Chapter 61: The Decisive Battle with the Japanese Reinforcement Forces!

At this moment, inside the old Pingjing embassy of the Japanese devils, Kawashima Sano was also jolted awake by an urgent telegram. As he finished reading the cable from Mitsuo Tō, his expression shifted from astonishment to fury. “Are Amatani and his men just standing by and watching over there?! If we let the Chengyun forces seize the military supplies at Wangkou, all we’ll end up with is a wasteland!”

“The Jin faction’s troops are too stupid to be of any real use!”

After a tirade of angry complaints, Kawashima Sano sprang into action. His face was dark, his eyes glinting with urgency as he picked up the phone and hastily contacted Mutō Nobuyoshi of the Japanese army, ordering an immediate attack on the Chengyun troops.

On the other end of the line, Mutō’s reply was equally tense and swift, fully aware of the gravity of the situation.

Under the shadow of war, Major Ayukawa’s brigade—a formidable force of six thousand—had quietly drawn close to the outskirts of Wangkou. Their original plan had been to bypass the county town and quickly reinforce Wangkou, but the shifting situation compelled them to alter their advance.

Meanwhile, neither Mitsuo Tō nor Kawashima Sano realized that the Japanese forces under Amatani’s command, whom they believed were still en route, were in fact already far beyond what they expected.

Li Jian, commander of the Wangkou garrison, had long anticipated that the Japanese might attempt to circumvent the town’s defenses. He had laid a ten-kilometer-wide defensive line around Wangkou—a formation that might have seemed suicidal, but was devised for a greater strategic purpose: the moment the Japanese crossed it, the alarm would be instantly raised.

Inside the Wangkou command post, Li Jian quietly studied the battlefield map. “Judging from the Japanese marching speed, we estimate their main force will arrive here in no more than four hours.”

Had Amatani’s intelligence service been present, they would have been deeply shocked by this information. After all, Amatani had placed special emphasis on secrecy for this operation, yet even as he led his troops out of Xuanhua in stealth, their exact positions, including unit numbers and other details, had already been delivered to Li Jian’s desk.

“So these are Amatani’s men. I must admit, your Independent Regiment’s Recon Battalion Commander Duan Peng is indeed talented, to procure such precise intelligence!”

The Japanese vanguard, upon discovering the Chengyun army’s defensive line ahead, chose to halt temporarily and report back to the main force. Major Ayukawa, the vanguard commander, grew grim upon receiving orders. He realized that if his unit broke through the Chengyun cordon but the main force failed to take the county, they would be stranded in a deadly trap. Resolute, he instructed his soldiers to travel light and move swiftly, determined to force their way through.

When Major Ayukawa read Amatani’s telegram, he drew a deep breath, his expression grave to the extreme.

In these tense hours, every Chengyun soldier was fully prepared for battle. They knew their mission was critical, facing the enemy’s main force. Li Jian issued his final orders in a low voice. The warriors gripped their weapons tightly; though anxiety lingered, their eyes shone with unyielding resolve and fighting spirit.

“Let these Japanese through. Once their main force arrives, unleash all firepower, spare nothing, and send them all to hell!” Li Jian’s command pounded in the soldiers’ hearts like war drums.

As his orders spread, the infantry battalion on outpost duty fired only a few warning shots before swiftly narrowing their defensive line, unconditionally opening a passage for the enemy. This decision caught the attacking brigade off guard and filled them with deep contempt for the Wangkou defenders. The Japanese were certain that the defenders’ willingness to clear a path so quickly could only be due to fear of their superior strength.

This belief greatly boosted the confidence of the Japanese brigade commander. He thought, “Now our main force can advance even more rapidly.” With this in mind, they quickened their pace, advancing toward Wangkou without hesitation.

But just four hours later, as Amatani’s troops sped down the route opened by the Japanese vanguard, aiming to pass through to Wangkou, they were suddenly met by a fierce barrage of artillery from the town’s defenders.

A wave of explosions swept through them; in an instant, over a hundred Japanese soldiers were blown apart, the carnage too gruesome to behold.

“General Amatani, our unit is under heavy artillery fire from the Wangkou defenders. Please advise immediately!” The urgent report was relayed to Amatani by the reconnaissance team.

Amatani, a rotund officer whose appearance resembled that of a merchant, could not hide his anger. “How detestable! I had intended to leave them a way out, but it seems they’re blindly seeking their own doom.”

He drew a deep breath and muttered, “As they say, the road to heaven they refuse to take; they barge into hell unbidden.”

With a decisive wave of his arm, Amatani issued new battle orders: “Deploy the artillery—open fire with everything we have! Engage them in an artillery duel!”

“Yes, General Amatani!” The staff officer answered at once, filled with determination as they braced for the coming test by fire.

After a brief moment of chaos, the artillery regiment belonging to the Takari Third Infantry Division rapidly pinpointed the Chengyun artillery positions and launched a furious counterattack.

This regiment, a permanent garrison in Takari, was equipped with the Meiji Type 31 mountain guns—an old model that had once served as the island nation’s mainstay weapon in clashes with the northern dynasty.

With the passage of time and advances in military technology, these guns—with their tremendous recoil and slow rate of fire—had long since become obsolete. Although the Japanese had developed the more advanced Meiji Type 42 mountain gun, years of economic crisis and military budget cuts had prevented widespread deployment of the new artillery, especially among non-elite units like the Takari Division.

With a thunderous roar, a barrage of shells blanketed the front lines of the 63rd Infantry Brigade in dust and smoke. To compensate for their artillery’s shortcomings, Amatani ordered all batteries to concentrate their fire on the 213th Regiment, which was defending the front.

Amid the terrifying quakes of the earth, the soldiers of the 213th Regiment, following the guidelines of their military training, hunched low and took cover in the trenches. Thus, even if a shell landed directly on them, casualties would be greatly reduced.

“Brigadier, the Japanese have begun their counterattack—their artillery is pounding the 213th Regiment’s positions!” The reporting soldier’s face was tense as he delivered the news.

He quickly added, “But after their first barrage, unlike us, they didn’t immediately change positions.”

Upon hearing this, Brigadier Li Jian let slip a cold smile, a flash of cunning and decisiveness flickering in his eyes. “They must think we’re an easy target.”

He gave his orders without hesitation: “Tell the artillerymen to immediately calculate the Japanese positions and hit them with a full bombardment—let’s show them what we’re made of!”

With a steely glint in their eyes, the soldiers sprang into action, ready to repay the enemy’s arrogance with a fierce and merciless counterblow.

As the orders rang out across the battlefield, the thunder of guns erupted once more. The sky above Wangkou was painted with fire and smoke, a magnificent and brutal tableau of furious combat.