Chapter 42 "Pull it long, they must be able to hear!"

  Before dawn broke, the scouts and guerrilla fighters had already taken cover on the high ground on one side of the highway, while the other side was a steep cliff.

  Grenade and a warrior have already laid mines on the highway, both of them rushed back to their position.

  Qin Zhiyong: "Is it buried yet?"

  "Wait and see!" said Zhang Fei with a confident smile.

  Zhou Guangren and Liu Xiaoxi huddled together, whispering to each other.

  Zhou Guangren: "Xiao Xi, what song were you singing last night?"

  Liu Xiaoxi: "Songhua River"

  Zhou Guangren: "Singing so well, I'm all in tears. You know, my home is just by the Songhua River, when I was a kid, I'd always follow the grown-ups to the riverbank to catch fish, it was so much fun. But since those devils came, good times were gone."

  Liu Xiaoxi: "Do you miss home?"

  "Uh, thinking of Dad and Mom."

  Liu Xiaoxi hesitated for a moment and said with embarrassment: "Brother Zhou, I want to ask you something, don't get angry."

  "Go ahead and ask, anything is fine."

  Liu Xiaoxi: "Why do they always call you 'Second Devil'?"

  Zhou Guangren was somewhat angry: "Who called again?"

  Liu Xiaoxi: "When we gathered in the morning, I seemed to hear..."

  Zhou Guangren got up and angrily shouted in the direction of Old Cao: "Which damn idiot called again?"

  Huang Xintian elbowed Old Cao and said: "It wasn't me, it was the squad leader——"

  Qin Zhiyong looked at Zhou Guangren with some embarrassment and whispered: "Don't talk anymore!"

  Zhou Guangren glared at Old Cao: "Don't you have a long memory?"

  Qin Zhiyong: "Shut your mouth!"

  Zhou Guangren scolded mercilessly: "Are you out of your mind?!"

  "Is that all? Get down!"

  Liu Xiaoxi quickly pressed Zhou Guangren to the ground.

  Zhou Guangren lay there for a while without speaking, after a while, he said to Liu Xiaohui: "Xiaohui, if I say it, will you look down on me?"

  Liu Xiaoxi: "What's going on? Tell me."

  "I... I used to... raise horses for the devils..."

  Liu Xiaoxi smiled incredulously: "Hey, what's the big deal? My dad even helped the devils build a gun tower and raised horses!"

  Zhou Guangren smiled wryly: "That's right, it's nothing, but I always feel like I can't hold my head up."

  Liu Xiaoxi's face was stern: "Remember, you are now an anti-Japanese warrior! Just live up to this title."

  Zhou Guangren nodded: "Right, I'm an anti-Japanese warrior now. Xiao Xi, just you wait and see, today I'll definitely capture a prisoner and make them not underestimate me, Zhou Guangren."

  Liu Xiaoxi smiled at him with a smile.

  Suddenly, a rumbling sound came from afar, and an armored vehicle drove along the winding mountain road. Behind it was a truck loaded with Japanese soldiers, on top of which was mounted a " Type 96 light machine gun".

  Duanzi stared nervously at the armored vehicle, muttering to himself: "Lu Baochang, your spirit in heaven must ensure that the landmine explodes!"

  With a loud "boom", the armored vehicle was blown up and paralyzed on the road. The warriors and team members on the high ground fired at the enemy on the truck with submachine guns and rifles. Huang Xintian shot and killed the Japanese machine gunner on the truck, and the Japanese soldiers in the carriage jumped down from the car and shot towards the high ground.

  Captain Guo threw out a hand grenade and killed several devils.

  Lao Cao and Xiao Wang carried machine guns and fiercely swept across the enemy on the highway.

  Several more hand grenades exploded among the Japanese soldiers.

  Captain Guo stood up, waving his rifle and shouting: "Charge!"

  Qin Zhiyong also stood up, holding a submachine gun and shouting: "Charge!"

  Everyone rushed towards the highway, Zhou Guangren jumped out of the array and rushed forward. Liu Xiaoxi waved his pistol and was about to follow him when Zhou Guangren shouted back at Liu Xiaoxi while running: "Wait, don't move!"

  Liu Xiaoxi stared blankly at Zhou Guangren's back.

  The warriors rushed onto the highway and soon eliminated the remaining Japanese soldiers.

  Qin Zhiyong opened the armored vehicle door and found that the Japanese army major and two lieutenants had been blown to death inside.

  The warriors and team members started to clean up the battlefield, they climbed onto the truck compartment, saw many boxes of ammunition and food, everyone was excited to move them.

  Liu Xiaoxi also ran onto the highway at this time, and was overjoyed to help everyone move goods from the truck.

