Chapter Fifty-Seven: Breaking Out of the Encirclement

  No one believed Peng Youming's judgment about the nature of those treasures.

  Peng Youming became anxious, he picked up a narrow-necked vase and smashed it to the ground. Under everyone's astonished gaze, Peng Youming picked up a shard and pointed at it, saying: "Look at the inner wall of this vase, the workmanship is so rough, how could it be the work of our ancestors? And look at the glaze and color of this vase, alas! It's a fake that can't be any more fake!"

  "Have we been taken in by that damned Gao Qiao Xin?" Yan Xiwen was somewhat unbelieving of the reality.

  Wei Dong was completely collapsed, squatting on the ground, his arms tightly wrapped around his head, in extreme pain.

  Ye Tu Fei picked up a piece of jade, carefully examining it under the lamp light. Peng You Ming snatched it away from him and slammed it to the ground, shouting: "This is plastic! It's a product of modern chemical industry, not some kind of jade at all."

  Ye Tu Fei looked at the plastic jade piece on the ground, shook his head helplessly and said: "Let's all cheer up, now the problem in front of us is how to break through."

  Han Hongxun glared and said: "What else is there to discuss? Take advantage of the superior firepower, tear open a gap in the encirclement by the Japanese army!"

  Yan Xiwen sighed and said: "I'm afraid it's not that simple!"

  Ye Tufei said: "In my opinion, Gaoqiao Xin has painstakingly set up this ambush for us, wanting to lure us into his pocket and then capture us all at once. I estimate that now, around Jiajiazhuang, there will be at least one regiment of Japanese troops or more. Why haven't they attacked us yet?"

  Han Hongxun was very dissatisfied with Ye Tufei's attitude of not being in a hurry at all, and he asked back to Ye Tufei in an unpleasant tone: "What time is it now? You're still dawdling around! What's the reason for this?"

  Ye Tu Fei didn't argue with Han Hong Xun, he slowed down his tone and said: "The little Japanese are waiting for us to break through!"

  Yan Xiwen had always trusted Ye Tufei's strategic and tactical ideas, but this kind of analysis was something he couldn't understand, so he asked: "Why do you say that?"

  Peng Youming's face was stern, and he hastily replied to Yan Xiwen's question: "Need you ask? The Japanese army is either attacking us or waiting for us to break through. Compared to the two, the latter comes with a lower cost!"

  Yan Xiwen couldn't fully accept Peng Youming's answer, so he turned his gaze to Ye Tufei, hoping that Ye Tufei could give him a more convincing explanation.

  However, Ye Tu Fei shook his head with a bitter smile, "I only saw the result, but I don't know the reason either."

  Han Hongxun completely lost his patience and roared: "What's the point of dawdling?! Hurry up and organize our troops to break through! Do we have to give those little Japanese devils enough time to build their anti-breakthrough defensive positions before we stop?!"

  Han Hongxun's words were directed at Ye Tufei, anyone could hear that he was suspecting Ye Tufei.

  Ye Tufei flew into a rage, but he didn't shout like Han Hongxun. He calmly said to Han Hongxun: "Commander Han, your feet are on your legs, and your soldiers have always been following your orders. If you want to break through the siege, then go ahead and do it. At least I, Ye Tufei, won't stop you!"

  Yan Xiwen hastily persuaded Han Hongxun, saying: "I guarantee with my personal character that Ye Liu Ye is absolutely our friend. Old Han, your attitude is problematic. Ye Liu Ye is a..."

  Han Hongxun abruptly interrupted Yan Xiwen, his eyes red with anger, and shouted: "I have to think about my two thousand brothers, as for whether this Ye Liu is a friend or not, what does it have to do with me Han? Don't bother me with nonsense, I've decided to take action alone now! Secretary Peng, sorry, brother, I'm leaving first."

  Peng Youming grabbed Han Hongxun and said, "Don't go yet, listen to my last words. I agree with your opinion, let's organize our troops to break through the siege immediately! Old Han, now it's too late for me to say anything. It was us who dragged you into this trap. Today, Peng Youming will accompany you, if we live, we'll live together, and if we die, we'll die together!"

  Han Hongxun was moved by Peng Youming's attitude, he grasped Peng Youming's hands and said: "We are all good men who have been fighting against the Japanese since childhood, don't say anything about who owes whom. The Japanese are not human, so it's just right for us to kill them thoroughly!"

  Peng Youming was also very excited, he turned around and grasped Han Hongxun's hand, saying: "We brothers fight side by side, kill the little Japanese devil and make him fall flat on his back!"

  Under the tent on the heights, Yamamototo reported to Nobuteru Takahashi: "Advance scouts report that the Jin army is gathering its forces and preparing to break out."

  Kao Chiao Hsin sat on a chair, with a low table in front of him. On the low table was his chessboard. He twirled a black piece between his fingers and stared at three white pieces that were blocking his way, muttering to himself: "Break through? Can I break through like this? Ye Tuo Fei wouldn't be so foolish!"

  Yamashita said: "The news is accurate and I believe that the Shina army has now launched a breakthrough battle."

  No sooner had he finished speaking than a burst of intense gunfire came from the direction of the Jia family's house.

  Takashi Nobukuni stared intently at the chessboard, his eyebrows furrowed into a knot. After about half a cigarette's worth of time, Takashi's eyebrows relaxed and he said: "One Chinese person is a dragon, but three Chinese people are just worms. Ye Tufei was squeezed out, haha, Ye Tufei's words don't count anymore. Yamashita, follow my orders, have the enemy's vanguard unit stage a temporary retreat, wait for their main force to advance, then our other units will encircle them from both sides and must surround the enemy completely."

