The Mysterious Soldier of the Anti-Japanese War

Chapter 430: Deadly Prediction in the Rain of Bullets: An Armored Strangulation Race Against Time

"The Japanese armored vehicles are nothing! Even if they bring out tanks, I can still turn them into iron coffins for them! You guys hide here and ambush, I'll go to the commanding heights and give the Japanese a brutal blow!" Before Lei Tao finished speaking, he rushed up the hillside like a gust of wind, stepping on the gravel. Liu Hong tightly grasped his Mauser pistol and shouted at the top of his voice, "Peng Liang, take two men and guard the back! The rest of you hold the sides!"

Half-kneeling on the mountaintop, Lei Tao pulled the RPG from the Bagua gyroscope. The coolness of the metal barrel seeped into his palm, creating a dense mist of water. He placed his left hand against the rear end of the barrel, and with a few flicks of his right hand, he unscrewed the armor-piercing round's safety. The rounds loaded into the chamber with a crisp click. His peripheral vision swept across the advancing Japanese armored vehicles in a triangular formation. The tracks of their tracks over the gravel transformed into a stream of data in his mind: "Type 94, speed 35 mph, wind southwest force 2, distance 400 meters..."

The crosshairs on the armored vehicle trembled slightly. Lei Tao held his breath, his index finger lightly on the trigger. As the middle armored vehicle rolled over the second protruding rock, he decisively pulled the trigger. The rocket's tail flame billowed with smoke, and with a sharp whistling sound that tore through the air, the projectile, like an arrow from a bow, pierced the weak point of the side armor. The ammunition box inside the armored vehicle exploded from the intense heat, and the violent explosion overturned the vehicle, sending the burning wreckage plummeting into the roadside ditch like a torch.

The Japanese squad leader raised his command knife and roared at the top of his lungs: "Takeno squad, suppress the top of the mountain! Fujiyama squad, disperse and encircle!" The surviving soldiers quickly set up machine guns against the wreckage, and bullets rained down on the rocks where Lei Tao was hiding.

"Brother Lei! Grenade launcher at three o'clock!" Liu Hong's roar pierced the hail of bullets. As Lei Tao rolled onto another rock, the blast sent rubble flying high into the air. Flying shrapnel grazed his earlobe, and a burning sting mixed with the smoke rushed straight into his nose. He grabbed an angular rock and hurled it hard at the slope to his left. The sound of the rock tumbling instantly attracted fire from two machine guns.

Taking advantage of the Japanese shifting targets, Lei Tao pulled a spare rocket from the Bagua gyroscope's compartment. As he pressed his left hand against the projectile, he realized the blood on his palm had stained the metal dark red. The sticky feel made the reload slow down slightly. The second armored vehicle suddenly accelerated, the crisp sound of its tracks crushing brush and the roar of its engine intertwining like a dangerous signal. He wiped the sweat from his face. In the scope, the silhouette of the armored vehicle danced on the edge of the crosshairs as it jolted.

"Anticipate and lead!" Lei Tao growled inwardly. He watched the dust trail kicked up by the armored vehicle, calculating the rhythm of the wheels bouncing over the potholes. The moment the front of the vehicle began to tilt to the right, he decisively pulled the trigger. The rocket grazed the top of the armored vehicle, leaving a charred crater ten meters away. The Japanese tank commander leaned forward, a grim grin beneath his tilted helmet, his mouth opening as if to shout something.

Gunfire preceded the voices. Meng Xiaoyu rushed out from behind a dead tree on the right side of the col, firing alternately with his two rifles, the bullets shattering the glass of the armored vehicle's observation window with pinpoint accuracy. The commander's smile froze, blood blooming between his brows as he fell backward. Li Shuiniu seized the opportunity, ducking in, and thrusting his explosive charge into the gap between the tracks. As he pulled the trigger, heavy machine gun fire from the rear armored vehicle lashed out, sending Li Shuiniu sprawling, bullets grazing his back, leaving five bloody streaks.

"Shuiyang! Cover!" Lei Tao shouted as Li Shuiyang performed a tactical jump and roll, picking up the MP35 submachine gun that had fallen beside the Japanese corpse and unleashing a stream of flames. Lei Tao raised his bazooka for the third time, this time lowering the crosshairs two notches, waiting for the armored vehicle to slow and turn. When the tracks paused slightly over the raised rock, he pressed the fire button without hesitation. The armor-piercing round, like the Grim Reaper's scythe, struck the engine compartment. The violent explosion ripped off the entire roof, and the remains of Japanese soldiers, mixed with burning parts, were scattered everywhere.

