"Start the attack!" the platoon leader ordered.

As a squad leader in the 1st Platoon, Corporal Mark immediately commanded his soldiers to stand up from the trench, bend over, and start advancing towards Yangon. On the company's position, the British machine gun position began to suppress the field positions of the Republic National Defense Force opposite with firepower.

Times have changed. In the Battle of the Somme, the British army once lined up in dense formations and launched an attack against the German machine gun positions, resulting in nearly 100,000 deaths in just one day. Since then, the British army has completely abandoned the tactic of lining up to be shot.

British infantry made full use of the terrain to maneuver, trying not to expose their troops to enemy fire as much as possible. Corporal Mark's heart was in his throat, but he tried hard to forget all this. He had participated in the European War and knew very well what wild thoughts meant.

The Chinese army on the opposite side also did their best to use the terrain for blocking. The only thing left in Corporal Mark's eyes was the small ridge in front. Only by occupying that ridge could they be closer to Yangon.

The Chinese army on the opposite side did not open fire until they were within 100 meters of the ridge. But the bullets were very dense, and screams immediately came from behind Corporal Mark. Looking back, a subordinate had fallen clutching his shoulder. Although not fatal yet, Corporal Mark knew that his squad had lost one member.

Treating the wounded was the responsibility of the medics. Corporal Mark asked his subordinates to lie on the ground and start shooting at the Chinese army's position. Not only Corporal Mark's squad, but other squads were doing the same thing. Amidst the cries of pain from the wounded and the pleas for treatment, Corporal Mark and his subordinates pulled the bolts and fired continuously, hoping to solve the enemy on the opposite side through firepower.

The firefight seemed to last for a long, long time because no matter how Corporal Mark shot, he couldn't solve the enemy on the opposite side. Bullets whistled out from the enemy's muzzle, proving that the enemy was still firmly entrenched behind that ridge, using this advantage to block the British army.

While exchanging fire with the enemy, Corporal Mark commanded his subordinates to crawl forward using the gaps in shooting, trying to shorten the distance between the two sides as much as possible before charging. Moving to a distance of about 50 meters, another subordinate of Mark screamed, stopped shooting, and covered his neck with his hand.

Corporal Mark hurriedly rolled over to his subordinate and saw that his subordinate had been shot in the collarbone, and blood was gushing out. Just as Corporal Mark wanted to call the medic, he heard a muffled groan. Turning his head, it turned out that after he rolled away from his position, another soldier arrived at Corporal Mark's previous position and shot at the Republic National Defense Force.

Now that British soldier had fallen on the ground and stopped shooting. Blood gushed out from his forehead, dyeing his cheek red. Judging from his posture, he should have been killed by a single shot.

If he hadn't moved away just now, the one who died might have been himself. Such a thought popped up in Corporal Mark's mind, making him feel great fear.

But the battlefield did not give Corporal Mark too much time to think. A buzzing sound came from above his head, getting closer and louder. When Corporal Mark looked up, he saw several planes diving down aggressively from above. Just after glancing twice, the machine guns on the plane wings roared. Corporal Mark saw the dirt splashing around him, instinctively closed his eyes, pressed against the ground, and curled up unconsciously.

The impact of bullets hitting the ground around him came. Corporal Mark couldn't help but put down his gun, his arms already protecting his head. Under such irresistible strafing, Corporal Mark had no other thoughts but to hug his head and curl into a ball. When dying screams were all around his ears, he closed his eyes, leaving only fear and the expectation of survival in his heart.

Corporal Mark couldn't remember what happened afterwards clearly. He roughly remembered that when the platoon leader ordered the troops to withdraw, he crawled past corpses and wounded soldiers with one or two or two or three uninjured soldiers. The smell of blood, the smell of smoke, and the heart almost jumping out of his chest made Corporal Mark's mind chaotic. Finally, somehow they withdrew. When Corporal Mark recovered his thinking ability, he found that the seven or eight people including himself were already at a position somewhat distant from the front line of engagement.

The platoon leader in front shouted angrily at a messenger, "We only have these few people left; how does the higher-up expect us to fight? Send us to die?!"

Corporal Mark had a strong resonance with the words 'send to die' at this time. He knew very well that if he launched another attack like the one just now, he would really die.

The three surrounded British divisions were all trying to break out, and the officers and soldiers participating in the breakout experienced the same result as Mark. The firing rate of the Republic National Defense Force rifles far exceeded that of the British army. No matter how the firefight went, the British army could not gain an advantage. Although the Lee-Enfield rifle was powerful, the British army had no advantage in the firefight, and the return fire from the opposite side was swift and precise.

What was worse was that the Chinese Air Force pilots who occupied the sky were daredevils. They dived and strafed again and again. Machine gun bullets fell from the sky like the whip of divine punishment, bringing death to the heads of the British army.

The wet land of Lower Burma was not conducive to building complete fortifications. It was very likely that digging a trench two feet deep would seep out more than half a foot of water. The British army could only fight in such an environment and suffered heavy losses in the multi-directional three-dimensional warfare of the Republic National Defense Force.