  Suddenly, Zhou Guangren discovered a wounded Japanese soldier crawling up and running away in the distance, without even picking up his gun. Zhou Guangren wanted to catch him personally, so he chased after him, chasing out over 100 meters, turning around a mountain foot, the Japanese wounded soldier was running ahead, Zhou Guangren was closely pursuing behind, just about to catch up, suddenly Zhou Guangren discovered that another truck loaded with Japanese soldiers came from the winding mountain road in the distance, with two " Type 96 light machine guns" mounted on the roof of the driver's cab. Zhou Guangren was shocked, looking back, the winding mountain path had blocked his line of sight, it was too late to go back and report, he raised his shotgun and pulled the trigger at the Japanese wounded soldier, but there were no bullets, the soldier fell to the ground, shouting loudly for help towards the distant truck, the uneven road blocked the view of the Japanese soldiers on the truck, they didn't see him. Zhou Guangren had no time to think, he threw away his gun, ran over, pulled out a dagger and stabbed it into the wounded soldier's back heart. At this time, the truck was approaching him quickly, Zhou Guangren, in a moment of desperation, put away the dagger, picked up the dead body of the wounded soldier, and ran towards the truck.

  Zhou Guangren ran while shouting in Japanese: "Tomare! Hayaku tomare!" ("Stop the car! Stop it quickly!")

  The truck pulled over to the side of the road and a sergeant jumped down from the cab.

  Sergeant: "What happened up ahead?"

  Zhou Guangren: "The convoy ahead has been ambushed by guerrilla forces!"

  The sergeant helped Zhou Guangren carry the body into the rear carriage and then looked him up and down, asking: "What do you do?"

  Zhou Guangren: "I am Lieutenant Nakajima of the 40th Division Intelligence Platoon's plainclothes unit."

  The sergeant couldn't help but salute him, Zhou Guangren got into the cab, and the sergeant followed him into the cab. The truck continued to move forward.

  Next to the armored vehicle, Qin Zhiyong and Captain Guo took out many documents and maps from the Japanese military officer's briefcase, one of which was labeled "Operation Plan No. 1".

  Qin Zhiyong was delighted: "Great! Where's Guangren? Hurry up and let him take a look."

  Zhangzi shouted towards the four directions: Guangren! Zhou Guangren! Zhou Guangren! Er Guizi!

  No one answered, and it was only then that everyone discovered Zhou Guangren was gone.

  The Japanese army truck turned around the foot of the mountain, and Zhou Guangren saw his comrades still unaware, still transporting goods, Liu Xiaohui running back and forth in front of the truck, Zhou Guangren's forehead sweating cold sweat.

  At this time, the sergeant stuck his head out of the car window and gave orders to the machine gunner on the carriage: "Fire!"

  The two machine guns on the roof of the car opened fire, and several unprepared soldiers and guerrilla fighters fell down after being hit. The Japanese soldiers on the car also shot at the soldiers and team members who were carrying goods up the mountain, and people kept falling from the slope after being hit.

  Qin Zhiyong and Captain Guo were busy directing everyone to organize a counterattack.

  Witnessing the sacrifice of his comrades, Zhou Guangren's heart was on fire. He didn't have time to think much and pulled out the dagger from his waist and stabbed the sergeant who was shooting out of the car window to death. The driver saw this and drove while pulling out a handgun and fired two shots at Zhou Guangren. Zhou Guangren disregarded everything and pounced on the driver, grabbing for the steering wheel. The driver threw away his gun and grasped the steering wheel with both hands.

  At this time, as the truck drove closer and closer, Qin Zhiyong and others could clearly see that Zhou Guangren, wearing a red cotton-padded jacket, was fighting with the Japanese driver in the cab, struggling for control of the steering wheel.

  Lao Cao suddenly exclaimed: "It's a Japanese soldier!"

  The two machine guns on the truck's roof were still spewing flames, and in the driver's cabin, Zhou Guangren and the Japanese driver were both desperately clinging to the steering wheel. Zhou Guangren, already wounded, felt his strength gradually failing him. He glanced at the precipice beside the road, let out a loud roar, and with one final burst of energy, he violently turned the steering wheel to the left. The truck hurtled towards the cliff, and the Japanese driver let out a despairing wail. Zhou Guangren gripped the now-dead steering wheel tightly with one foot on the accelerator, his eyes fixed intently on the Japanese driver who was crying out in desperation, a hint of mocking smile playing on his lips.

  The truck rushed towards the cliff, and the devils on the carriage screamed in terror.

  The moment the truck flew out of the roadbed, Zhou Guangren took a last look forward, searching for the figure of his beloved girl. He didn't find her, but Liu Xiaohui saw him, and Zhou Guangren's resolute face was forever frozen in her mind...

