Twenty-seven

  Although it was only three days, due to the recent life-and-death battles, everyone seemed to have an unprecedented sense of attachment and reluctance to leave this peaceful village. Fang Lan had already become quite familiar with several girls in the village who lived next to You Lao Si, and at the moment of parting, she regretted not having prepared any gifts for her sisters as a keepsake. She could only repeatedly promise the sisters that after the country was pacified, she would definitely return to this place and reminisce about old times with them.

  Yan Weizhen said to You Laosi on the side, "I'm telling you, Brother You, with your courage and skills, it's a pity to be stuck in this small mountain village."

  "Alas, a man's life is but a single spring in the woods, and where is there not yellow earth to bury him? You, Magistrate Yan, are young and talented, with courage and wisdom beyond your years. You will be a pillar of our party and nation, a true leader who can bring great accomplishments to our people. When the world is at peace and all is well, perhaps you will still remember that there was once an old fellow like me."

  Yan Wei, also a sentimental person, was also secretly suffering from the pain of parting. For a moment, he didn't know how to comfort him either. So he looked at Old Fourth Liu and said: "I'll definitely remember this, if the world is really at peace in the future, I'll come back and meet with you again! By then, who knows, maybe I won't leave, you can find me a girl in the village and I'll settle down here! If we can really drive the Japanese devils back to their old home, I think our party and country will not treat us unfairly. I estimate that the demobilization fee will not be small! At that time, you can help me get a piece of land in this village again, and I'll plant it every day after waking up, chat with everyone, and when night falls, I'll go home and play with my wife! Just thinking about such a life makes me feel wonderful!"

  Lao Si heard Yan Wei's absurd words and laughed, saying: "A high-ranking officer of the national army, a regimental commander, is actually talking about giving up in this national crisis. If your subordinates hear these words, I'm afraid that by tomorrow, there will be no one left in your troops! They'll all sneak back to me and settle down here! The only thing I'm worried about is that I won't have enough big girls to provide for you all." After speaking, he looked at Yan Wei with a bitter smile. Both of them knew that no matter what, the most important thing was to survive and make it to Sichuan alive!

  Hamasaki Hiroshi, who had been searching for two days without any results, deeply knew that what he was doing now was extremely foolish! Conducting a search in Shina (China), let alone with the current strength of one battalion, even if their Emperor ordered all Japanese military and civilians to do this, it would be feared that they could not finish searching one province of China in a year!

  This thing from the beginning, Hanzawa Hiroshi still thought that his side had the upper hand! Judging from years of dialogue and combat experience, comparing this nation to a plate of loose sand is still an understatement! A handful of rotten rice would be more like it! For such a nation, who in the occupied area would sacrifice themselves to protect a large group of children? It's entirely possible for the entire troop to shed their uniforms and disguise themselves as civilians to escape! But at this point, Hanzawa Hiroshi still hadn't discovered that one child had been abandoned by his opponent! At least, it hadn't fallen into his hands yet.

  Hamazaki Hiroto deeply understands the importance of this matter to their Japanese Empire! He is also deeply shocked by Okamura Yasuji's tolerant incompetence! But as an excellent officer of the empire, if this matter ultimately ends in complete defeat, he cannot be lenient with himself again! His military honor does not allow it, his personal dignity does not allow it, and I believe Okamura Yasuji will no longer permit it either!

  "Order the troops to stop searching this area and recall all forces." After giving the order to his messenger, Higashisaki Hirofumi spread out the map of Hubei Province on the table again, trying to follow the lines on the map to track down his opponent's thinking.

  Just as he was still confused and frustrated, he unconsciously saw the logo of the Yangtze River on the map. For a moment, he felt that all the nerves in his brain seemed to have escaped his control and were jumping on their own! He didn't know what it was, but he realized that his thinking had somehow broken out of some kind of formatted prison!

  His hands grasped the edge of the table, forcing his turbulent mind to calm down quickly, but he was also afraid that the fleeting thought would leave him! Because he still hadn't figured out what he had realized. It was like a person walking into a desperate situation in the dark night, suddenly seeing a flash of light in the distance! This light was the only hope that could guide him out of desperation at this moment! But this light flickered uncertainly, perhaps it would disappear! Perhaps it was just an illusion created by the subconscious of a hopeless person! He wanted to grasp it but didn't dare to reach out! Afraid that when he finally grasped it, it would turn out to be just an illusion! And also afraid that it was too elusive and fragile! The moment he grabbed it, it would disappear into dust with his movement.

  Hamasaki Hiro's efforts to calm his mind, slowly sat down in the chair, carefully closed his eyes, hoping to use the darkness to make this life-saving spiritual light a little clearer.

  When Hamazaki Hiroto opened his eyes again, his gaze was no longer wandering aimlessly or uncertain! Those shining eyes full of confidence were clearly telling everyone that he had figured it out, he had walked out of the darkness and firmly grasped the flame in his hand! And the flame was still flickering, strongly burning with a vibrant life force! Not at all like it would disappear into thin air like a fleeting illusion! But instead, it was burning with an even more vigorous momentum, wave after wave! Hamazaki Hiroto could even feel the scorching heat in his palms! Because he understood that he had grasped onto hope!

  After Hamazaki Hiroto carefully studied the map, he drew a circle with a red pencil on the place name marked as Jingzhou! This ancient region of Jingzhou is destined to play an important historical role again!

