Chapter 68

  The Japanese army finally occupied Feihu Village and turned to march towards Hou Mountain. Watanabe was much more cautious this time, sending a squadron of Japanese troops and a battalion of the Royal Collaboration Army to explore the road in Hou Mountain.

  Lin Xiuzhi and Zhang Tiejun saw the enemy getting closer and closer, and they couldn't help but tense up. They hastily ordered someone to go into the mountains to inform Wang Jindong and Xiao Ming, while they themselves peered intently through binoculars at the enemy's every move.

  There were dozens of large and small road junctions leading into the mountains, which made it difficult for the Japanese army. If they split up to enter... The squadron leader looked at his subordinates and shook his head, that would undoubtedly be asking for trouble.

  Just as they were hesitating, a donkey cart came out of the mountain, and when the driver saw that there was a large group of Japanese puppet troops in front of him, it was already too late to turn back.

  "Halt! What are you doing? What's on the cart?" A company commander of the Imperial Guards pointed his gun at the driver.

  "General, I'm a villager from the village up ahead. Look, I've got some grain here and I'm looking for a place to store it!" The cart driver patted the sacks of hemp on his cart, nodding and bowing with a smile as he replied.

  "What about food in the village? Where did you get it from?"

  "They have a cave in the mountains to store food, but now that you're here, they won't bother with it anymore, so I..." The driver leaned close to the team leader's ear and whispered mysteriously.

  "Do you know the way into the mountains?" A glint of light flashed in his long eyes.

  "There are several paths leading into the mountains, if you take a wrong turn, it's easy to get lost and might even get trapped inside, better not go!" The driver seemed to understand the implication of the long queue, his face turned gloomy.

  "Cut the nonsense, come with me to see Lord Tai! If you behave yourself, Lord Tai will be pleased and reward you with a few melons and dates. You'll have nothing to worry about for the rest of your life!" As he spoke, the squad leader poked the carter's back with his gun and pushed him forward.

  "Alright, General, you take your time, my legs aren't very agile! Oh no, I've got to hurry up with the cart!" The carter hobbled along, leading the donkey and saying, "General, do me a favor and put in a good word for me with the Emperor, and after I sell the grain, we'll split it evenly."

  "Your grandma, this little food is worth a few bucks! Wait for the imperial army to reward you with gold bars and silver coins, and then share it with me!" Pai Changbian said as he pushed the car driver in front of the Japanese army commander. "Taikun, this man just came out from the mountain and was caught by us. He said there is a Flying Tiger's food warehouse in the mountain, and these are taken from there!" He pointed to the donkey cart.

  The squad leader called a soldier who roughly understood Chinese: "Ask him what his name is, what he does, and have him lead the Imperial Army!"

  "My name is Sun Shuangquan, my wife's name is Guihua, and my son's name is Guazhu!" The cart driver slowly puffed out his chest and replied loudly.

  "What's yours?" The soldier was somewhat surprised.

  "My old man is a good fellow from the Flying Tiger Fort, what do you say he's doing!" The cart driver smiled slyly and then shouted with all his might: "Son, watch your dad kill the devils!" After that, he reached out to pull the fuse under the hemp sack, laughing loudly.

  After the earth-shaking explosion, the donkey cart had vanished without a trace. A huge pit appeared on the ground, with wisps of green smoke still rising from it. There was no sign of people around either.

  In the distance, the Japanese army's chest seemed to have been hit by a heavy hammer, and the weak ones had already bled from their seven orifices and fallen to the ground. After a long time, the remaining limbs and arms, mixed with corn kernels and bloodstained clothes, fell down on them, which suddenly awakened them, and they rushed towards Feihu Village in a frenzy...

  On the mountain top of Wild Wolf Gorge, Lin Xiuzhi and Zhang Tiejun slowly lowered their binoculars, with tears welling up in their eyes...

  Watanabe stood outside the Wild Wolf Gorge, staring blankly at the steep cliffs on both sides. The tire tracks on the ground clearly told him that the enemy had entered the mountain from this direction. However, if he were to pursue them, all they needed to do was throw rocks down, which would be an endless supply of weapons! And his own troops would become the first brigade in the Imperial Army's history to be defeated by stones!

  As he thought of this, Watanabe's eyes rolled over and he beckoned to the commander of the Imperial Guard Division, ordering him to send someone into the Wild Wolf Gorge to explore the road. The division commander was unwilling in his heart, but did not dare to disobey, so he beckoned to a regimental commander, who in turn beckoned to a battalion commander... In the end, the task fell on a company commander named Niu San.

  Niu San was unwilling in his heart, knowing that the officer didn't like him. He had no choice but to lead his men into the desolate Wild Wolf Gorge with a slow and reluctant pace. When they reached a secluded spot, Niu San turned around and asked his subordinates: "I ask you brothers, how have I treated you usually?"

  "It goes without saying that Third Brother is a straightforward person, so just speak your mind!" The subordinates all shouted.

  "I'm telling you, brothers, we're just trying to make a living, but the people of Flying Tiger Fort are fighting for their lives. Which one do you think is more justified?"

  "This is, of course, someone else's calculation. Even if we die, they will still have a scapegoat! We are the ones who lose out, Third Brother. Isn't there a saying, 'Don't pursue a poor thief'? You say we came here..." One of his subordinates, a squad leader, was quite close to Niu San, but didn't dare finish speaking."

  "Want to send yourself to death?" Niu San glanced at the long queue with a slanted eye. "I heard that on flat ground, these Japanese can't even deal with Flying Tiger Fort. Think about how much they've lost in the past two days! Damn it, with this terrain, even if an entire regiment comes in, it's still a waste of time! Listen up, everyone: those who aren't afraid to die, step forward and lead the way; don't drag your brothers down with you. Those who don't want to die, listen to me, be smart and don't try to act tough, got it?"

