Chapter 19: Super Retreat

  Han traitor Liu Baoguo was knocked down by a gunshot from afar, and the villagers didn't react in time. However, the Japanese platoon leader Tofu took one look at the corpse on the ground and immediately reacted. "Notsu kakeru!" Tofu drew his saber and pointed it towards the direction where the bullet came from, and a group of Japanese soldiers shouted strangely and charged towards Zhang Mingshan's hiding place.

  Bang! Another gunshot, the hat of Tofu Squad Leader, who was shouting and shaking his head, flew off. Thud! Tofu fell to the ground, but there were no more gunshots from the other side.

  "Nuo da gei! Nuo da gei!" The crawling bean vine yelled, wielding a knife and making false slashes forward. The wailing of the ghost children grew louder as they charged forward.

  Zhang Mingshan didn't listen to Wang Lie's order and fired another shot. When the devils rushed up, he couldn't turn back to the north direction, so he hastily ran westward. The devils arrived at the place but couldn't find anyone, so they randomly fired a burst of shots and then went back to bully the villagers again.

  Zhang Mingshan circled around a big circle before catching up with the troops. At this time, the sound of machine guns and the faint cries of villagers came from Lüqiao Town behind him. Zhang Mingshan was stunned at once.

  "What's going on?"

  "I've finished off that traitor Liu Baogui, and I shot the Japanese platoon leader, but only grazed him. Those damned Japanese are taking it out on innocent civilians!"

  "I'm not running away! When will I stop being a coward? I'll go fight the devils to the death right now!"

  "Don't mention it's you, I don't want to run anymore! But ahead of us, there are still important things waiting for us to do! We must rescue more ordinary people and kill more devils. Now is the time to save them, we can't run far, we need to get to a safe place first, then come back to rescue our fellow villagers. Fighting hard won't work, taking detours is the right way. Believe me." You Fei comforted Jiang Zhuang, but his eyes were also about to burst into flames.

  "Damn it, those devils aren't human! I'll definitely go to their little island one day and give them a taste of this too!"

  "This won't work if we keep running like this!" You Fei thought about what was in front of him.

  From dawn till dusk, You Fei no longer dared to let the troops approach the village, and at night when camping, they were even farther away from the village.

  Another two days passed, and if they continued on, they would fall into a desperate situation where their ammunition and food were exhausted.

  It was another clear morning. The vanguard sent out in front reported that they had discovered an enemy patrol, consisting of only thirteen people. Including You Fei, everyone's spirits were lifted at once.

  "Let's go!" Yu Fei commanded. The necessary caution he still remembered.

  About twenty minutes passed, and the scouts returned one after another. The devils are now stopped at Sanhe Village, catching chickens from the villagers! If we don't wipe them out now, when will we? "Gather, Storm Troop! Let's give it to them fiercely!"

  "Yes!"

  "Slow down! The quieter the better!"

  "Yes!"

  Everyone changed into plain clothes, Wang Lie led the team members to surround from several directions, and got very close to the enemy soldiers. Handguns and rifles fired simultaneously, then the team members charged forward. Each of them also had a dagger or other short weapon, the enemy didn't even have time to react, the battle ended quickly.

  You Fei only heard a few sparse gunshots, and the team members came back with the devils' Type 38 Arisaka rifles and hand grenade ammunition.

  "Hey! You guys are really in sync. When you have time, teach your skills to everyone." You Fei said with a smile, looking pleased.

  Zhang Mingshan said a sentence that spoiled the atmosphere: "Winning such a victory may lead to retribution!"

  "What? You little brat have a fever!"

  Zhang Mingshan glared at You Fei: "What if the devils come to this village for revenge? Don't tell me you expect those guys to suddenly develop a conscience!"

  "What? This... Grandma's bear! Not fighting devils, what else should we do?" You Fei was getting anxious.

  "Hum! You're the company commander, don't ask me!"

  You Fei was choked back, after thinking for a long time, he said softly: "Find a few old villagers to talk about. Let's take them with us."

  Just Yu Fei and these few people, they didn't dare to have a head-on confrontation with the devils, so it's better to act faster. If they bring a group of villagers, the chances of being discovered by the devils will increase greatly, and it will be difficult to transfer quickly! Wang Lie heard Yu Fei say that he wanted to take the villagers together, and couldn't help but nudge Yu Fei, reminding him: "Is this feasible?"

  "You were told to call people over for discussion! Hurry up! The villagers must also be willing to leave!"

  Wang Lie hurriedly ran to the village and soon called over two middle-aged men. You Fei started talking to them. He learned that there was a blockade line of devils ahead, and after passing through the devil's checkpoint, it was said that the other side had not been occupied yet. The so-called blockade line refers to some checkpoints set up by the enemy in a line, which cannot be passed through.

