In northern Yizhou, the 9th Division finally arrived five days later.
Yet when a disheveled Tasaka laid eyes on the equally battered Hitomi Shūzō, both men fell into silence.
Halfway through its march, his 9th Division had already suffered catastrophic casualties out of its more than twenty thousand troops, leaving barely over ten thousand men remaining.
Hitomi Shūzō's 12th Division was in even worse shape, on the verge of complete collapse.
Had Liu Ren not held back from attacking, Hitomi would likely have committed seppuku long ago.
Liu Ren's pause was not out of mercy to grant Hitomi a chance to live, but to wait for the 9th Division to arrive.
He intended to completely annihilate both forces right here.
"What? The Americans have only a single brigade?"
Staring at Hitomi in disbelief, Tasaka wore a look of utter astonishment.
How could a brigade of around five thousand men beat Hitomi Shūzō into such an abysmal state? Were they all supermen?
Hearing Tasaka's question, Hitomi replied, "Their firepower is the most terrifying thing I have ever witnessed in my entire life! The 12th Division has no heavy artillery left to counter them!"
Looking at Hitomi, Tasaka roared, "Damn them! Relying solely on superior equipment?"
While the two were talking, an alarmed shout came from outside: "Lieutenant General, sir! Outside—look outside!"
"What is it?"
As Hitomi Shūzō and Tasaka raised their binoculars, a massive portrait and flags came into view.
Seeing the caricature of the "Shōwa boy" defaced beyond recognition and covered in insulting slurs, both Hitomi and Tasaka roared in fury.
Then they saw Tadamichi Kuribayashi hanging from his own divisional banner!
"How... how dare they do this!"
Screaming hysterically, Tasaka slammed his fist onto the table and bellowed.
This was no longer a mere insult; it was pointing straight at their faces and cursing them!
Before the shock could subside, another banner was raised high—the standard of the 2nd Division from Guadalcanal, alongside Masao Maruyama!
Watching the Sendai Division's flag trampled underfoot in the dirt, every Japanese soldier erupted in instant rage.
Coldly lowering his binoculars, Liu Ren turned his head and asked, "Are you ready? The moment they charge out, hit them with everything!"
"We've been ready for a long time. It took a lot of work to bring over five hundred rocket launcher trucks!"
Grinning fiercely, Forrest bit down on his cigar and let out a hearty laugh.
He loved scenes of bloody slaughter like this. This was real war!
"Hey, Japanese soldiers across the field, listen up! Our commander says he's going to sever your necks, land in Tokyo, and slaughter every last one of your wives and children! Hahaha!"
"Do you see this? This is Tadamichi Kuribayashi from Iwo Jima..."
As the banner waved, the effigy of Kuribayashi swung back and forth in midair, wearing an angry glare.
"Baka! I cannot bear this! They are humiliating the Empire!"
Tasaka shrieked in uncontrolled rage.
Hitomi Shūzō roared as well, "Disgrace! An absolute disgrace!"
"For His Majesty the Emperor! Banzai!"
Drawing the katana at his waist, Tasaka screamed hysterically.
Witnessing the scene, countless Japanese soldiers shared the same burning hatred, pouring out of the trenches and roaring toward the opposite line.
Watching the Japanese surging forward less than a kilometer away, screaming like madmen, Liu Ren picked up the field telephone and said, "Fire!"
Three kilometers away, before the rocket trucks, a soldier hung up the phone and waved his arm violently. "Fire!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
As thousands upon thousands of rockets surged into the sky, the entire world seemed to darken.
Before fully mastering the Katyusha technology, Liu Ren's rocket artillery was essentially a rough prototype.
He did not care how accurate it was; sheer volume was enough.
If one rocket missed, he refused to believe thousands of them would miss!
Just as the enraged Japanese soldiers rushed near the trenches, howling Gatling and Maxim guns opened fire.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Bullets tore through the charging soldiers like a torrential downpour, ripping them apart into clouds of blood mist.
Watching their men fall in heaps, Tasaka and Hitomi Shūzō finally came to their senses.
The enemy had deliberately provoked them!
Yet an arrow loosed from the bow could not turn back; they had no choice but to press forward with everything they had.
Their two divisions combined numbered nearly twenty thousand men. Could they really fail to overrun the five-thousand-man Special Operations Brigade before them?
Just as the two forces were about to clash in close combat, brilliant trails of rockets filled the sky.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Violent explosions immediately unleashed crushing shockwaves. Seeing his soldiers blasted into the air only to crash heavily back to earth, Hitomi Shūzō cried out in terror, "How can this be? Dammit, how is this possible? Didn't they exhaust their ammunition?"
Before Hitomi could finish, Tasaka stared at the falling rockets and cried, "Bastard, what kind of weapon is this?"
Ignoring Tasaka, Hitomi had truly believed Liu Ren was out of rockets.
Who could have guessed the enemy was so vicious, waiting right here to spring this trap on them?
As ranks of soldiers collapsed under the saturated bombardment, ground into mulch for the earth, Liu Ren pumped his fists and roared, "Come on, you bastards!"
Watching Liu Ren's wild display, Forrest laughed aloud as well.
"Advance to the rear! Advance to the rear!"
The frontline officers broke down completely, screaming hysterically.
They could not even reach the enemy positions; advancing was pure suicide.
Yet before they could retreat, the Special Operations Brigade surged from their trenches, letting out a deafening battle cry: "Charge!"
Watching the full-scale assault of the Special Operations Brigade, Tasaka and Hitomi Shūzō stood utterly stunned.
They could not believe that a battlefield meant to test the martial valor of soldiers had turned into a mechanized slaughterhouse where weapons reigned supreme!
Even screaming for their Emperor and shouting banzai, their men could not cross the line of death...
From that moment on, everything they took pride in became a complete joke!
The battle raged from the afternoon until night fell on the third day.
Looking across the recaptured northern Yizhou, Liu Ren's eyes were cold and ruthless. "What do you mean they committed seppuku?"
"Forgive us, Colonel. When we arrived, they were already..."
Looking at Liu Ren helplessly, the messenger felt aggrieved. The commanders had died quickly enough, but they had left him to take the blame!
"Then why the fuck didn't you bring back their heads? Huh? Their wives and children are still waiting for them back in Tokyo!"
Slamming his hand onto the table in anger, Liu Ren showed not a shred of pity.
Did they think dying would erase all their crimes? Not a chance!
Once they landed in Tokyo, Liu Ren would track them down name by name according to his list. No matter who they were, every single one of them was going to die!
During his time in the early Sui and Tang dynasties, Liu Ren had learned nothing if not the ancestral art of cutting the weeds and digging out the roots.
Now, he was going to carry that craft forward.
If MacArthur could play Supreme Commander over there, why couldn't Liu Ren rule alongside him as co-emperor?
Was his axe not sharp enough, or was Silver Rock Arms lacking in firepower?
Liu Ren: Look at me, bastard, and tell me! Why the hell not!
Turning on his heel, Liu Ren walked out onto the plaza. Looking at the captured Japanese soldiers staring around in terror, he raised his hand and slowly swept it down.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
A burst of gunfire erupted, and rows of Japanese soldiers fell like harvested leeks.
Watching expressionlessly with both hands resting on the railing, Liu Ren murmured, "Blood for blood, a tooth for a tooth! Only that is fair!"
Chapter 72