  Everyone suddenly enlightened, hastily replied: "Understood, understood, all depends on San Ge's decision, we will listen to you!"

  All the way, this group of Hunan army chatted with each other to relieve boredom and unknowingly advanced five kilometers. They arrived at a fork in the road, where the people in front stopped and asked Niu San: "Company commander, there is a fork in the road ahead, how do you think we should go?"

  Niu San walked up to the front and took a look. There were two paths, one big and one small. Judging from the signs, it was clear that they should take the bigger path. After thinking for a moment, he said: "This is not easy to say, why don't you brothers rest for a while and discuss before continuing?"

  "Right, Third Brother is right. Let's put our heads together and think about what to do next." The subordinates couldn't wait, and they quickly found a place to rest and put down their guns.

  Niu San leaned against the stone wall, took a cigarette from his subordinate's hand, and just lit it when he heard a "thud" beside him, startling him. He looked carefully and saw that a fist-sized stone had fallen to his feet. His anger rose, and he jumped up, cursing loudly: "Which damned kid is this? Come out! What kind of joke are you playing at this hour? Trying to scare me to death?"

  "It's me! Down below is the second master of Feihu Fort, Xiao Ming!"

  "What? Say that again!" Niu San could hardly believe his ears, the feeling was like being drenched from head to toe with a basin of cold water, and he stood there stupidly.

  "The second master of Feihu Village, the deputy commander of the Feihu Mountain Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Corps, Xiao Ming!" The cold voice repeated again.

  Niu San's subordinates were shocked, just about to raise their guns, Niu San desperately waved his hands to stop them. If it had been a hand grenade just now, he wouldn't be able to stand up, let alone put himself together!

  "Oh, it's Second Master, no, it's Vice Commander Xiao, ah no, it's Master Xiao..." Niu San broke out in a cold sweat, stuttering and not knowing how to speak properly. "Your esteemed name has been heard by the brothers for a long time, like thunder piercing the ear!"

  "Hmm, what did they say? Is it 'kill without blinking'?" Xiao Ming sat on a boulder, a smile spreading across his face.

  "No, no, no! They say you only kill Japanese traitors and don't harm ordinary people. You are the good heroes of Liangshan!" As soon as he finished speaking, Niu San glanced at his clothes and his face suddenly turned green. "Xiao Ye, we're just mixed-rice eaters, we've never done anything that goes against heaven or reason!"

  "Is that so?" Xiao Ming smiled slightly, "Alright then, let's not pursue the past! Now, put down all the weapons on your body, gather them to one side, and raise your hands to go to the open space in front!"

  "This... Xiao Ye, why don't we just fire a couple of shots randomly first, and then it'll be easier to explain when we get back?" Niu San said hesitantly.

  "How about it, want to go out and be a traitor?" Xiao Ming asked coldly.

  "No, no, no! Master Xiao, don't misunderstand! Quick, quick, quickly put down your guns and move them to the side, hurry! You little brat, Master Xiao has spoken, didn't you hear?! Niu San was startled and hastily urged the soldiers beside him to hurry up. The temper of this master above his head was notoriously famous!"

  Niu San and the others put away their weapons according to Xiao Ming's words, walked onto the empty ground and raised their hands. Suddenly, more than a dozen soldiers flashed out from behind the nearby rocks, startling Niu San and the others, thinking fortunately they didn't have any ideas, or else they would be in big trouble!

  Niu San accompanied by a smile said: "Brothers are hardworking, we have agreed with Xiao Yezi, you see..."

  The warriors surrounded the three of them, one of whom smiled and said: "Let's go, our boss said so, don't make it difficult for you, we'll find a place for you to stay, with food and drink, absolutely no mistreatment."

  Watanabe waited outside the Wolf's Gorge for half a day, but there was no movement inside, and not even a trace of the Imperial Guard Army was left. This made him more puzzled, so he beckoned to the commander of the Imperial Guard Division and asked through an interpreter: "What's going on with your men? Why haven't they returned to report back until now?"

  "This one is probably gone too far and won't be back for a while!" The travel leader wiped the sweat from his forehead, responding casually.

  Watanabe nodded, but he was skeptical in his heart. These government troops were not reliable, and when they went into battle, they were always timid and cowardly. Who would believe that they dared to venture far? It's likely that they encountered an accident! He immediately ordered: Send two more companies to assist a battalion of government troops to search the mountains.

  The battalion commander almost cried out, an entire battalion! The explosion just now has already crippled one of our battalions! No choice, at this time talking about the price is called not having a long eye. Called over that battalion commander: "Brother, you go too! It's not that big brother doesn't care for you, look, those Japanese are staring at us! Tell the brothers to be more careful and adapt to changing circumstances!"

  The squad leader was also pleased: "Squad leader, don't say anything, I'll go! Who made us do this crappy job? We have to let others order us around like dogs anyway! You take care of yourself from now on!"

  The Japanese army company commander was also nervous, moved his heart and eyes, ordered the Royal Cooperative Army to have one company in front and one company behind. Even so, he was still afraid of not being insured, and let each small team mix into the Royal Cooperative Army's company team, first to ensure safety, secondly to supervise them. These four hundred people entered the mountain with a flourish.

  With the Imperial Army leading, they arrived at Sanhekou much faster this time. The regiment commander asked the Japanese squadron leader which way to go and after some thought, he pointed to the larger one and ordered them to continue advancing.

  As soon as this enemy entered the mountain, Xiao Ming received a report. Considering that it was too close to the exit, Xiao Ming decided: Let them in and fight!