Chapter 28: The Battle of Gui Xi (4)

  The commander of the Mokuto Corps and the remaining 400 or more Japanese soldiers were compressed to a corner of the riverbank, facing more than 2,000 flying troops of the National Army, as well as unknown numbers of various bandit forces. At this time, Lieutenant Colonel Mokuto was desperate. He let out a series of sighs that seemed to be enlightened: "Huh! It turns out that China's military strategy is just used to deceive Japan. Huh huh!"

  Especially under the personal command of Mokuyou, 500 Japanese soldiers collectively jumped into the river, without firing a single shot or bullet from the Flying Tigers. More than 500 strong and powerful Japanese soldiers disappeared without a trace. The series of blows before and after made this old Japanese devil Mokuyou, who was proud of his strategic mind, lose his soul and fall into a state of madness.

  "Captain!" a sergeant beside Mokoto said loudly and seriously, "Captain! Please calm down! In fact, the Chinese are also using Chinese military tactics. Letting Tofu use the loudspeaker to shout slogans is actually using the tactic of 'Four Sides of Chu Ge'. And now we have our backs against the rapid current of the Gui River, all officers and soldiers are in high spirits, vowing to fight to the death until the last man. In such a situation, it's still following military tactics."

  "Oh! Who are you?" Mokuto was too lazy to look at this person who dared to lecture a superior officer.

  "Hai! I am Gunso Kawahara Yohei."

  "Haha! You know what, when it comes to military strategy, actually, we've only learned some superficial things. But this land is precisely the birthplace of these strategies. The Chinese people call them 'ancestral secret formulas', and what we use... I think there's a word that can describe it: pirated!"

  "Major Mato, we don't want to know what the word 'pirate' means. We just understand that you are no longer suitable as the commander of this squadron. From now on, I will take over command."

  Moto didn't argue with anything and didn't care who the person was who spoke later, he sat down on a stone and restored his calm.

  "Strengthen the defense. Immediately contact nearby friendly forces by radio and request support. We will definitely hold on until reinforcements arrive." The new commander of the Mito Brigade didn't have many fancy ideas, but his simple thinking had some practical effect.

  You Fei's 259th Brigade and the big and small bandit gangs launched wave after wave of attacks on the devils hiding by the river. Both sides suffered casualties, but the absolute superiority in military strength did not bring about an absolutely superior outcome against the devils.

  He glared at it for a while, then cursed: "Damn it! These peaches are all ripe, how can't they be picked? Dong Laoda, do you have any way?"

  "My plan is that we, these several thousand of us, all rush up together. The devils only have a few hundred people left, right? We can trample them to death!"

  "Intensive charge! Intensive charge is not feasible. The casualties will be unimaginable, almost like suicide. Even if we wipe out the devils, there won't be many of us left." You Fei negated Dong Tianhao's idea.

  He Tianhao said: "I have a way, but it's too time-consuming. We're not short of people, are we? We can do it like this..."

  Dong Tianhao finished speaking, and You Fei and Dong Tianhao exclaimed in unison, "Hai!" You Fei excitedly said: "That's it! Don't waste time, we're not afraid! Let Lie Feng, Qing Yun, and the familiar Daoist priests from various places go to the border of the occupied area to keep watch. If the devils come, just send a message in time."

  The Chinese army's attack on the devils' position was not very dense, with few soldiers charging forward, and most of them were firing from a distance. On this side of the riverbank, after a long time, there would be a shell fired out, falling in the area where the devils' firepower was more concentrated. The devils still didn't have any advantage, but the devilish soldiers, from top to bottom, all transmitted a joyful mood, as long as they wouldn't die quickly, reinforcements should arrive soon! It seems that the Chinese army wants to slowly consume the Japanese army's personnel with not many shells, which is exactly what the devils are hoping for!

  The 259th Brigade was engaged in a fierce battle of attrition on one side, while the two troops rushed to the upper and lower reaches of the Gui Creek.

  The troops going upstream are looking for a favorable position and then inform more people to come and work.

  The troops going downstream are to inform the people that we have trapped the devils and need to flood them out, so it's better for the people living by the river to evacuate first.

