Chapter 29 "What's with this stinky fish smell?!"

  Comrade Dong sat in the back seat of the jeep, eyes closed and resting.

  The driver excitedly said to Xu Pailong sitting next to him, "Xu Pailong, this time the devils attacked Changsha, but they gained nothing and lost everything!"

  Xu Pailang was also delighted: "Yes, the devils have been disheartened since they were surrounded and had no intention of fighting again. They started withdrawing from last night. Commander Xue's 'Sky Furnace' tactic is really effective!"

  Comrade Dong closed his eyes, a faintly scornful smile playing on the corners of his mouth: "The enemy has penetrated deep into our territory, their rear is cut off, and their supply lines have been severed; they are bound to be defeated."

  Xu Paichang turned his head and said to Dong Tuanzhang: "Your presence at the front line this time will surely boost the morale of our brothers in pursuing and killing the devils!"

  Commander Dong opened his eyes, smiled and said: "This battle has truly demonstrated the prestige of the National Army! Anami Korechika has really miscalculated this time. A proud army will surely be defeated, a proud army will surely be defeated!"

  Comrade Dong burst out laughing after he finished speaking.

  At this time, the driver found a National Army soldier waving a flag to stop the car in front and muttered: "What's going on ahead?"

  Xu Pai looked ahead and saw a group of National Army soldiers setting up a roadblock in front.

  Comrade Dong's smile faded as he told the driver, "Stop the car."

  The jeep stopped at the side of the road and the truck behind it also came to a halt.

  Makino ran to the front of the car and saluted Colonel Xu. Colonel Xu rolled down the window and said discontentedly, "Why did you stop the car?"

  Makino: "The road ahead is broken and is being repaired urgently."

  "How long will it take to fix?"

  "Alright."

  Director Dong looked at his watch and suddenly heard intense gunfire coming from the rear of the vehicle, Director Dong and Captain Xu were shocked and looked back.

  On the hillside beside the highway, Japanese special forces disguised as National Army troops fired down at the truck compartment with machine guns under the command of their squad leader, killing all the unarmed guards and the driver inside. Before Lieutenant Colonel Xu and Captain Dong could react, Mu Ye pulled out a pistol and shot Lieutenant Colonel Xu and the Jeep driver dead with two shots. At this time, several Japanese soldiers disguised as National Army troops rushed over, pointing their guns at Captain Dong...

  Qin Zhiyong led the reconnaissance team's warriors, carrying medical boxes, walking wearily along the highway.

  Lao Cao hastened his pace and caught up with Huang Xintian: "Hey, Old Huang, you always say that all things have spirits, what do you mean by that?"

  Huang Xintian said irritably: "You don't understand anything."

  Lao Cao: "If you don't say it, how would I know?"

  Huang Xintian glanced at Old Yang walking behind him and intentionally said loudly, "That's to say all things in the world have souls and should be treated with kindness. We Tujia people are different from you Han people, we do things according to rules. When we hunt in the mountains, we never slaughter recklessly, we don't shoot pregnant animals in winter, and we don't shoot birds nesting in spring."

  Old Yang muttered: "Here we go again."

  Lao Cao: "The 'all things in the world' you mentioned, does it include humans?"

  "Of course it does."

  Lao Cao: "Including devils?"

  Huang Xintian hesitated for a moment: "Of course - including."

  Lao Cao was somewhat disapproving: "What kind of twisted logic is this? Are you saying we should treat the devils with kindness too?"

  Huang Xintian also said: "For those who have laid down their arms and surrendered, they cannot be killed indiscriminately."

  Old Cao: "But our brothers were caught by the devils and killed!"

  Huang Xintian: "Then are you going to learn from them too? They're beasts, do you want to be a beast too? Don't you have any faith?"

  Lao Cao: "My creed is an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."

  Old Yang shouted from the side: "Well said! Old Cao! This is like my brother!"

  Huang Xintian said to Old Cao with a humiliated tone: "I don't understand what you're saying."

