kvmb 143. Roar of Impotence
143. Roar of Impotence
"Bang bang bang~~~"
"Da da da~~~"
Japanese soldiers who rushed from the dock to provide support used cargo and wooden crates to fill the gap in the collapsed area. They abandoned their motorcycles and cars and charged into the fire on foot, starting to fire at the retreating Kuomintang agents and Axe Gang members.
As Chen Gong and his men retreated, they returned fire with their guns. Bullets crisscrossed and flew back and forth at a short distance between the two sides, and both the Kuomintang agents and the Japanese soldiers were constantly being shot and falling to the ground.
One of Chen Gong's brothers jolted and fell backward. Chen Gong quickly grabbed the man's collar and dragged him backward, while the brother gritted his teeth and continued firing at the Japanese.
"Hey~~~ You little devils, come on, come on! Grandpa's already had his fill of killing today, killing one more is a bonus~~~!"
The Axe Gang members were no match for the regular troops of the Military Intelligence Bureau. During their retreat, they appeared somewhat disorganized and were hit by the Japanese reinforcements that arrived later, resulting in considerable casualties.
Zhou Hongyi shouted, "Brother Chen, create smoke to distract the enemy!"
Upon hearing Zhou Hongyi's shout, Chen Gong remembered the functional grenades that this young master Zhou had given them before the battle. He reached for his waist, pulled the pin, and threw them forward with a vengeance.
"Boom boom boom~~"
A series of dazzling beams of light suddenly burst forth from the darkness, causing the pursuing Japanese soldiers to cover their eyes and fall to the ground, groaning in pain.
Thick, choking smoke drifted across the battlefield, which was ablaze with fire. The Japanese riflemen's vision was severely impaired, and they were unable to lock onto their targets. They could only fire blindly forward, which greatly reduced their firepower and allowed the Axe Gang members to retreat more easily and take the wounded with them.
"Baka yarou! Why haven't the reinforcements from the military camp arrived yet?"
Hiding under a car, the disheveled Captain Gangcun shouted loudly. The reinforcements he spoke of weren't absent, but rather, they wouldn't arrive.
In fact, as early as ten minutes after the explosion, the military camp had already assembled a team of two hundred people to rush to provide reinforcements.
But just as they reached the vicinity of Wujiaochang, their vehicle ran over a landmine. The violent explosion and flash caused the vehicle to veer to one side, and gunshots rang out at the same time. The truck driver was shot in the head, blood splattering everywhere. The out-of-control vehicle crashed into a motorcycle next to it, causing considerable chaos in the Japanese reinforcements.
"Baka yarou! The enemy is lying in ambush! Counterattack! Counterattack!"
Captain Inoue, who was in charge of reinforcements, drew his sword and ordered his soldiers to return fire.
The Japanese reinforcements set up heavy machine guns on the spot and began to fire indiscriminately in the surrounding area. They did not intend to hit anyone, but only to suppress the enemy in the dark with powerful firepower.
The main task of the Eighth Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Detachment, led by Captain Qiu, was to hold back enemy reinforcements so that other allies could quickly eliminate the Japanese caravans.
"Captain, the Japanese have set up machine guns in place, and there are men on both sides preparing to flank us."
The guerrillas were very skilled in field combat and discovered the Japanese intentions within minutes of the exchange of fire.
Captain Qiu fired a shot every now and then with his pistol, observed the situation, and said, "Tell our troops to pay attention to the flanks, fight and retreat at the same time, we must hold off the enemy reinforcements, but not push them too hard."
"Understood, Captain."
The guerrillas were very familiar with this tactic: when the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy retreats, we advance. The sixteen-character motto was like a battle bible engraved in their bones. They made the Japanese soldiers unable to pursue or retreat, and could only blindly pour out their ammunition in place, without even knowing whether they had hit anyone.
Not long ago, Shanghai experienced the chaos of the Lion King competition, and on this day, it was once again bathed in a night of explosions and flames.
Many residents who experienced the collapse hid in the cellars they had dug in their homes, while some of the bolder ones stood on their balconies and looked toward the direction of the explosion.
"Why did the firecrackers last so long tonight? It's really lively, even longer than the firecrackers on New Year's Eve."
"Isn't that right? Could it be that the guerrillas have stormed into the city? The gunfire sounds quite intense; there must be a lot of them."
"If only they were guerrillas, they could drive these Japanese devils out of our homeland as soon as possible."
"It's unlikely. After all, the guerrillas are too few in number, and their actions are usually purposeful. It would be good to dampen the arrogance of the Japanese."
"Hearing this makes me want to go to the battlefield and join the army."
The people of Shanghai were speculating about who the protagonist of this battle was, while Zhou Hongyi fired a signal flare into the sky, a signal for a full retreat, indicating that the mission was complete.
Upon seeing the signal flare, Captain Qiu's men began firing as they retreated into the forest outside Wujiaochang. Because they had already laid mines along the way, their retreat was in an "S" shape, causing the pursuing Japanese troops to suffer another wave of heavy losses. Captain Inoue loudly shouted at his soldiers to stop the pursuit.
Led by Chen Gong and Li Boyang, the elite Kuomintang troops took advantage of the darkness to slip into the alleys and lanes, using the complex terrain as cover to retreat to their safe outposts on the edge of the concession.
The first thing everyone did was change their clothes, hide their weapons, and put the wounded brothers in a secret passage for emergency treatment. The others put on police uniforms and went back to the street, pretending to put out the fire and maintain order.
The Axe Gang suffered the heaviest casualties in tonight's operation. Almost all the remaining Axe Gang members were wounded, but because they were extremely familiar with the roads in the old city, once they started to withdraw, and with Zhou Hongyi providing support, it would be difficult for the Japanese army to catch up.
Zhou Hongyi also blew up two smaller bridges to stop the Japanese army from pursuing him. Only after watching the last Axe Gang member disappear into the streets did he breathe a sigh of relief. He climbed over the wall, hid his equipment in a safe house he had purchased, changed his clothes, and, like Chen Gong and the others, began to pretend to maintain order and arrest rebels.
Upon hearing that the transport convoy was engulfed in flames and that all the goods being transported had been destroyed, Kondo's rage nearly set his hat on fire. He raised his gun and riddled a passing policeman from the Wang Jingwei regime with bullets. Another policeman witnessed the scene, trembling with fear but daring not to utter a sound.
The one who died was Xu Guodong from the Second Branch of the Jing'an Public Security Bureau, and the one whose legs were shaking was his friend Wang Shun.
"A traitor... There must be a traitor! All members of the Special Higher Police, listen up! Starting today, everyone must conduct a self-investigation. Get your phones ready; I'm calling headquarters to request more listening devices! I will drag this traitor hidden among us out, skin him alive, tear him apart, and pull out his tendons! Don't think I don't know who you are, Sun Dasheng... It's definitely you again this time, it's you again~~~~!"
Kondo roared helplessly at the sky, which was illuminated red by the firelight.
Actually, you can't really blame him too much. He had already done very well, but unfortunately, he encountered Zhou Hongyi, a freak who was able to deduce his transportation routes and defenses from countless unrelated clues.
Even if Zhou Hongyi were to give a completely truthful account now, Kondo probably wouldn't believe him. He would only think that Zhou was being provocative and boasting, since such an ability is too incredible.