  The troops that went upstream have not returned yet, and the small team that went downstream to inform the people to evacuate has already run back. A soldier carried an old man on his back and hastily arrived in front of You Fei. The old man had not even stood steady when he shouted at You Fei, who looked like an official: "You can't block the river! You can't block it! You absolutely can't block it!"

  "Oh? Speak slowly! We haven't found a suitable place yet!"

  "Hey! Officer, you don't know! This Guixi River is not easy to deal with. You want to drown the devils on the very flat riverbank, how can you drown them? And after drowning, where does the water go? Have you thought about it?"

  "This...". You Fei indeed couldn't answer.

  "Hmm! Listen to me! The upper reaches of this river, there is no wide water storage channel nearby. If you go further upstream, you will reach the county boundary with several small hills. If you block it and release the water, who knows where it will rush to? However, it's not impossible, with a precise plan, digging a straight and shallow countercurrent canal can still achieve the goal. Of course, to prevent accidental flooding of the river, we also need to build a simple river embankment according to the flow direction. Do you all know where to build these things?"

  You Fei replied honestly: "I don't know!" He hadn't thought that borrowing some river water would be so complicated.

  "Haha!" The old man closed his eyes, smiled complacently, and then said something that made people's jaws drop: "I don't know how I did it either!"

  "What? Are you...?" You Fei swallowed back the second half of his sentence. He thought to himself, are you kidding me?

  "Sir, please don't mind! I'm an old man and my words are always not to the point. My granddaughter is studying in Nanjing University, majoring in water conservancy, but with all this chaos, she can't even attend school. She came to take me to her parents' place in Chongqing. But ended up being trapped in this place surrounded by devils on all sides. I was thinking of how to send her to the rear, who knew that now she could help kill devils. Sir, don't underestimate her just because she's a little girl, she's quite capable!"

  Rong Fei patiently listened to the old man's nagging, and finally it was his turn to speak. He anxiously asked: "Where is your granddaughter now? Why haven't I seen her come?"

  "My granddaughter might be right. In her free time, she has run up and down the Guixi River so many times that I've lost count. This time, listen to her, it's not wrong."

  I don't know if the old man's ears were bad or he intentionally let Yu Fei be anxious, anyway he just didn't answer Yu Fei's words and kept talking to himself fluently. A soldier next to him couldn't bear it anymore, interrupted his words and said to Yu Fei: "Report to the brigade commander, Miss Xie Yu Chen has arrived, now going to the riverbank to check the terrain and water conditions."

  The old man's face showed dissatisfaction because he was interrupted while speaking. You Fei saw it and loudly criticized the warrior: "Xiao Ma, be polite, you accompany Mr. Xie to talk first, I'll go take a look by the river." Of course, Xie Yu Chen's grandfather was also surnamed Xie.

  While speaking, You Fei had already rushed out of the door and ran straight to the riverbank. He was still worried about these ignorant soldiers, letting a girl go to the riverbank so close to the devils, don't let anything happen! It's rare to have come across such an intellectual, this kind of person is really hard to find!

  Far away, I saw several people wearing yellow uniforms with torn-off insignia, crouching on the ground and surrounding a big girl in student attire, peeking around cautiously. With one glance, You Fei could tell that these were new recruits, because there weren't enough military uniforms to go around, so they had been given processed enemy uniforms to wear, making it easy to distinguish them as new recruits. Looking at their nervous appearance, it was easy for the enemy to discover them.

  "Damn it! You rabbit kids, just a few days in the army and you dare to bring someone's little girl to the front line? Who let you come here, I'll kill him!" Yu Feiren hadn't even arrived yet, but his voice had already reached them, and several new recruits were so scared that they crawled on the ground, not daring to move.

  "This officer, you dare to insult the soldiers like that, where is your dignity as a regular army officer? I was forced by them to bring me here, are you going to shoot me now?" The girl with short hair and a clean face spoke out in a loud and clear voice, each word sharp and forceful.

