Chapter Seven: Interception

  Lin Xiaotang helped He Chong re-bandage the wound, during which time, the old man named Yong Gong kept sizing them up, and the black-haired mixed-blood also seemed to have an exceptionally strong interest in the two of them, his eyes constantly darting back and forth between Lin Xiaotang and He Chong.

  From He Qiong's mouth, it was learned that these five men in black military uniforms were soldiers belonging to the legendary 13th Garrison Brigade of the Military Police, also known as the "Chairman's Guard", personally established by German Nazi stormtrooper instructor Brom. The entire army was equipped with unified German-style equipment, armed with Belgian-made FN BAR machine guns and Czech-made ZH29 semi-automatic rifles. All officers and soldiers were equipped with German-made Mauser C96 pistols. It can be said that they are the elite of the elite in the National Army, but because they bear the responsibility of guarding the leader of the National Government, they rarely appear in public view.

  After listening to He Chong's introduction, Lin Xiaotang secretly paid attention. Several soldiers from the Committee's Guard suddenly appeared here, and it seemed that the old man named Yong Gong and those two foreigners should have some background.

  Looking at Lin Xiaotang and He Chong still wearing those incongruous Japanese military uniforms, one of the gendarmes, who appeared to be the leader, pulled out two sets of civilian clothes from his backpack and handed them over to Lin Xiaotang and He Chong. He introduced himself as Shen, the platoon leader of the 63rd company of the 13th battalion of the gendarmerie, who had been ordered to protect important officials and was unable to withdraw from Nanjing in time, temporarily trapped here.

  Lin Xiaotang looked at Shen Pai's documents and sighed helplessly. At this time, thinking of escaping from Nanjing was no different from a fool's dream. He had to tell Shen Pai that the National Army was still holding out in the vicinity of Yijiang Gate, and the deputy commander of the garrison, Xiao Shanling, was directing the evacuation of troops and civilians at the dock. If they could retreat there, perhaps there would be a turning point.

  Shen Pai's eyes lit up, and it was clear that this news had undoubtedly lit a lamp for them in the dark night. The Yu Gong in front of him and these two foreigners were absolutely not allowed to make any mistakes on their own, so they might as well retreat to the Yi Jiang Men dock. If they could catch a favorable wind ship back to Jiangbei, then he and his subordinates would have achieved a great merit.

  Shen Pai Zhang looked at Yong Gong, his eyes revealing a hint of inquiry. Yong Gong nodded silently. Shen Pai Zhang immediately ordered several subordinates to start preparing ammunition and distributing dry rations to the crowd, making preparations for departure.

  When eating, Shen Pai Chang curiously asked Lin Xiao Tang and He Chong about the reason for their arrival. He Chong suddenly opened his mouth and talked endlessly about the whole story. Lin Xiao Tang wanted to interrupt but couldn't get a word in edgewise. To be honest, with his personality, he didn't want to draw attention to himself, especially since there were three strangers sitting next to him. Lin Xiao Tang didn't want He Chong's words to attract the attention of these unfamiliar people.

  He Chong's narrative was infectious, and soon everyone's attention was drawn to him. Yuan Gong slowly poured water from the kettle into his cup, but his expression was one of rapt attention, while several constables were openly enthralled. The dark-haired mixed-blood had simply shifted over to Lin Xiaotang's side.

  The black-haired mixed-blood smiled and stretched out his hand to Lin Xiaotang, instantly giving Lin Xiaotang a feeling of being stared at by a big grey wolf: "Mr. Lin, I've always thought you were an excellent soldier, but it turns out that you're actually a top student from Nanjing University!"

  The black-haired mixed-blood's Chinese was standard, but for some reason it made Yu Gong's eyebrows furrow slightly as he sat in the middle.

  Lin Xiaotang was unclear about the origin of the black-haired mixed-blood, and simply shook hands politely.

  The half-caste with black hair didn't have any substantial issues, only constantly flattering Lin Xiaotang and He Chong, and expressing admiration for their heroic actions. Then he told Lin Xiaotang that his name was Hong Zhawei, an American-born Chinese, currently working at the US Embassy in Nanjing, and hoped to find an opportunity to further communicate with Lin Xiaotang.

  They finished eating quickly, and Shen Pai Zhang glanced at his watch, indicating to everyone that it was almost time, and they would set off immediately.

  Crawling out of the cellar, the biting wind struck, causing Lin Xiaotang to shiver. The surroundings were still pitch black, but the snow had stopped, and since the snowfall was not heavy, there was only a bit of mud on the ground, with hardly any accumulated snow.

  Shen Pai Zhang used the compass in his hand to correct the direction, and together with four subordinates, they tightly protected Yan Gong and two Americans in the middle of the team. Lin Xiao Tang and He Chong walked at the end of the team. After re-applying medicine and bandaging, He Chong's leg could walk alone with a limp. The wound on Lin Xiao Tang's shoulder was also neatly bandaged. Although his left arm still couldn't be lifted, his right hand was intact, tightly grasping a revolver that Shen Pai Zhang had just handed him, which was genuine German goods.

  It was past three o'clock in the morning, and everyone lined up in a straight line, walking carefully on the ruins. Except for the occasional sound of footsteps, the surroundings were silent and still. The previous sounds of gunfire, explosions, and wolves' howls seemed to have left the battlefield far behind. A thin layer of fog had appeared at some point, and it seemed to be getting thicker.

