Chapter 7: The Bet

  Koizumi Masao, who had been teased, got angry and slapped Gidayu Hayami twice.

  However, Koizumi Masao was after all a top-notch young officer of the Japanese army, and he regained his composure in just a few seconds. He decided that this must be an enemy trick to deceive him into underestimating them.

  Having thought it through clearly, Koizumi Shigeo was in high spirits. The fact that the Chinese army had to resort to such despicable tactics could only be a testament to the weakness of the Chinese army.

  Fifteen minutes after the troops set off again, they arrived smoothly on the east bank of a small river.

  This river was not marked on the standard military map used by the Japanese army, but that did not mean Koizumi was unfamiliar with it; the Tokko had provided him with supplementary maps. Nevertheless, when he arrived at the riverbank, he was still surprised.

  The supplementary map of the special high course indicates that the water depth of this river is at most only fifty centimeters, and tanks, armored vehicles, including people, can cross the river directly. But the river in front of him was not like that. He ordered his subordinates to measure the water depth immediately, and the measured data showed that the deepest point was 1.8 meters. This depth is not only impossible for soldiers to cross the river directly, but also impossible for tanks and armored vehicles to cross the river directly.

  Koizumi was in a difficult situation.

  This assault route was carefully designed by multiple departments of the Japanese army, and all intelligence indicated that no pontoon bridge needed to be built on this route. Therefore, before the action, Koizumi's rapid assault unit did not prepare equipment for building a pontoon bridge either.

  "Launch a search in both upstream and downstream directions at the same time, looking for everything that can be used to build a pontoon bridge!" After issuing this order, Koizumi gathered several advisors to think about countermeasures. He knew that the idea of building a pontoon bridge with local materials was not practical.

  Half an hour later, he was disappointed. Several advisors including himself could not think of a better solution. But the development of things is not one-sided, Koizumi also has good luck sometimes.

  The unintentional order he gave out of desperation brought an unexpected result: the soldiers who went downstream to search for materials found the reason why the river water was rising.

  "Despicable Chinese! How despicable!"

  Once the cause is found, things are easy to solve. When all troops crossed this unnamed river, Koizumi looked at his watch and it was 12:05, a whole hour later than originally planned.

  "Never mind! Let those detestable Chinese people ascend to Western Heaven an hour late!"

  Koizumi Masao, who seemed to be as confident as ever, may or may not have realized it himself, but at this moment, he had made a foolish decision in his subconscious mind. He changed the battle plan that was set up overnight, and his troops would no longer take occupying Jiajiazhuang as their only goal. He wanted to completely annihilate this despicable Chinese blocking detachment, trample them underfoot, and make them surrender completely. Koizumi Masao wanted to avenge his previous defeat!

  No matter whether Koizumi is aware of it or not, this stupid decision only exists in his subconscious mind and he still has a long way to go before making the actual decision. Now, Ye needs to humiliate him further.

  This humiliation didn't make Koizumi Junichiro wait for long.

  As his troops continued to advance across the river, a combat team suddenly emerged from behind, with a small number of people but extremely ruthless.

  They quietly approached the Koizumi unit's rear guard and, with a burst of gunfire and a barrage of hand grenades, took down more than 20 Imperial warriors in less than a minute.

  What's most infuriating is that after the rear guard squadron reacted, this group suddenly retreated. They came silently and left without a trace, leaving only the lieutenant of the rear guard squadron to curse for over twenty seconds with his eight teeth clenched.

  The information reached Koizumi's ears, and Koizumi smiled secretly, his face still calm. He comforted the lieutenant colonel, saying: "Lieutenant Colonel Kimura, please rest assured that I will make the Chinese pay back what they owe us twofold!"

  At 12:50, Koizumi's rapid strike force finally saw the planned rest point, Ooizumi Village, which was less than three kilometers from Nirosan.

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  At this time, Li Zhongyun and his brothers, who had completed their task, returned to Erlang Mountain.

  In the stone pavilion, Ye Tufei quietly listened to Li Zhongyun's report, slightly furrowing his brow and saying: "Didn't I tell you to try your best to wound but not kill the little Japanese?"

  When Li Zhongyun accepted the task, he indeed heard Ye Tufei's reminder to try his best to wound rather than kill the little Japanese, but once the fight started, he forgot about this.

  Faced with Ye Tu Fei's questioning, Li Zhong Yun could only honestly admit his mistake and said: "In the first battle against Little Japan, brothers failed to grasp the measure."

  Ye Tu Fei's face sank, saying: "I'm afraid it's not that the brothers didn't grasp the measure, but rather you, the captain, who has no measure yourself?"

  Li Zhongyun lowered his head and said: "Sixth Master, I was wrong!"

  Zhang Luohui mediated on the side, saying: "Fourth brother and others killed more than a dozen little devils with one breath. In my opinion, they have made great contributions. Sixth Master, you are also, why only ask to wound instead of kill?"

