battle of Taierzhuang, this division was defeated, which is why the title of the first was given to the Sixth Division.

When they were attacking Guangzhou, they had also inquired about the Chinese army in the Fourth War Area. They also knew that this army had also been brave and good at fighting, winning every battle, in the civil war before. They also had the same nickname: "Iron Army!"

These two "Iron Armies" with the same nickname were completely defeated in the Guangzhou Campaign, which had become a joke in the mouths of the Japanese.

Today was different. This former Iron Army had reorganized. Uchiyama Yuto looked at the fierce battlefield in front of him and couldn't help but think of the words "Iron Army."

Behind him, Company Commander Rikuzen Ichifu kept urging him. In front of him were Chinese soldiers who were like wolves and tigers. Sergeant Major Uchiyama Yuto was very conflicted!

He didn't want to rush up and die, but he didn't dare to disobey Company Commander Rikuzen Ichifu's order. Disobeying orders on the battlefield was also a dead end.

The extremely conflicted Sergeant Major Uchiyama Yuto finally charged forward.

Among the Japanese soldiers of the entire Rikuzen Ichifu Company, he was not the only Japanese soldier who was so conflicted. Although they still charged up to fight in the end, they lacked the momentum of moving forward and the determination to fight to the death. When such Japanese soldiers were fighting a smooth battle, their combat effectiveness would still not be bad.

But when fighting such an uphill battle, or when the battle was in a stalemate, their combat effectiveness would drop sharply.

As an opponent, Company Commander Chen Zhiping of the Seventh Company could clearly feel the attitude of the Japanese soldiers when they were charging.

He was charging at the front of the team, giving orders without looking back: "Brothers, the Japanese soldiers are scared, follow me and charge!"

He stabbed the Japanese soldiers in front of him head-on, and still asked loudly, "I've killed three Japanese soldiers, what about you?"

He Gang loudly reported the number: "Seven!" He and Ji Deye had been cooperating together, and they were very efficient at killing Japanese soldiers.

This number made the soldiers of the entire company look up to him. Company Commander Chen shouted loudly: "Seven, is there anyone higher than seven?"

No one answered.

Company Commander Chen said loudly: "Platoon Leader Feng has killed seven Japanese soldiers and is temporarily ranked first. I have killed three Japanese soldiers, are there any brothers who have also killed three Japanese soldiers?"

"I killed four Japanese soldiers." Quan Zhiyong loudly reported the number at this time.

"Quan Zhiyong is temporarily ranked second. I'm really going to be the third." Company Commander Chen's voice was loud, and he started ranking on the battlefield.

"Three!" "Three!" "Me too, three!"

Hearing that there were so many soldiers who had killed three Japanese soldiers, Company Commander Chen's voice became even louder: "Let's rank third together! Brothers, keep up the good work and strive to be the second!"

The soldiers of the entire company became even more excited in Company Commander Chen's roar.

They were all roaring and trying to stab the Japanese soldiers in front of them with their rifles.

Although Company Commander Rikuzen Ichifu couldn't understand Company Commander Chen's words, he could still hear the voice.

He didn't know what the Chinese officer on the opposite side was roaring about, but from his appearance, he must be the commander of the Chinese army.

This time, Rikuzen Ichifu no longer hesitated and waved his command, striding towards Company Commander Chen.

Platoon Leader He saw the commander standing behind the Japanese army waving his command knife and rushing out, and immediately rushed towards him!