Chapter 6: The Eldest and Youngest Brothers

  In the dark of night, a sudden shout of killing rose, because of the previous battle, the scattered Japanese army in the nearby area were all startled, and in the darkness, an unknown number of troops surrounded Lin Xiaotang and others.

  All the way, there were people falling down one after another, and occasionally some National Army soldiers would join in to fight on their own. The continuous explosions illuminated the road ahead as bright as daybreak, and the crowd rushed through the smoke, crazily charging towards the direction of Jiangmen Gate. The fierce Japanese soldiers were unexpectedly unable to stop this group of tattered and defeated soldiers.

  He Chong was ambushed by the Japanese army when he was walking to Jiucuo Hutong, and his thigh was stabbed with a bayonet. Lin Xiaotang was shot in the shoulder while killing the Japanese soldier, and the two of them fell behind.

  Lin Xiaotang helped He Chong to simply bandage, supporting the limping He Chong to catch up with the team, but unfortunately, the wounds on both of them slowed down their speed. Lin Xiaotang loudly called out to the officer surnamed Pei in front, and Officer Pei seemed to turn his head back to look, but for some reason, he immediately continued to follow the team at a rapid pace without stopping.

  Lin Xiaotang cursed under her breath, and had no choice but to follow He Chong as they chased after the blurry figures of the troops in front. However, gradually, the two of them were still left behind by the troops. ?? Counterattack Republic's Special Agent 6

  Lao Quan and Lei Zhen stared at the movement outside the trenches without blinking, since Lao Quan brought back Chu Yuyan to Zhaoyang Gate and reported the situation to Commander Xiao Shan. Commander Xiao Shan was furious, scolding Lei Zhen and Lao Quan until they were covered in blood, then ordered them to lead two hundred fully armed elite soldiers to ambush at the outer defense line of Zhaoyang Gate.

  The distant sound of gunfire gradually approached, accompanied by the flickering light of explosions. Indistinct figures slowly emerged from the darkness, as three or four hundred men fired backwards while retreating in a rolling and crawling manner towards the National Army's position.

  With a loud thunderous command, the firepower on both sides opened up, forcing the Japanese army to retreat and encircle. Several hundred escaped National Army soldiers were safely escorted into the position, a group of people jumped into the trenches, lay on the cold muddy ground, panting with their mouths open, no matter how they were called, they couldn't get up.

  Lao Quan rummaged through every person in the trenches, but after searching for half a day, he couldn't find any sign of Lin Xiaotang and He Chong. A layer of cold sweat suddenly broke out on his forehead, and he shouted loudly at Lei Zhen, who was standing on the trench: "Commander Lei, Lin Xiao and He Chong are not here!"

  Lei Zheng suddenly became anxious: "Check carefully, there are so many people, don't miss anyone."

  Lao Quan spread his hands: "I searched one by one, didn't miss a single one. If there was anyone, they should have appeared long ago!"

  Lei Zhen was getting anxious, so he jumped into the trench and helped Lao Quan identify them one by one. He also kept asking the soldiers who were fleeing back for news about the two of them. Suddenly, he caught sight of a certain officer with the surname Pei hiding in the crowd.

  "Pei Zhongwei", Lei Zhen rushed a few steps to the side of the Pei surname officer and grabbed him: "Where are you going to rescue those two little ones?"

  Pei Zhongwei shrank back, dodging Lei Zhen's gaze: "I, I don't know, maybe it was scattered during the breakout! I didn't notice!"

  Lei Zheng kicked his waist with one foot: "Damn, if it weren't for you guys, they wouldn't have gone on that adventure either. You're great, losing the person who saved your life!"

  A soldier suddenly stood up, and the soldier next to him pulled him back, signaling him not to speak. But that soldier had a furious face: "Officer, two of our brothers who were rescued are injured. At that time, we were in an intense battle and didn't notice they weren't following us. Later, after breaking through the siege, the brothers planned to go back and find them, but Officer Pei..."

  Lei Zhen's anger burned like fire, his fists falling on Pei Zhongwei's body like raindrops, beating him until he cried out for his parents. But Lao Quan stopped Lei Zhen: "Commander Lei, this isn't the time to settle scores, we need to figure out a way to get those two kids back!"

  Lei Zheng's anger had not dissipated, and he kicked his feet in hatred, turning his head to shout at the crowd in the trenches: "Are there any men with a backbone? Come out a few, follow me to rescue people!"

  He Chong's face turned somewhat pale, the knife just now had made him lose a lot of blood. The gunshot wound on his shoulder was fortunate to be at close range, so the bullet passed through and after some simple treatment, it wasn't serious, but he couldn't lift his left arm anymore.

  The desolate streets were eerily quiet at this time, Lin Xiaotang supported He Chong as they stumbled towards the direction of the dock, the distance shouldn't be too far. Although the two were still wearing Japanese military uniforms, if they were discovered by the Japanese, it would only be a matter of time before they were exposed.

  The sound of wolf dogs and the muffled Japanese military orders came from not far away, Lin Xiaotang's heart sank, he quickly looked around, at a street corner not far away, there was a relatively intact house, he carried He Chong and ran over quickly.

  This wooden building seemed to have been a restaurant originally, the stairs were blown off. Lin Xiaotang and others had no choice but to go around to the backyard and hide behind a pile of rubble.

  Lin Xiaotang wiped the sweat from his forehead, checked the weapon in his hand, and threw away the machine gun after it was out of bullets. He only had a southern pistol in his hand, which was also taken from Xiyeh Village, and there was only one bullet left.