  Hamasaki Hiroshi stood up with a relieved expression, walked to the low table, and began making tea using the tea utensils placed on it. It was Japanese Gyokuro green tea, "Tamaryoku", which he had brought from his homeland.

  Years have gone by, and there's hardly any left. Tea leaves aren't fine wine; they can't withstand the test of time and have lost their fragrance and richness. However, Hama-saki Hiro-matsu still carefully treasures these Jade Dew that he brought from his hometown, which hold all his nostalgia for home. To Hama-saki Hiro-matsu, these Jade Dew are not just tea, but longing, yearning, nostalgia, and the spiritual pillar of his victory in this war!

  Every thinker with an independent ideological system, as long as his personal humanity has not been invaded and swallowed up by the flood beast, then in the deepest bottom line of human nature, there is absolutely no one who will be crazy about war!

  Hamasaki Hiroshi was also not enthusiastic about the war, and his personal desire for power did not reach the point of starting a war. For one's own desires, let millions of families be torn apart! Let millions of people die in vain! He even resented this annoying war that bothered him.

  He often lamented that if it weren't for the politicians' power struggle, he might have already become a successful engineer, which was his lifelong dream since childhood. At the very least, he should have been enjoying life with his loving wife and children by his side. The "Jade Dew" at that time would not have had this slightly bitter taste to it now.

  When the obviously already faded beauty of the jade dew was drunk, Hama-saki Hiro-matsu even blamed himself for why he had such a programmatic view of things, so that he wasted several days here. And thinking, whether it was himself who was led into his thought path by his opponent, and being seduced by his opponent to walk towards darkness.

  No matter from the initial intelligence display, or since the first confrontation with the opponent, I had already determined in my mind that the opponent would take the land route to enter Sichuan. However, what was in front of me were these vast and continuous mountains of Shina, which seemed to make it impossible for people to cross, thus ignoring the actual situation of the opponent. It must be known that the opponent's situation at this time is far more difficult than mine. With a whole team of children, they had to climb over mountains and ridges on foot without any supplies! It was simply a fantasy. Obviously, my opponent was not a fool, which could be seen from the defeat of thinking that I was not a fool. A good commander would definitely set a route with the highest possibility of survival for his team. And now it seems that this route is most likely to be waterway. If you want to go upstream along the waterway into Sichuan, now only Jingzhou is the only choice.

  After coordinating with the Jingzhou side, Binzaki Hiroshi ordered his chief of staff: "Move the troops to the Jingzhou area immediately and deploy them secretly. I have coordinated with Major Shimoeda Kentaro, the commander of the Jingzhou area, and he will send troops to assist us in all our actions there. Major Shimoeda told me that there are no mountains or forests around the city of Jingzhou for our opponents to hide again, as long as we can strictly control all highways and ports, I believe it won't be too far before we meet our opponents again."

  Fortunately, the heavens have shown mercy and it has not rained again in these days. With You Zhou's excellent medical skills combined with the powerful effect of aspirin, several sick children have recovered. However, You Zhou said that to cure the disease, one must nourish the body and cultivate the spirit, so every day he still uses herbal medicine to treat them and takes good care of them. Along the way, Yan Wei and others were deeply moved by his benevolent heart as a doctor.

  And this road came with the help of Youjia Village, and the environment has also improved greatly. Not only is there enough dry food and meat, but also quilts are laid out at night, making a group of poor children who were used to eating bitterness forget that this was a life-and-death transfer. Some children even said they hoped to continue following the uncles who were soldiers all the way. But it's hard for Yan Wei and Wu Hanhuai's subordinates, not only do they have to take care of the daily lives of the children day and night, but also carry an extra 10 or so pounds of quilts! However, as a soldier of the party and country, seeing the children safe and happy, no one showed dissatisfaction in their hearts. It can be seen that the relationship between the military and civilians can still be maximally reflected when it reaches the right environment.

  All the way, only Fang Lan was exhausted and tired from resting all day. Yan Wei often felt sorry for her overwork and told her to put down her work and just take care of herself, but this young lady from a wealthy family showed extraordinary perseverance and grandeur at this moment! Her requirement for Yan Wei was simple: every night, he had to hold her and gaze at the stars together until she fell asleep. As a result, Yan Wei became the most hardworking person in the group again. She said she was afraid of smoke, so when Yan Wei held her and chatted, they couldn't even smoke in the wilderness! She said that when she was appreciating the beauty of nature, he shouldn't disturb her good mood. So Yan Wei often had to hold her for an hour without daring to change his posture! He would often suffer from waist pain and arm numbness, and even endure physical torture! Finally, Yan Wei came to a conclusion: holding a beautiful woman like a flower, but not being able to do anything, was the greatest torture! He even thought that in the future, when his team captured enemy spies again, they wouldn't need to beat or threaten them. Just pushing a beauty into their arms and letting them hold her would be enough, and they would surely confess everything!

  Yan Wei even thought that after this trip, if it really didn't work out, he might as well resign and not do it anymore! He would tell Commander Guan the truth, and then marry into the Fang family as a idle son-in-law. If Commander Guan didn't agree, he would tell him that he would degenerate to this point, which would be considered an occupational injury! If you hadn't assigned me to do this job, would I, Yan Wei, a proud major in the national army, have ended up like this?

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