The last armored vehicle backed up, releasing smoke. Lei Tao decisively unleashed an electromagnetic pulse bomb. A flash of blue light sent the armored vehicle's engine grinding to a halt. Liu Hong, brandishing his pistol, shouted, "Charge!" From both sides of the col, the group quickly encircled the remaining Japanese troops, engaging in fierce close combat. A grenade thrown by Peng Liang knocked over a machine gun crew behind a bunker. Li Zheng, wielding his sword, split the Japanese bayonets with his mighty sword.

Lei Tao stuffed the scorching RPG back into the Bagua gyroscope's space, then pulled out his SVD sniper rifle and quickly loaded it with three boxes of 7.62mm ammunition. He deftly and quickly removed the magazine, checked the remaining rounds, and pulled the bolt with his left hand to release the empty chamber. He braced his knees against the rock depression, leaned sideways, and rested the butt of the rifle firmly against his shoulder. His index finger lightly touched the outer edge of the trigger guard, his right eye pressed against the scope's eyepiece, the crosshairs swaying slightly with his breathing.

At three o'clock, the Japanese machine gunner had just set up his Type 92 heavy machine gun and lowered his head to press the magazine into the feed port. Lei Tao took a deep breath, held his breath, and pulled the trigger. The 7.62mm bullet instantly pierced his right temple. The body fell backward, the tilted muzzle of the heavy machine gun pointing aimlessly into the sky.

When Meng Xiaoyu yelled, "Grenade launcher, southeast!" Lei Tao had already spotted his target. A Japanese grenadier soldier knelt on one knee, aiming his shell at the col. Lei Tao swung his rifle horizontally, firing just as the soldier raised his arm to hurl. The bullet pierced the carotid artery, sending the soldier tumbling forward. The shell rolled to the ground with a dull thud.

The remaining Japanese troops, entrenched in the wreckage of the armored vehicle, launched a frantic counterattack. The second lieutenant brandished his command knife, screaming at the top of his lungs as he adjusted his formation. Lei Tao calmly calculated the moment the enemy was exposed, waited for half of their body to emerge from cover, and decisively pulled the trigger. The bullet pierced his helmet and skull, and as he fell, his command knife remained lodged deep in the gap of the armored vehicle.

On the left hillside, three Japanese soldiers took turns providing cover, cautiously approaching. Lei Tao deliberately spared the front soldier, waiting for the second soldier to leap to fill his position and suddenly opened fire. The first soldier, turning to check on his comrades, was also exposed to the gunfire. The last Japanese soldier panicked and lay down. Lei Tao did not pursue him—he anticipated that the enemy would call for support and quickly turned his gun to the communications soldier holding a walkie-talkie a hundred meters away.

After the battle, Liu Hong kicked open the smoking wreckage of the armored vehicle, leaving shell casings and broken parts scattered across the ground. "Brother Lei, this rifle is far superior to our old slide!" Liu Hong shouted excitedly, his face covered in gunpowder. Lei Tao didn't respond. He stored his SVD sniper rifle in the Bagua Gyro space and swapped it out for a modified Scorpion submachine gun. After loading it with a large-capacity 45-round magazine, he stood up and rushed towards Liu Hong, shouting as he ran, "Japanese reinforcements are coming! We must quickly eliminate the remaining enemies!" Liu Hong responded, turned around, and led the others towards the wreckage of the armored vehicle.

Amidst the rising dust in the distance, the sounds of Japanese truck engines and armored vehicle tracks could be heard mixed together.

"Attention everyone! Suppress the enemy fire!" Liu Hong commanded his team to quickly disperse, forming a crossfire. The remaining Japanese troops, clinging to the wreckage of an armored vehicle, held out a desperate resistance. One Japanese soldier leaned forward to fire, only to be instantly cut down by Lei Tao's precise submachine gun fire. "Drop a grenade!" Li Shuiyang shouted, throwing a grenade into the Japanese position. The explosions echoed, instantly creating a gap in the Japanese formation. "Now's the time to charge!" Liu Hong led the charge, followed closely by his team. Lei Tao, wielding his Scorpion submachine gun, opened fire at full force, his magazine rapidly depleted as he precisely raked every exposed Japanese target. "Retreat!" A Japanese officer attempted to organize a counterattack, but was killed by a burst of bullets from Lei Tao.

