Chapter 11: Juyong’s Last Line of Defense

“Because this is already the last line of defense between us and our base.”

“If the Japanese devils break through again, our base will be completely exposed to their guns and artillery.”

“We have to stay and help.”

“But don’t worry. Once this round of shelling is over and the Japanese start charging up the hill—”

“I’ll have Linzi and the others take you down the mountain and lead you away from Juyong through a side path…” Yang Ergou said grimly.

“Leave Juyong? Why? I was planning to head to the base…”

“No! The base is too dangerous… Forget it, I’ll be honest with you!”

Afraid Jiang Yu wouldn’t listen and would insist on going to the base, Yang Ergou quickly explained:

“These past days, we’ve been locked in a back-and-forth with the Japanese, defending line after line.”

“Add to that our supply lines being cut off—our base is already nearly out of ammunition and food.”

“If you go now, and this line falls, you won’t be able to get out again…”

Fighting was their job as adults. When they were ordered to defend Juyong, they had already prepared to live or die with the city.

But… even though Yang Ergou couldn’t see Jiang Yu’s face, he could tell from her voice that she was still young.

He didn’t want a girl so young to lose her life here.

Whether it was because he was grateful for the guns and ammo she had given them earlier, or for her exaggerated “official identity”—

“Ammunition and food are gone? Then I must go. Didn’t I already say I have a batch of Japanese guns and ammo?”

“Mm! I know, that’s why Linzi and the others are counting on you for their weapons and ammunition.”

“You know nothing!”

Ha! So it turned out these people didn’t actually believe her in the first place!

Furious, Jiang Yu directly opened her storage space and with a whoosh, began rapidly tossing out grenade launchers.

In the blink of an eye, the cave was filled to the brim, leaving barely any room for anyone to stand.

“…Th-These are… grenade launchers!”

“Oh my god! Am I dreaming? No, even in dreams I’ve never seen this many grenade launchers!”

“C-Captain, these seem to be real launchers… and they’re Japanese!”

“It’d take dozens of people just to carry this many…”

The group, previously on edge and listening nervously to the sounds outside, were now completely stunned into incoherence by the sight before them.

Jiang Yu ignored the others and locked eyes on Yang Ergou: “These are the Japanese grenade launchers I hijacked earlier.”

“I’ve still got a lot more. Are you sure you want to give all of these to just Linzi and the other guy? Can they even make use of this many?”

“Hell no! They’d be spoiled rotten… This—this is real, it’s actually real grenade launchers!”

After the shock wore off, Yang Ergou casually picked up a launcher, staring at it with obsessive eyes, unable to tear his gaze away.

“What else? Want to go outside and test it out?” Jiang Yu rolled her eyes helplessly.

“N-No need, I recognize this thing…” Yang Ergou suddenly looked up at Jiang Yu in disbelief:

“So… you really have a tank?”

“Of course! If you still don’t believe me, we can go outside right now and I’ll show you!”

Seriously!

If even now he didn’t believe her, Jiang Yu was completely done with trying to explain.

She waved her hand, storing all the launchers back into her space, then turned to head outside.

“Wait! Wait! Where are my grenade launchers! My—”

“I put them away. Let’s go outside. I’ll show you the tank, so you’ll finally believe me.”

“No! I believe you! I believe you completely! Just bring out the grenade launchers again so I can look at them?”

The heavy weight of the grenade launcher in his hands—Yang Ergou’s expression shifted several times.

In the end, he had no choice but to believe that Jiang Yu truly possessed some kind of supernatural ability, not just some illusion or trick.

After all, with so many grenade launchers, the sheer volume and weight alone weren’t something that could be faked with sleight of hand…

Wait a minute!

If she had really looted the Japanese army’s entire supply of ammunition, then their defensive line here…

Just as he was thinking that, the Japanese artillery finally stopped. In its place came an intense barrage of gunfire, machine gun “tat-tat-tat” sounds, and the loud booms of grenades launched from grenade tubes.

The Japanese were starting their assault.

Yang Ergou listened carefully and quickly realized—whether it was the grenade blasts or the machine gun fire—it wasn’t coming from their side.

Only gunfire could still be heard from the top of the hill.

But he knew very well: with their current ammunition levels, even that gunfire probably wouldn’t last much longer.

So then—

“Little girl, quickly—please bring out those grenade launchers again, and I’ll have Linzi and the others immediately escort you out of here…”

“No need. I’ll go with you. How many of you can actually carry all this?”

Judging from the look on everyone’s faces, Jiang Yu could already guess the situation on the hilltop was grim.

So before she even finished speaking, she was already striding out of the cave ahead of the others.

Yang Ergou opened his mouth to say something as he looked at her back—but in the end, he just steeled himself and hurried to lead everyone after her.

They protected Jiang Yu tightly in the center as they rushed toward the hilltop…

The scene at the top of the hill was far worse than Jiang Yu had imagined.

The earlier Japanese bombardment had nearly wiped out most of the defensive fortifications at the summit.

The battlefield was littered with severed limbs and blood-soaked earth—the ground was nearly dyed red from all the blood.

The soldiers who were still alive acted like they hadn’t noticed any of it. Those who still had guns clutched them tightly, desperately trying to suppress the incoming wave of Japanese troops.

Those without weapons grabbed whatever they could—or simply used their bare hands—to dig and rebuild defensive positions.

When they saw that only a few people had arrived with Jiang Yu, the glimmer of hope that had just lit up on their faces was instantly replaced by even deeper despair.

Their ammunition wouldn’t last much longer. If no reinforcements came, they might truly be wiped out here today.

Their own deaths weren’t the issue. Once Juyong fell, there would be no more barriers behind them. The Japanese could head straight for Nanjing.

Then, the civilians along the way—and the city of Nanjing itself—would be directly exposed to enemy guns and artillery…

Jiang Yu didn’t waste time with words. Despite her fear, she gritted her teeth and began pulling supplies from her space.

First, she brought out a pile of machine guns and dozens of boxes of ammunition.

Next, a heap of grenade launchers and their corresponding shells.

Finally, several crates of hand grenades.

Thinking it still wasn’t enough, she added several boxes of canned luncheon meat, various medicines, and rolls of bandages…

Suddenly!

BOOM—!

Jiang Yu was still busy when a grenade exploded not far from their position.

Although she was being protected in the center and wasn’t seriously injured, the explosion still showered her with dust and debris.

Thankfully, she had bundled herself tightly earlier—leaving only her eyes exposed—out of fear of bugs and snakes in the forest, so she wasn’t too badly affected.

The others weren’t so lucky—especially Yang Ergou, who had been the closest to the blast.

His good arm was struck directly, with a large chunk of flesh torn off, and blood gushed out instantly.