  Huang Xintian said and walked forward with a huff.

  Lao Yang looked at the back of Huang Xintian with disdain: "Every day, all things have spirits, thinking that he is a Bodhisattva! You're also like that, can you talk to him? He's someone who has faith."

  Old Cao smiled: "It's too tiring to walk, let's have some fun with him."

  Old Yang wiped the sweat from his face: "It would be great if we had a car."

  At this time, the engine sound of a car suddenly came from behind, and everyone turned their heads to look back. A military jeep and a military truck were driving on the highway.

  Qin Zhiyong warned vigilantly: "Old Yang and Old Cao! Be on guard!"

  Lao Yang and Lao Cao replied in unison: "Yes!"

  Old Yang ordered the soldiers behind him: "Disperse!"

  The warriors dispersed in formation and made preparations for battle.

  Huang Xintian looked around for a while and excitedly said to Qin Zhiyong: "It seems to be Captain Dong's car!"

  Old Yang also looked carefully: "Yes, no mistake, it's the captain's car!"

  Qin Zhiyong ran to the side of the road and hailed a car.

  In the jeep, Makino sat in the passenger seat and whispered to the Japanese soldier dressed as a driver in Japanese: "Stop the car."

  Director Dong saw Qin Zhiyong, his face showed surprise and delight, a glimmer of hope ignited in his heart, but seeing the dozen or so exhausted soldiers behind Qin Zhiyong, his eyes dimmed again.

  Makiyo turned back to Captain Dong and said: "Know your place and don't talk nonsense."

  Makino quietly placed his hand on the gun handle. The jeep stopped and the truck behind it also stopped.

  Pastoral shook down the car window. Qin Zhiyong ran to the front of the jeep and saluted the team leader in the car: "Report to the team leader! The reconnaissance platoon has completed the task of blowing up the enemy warehouse and is on its way back."

  Makiyo listened to Qin Zhiyong's words and was taken aback, hastily turning his head to say to Dong Tuanzhang: "Tuanzhang, let them get on the last car!"

  Comrade Dong nodded and didn't say anything.

  Maki no kōsha: "Taichō ni anata-tachi o ato no kuruma ni noserareta."

  Translation:

  Maki gets off the bus: "The captain told you to get on the car in the back."

  Qin Zhiyong wanted to say a few more words to Dong Tuanzhang, but was pulled away by Muye towards the back.

  Makino shouted to the warriors in the scouting squad as he walked and turned back: "Brothers, get on the car!"

  The warriors of the reconnaissance team followed up behind. As they walked, Mu Ye said to Qin Zhiyong, "The devils who attacked Changsha have already withdrawn, and each unit is pursuing the enemy. Commander Dong wants to go to the front line to direct the battle."

  Qin Zhiyong took a glance at Muye and found it somewhat strange: "Why isn't Xu Paichang here?"

  Makino was taken aback: "Ah... Xu Pai Zhang... Ah... Old Xu, you've been assigned to the duty roster."

  Makiya gave a look to the Japanese soldiers dressed as guards on the vehicle: "Give some space to the brothers of the reconnaissance team, the devils' warehouse was blown up by them."

  Qin Zhiyong and the warriors climbed onto the truck.

  Makino returned to the jeep and the driver put away the pistol he had been pointing at Captain Dong.

  Makino looked at the truck in the rearview mirror and sneered: "A motley crew, delivered right to our doorstep. Let's go!"

  Two cars continued driving on the highway, one in front of the other.

  In the carriage, the fatigue of the continuous battles made the scouts all drowsy, and Old Yang and Old Cao, still wearing Japanese military uniforms, squeezed in among these fake National Army soldiers.

  Old Yang smiled and waved at the guards standing in the carriage: "Brothers, hard work!"

  The soldiers in the carriage also smiled and responded: "Sergeant, you've worked hard! Sergeant, you've worked hard!"

