Chapter Fifty-Four: First Victory

  Winning the first battle

  Sasaki, who was full of doubts, had just thought of letting the Kūshōten's Oni Butai take over the guard duty when the phone rang. Kawabata Mika looked at Kūshōten, and he smiled back at her. Sasaki picked up the phone and chattered away for a while before hanging up with a smile and bowing to Kūshōten, saying: "I apologize, I didn't know your fiancée was still waiting for you at the Rinhei Garrison. I'm taking up your precious time. Please arrange for your guards to replace the soldiers on duty, so that the Imperial Army can also experience the Emperor's benevolence." He turned around and shouted to the fake soldiers in the watchtower: "Hey, you guys trade places with the Empire's brave warriors! Come down and receive the Emperor's reward, and let's show off the most moving geisha performance of our great Japanese Empire!"

  The members of the Oni-tai quickly occupied the gun towers and high ground, while Kayo Shinoda, Shuzuka Aihara, and several other girls were putting on makeup. Unshō Ishizuka and Ki no Kuni watched as Sasaki's squad and the fake soldiers put their guns together, surrounding the girls and chatting and laughing. Unshō Ishizuka coughed a few times, and Kayo Shinoda shouted loudly: "Sasaki-san, please have the brave warriors of the Empire sit down over there, the wonderful show is about to begin."

  Sasaki blew his whistle and gathered the Japanese puppet army together, then ran over to say: "Mr. Takeda, you can arrange for a performance of the Imperial Heroes now."

  Yun Xiang Tian drew out his pistol and pointed it at Sasaki's head, shouting loudly: "Brothers of the fierce ghost squad, start performing!"

  The members of the Lethal Ghost Troop quickly took control of the Japanese puppet army waiting to watch the show. Before they could figure out what was happening, they became prisoners. Yun Xiang Tian ordered that the little devils be tied up and thrown into the car, and said to the puppet army, who were like in a dream: "You are Chinese, but you assist the enemy and harm your compatriots. You should be executed on the spot, but I know that many of you have been forced to become puppet soldiers by the little devils. So we will spare your lives this time. If you are willing to go up the mountain and follow the Eighth Route Army's Lethal Ghost Troop to kill the devils, we welcome you with open arms. If you do not want to go up the mountain, we will give you travel expenses and let you return home. But if we find out that there are still die-hard traitors who refuse to repent, we will show no mercy."

  As soon as the words fell, a man stood up with a loud "Hoo!" and reported: "Reporting to the superior officer, I was originally the commander of the 3rd company of the National Army's Independent Regiment, Cui Dongsheng. During the Linping Defense War, we had strong enemies in front of us and no reinforcements behind us. Under the heavy encirclement of the devils, our bullets were exhausted and our food was gone. In order to preserve our strength and make a comeback, my brothers and I put on this traitor's skin. We have been looking for an opportunity to break out and return to the battlefield, but the little devils are guarding very tightly, and we have not had a chance to take action. Today, I am willing to lead my troops up the mountain to join the Eighth Route Army and avenge our fallen brothers." He turned his head and shouted: "Brothers, follow me up the mountain to join the Eighth Route Army and kill the devils!"

  Cui Dongsheng's shout ignited the passion of the captured puppet soldiers, who threw away their hats and waved their arms, wanting to join the Eighth Route Army and throw themselves into the torrent of resistance against Japan. Yun Xiang Tian and Qi Guo exchanged a smile, deciding to incorporate this troop.

  The fierce ghost brigade rescued the captured laborers and National Army prisoners, blew up the coal mine and destroyed the railway under construction, and when they withdrew, Yun Xiangtian waved to Deputy Platoon Leader Jia Zhongyong of the Second Platoon and said a few words to him.

  The great victory of Lihua Valley greatly boosted the anti-Japanese morale of the Lethal Ghost Troop, and also pushed the anti-Japanese enthusiasm in the Lingfeng area to a new height. While people were cheering for the victory of Lihua Valley, they were also talking about a legendary figure who, without firing a single shot or bullet, blasted the Lihua Valley coal mine and rescued Chinese miners who had been enslaved. He was Yun Xiang Tian of the Lethal Ghost Troop.

  The explosion in Li Huagou shocked the Japanese army stationed in Linping, and enraged the commander of the Shan Kou United Team, Shan Kou Xiufu. He pointed his butcher knife at the Eighth Route Army in the Lingfeng area, at the fierce ghost battalion on Fengling Mountain, he wanted to conquer Lingfeng and Fengling Mountain with brutal slaughter from both sides, pinning down the two special forces hiding deep within Fengling Mountain who were maintaining radio silence.