  "Oh! Thank you, Miss?" Yu Fei saw Xie Yu Chen and suddenly thought of his new wife, Xie Peixuan, who was far away in Guangzhou. They shared the same surname, Xie, and had similar faces that seemed to be forever untouched by dust. Yu Fei remembered the red candles in their bridal chamber, her delicate smile... However, his actions were not affected at all, he dove down, crawled forward, and quickly moved from behind a hidden object to Xie Yu Chen's side.

  In front of us is the gurgling Guixi River. The sound of the water is so loud that it covers up everyone's voices. You Fei raised his voice a bit and said to Xie Yu Chen, "Miss Xie, please be careful! Take a look at the terrain and then retreat."

  "You're so rude, I want to see your captain." Xie Yuchen turned his head to speak to You Fei, and accidentally raised his head a bit. "Pew" - a bullet flew over, You Fei stretched out his hand and pressed Xie Yuchen's head to the ground, shouting loudly: "Retreat, damn it! We've been discovered by the devils! Everyone be careful, retreat to the back! Shit! You're running too far forward!" With his head down, You Fei was only yelling. Suddenly, he heard a few "hee-hee" laughs, and saw that those new recruits were retreating while snickering, glancing at their surroundings.

  You Fei cursed again for half a sentence: "Turtle sons..." Then he saw Xie Yu Chen staring at him angrily, and he suddenly reacted, explaining awkwardly: "It wasn't me who wanted to press you, the devils shot cold guns... Oh! Scolding people was my fault... Hmm! Girls shouldn't come to the front line, now retreat, and I won't pursue their responsibilities..."

  "Hmm!" Xie Yu Chen hummed and backed away with his hands on his hips, You Fei following closely behind him with a wary expression.

  Back at the temporary command center, Jiang Zhenyuan shouted at the little horse: "You little devil's brain has been ruined by the rain! Let the brigade commander go out alone."

  "It was Traveler Long who asked me to accompany this old gentleman." Little Ma explained.

  "As soon as I'm gone for a bit, you lose the travel permit, and you still dare to talk back? I'll beat you to death!" Jiang said, about to pounce on him.

  You Fei happened to come back and said: "Stop quarreling, guests are coming, look at you guys making a big fuss."

  Xie Yu took a step forward: "I want to see your captain. You people are all so rude, he won't be like that too, will he?"

  Jiang Zhuang ruthlessly extinguished the spark of hope that flashed in Xie Yu Chen's eyes, pulled over You Fei and said: "Isn't this our tour leader? Where else can we find a more elegant tour leader than him? Just him alone!"

  Yóu Fēi's old face flushed unnaturally: "Cough, cough! Miss Xiè, I'm Yóu Fēi. You've also been to the riverbank, this matter of drowning devils, do you think it can be done?" Yóu Fēi quickly steered the conversation back on track.

  Xie Yu Chen also felt a bit embarrassed, this person turned out to be the highest officer of the 259th Brigade, and she had never given him a good look before.

  Xie Yu Chen thought for a moment, then said seriously: "Yes! It can be flooded with water, but it is necessary to build a dam from 15 miles away in Muzhaiya Village and repair a 15-mile-long diversion canal. Also, several sections of flood control dams need to be built at key points. If this project is to be completed within six hours, at least 3,000 people's labor will be required."

  "May I ask, why must it be completed within six hours?" You Fei asked seriously.

  "Gui Creek is a relatively small river basin. Even with yesterday's ample rainfall, judging from the current situation, the water flow of Gui Creek will start to decrease in six hours."

  You Fei heard that the situation was such, and for a while he couldn't make up his mind. He thought about it and asked himself in a low voice, "Can't mobilize all the people to build dams, the devils need someone to surround them after all. Then where can we find three thousand laborers?"

  The old gentleman who had been smiling silently beside him, Xie Yu Chen's grandfather, suddenly became sharp-eared and said: "Tour Long, the common people are all willing to help, let the brothers go and say a word, not to mention three thousand people, even thirty thousand can be called."

  You Fei suddenly enlightened, immediately ordered: "Leave the 137th regiment's first and second battalions to watch the devils, everyone else follow Miss Xie to build a dike. The new recruits of the newly established 146th regiment will be dispatched to each village to call for people, no forced recruitment is allowed. Alright, let's move."

