Section 5

  The current fox team, including the captain, has a total of eight people. The weapons are as follows: one Han Yang rifle with over 60 rounds of ammunition, one bayonet, eight crossbows, each equipped with 40 arrows, 32 sets of blowpipes (three sets per person, pre-loaded with arrows, can be fired directly by each person three times), ten arrows for each person, two pig-killing knives, and three bone-picking knives (the pig-killing knife is slightly larger than the bone-picking knife, all borrowed from Zhang Butcher by Captain Zhang). Four hand grenades. Other weapons: several packages of willow leaf peach blossom branch powder, several packages of chili pepper powder, several packages of slaked lime powder, and several packages of unknown powder. One small pot, and each person has a water bottle, which was confiscated last time.

  At first, Captain Zhang saw Li Tie preparing these things and told Li Tie to follow the Jianghu code of conduct, not to use despicable tactics, and said that they were righteous masters, and one day they would drive the devils out of China. But Li Tie said, "I'm not preparing this for people," and Captain Zhang was relieved, really thinking it was for defense against wild beasts.

  Li Tie was secretly delighted, heh heh, beasts aren't human, right? The devils are like beasts, so the devils don't count as humans either. Giving it to the devils doesn't count as being a lowlife, does it?

  Li Tie led the Fox Team out of their base quietly, without being detected by the enemy.

  Li Tie gathered his teammates and explained his intentions:

  "Alright, comrades, now I'm going to take you all to catch some devils, are you afraid?"

  "Are we going with just a few of us? Last time Captain Zhang led dozens of people and they were still scattered by the devils."

  "Last time we had several guns, this time just one gun, and fewer people, can it work?"

  Team members raised questions one after another.

  "No, everyone's thinking is wrong. First of all, we're hiding in the bushes now, can the devils see us from a distance? Can't they?"

  Li Tie knew that if he didn't get everyone's minds in sync and boost their morale, they would be no match for the devils even if they did encounter them.

  "Also, our weapons, don't underestimate these slingshots and blowpipes, the devils will die instantly if they encounter them, this is much more powerful than the few guns we have now, everyone has seen my experiments, those chickens died immediately after touching the blowpipe, they died so fast, I estimate that the devils will definitely die if they encounter this thing."

  "Right, those chickens died too quickly last time."

  "The devils will definitely not be able to take it away."

  "That's right, it's this kind of logic."

  Everyone was chattering away.

  "I'm preparing to take everyone to the places where the devils or puppet troops often go, and lay an ambush. When the devils or puppet troops come over, we'll wipe them out, get their weapons, and slowly but surely, we'll have our own arms."

  "Alright, let's do it this way, Captain."

  Everyone agreed with this idea and had no objection.

  Everyone simply ate something and quietly set off again.

  Li Tie and his men aimed at the county town of Mengxian, which was about 70 or 80 li away from their base in a straight line, but actually over 100 li on foot.

  In the county town, there was a large Japanese army detachment and a puppet army detachment. Due to the rich coal mines here, the Japanese army stationed here is an enhanced detachment, with four infantry battalions and one machine gun battalion, as well as an artillery company equipped with 4 Type 92 70mm infantry guns.

  Due to its strong firepower, normally the Eighth Route Army guerrilla troops would not be active in this area.

  The sky gradually darkened, and the fox team was about thirty miles away from the county town.

  Li Tie decided to camp overnight. Li Tie had no intention of launching a strong attack on the county town, and with just these few men, it was not enough to fill the gaps between the Japanese devils' teeth. He also didn't plan to disguise himself and enter the city, as it would be easy to get in but difficult to get out, let alone bring his guns out with him.

  Li Tie wanted to lurk around the vicinity, capture some isolated devils or puppet troops, accumulate some experience against the enemy, and wait for the opportunity to mature before taking down the county town.

  Taking advantage of everyone's preparation for dinner, Li Tie climbed to the top of the mountain, crouched behind a rock, and carefully observed the forest in the night. At this moment, a pheasant suddenly flew up from the front half of the mountain, followed by another one, and it seemed that there was someone moving around. Due to the darkness and distance, nothing could be seen clearly.

  Li Tie hastily returned to the campsite, gathered everyone together and told them about what he had just seen.

  "It's definitely someone who is active, at this time, if you don't scare the pheasants, they won't fly."

  "It's unclear whether the other side is friend or foe, now everyone hurry up and eat, two minutes later prepare to evacuate."

