Chapter 076: Sounding the Alarm for Rescue

  Arrived at the forefront of the British military defense line, eight o'clock was still ten minutes away.

  Dong Li Mao followed the translator into a three-story building and saw some listless British soldiers lying or sitting in the ruins of the house, more than half of whom were injured to varying degrees, basically some wounded who had lost their combat effectiveness.

  A lieutenant colonel crouched at the root of a wall that had been bombed towards the Japanese position, observing with binoculars across the way.

  Through translation, Dong Li Mao learned he was the highest commander in charge of defending this region.

  The British major had already received Scott's order, so there was no need for further introduction. The major pointed to the buildings across the street and said to Dong Li Mao: "The Japanese army is hiding in the houses just like us. I think they are hesitant to attack the church because they are afraid we will attack them from behind. Maybe the Japanese don't know that we have almost no ammunition left, otherwise the church would have been occupied by them and our defense line would have been broken through... The ones guarding the church are my battalion, they have been holding on for a day and a night, their ammunition is exhausted, I'm afraid they can no longer resist the Japanese attack. You've come just in time, I hope they can escape with your help."

  Dong Li Mao took over the lieutenant's binoculars and looked towards the opposite side. He could see the spire of the church roof, which seemed to be a relatively large church. Judging from the spire on the roof, this church was about six rooms in size.

  "I need your men to launch a frontal assault after the battle starts, in coordination with my men, to lure the Japanese troops towards this direction. Once we rescue the people from the church, you will be responsible for covering the retreat of my men."

  The British major followed Dong Li Mao out of the house and saw the special agent company waiting outside, each one spirited and morale high, he exclaimed: "I didn't expect China to have such an elite troop!"

  Dong Li Mao gave orders to Wang Jia Gui: "Second item, bring your men with you. Three minutes later, everyone must be in position and lock onto the target for shooting!"

  "Yes!" Wang Jiagui immediately led the sniper squad, dispersing and running up to the roofs of the surrounding buildings.

  "Alright! Your team will launch an attack in three minutes and take down the Japanese army's mortar on the rooftop within ten minutes!"

  "Yes!" Kou Hao waved his hand and led a squad running towards the target location.

  "Zhao Yong, bring your men and find a good position for battle. According to the predetermined plan, intercept and attack the devils' reinforcements!"

  "Yes!" Zhao Yong led his men in a dash to the left.

  "Heavy machine gun, bring your men and get into position for a frontal assault. After Gao takes down the rooftop mortar, you'll start firing!"

  "Yes!" Zhang Dalie led the machine gun squad, running towards the front line of the British army's defensive position, each finding cover and waiting for the battle to start before moving forward.

  "The rest of you, follow me!" Dong Li Mao led Zhu Yong Sheng and others to run towards the right side of the church, led by local guides, preparing to circle back from the right side to the woods behind the church.

  Wang Jia Gui's sniper squad, in pairs, climbed up several buildings that hadn't been bombed down and were relatively tall.

  Wang Jiagui alone climbed up a residential building closer to the Japanese pillbox that Gao Hao and his men were about to attack, chose a good location to ambush, quietly removed two broken bricks blocking his view, didn't expose the gun barrel, adjusted the sniper scope. The distance from here to the pillbox was approximately 300 meters, which was the most effective range. Within this range, Wang Jiagui could achieve 100% accuracy. Through the sniper scope, he saw that there were only two patrolling sentries on the rooftop where the pillbox was located, but no pillbox in sight. He slowly moved his gun, and through a window, he saw several pillboxes and ammunition boxes leaning against the wall inside, as well as several Japanese soldiers sleeping on the ground.

