Chapter 65: Turning Zhangjia County into the Invaders’ Graveyard!

The enemy soldiers, under the relentless hail of steel and iron from the Chengyun Army, were gripped by utter panic, desperately seeking shelter. They curled up in the craters left by explosions, terrified that the slightest movement would make them the next to be torn apart by artillery fire.

The battlefield was shrouded in smoke, the roar of explosions unending, each thunderous blast heralding another lost life.

The situation was far less optimistic than the enemy had imagined. A panicked officer rushed to report to Major Buchuan, his voice trembling with fear: “Major Buchuan, disaster has struck! We are under a fierce counterattack from the enemy. Judging by the firepower, it must be the main force of the Chengyun Army at divisional strength!”

Major Buchuan’s face turned ashen, disbelief etched across his features as he retorted, “Impossible! The main force of the Chengyun Army division should be at the Wangkou front, not here!”

He began berating his subordinates for cowardice, seeing it as a disgrace to the honor of a soldier.

Yet, as his anger subsided, Buchuan knew all too well that if they failed to break through the Chengyun Army’s ironclad line now, once the enemy completed their deployment, his troops would have nowhere to escape and face total annihilation.

As a graduate of the enemy’s military academy, Buchuan refused to leave in defeat. Determined to break through this impasse, he resolved to fall back on his previous experience—launch a banzai charge!

Drawing his command saber, his voice thundered with authority: “Order all battalions to charge at once! Break through the enemy lines at any cost!”

Under his command, even the soldiers recruited from the local populace, inflamed by the enemy’s fervent militarism, joined the charge with red eyes and weapons raised, plunging headlong into the fray without a moment’s hesitation.

In this suicidal assault, the soldiers’ shouts tore through the sky: “Charge for the Emperor of Ten Suns!”

This fanatical morale made the enemy forget all pain in the heat of battle; even when grievously wounded, they pressed forward without pause. If injured, they quickly bound their wounds with strips of cloth and continued to fight—crawling or sitting—until their last breath.

Faced with such ferocious and concentrated charges, ordinary defensive positions would have crumbled long ago. But the soldiers of the 66th Brigade were made of sterner stuff; well-fed and well-trained, they had no fear of death on the battlefield.

They turned their weapons into an impregnable fortress of steel, making every enemy assault pay a dreadful price.

On the battlefield, shrouded in smoke, the enemy’s first charge crashed once more against this unyielding wall, proving that courage, however commendable, was insignificant before overwhelming firepower.

At the front line, the furious exchange of gunfire was like crashing waves in a storm; the focused bursts of light and heavy machine guns formed a deadly web, through which every wave of enemy soldiers fell in droves, as mercilessly as wheat flattened by a tempest.

Witnessing this, Buchuan was swept by rage and frustration, continuously screaming for fire support in a desperate attempt to salvage the situation.

Yet, the newly deployed heavy machine gun emplacements, which had only just begun to show their power, were soon destroyed with precision by the Chengyun Army’s rapid-fire guns, which had also rushed to the battlefield. Enemy casualties soared.

A savage glint shone in Buchuan’s eyes as he stared at the mounting losses, overwhelmed by confusion and fury. “What is happening? Has the enemy truly brought their divisional main force here, abandoning the siege of Wangkou to annihilate us?”

“Has the Chengyun Army’s commander lost his mind?”

Meanwhile, far from the battlefield, the atmosphere in the temporary command post of the 7th Reinforced Division atop the eastern wall of Wangkou grew heavier as urgent reports arrived from the front.

A communications officer rushed in with the latest updates: around thirty thousand enemy troops had met fierce resistance from the 63rd Infantry Brigade at Wangkou, and the fighting was brutal, with heavy casualties on both sides.

Outside Wangkou, the 66th Brigade was also locked in intense combat against Buchuan’s brigade, and thanks to their overwhelming advantage in weaponry and equipment, the 66th Brigade had successfully held back the enemy advance.

Relieved upon hearing the string of reports, Chief of Staff Wang Xiao let out a deep breath and murmured his gratitude: “Thank goodness we sent the 66th Brigade for reinforcements in time; otherwise, the situation at Wangkou would have been unimaginable.”

Beside him, Chen Shan, commander of the 64th Infantry Brigade, remained calm. He knew that the decision by Commander Jiang Bai to place Li Jian in charge of the Wangkou line meant the enemy would never break through easily.

Indeed, even before the enemy had fully mobilized, Jiang Bai had already foreseen that they would seize any opportunity to cut off the strategic corridor. Thus, the moment Wangkou was captured signaled the enemy’s full-scale assault.

All of these predictions and preparations had one purpose: to ensure the safety of every inch of land and every life in this decisive battle.

Before launching his operations, Jiang Bai had meticulously analyzed every possible enemy tactic, spending days in deep consultation with his officers to devise highly targeted countermeasures.

Such thorough preparation allowed them to offset any shortcomings in their troops’ training when facing a powerful adversary like this.

Though fully aware of the enemy’s formidable ground forces—among the very best in East Asia and perhaps the entire world—Chief of Staff Wang Xiao could not shake a lingering anxiety.

But when news of victory reached the front, relief washed over him, and a smile of release flickered across his face.

Standing before the military map, Jiang Bai commanded with absolute clarity, analyzing the enemy’s likely tactics of frontal assault and flanking maneuvers.

“Though this tactic is extremely powerful, its weaknesses are just as clear,” he said. “If we can swiftly crush the enemy’s flanking forces, we can concentrate our superior strength and encircle their main force, trapping them completely.”

He turned to face the assembled officers, his gaze resolute and unwavering, his words as cold and sharp as a winter wind: “Relay my orders: except for the 64th Brigade, which is to continue its original mission, all other units are to shift to the Wangkou sector at once. This is our chance to test ourselves against the enemy’s flanking force.”

His voice echoed through the command room.

“Once the enemy falls into chaos, immediately send in the cavalry to strike—seize this fleeting opportunity. We will leave none of them alive; Wangkou will be their tomb. Is that clear?!”