  The team members each took some food and transferred. When they reached the top of the mountain, they ate while carefully paying attention to where the pheasants flew up.

  Except for the wind blowing through the pine trees, making a low humming sound, nothing else can be seen.

  Li Tie decided to rest now and go to that place before dawn tomorrow to check the situation. If it's a devil, he'll catch him off guard; if it's a friendly army, that would be even better, as one more person is always one more share of strength.

  Time passed slowly.

  In about two hours, daybreak would arrive. A sentry came over and woke up Li Tie and the squad members.

  "Everyone, be careful when we pass by. Don't make any noise. If it's the enemy, it's best to take them out silently. If we're discovered, don't panic. They can't see us clearly. If we get scattered, each of you will fight on your own and then meet back at our noon rest spot. Does anyone have any questions?"

  "It's all gone!"

  "Let's go!"

  Taking advantage of the faint moonlight, Li Tie and his comrades quietly made their way up to the middle of the mountain.

  We are just about to reach the location where the pheasants take off. It's quiet and still, not even a bug chirping.

  Quiet is not normal.

  Li Tie and everyone exchanged a look, each person prepared their blowpipes and hand crossbows, and more cautiously bent down to search forward.

  Dada

  A string of flames suddenly shot towards Li Tie and his comrades from the front.

  One of the team members groaned and fell down.

  "Hiss" "Hiss" "Hiss" "Hiss"......

  At least five or six crossbow bolts mixed with flying darts shot towards the flames.

  The flame went out. A rustling sound came from the grass in front, and then it was quiet again.

  "Xiao Zhao, how are you?"

  "It's nothing, just a hole in the leg."

  The team member who just fell down said in a low voice.

  "Quick withdrawal".

  Two team members helped Xiao Zhao retreat, Li Tie held a crossbow in one hand and a broken blowpipe in the other.

  The devils generally don't have automatic weapons, and the puppet army even less so. The appearance of this thing can only explain one problem: they've run into the devil's special forces.

  This miserable situation with a low probability during the Anti-Japanese War period was encountered by Li Tie.

  The Japanese garrison defending the county town originally had no special forces, but since the last time Shonen's sweep didn't encounter a single Eighth Route Army soldier, Captain Watanabe of the Japanese garrison felt that something was not normal. He believed that the Eighth Route Army had hidden themselves during Shonen's sweep and that this place was an unknown secret base of theirs. Therefore, he submitted a report to bring in a special forces unit for infiltration, firstly to reconnoiter this secret base, secondly to use their hands to eliminate this base while it was still in its infancy.

  This special forces unit came from Beiping, originally there was no need to deploy troops from afar in Beiping, but since this small unit was originally going to Jinan and happened to pass by here, they were used conveniently, also allowing them to familiarize themselves with the local combat environment ahead of time.

  This special forces team consists of 14 people, with a radio transmitter and one sniper equipped with a Type 99 rifle. The rest are equipped with a Type 100 submachine gun (this type of submachine gun is mainly used by the Japanese army's paratroopers, airborne special warfare units, and behind-enemy infiltration units). The Type 100 submachine gun has a high firing density when fired continuously, and higher accuracy when fired individually, with an effective range of 120 meters. This submachine gun was produced in small quantities and is only used by special forces; regular combat units do not use the Type 100 submachine gun. It has a caliber of 8mm, a barrel length of 240mm, a total length of 900mm, and weighs [unknown]. It uses a 30 or 20-round magazine, with a firing rate of 450-800 rounds per minute (adjustable). The initial velocity is effective at a range of 120m, with a maximum range of 700m. Each person has 300 rounds of ammunition.

  One Type 16 automatic pistol (this gun has a caliber of 8mm, holds 16 rounds, and has an effective range of 70m and a maximum range of 650m; the bullets can be used interchangeably with the Type 100 submachine gun). The Type 99 sniper rifle has a caliber of [unknown], a barrel length of 657mm, a total length of 1058mm, holds 5 rounds, and has an accurate range of 900m and a maximum range of 3500m. The sniper has 300 rounds of ammunition.

  Each person also has four hand grenades, as well as a "Type 99" backpack made of cowhide, with a Japanese "Type 98" infantry pickaxe on the outside, containing an army blanket, portable tent, "Type 95" gas mask, Japanese detoxification kit, chemical-resistant gloves, water bottle, folding bucket, lunchbox, aluminum cup, military knife, one copy per person of the "Soldier's Handbook", wind mirror, and mosquito-repellent gloves.

