Chapter Sixteen: Human Qualifications

  To fulfill the will of Feng Ping and Yi Anhua, You Fei led more than 100 people to sneak away in order to avoid being incorporated into other numbered units by the remaining personnel of the 137th Regiment and the 259th Brigade. As a result, they disappeared without a trace from the military's personnel roster.

  More than a hundred people who had run out gathered in the vast wilderness, staring straight at You Fei, and the future direction would be decided by You Fei, the person in charge.

  Looking at the 160 people in front of him with tattered clothes, You Fei raised his face and held back the tears that were about to burst out. He shouted hoarsely: "I command, all troops to infiltrate northward, go kill the little devils."

  "Yes!" One hundred and sixty people roared in unison.

  He grabbed a Han Yang rifle and swung it: "The 259th Brigade, the 137th Regiment can be said to have ceased to exist. Commander Yi, Commander Feng, they both staked their lives on the battlefield. But we, over a hundred brothers who are still alive, are the 259th Brigade, are the 137th Regiment. I am the brigade commander, the regimental commander. As long as I still have a breath left, I will fight to the death with the devils. If you don't want to go, go to the rear and be a refugee, I won't stop you, nor do I consider you a deserter. Those who are willing to kill devils, follow me."

  You Fei resolutely walked towards the north where the cannon fire was still raging, behind him 160 people were quietly following, the only sound being the howling of the wind. You Fei secretly made up his mind that even if no one followed him, he would give the devils a good show by himself.

  "Kill the devils!" "Kill the devils!" "Kill the devils!"

  A loud roar rose, one voice higher than the other. You Fei stopped in his tracks, looking at his soldiers, who were holding their weapons and shouting with resolute anger. Over a hundred people, several hundred eyes stared at You Fei, from their expressions to their voices, just like one person.

  "Depart!" Yu Fei commanded. The team instantly fell silent, and the soldiers who had gone through nine deaths and one life turned around and lined up to head north. Their footsteps were not very uniform, and even the rustling sound was not loud, but Yu Fei clearly felt their determination and confidence. They were no longer the new recruits of a dozen days ago.

  Jiang Zhuang, Xu Zhiwei and He Tianhao walked to You Fei's side. Jiang Zhuang said: "Big brother! Rest assured, none of your soldiers are afraid of death."

  You Fei opened his arms and hugged his three good brothers, "Big brother, I won't let a single brother go to his death."

  "Die! Live! We all listen to you."

  "Hmm!" You Fei strode forward with large steps.

  Anlan Town, located in the heart of the southern Jiangsu plain, has been a land of fish and rice, a paradise on earth since ancient times. When You Fei's troops arrived at the outskirts of Anlan Town, the sound of gunfire had already weakened. The National Army had retreated again, and this town and nearby villages were all shrouded in thick smoke, emitting a bloody smell.

  There were still over 300 meters to the village in the smoke, You Fei waved his hand downwards and made a gesture. The troops immediately hid in place. Two scouts quickly flashed into the ruins of Anlan Town.

  You Fei crouched on the ground, staring intently in the direction of the town without blinking. At the same time, he was thinking about possible situations and how his team should respond when the time came. Suddenly, two gunshots rang out, followed by another two after a while, but still no one emerged. Just as You Fei was about to send more people to take a look, two scouts came out of the town.

  "Report to Company Commander! We've captured two Japanese soldiers. There are no more living people in the town."

  "Second platoon! Advance into town and take up defensive positions." Yu Fei said, looking at the scout who had come to report with a nod of approval. "What's your name?"

  "Ge Cunzheng."

  "Good job! You're quite skilled. How many people are in your scouting party?"

  "Except for me, it's Wang Er Dan. Just the two of us."

  "Alright, let's go take a look." He said casually, "Oh, you two will be junior officers soon. Bring me back a decent reconnaissance team! No, make that a reconnaissance platoon! You can choose the personnel yourselves!"

