Chapter 66: Change of Direction

  As they approached the third blockade line, daybreak was near. Ye Tuofei gathered a few soldiers borrowed from Peng Youming.

  "Are you and your brothers all locals?"

  After getting a definite answer, Ye Tu Fei pulled them down to squat on the sandy ground, "Come, draw me a picture of the mountains, rivers and villages around here, just draw as much as you know."

  Ten minutes later, those brothers drew a very complicated and messy map for Ye Tu Fei.

  Ye Tu Fei naturally couldn't understand, could only start from where he was and ask around one by one.

  It wasn't until the sun rose above the horizon that Ye Tufei finally got a clear understanding of the topography within a twenty-mile radius.

  After sending those brothers away, Ye Tuofei held a small branch in his hand and squatted in front of the map, falling into deep thought. Even Zhang Luohui's footsteps as he walked over were not audible.

  "Sixth Master, what are you squatting here for?"

  Zhang Luo Hui walked over and lined up with Ye Tu Fei, then crouched down.

  Ye Tu Fei didn't even bother to respond to Zhang Luo Hui, using a branch to scribble on the map, and in no time at all, he had rendered it completely useless. Ye Tu Fei seemed not to have had enough yet, and stretched out his foot to kick it a couple more times.

  "Sixth Master, what's going on?" Zhang Luohui asked again.

  Ye Tu Fei only glanced at Zhang Luo Hui and said: "If you are Takashi Goto, what arrangements will be made for this third blockade line?"

  Zhang Luohui thought for a moment and replied: "Reinforce the fortifications, increase the military strength, what else can be done?"

  Ye Tufei said: "We can also speed up the pursuit of the pursuing troops behind."

  Zhang Luo hummed and said: "He's thinking too much, the road has been bombed and dug up, those four Japanese wheels can't move at all."

  Ye Tu Fei used a small twig in his hand to knock Zhang Luo Hui's forehead and said, "That little Japanese won't abandon the car and compete with us in foot strength?"

  Zhang Luohui touched his head and said: "Of course it will be, but this little Japanese even if he abandoned the car, he still needs to repair the road before he can come over!"

  Ye Tu Fei hit Zhang Luo Hui again and said, "Abandoning the car is still useful for repairing the road? The trenches you blasted and dug out can stop the Japanese cars, but they can't stop the Japanese legs."

  Zhang Luohui was puzzled and asked: "Why?" As a result, his forehead was hit for the third time.

  "Will they lay planks over the ditch?"

  Zhang Luohui suddenly realized and said: "Yes, in that case, Little Japan won't need to waste time repairing the road."

  Ye Tu Fei was exhausted from squatting and fortunately fell backwards onto the ground, looking up at the treetops and saying: "Other than brute force, what other methods can be used to break through this third seal?"

  Zhang Luo Hui imitated Ye Tu Fei and lay down on the ground, saying: "Or else, let's go around?"

  Ye Tu Fei suddenly sat up and stared at Zhang Luo Hui, asking: "What did you just say?"

  Zhang Luohui replied lazily, "I said to take a detour, eh, Sixth Master, you're taking my words as true? With you around, my brain feels like it's rusted..."

  Ye Tu shook his head and said: "Not this sentence, the previous one. Right, right, Little Japan will definitely increase its troops on this third line of defense. So, where will Little Japan transfer troops from?"

  Ye Tu Fei said, using a branch to quickly draw on the ground the map from just now.

  "In a radius of twenty miles, the Japanese only have this one stronghold. Where can he deploy troops from? Ye Tuofei walked around the map twice and said to Zhang Luohui: 'Hurry up and go to Secretary Peng's place, call back those brothers who drew the map for me just now.'"

  Zhang Luohui got up and wanted to leave, Ye Tufei caught up again and said: "Let's go, we can save some time by going together."

  After finding those brothers, Ye Tu Fei pulled them and quickly drew a simple map on the ground, asking: "Which county is closest to us? In what direction?"

  An older brother replied, "The place we are staying now is called Er Miaozhuang. Fifty miles due north is the county seat of Lanling, and fifty miles due east is the county seat of Tancheng."

  Yè Tú Fēi asked again: "To go to these two county towns, which road is easier to walk?"

  The brother replied: "Both roads can accommodate large vehicles, but to get to Tancheng, you have to cross the Yi River, there is no bridge, and you can only take a ferry."

  Ye Tu Fei laughed and said: "Thanks buddy, when we arrive at our destination, I'll treat you to a drink!"

  After bidding farewell to the local brothers, Ye Tufei immediately gathered Peng Youming, Han Hongxun, Wei Xiangdong and others. Peng Youming was still depressed and angry about killing prisoners of war, and after coming over, he didn't greet anyone, sitting alone with his head down.

  Ye Tu Fei pretended not to see, and after greeting everyone, said: "We are now close to the third blockade line of Little Japan. With my understanding of Little Japan, this third blockade line must have strengthened its forces and firepower. Moreover, Little Japan has suffered several losses from us, so this time they will definitely be hiding in their trenches and refusing to show their heads. If we launch a hard attack, we may not necessarily be able to take it down. The situation is like this, let's discuss it!"

  "What's the point of saying anything? Isn't that just a waste of time? Brother Ye, just go ahead and say it directly. Whatever you have to say, we'll listen."