  Takaishi said with a triumphant smile on his face: "After surrounding, use mortars and light and heavy machine guns as the main striking weapons to quickly consume the enemy's living forces. Tell Matsumoto Ichiro not to launch an attack at all costs. The lives of the brave warriors of the Great Japanese Empire are really too precious."

  Yamashita Keigo looked at Takahashi Nobuo with a respectful gaze, and gave him a military salute. "Hey! I'll definitely follow your orders, Regimental Commander Takahashi. The Division Commander has given instructions to Matsumoto Ichiro, and he also said that he will definitely follow your orders, so please don't worry."

  Kao Chiang Hsin picked up a white piece, placed it on the board, and then felt it wasn't quite right. He picked up the piece again, shook his head, and muttered to himself: "What will Yeh T'u-fei choose for his next move? Will he sacrifice a piece or make a living with what he has?"

  Back and forth, back and forth, Takahashi Shin was unable to determine the best response for White. "How can I give up? How can I make a move? Even if Go Seigen were here, he would be powerless to turn the game around!"

  A game of chess that is bound to lose, if there were no time limit, the only way to avoid defeat would be to drag it out, dragging this move and not making another, dragging this faint glimmer of hope and not letting go.

  At this time, Ye Tufei adopted this strategy. He did not blindly follow Peng Youming and Han Hongxun's decision-making, but led his troops to stop at a corner of Jiajiawan.

  The two divisions of Han and Peng broke through the encirclement and won a preliminary victory, defeating the first ring of Japanese forces.

  "After all, it's not the Japanese elite division, their combat effectiveness is quite ordinary!" Han Hongxun had fought in the Battle of Tai'erzhuang and experienced the ferocity of Japan's ace divisions. In comparison, the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army they faced today seemed rather ordinary.

  After successfully breaking through the first encirclement of the Japanese army, Peng Youming regained his spirit and said to Han Hongxun: "Old Han, don't be careless, let's take advantage of the momentum and charge out again!"

  Yan Xiwen suggested: "Shouldn't we change our breakthrough direction? I always feel that there are Japanese troops heavily deployed in front of us."

  Han Hongxun smiled wryly and responded, "Don't bother with that anymore. We're in close combat now, and the Japanese army's heavy troops will be coming from all directions. Old Yan, you've been stuck in the command center for too long, you lack actual combat experience!"

  Peng Youming also said: "Yes, if you can change the direction of the breakthrough, won't the Japanese army redeploy their troops? Let's listen to Old Han and charge forward with one mind, I believe the final result will definitely be our victorious breakout!"

  Yan Xiwen stopped talking.

  The second wave of breakthrough charging still achieved ideal progress, and the Japanese army retreated again. Han Hongxun commanded a regiment to bite tightly on the retreating Japanese army, pouring all his strength into the impact on the Japanese army.

  However, they soon ran into the third encirclement of the Japanese army, and this time it seemed to be the last encirclement of the Japanese army. Both firepower and combat attitude showed that they were determined not to be breached again.

  During the battle interval, Han Hongxun, Peng Youming, Yan Xiwen and Zheng Dazhu, the commander of the 1st Regiment of the Korean Expeditionary Force, held a tactical discussion meeting. Han Hongxun suggested forming a dare-to-die corps to break through the Japanese defense line with lightning speed. Yan Xiwen again expressed his opposition, saying: "The Japanese firepower is too strong, I'm afraid that even the dare-to-die corps can't break through the Japanese defense line!"

  Zheng Dazhu patted his chest at this time and said to Han Hongxun: "Brother, let me handle this matter! I guarantee the completion of the task."

  Zheng Dazhu is a brother who fought alongside him for over ten days in Taierzhuang. Han Hongwen has enough confidence in Zheng Dazhu and his brothers' combat effectiveness. At the time of Taierzhuang, Zheng Dazhu's company wiped out more than 100 little Japanese with poor equipment. Now, his brothers have all been equipped with the best weapons, at least doubling their combat effectiveness.

  Han Hongxun patted Zheng Dazhu's shoulder and said: "Good brother! I believe in you!"

  Peng Youming is now completely dependent on Han Hongwen, and he fully agrees with Han's opinions. Although Peng has also been a soldier for many years, the time he spent holding a pen far exceeds the time he held a gun, and this large-scale battle is still his first experience.

  But Peng Youming's attitude cannot represent all the people behind him. Especially the regimental commander of that regiment borrowed from the Eighth Route Army.

  The troops supported by the Eighth Route Army were said to be two battalions, but in fact there was only one and a half battalions of troops, and the commander was an old Red Army soldier.

  After the battle began, the old Red Army adhered to organizational discipline and strictly obeyed all of Peng Youming's orders. But this time, the old Red Army stood out and said: "The task of the dare-to-die corps can still be left to us!"

  Under the reminder of the old Red Army, Peng Youming realized the problem of responsibility. This battle was initiated by them, and Han Hongxun's unit was just a friendly army fighting together. Now that they are facing a life-and-death situation, how can they let their friendly forces charge forward and die?

  Han Hongxun was unhappy and shouted loudly: "You are all Chinese, what's the difference between you and us? Zheng Dazhu!"

  Zheng Dazhu quickly stood at attention and shouted: "Yes!"

  "I order, the dare-to-die corps will be led by you as captain, Comrade Peng's brother will serve as deputy captain, and the two of you are responsible for selecting personnel. In ten minutes, launch the final attack on the Japanese army!"