  The squad leader patted Old Yang's shoulder and leaned his mouth close to Old Yang's ear: "Was it you guys who bombed the warehouse at Hengshan?"

  Old Yang sniffled, furrowed his brow and replied perfunctorily: "Yes, we blew them up and killed a lot of devils too."

  The squad leader smiled awkwardly and stopped talking, with a hint of ferocity in his eyes.

  Old Yang sniffled again and muttered in a low voice: "Strange."

  Old Cao next to him asked in confusion: "What's wrong?"

  Old Yang whispered: "Where did this stinky fish smell come from?"

  Lao Cao sniffled: "No."

  Old Yang cautiously looked around at the surrounding soldiers, who were staring at them with cold expressions.

  Lao Cao's heart suddenly tightened, "Stinky fish..."

  His face suddenly changed, and he stared at Old Yang in surprise. Old Yang avoided his gaze, closed his eyes slightly, and gently poked Old Cao with his hand.

  Suddenly Old Yang felt his hand touch something sticky on the floor of the car, he lowered his head to take a quiet look and found bright red blood on his fingers.

  Old Yang pretended to be nonchalant and looked around, only to find a soldier from the guard squad staring at the Japanese military uniform on his body. When he caught Old Yang's eye, he felt somewhat unnatural and avoided eye contact, taking off his cloth shoes and rubbing his feet before sitting down next to Zhou Guangren, who had just woken up from a nap. Suddenly seeing the soldier's foot, Zhou Guangren was taken aback, his face changing color. He glanced at Qin Zhiyong, who was leaning against the carriage board asleep, then looked at Old Yang, who also had his eyes closed as if he were sleeping too. Zhou Guangren felt somewhat disoriented.

  At this time, in the team department within Changsha city, Liu, with a bandage wrapped around his head, was on the phone: “...What? What did you say? Speak louder...The team leader hasn't arrived yet...How is that possible? They set off early this morning...”

  Liu put down the phone, a sense of foreboding struck his heart. He thought for a moment, then immediately picked up the phone again: "Call the instructor's office..."

  As night fell, jeeps and trucks stopped one after another by the roadside.

  In the carriage, Qin Zhiyong opened his eyes. Old Yang secretly poked Old Cao and gave him a wink, and Old Cao nodded in understanding.

  Makino got down from the jeep and walked to the side of the truck's cargo compartment, shouting into it: "Everyone get off!"

  Qin Zhiyong jumped off the car and asked Mu Ye: "Are we there yet?"

  Makino: "Qin Pai Zhang, the road ahead is blocked again. To prevent the enemy's mechanized troops from advancing, the roads in this area have been destroyed by the people. It seems we can only rest for a night and take a detour tomorrow."

  Qin Zhiyong smiled: "The people's enthusiasm for resisting Japan is really high!"

  Makino awkwardly replied: "Yes, yes."

  There were several abandoned civilian houses near the highway. Pastor pointed at one of them and said, "Your reconnaissance team brothers live there."

  The soldiers on the train jumped down from the rear of the carriage one after another.

  Huang Xintian jumped off the car and looked around at the surroundings, saying to Qin Zhiyong in confusion: "Team leader, where are we?"

  Qin Zhiyong shook his head. In the carriage, Old Yang gently pulled Old Cao, and the two men holding machine guns flipped down from the side of the carriage facing the highway. They looked around quickly and swiftly crawled under the carriage.

  Maki ran to the back of the train and took a glance at the empty carriage. Old Yang and Old Cao were lying under the train, and he heard Qin Zhiyong and Maki's voices beside his ears:

  Qin Zhiyong: "I haven't asked your honorable surname yet."

  Maki: "The surname Mu, as in Mu Guiying's Mu."

  Qin Zhiyong saw Captain Dong enter a civilian house, followed by a soldier.

  Qin Zhiyong: "Mu Pai Zhang, I want to see Dong Tuanzhang for a moment and report to him..."