  Wei Dongli stood up and said: "I agree with General Han's opinion, let's just listen to Liu Ye's arrangement."

  Ye Tufei turned around and asked Peng Youming: "Director Peng, what's your opinion?"

  Peng Youming lowered his head and remained silent.

  Ye Tu Fei didn't hold back, fortunately he ran to Peng Youming's side, raised his voice and said: "Secretary Peng, why are you acting like a woman, just knowing how to sulk?"

  Peng You understood Ye Tufei at a glance and then turned his head aside.

  Ye Tufei laughed and said: "Oh, so all communists are narrow-minded!"

  He said Peng Youming this and that, no matter how unpleasant the words were, he could still listen to them. However, if someone spoke ill of his party, even slightly, he couldn't bear it. So Peng Youming immediately jumped up and shouted at Ye Tufei: "Who are you saying is narrow-minded? Where did I get angry? You guys don't listen to what I say anyway, so I might as well shut my mouth!"

  Ye Tu Fei accompanied by a smile said: "Listen! How can we not listen? What Secretary Peng says, we must listen!"

  Peng Youming stared and said: "Really?"

  Ye Tu Fei patted his chest and said: "I represent everyone to swear to Comrade Peng, if we don't listen to you, we are just barking little dogs."

  Peng Youming listened with a puzzled expression and raised his eyebrows, asking: "What?"

  "If we don't listen, you're just a little Pekingese yapping away."

  In a sentence with two pauses, the first pause is slightly shorter than the second one. So, whether the word "you" leans forward or backward depends entirely on your own grasp.

  Peng Youming rubbed his chin for a moment before he couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  Ye Tu Fei also laughed and said: "That's right! I guarantee that if there are any more captives, they will be handed over to Secretary Peng for disposal."

  Peng Youming gave Ye Tufei a white eye and said, "You're kidding, right? You've got a belly full of tricks, I believe you're still looking for someone to deceive. Alright, time is running out, just say what's on your mind, we'll all listen."

  "I'm going to take a gamble!" Ye Tu Fei began to expound his tactical ideas.

  "Before today, our game with Kōhei Takahashi could be said to have been a complete defeat, being led by the nose from start to finish. However, from our raid on his artillery position to now, we have broken through Little Japan's two layers of encirclement lines, and it was even done with the result of annihilating the garrison troops. These are absolutely unacceptable for Kōhei Takahashi. Therefore, I am certain that Kōhei Takahashi has made thorough preparations on this third layer of encirclement line and wants to make a decisive battle with us here."

  Speaking of this, Ye Tu Fei glanced around at everyone and finally set his gaze on Wei Xiang Dong: "Brother Xiang Dong is more familiar with Gao Qiao Xin, what do you think of my analysis?"

  Wei Dong thought for a moment and said, "Kouya Shin is a very arrogant person. In my impression, he doesn't seem to admire anyone. He carefully set up this big trap just to catch us off guard, so I agree with Liu Ye's analysis that Kouya Shin won't let us pass through the third blockade line easily."

  Ye Tu Fei nodded and said: "Yes! Even if we can break through this blockade line, there are still the fourth and fifth lines behind. The pursuing troops behind us are getting closer and closer. I don't have the confidence to say that we can definitely break through these three blockade lines behind and not be caught by the pursuing troops."

  After a brief pause, Ye Tufei continued: "In fact, I can be certain that according to the original plan, we will be caught up by the Japanese army at the fourth blockade line and attacked from both front and rear."

  Han Hongxun said: "Otherwise, let's each department dispatch a batch of people to set up an ambush for the pursuing troops behind?"

  Ye Tu shook his head and said, "We can smoothly break through the first two blockade lines of Little Japan. One reason is that Little Japan is underestimating us, and another important reason is the terrain of Ma Pingchuan, which is easy to attack but difficult to defend. Old Han, let's take a look at the route we've taken, where can we set up an ambush?"

  Peng Youming stepped forward at this moment and said: "I will lead the troops to cover your retreat, even if we exhaust all our strength, we must ensure that you can break through the three encirclement lines set up by the Japanese army."

  Before Ye Tufei could speak, Han Hongxun replied to Peng Youming: "We've gone to the wounded now, and there are only about 500 people who can fight. With this little force, we feel thin even charging forward, let alone splitting up to fight a blocking battle? Old Peng, our forces are not enough!"

  Ye Tufei said: "We must change our thinking, we can't jump into the fire pit that Little Japan has prepared for us. Think about it, if Little Japan is going to make a final stand with us on this third blockade line, then they need to increase their troops, right? Where did Little Japan get these extra troops from?"

  As he spoke, Ye Tuofei picked up a few stones from the ground and arranged them while saying: "This is our current position, this is the location of the third blockade line of Little Japan, here is Lanyang County, and over there is Tancheng County. Time is so tight, Little Japan can only mobilize troops from these two counties, and to come from Tancheng, they need to cross the Yi River, but there are no bridges on the Yi River that cars can pass through, so I'm sure, Little Japan's troop deployment location is Lanyang County.

  Han Hongxun was the first to understand Ye Tufei's intention and exclaimed: "You mean we're going to attack Langling County?"