Chapter 58: Escaping Encirclement

  At this time, Ye Tufei's troops, who were stationed in Jiajiazhen and did not act with the two armies of Han and Peng at the same time, also suffered an unprecedented crisis.

  Kao Chih-hsiang left no loopholes. When the two divisions of Han and Peng broke out of Chia-ku-wan, he ordered the Japanese troops lying in ambush on the flank and rear of Chia-ku-wan to search forward, "Don't miss any place where they can hide, don't let go of any Chinese soldier who dares to hold a gun against the Empire."

  Facing the Japanese search party that was closing in step by step, Ye Tufei ordered his brothers to unload their rifles and lock the safeties on their pistols, and the whole team retreated while hiding.

  But where can they retreat to? The Japanese army is all around, and the space under Ye Tufei's command is getting smaller and smaller.

  "Sixth Master, just give the order and we'll charge over and fight it out with those little Japanese!" Zhang Luo Hui was the first to speak up.

  Feng Zhongliang also agreed with Zhang Luohui, saying: "Sixth Master, retreating like this isn't a solution!"

  Feng Zhongliang's words struck a chord in the hearts of all his brothers, but Xiao Zonghe disagreed. He said: "You guys stop arguing and listen to Liu Ye, I believe in Liu Ye, he will definitely think of a way for us to break out of the Japanese encirclement."

  Ye Tu Fei remained silent, holding a pile of stones and arranging them back and forth on the ground.

  After a while, Ye Tufei suddenly asked Luo Zhonggang: "Old Five, is there anything else on your side?"

  "There are a few, but the materials are insufficient and cannot be used to make a manual detonator."

  Ye Tu Fei said: "No need, just use a fuse, how long is the fuse beside you?"

  Luo Zhonggang checked and replied: "About over a hundred meters!"

  Ye Tu Fei nodded and said: "Alright, let's bury the bomb here, then lay the fuse to the east as far as possible. After laying it out, immediately light the fuse, then retreat in a northerly direction. I'll lead everyone else north too, we'll meet up on the way."

  Luo Zhonggang didn't understand Ye Tufei's arrangement, wanted to ask what was going on, but was stopped by Ye Tufei: "Don't ask, after we break out of the Japanese encirclement, I'll tell you slowly."

  After making arrangements, Ye Tu Fei led everyone to retreat in a northerly direction.

  Luo Zhonggang and his team quickly set up the explosives and connected the fuse, laying out over a hundred meters of fuse in an easterly direction before swiftly withdrawing to the north.

  It took no more than five minutes for the fuse to burn out over a hundred meters, and when Ye Tuofei flew northward for about half a mile, Luo Zhonggang and his men caught up with him. Just as Luo was about to report to Ye, an explosion sounded from due south.

  "Nobody is allowed to move, stay still!" Ye Tu Fei gave a soft command to everyone.

  Ye Tufei's thinking was that the breakthrough direction of Han and Peng's two divisions was due east, and the Japanese army must have also deployed heavy troops behind Han and Peng's backs to prevent them from suddenly turning back. The Japanese search party advancing towards Ye Tufei's unit should be the outer ring force set up by the Japanese army. As long as they could break through this outer ring force's blockade, he and his comrades would have a chance to shake off the Japanese army.

  Ye Tao used bombs to attract the attention of these peripheral Japanese troops and laid down a trail leading east, creating an illusion for the Japanese that they were retreating while laying down a trail, thereby luring the Japanese into pursuing in a due easterly direction.

  If the plan succeeded, then the Japanese army advancing in search behind them would relax their vigilance and quickly gather at the explosion site. They hid in a patch of inconspicuous bushes, perhaps they could deceive the little devils.

  Zheng Dazhu and Lao Hongjun's dare-to-die corps suffered a crushing blow.

  The Japanese army had at least eight heavy machine guns deployed on the front line, and another twenty to thirty light machine guns. At the same time, about 500 meters behind the position, a mortar battalion was also set up. These heavy firepower did not show up when Han Peng's unit first made contact, but when the dare-to-die corps began to make dense charges, all the light and heavy machine guns and mortars opened fire at the same time.

  Machine guns formed a dense firepower network in front of the dare-to-die corps, completely suppressing their momentum. The Japanese army's mortars started from behind the dare-to-die corps and gradually moved forward, blasting points one by one.

  More than 200 dare-to-die troops were tightly pinned down in a small depression, only about 50 meters deep and 100 meters wide.

  Ten minutes later, the Japanese mortar fire ceased, and the dare-to-die corps was almost annihilated. Zheng Dazhong died heroically, while Lao Hongjun was seriously injured.

  Han Hongxun's eyes turned red, he rolled up his sleeves and let out a loud roar: "Brothers who are not afraid of death, follow me in the charge!"

  He was about to rush out of the bunker.

  Yan Xiwen rushed up and knocked Han Hongxun to the ground, saying: "You can die, but what about these two thousand brothers of yours?"

  Han Hongxun clenched his fists and pounded the ground, bellowing at Yan Xiwen: "Then what do you think I should do? Crouch here and wait to be bombed by the little Japanese devils?"