  Ever since he met Zhang Luo Hui, Guo Zhong Lin was like a child who had found a playmate, happy and excited. As soon as he heard Zhang Luo Hui speak, he would immediately think of how to attack, strike and criticize him.

  "Huh, you're still a squad leader, and you don't even understand this much?"

  Zhang Luohui was repeatedly ridiculed by Guo Zhonglin, and he had been unhappy for a long time. This time, he finally couldn't hold back, "Guo the Second Brother is so talented, I Zhang Luohui will listen with an open mind."

  Guo Zhonglin was also unclear about the reason, so he evasively said: "This reason, Sixth Master doesn't allow us to tell outsiders."

  Zhang Luohui took the upper hand in the argument, feeling quite pleased with himself, and continued to tease Guo Zhonglin, saying: "You and I are now comrades-in-arms standing shoulder-to-shoulder; can we still be considered outsiders?"

  Kuo Chung-lin seized the opportunity and immediately launched a counterattack: "That's also true, Captain Chang is not an outsider to us, but rather an insider." As he spoke, he couldn't help but laugh first.

  "In the end, Ye Tu Fei answered: 'A wounded little Japanese needs two healthy little Japanese to serve him. For our current situation, wounding is much more cost-effective than killing.'"

  At this time, the National Army brothers who were responsible for kicking two feet on the little Japan's buttocks also returned to the team. The first was a battalion commander surnamed Deng, who entered Shiting and saluted everyone before reporting:

  "Reporting to you, Commander, our unit has carried out your orders..."

  Zhang Luohui hastily stopped Deng Lianchang and said, "That's not my order, Comrade Deng. We must now listen to Liu Ye's command; he is the commander-in-chief of this battle."

  Ye Tu Fei waved his hand and said: "Go ahead, say it however you want. Those empty words don't matter."

  Deng Lianchang, though unwilling, carried out Zhang Luohui's instructions with a flourish, re-rendering his salute and saying: "Reporting to the squad, reporting to Sixth Master, my unit followed your orders, lying in ambush in that wheat field, waiting until the main force of the Little Devils had passed by before quietly closing in."

  Zhang Luohui was eager to show off his combat achievements and asked: "How many little devils have you killed?"

  Deng Lianchang replied, "According to Liu Ye's deployment, our troops were basically firing blindly when attacking the Little Devils, and the hand grenades we threw also lacked targeting, so the attack on the Little Devils can only be said to have wounded many, but few were killed. I estimated that about 20 or more Little Devils were injured!"

  Ye Tu Fei slightly nodded and said to Guo Zhonglin: "Can't you see that Deng Lianchang is about to blow his top? Hurry up and pour him a bowl of tea!"

  Kuo Chung-lin immediately implemented it.

  After Deng Lianchang finished drinking the tea that night, Ye Tufei said: "Well done, Deng Lianchang. The result I wanted was just like this. It can be said that you completed the task given to you by your superiors without any discount. Hmm, this is something that only an excellent soldier can do. Alright, now take your brothers and rest well."

  Deng Lianchang, who had just been praised by Ye Tufei, looked very excited and saluted the several people again. Just as he was about to turn around and leave, Zhang Luohui stopped him, "On Fenghuangling, our brothers are building fortifications, with too few men and heavy tasks."

  Before Luo Hui finished speaking, Ye Tufei spoke up from behind: "There are a few more of them on Feng Huang Ridge, but it doesn't matter if there are a few less. Let's just let them rest for now."

  Deng Lianchang looked at Zhang Luohui with a contradictory gaze, begging him to give a standard answer. Zhang Luohui could only helplessly say: "Then let's listen to Sixth Master."

  After Deng Lianchang left, Zhang Luohui asked: "Sixth Master, what should we do next?"

  Ye Tu Fei pointed at the chessboard and said: "How about another game?"

  Zhang Luohui said: "My chess skills are far inferior to yours."

  Ye Tufei smiled and said: "Fear before battle, is this a soldier's style?"

  "This playing chess and fighting a war are two different things!"

  Ye Tu Fei raised an eyebrow and said, "In spirit, it's a different story."

  Zhang Luohui smiled wryly and said, "Sixth Master, how come no matter what I say, it's always your logic?"

  Ye Tu Fei burst out laughing and said: "On my turf, of course you have to listen to my reasoning!"

  Zhang Luo Hui shook his head and sighed, saying: "Alright then, I'll step down, but I have one condition - you must let me keep my eldest son."

  Ye Tu Fei pointed at the chessboard and said: "Suit yourself, but I also have a condition."

  Zhang Luohui reached out and took down one of Hei Fang's cars from the chessboard, asking: "What are Sixth Master's conditions?"

  Ye Tu Fei took the tea bowl handed over by Guo Zhong Lin, took a sip of water and said: "If you lose this game, I'll hand you over to the Japanese!"

  Zhang Luohui thought it was a joke and didn't take it seriously, putting his mind entirely on the chess game.

  However, the ending was very disappointing for Zhang Luohui, he still lost.