  The devils in front were motionless, but the large troops flying behind had already taken action with great momentum.

  The devils' way of dealing with the Chinese army is also becoming more and more sophisticated, hiding tightly, often resulting in a shootout, with no casualties on either side. The devils are not so panicked anymore, because from the wireless radio, they clearly received the news that two squadrons of reinforcements are rushing over, carrying large-caliber heavy howitzers...

  At first, not many ordinary people helped to repair the dam, but after the National Army soldiers went from village to village to notify them, they didn't force anyone, and then the soldiers all rushed to work on the dam. The ordinary people watched for a while, some of them pulled their own small carts, carried their own baskets, and silently joined the working crowd. Gradually, more and more people came to build dams, repair canals, and construct earth dikes. From Muyajie to Guixi Village, a 15-li-long dragon-shaped queue was formed.

  The project downstream of Gui Xi Village was undertaken by the old soldiers, who had to complete it accurately without startling the devils.

  Xie Yuchen and You Fei walked along the entire route. Xie Yuchen pointed out where to start work, and then accompanied by a group of soldiers, he rushed along the line, correcting some deviations in various places.

  You Fei returned to the command center quietly after receiving the latest intelligence. Sun Qingyun, Xu Zhiwei and Dong Tianhao were all waiting here. They learned that two squadrons of enemy reinforcements were on their way, and several people were discussing countermeasures.

  Dong Tianhao's bandit troops cooperated very well with the 259th Brigade in this operation, but he thought they didn't fight much at all. When he saw You Fei coming, he said: "Brigade Commander, another fat sheep has been sent over, let my brothers also get a taste of the meat this time!"

  "Old Dong! This sheep is too fat, it's not good to eat! We've surrounded these over 400 devils here, and we can't finish them off in one bite. Not to mention another 600+ arrived. I think, it's still impossible to fight against those bastards head-on." You Fei picked up a water bottle and said while drinking.

  He Tianhao nodded and said: "It's best to let them retreat, these past few days, the brothers have been tired enough. If they fight again, I'm afraid their combat effectiveness will be discounted."

  "Let them see a thrilling show, and they should retreat!"

  "You mean......" Everyone understood.

  "Uh-huh!" You Fei nodded, "Pass on my orders, all reconnaissance and harassment units to stop harassing the reinforcing devils, let them speed up a bit. Uh, don't get too comfortable either, just catch up with the 2 pm water flooding turtle's good show."

  "Hahaha!" Everyone burst out laughing. Originally, everyone was still puzzled, the enemy's reinforcements should have appeared long ago, why didn't they make a move in the past two days? Now they finally arrived, and it just so happened to be at the perfect time, just as Motofuji's unit was about to take the stage, how could everyone not be delighted?!

  The Japanese reinforcements consisted of two companies, with more than 600 men, led by a captain named Murata. This Murata was originally the battalion's staff officer and had never had the opportunity to engage in actual combat. He came this time with great confidence and determination to make a big achievement.

  After Murata's relief troops entered the area of four counties in Sichuan Province that had not yet been controlled by the Japanese army, they were constantly harassed by small groups of Chinese troops. After contacting Mutō's detachment and learning that it could hold on for several more hours, he began to advance steadily and slowly forward.

  Arriving at the bank of the Gui Creek River, Murata found that behind the Matsumoto detachment, there was not a single Chinese soldier in sight, and the water flow was not too big. (The upstream was blocked, so the water flow was naturally small.) Murata angrily cursed, "Matsumoto detachment's fools, is this what they call being surrounded? Did I run all the way here just to let the engineers build a few simple bridges for them?"

  Complaints aside, Murata still managed to establish contact with the besieged Japanese garrison and dispatched an infantry company to cover engineers starting a bridge-building operation on the Gui Creek.

  The remnants of the Muto Unit found that the Chinese on the opposite bank of the river behind them had been driven away by the Japanese army, and the entire Japanese position erupted in cheers.

  Bang! Bang! Bang! A string of gunfire rang out. Several sensitive devils hastily crawled to the ground. The gunfire quickly spread in the direction of the upper reaches of Gui Creek. Bang! Bang! Bang! ... The gunfire grew fainter and fainter, finally echoing with a dull explosion sound from a very far place, the earth shook slightly, and then there was no movement at all.

