Chapter Sixteen

  Xiao Ming and his group walked for several days, and the number of stragglers and refugees on the road increased. Seeing this small unit still heading north, they cast strange glances at them. Shan Wawa went forward to ask for news, but everyone just sighed and shook their heads, unable to say anything definite. Only an old soldier quietly pulled Shan Wawa aside and said: "Little brother, don't go any further north, the Japanese have already attacked, all the soldiers have run away, don't go get yourself killed."

  Xiao Mingling's machine moved, ordering the troops to stop, walking up a mound of earth, shouting loudly at the fleeing soldiers: "Brothers, you are heroes who have fought against the devils, you have worked hard! We are from the Military Department's direct-affiliated regiment, and we have come under orders from our superiors to gather scattered soldiers. Now, please everyone go into the forest to rest for a bit, we will immediately start cooking, brothers eat your fill before continuing on the road, okay?" He then ordered the burial of the cooking pot to make food.

  The defeated soldiers were skeptical, but as they saw the big pot being set up, fire added, water poured in, and seasonings thrown in, chunks of dried beef, potatoes, and flatbread were tossed in. Before long, a savory aroma wafted out, and their own stomachs growled in response. It had been days since they'd eaten anything substantial. They swallowed hard, not caring whether they lived or died, as long as they filled their bellies first.

  The rice was not yet ready, but over a hundred soldiers had already gathered in the woods, all of them shabbily dressed and exhausted. Few of them held guns, they just stared at the big pot with eager eyes, wiping their mouths with their sleeves. If it weren't for the few soldiers holding submachine guns and glaring at them with menacing looks, they probably would have made a move already.

  A loud noise came from the road, and someone came to report: Ma Liu and a group of soldiers were about to fight. Upon going over to take a look, Ma Liu had already raised his gun, and the other side was not backing down either, with those who had guns raising them, and those without picking up stones. The leader was surprisingly a captain, around thirty years old, wearing relatively neat clothes.

  Xiao Ming asked Ma Liu: "Put down your gun, what's going on?"

  "Damn it, these kids won't listen and they're even thinking of using force."

  Xiao Ming thought to himself: You must have been too arrogant, and now you've exposed yourself. He turned his head and looked at the soldiers up and down for a long time, making them feel uneasy in their hearts. Finally, his gaze fell on the face of the upper officer, and he asked in an unstoppable tone: "Upper Officer, what is your position?"

  Although Captain didn't believe in any nonsense about the military's direct-affiliated regiment, looking at their equipment, it was absolutely the elite of a regular army unit. He hesitated for a moment before answering: "Company Commander Zhou Yongnian of the Motorized Infantry Company."

  "Hmm, Zhou Lianchang, I wonder if he was ordered to retreat or has become a deserter?"

  Zhou Yongnian's face turned red as he said, "The cars were all destroyed, the troops were scattered, and the officers were nowhere to be seen. We had no choice but to retreat. As we retreated, we gathered some brothers along the way and are now looking for our unit... Sir, who are you?"

  Xiao Ming nodded and said: "Not bad, you also know how to find a team. My brothers and I are on a mission to carry out a special task, what, do you suspect our identities?"

  "This...?" Zhou Yongnian hesitated for a moment and said: "Whose order is it? I don't know if it's convenient to inform you."

  "You won't suspect that we are Japanese and have any ulterior motives, will you?" Xiao Ming stared at him and suddenly smiled: "Then I'll ask you, on the road, were these civilians good to you?"

  Zhou Yongnian's face suddenly turned red, Xiao Ming didn't let him speak and continued: "If we were Japanese, I would sit here watching those refugees break your spine with their fingers, spit you to death with saliva, or watch you go hang yourself from a tree. In short, I'd rather feed the grain to dogs than feed cowards, deserters!"

  Those who were soldiers couldn't hold their faces anymore, pulled the bolt, and shouted: "What the hell are you talking about? We're fighting for our lives on the front line, while the officials abandoned us and ran first. Who's the deserter?"

  "Haha, look at you! You're just a coward! The Japanese are right behind you, and you want to prove yourself? Turn around and go fight them! To be honest with you, I didn't receive any orders from above. Those officials only care about saving their own skin. It's me who brought my brothers out here to fight the Japanese. Whoever has guts, follow me! Let's go see how our brothers are fighting the devils! Whoever doesn't have guts, go eat something and hurry back home to take care of your kids. But don't ever tell them you were a soldier, or that this great nation was ruined by your own hands!"

