Chapter 21: Desperate Situation, Strange Move

  On the high ground of Niu Tou, Zhang Luo Hui cried with a sad face and said to Ye Tu Fei: "This dog fart mountain head, how can we build defensive fortifications?"

  Zhang Luohui's complaint was well-founded. Firstly, the entire hilltop was rocky and the soldiers could not dig or pry it up. Secondly, these rocks were not flat, but looked like a blessing for the defenders, with each rock becoming a natural cover. However, the problem was that these rocks were not huge, and the stone quality was relatively soft, which could not withstand the impact of artillery fire. One shell would come over, even if it didn't hit the mark, but the killing power of the shrapnel produced by the explosion would still be enormous.

  Ye Tu Fei disagreed and responded: "No problem, as long as Old Feng and the others can make it in time, those Japanese cannons will be useless!"

  Zhang Luohui was puzzled and asked for the reason, Ye Tufei smiled but did not answer.

  On the side, Guo Zhonglin pinched his throat and patted Zhang Luo's shoulder, mysteriously interjecting: "Trust Sixth Master, Sixth Master will absolutely not disappoint you."

  Zhang Luohui turned to ask Guo Zhonglin, "Don't tell me you've already known about Liu Ye's plan?"

  Guo Zhonglin shrugged and said, "Sixth Master's plan, how could we small fries know?"

  Zhang Luohui didn't get the answer he wanted, so he asked Ye Tufei: "Then what do you think we should prepare for?"

  Ye Tufei said, "No need to prepare anything, let the brothers hurry up and eat, after eating, hurry up and rest. I estimate that the little devils will be upon us soon, perhaps before nightfall today."

  Zhang Luo Hui listened and his heart tightened, blurting out: "When can Mountain Tiger brothers arrive?"

  Ye Tu Fei gazed into the distance and whispered: "It's almost time, it should be soon, they should be able to make it before the Japanese."

  At the same time, Feng Zhongliang led a group of brothers who had just recovered from their injuries and those who were still injured to rush around the streets and alleys of Xuzhou Prefecture. Their goal was only one thing: to find a painter.

  As soon as the sky brightened today, Feng Zhongliang and others have already started acting. Now, five hours have passed, they still have nothing to gain. Is it because Xu Zhoufu lacks a painter? Obviously not. It's because all the painters have escaped from the city.

  Until after lunchtime, they finally found a painter who wasn't a painter. This person's main job was to paint walls, and having done it for so long, he had developed a special skill - he could use his painting skills to create a painting with oil paints.

  When Feng Zhongliang placed a 50-dollar bill in front of the painter, the painter's eyes turned green. He immediately changed his plan to leave the city and decided to earn this 50 dollars as the cost for his whole family to escape. Then, Feng Zhongliang happily stated his request: "According to this photo, paint a big one for me, yeah, use this cloth."

  A piece of thick canvas at least three meters wide and five meters long.

  It's not a big deal, it just takes some time. Three hours later, the painter finished his most magnificent work in his life, Feng Zhongliang compared it with the photo again and again, finally he was very satisfied.

  Ye Tufei handed over this task to him at around midnight last night, Ye Tufei required it to be completed before 4 pm today. If it can be completed smoothly, then take the portrait and rush to Wuniu Mountain in the northwest of the city immediately. If it is not completed on time, then take these wounded brothers out of the city immediately and retreat to the Mangshan area in a positive west direction. Three days later, Ye Tufei will bring the main force of the regiment to meet with them.

  Feng Zhongliang glanced at the time and found that it had exceeded the scheduled time by ten minutes. He let out a sigh, hesitated for a few seconds, and then made a decision.

  －－－－－－－－－

  The Japanese army arrived earlier than Ye Tufei estimated.

  Before five o'clock, the vanguard of the Japanese army had already arrived at the foot of Niubizi Mountain. After a probing attack was repelled, the Japanese vanguard halted and began preparations for an all-out assault after the main force arrived.

  On the mountain top, Ye Tu Fei frequently looked at his watch. The time he had agreed upon with Feng Zhong Liang had already arrived, but Feng Zhong Liang still hadn't appeared.

  At five minutes past one, the main force of the Japanese army merged with the vanguard, and then Ye Tufei clearly saw through binoculars that the little devils were making artillery preparations. Perhaps in just half an hour, or even less than half an hour, this mountain top would be covered by the little devils' artillery fire.

  Ye Tu Fei looked at his watch, his face still calm and composed, but his heart rate had clearly accelerated. "Five minutes, just five more minutes, if Feng Zhong Liang can't make it here by then, I'll have to withdraw from this mountain stronghold." Ye Tu Fei muttered to himself.

  Ye Tu Fei did not mean to blame Feng Zhong Liang, he knew that the task he had assigned to Feng Zhong Liang was one with a very low completion rate. Moreover, Feng Zhong Liang and his team were still recovering from their injuries, and physically they were at a disadvantage. Carrying out such a high-energy-consuming task would be even more difficult for them.

  But Ye Tu Fei had no choice, he had to ensure the secrecy of this task, he couldn't let Liu Yu Jie and others know even a hint of wind, otherwise the whole plan would be meaningless.

  The emergence of this plan was extremely accidental, and the time when the plan emerged was at a certain moment when Yan Xiwu and Ouyang Xueping were talking to him. He inadvertently glanced at a photo on Yan Xiwu's desk, and the inspiration flashed, and the plan was born.

