Chapter Thirty-Five

  Lü Jizong was excited, personally beheading four devils, venting his anger, feeling much more relieved in his heart. Seeing Dalong lead people to open the door, he also slipped in.

  The Japanese army seemed to have just replenished their supplies, and the house was packed full. A soldier reported that they had discovered an ammunition depot, which contained bullets, hand grenades, bombs, and explosives. Da Long thought for a moment, then resolutely said: "Move ten boxes of hand grenades and ten boxes of explosives away. Use the rest to make booby traps, don't leave anything behind for those devils!"

  "It's all going to be wasted, isn't it a pity? Can't we take some back?" With his mood lifted, Lü Jizong also started calculating unconsciously.

  "Look at the time," said Da Long. "We're running out of time, the enemy patrol is about to arrive, let's hurry up, we still have a long way to go!"

  Everything was set, and they found Xie Sibao. The crowd scattered and ran away. Just as they merged with the cavalry regiment, they heard a loud explosion. Dalong shouted: "Quickly mount your horses and move!" They galloped along the small road to the west, running for 50 or 60 miles before stopping when the sky had already lit up. They found a grove of trees, dismounted, and rested. The cavalry regiment took on the task of standing guard voluntarily.

  Lu Jizong ate something randomly and couldn't sleep, so he went to Da Long and asked: "Da Long, what's our next move?" In the mountain stronghold, Lu Jizong was far less popular than his own sister. This time out, he decided to make a good impression and change people's perception of him, so he tried to sound more affectionate.

  Dalong hadn't fallen asleep either, and with his eyes closed, he was thinking about something. Seeing that it was Lü Jizong asking, he nodded and took out a map from his bag, spreading it out in front of the two of them. He said: "When we were on our way here, Second Master said to find some valuable targets, Mr. Lü, please analyze it for us, which one should we hit first?"

  Lü Jizong took a look at the map, on which several targets were circled in pencil. He was moved and smiled, saying: "We've all arrived here, are you rushing to this bridge?"

  The big dragon smiled and nodded: "The most important thing on this road is this bridge. Now it's the time when the river water is high, if we blow it up, the Japanese army will take several days to repair it, so we'll have more opportunities on the highway. I don't know what the guard situation is like, though. Let's sleep first and go scout in the afternoon!"

  Lü Jizong was puzzled in his heart. If he wanted to blow up the bridge, he should have made it his first target and caught them off guard. Now that a commotion had been stirred up, the other side would certainly strengthen their vigilance, making it more difficult? He didn't dare ask any more questions and fell asleep in a daze.

  When I woke up, it was already noon. Da Long ordered the transfer. If the Japanese army chased after us, they should have arrived by now. It's just right that the sun is high in the sky and no one notices.

  Arriving at a place about five kilometers away from the bridge, they hid and rested. The Great Dragon sent someone to scout ahead. Lü Jizong volunteered, saying: "The murderous aura on your bodies is too strong, it's easy to arouse the enemy's suspicion. This task should be left to me, I'm familiar with this kind of thing."

  The big dragon smiled and said, "Let the cavalry regiment people handle this, you have more important things to do later, and it must be you, so just wait patiently!"

  Lü Jizong saw the enigmatic smile of Da Long and didn't know what kind of trick he was up to, so he went away with a belly full of doubts.

  The scout returned quickly and reported that there were Japanese troops on both ends of the bridge, as well as security forces, with strict precautions. Dalong smiled and said: "Good, thank you for your hard work, but I still need to trouble you again, go to the village in the north to buy a few chickens back, drink chicken soup tonight!"

  The sun sets in the west, and the summer evening finally has a hint of cool breeze. The Japanese soldiers guarding the bridge also ran out to enjoy this rare coolness. Suddenly, intense gunfire rang out on the highway, and the Japanese soldier on the watchtower shouted: "Officer, there is a team of Imperial Army cavalry rushing towards here, with a Chinese army chasing behind, seemingly under attack."

  As they spoke, more than a dozen war horses arrived at the front, and several soldiers jumped off their horses, turned around, set up machine guns and started firing. The lieutenant in charge was covered in blood, clutching his neck in pain, and told Cao Zhang, who was guarding the bridge: "Enemy attack... Quick, quick go to the other side... We... want to blow up the bridge!"

  Cao Chang was startled and hastily asked: "Officer, which unit are you from? What happened?"

