Chapter 21

  Before long, the Spring Festival is approaching. Fortunately, the county town in the west is still under the control of the National Army. Ji Hongru and Sun Erdou led people to purchase goods for the new year, but the prices were much higher than before. They managed to celebrate the New Year with excitement. The festive atmosphere had not yet dissipated when news arrived that the Japanese army had launched an attack.

  The Japanese army, after careful preparation, eagerly divided into two groups to head south along the railway and highway, attempting to break through the transportation line in one fell swoop, join forces with the Japanese army in Wuhan, and engage in a decisive battle with the Chinese army. However, they encountered fierce resistance from the Sichuan Army in Chang County. Although the Sichuan Army was poorly equipped, they fought tenaciously, earning the respect of the Japanese army for this "beggar-like" force.

  The Flying Tiger Fort organization held a meeting of all company commanders, deciding that each company would dispatch one platoon, led by Xiao Ming, to go to Chang County to join in the excitement. In Xiao Ming's words, it was not about fighting, but rather to broaden their horizons and even pick up two guns on the way back.

  A team of nearly three hundred people gathered, Xiao Ming was delighted: the four rows drawn from each regiment had half of the men without guns. Grandma's, they really thought they were going out to pick them up! After leaving Heifengxia, head west.

  As night began to fall, they arrived at a fork in the road. Xiao Ming asked Ye Maozi: "Old Cat, what is this place? How far are we from the highway?"

  "Twenty miles west is the highway, thirty miles north is Lu'an City. Just now, brothers reported that the devils seem to have occupied Lu'an City and are verifying it."

  Xiao Ming furrowed his brow: If the devils occupy Lu'an City, we must be careful not to let them ambush us from behind. He ordered Night Cat and others to lead people to scout out the situation in different directions, and they had to confirm the situation. The troops set up camp in the forest, and before figuring out the situation, no one was allowed to start a fire.

  Around eight o'clock, the reconnaissance company returned to report: The Japanese army has occupied Lu'an City, but when continuing to attack, it encountered the tenacious resistance of the Sichuan Army, and the highway in the west is still under the control of the Sichuan Army.

  Xiao Ming nodded and asked, "What about your company commander?" The reply was, "Our company commander discovered something unusual in Lu'an City and is keeping watch. Let us report back to you, Commander. Please get ready, the Japanese army may take action tonight."

  Did the Japanese army want to launch a night attack? Xiao Ming called over a National Army officer and asked, "Have you ever fought a night battle with the Japanese?" The man replied that they had, saying the Japanese were extremely skilled at night fighting, making it impossible to defend against. Xiao Ming nodded, thinking to himself that the Japanese might be planning to take out the defenders on the highway under cover of darkness and then make a direct assault on Chang County. He ordered his troops to fall back one kilometer, withdraw from the road junction, and wait and see what would happen.

  About an hour later, the night cat ran back from behind in a hurry and reported to Xiao Ming with a gasp: A team of Japanese cavalry, about 100 people, set out from Lu'an City and rushed here, arriving in half an hour at most.

  Xiao Ming smiled and said, "This little devil's tactics are not bad!" He immediately ordered: The combat personnel will ambush at the intersection, because no matter where the Japanese army comes from, they must pass through that intersection. Then he looked up at the sky again, it was around 3 or 4 pm, the silver moon was like a plate, and he ordered each person to fire only one shot, after which, it would be handed over to the special operations team.

  "Damn it, aim at people and hit them, be careful not to hurt my horse!" Last time, he didn't get the horse, Xiao Ming had been resentful about it.

  The silver moonlight spilled over the mountains and forests, and more than a dozen riders emerged from the intersection, slowly heading west along the small road. The horses' hooves fell on the stone ground, making a "puffing" sound. Xiao Ming smiled secretly: This devil's commander must have read the Three Kingdoms and knew to wrap the horse hooves, but when it comes to military strategy, Chinese people are your ancestors.

  Those dozen or so riders walked forward for about 400 to 500 meters, stopped and looked around. Shan Wa Zi whispered: "Commander, did they discover something was wrong?"

  Xiao Ming said: "No, this is their vanguard. It seems they are waiting for someone to pick them up. I wonder how Lao Mao and Da Long are doing!"