Realizing they had been tricked, the Japanese attempted to pursue, but were pinned down by the reinforcements Lei Tao had drawn. It turned out that before retreating, Lei Tao had arranged for Meng Xiaoyu to contact the nearby main force of the Eighth Route Army and the main force of the Anti-Japanese Youth National Salvation Army, under the Military Control Commission. At this moment, the main force of the Eighth Route Army attacked from the southwest, while the main force of the Youth National Salvation Army closed in from the northeast, engaging the Japanese in a fierce exchange of fire.

At this moment, the main forces of the Eighth Route Army and the Young National Salvation Army arrived, closing in on them. Eighth Route Army machine gunners quickly set up their heavy machine guns and strafed the Japanese formation, their bullets splattering blood among the soldiers. The Young National Salvation Army nimbly maneuvered around the Japanese flanks, exploiting the terrain to launch an ambush.

"Open fire! Suppress the devils!" The Eighth Route Army commander roared, the soldiers shouted in unison, submachine guns spewed out tongues of fire, and grenades exploded one after another in the Japanese camp.

The Japanese squad leader waved his command knife and roared at the top of his lungs: "Hold on! Hold on!" But the soldiers had already been suppressed by the dense firepower and could not raise their heads, and their formation gradually loosened.

Lei Tao took the opportunity to lead Liu Hong and others out of the valley and joined the Eighth Route Army and the Youth National Salvation Army. He shouted: "Concentrate fire to kill their commander!" Everyone aimed their fire at the Japanese squad leader and killed him instantly.

The Japanese army, without a commander, fell into chaos and fled in all directions. The Eighth Route Army and the Youth National Salvation Army took advantage of the opportunity to launch a general offensive, forcing the remaining Japanese troops into a desperate situation.

The battle continued until dusk, and the Japanese suffered heavy casualties, eventually retreating in a panic under the cover of night. The Eighth Route Army and the Youth National Salvation Army successfully recaptured their positions, and Lei Tao and his comrades celebrated with high fives, their cheers echoing through the valley.

Lei Tao walked up to Meng Xiaoyu, patted her shoulder gently, and said sincerely: "Xiaoyu, this time it's thanks to you for contacting reinforcements in time. You played a big role at the critical moment." Meng Xiaoyu wiped the sweat from her forehead and replied with a smile: "That's all thanks to your good arrangements in advance. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had the chance to contact them."

At this moment, the noise of the Japanese army retreating could be heard in the distance. Everyone held their weapons tightly, ready to fight again at any time. Liu Hong looked at the battlefield and said with emotion: "This battle was risky, but worth it!"

Lei Tao said solemnly, "We must retreat quickly. Otherwise, given the devil's vindictive nature, they will definitely send in heavy troops and even call for air support. If we are surrounded by them, we will be in trouble."

Lei Tao unfolded the hand-drawn map and pointed to the southwest, saying, "There's an abandoned mine tunnel over there that leads directly to the primeval forest. It's both concealed and convenient for a dispersed breakout."

Zhang Weiguo, the commander of the Second Battalion of the Eighth Route Army Independent Regiment, wiped the gunpowder from his face, kicked away the shell casings at his feet, and looked in the direction of the Railway Guerrillas. "Captain Liu, you're familiar with the terrain here. Tell me what you think."

Zhou Zhiyuan, Chief of Staff of the Youth Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army, also walked over quickly, the barrel of the Tanggu-made MP18 machine gun in his hand still slightly protruding. "The Japanese have suffered a great loss. I'm afraid they will have to mobilize a regiment-level force to counterattack."

Liu Hong bent down to pick up half a piece of shrapnel, weighed it in his hand, looked at the devastated battlefield, and said with emotion: "This battle was risky, but worth it! We blew up three armored vehicles and killed a lot of Japanese troops." He turned to look at Lei Tao, his eyes full of approval.

Lei Tao quickly replaced the magazine in his Scorpion submachine gun and said solemnly, "Everyone, listen carefully. Given the Japs' style, they'll definitely send in heavy troops within the hour, and even call for air support. If we're surrounded by then, we'll be in danger. This mine passage is a shortcut, so follow me."

At this time, Liu Hong said: "But the battlefield has not been cleaned up. I feel bad if I don't pick up so many weapons."