  Makino interrupted Qin Zhiyong: "Director Dong has been working hard for days and wants to rest early. Let's do it tomorrow."

  "Alright."

  Makino turned and walked away, Qin Zhiyong looked at Makino's back with some confusion, then glanced at the broken window on the truck driver's cab door, and led the reconnaissance squad soldiers to walk towards the civilian house.

  The squad leader looked at the back of the reconnaissance soldier and suddenly remembered something. He ran to the back of the truck to check the carriage, and nervously looked around in all directions.

  Comrade Dong sat on a wooden stool in the room, with a soldier standing beside him, holding a rifle and guarding him.

  Director Dong muttered to himself: "Qin Zhiyong, Qin Zhiyong, I'm counting on you."

  Makino walked into the house and monitored outside through the window. Outside, Qin Zhiyong led a reconnaissance team carrying medical boxes into a civilian house.

  The squad leader rushed in somewhat flustered and whispered a few words in Pastor's ear, Pastor exclaimed in surprise: "Two are missing? Go find them quickly!"

  The squad leader rushed out and called up several soldiers, carrying guns and searching around.

  The scouts entered the house, put down their guns, untied their leg wraps and prepared to rest.

  Zhou Guangren hastily approached Qin Zhiyong's side, his expression somewhat flustered: "Squad leader, something doesn't feel right!"

  Qin Zhiyong: "What's wrong?"

  "Leg!"

  Qin Zhiyong: "What's wrong with your foot?"

  Wu Guangren: "Only Japanese people's feet, big toes and second toes will be separated very far apart. Just now I saw..."

  The door suddenly opened and Makino pushed it open and came in, followed by two soldiers carrying a box of canned goods each.

  Qin Zhiyong hastily elbowed Zhou Guangren, and Zhou Guangren stopped talking.

  Makiya smiled and said: "Qin Pai Zhang, you've all worked hard too. There's nothing to entertain the brothers with, so I'll send two boxes of canned goods."

  Qin Zhiyong listened to Zhou Guangren's words and had some vigilance, but still politely said: "Thank you for Mu Pai Chang's kindness, we haven't eaten anything all day."

  Two soldiers put the canned goods on the table, and Mu Ye smiled and turned to leave. Qin Zhiyong suddenly stopped him: "Mu Squad Leader, have you seen Advisor Sun recently?"

  Makino stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around: "Which Sun advisor?"

  Qin Zhiyong: "Sun Fulin, the staff officer of the headquarters."

  Makino said: "Ah - Sun advisor ah, saw it, saw it two days ago."

  The warriors of the scouting team changed their faces suddenly after hearing Maki's words, and involuntarily stopped their movements.

  Makino also noticed the change in the warriors' expressions and hastily said, "Alright, I won't disturb you anymore. Hurry up and eat, get some rest early, we still have a long way to go tomorrow."

  Makino finished speaking and hastily exited the room with two soldiers.

  At this time, the warriors had come to their senses and saw Mu Ye going out. They hurriedly gathered around Qin Zhiyong's side.

  Huang Xintian: "Paichang, they are——"

  Qin Zhiyong hastily stretched out his hand to signal him to keep his voice down.

  Zhou Guangren was somewhat panicked: "Squad leader, what should we do?"

  Qin Zhiyong furrowed his brow and thought for a moment before calling out in a low voice: "Old Yang! Old Cao!"

  No one answered. Qin Zhiyong looked around and was surprised: "Where are Old Yang and Old Cao?"

  One soldier replied: "After getting off the bus, it seemed like they were no longer seen."

  The warriors hastily re-tied their leg wrappings.

  At this time, Old Yang and Old Cao were lying under the car.

  Old Cao: "...... Old Yang, they are all wearing our country's military uniforms——"

  Old Yang: "You numbskull, we're still wearing the enemy's uniforms."

  Lao Cao: "What evidence do you have, anyway?"

  Old Yang: "No evidence! Intuition."