The frontline combat report was quickly transmitted back to the division headquarters of the three surrounded British divisions. At this time, it was less than a day since the encirclement. The division commanders still felt there was a possibility of breaking out, so they ordered their troops to change the direction of breakout and continue to break out. With the experience of the European War, the British division commanders knew very well that if their troops could not break through the encirclement of the Chinese army at this time, the possibility of breaking out would be greatly reduced by tomorrow.

This day was March 5, 1926. According to the schedule issued by the Asian International Tribunal, the representatives of the prosecution team began to investigate the massacre site on March 4. Under the protection of the Chinese army, the investigation had officially begun.

Not only legal experts came, but also many coroners. Similar to the composition of the Asian International Tribunal, most coroners were foreigners. More precisely, 20% of the coroners were Chinese related personnel, 50% were from Germany, Austria, and Hungary, 15% were French, 10% were Italian, and the other countries were that half percent. The number of British coroners was very small.

The prosecution team passed through those desolate villages. Judging from the scale of buildings and the number of farmlands, these villages once had a considerable population. Except for the victim witness group who went to China, the remaining local population was less than 20%.

Fortunately, the evidence provided by the Chinese side was quite detailed, and the transcripts and confessions were complete. What the prosecution team admired most was that the Chinese side provided a large number of photos and recordings. In the photos, those corpses lying in disorder left a deep impression on the members of the prosecution team.

Especially returning to the crime scene with photos, although the corpses in the photos were gone, the surrounding environment could easily match. due to the large rainfall and hot climate in Burma, the bloodstains at the time of the massacre could no longer be searched. But comparing the two, the crime scene could be confirmed.

After investigation by criminal investigators, bullet marks were found on bamboos, walls, and mountains. Some bullets were even taken out. These bullets were exactly the same model as the bullets equipped by the ANZAC Corps. At least it could be confirmed that someone fired here using standard weapons equipped by the ANZAC Corps.

Although the corpses in the photos were gone now, they were not destroyed but buried. Funerals in Burma included both cremation and burial. In the area where the crime occurred, cremation was the main method. However, under the persuasion of the Chinese army and the sharp decrease in population after the massacre, the locals agreed to temporary burial.

After the buried coffins were dug out, it was the turn of the coroners to start working. Even without coroners, legal experts who had studied autopsy and crime scene knowledge in law school could see that those corpses did not die naturally.

Gunshot wounds on the skull and chest, and traces of rope binding on the skin of the deceased. It was impossible for local Burmese to create these themselves. The Chinese side provided a large number of photos of corpses. By comparing with the corpses, it could be further confirmed that the people were massacred. And the killing methods were really 'varied': stabbed to death by chaotic knives, disemboweled, chopped into several pieces, shot dead by dozens of guns.

Although legally speaking, the captured members of the ANZAC Corps were all criminal suspects now, and before the trial ended, it could not be stated first that those people did it. But the prosecution team, criminal investigators, and coroners had roughly determined what happened based on what they saw with their own eyes, as well as photos and the grief and indignation memories of local people.

In order to practice courage by killing, the ANZAC Corps arrested the villagers of the Burmese villages they passed through. Commanded personally by company and platoon commanders, they organized items such as 'shooting,' 'bayonet fighting,' 'engineer tool melee,' and 'pure melee.' Different people were used as living test subjects and massacred.

Even if there was inevitably a mentality of white supremacy in their hearts, even if legal experts, criminal investigators, coroners, and reporters were knowledgeable and had a tolerance for criminal acts far higher than ordinary people.

However, seeing evidence of so many crimes with their own eyes, vomiting caused by tachycardia was just commonplace. A considerable proportion of personnel suffered severe mental stimulation so that they could not continue working. By the third day, 20% of the personnel had to leave work and be transported back to the rear.

Even those reporters who were most enthusiastic about urban murder cases and wished they could stick close to the corpse during interviews to record without dead angles looked bad. Most reporters just took pictures silently at a certain distance and no longer rushed to the front to grab news. Compared with those murder cases, the miserable state of these dead was even worse.

Burmese people who were shot dead by a single shot or hanged directly in the hands of the ANZAC Corps could even be considered lucky. Because if such a way of death happened in European and American cities, it would definitely be a case shaking the city. Cases of being tortured to death by a dozen or even dozens of people without exception became sensational torture cases in Europe. But here, being tortured to death collectively by a dozen or dozens of people was just a common way of death for the victims.

When reporters saw some corpses, especially the victimization situation of female corpses, most of them thought of 'Jack the Ripper.' But no one said this name out loud. Disemboweling women and cutting off their internal organs. This case happened in London in 1888. From 1888 to 1925, even though 37 years had passed, this case was always a hot topic in Britain. Any news related to this case, as long as it was reported, would definitely trigger a new round of heated discussion.

However, similar torture could be seen on some women massacred by the ANZAC Corps. Moreover, on some corpses, marks specially painted by the killers could even be seen. These marks were pattern marks drawn by Jack the Ripper on his victims as reported in newspapers. British reporters and some European reporters knew about this. Except for silent photography and recording, no reporter mentioned it, and no one even made a sound.

The sound of gunfire 30 kilometers away basically couldn't reach these places. Even if heard, no one was really frightened. Compared with the tens of thousands of massacred Burmese people, being shot dead by a single shot or blown up by a cannon shell on the battlefield was truly a merciful way to die.