  Those who were soldiers at that time were suddenly speechless, and Zhou Yongnian suddenly spoke up and asked, "Are you really going to go and fight the Japanese?"

  Xiao Ming sneered and said: "Why did you brothers come all the way here, to listen to you singing 'Lotus Flower Falls'?"

  Zhou Yongnian bitterly smiled and said: "The main force of the Japanese army is rushing over, with just a few of you, isn't this going to be suicidal?"

  Xiao Ming sneered a few times and said, "Right, brothers all have the determination to die, but not to go to their deaths, but to let the Japanese know that we Chinese also have our own masters!"

  "Alright, anyway I've lost face and can't lose the ancestors' face too, count me in!" Zhou Yongnian made up his mind. The others looked at each other and suddenly shouted "Count me in! Count me in!"

  "Alright, you're all good men! Damn it, if we die, we'll be loyal to the country, and if we live, we'll stand up straight! Now let's go eat, after eating, rest for a while, and then we'll discuss what to do. Remember, don't eat too much, or else you'll get killed by your own stomach before the devils even get a chance!"

  The defeated soldiers mostly had nothing to eat, Xiao Ming let them share out the bowls and chopsticks, and they ate together. Those National Army soldiers were both tired and hungry, wolfing down their food, and then leaned against a tree and fell asleep. Xiao Ming found Zhou Yongnian, took out a map, and inquired about the situation around them in detail. Zhou Yongnian asked: "Commander, what are we going to do?" Xiao Ming said: "Let the brothers rest for a while first, and wait until our scouts return before deciding."

  While speaking, Ye Maozi rushed over, Xiao Ming stepped forward to meet him, and Ye Maozi said in a low voice: "Second Master, half an hour ago, a Japanese army unit of two or three thousand people passed by on the eastern highway, seemingly coming from the northwest direction, they were in a hurry, I've already sent brothers to scout ahead and behind."

  Xiao Ming was puzzled, weren't the Japanese troops along the railway? How did they end up here? After thinking for a moment, he asked Ye Maozi: "Are there any supplies following the army?" Ye Maozi shook his head and said no. Xiao Ming had Da Long gather the troops and decided to go take a look.

  After walking for about an hour, they arrived at a forest not far from the main road. A scout rushed over on horseback and reported the new situation: "A team of Japanese troops' vehicles is coming from the northwest direction, and it will arrive here in about half an hour. There are no enemy situations behind them, and someone is keeping an eye on them."

  Xiao Ming thought for a moment, ordered the scout to go back and investigate again, and report as soon as there was any new situation. He led people to the side of the road to take a look, turned around and said: "We'll do it here. Ma Liu, arrange the troops to disperse and hide, pay attention to the firepower configuration, be careful not to hurt the horse. Zhou Lianzhang, lead your men, those with guns go get some bullets, ambush at the edge of the forest, those without guns stay in the back of the forest, no one is allowed to make a sound."

  As he spoke, he took off his own submachine gun and handed it to Zhou Yongnian, "Remember, the bullets I gave you are for self-protection, you don't have to participate in the battle. Besides," Xiao Ming called over five Flying Tiger members, "Go into the woods, if you find anyone trying to escape, kill them on the spot! Commander Zhou, sorry about the urgency of the situation." Zhou Yongnian nodded and left.

  Xiao Ming thought for a moment, then called out to the Flying Tiger team: "Xie Sibao, leave me with one rifle. You lead the men to find a suitable sniping location and listen for my gunshot. Take out the enemy's commander and machine gunner. Da Long, take fifteen men to the other side of the road to disperse and ambush. Remember, when I launch the charge on this side, you attack and eliminate the enemy's resistance forces. Do you all understand?" The crowd shouted "Understood" and took their orders, then left.

  In the blink of an eye, the troops were all in position. The National Army soldiers who had guns received bullets and became both tense and excited, hiding at the edge of the forest. When they looked up, they found that there was no one in front of them, and they were shocked. They asked their companions, "Where did they go? Did they run away?" An old soldier patted him on the back: Don't make a sound, these people are all veterans, hiding in front! The man opened his eyes wide and looked carefully, only to understand that under the messy withered grass in front of them were hidden people.

