Chapter 5: Going to the Front Lines (Part 2)

  After daybreak, the devils' planes took to the air, and along the several mountain valleys where the special agents had come through, there was a burst of intense bombing. At this moment, Old Gao had already led his brothers across the bridge over the small river they had taken on their way here, and were taking a nap in another forest leading west. Hearing the violent explosions, he sat up with a smile and said: "Haha, the little devils are getting anxious! They've even sent out the thing that lays eggs! Sleep, sleep! Don't pay attention to them. I don't believe they have a compass hidden in their asshole that can drop eggs right on our heads!"

  There were many comrades in the special operations team who had never seen an airplane before, and they were scared white by the intense explosions and flames in the distance. After listening to Lao Gou's casual tone, they thought about it for a moment and felt that those "things that lay eggs" in the sky weren't so scary after all. They smiled at their own cowardice, turned over, and continued to sleep soundly.

  Zhang Songling was young and full of energy, having slept for less than two hours, he had recovered most of his strength. He sat up and looked around, seeing squad leader Shi Liangcai leaning against the wooden box containing the precious account book, gazing at the clouds in the sky with a vacant expression. He crawled over and asked in a low voice by Shi's ear: "Shitou Ge, how many little devils did you take down last night?"

  "I didn't count, but I must have taken out at least five!" Shi Liangcai smiled at him, revealing a row of very neat teeth. "How about you? You're quite handy with that gun, you should have taken out a few too!"

  "I also took down five!" Zhang Songling thought for a moment with a proud and complacent expression. "One of them seemed to be a pretty big official, I took advantage of Gou Changguan..."

  He turned his head and stole a glance at the old man, making sure he was still asleep. He continued to smile and added: "I took advantage of the officer's distraction and gave him two shots..."

  "That's stealing credit!" Stone stretched out his big hand and pressed Zhang Songling's head into the bushes, "Next time, never do that again! All the brothers know to leave that guy for the superior officer, it's just you who acted too fast!"

  "Heh heh!" Zhang Songling only then realized that he had taken advantage of someone, and with a sheepish grin, acknowledged his mistake.

  "You're so blind! If it were anyone else, they would have slapped you in the face by now!" Shi Liangcai chuckled and scolded him again, but didn't really take Zhang Songling's reckless behavior to heart. Last night, everyone had at least taken out half of the enemy squadron and blown up over a dozen artillery pieces. This achievement alone was enough for Commander Gou to be promoted several ranks. There was no need to rely on that Japanese lieutenant's corpse to add to their glory.

  "I didn't know there was such a rule!" Zhang Songling laughed again, with his mouth open, shouting grievances, "Besides that guy, I also beat to death another one holding a command knife..."

  "That's a sergeant, equivalent to our squad leader, not worth much!" Shi Liangcai shook his head and patiently explained, "Among the devils, as long as you're an officer, you can buy a command knife for yourself. The quality of the knife depends on how thick your family's wealth is. If your family is a big rich man, it's not unusual to wear a gold-plated command knife!"

  "Oh!" Zhang Songling was slightly disappointed and responded in a low voice.

  "But it's not bad, you killed a lieutenant and a sergeant in your first battle. After reporting back, at least...” Shi Liangcai furrowed his brow, carefully counting on his fingers, “Killing one enemy soldier counts as third-class merit once, killing five enemy soldiers, one lieutenant, one sergeant, participating in key battles and destroying the enemy's important equipment…, three times forward, three times back, nine times total! Good! After going back, you can at least be promoted to superior soldier, and add three bronze badges on your shoulder!"

  "What do I want that thing for!" Zhang Songling didn't care much about what rewards he could get. To him, the fact that Old Gou was willing to take him in and bring him to the front lines to kill devils was already the greatest reward. As for being a superior soldier or not, it's just a matter of earning a few more French currency notes per month, but there's often nowhere to spend them, so it's really not that enticing.

  "Ha! Fame, wealth and power are like dirt!" Shi Liangcai took another glance at Zhang Songling, chuckling teasingly. "I've been messing around in the army for so many years, and I only managed to become a senior soldier. You little brat is going to surpass me after just two more battles!"

  "Don't tell you!" Zhang Songling was teased and felt a bit embarrassed, turned around, and gave Shi Liangcai his own back. After pretending for a while, he suddenly remembered something and turned his head again, asking in a low voice: "The superior said to take us to meet with the 31st Division, what's the situation over there?"

  "The 31st Division is also considered one of our old bases in the 26th Army, but not as long as the 27th Division and Old Camp Chief. Last year when we were reorganizing the army, Nanjing had originally promised Old Camp Chief to replace the German equipment for the 31st Division as well, but later on who knows why it changed again!" Shi Liangcai thought for a moment, then quietly briefed Zhang Songling on the general situation of the neighboring units.

  Complaints about the central government not distributing troops evenly were nothing new to Zhang Songling. Not only Shi Liangcai and Lao Gou, but the entire special operations team was extremely dissatisfied with the government's behavior of letting everyone fight against the enemy with their bare hands while refusing to provide them with suitable weapons. However, dissatisfaction aside, when it was time to go to the front line, not a single person retreated, and they all packed up their three essentials quickly and neatly, fearing that they would fall behind others.

  "The commander of the 31st Division, Chi, and our battalion commander were sworn brothers. They both served as guards under the old battalion commander back in the day. However, Commander Chi was educated, so he rose through the ranks faster. Our commander didn't read much, so he was at a disadvantage in that regard." Shi Liangcai gazed up at the sky, continuing to introduce in a low voice. Suddenly, he thought of the difference between himself and Zhang Songling - wasn't it just like Commander Chi and Battalion Commander Gou? The little fatty had graduated from a national high school and achieved first-class merit on his first deployment...

  He suddenly felt a little downhearted, but soon began to despise himself! 'Shi Liangcai, Shi Liangcai, what the hell are you thinking? Zhang Xiaopang gave up being a young master and joined you in carrying guns and killing devils, yet you're jealous that he's rising faster than you! Have you been eating too much lard lately?'

  He was thinking silently, and again felt a surge of heat on his ears. He opened his eyes to see Zhang Songling leaning over, carefully asking: "I met someone in the hospital last time. His surname is Liao, from the 31st Independent Regiment, and he's probably a platoon leader. He said that there was only one male left in their family, and he didn't want to die on the battlefield. So he asked me to ask...

  "Are you looking for death?!" Shi Liangcai was startled, stretched out his hand to quickly cover Zhang Songling's mouth, then looked around cautiously, making sure no one had heard Zhang Songling's words. Only then did he lower his voice, scolding in a tone even softer than the hum of a mosquito: "Don't stir up trouble! We can't help with this matter! Even if we could, don't look for trouble yourself. The commander hates cowards the most. If you tell him, not only will Liao's guy not be transferred to the rear, but you'll also have to pack your bags and leave our special operations unit!"