  He briefly shared his idea with Yan Xiwen and Ouyang Xueping, and the two were initially silent. After a moment, they lavished praise on him, with Yan Xiwen commenting at the time: "Anyone who can come up with this kind of method is simply not human!" He excitedly stood up and hugged Ye Tufei's shoulders with both hands, "This is simply divine thinking. However, I like it, although it's a bit unconventional, it will definitely yield unexpected results."

  Ouyang Xueping looked at Ye Tufei with a respectful gaze and said, "I have always believed in you. I believe that no matter how difficult the situation is, you can always think of the best way to deal with it."

  However, this god-like thinking method that could only be thought of may face the possibility of failure due to the urgency of time. Ye Tu Fei felt a bit frustrated.

  Just as Ye Tufei was about to give the order for a full withdrawal from the mountain stronghold, Feng Zhongliang finally arrived. Without waiting to hear Feng's explanation, Ye immediately ordered a small group that had been fully prepared to hang up the painting in the shortest possible time.

  The portrait depicted on it was actually Japan's Showa Emperor Hirohito.

  Not bad, that night Ye Tu Fei saw the photo was indeed Hirohito. At that time, a thought flashed through his mind: would the Japanese army fire at their emperor's portrait?

  The Japanese army attacking the direction of Niubishan is the detachment of Yamashita Yoshiro, and Yamashita Yoshiro was originally a capable assistant to Doihara Kenji, the head of the special agency of the Kwantung Army. After the establishment of 'Manchukuo', he once served as the deputy commander of the 'Manchukuo' Imperial Guard, and is a heavyweight figure in the Japanese Kwantung Army.

  Koizumi Masao suffered a setback at Erlangshan and was demoted, his vacancy had been the target of competition for many young officers, in the end, good fortune befell Yamashita Keigo.

  The commander of the vanguard was Kawashima Chūsai, originally the captain of the guard of that unlucky Koizumi Masayoshi. When Koizumi Masayoshi fell, Kawashima Chūsai gave him a good kick, which kicked Koizumi Masayoshi thoroughly into the abyss and also saved himself. Not only did he not receive any punishment, but on the contrary, he was promoted to the rank of upper lieutenant and served as the captain of the middle team in the Yamashita branch.

  In this battle, Yamashita assigned Kawashima as the vanguard, intending to let this noble-born fool accumulate some military achievements. However, he didn't expect that this incompetent guy would be so cautious and stop advancing at the slightest resistance. Yamashita was privately infuriated, secretly complaining about Kawashima's cowardly behavior.

  Angry or complaining, but the lying cow mountain in front of him still needs to be attacked immediately. He ordered all the artillery of the branch team to prepare immediately, hoping to quickly solve the enemy on the lying cow mountain under the fierce cannon fire attack.

  Just as he was about to give the order to open fire, his subordinate in charge of artillery communication suddenly reported to him with a somewhat panicked tone: "Lieutenant Commander, there's something going on at the enemy position. You can't give the order to open fire."

  Yamashita Kengo was furious and shouted "What?!" then snatched a telescope.

  A huge portrait of the emperor appeared in the mirror.

  Yamashita Kengo suddenly went crazy, and 'Nani' and 'Hachi-gatsu Rou' became the only words he could express.

  This was a new situation, the first time in all the wars of Japanese expansion since the Meiji Restoration that such a thing had happened. Lieutenant-Colonel Shizuo Yamaguchi did not dare to act rashly and ordered his artillery to cease fire temporarily while he took time to consult with his superiors.

  On the mountain top, Ye Tufei sat at the forefront on a rock, humming a tune that no one had ever heard before. He fished out a long, thick and black cigarette from his pocket, asked Zhang Luohui for a light, lit it up and started puffing away with a "puff-puff" sound.

  Guo Zhonglin approached him and asked, "Sixth Master, what kind of cigarette are you smoking? I've never seen it before?"

  Ye Tu Fei turned his head and glanced at Guo Zhonglin, saying: "Cigarettes? How can this be called cigarettes? This is clearly a cigar!"

  Kuo Chung-lin sniffed twice and said: "How come this cigar is different from what you used to smoke?"

  Ye Tu Fei sighed and said: "This homemade cigar is of course no match for the authentic American goods."

  Zhang Luohui sat beside Ye Tufei, he was not interested in cigarettes or cigars, what he was interested in was the portrait of the Emperor, he looked up at it, muttering to himself, suddenly changing to a loud shout: "If we let our soldiers wear military uniforms with the Emperor's head printed on them, do you think these Japanese soldiers would dare to fire at us?"

  Li Zhongyun lay down beside a large rock with his gun in his arms and lazily replied, "Then wouldn't we become the second devils?"

  Just as they were chatting, a sentry's urgent report broke this rare relaxation, "The Japanese army is making adjustments!"

  In less than half an hour, under the gaze of Ye Tu Fei and others, the Japanese army completed its troop deployment. Except for that vanguard unit still stationed on the opposite side of Niubizi Mountain's Niu Tou Gaodi, all other main forces of the Japanese army had withdrawn.

  Unfortunately, Ye Tuifei and his men were completely unaware of the direction in which the main force of the Japanese army was withdrawing.

  Considering the three watches of Lao Yan, just collect it, if you can also send a recommendation, Lao Yan will... not say anymore, wiping away tears.