Chapter 206 Counterattack
Just as Lu Zheng's heart had settled back into his stomach, he saw countless shells whistling as they hurtled towards him.
Lu Zheng stared at the enemy fleet approaching menacingly on the sea, his heart sinking to the bottom. The soldiers had nowhere to hide; apart from jumping into the sea, there wasn't even a crack to cover themselves.
He gripped his gun tightly, his knuckles white, his hands and feet icy cold. The soldiers beside him were deathly pale, but none of them retreated; they simply clutched their grenades, their eyes burning with a determination to fight to the death.
With red eyes, Regiment Commander Wang roared at the top of his lungs, "Listen up, everyone! Take your grenades and swim towards the enemy boat! If you can take one down with you, it's worth it! If you take a whole boatload, I'll give you a first-class merit! Your lives will be worth it!"
Before the words were even finished, several young soldiers had already jumped into the sea with grenades in their arms, and the waves instantly swallowed their figures.
Watching the dense barrage of shells trailing crimson flames, their shrill whistles piercing eardrums, as if they were about to grind the entire island to dust, Dr. Zhang grabbed Xia Qianqian's arm: "Xia! Hurry into Peach Blossom Spring! If we're any later, we'll really miss our chance!"
His voice trembled. It was already a miracle that the shell had mysteriously disappeared, but now there was a sky full of artillery fire. How could he hide?
Xia Qianqian stood straight, the sea breeze ruffling her hair, her eyes showing no sign of panic.
She smiled at Dr. Zhang, her gentleness concealing an undeniable strength: "Dr. Zhang, please watch."
She slowly raised her right hand, her fingertips pointing lightly at the barrage of shells, and her lips parted slightly, uttering a single word that rippled like a pebble dropped into still water: "Withdraw."
In an instant, all the screams ceased.
The whistling shells suddenly disappeared, and even the sulfurous smell in the air faded somewhat.
Dr. Zhang stood frozen in place, his eyes wide as saucers, his mouth agape enough to fit an egg, and the hemostat in his hand slammed against the rocks with a "thud".
Commander Wang's hand, which was holding the binoculars, froze in mid-air. The lens clattered onto the deck as he murmured, "A miracle...this is a miracle!"
The enemy ships on the sea were completely stunned, their artillery fell silent, and the entire battlefield fell into a deathly silence, with only the sound of waves crashing against the rocks.
All eyes were on Xia Qianqian, who stood atop the reef, her figure bathed in the morning light, like a goddess descending from the heavens.
Xia Qianqian's eyebrows curved into crescent moons, and her clear voice pierced the silence like a wind chime: "What are you all standing there for? With me here, go ahead and fight!"
Commander Wang slapped his forehead hard and cursed in frustration, "Foolish!" He was so shocked by the miracle that he almost forgot to press his advantage!
He gripped his command sword and swung it towards the sea, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Get yourselves together! Aim at the enemy ships! Fire them down!"
The soldiers instantly erupted in chaos! Machine gunners swept across the battlefield, grenades were thrown with all their might at the enemy boats, and even the veterans in the wounded soldiers' camp who could get up were propping up their rifles on the rocks to fire.
Bullets rained down like a storm, and the sea surface exploded into a spray of blood.
Chaos reigned within the enemy fleet.
The commander roared at the top of his lungs, and the soldiers frantically reloaded the shells. Some of them were so trembling that they couldn't even hold the shell casings, and they kept muttering, "It was an accident... the shell must have jammed! Fire again!"
The enemy ship commander roared the order to "fire," and the enemy reloaded their shells once more.
The next second, something strange happened.
The heavy cannons on the deck, which had just been loaded with shells, along with the shells in their barrels, seemed to be grasped by an invisible giant hand and vanished from their original spot in an instant!
All that remained were a few empty gun mounts and shell casings scattered all over the ground.
The soldiers stared wide-eyed, their loading tools falling to the ground. Some were so frightened that they knelt on the deck, pointing in the direction of the island and stammering, "Ghost... there's a ghost!"
Xia Qianqian stood on the reef, a confident smile playing on her lips.
The moment the shells hit her, her mind went blank. She wanted to hide in Peach Blossom Spring, but she subconsciously shouted "Stop!"—unexpectedly, the shells actually went into the warehouse in Peach Blossom Spring.
Now that she was confident, she raised her hand and waved towards our camp: "Come out!"
Boom—!
With a few muffled thuds, a row of brand-new heavy cannons suddenly appeared on the open ground of our camp, their barrels gleaming and still carrying the smell of seawater from the enemy ship's deck.
The soldiers immediately surrounded it. One of them reached out and touched the gun barrel, exclaiming, "It's real! This is the Japanese Type 92 infantry gun!"
Battalion Commander Wang stumbled over, his voice trembling, "This...this is..."
Xia Qianqian called out to him, "Commander Wang! Do we have any gunners who know how to fire the cannons?"
Regiment Commander Wang slapped his thigh and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Yes! I have three sharpshooters under my command! They all retired from the artillery company!"
He turned and roared towards the camp, "Li the Gunner! Zhang the Old Gunner! Get your ass over here right now! There's big work to be done!"
As soon as Commander Wang finished speaking, three gunners rushed over, their military boots covered in mud.
They practically pounced on the gun emplacement, squinted at the sea surface to measure the distance, and turned the breechblock to adjust the elevation angle, all in one fluid motion.
"Launch!" Commander Wang's roar shook the seabirds hiding in the crevices of the reef, causing them to flutter and take flight.
Flames shot from the cannon muzzle with a deafening roar, and the shell, trailing an orange-red tail, hurtled straight toward the foremost enemy vessel.
With a loud "boom," a large hole was blown open on the deck of the enemy ship, and black smoke and flames shot into the sky, while the seawater surged like boiling water.
"It's sunk! It's sunk!" The soldiers jumped up, waving their helmets. Some hugged their comrades and cried. This was the first time they had used Japanese artillery to sink a Japanese ship!
The gunners' eyes were frighteningly bright, and their hands didn't even tremble when loading shells.
The second shell struck the enemy boat's ammunition compartment with a resounding bang, breaking the entire boat in two and sending debris flying several meters high.
The enemy ship commander had just shouted "Retreat!" when the third shell hit his command boat, scattering glass shards and wood chips everywhere, and the commander was thrown into the sea.
The remaining enemy boats turned around in a panic, only to be hit by a fourth shell.
The stern caught fire instantly, and the boat sank crookedly before it could even send a distress signal.
The cheers nearly overturned the island. Some people tore the captured Japanese military flag into pieces, while others fired their guns into the sea, the bullets splashing up sprays of water.
Commander Wang patted the gunner on the shoulder, laughing until tears streamed down his face.
"Comrades, charge! Kill all the Japanese devils! Avenge our fallen brothers!"
The soldiers charged toward the sea like wild horses, while the enemy boats were already toothless tigers: some had their engine rooms blown apart and were spinning in the waves, billowing black smoke; some soldiers jumped into the water with life rings but were chased by bullets; and others huddled in the corners of the deck, not daring to even raise their guns.
Several soldiers who were good swimmers carried explosive packs and jumped onto the enemy boat. They kicked open the hatch and captured the trembling commander.
"We've captured three warships with engines!" Peng Fei ran over, holding up a torn Japanese military flag. His face was covered in oil, but he smiled like a child—this was the most precious thing that the small island needed!
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