Guadalcanal.
The 1st Marine Division had fully landed and begun pushing toward the island's core sector.
When a transmission crackled over the field radio, Liu Ren remained silent for a long moment before answering, "Yes, understood. Coordinate the defense immediately!"
Hanging up the field radio, Liu Ren glanced at Kiyonao Ichiki's pulverized remains, feeling a wave of irritation. The man was in such mangled pieces that even if Liu Ren carried him back, his family wouldn't recognize him!
Still, it didn't really matter. When the time came, he could just slaughter the man's entire family. That would fulfill the bastard's dying wish just as thoroughly!
"Want me to help you piece him together? Might still be of some use!" Seeing Liu Ren staring at Ichiki in contemplation, Howard walked up and offered casually.
After all, Howard was a veteran of the Great War and had seen just about everything. It was just that someone as "utterly inhuman" as Liu Ren was a first even for him!
"Well aren't you a saint. Thanks a million!"
Hearing Howard's offer, Liu Ren dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "Forget it. Better to chop him up and feed him to the dogs! Bring out the two military hounds I've been starving for two days! If I said I'm making a delivery, I'm making the delivery!"
Eyes wide, Forrest blurted in shock, "You brought those two dogs along just for that?!"
"What else? You think any Japanese soldier is going to reach me alive?" Looking at Forrest with utter disdain, Liu Ren's tone was ice-cold.
Having completely annihilated the Ichiki Detachment and the local garrison, Liu Ren pushed forward at high speed, their objective being to seize the airfield on Guadalcanal.
Yet as his combat brigade advanced rapidly, Harukichi Hyakutake received the news the following day: the Ichiki Detachment had been wiped out.
"*Baka!* That idiot! How dare he lead the Empire's brave warriors straight to their deaths!"
Roaring in fury, Hyakutake was under tremendous pressure as the army commander.
Those fools in the navy were utterly incapable of suppressing the American fleet, making it impossible for him to hold the Solomon Islands defensive line even if he wanted to.
Yet what choice did he have? He could only continuously funnel reinforcements onto Guadalcanal.
They had even coined a name for this method of transport: the "Tokyo Express"!
Of course, the name was merely a smokescreen. In truth, they were like moths leaping into a furnace, walking straight into their graves one by one!
For the 1st Marine Division of today was far better equipped and possessed firepower vastly superior to that of history, its barrage reaching the point of sheer savagery.
Precisely because of Silver Rock Arms' staunch backing, the 1st Marine Division handled problems with a singular attitude: blast it to kingdom come. Whether we go broke doesn't matter, but you sure as hell have to die!
***
Edson's Ridge.
Swarms of soldiers were shoveling sand and dirt into burlap sacks, piling them along the front line.
Surveying the scene, Howard walked over and asked, "The Japanese want to retake the airfield?"
"Obviously. It's a certainty!"
At that, Liu Ren turned and called out, "Pass the word down! Everyone stay sharp! Don't let these runts crawl up and bite your kneecaps!"
Roars of laughter erupted from the surrounding troops.
Once a large line of Gatling guns was set in position, Liu Ren looked around and added, "Set up another twenty over there!"
"Wouldn't that be a bit wasteful, Colonel?" the specially assigned adjutant beside him asked in confusion.
Hearing this, Liu Ren frowned. "Wasteful? What do you mean, wasteful? Do you have any idea how precious our soldiers are? Every single one of them is the pillar of a family! Yet here they are, fighting these Japanese. So add twenty more—it goes on my tab!"
The adjutant stared at Liu Ren in astonishment, eyes wide with disbelief.
Meanwhile, the nearby American soldiers fighting alongside them cheered loudly, "Damn, Colonel! You're the absolute best!"
Holding Edson's Ridge required heavy weaponry above all else. But Liu Ren had essentially turned the position into an impenetrable fortress, just waiting for the Japanese to charge in blindly!
***
Two days passed, and everything around them seemed unusually calm.