  After some discussion, You Fei made a decision: "Let our regiment's soldiers disguise themselves as devils and break through the devil's sentry post. Once we control the devil's sentry post, fellow villagers can quickly pass through the checkpoint. Fellow villagers, do you think this plan is feasible?"

  "Hmm! You guys are leading the way, what's there for us to be afraid of?"

  "Line up in threes, notify the villagers immediately, the devils are coming to take revenge. Those who can leave, hurry and don't bring too many things. If you can't move, your life will be forfeited."

  "Yes!"

  "Depart in ten minutes."

  "Ah!" The two fellow villagers who were called over to understand the situation heard that they would be leaving in ten minutes and hastily responded with a "yes", first running back to their own homes.

  The people hiding in their homes heard the news, and the village, which was quiet just a moment before, suddenly became noisy and chaotic.

  You Fei shook his head and whispered to the messenger beside him: "Quietly inform the younger brothers, let's leave 20 minutes later, give the old villagers a little more time."

  Twenty minutes later, the villagers still hadn't gathered, and You Fei thought back to the night he was conscripted into the army, when just lining up had taken half the evening; what could he say to his fellow villagers now?

  Twenty-five minutes later, the disorganized team finally set off.

  The scout's vanguard was sent out particularly far this time, so as to give the group enough reaction time. Even so, You Fei still didn't feel at ease in his heart.

  Luckily, the enemy's outpost wasn't too far away. After passing the outpost, it was a piece of "rear" land surrounded by the enemy from three directions. The scouts had already arrived at the front of the outpost and were continuously sending back information about the situation there.

  When You Fei passed through several other villages, he instructed everyone to be quiet and not alarm the people there. If more people followed, he would really get a little scared. However, some people still watched from afar, making You Fei's heart feel cold all over. If too many people followed and the situation became uncontrollable, it would be unimaginable!

  "Squad Storm!"

  Yes!

  "Enemy post No. 1 has twenty-five devils. You will take the lead, three rows of coordination, and fight to the death to take it down! I represent these fellow villagers to thank you!"

  Wang Lie responded faintly: "We will definitely complete the task! The brothers have been waiting to fight with their lives! Please rest assured, Captain! Also, please reassure the villagers."

  You Fly hehe laughed twice: "I said Wang Er Gai! You always say those two sentences of Japanese, can't you have some fresh ones?"

  "Uh-huh! I've learned two more sentences, now I'll go tell them."

  "Alright! You guys go ahead!" said You Fei.

  Before the fierce battle, they first chose a suitable disguise, which had almost become a rule. The ten team members changed their clothes quickly and professionally. He Tianhao's injury hadn't healed yet, but it didn't affect his movements, so he returned to the team.

  The warriors quickly moved forward. The fast-moving villagers were also asked to stop and hide. Villagers with no combat power must not appear in the enemy's line of sight, and they had to stop far away.

  You Fei shouted at the people behind him who were walking slowly with their families, "Hurry up, hurry up!" There was already a commotion in front, and the sound of gunfire had been intense for a while, but after a good while, there was still no news from the front.

  "Damn it! These kids won't have all died, will they?!" You Fei led Jiang Zhuang to rush forward.

  As they approached the enemy's sentry post, You Fei regretted it. This sentry post was a bunker made of sacks filled with earth, surrounded by barbed wire on the outside. It was easy to defend but hard to attack. If they were not careful, Lie Feng and San Pai would be finished off here. Moreover, on both sides of the bunker's entrance, there were machine guns mounted, which, if fired, could penetrate anyone's body.

  A machine gun was moved to the side, and a person crawled out. You Fei took out his gun and aimed, frowning into a knot. There was no one outside the guard post, if this person who crawled out was a devil, it would basically be a declaration of the death penalty for Wang Lie and He Tianhao.

  "Big brother! Come quick, there's something strange in here." The person who crawled out was actually He Tianhao.

  "Oh! Is everyone okay?" You Fei was happy for He Tianhao, but also worried about the others.

  "No casualties! The Japanese sentry was slapped several times by our Lieutenant Wang Dazhong, and kept shouting 'Hey!' 'Hey!' nonstop. We dragged a few Japanese soldiers into the bunker to attract their attention, while He Zhihao and others charged up. Those few shots were fired by us. There's a cellar in this small ghost's place with some strange iron boxes inside. A little devil desperately tried to open it but was taken care of by Zhang Mingshan."