  A convoy of twenty cars and sixty or seventy horse-drawn carriages was moving slowly along the highway, with Lieutenant Nishi riding a horse, feeling very annoyed: his colleagues were all rushing to the front line to make achievements, while he was ordered to lead a small team to protect the logistics and those useless artillerymen, what bad luck!

  The troops led by Nishimura were originally heading west, but due to the unfavorable situation in the southern battlefield, they received an order halfway and changed direction to head south to reinforce. The goal was to quickly open up the railway line and sandwich the Chinese army. Along the way, the Chinese army fled at the sight of them, and there was no significant resistance. With a large group of people having just passed by, Nishimura relaxed his vigilance, not even sending out scouts, and only thought about hurrying to their destination. Maybe they could still make it into the city, and if the superiors allowed it, they might even... Thinking of this, Nishimura smiled lewdly.

  A loud "bang" sounded, a bullet pierced the glass of the first car, smashing the driver's head, and the out-of-control car crashed into the stone on the side of the road and caught fire. The cars behind also stopped. Xicun was shocked and hadn't had time to react when several gunshots rang out almost simultaneously. A hole appeared in the center of Xicun's brow, and he fell off his horse. Then, a hail of gunfire erupted, bullets whizzing through the air like wind. Most of the Japanese soldiers were killed instantly without being able to react. A few who reacted quickly dropped to the ground, rolled to the side of the road, and used the car bodies as cover to return fire. The most unfortunate ones were the artillerymen, most of whom were unarmed and became live targets.

  Xiao Ming raised his hand and shot down a Japanese military driver, listened to the sparse gunfire on the other side, and said to Guo Deshan who was fighting vigorously beside him: "It's almost done, Shanjun, blow the whistle and charge!" A sharp whistle sounded, the Flying Tiger Fort soldiers drew their pistols, fixed bayonets, and launched a charge at the Japanese devils. The remaining Japanese devils resisted stubbornly, but were shot into sieves by more than a dozen charging guns from behind.

  The gunfire stopped, Xiao Ming shouted: "Dalong checks the car, Ma Liu sweeps the battlefield, hurry!" The National Army behind could no longer hold back, and they rushed over one after another. Seeing that the battle had already ended, only sporadic gunshots rang out, and Ma Liu and others were reloading their guns. They swarmed up, beating the Japanese soldiers on the ground indiscriminately, regardless of whether they were dead or injured, even Ma Fu was not spared, and they really vented their anger.

  A Japanese military officer-like figure stumbled to his feet, just about to draw his sword, when Xiao Ming kicked him flying out, heavily crashing into a rock, letting out a muffled groan, spitting blood as he died. Da Long was startled and quickly shielded himself in front of Xiao Ming, asking: "Captain, are you okay?" Xiao Ming smiled slightly and said: "I'm fine, tell the brothers to quickly clean up the battlefield and leave immediately!"

  Zhou Yongnian walked over, with a look of admiration: "Boss, in just a few minutes, you killed more than 200 devils, I admire you, I admire you!" Zhou Yongnian also took the coachman to be Japanese, but they were actually Koreans.

  Xiao Ming smiled slightly: "No way, only a few dozen people have real combat power, the rest are just cannon fodder, useless."

  Ma Liu ran over, excitedly shouting: "Second Master, this is our chance to get rich! Ten big cannons, we're going to be rich!"

  Xiao Ming kicked him and said: "You talk too much, hurry up and clean up, withdraw."

  Zhou Yongnian looked at Xiao Ming with a puzzled expression and said: "Second master? You are...?"

  Xiao Ming smiled and said: "To be honest, I am Xiao Ming, the second-in-command of Feihu Fort, that is to say, a bandit!"

  "Bandits!" Zhou Yongnian was shocked, "How did you get the National Army's equipment?"

  Xiao Ming smiled: "Director Zhou is knowledgeable and experienced, doesn't he know the principle that money can move gods?" Zhou Yongnian remained silent. Xiao Ming said with a smile: "Does Brother Zhou look down on us mountain occupiers?"

  Zhou Yongnian sighed: "The country is in trouble, Guizai has stood up, making us soldiers ashamed."

  "Didn't you, Director, say that everyone has the responsibility to defend their homeland?" Xiao Ming smiled, thinking he had found an opportunity. "Brother Zhou, can you help us out and drive the car back for us? I'll be eternally grateful, just please keep it a secret until we reach the mountain stronghold!" Zhou Yongnian looked at Xiao Ming's eager gaze and nodded in agreement.