  The battle of Nanshanwa and Qilin Mountain has begun, the Japanese army has invested a large number of troops to pull out the two steel teeth of Lingfeng Castle. Open the road to Lingfeng. The battle was extremely brutal, after a day of fierce fighting, the Qilin Mountain Anti-Japanese Brigade repeatedly repelled the Japanese army's attack. However, the Japanese artillery also caused heavy casualties to the anti-Japanese brigade. Faced with severe losses, Chen Jingguo had no choice but to order the withdrawal of the troops.

  When the last ray of sunlight fell on the western mountain, the Japanese army stopped its attack. Between Qilin Mountain and Linping, in an open area less than two miles from Lihua Gou, they set up camp to prepare for another attack at dawn. Several Japanese commanders gathered in a tent to study the battle plan for the next day. The Japanese did not expect that the Eighth Route Army on Qilin Mountain would be so brave and stubborn, using their flesh and blood to block them under Qilin Mountain.

  The night shrouded Lihua Gou, quiet and still. The moon hid its tracks tonight, only the stars hung high in the sky, and everywhere was a dead silence. A group of white figures emerged from the abandoned coal mine in Lihua Gou, moving swiftly and eerily like ghosts on the snowy ground. The Japanese camp was just ahead, and the leader of the ghosts waved his hand, dispersing the ghostly figures to crawl on the ground. Qi Yun Tian whispered to Jia Zhongyong beside him, "Tell our brothers to slowly move forward, we'll entertain our guests well later."

  Jia Zhongyong whispered to his comrades beside him, "Pass it down, lean forward, prepare for battle." Jia Zhongyong turned around and gave a thumbs up to Yun Xiangtian: "Brother Yun, you're really prescient, the little devils have indeed deployed their elite troops in the area of Qilin Mountain and Nan Shan Ao, leaving their baggage train behind, exposing this weakness for us to attack."

  Yun Xiang Tian observed the patrol pattern of the Japanese army and said in a low voice, "After the battle starts, don't be obsessed with fighting, retreat to Lihua Gou, everything goes according to the original plan. Remember, don't be obsessed with fighting."

  After the Japanese patrol passed by again, Yun Xiang Tian suddenly got up, knelt on one leg, held up his rifle, aimed at the machine gunner on the temporary watchtower set up by the Japanese army, and pulled the trigger.

  Jia Zhongyong shouted loudly: "Up!" He jumped up, holding a machine gun and firing at the Japanese sentry. With his soldiers, he charged in, throwing hand grenades wrapped in gasoline-soaked cotton cloth at the Japanese convoy like hailstones. In an instant, explosions filled the air, igniting the gasoline-soaked cotton, which burned like flying fire butterflies, landing on the Japanese convoy one by one. The convoy was engulfed in a sea of flames. The Japanese soldiers, caught off guard, were shocked out of their wits. Their commander, regaining composure, waved his command sword and ordered an attack on Yun Xiangtian's group.

  Yun Xiang Tian saw the devils pressing in, and shouted: "Withdraw!" He led his troops to quickly retreat towards Lihua Gorge. The devils closely followed into Lihua Gorge, but found that the people who ambushed them were gone. Just as they were puzzled, a loud explosion shook the mountain and split the ground. Rocks flew wildly on both sides of the mountain in Lihua Gorge, and huge boulders fell rapidly. The devils who were hit cried out for their parents, their bodies mangled and bloody. Those who weren't hit quickly fled to the foot of the cliff at the bottom of the mountain, but stepped on landmines instead. The thunderous sound sent the devils' corpses flying into the sky. The small devils who came to pursue Yun Xiang Tian's troops were blocked by him in Lihua Gorge and were all eliminated soon after. Yun Xiang Tian immediately led his troops back to launch another attack, directly charging towards the Japanese army camp.

  Qilin Mountain Anti-Japanese Brigade Commander Chen Jingguo, upon hearing the explosion sounds from the Little Devil's barracks and Lihua Gorge direction, knew that Yun Xiangtian had succeeded. He immediately ordered a full-scale attack, killing towards the Japanese army. The Little Devils were caught in a pincer movement, defeated and fled in disarray, leaving behind hundreds of corpses.

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