The expeditionary force began to dominate Southeast Asia by recruiting defeated soldiers

Chapter 416: Battle of the Lion City Governor's Mansion (2) Military Flags Flying

The sky was gloomy, but fortunately it didn't rain, so the P-47s of the Anmin Army could still provide air support with ammunition.

Countless bombs of all sizes were dropped by swooping planes, knocking the Japanese soldiers on the position to the ground.

With the end of the last round of air raids, the large-scale positions deployed by the Japanese around the Governor's Mansion in Lion City were on the verge of collapse. Bunkers and barricades were blown down, and the circular artillery positions filled with sandbags were directly wiped out by the explosion. Steel artillery weighing hundreds or thousands of kilograms were blown into the sky and then fell to the ground in pieces.

The last round of high-explosive bombs fired by the heavy artillery in the rear accurately hit the guard post and surrounding positions on the northwest side of the Governor's Mansion. Flames shot into the sky, and concrete fragments and broken pieces of Japanese soldiers exploded like fireworks.

The entire block in front of the Governor's Palace was like a boiling iron pot in hell, with flames, smoke, rubble and shrapnel flying wildly in the air.

Li Wenbin crouched low, one hand on his helmet, the other waving a forward gesture: "Second squad, outflanking to the left! Han Zhiyuan, follow me with the military flag! Wait until the tanks lead the way, then we'll attack!"

"Yes!" Corporal Han Zhiyuan followed closely behind, carrying the huge flag of the Anmin Army on his back.

The military flag was tightly wrapped in canvas, with only a corner of blood-red cloth exposed. It swayed gently in the smoke, like a piece of hot blood that had not yet dripped.

Next to Li Wenbin, the short recruit carrying a walkie-talkie was named Chen Ming. Although his lips were pale and his military uniform was soaked with sweat, he held his submachine gun tightly in his palm and never left his platoon leader's side.

As the sound of tracks rang out, three M4 medium tanks equipped with bulldozers turned in from the corner of the street. The brave infantrymen stood on the tank bodies and picked up the M2HB heavy machine guns on the top of the turret. Flames spurted out and opened a line of fire.

Li Wenbin led the infantrymen to follow the tanks and advance along the wall.

Although the huge Governor's Mansion had already been destroyed by the artillery and air raids of the Anmin Army, the remaining Japanese soldiers in the building were still fighting back.

Occasionally, some Japanese soldiers would set up light machine guns and poke their heads out from between the broken window frames of tall buildings to fire, or throw grenades out, but it was obvious that there was no organized defense system.

The Japanese, lacking anti-tank weapons, were completely unable to stop the coordinated advance of the Anmin Army's infantry and tanks.

If you look down from the sky, you can see countless surrounding troops like countless sharp swords stabbing at the Governor's Palace made of reinforced concrete.

Soon, Li Wenbin led his troops through the open garden in front of the Governor's Mansion and approached the main building.

Suddenly, a grenade thrown by the Japanese from a high place exploded in front of the right side of the team.

"Get down!"

Li Wenbin shouted and everyone immediately lay down.

"boom!"

The explosion made several people's eardrums buzz. In the chaos, two soldiers were hit by shrapnel and fell to the ground screaming in pain.

Li Wenbin's face turned pale, and he gritted his teeth and growled, "Where's the medic? Save them! Squad One, keep pushing forward, don't stop, follow me into the building!"

The wounded were quickly pulled to the bunker by medical soldiers, given simple bandages, and waited for evacuation.

The tanks that were covering them stopped in the garden and fired their main guns at any suspicious windows and holes in turn, suppressing the Japanese inside.

Li Wenbin looked at the collapsed wall so close and shouted an order:

"Ready smoke bombs—throw!"

At the command, thick white smoke filled the front line.

"rush!"

The team of more than 20 people immediately turned into ghosts, quickly crossed the last open space, and poured into the Governor's Mansion through the gap in the collapsed wall.

"Go!" Li Wenbin rushed to the front with his gun raised.