  No sooner had he finished speaking than a piercing whistling sound was heard, and a bomb hurtled over their heads, landing behind the troops and exploding.

  Right after that, another shell came down in front of us.

  Han Hongxun suddenly stood up and shouted loudly: "Quickly find cover, the Japanese artillery attack has begun!"

  The Japanese artillery made an estimate of the hidden points of the Korean army based on the charge route of the dare-to-die corps just now, but this estimate was still biased, so they chose dozens of target points to probe and try to find the exact location of the Korean army.

  However, Han Hongxun was also an excellent military man who had seen big scenes. After a few rounds of artillery fire, he understood the intention of the Japanese army and ordered the troops to remain calm through word of mouth, so as not to be really discovered by the Japanese army.

  The Japanese army ended its probing campaign without achieving its goal and fortunately abandoned the idea of continuing to probe, and a rare calm appeared on the battlefield.

  Han Peng's troops hastened to rest and reorganize.

  At this time, a contradiction occurred in the highest command level of the Japanese army.

  Matsui Iwane insisted on changing the tactical deployment, launching a fatal attack on the Chinese army, thoroughly destroying the combat will of the Chinese army. He finally concluded: "The best way to reduce our casualties is to destroy the combat will of the Chinese army."

  Yamashita Keigo also agrees with Matsui Ichiro's idea, after all, this is the theoretical theory in the tactical textbook of the Japanese army, which is the experience summarized by many predecessors with blood.

  But Takashi Tadokoro disagreed, saying: "Major Matsui's words are correct, but we have a better way. Major Matsui, please trust me. Before the enemy launches an attack, let us brave warriors of the Great Japanese Empire rest for a while. Everything will be said after dawn. After dawn, let our empire's artillery destroy the Chinese people's will!"

  Matsui Ichiro was not convinced and continued to argue, saying: "The Chinese army is now surrounded by us in a narrow area of only one thousand meters in length and width, and has not had a rest for nearly three hours. It is the most tired moment for the troops. Takahashi, this is the best time for our army to attack. Please think thrice."

  "Colonel Shizuo Takagawa replied, 'The division commander has given me command of this battle, not Lieutenant Colonel Matsui. Therefore, you must obey my orders. I repeat, we will not attack unless the enemy takes the initiative. All troops are to rest and await further orders.'"

  Takahashi Shin brought out the division commander at a critical moment, and Matsui Ichiro finally shut his mouth.

  At this time, a sudden explosion sound came from behind Wang's house.

  Soon, the outer circle of Japanese troops responsible for searching sent information that Jiajiazhuang was about 500 meters east and found the remnants of the Chinese army fleeing towards our rear.

  Listening to the report, Takahashi Shin unconsciously narrowed his eyes and muttered to himself: "Yè Tú Fēi, indeed Yè Tú Fēi! I knew he would definitely have a trump card."

  Clever people like to think about problems by changing their positions. Takashi Kobayashi is a super clever person, he immediately put himself in Yeto Fei's shoes and thought about Yeto Fei's next move.

  In Gao Qian's ideology, a Jianghu hero like Ye Tufei would never abandon his allies and leave them unattended. Therefore, he quickly made a judgment that Ye Tufei indeed intended to launch a surprise attack on the Japanese army from behind, thereby rescuing the besieged Chinese main force.

  Takahashi Nobuyuki despised Ye Tufei in his heart, and he said to himself: "Ye Tufei, you think I, Takahashi Nobuyuki, am just a scholar who has never been on the battlefield? I'd like to see how you rescue them!"

  However, Takahashi Nobuyuki is still Takahashi Nobuyuki and no matter what he can't become Yatou Fei.

  In other words, Takahashi Shin had no understanding of Ye Tufei and could not guess what was on his mind.

  At this moment, Ye Tufei only thought of one thing, that is how to lead his brothers to jump out of the encirclement of the Japanese army. As for how to rescue Han and Peng's troops, or whether they should be rescued at all, these questions did not even occur to Ye Tufei.

  He led his brother to hide in the bushes, watching team after team of Japanese troops rushing past before their eyes. Everyone held their breath, and everyone thought that the sound of their own heartbeat might scare the little devils.

  After half an hour, they had probably caught up with more than thirty teams of Japanese troops before completely stopping.

  After waiting for about twenty minutes, Ye Tu Fei confirmed that there would be no more Japanese troops behind him, and with a hand gesture, he ordered the whole group to continue retreating in a northerly direction.

  Night march, and had to minimize the noise as much as possible, could only slow down the marching speed. Ye Tu Fei's unit spent nearly an hour walking less than five miles, but these five miles pulled Ye Tu Fei's unit out of the Japanese army's heavy encirclement.

  "Now, we should think of a way to rescue Secretary Peng and General Han!" After confirming their safety, Ye Tufei proposed his idea to several key members, "To be honest, the main reason we were able to escape the Japanese army's encirclement safely is because of them. If they weren't still fighting the Japanese, the Japanese wouldn't have been so careless in their defense. We must repay kindness, this is a principle of our Jianghu people. Alright, I won't say more. Those who are willing to follow me to rescue Secretary Peng and General Han, stay behind. Those who don't want to take another risk, I won't force you."