  The lieutenant was seriously injured, and blood seeped out from between his fingers covering his neck. With great difficulty, he said: "Quickly, execute the order!" As he spoke, he waved his hand, and the soldiers beside him began to lay explosives on the bridge.

  At this time, the sound of gunfire and artillery was getting closer and closer, and even shells fell into the river and exploded, stirring up waves. Cao Chang panicked, didn't have time to think much, and ordered his men to retreat to the opposite bank. The cavalrymen quickly piled up explosives, nodded at the lieutenant, who drew his sword, shouted "Long live!" and the others also mounted their horses, shouting "Long live!", and charged forward against the gunfire.

  The Japanese garrison on the other side couldn't help but feel a deep sense of respect and admiration, thinking to themselves: "This is what it means to be a true warrior!" Just as they were about to explode in cheers, a loud explosion shook the air, and the stone bridge was reduced to rubble. Rubbing his ringing ears, Cao Chang slowly came back to his senses: "Where did these Imperial troops come from? Whose orders are they following? Shouldn't they have asked for permission first?" Before he could even process what had just happened, the phone in the outpost rang...

  By the stream, Lü Jizong was washing off the chicken blood from his body, while the warriors were secretly laughing at him. In the afternoon, Dalong told Lü Jizong about his plan: to disguise himself as a wounded Japanese officer and lead people to place explosives on the bridge, with Xie Sibao providing covert protection, and himself leading the charge with gunfire and cannons. And he solemnly promised: Tonight's chicken soup will have legs all for Lü Jizong!

  Indeed, Lü Jizong pretended to be injured in the neck. Amidst the gunfire, his two knives surprisingly deceived the Japanese army, and he successfully retreated unscathed. Lü Jizong was both amused and impressed, knowing that Da Long was a reliable person, and only Xiao Ming had such clever ideas. He also admired the psychological quality of the special agent team. In fact, this trick had been used by Ma Liu before, and Xiao Ming simply designed it again, letting Da Long adapt to the situation.

  After getting what they wanted, the crowd ran wildly for dozens of miles and arrived at a mountain pass. The sentry was posted on the mountain ridge, and cooking began.

  After washing up and changing into clean clothes, Lü Jizong came before Da Long and said: "Speak up, what's your plan for dealing with that second-in-command?" Da Long smiled warmly: "Now we'll start resting. In two days, we'll go back to the highway, wait for an opportunity to take care of him, and then we can head back!"

  Lin Xiuzhi, Ma Liu and two squads of the cavalry regiment arrived at the highway when it was already dark. Ma Liu was an impatient man and suggested that they take advantage of the night to head west, trying to reach the railway before dawn, do one thing first, and then kill their way back.

  Cavalry company commander Wu Dingbang was very much in favor of Ma Liu's idea. Since the establishment of the cavalry company, they had not fought a proper battle, mostly serving as guards, scouts, and even responsible for carrying supplies and spoils of war, earning them the nickname "Transportation Brigade". The whole company was fed up with this situation, and it wasn't just for one or two days. This time, Xiao Ming ordered the cavalry company to follow the special operations company on a campaign, Wu Dingbang was so excited that he almost cried, personally leading the team to follow Ma Liu: "This kid has big guts and many tricks up his sleeve, following him is both enjoyable and risk-free!"

  "Two company commanders, there are over a dozen Japanese strongpoints ahead, and we need to cross two bridges. There are also Japanese patrols on the road. If we rush in like this, I'm afraid not many of us will be left. Let's think about it carefully!"

  Ma Liu looked at the map and said, "If we want to be safe, let's go through the northern highway, from Qin County south, that place is mountainous and dense with trees, it's not easy to be discovered. I heard that Qin County was occupied by the devils last time, unfortunately Lao Mao didn't come, otherwise we could take it down and get a lot of foreign money!"

  Wu Dingbang chuckled and said: "Sixth son, old cat is not here, but we have old Wu, we can still get rich!"

  Ma Liu glanced at Wu Dingbang: "Wu, the captain, just relying on those few people, riding horses to crash into the city wall! Not reaching the city gate will make people fall down and get rich, isn't that sending wealth away? Go play on one side!"

  Lin Xiuzhi thought for a moment and said, "Ma Liu's plan is feasible, but I heard that there are friendly troops stationed there. We need to be careful and try to avoid misunderstandings. If we're not careful, the devils won't even get a chance to hit us, and our own people will give us a good beating first, and that would be a joke."