  The Japanese army's attack was unfavorable, so they found local people to ask about it and found this small road. They sent someone to scout around and reported back: by taking this road, they could go straight into the enemy's rear and the enemy had no defense at all. The Japanese commander was overjoyed and told them to go back and keep an eye on the Chinese army, agreeing to meet up at Sanjiaokou at 10 o'clock that night.

  After more than ten minutes, two figures quietly approached from the west, and after a brief conversation, one of the cavalrymen turned back and beckoned with his hand. Before long, a large group of Japanese soldiers emerged.

  Xiao Ming whispered, if they were any later in setting up the ambush, they might have been discovered. Seeing the enemy enter the ambush circle, Xiao Ming drew his Mauser pistol and fired three shots in quick succession, three devils fell to the ground, at the same time a burst of gunfire rang out, and the Japanese soldiers fell off their horses. Due to the close distance, Xiao Ming ordered that submachine guns were not allowed to be used, and only one shot was allowed to be fired, so as not to accidentally injure their own people.

  The Japanese army reacted quickly, immediately judging the direction of the gunfire and counterattacking on horseback, but not a single figure could be seen. Xiao Ming and the others fired their guns and then hid to watch the show.

  As expected, in the instant when the Japanese army's attention turned to Xiao Ming's side, forty or fifty people suddenly jumped out from the roadside opposite, holding twenty guns and firing a burst of shots, putting all the enemies on the ground. It was Ma Liu leading the special task force.

  Ma Liu shouted: "Don't stop, add another shot!" A burst of gunfire sounded, and Ma Liu shouted: "Alright, hurry up and clean the battlefield, bring back all the horses." As soon as the people on this side heard about cleaning the battlefield, they didn't wait for Xiao Ming's order and rushed out to grab guns.

  After nearly an hour of busy work, the crowd had swept the battlefield clean and thrown the Japanese corpses into the mountain ditch to feed the wolves. Ma Liu came over to report casualties, only a few soldiers were lightly injured, and asked how to deal with the dead horses.

  Xiao Ming thought for a moment and said: "Those who can move will be dragged away, those who cannot move will be lifted onto the car, and all will be taken back to the mountain stronghold. Leave a few people behind, and wait with me for Old Cat and Big Dragon, you take them ahead first."

  It was confirmed that the Japanese army was going to launch a surprise attack. The more Xiao Ming thought about it, the more he felt that something was off, and he suspected that there must be someone collaborating with them. He ordered Ye Maozi and Da Long to search along the way and told them: "First, keep an eye on them, and wait for us to make our move before dealing with them." When Ye Maozi and Da Long returned, they had captured two prisoners. Upon questioning, it turned out that they were local people who had been lured by the Japanese promise of 50 silver dollars each. Xiao Ming waved his hand in disgust: "Let them go and have them accompany the Japanese instead."

  Bring over a few people, drag them to the side of the mountain ditch, and feed them to the wolves.

  Xiao Ming returned to the mountain stronghold, and the sky was already bright. On the playground, Wang Jinlong and others were watching the Oriental horses. Several battalion commanders were there studying how to divide the spoils of war. Seeing Xiao Ming return, everyone came forward to greet him. Wang Jinlong laughed and said: "Brother, this trip has really brought in a big harvest! More than 100 good horses, authentic Oriental horses, great, great! Look, these guys are all here waiting to divide up the horses!"

  Xiao Ming smiled and said, "This is easy to say. Aren't there over a dozen dead horses? Two for each company, take them back to stew the meat and drink the soup made from their bones. Don't throw them away."

  Xin Chengshan sneered and said: "Second Master, look at us running back and forth between Heifengxia and Erlongling, it's really inconvenient. Can't you give us a few horses?" Xiao Ming chuckled: "Forget it. Lin, the chief of staff, go to each battalion to select men. From today on, our Feihu Fort has a cavalry battalion! I'm going to take a nap first, call me when it's time for dinner."

  The KMT ultimately failed to hold Chang County, and began retreating southward. The number of defeated soldiers in the mountains increased again. Lin Xiuzhen asked what to do, as there were already many mountain stronghold people.

  Xiao Ming was also hesitant, thinking for a moment before saying: "I've heard they're quite good at fighting, if you want to stay then just stay."