  The truck crashed into the deep valley below.

  Liu Xiaoxi cried out: "Brother Zhou, it's Brother Zhou——"

  A loud "boom" sound, the truck exploded in the valley.

  Everyone rushed to the edge of the cliff and saw that the valley was filled with the bodies of Japanese soldiers, trucks were burning in the big fire, the driver's cab had been swallowed up by the flames, a sleeve wearing a red cotton-padded jacket hung down from the car door, burning...

  Lao Cao rushed towards the cliff and was held back by Zhuangzi and Huang Xintian. Lao Cao wailed loudly: "Second Ghost, my good brother..."

  Liu Xiaoxi buried her face in Captain Guo's shoulder and sobbed uncontrollably.

  In the valley, the big fire was still burning, Qin Zhiyong and his comrades slowly took off their military caps...

  Qin Zhiyong returned to the headquarters and handed over the documents to Liu, who took a look and said: "The intelligence is very important, but unfortunately it's too late. The enemy has already divided their troops into three routes and is marching south, with the intention of besieging Changsha now quite clear."

  "Come on and fight with them!"

  "Now we can only fight hastily."

  Qin Zhiyong understood in his heart that another fierce battle was coming, okay, come on, Old Yang and Guangren brothers, your blood will not be shed in vain.

  A Japanese military transport train rushed past on the railway line.

  On the highway, Japanese military trucks, tanks and artillery vehicles were moving one after another, with large numbers of Japanese soldiers and cavalrymen marching continuously on the highway.

  In the sky, one after another Zero fighter planes whizzed by.

  Seventh Uncle and the refugees walked along the roadside.

  Iwai Ki sat on a tall horse, standing proudly by the roadside, his horse excitedly kicking its hooves and whinnying loudly, occasionally raising its head to let out a long neigh.

  Saigō, walking in the procession, looked at Iwai's horse and said to Uehara beside him, "Look at the captain's horse, it gets excited like this every time before a big battle! It's as if it knows, what a good horse!"

  Uehara: "Yes, even a horse knows it's fighting for the Empire! This time, we'll definitely take Changsha!"

  Xiyuan Temple shouted excitedly towards Changsha, "Changsha, I, Xiyuan Temple, have arrived again!" He felt that it was not enough and stopped a fleeing citizen, shouting in Chinese, "Hey! Is there a flower girl in Changsha?"

  The villagers were so frightened that they nodded repeatedly: "Yes—yes—"

  Xiyuan Temple also called Zouzai who was walking on the side of the road: "Hey! Changsha, Flower Girl, what's going on?"

  Qī shū coldly looked at him, didn't say a word. Infuriated Xī yuán sì spat a mouthful of saliva on Qī shū's face and continued on his way.

  Seventh Uncle looked at the endless Japanese army advancing troops and sighed longingly towards the vast sky.

  Changsha outer suburbs national army position.

  The warriors were tense in building trenches and fortifications.

  Qin Zhiyong, Duanzi, Lao Cao and Huang Xintian stood in the trenches, gazing at the dense steel helmets on the Japanese army's position in the distance, from which came a clear and trembling sound of fixing bayonets.

  "Ghost child: 'This time you're coming with ill intentions!'"

  "Let them come! I'm waiting for them, you bunch of bastards!" Old Cao cursed with a big knife on his back.

  Huang Xintian took a deep breath and installed the scope in his hand onto his rifle, loaded bullets, and pulled up the bolt.

  Qin Zhiyong pressed his lips tightly together, gazing at the Japanese soldiers swarming in the distance, his eyes filled with hatred.

  "Let them come, Old Yang and Old Cao!"

  The people around were stunned, and Old Cao hesitated for a moment before answering: "To..."

  Qin Zhiyong only heard Old Cao's response, and suddenly realized: "Oh - Old Cao, be careful to save bullets, wait for the enemy to get closer before shooting!"

  Lao Cao: "Yes!"

  On the Japanese army's position, Iwai gazed at the gathering Japanese troops and sighed to Kuroda beside him, "The Empire needs a victory too much!"

  A Japanese army unit was advancing rapidly towards the front line, and Iwai suddenly saw Toshi in the group.

  Iwai shouted loudly: "Toshitsune!"

  Toshihito saw Iwai and rushed over to bow respectfully.

  Iwai looked at him affectionately: "Junichi, are you all set?"

  "Ready, Uncle," said Junyi with high spirits.

  Iwai: "When charging... don't run too fast, beware of the enemy's sniper."

  Junyi: "Uncle, maybe this is our last meeting, take care of yourself!"