  The devils on both sides continued to shout along the Guixi River. The reinforcements brought by Murata had many gathered at the riverbank, throwing food brought over to the remaining soldiers of Mokuto's unit on the opposite bank. The actions of the engineers were generally very quick, and it would only take a little while for this rescue mission to be completed. Murata was almost feeling a bit bored.

  Boom! Boom! What's that sound? Including Murata, many devils looked upstream towards the direction of Gui Creek.

  A white line appeared on the ground, rapidly advancing, and the trees in front of it fell down one after another. "Oh! What is that?" Murata only had time to sigh and ask a sentence when he saw a more than two-meter-high wall of water sweeping across the position of the Matsumoto unit on the opposite bank with a loud roar. Even the devils who were crowded near the riverbank on this side were also swept away clean. So many people, all gone in an instant.

  The rumbling sound of the water quickly disappeared, and after the floodwaters receded, the river's flow returned to its channel. After the brief flood, except for the riverbank becoming even flatter and cleaner, it seemed as if nothing had happened at all.

  Murata's mouth was agape for half a day before he finally closed it. He looked at a nearby Japanese officer with a puzzled expression and asked, "What is that?"

  The officer said stupidly: "They're all gone!" He didn't answer Murata's question, which was very impolite! But Murata didn't seem to mind, they were both stunned!

  The remnants of Mato's unit vanished into thin air before Murata's eyes, and when he took stock of his own troops, he found that he had inexplicably lost 136 men. The surroundings fell silent, with only a stretch of muddy terrain ahead. Everything seemed eerie, as if hidden dangers lurked everywhere.

  "Hah! Why don't you fight fair and square, but instead use such a despicable trick. Where are you? Come out! Let's have a duel face to face!" Murata shouted loudly at the muddy patch. The response he got was Zhang Mingshan's cold gunshot.

  "Ow!" Murata's hat was knocked off, and he crawled on the ground in disarray, no longer daring to shout loudly. After a while, seeing that there was no more movement, he said dejectedly: "Let's retreat! A whole battalion of Motofuji is not our match, what can two understrength companies like us do?"

  In the hideout of the Storm Troop, everyone saw that the devils were starting to retreat, and the atmosphere suddenly relaxed. Wang Lie said to Zhang Mingshan: "Brother Mingshan! You'd better change your title from 'Blockade King' to 'Hat King'! You've shot off the hats of those devil officers more than once!"

  Hat King Zhang Mingshan smiled foolishly: "I don't know why the devil's officials always like to jump around, this high and low, it's just a bit hard to grasp!"

  "Haha! Don't even know what's going on and already defeated, who wants to jump around like that!" Wang Lie said. You Fei brought Jiang Zhuang up to check the situation, and continued Wang Lie's words: "This time we annihilated a whole battalion of devils, killed over 1,600 enemies, and captured a company commander, your contributions are not small! Especially this Hat King, he's not just good at hitting enemy hats!"

  Zhang Mingshan couldn't help but smile wryly. This title of "King of Hats" was now firmly stuck on him.

  The main force has lost contact with the devils and is moving towards the county town. After counting the spoils of war, all the data were reported to You Fei. In this battle, a total of one mountain gun (without shells), two heavy machine guns (with only one box of bullets), 482 Type 38 rifles (with fewer bullets), several hand grenades and rifle grenades, and a grenade launcher that may or may not be usable were captured. Compared to the number of enemies annihilated, this amount of spoils is not very rich, but You Fei's face still bloomed with joy, and many new recruits no longer had to rely solely on brandishing their bayonets to intimidate the enemy.

  The guns that were captured, not all of them can be used now. There are more than 200 rifles, which were pulled out from the side cave of the trench that was repaired by the 259th Brigade at night, along with the bodies of the devils. The mud on the guns needs to be carefully cleaned before they can be used. Those devils who hid in the side cave were very "lucky", not being washed away by the flood, but only wrapped in the muddy water. They made their last contribution to the 259th Brigade's capture of guns.