  As they were about to leave, Xiao Ming instructed Ma Liu to listen more to Lin Xiuying's suggestions. Ma Liu had no choice but to say: "Okay, let's follow the Chief of Staff's plan and take a detour through the mountain roads, try not to disturb our friendly troops. But what if we're discovered and they don't let us pass?"

  "It's best to explain it clearly to them and hope for their support, so that we can join hands and fight together." Lin Xiuzhi smiled wryly. He had always thought that this operation was suspicious of framing others, but in his heart, he hoped to be able to talk to the friendly army, and if they could fight together, then they would be considered friends, and it would be easier to meet in the future.

  The battalion commander of a certain regiment of the 18th Army Group, Lu Dashi, was sleeping when he was suddenly awakened by a hurried knock on the door. He only heard someone outside shouting: "Report to the battalion commander, it's not good, the devils have come!"

  Lu Dashi was startled and broke out in a cold sweat, jumping down from the bed. He opened the door to find it was the sentry, who asked urgently: "Where are they? How many people?" The sentry replied that it was a report from the guerrilla comrades, who were waiting outside the door.

  "Hurry, let them in, inform each company to prepare for battle, and have the company commanders report to headquarters for a meeting!"

  The battalion was just next door, two men with old-fashioned rifles on their backs, mountain people dressed as guerrilla fighters, sweating profusely, made a report to Lu Dashi: At dawn, a team had camped out about ten or twenty miles away from here, all riding big foreign horses, seemingly equipped in the Japanese style, numbering around one hundred.

  There are two regiments of the 18th Army Group stationed here, one regiment guarding the north, where the Japanese army has just occupied the county town and will launch an attack at any time. The regiment where Lu Dashi is located is responsible for the east, south and west sides, and the first battalion is stationed in the south, with the regiment headquarters behind it.

  Each company arrived one after another, Lu Dashi briefly reported the situation and ordered each company to be on high alert, sending someone to report back to the battalion headquarters while he himself led a guard to investigate at the front.

  Lu Dashi is not old, but he is an old revolutionary. He was the captain of the Red Little Devils and later became a battalion commander during the Long March. After reorganization, he became the deputy battalion commander of the Eighth Route Army. Now, those who are at the same level as him have all become regimental commanders, while he is still a battalion commander, which has something to do with his personality.

  Lu Dashi is a special case in the army, wherever he goes, he leads his men to eat at the largest households, without considering the impact; the command post is always at the forefront, and battles are led by officials charging forward. His team's discipline is the strictest, even if you take a glance at an old villager's wife, you'll get slapped in the face, let alone taking things! The commanders don't want to work with him, but strangely, his soldiers are extremely loyal to him. Originally, he was supposed to be promoted to deputy regiment commander for his achievements, but he said that if he were to be promoted, he would only accept being made regiment commander, otherwise, he wouldn't go anywhere, and when the superiors got angry, he remained a battalion commander.

  The magnification of the telescope is not high, and it's hard to see clearly. Lu Dashi orders his men and the guerrilla team to set up a defensive position on the spot, calls out the guard Wu Niu, moves forward three miles, hides behind rocks to observe, this time finally sees more clearly.

  The person opposite was unscrupulous and was making a fire to cook, the equipment looked like that of the Japanese army, but the clothes were dyed in an odd bluish-green color.

  Lu Dashi was startled and someone tapped his shoulder, thinking it was Er Niu, so he asked "What's up?"

  "Nothing's wrong, I'd like you to come over and take a look!" A strange voice came from beside my ear.

  Lu Dashi was startled and turned around to see a man with an assault rifle on his back and a pistol at his waist, smiling at him. The man's attire indicated that he was from the opposing side.

  Lu Dashi's hand had just touched his waist and then withdrew, looking at the other person who seemed to have no malice. He stood up, laughed twice and said: "Good brotherly skills, I didn't even know when you got close! Shame on me! Where is my little brother?"

  "Officer, you're too polite! If it weren't for your attention being focused on the opposite side, I wouldn't have had a chance to get close to you!" The newcomer chuckled and said, "Your brother is fine, I'd like to invite the officer over for a chat. Don't worry, we're not Japanese, have you heard of Fei Hu Zhai? My name is Ma Liu!"