  When Lin Xiuzhi gathered two or three hundred people to the mountain stronghold, everyone looked and their tears almost fell: it was freezing cold, they were in single-layer clothing and grass shoes, and the weapons in their hands had already become rusty! Wang Jindong hastily ordered someone to cook food and boil hot water, letting them eat their fill and wash clean before changing into winter clothes.

  After finishing the meal, several officers whispered to each other for a while. A battalion commander came to the hall and suggested going to find their troops. Wang Jinlong sighed and said: "Brother, you are all good guys, it should be let you go, but now there are Japanese soldiers everywhere, if you don't get killed when you go out, you will starve to death. It's better to stay here for a while and wait until the situation stabilizes before leaving." Besides, where can you not kill devils? Look at the Chief of Staff Lin and others, most of them are National Army, aren't they also fighting against the Japanese here?" The officers discussed it again and thought Wang Jinlong was right, so they stayed.

  Lin Xiuchang selected 70 men and formed a cavalry company. The original captain of the company had served in the Northwest Army's cavalry and had a loud name: Wu Dingbang. Xiao Ming arranged for them to be stationed on the back mountain.

  As the team grew in strength and the surrounding situation became increasingly severe, Xiao Ming and others discussed and decided to move Zhang Tiezhu's guard company and Ji Hongru's logistics company to the back mountain. The guard company would be responsible for guarding against wild wolves and other places, with Lin Xiuling in charge of specific planning.

  Xiao Ming then conducted intensified training for the special agent company. These soldiers were indeed the elite of the army, and they picked up things much faster than the Flying Tigers had before. Some had even surpassed the members of the Flying Tigers. Xiao Ming divided them into two companies, each with thirty men. The first company was led by Zhang Da Long, who brought all the high-ranking officials. The second company was led by Ma Liu, who brought the rest of the people. Their main task was training. The remaining people were assigned to Xiaohu's command and formed a thirty-man guard platoon, stationed in the mountain stronghold, responsible for the safety of the stronghold. During the day, they went to each company as instructors, guiding various military training exercises.

  There were too many people, and guns naturally became a problem. The new recruits from Sichuan had weapons that were basically equivalent to firecrackers. Without guns, asking them to take revenge on the devils was basically just fooling around. There were still twenty submachine guns in the warehouse, which were reserved for the special operations unit. Xiao Ming firmly refused to let them be used, saying that they consumed too much ammunition and were not suitable for ordinary soldiers. The only option was to send out a reconnaissance unit to gather intelligence and see if there was an opportunity to get some from the Japanese.

  The Japanese army was lightly armed and ventured forward, but was severely beaten by the Chinese army in Taierzhuang. The commander was furious and gathered his troops to head south to Xuzhou to avenge their defeat and find the main force of the National Army. As a result, the rear forces were somewhat stretched thin.

  After analyzing the intelligence brought back by the reconnaissance company, Lin Xiuzhu thought for a moment: "Now the Japanese army is mainly guarding along the railway line, with armored vehicles patrolling from time to time. There are also Japanese patrols on the highway, and the road is far away, making it difficult to take action. On the other hand, the Japanese troops in the west have focused their attention on the National Army facing them, so the guards on the highway are relatively weak. Moreover, the goods being transported must be military supplies. If we take action in the west, our chances of success will be greater." Lin Xiuzhu finished speaking and looked up to see Xiao Ming closing his eyes with a smile, then called out: "Commander Xiao, what do you think?"

  Xiao Ming opened his eyes and smiled: "Not bad, what about the activity patterns of the Japanese army?"

  "According to the intelligence gathered by our reconnaissance company over the past half month, the Japanese army has a convoy passing through every seven days or so, with a battalion-sized force escorting it, and even armored vehicles are accompanying it, which is not easy to deal with!" Lin Xiūqīng was somewhat worried, after all, they had always been successful in their sneak attacks before, but now, just those two Type 98 tanks were not easy to deal with, if they were caught by the enemy, it would result in heavy casualties.

  Xiao Ming smiled and said: "Don't worry about this, the other day wasn't Xu Dagui asking me what that large-caliber heavy machine gun was used for? In a couple of days they'll know!"