Chapter 32: The Devils Launch a Night Raid, Li Weiguo Sacrifices Himself

  The night had darkened, although there was no moon, but the few stars hanging above were much brighter than usual. The Chinese soldiers in the trenches, hugging their guns and leaning against the walls, were mostly fast asleep. For safety's sake, before leaving, Guo Jinan repeatedly reminded Zhang Damao and Li Liansheng to be on guard against a night raid by the enemy, so Zhang Damao arranged for someone to keep watch in shifts. Each soldier had a bayonet mounted on their rifle, and several hand grenades were placed beside them, as nighttime sneak attacks often involved close combat. The role of hand grenades should not be underestimated.

  War is terrible, it can take away people's lives at any time, it may make some people timid and weak, but at the same time, it can also awaken the bravery of most people. Zhang Damao looked at the soldiers in the trenches who were snoring and talking in their sleep, feeling extremely comforted and proud, his soldiers are good ones.

  It's not that soldiers who can't sleep are cowards, at least Zhao Zhibang isn't. For some reason, he didn't feel sleepy at all, and with his eyes closed, Zhang Quanqi's face appeared in his mind. He found that it had only been a few hours since Zhang Quanqi passed away, but his face was already becoming blurry in his memory. However, his words still lingered deeply in his mind. He stood up, looked up at the place where Zhang Quanqi rested, and then crawled out of the trench.

  "Monkey, I'll keep watch for you, go take a nap!" Zhao Zhibang said, stumbling over to Wu Fayun, who was yawning. Because during the first battle of the day when the Japanese artillery fire came over, he had crouched down in the trench with his hands over his head and jumped around like a monkey, so after that battle, people started calling him "Monkey" instead of "Sichuan guy". The soldiers didn't really like him because during meals, he would grab more than ten mantou by himself, and some people said he was afraid to die because someone saw him shooting with his head down in the trench while his gun was pointing at the sky. Plus, his mouth was always dirty, so many people didn't want to talk to him.

  "Thanks a lot, I'm going to die here...". Wu Fayun glanced at Zhao Zhibang who was walking towards him and without any hesitation, handed over the rifle in his hand. Then, he yawned and crawled into the trench without saying another word.

  This was Zhao Zhibang's first night watch, and it was also his first time on the real battlefield. Under the moonlight, he lay under a large tree that had been bombarded by Japanese artillery shells, leaving only one section remaining, his eyes tightly fixed on the open space in front of the position, not daring to relax for a moment.

  "Who..."

  "Zhibang Ge... ... is me... ... Li Weiguo..."

  "Why aren't you sleeping... what are you doing here?" Zhao Zhibang shifted his body, pulling Li Weiguo, who had already walked to his side, down beside him.

  "I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd come over and chat with you!"

  "Hey, you little scamp..." Zhao Zhibang and Li Weiguo had a pretty good relationship during their new recruit training. Li Weiguo also liked to hang out with him because they were both educated people and couldn't communicate with those rough guys.

  "Eh... Zhi Bang Ge... you're really awesome, killing so many devils during the day... Zhi Bang Ge, honestly, were you scared at first?"

  "What's with the question? Are you scared?" Zhao Zhibang turned his head and said softly.

  "I was scared at first, especially when I saw the severed hand, I started trembling all over, my legs and stomach were shaking... haha..." Li Weiguo said with a sheepish grin, rubbing his nearly shaved head.

  "But later I killed a little devil and wasn't afraid anymore... really, I really killed a little devil..." When he said he had killed a devil, Zhao Zhibang turned his head to look at him again. Li Weiguo thought Zhao didn't believe him, so he repeated "really" several times.

  "I didn't say I don't believe you,,,,,,you little brat,,,,,,,"

  "Heh heh... Now, as soon as I see those little devils, I feel my blood vessels swelling up, and I'm not afraid at all. Just now, when Comrade Chang shouted 'Charge!', I almost couldn't hold back from rushing out. At that moment, I was thinking about killing a few more of those devils to avenge you... Fortunately, you didn't die... In the past, when I heard old soldiers talk about being stabbed by bayonets, I would feel very scared. But now, I actually want to have the chance to clash with those devils... Brother Zhibang, will we be fighting against those devils tomorrow?" Li Weiguo muttered to himself while poking at the ground with a tree branch in his hand.

  Zhao Zhibang turned his head and looked at him with excitement after hearing that he wanted to avenge himself. It was hard to see from the look of it, but Li Weiguo had already become an 18-year-old and had been trained into a true warrior through this war. Although he was already a warrior in thought before joining the army and going onto the battlefield, real warfare was about shedding blood and losing lives. However, after today's two battles, he had become a true warrior in every aspect - mentally, spiritually, and physically.

  "War is a terrible devil." Zhao Zhibang thought to himself as he looked at Li Weiguo, who had already changed beyond recognition.

  "Keep an eye on me for a bit, I'll be right back..." After chatting for a while, Zhao Zhibang handed the gun in his hand to Li Weiguo and stood up.

  "The devils are coming!!! Be careful, Zhao Zhibang!!!" Just as Zhao Zhibang took a few steps to the side and turned around, Li Weiguo saw what seemed like a person's shadow flashing at the foot of the mountain. When he climbed up to get a clear look, he indeed saw a devil crouching at the foot of the mountain. The moment the devil saw him, he shouted loudly and rushed towards Zhao Zhibang, who was still standing there.

  Just as Li Weiguo pounced on Zhao Zhibang, the Japanese soldiers hiding at the foot of the mountain fired their guns.

  "Protect the country, protect the country..." Zhao Zhibang hugged Li Weiguo and fell to the ground with him. His hand grasping Li's back 'touched' something sticky, and Zhao Zhibang knew exactly what he had 'touched'.

  "The devils are coming up... Fight them..."

  "Hurry up and throw hand grenades!!" The sound of gunfire and Li Weiguo's shouting awakened the middle squad in the trenches. They immediately woke up, without a moment's hesitation or panic, and first threw all the hand grenades around them down the mountain. Instantly, the hidden Japanese soldiers at the foot of the mountain were blown to death.

  "Brothers, follow me, charge forward and chop down those little devils...!" After the grenade went off, Zhang Da-mao ripped off his overcoat and threw it into the trench, then jumped out of the trench with a loud shout, bare-chested.

  "Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill..."

  "Kill!!!" The originally quiet night sky was immediately shattered by the angry roars of more than 200 people, Zhang 'Misty' Dragon didn't wait for Zhang Da Mao to finish speaking and charged out with his machine gun, after a burst of gunfire three Japanese soldiers fell to the ground.

  Because it was a surprise attack, there were too many people and the target would be too big. So, only about 20 of the "Japanese" army came up, each with a white cloth strip wrapped around their heads with a loyal character written on it. The main force of the "Japanese" army followed behind, waiting for an opportunity to attack when they clashed with the Chinese troops and got into a melee. Unexpectedly, the Chinese troops were well-prepared. At this point, they seemed to have no better way out than to retreat. However, those twenty or so model soldiers who were loyal to the emperor left their bodies forever in the foreign land they dreamed of conquering.