  "Ah!" You Fei walked into the enemy's den. Inside, a bunch of yellowish bullets were scattered all over the ground, Wang Lie was leaning against the wall, and a long gash on his thigh was still bleeding nonstop. The struggle in the bunker seemed to be very intense, and it wasn't as He Tianhao said that there were no casualties at all. Maybe, for these old soldiers, this kind of injury didn't count as being injured! As long as they weren't missing arms or legs, they would always return to the battlefield in the shortest time possible.

  A stack of iron boxes piled up in a very hidden cellar. You Fei got up and took a look, it was completely sealed, with black skull patterns painted on top. What is this? You Fei didn't know either. He looked at it and said: "Don't open this thing, the devils are eager to open it, it's not something good! Order the troops to quickly scout ahead and let the civilians prepare to pass through here quickly."

  Jiang Zhen nodded and took a glance at Xu Zhigui and He Tianhao before quickly walking away. It was the first time the four brothers had gathered together in days, but they didn't even have time to exchange greetings.

  Xu Zhiwei pulled out a few more things that looked like masks from the cellar, with long pig-like noses. "Big brother! What are these things?"

  "What the! What's with these weird things?! Get them all away, no more messing around! Not done yet! All of you go on high alert! Everyone move faster, don't forget there's still a large group that can't fight!"

  "Yes!" Wang Lie replied in his loudest voice.

  "You'd better not go! Stretcher! Orderly!" shouted You Fei.

  "Hehe! I can still do it!"

  "Ball! You idiot! Go and get me some medicine, if you run around randomly, I'll beat you up!"

  "Haha! Commander Lian, you really have a bad temper."

  You Fei looked at Wang Er Dan, who had just made a military achievement, and couldn't get angry, only helplessly instructing: "Take him away, take him away!"

  A group of brothers who went out to scout outside the enemy-occupied area returned and reported that they had encountered friendly forces, and even brought back a soldier from the friendly forces for questioning by You Fei. You Fei was overjoyed, hastily saluted, and grasped the hand of the whiskered man, asking: "Which unit are you from? We are the 259th Brigade of the Central Army and the 137th Regiment of the Guangdong Army."

  "We are beards."

  "Whiskers?"

  "A mustache is just a bandit!"

  You Fei's face turned red and white for a moment, very embarrassed. The soldier who came to report explained: "They are all Chinese, they are all holding guns, so I thought they were friendly troops." You Fei thought about it and agreed that the bandits were also Chinese! He then regained his normal composure and asked: "How many of you are there? What are you doing here?"

  "We had over 40 people, wanting to take down this dog day earthwork to rescue our family members, but after wandering around for a whole day, we couldn't make a move. Who would have thought that you twenty or thirty people could actually do it."

  "Hehe! We're the regular army, after all!" You Fei said with a humble tone, but was secretly pleased with himself. "Can we let the villagers pass? Is it safe over there?"

  "It's safe for now, you can pass through. We can also receive you." The bandit replied.

  "Alright! Tell the villagers to hurry up." You Fei began shouting loudly.

  Several soldiers ran out.

  The so-called bandit did not leave and followed Hou Fei for a while. Hou Fei asked, "What's the matter? If you have something to say, just say it."

  "Officer, is there a Wang Dongzhuang among the people you've brought out? My family is in Wang Dongzhuang."

  "No."

  "I'll go call them, they're not far from here."

  You Fei was taken aback for a moment, then said: "Don't go yourself! Pass on my order, have the second squad send people to inform the villagers in the nearby villages. Those who are willing to leave, please pass through here within 30 minutes. The Liefeng squad and the first squad, closely monitor the movements of the devils around us. Use the method of harassing the devils along the way to reinforce them, we must hold off the devils for half an hour. The third squad, clear away the barbed wire on the road, organize the villagers to pass through quickly."

  The bandit, with a honest and kind expression on his face, said gratefully: "Thank you, Captain! The National Army over there didn't even see the devils and ran away without a trace. If they were all like you, Captain, the devils wouldn't have been able to get here. I'll go notify my brothers to prepare to receive you. If the devils come chasing after us, we can hold them off for a while."

  You Fei asked this heroic bandit brother: "Will the villagers leave? If the devils don't provoke them, it seems safer for them to stay in the village."

  "Hey! The devils arrived too quickly, no time to escape even if we wanted to. Who would want to stay in the occupied territory and be a puppet citizen?"

  Soon, the surging fellow villagers verified the bandit brothers' words. The crowd rushed over in a dense black mass, roughly numbering over ten thousand! You Fei took a deep breath, his small company of only ninety soldiers having inadvertently triggered a massive retreat of over ten thousand people. If this situation were to end peacefully, it would be one thing, but if the devils were to catch up and start slaughtering these civilians, it would be entirely his fault.

  It seemed as if heaven itself was against You Fei. Just as he was anxiously urging the crowd to hurry through, gunfire began to ring out from three different directions.