  After walking for about an hour, Lin Xiaotang looked around and found that the view had become blurry due to the thick fog. However, he recognized that this was a school about three miles away from the National Army's blocking position at Yizhimen, which they had passed by when they set out with He Chong and Laoquan.

  Lin Xiaotang hurried up a few steps and quietly told Shen, who was leading the way at the front of the team. Shen turned his head to look at Yun Gong and the two foreigners, and found that they were already exhausted. So he gave an order to rest for ten minutes in a sheltered spot below a hillside before setting off again.

  One of Shen Pai's subordinates supported Yong Gong to sit down by the side of the road. Hei Fa Hun Xue Hong Cha Wei looked like he was in good spirits, sitting in the grass and chewing on a piece of gum. Another foreigner with brown hair hung his briefcase around his neck and walked into the depths of the grass, seemingly wanting to relieve himself.

  Lin Xiaotang took the water bottle handed over by He Chong, gulped down two mouthfuls, and the icy water entered his throat, causing him to cough softly. Just then, he heard a cry of surprise from behind, followed by the sound of something heavy falling into the water.

  The crowd was shocked and quickly turned around to look back, but the foreigner with brown hair had already disappeared. In the darkness, only the sound of hands slapping water and cries for help could be heard.

  Lin Xiaotang and Shen Pai Chang quickly ran to the place where the foreigner was standing, Lin Xiaotang swiftly reached out and grabbed Shen Pai Chang: "Watch your step!"

  Shen Pai Chang Ding Qing took a look and couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. Not far from his feet was a dark well mouth, which turned out to be an abandoned water well. The foreigner's voice was coming from there. ?? Counterattack Republic of China's Special Agent 7

  The crowd gathered around the well, and one of Shen Pai's men turned on his flashlight and shone it into the well. The foreigner was seen soaking in the water, with his briefcase still hanging from his neck, his hands propping himself against the wall of the well, and he was shouting for help in a state of panic. Lin Xiaotang hastily told him to shut up, but it seemed to be too late.

  The distant sound of wolf dogs' alert barking has already been transmitted, and the light begins to emerge, with dozens of flashlights shining chaotically, moving towards here.

  Lin Xiaotang felt something was off, and immediately told the constable to turn off his flashlight. She quickly searched around the well and grabbed a wet rope from the grass, handing it to the constable: "Quickly, pull him up! Then take these three and run north as fast as you can! We're already close to the Yangtze River Bridge, the faster we go, the better!"

  The constable looked at Shen Pai Zhang, and Shen Pai Zhang gritted his teeth: "Do as he says, you and Lao Niu rescue the people and then escort Gong Rong and others to retreat. The rest of us will stay behind with me to hold off the Japanese!"

  The constable nodded and handed over the semi-automatic rifle and ammunition belt in his hand to Lin Xiaotang.

  He Chong also wanted to follow Shen Pai Zhang together, but was stopped by Lin Xiao Tang without saying a word, and insisted that the injured him retreat first.

  He Chonglan nodded after a long while: "Stall for more time, fight and retreat at the same time, we go find the contact!"

  Lin Xiaotang turned around and followed Shen Pai Chang and his two subordinates, taking advantage of the night's cover to quietly make their way back along the original route.

  The streets were all ruins, and many places were suitable for ambushes. Lin Xiaotang and the other three dispersed and respectively guarded both sides of the street at the foot of the mountain slope, forming a crossfire. Lin Xiaotang and Shen Pai Zhang guarded one side next to the mountain slope.

  Lin Xiaotang and Shen Paichang chose a wall that was only half left, the wall was thick enough, with several gaps, facing the street, very suitable for an ambush.

  The two had not yet put down their weapons when they heard the sound of "huffing and puffing", followed by seeing two black shadows sticking to the ground in the fog, accompanied by the sound of teeth grinding, rushing towards the two.

  Lin Xiaotang shouted in a low voice. "Military dog!"

  A dark shadow had retreated a step, and then suddenly pounced towards Lin Xiaotang's face. Lin Xiaotang stretched out his right hand, pulled out the samurai sword he had obtained from behind his back, and swung it with one hand. A loud wail was heard, and in an instant, a huge dog head flew off, splashing dog blood all over Lin Xiaotang's body.

  On the other side, Shen Pai Zhang calmly used his dagger to disembowel another wolf dog.

  Lin Xiaotang wiped the dog's blood off his face with one hand, spat out a few mouthfuls of saliva, and then reinserted the knife into the scabbard on his back. He crouched down behind the wall, and Shen Pai Zhang looked at him in surprise, also squatting down beside him: "Not bad! I'd rather believe you're a veteran!"

  Lin Xiaotang pursed her lips and didn't explain.

  Gunfire erupted, bullets pierced through the thick fog, aimlessly shooting towards Lin Xiaotang's hiding place, hitting the ground and walls, occasionally producing muffled sounds.

  Lin Xiaotang's left arm was still aching badly, and it took a lot of effort to lift the rifle in his hand. He rested the muzzle on the wall, which somewhat alleviated the burden on his left arm.

  Out of the fog, more than a hundred figures emerged, about 100 meters away from Lin Xiaotang and others.

  Lin Xiaotang and Shen Paichang looked at each other, both took the hand grenades from their bodies and placed them by their feet, then removed the base covers, and one by one pulled out the fuses and threw them away.