  Lao Cao: "What if your intuition is wrong? What if someone sees us and asks why we're squatting here, what should we say?"

  Lao Yang: "My intuition has never been wrong before, hopefully it's wrong this time."

  Lao Cao suddenly thought of: "Do you still have bullets?"

  Old Yang was annoyed: "Not many more. Damn it, don't take those two bottles of wine."

  Makino realized that his identity might have been exposed. He whispered a few words to the two soldiers beside him, and they replied in hushed tones: "Yes."

  Two soldiers returned to stand guard with guns outside the civilian house where the reconnaissance platoon lived.

  The squad leader led a few soldiers to search around. He walked towards the truck, bent down and looked underneath it, but there was no one under the truck.

  In the civilian house, Huang Xintian looked out of the window and said softly: "Paichang, they have set up a sentry post outside the door!"

  "Commander, let's charge out! We can't wait here to die!"

  "Right! Let's fight them! Fight!"

  Qin Zhiyong said with a worried heart: "Captain Dong is in their hands, we can't act rashly."

  "What's to be done?"

  Qin Zhiyong muttered to himself: "Where did Old Yang and Old Cao go?"

  "Are these two old guys also aware of the problem, which is why they didn't come in?"

  Qin Zhiyong nodded slightly: "Mm, it's possible." He stood up, "I'll go out and take a look first, you guys get ready for battle."

  Qin Zhiyong opened the door and was about to go out when he suddenly found Mukoyama standing outside, staring straight at him.

  Makiyo sneered: "Qin Pai Zhang, where are you going so late?"

  "Go out and get some fresh air."

  Makino: "I'm afraid you won't be able to leave this house."

  At this time, more than a dozen guns stretched out from the windows of the civilian houses, aiming at the warriors inside.

  Qin Zhiyong pretended to be puzzled and asked: "Mu Pai Chang, what do you mean by this?"

  Makino: "Stop pretending you don't know, you already know who I am."

  Qin Zhiyong: "What do you want?"

  Makino: "Originally, two hand grenades would have been enough to take care of all of you. However, as a soldier, I must say that I admire Captain Qin's bravery. I'd like to advise you not to put up any futile resistance. Put down your weapons and come with us."

  Qin Zhiyong did not respond, calmly thinking of a countermeasure, he secretly used his hand to gesture to the soldiers behind him to cock their guns.

  Huang Xintian, Zhou Guangren and the soldiers quietly made shooting preparations.

  Qin Zhiyong muttered to himself: "Old Yang, Old Cao, where are you? Why haven't you made a move yet?" He deliberately dragged out the time, "What did you do with Captain Xu?"

  Makino: "Huh? Xu Pai Zhang? Hmph, Xu Pai Zhang and his guard squad brothers have already sacrificed themselves for the country. Ah, yes! And your predecessor Chen Pai Zhang and his scouting squad were also led into our ambush by our 'Imperial Blossom', hahaha!"

  Qin Zhiyong sneered: "'Empire's Flower'? Are you talking about Tan Ermei?"

  Makino was shocked: "How did you know? Do you know Qin Pai Chang?"

  Huang Xintian hung his head in shame, and Zhou Guangren looked at him with sympathy.

  Qin Zhiyong: "Of course I know her, Yoshimura Masami. I also know her brother, Yoshimura Sanbo."

  " 'How did they die?' Makino asked urgently."

  Qin Zhiyong slowly said: "Ya Mei was killed by us, and Yoshimura was killed by his sister Ya Mei?"

  Makino's eyes widened in shock: "What? Yami killed her own brother? Impossible!"

  Qin Zhiyong: "Because Yoshimura's adjutant was willing to cooperate with us, he was killed by his own sister."

  "Preposterous!" Makino roared in a rage. "Captain Yoshimura would never do anything to tarnish the honor of the Empire! You must have killed him!" He gave a low command in Japanese to the soldiers outside the door, "Fire! Wipe them out—"