Inside the encampment, Liu Ren held a cigar between his fingers, leisurely enjoying a hot pot.
"Enemy incoming! Fire! Open fire!"
Urgent shouts rang out, followed by a surging roar from the front lines.
As countless rounds spewed from the barrels of the Gatling guns, Liu Ren knew the attacking Japanese had just kicked the "Emperor" right where it hurt!
And why say that? Because either way, death was guaranteed!
Under the relentless, crushing firepower, the charging Japanese troops fell like leeks being reaped, row after row.
Watching his men cut down before his eyes, Kiyoken Kawaguchi couldn't stop himself from roaring, "*Baka!* What the hell is Intelligence doing?! Didn't they say there were fewer than two thousand men here? Why am I looking at a reinforced brigade..."
Ignoring Kawaguchi's rage, the interlocking fields of fire from both flanks unleashed in unison.
*Rat-tat-tat-tat, rat-tat-tat-tat!*
The Reaper's scythe swept through, instantly sending the previously zealous Japanese troops into a panicked "flesh-and-blood vanishing act"!
"Advance in reverse! Advance in reverse!"
Seeing that Edson's Ridge was impossible to take, Kawaguchi shrewdly prepared to pull back.
Naturally, they rarely called it retreating—they called it "advancing in reverse"!
Yet just as Kawaguchi prepared to lead his battered remnants away, Liu Ren glanced toward the howitzer positions established in the distance and nodded firmly.
"Ten-round rapid fire, saturation coverage! Ready..."
"Fire!"
*Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Earth-shattering howitzer blasts caused the entire ridge to shudder violently.
As Kawaguchi retreated, he heard the shrieking roar in the sky and realized at once that it was heavy artillery.
What he hadn't anticipated, however, was that the destructive power of these shells would far exceed anything he had ever imagined.
*Crash! Boom! Bang!*
Watching the distant forest transform into a raging sea of fire, Liu Ren stood with his hands on his hips, puffing his cigar in disdain. "That's it? You came all this way just to deliver your own funeral? What a bunch of clowns!"
Having led three thousand Japanese troops against Edson's Ridge, Kawaguchi counted his surviving men after "advancing in reverse" out of the kill zone, only to suffer an immediate breakdown.
The troops left under his command numbered fewer than a thousand.
In a single wave of assault, two-thirds of his force had been wiped out.
At the thought, Kawaguchi drew his officer's sword and howled, "*Baka!* How could His Majesty the Emperor allow us to suffer such a disgrace..."
Before he could finish, five giant, mountain-like Slavic men strode out from the distance.
They carried Gatling guns in their hands, their bodies draped in belts of ammunition.
"Look! It's umies! Yellow ones!"
"Fightin' is good! Waaagh!"
Staring excitedly at Kawaguchi and the others, the Orc Lads raised their Gatling guns without hesitation.
Before the battle, Liu Ren had promised them: yellow-skinned umies were good for fightin'!
*Rat-tat-tat-tat!*
A howling metal storm tore through the remaining troops before them.
Advancing while sweeping the area, the Orc Lads showed no trace of mercy, only the pure joy of fighting!
"Ahahaha! Ahahaha!"
They pulled their triggers wildly. Once an Orc Lad ran out of ammunition, he blinked in surprise.
Seeing this, a Japanese soldier moved to counterattack, only to watch the Orc Lad swing the heavy Gatling gun in a wide arc straight at his head.
*Smash!*
Splattering like a crushed watermelon, the soldier collapsed instantly.
Watching this monster slaughter his men, Kawaguchi shrieked hysterically, "The Emperor..."
"What's this umie jabberin' about?"
Grabbing Kawaguchi, the Orc Lad crushed his skull, then casually tossed the corpse underfoot.
"I reckon he really liked fightin' us!"
His bright eyes filled with pure, innocent stupidity, the Orc Lad explained with a broad grin.
Chapter 62