  "It's them!" Wang Jiagui said to himself, then pointed the muzzle of his gun downwards. He saw that Gou Hao had led a squad to the right side of the building below the mortar emplacement, possibly worried about being seen by the two sentries on the rooftop, so they hadn't charged forward. Wang Jiagui understood what he needed to do. He slowly moved the muzzle back to the rooftop, took aim at one of the enemy's left chest, and pulled the trigger decisively. A crisp gunshot rang out, and the enemy sentry facing Gou Hao's position spat out a stream of bright red blood from his chest, falling backwards. The other sentry heard the gunshot and immediately crawled around to look around, but Wang Jiagui's scope was already centered on his head, and another crisp gunshot rang out, blowing open the face under the enemy's helmet. Next, Wang Jiagui quickly moved the muzzle downwards, taking aim at the window he had seen earlier. He saw that the enemy inside was frantically grabbing the mortar tube and ammunition box to run up to the rooftop. He looked again at Gou Hao's squad below, who had already reached the bottom of the building. Gou Hao used his knife to take out a sentry on the ground floor, then charged into the building.

  At this time, Wang Jiagui heard the sound of guns firing sporadically from other positions and knew that his comrades had started shooting at the devils who were carrying mortars and ammunition up to the top floor. He raised his gun and looked through the scope, seeing the little devils being shot dead one by one as they rushed out of the exit on the top floor. His own men didn't let the devils set up their mortars, so he stopped paying attention to the mortar position and instead adjusted his scope to a farther distance, looking towards the church. He saw British soldiers peeking out from the windows on the upper floor of the church, but he couldn't see the journalists and missionaries who were being held captive inside.

  After Wang Jia Gui's sniper squad fired, the Japanese army began to blindly counterattack from different directions. The devils didn't understand where the gunfire was coming from for a moment, and suddenly there was a burst of gunfire.

  Guo Hao's squad, under the cover of Wang Jia Gui and others, successfully charged into the building with Japanese mortars. However, it wasn't easy after entering the building. Almost every floor had Japanese soldiers guarding it. The building was five stories high, and Guo Hao's team was blocked on the first floor, unable to move up. They exchanged fire with the Japanese on the upper floors for a while. Seeing that this wouldn't work, Guo Hao ordered others to continue firing at the Japanese upstairs while he retreated from the building, ran to the side, and climbed up using a downspout. He quickly reached the rooftop and charged in through the exit, firing his submachine gun downwards, forming a pincer movement with his comrades below. In less than ten minutes, they cleared out all the Japanese soldiers in the building. Guo Hao ordered two people to guard the entrance on the first floor, two to assist in defending the second floor, and the rest ran up to the rooftop. A soldier from the special operations company, who used to be a mortar gunner, took advantage of his expertise and quickly set up the Japanese mortars on the rooftop, firing at the building where the Japanese were hiding.

  Zhang Dali's machine gun squad, after Gu Hao's mortar shells landed on the building and street in front of the Japanese army's garrison, began to fire at the Japanese soldiers who rushed out of the building. The firepower was so strong that it could knock down a brick wall in one minute. They swept and moved forward step by step, as if the Japanese were stunned by the mortar attack. At first, they didn't encounter much resistance, but when they advanced about 50 meters, Japanese soldiers came from the front and both sides. Zhang Dali ordered his brothers to form a semicircle on the spot, no longer moving forward, each finding cover to hold their ground and counterattack. The British army behind them also opened fire at the Japanese from their positions, fortunately, the firepower was fierce, and there was no threat from the Japanese mortar, so they easily blocked the Japanese at 100 meters away and prevented them from approaching.

  The Japanese troops who were waiting for an opportunity to shoot down from the upstairs were shot by Wang Jiaxi's snipers and did not dare to show their heads.

  Dong Li Mao's prediction was very accurate, the left side was an important position supported by the Japanese army. Zhao Yong led two classes of brothers to arrive at the designated location and simply found cover after hearing the sound of guns and artillery for less than ten minutes. The devils sent reinforcements from the left road. Zhao Yong was an experienced commander, he didn't order immediate fire, but waited until the Japanese ran close to thirty meters inside, then shouted loudly: "Each person throws two hand grenades first!" Nearly thirty people, one after another threw dozens of hand grenades, blasting the running Japanese devils in front, blood and flesh flying everywhere. The ones behind dared not rush forward, hiding in the buildings on both sides of the street, shooting at Zhao Yong's men. Both sides were stuck in a stalemate, firing at each other back and forth.

  Dong Li Mao and Zhu Yong Sheng, after the battle started, under the guidance of that guide, smoothly bypassed to the woods behind the church.