In the thick smoke, he keenly caught the fire coming from the stairs on the left, and immediately raised the Thompson submachine gun in his hand and started firing.

Two Japanese soldiers holding long rifles immediately tumbled down the stairs wailing, but accidentally detonated the booby trap they had laid themselves.

After a loud bang, Li Wenbin was blown away, his head hit the wall hard, and blood oozed from his forehead.

"Platoon leader!" Chen Ming, carrying a walkie-talkie, rushed over and supported him.

Li Wenbin half-opened his eyes, ignoring his vision covered in blood, and uttered a few words with difficulty:

"——Flag——Keep carrying it——Complete the mission——"

"Yes, hold on!" Chen Ming picked up the microphone of the walkie-talkie and first notified the rear that the flag guard troops had attacked the building. Then he picked up Li Wenbin's submachine gun and put the gun belt across his body.

An old squad leader took over the command. He nodded to Han Zhiyuan, who was carrying a red flag, gritted his teeth, and shouted, "The rest of you, follow me! Target - the roof of the Governor's Mansion!"

------

More and more troops poured into the Governor's Mansion from all directions.

The battle quickly entered the stage of hand-to-hand combat indoors.

The remaining Japanese military police and engineering troops held the halls and corridors of the building.

The soldiers of the Security Army used grenades, submachine guns, and shotguns, and advanced step by step relying on skillful coordination and weapons that were more suitable for indoor close combat.

The interior decoration of the colonial governor's palace left by John is magnificent, with a floor height of more than three meters, spacious and solid, and a large number of corridors, stone pillars and stairs.

The flag guard troops continued to charge and fight, climbing up the stairs from the first floor to the second floor and the third floor. People kept falling down and being replaced by new ones.

Han Zhiyuan, carrying a red flag, was protected in the innermost area, while the soldiers around him carried folding flagpoles.

Little Chen Ming remembered Li Wenbin's last order and stayed by his side, firing continuously with the submachine gun in his hand.

Finally, they rushed to a corridor on the third floor, and Han Zhiyuan saw the iron ladder leading upwards at a glance.

The next second, a Japanese soldier rushed out from a room beside the corridor, with explosives tied around his waist and two smoking grenades in his hands. He shouted "It's dark, get on board!" and rushed towards them.

Everyone was shocked.

"Quickly open!"

The old squad leader raised the Winchester shotgun in his hand and fired. The huge impact force immediately knocked the short and fat Japanese soldier back repeatedly.

"boom--"

After the violent explosion, Chen Ming, whose ears were buzzing, crawled up. He shook his head and touched his body, only to find that he was unharmed. He only remembered that someone pushed him at the last moment.

"Hurry, go upstairs!" Han Zhiyuan fell to the ground, blood dripping down his thigh, but he didn't care. He just took off the military flag behind him, held it in his hand and tried to complete the last step.

It was unknown whether the old squad leader was alive or dead, and the few people who were still able to move after the explosion immediately took action.

There were still many remaining Japanese soldiers in the building, and the exchange of fire broke out again.

Han Zhiyuan and, under the cover of Chen Ming and other soldiers, ignored their injuries and climbed up the iron ladder using their hands and feet, heading towards the rooftop platform.

Han Zhiyuan's eyes were red with anger. He bit the military flag with his teeth, exerted force with his arms, and dragged his injured leg to climb up to the rooftop platform first.

"Quick... the flagpole... the flagpole is still there!"

The flagpole with the Japanese army flag hanging on it actually survived the heavy bombing, which saved us a lot of trouble.

Chen Ming staggered up to the flagpole with his gun in hand. After taking a quick look and finding that there were no Japanese soldiers around, he quickly pulled out the small knife he carried with him, cut the rope tied to the flagpole with one stroke, and gritted his teeth to pull down the plaster flag.

Amid the roar of gunfire, Han Zhiyuan unfolded the blood-stained military flag, and the two of them worked together to pull it up to the top of the flagpole inch by inch.

"The flag is raised! It's up!"

"It's our army's flag!"

"The Governor's Palace has been captured!"

"Brothers, we won!"