  Lin Xiaotang let out a sigh, handing the gun over to He Chong's hands, and herself grasped the samurai sword seized from Eagle Forest, which was originally intended as a keepsake, but now seemed to be put to good use. Counter-attack of the Republic's Special Agent 6

  Two people stuck behind a half wall, holding their breath and watching the movement outside. The wolf dog's frantic barking was still relatively far away. The two of them just hoped that they wouldn't search this place, as long as they could hide from this wave of Japanese people, there was still a chance to sneak back to the dock before dawn.

  The back of her head was suddenly bumped by something, Lin Xiaotang subconsciously patted the back of her head and leaned closer to He Chong, continuing to look outside. But He Chong's slightly trembling voice came: "Behind!"

  Lin Xiaotang was stunned, turned his head to look back, but a strong gust of wind came, and he was punched in the face by someone. Immediately afterwards, an icy gun muzzle was pressed against his temple.

  Lin Xiaotang covered her bleeding nose, and stars were flashing before her eyes. It was only after a while that she could see clearly the two figures crouching in front of her like ghosts.

  Two people were not wearing hats or helmets, and they wore a strange black tight-fitting military uniform, with combat boots on their feet that shone brightly even in the darkness.

  He Chong gently raised his hands and threw the gun to the ground, slowly saying: "One of us?"

  The two of them aren't very old either. They look at each other and smile: "Hey, you little brat's Chinese is pretty good! Did you learn it from your grandfather? Who the hell learned it from you yourself!"

  He Chong's face also took a solid punch.

  Lin Xiaotang turned her back on him.

  "Cough, cough!" He turned his head and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva on the ground! "Damn it! The military police are really something! The Chairman's guard is awesome!"

  One of them was about to strike again, but another held him back. He looked at He Chong and Lin Xiaotang: "Kid, where's your ID?"

  He nodded hastily and the man who was speaking inserted his icy hand into He's clothes, feeling around for a long time before pulling out his ID.

  That person took a closer look in the bright light and laughed: "Hey, it's really one of us!"

  That man patted Lin Xiaotang and He Chong's shoulders: "Sorry, brothers, it's just that your attire is too eye-catching, and you..." He pointed at He Chong! "Your looks are also too similar to those of a little Japanese!"

  He Chong was about to get angry, but Lin Xiaotang pulled him back: "Let's go back and settle the score with these two rascals later. First, let's think of a way to escape from the Japanese!"

  "Come on!" he said with a smile.

  The two called Lin Xiaotang and He Chong to follow them, turned over two corners, and stopped on the ruins of the wine tower's back kitchen. After looking around and finding no one, the two moved a piece of blasted bluestone slab, dug open the weeds and mud on the ground, revealing an iron plate.

  The man who had previously hit Lin Xiaotang opened the iron plate and jumped down first, while another person gestured for Lin Xiaotang and He Chong to follow.

  That person stayed behind, took out a package of things, and sprinkled it along the route they had just walked and around the iron plate. The air was suddenly filled with a faint pungent smell. He then placed the stone slab at an angle on top of the iron plate, revealing the gap for his entry and exit, and covered the iron plate with weeds and mud. Only then did he quickly squeeze into the space under the iron plate, gently putting it down, leaving no trace on the ground.

  Under the iron plate was a narrow passage, and after walking not far, I smelled a strong wine aroma. It turned out that this was the cellar where the wine house stored its wine. After walking about ten or twenty meters, suddenly it opened up to a spacious place with over a dozen wooden wine barrels as tall as a person. In the empty space between the barrels, an oil lamp was lit, and five or six people sat beside it.

  Among them, there was even a foreigner with a high nose and deep eyes, as well as a man in a suit who looked neither Chinese nor Western.

  A few people in the cellar suddenly saw two Japanese soldiers walking in, and their faces changed instantly. Two of them directly pointed their guns at Lin Xiaotang and his companion. ?? Counterattack Republic's Agent 6

  The person walking at the back happened to come in and hastily whispered: "Don't misunderstand, it's one of our own, a brother from the Training General Headquarters!"

  The crowd let out a sigh of relief, but they didn't put down their weapons and still looked at the two with caution.

  That man stepped forward and handed over the ID card in his hand to a fifty-year-old old man sitting in the middle: "Mr. Yun, please take a look!"

  Lin Xiaotang only then took a closer look at the people in the underground bunker. Two of them were dressed exactly like the two men she had met earlier, except that they also wore black German steel helmets with a matte finish that didn't reflect any light.

  There were two others who should be foreigners, both wearing thick Western-style overcoats. One was a middle-aged man with brown hair, looking frightened, holding a briefcase tightly in his hands; the other was a black-haired man in his thirties, seemingly of mixed blood, calm and collected, watching Lin Xiaotang with interest.

  An old man in the middle, known as Gong Yung, wore a blue cotton gown, wearing black-framed glasses, but had two extremely delicate mustaches.

  Lin Xiaotang coughed and said, "Everyone, we're both injured. Before we explain our situation, can we first use some liquor to clean our wounds? Mainly because my brother's injury is quite severe!"

  Everyone looked at Yong Gong, Yong Gong returned the documents and nodded slightly.

  Just now, Lin Xiaotang's husband raised his hand and a first-aid kit fell into Lin Xiaotang's arms. Lin Xiaotang looked at him gratefully: "Thank you!"

  Note 1: A scoundrel who is muddled and does not know what is important, a two hundred fifty in Nanjing dialect.