  Because it was the first time in this place, the special squad of devils had just camped out and thought about starting to search the mountain tomorrow, so everyone was relatively relaxed, only arranging one person to keep watch, switching every two hours. As a result, when Li Tie launched the attack, it happened to be the sniper's turn on watch, and the sniper didn't take it too seriously, thinking that they were just a few local bandits, seeing several black shadows approaching, not having time to use the sniper rifle, drawing out his pistol was a burst of shots, resulting in one person being injured, while he himself died from multiple arrow wounds.

  Poor Li Tie, before he even started, one of his own men was already injured.

  Li Tie didn't know that their blowpipe had just taken out the enemy's sentry, who was also a sniper. The remaining enemies, due to unclear enemy situation, were prepared to be ambushed and did not attack.

  Li Tie didn't know that this was a particularly special unit of the Japanese army.

  The members of this unit are the children of high-ranking military officers in the Japanese army. Due to Japan's militarism, these people are particularly enthusiastic about war. Because of their family background, they have more contact with the military and formed a special combat team called "Sakura King" with over a dozen people. After training with other special forces for several days, they felt invincible and caused trouble everywhere in the country, bullying the weak and small, kicking the Beifeng Nursing Home, punching the Nanshan Kindergarten, feeling like they were unbeatable. Moreover, others showed mercy to them because of their elders, which made them feel even more invincible.

  The final result was that their reputation for being good at fighting and fierce in battle finally reached the military department. Since the Japanese army needed a large number of troops, they did not conduct a detailed assessment of them, but thought they were indeed an elite force. With a stroke of the pen, they were sent to China to make achievements for the Great Japanese Imperial Army.

  Relying on their connections with the previous generation, they managed to obtain equipment that ordinary Japanese troops did not have. With a fierce momentum, they killed their way into China and arrived in Beiping. Coincidentally, the Beiping Command had just received a report from the Jinan War Zone requesting such a unit, so they were dispatched there.

  With the team members successfully withdrawn, it was strange that the enemy did not fire a shot or pursue.

  Daybreak found the fox squad crossing several mountains and resting in a dense forest.

  A bandage was applied to the injured Little Zhao. The team members prepared to start a fire and cook something to eat. In the morning, there was fog, and smoke mixed with the fog was not easy to detect, so Li Tie allowed everyone to have a hot meal in the morning. Li Tie looked at the blood drops left by Little Zhao all the way, his eyebrows tightly furrowed.

  "We withdrew immediately, and the enemy followed up right away."

  The team members immediately put out the fire and supported Xiao Zhao to continue transferring.

  Li Tie rummaged in the fire pit that had just been extinguished, carefully placing a dozen or so fist-sized stones on the branches of the small tree closest to the fire pit. He then rummaged through a hand grenade and carefully placed it between the branches, tying the string to the branch before going to chase after the other team members.

  It has to be said that these devils still have some endurance. After Li Tie left, about ten minutes later, a group of devils emerged from the thin fog along the bloodstains.

  After the devils arrived here, they found that the blood trail had stopped. One of the devils took off his glove and tested the temperature of the ash by poking it with his finger, seemingly trying to test the temperature inside the ash. Suddenly, his finger was pricked by something, he lifted his hand to take a look, and it was a small wooden thorn, but the blood flowing out from the finger pierced by the wooden thorn was black - this was an arrow coated with "see-blood-kill-throat" poison. Then everything in front of him became blurred, even before he had time to feel the pain.

  The little devil team leader saw that from last night to now, first his own sniper was mysteriously shot dead by an arrow, and now another member died in front of him. He angrily punched a small tree next to him, the tree shook violently, and stones of various sizes fell from the branches, most of which landed around the special forces team, but one large stone happened to hit the team leader's head, instantly creating a big bump on his head. The little devil was so angry that he kicked the small tree with his military boots, the tree shook again, and issued an unprecedented protest - throwing out the hand grenade that had been made into a stone, which just happened to land under the feet of three devils, who still thought it was just a stone and didn't pay much attention.

  Boom

  The stone exploded and three devils fell in the bloody mess.

  Bajia

  The little devil team leader is really furious, without seeing an enemy, he lost five men first.

  He drew out his command knife and with one slash split the small tree in two.

  "The bandits are very cunning, we must be careful, if we don't wipe out this group of bandits, I swear I won't give up!"

  "Follow the footprints left by the Eighth Route Army and chase them down! We can't let them get away!" The little devil squad leader gave a vicious order.