  Iwai's voice trembled with emotion as he took a step closer to Shunichi, saying in a low tone: "I've made up my mind to die if necessary, but you, Shunichi, must survive and return to Japan. No matter what happens, you must stay alive. Our family can't lose you again... do you understand?"

  Jun nodded vaguely and bowed respectfully to Iwai, then turned around and chased after his troops.

  Iwai looked at Toshihito's back with concern.

  Nationalist Army positions.

  Huang Xintian was sharpening his hunting knife on a stone, muttering to himself: "Old buddy, are you ready? Let the little devils taste your ferocity!"

  Qin Zhiyong sat in the trench, gazing at the distant mountains, silently thinking about his troubles. The scene of Old Yang and Zhou Guangren's sacrifice was always hard for him to forget, and now their voices echoed again in his ears.

  "I really want to see the day when we win the war of resistance! Paichang, do you think we can make it by that time?"

  "As long as you're alive, you can catch up, don't be so arrogant!"

  "Old Yang, speak with some virtue, what makes you so arrogant?"

  ……

  Qin Zhiyong whispered in his heart: "There will be that day." He glanced at Huang Xintian, who was sharpening his knife, and said in a low voice: "Is it true?"

  Huang Xintian raised his head in surprise: "Ah?"

  Qin Zhiyong's gaze turned back to the distant mountains: "Is what you said true?"

  Huang Xintian asked in confusion: "What's going on? The line is so long."

  Qin Zhiyong: "Standing on top of a high mountain and shouting loudly, can the dead really hear?"

  Huang Xintian also looked towards the distant mountains and nodded solemnly: "It's true! Pai Chang, they must be able to hear it!"

  On the Japanese army's position, Iwai waved his military sword and shouted loudly: "Brave warriors, His Majesty the Emperor is waiting for our victorious news, Long live His Majesty the Emperor! Charge!"

  Japanese soldiers charged out of the trenches with bayonets at the ready, shouting loudly...

  "On the Nationalist army's position, a sentry shouted: 'The devils are charging!'"

  Everyone stood up in a hurry and looked towards the front of the formation.

  Japanese soldiers with bayonets charged forward in a scattered line, shouting "Banzai", like a tidal wave.

  Qin Zhiyong held up his submachine gun and gave the order: "Prepare for battle!"

  Lao Cao held up his machine gun, his eyes fixed on Qin Zhiyong.

  Qin Zhiyong calmly watched the enemy rushing from afar, and everyone's eyes were on Qin Zhiyong.

  The Japanese army was getting closer and closer, and had already rushed to a distance of less than fifty meters. Qin Zhiyong picked up the whistle hanging from his neck and blew it loudly. As soon as the whistle sounded, Lao Cao's machine gun opened fire fiercely.

  "Avenge Old Yang! Avenge Guangren brothers! Fight!"

  Lao Cao's machine gun and the warriors' submachine guns fired row after row of bullets, Japanese soldiers fell down in rows, those who charged forward were shot and almost fell on top of the fortifications, fell to the ground twitching constantly, and the Japanese soldiers behind came rushing up like a mountain.

  The Japanese planes dropped bombs on the defensive positions of the garrison, and the positions were immediately filled with smoke and flying flesh.

  Bombs kept exploding on the position, Qin Zhiyong's ears were buzzing and he couldn't hear any sound. He crawled out of the mud blown up by the bombs and saw Shuangzi shouting something to his comrades. After a while, he finally heard clearly that Shuangzi was shouting: "Quickly throw hand grenades! Hand grenades! The devils are rushing up!"

  The warriors also crawled out of the soft mud, some with blood flowing from their ears, and threw countless hand grenades at the enemy.

  The rushing enemy was blown up by hand grenades and retreated.

  A warrior shouted hoarsely: "The devils have been repelled!"

  At this time, mortars were set up on the Japanese army's position, and shells of poisonous gas bombs were fired at the National Army's position.

  The battlefield was suddenly filled with a thick yellow and black smoke that grew denser by the minute.

  Qin Zhiyong shouted loudly: "The devils have launched poison gas shells! Quick, get wet towels!"

  The warriors quickly took water bottles to wet the towels, covered their mouths and noses, some warriors started sneezing, and fell down. The entire position was shrouded in a dark smoke.

  Dong Zi covered his face with a wet towel and handed another wet towel to Qin Zhiyong.

  Qin Zhiyong loudly gave orders to the soldiers: "Quick! Withdraw to the second line of defense!"

  The warriors retreated backwards.

  Japanese soldiers wearing gas masks charged through the fog and stabbed to death Nationalist soldiers who were unable to resist due to poisoning.

  The smoke gradually dispersed. Junichi climbed onto the defender's position, lifted up his gas mask, waved the sun flag tied to his bayonet, and shouted wildly: "Long live the Emperor! Kill!"