Chapter 7: Sneaking Up on the Devils

  After hurrying for several days, we walked very slowly during the day, hiding from retreating soldiers and reinforcement troops. Without a map, we mainly marched at night, so these few days were not short of detours. After popping the eighth blister, we got on a big road.

  "Hide, it's a devil." The frontmost scout suddenly crouched down and said in a low voice.

  Hiding in the weeds by the side of the road, quickly getting into hiding, group after group of devils passed in front of my eyes, I could even see what kind of flower knot was tied on the devil's military boots. This was the first time I had been in ambush, and the urge to jump up had been haunting me all along, making me feel itchy from the heart. Closing my eyes, I muttered to myself, "I am a stone, I am a stone, can't move, can't move, no one can see me." Ten or so minutes seemed like several years. Under the devil's eyelids, four of us silently passed by the enemy. After letting the devils pass, we four continued to advance forward.

  "Have you seen the equipment of those devils? Light and heavy machine guns, mountain cannons, heavy artillery, rifles... damn it. Brother Gui, how are we going to fight this battle?" Zhu said in a low voice.

  "We'll win! It's just a matter of time! Don't worry, Zhùzi." Seeing Lao Gui not speaking up, I spoke out first, after all, in this aspect, I still have a "natural" advantage.

  "Stop bluffing! I saw you shivering with fear just now, did you even pee your pants? Haha!" said the mouse, chuckling.

  "Grass, being so close to so many devils, aren't you afraid?" I don't think anyone can remain calm in that situation.

  "Of course, this is common sense. Think about it, when we marched to the Songhu front line, would you notice the weeds under your feet? When you're with a large troop, safety is at its highest, but correspondingly, vigilance is at its lowest. However, next time if you stick your foot out again, I'll make sure you don't need to wear shoes anymore, I'll chop it off and make stewed pig's trotters." Hào Zi "kindly" explained to me.

  "But how are we going to run into ghosts? Is the Shanghai Expo already over?" Suddenly, the frontmost Hàozi said in a low voice without turning his head back, after what happened just now, I can only say that having a good scout is really great.

  No one answered, even if it was true, no one wanted to accept it. The oppression in my chest is indescribable. Although I didn't admit to myself that I was a deserter from the bottom of my heart, there was still a strong voice in my heart telling me that the defeat and my escape were related. Si Xi, Er Wa, one by one, the sacrificed comrades appeared before my eyes again.

  After walking for about ten minutes, Husky's voice came from ahead again.

  "Hiding, four devils have fallen behind, one is lightly injured and can still fight, another has a leg injury. Four against four, no guns allowed, close combat only, do we engage?" Haozi gazed at the distant enemy, saying in a low voice. Haozi knew that if gunshots rang out, the devils up ahead would definitely send troops back to encircle them, and they wouldn't be able to shake them off, so it had to be close combat.

  "I'll go first," I blurted out, the decision made without much brain processing, perhaps because of the pent-up frustration in my heart, and now I really want to kill a devil to vent, or maybe kill devils to avenge the dead soldiers of the Third Battalion, washing away the pressure brought by the two words "deserter", for some reason, the murderous intent surged up in my heart.

  Looked at the pillar, also with red eyes, I guess it's similar to my state. The wast and old ghost are slightly calmer, looked at each other, nodded, and agreed on this action.

  "Take cover!" With Lao Gui's command, everyone quietly hid into the roadside bushes.

  The old ghost assigned a target to each of us, and finally gave me the one with leg injuries that affected his combat effectiveness. Although I felt a bit belittled, this was a life-or-death battle, so I didn't say anything after considering my own skills and experience. Through the withered yellow grass, my eyes were fixed tightly on the limping but still smiling ghost, holding a bayonet tightly in my hand, trying to suppress my breathing as much as possible. This wasn't my first time lying in ambush, and compared to last time, I felt more calm this time, but that kind of itching sensation like ants crawling from the bottom of my heart made me feel uncomfortable all over, desperately suppressing my increasingly tense breathing. Suddenly, a thought popped into my mind: "What if I were the one doing the ambushing?" I immediately dismissed the idea, because I felt that if it were me, I would probably go crazy or just start shooting from the bushes. Squinting, I turned to look at the calm expressions of Háozi and Lǎo Guǐ, and it seemed like I was still too green!

  Four devils were chatting idly, extremely low on vigilance, their consecutive victories had made them somewhat arrogant, and as they were laughing and talking lewdly, they didn't know that the four sharp knives in the grass had already targeted their hearts.

  Listening to the murmurs of Japanese, from afar and near, becoming clearer and clearer, my heart beats faster and faster, the increasingly tense nerves make the whole body stiffen. This is an instinct, when the brain's command is for the body to do something dangerous, the body will react with resistance to the brain's command. This is an animal instinct, and soldiers who have undergone long-term brutal training, in addition to cultivating strong physical strength and military quality, more importantly, break through this instinct.

  I swallowed the saliva in my mouth slowly, and habitually bit my tongue hard. The pain immediately made my numb muscles regain their flexibility. I gripped the sharp knife in my hand tightly, and followed the old devils who had already stood up, slowly crawling out of the bushes. The four of us moved stealthily towards our target, while the four devils in front of us were laughing and chatting, and the four people behind them were getting closer step by step with sharp knives in their hands and murderous intentions in their eyes. This scene made me feel like I was watching an episode of "Animal World" from my previous life - Zhao Zhongxiang's voice seemed to appear beside my ear.

  Because I'm right-handed with a knife, I chose to stab into the larger area of the lungs. When I saw the old ghost holding a knife in his left hand stabbing into the devil's heart, my knife tip had already pierced the target devil's ribcage and was slanting upwards towards the lungs. With a "plop" sound, the entire blade sank into the devil's back. I thought it would be difficult to stab into a person's body, but it turned out to be surprisingly easy, like stabbing into a piece of cooked beef. The 40cm blade sank into the devil's body in an instant. As the slight resistance disappeared, my hand told me that the knife tip had already exited from the other side of the devil's body. Subconsciously, I loosened my grip, and a wave of inexplicable panic suddenly surged up in my heart. Looking at the devil in front of me slowly turning around, those terrifying and desperate eyes stared tightly at me. His right hand was behind his back, desperately grasping for the knife stuck in his back, but he couldn't reach it no matter how hard he tried. His mouth was wide open, desperately trying to breathe, but he couldn't inhale. Then his body lost balance and fell to the ground, his limbs convulsing continuously until his eyes gradually dimmed and he slowly calmed down. He's dead, I know he's dead, I killed him with my own hands. A person, a living person just like me, although he was a devil, an enemy, but he was still a person. Looking at the fresh blood seeping out from the back of the devil I killed, my stomach tightened and my throat felt constricted. At this moment, a pair of large hands patted my shoulders, "Well done!"

  "Ah, the angle is not bad, but the force was a bit too strong. And you should have pulled the knife out!" Hǎozi said as he walked over to the corpse and pulled out the knife, then tossed it into my hand.

  Looking at the pillar and the locust, I squeezed a smile at them, not knowing what to say. Am I killing people with artistic flair? Can I still use the word "beautiful"? What angle is this?

  "Bang!" The rat next to me picked up a German 38 and fired a shot at me, the bullet whizzing past my ear, I even felt the airflow generated by the bullet. Looking at the slowly rising smoke from the rat's gun muzzle, I thought I was already dead.

  Slowly turning his head, a devil was found grasping his gun with both hands and lying on the ground. It is estimated that there were five devils who fell behind, and this one must have been walking behind for some reason or rushing to catch up with them. Before he could avenge his comrades, he was sent back to their emperor by the vigilant mouse.

  "Be on guard, others get equipment and their individual rations, hurry up. The devils in front must have heard the gunfire."