  "Yes!" Ge Cunzheng, who had just been promoted, did not show much joy, but replied calmly.

  As they spoke, they walked up to the bodies of two Japanese soldiers. The second squad, which was responsible for searching, had also returned and reported that the village was empty, with no grain or living people, only some civilian corpses.

  You Fei kicked a Japanese soldier who had been shot in the head, and found that he was still wearing a sergeant's insignia. Their guns, ammunition, and grenades had already been taken away by the soldiers, but You Fei still felt that they might have something useful on them. Ge Cun was using his gun to pry off the sergeant's insignia when You Fei suddenly realized something and said: "Damn it! Even after death, he's still wearing a uniform. Ge Cun, you two scouts put on these two uniforms!"

  "This... this is the enemy army's uniform!"

  "Alright! This is an order! You must know that you are scouts! Do you think I'm looking at this yellow skin of yours!"

  "Yes!" Ge Cunzheng understood and quickly cut off the ghost's clothes.

  "Quickly withdraw."

  As soon as the words were spoken, the second squad's sentry rushed over to report that a large number of devils had been spotted in the west. The sound of gunfire was also growing thicker from the south.

  You Fei didn't say a word, and ordered the team to set off immediately towards the north. As a rascal for many years, he knew how to pick the soft persimmons and avoid eating losses in front of him. Ge Cun Zheng and Wang Er Dan easily killed two devils, which also inspired him. To minimize their own losses while killing as many devils as possible, they should focus on taking care of the lone devil soldiers, this was a solution.

  What's depressing is that for the entire day afterwards, the Independent Regiment didn't encounter a single stray Japanese soldier. Instead, several large groups of Japanese troops passed by, with cars, artillery, infantry and cavalry, all in formation, opening fire from a distance. Not one of the National Army's positions was encountered by the Independent Regiment. If they were to send these 160 men to attack an entire Japanese division, they'd probably be blown away as soon as they poked their heads out.

  Night fell, and the Independent Regiment's camp was set up in a small forest. Although sentries were posted on all sides, the Japanese army could appear at any moment, so no fires or lights were allowed. The soldiers could only take out dry rations and eat silently.

  "Come on! Too slow! Also too dangerous!" You Fei said to He Tianhao, "If we can be as fast as when we came, we can find the enemy's weakness and hit him, then quickly slip away. It would be great if we had a car!"

  "Devils are here! I'll take a few brothers to get some?"

  "No way!" You Fei's tone was non-negotiable.

  "Let's wait till dawn then!" He Tianhao didn't argue back.

  He flew over to take a look at each of his soldiers, sometimes saying a word or two to them, but more often just saluting and exchanging a glance.

  It was very late when You Fei finally fell asleep.

  The loud cannon fire awakened You Fei, he quickly scrambled up, but was pressed down again by a large body. It was Jiang Zhuang, Jiang Zhuang could be so ruthless to himself, there must be some situation, You Fei didn't make a sound, and began to observe the surrounding situation.

  Just two hundred meters away, more than twenty devils were operating two mountain guns, firing slowly. This was the formation of an artillery platoon. I didn't know where they were shooting? Where was the coordinated infantry position?

  Jiang said in a low voice: "Xu Zhiwei and Ge Cunzheng led the men to sneak up. Wang Erdan bypassed the artillery to reconnoiter on the flank."

  You Fei didn't respond. When can these kids take action without their own consent?! Settle the account after the battle is over!

  Wang Er Dan brought back the news that made You Fei's body tremble with anger. The devils' artillery was bombarding a nearby village called Xiao Feng Village. There were over a hundred devils, driving out thousands of villagers and surrounding them in Xiao Feng Village. The devils killed once, but there were too many people and the efficiency was not high. They simply let the artillery bombard, wanting to achieve a quick and thorough annihilation.

  You Fei gritted his teeth and stood up, "First row, coordinate with Ge Cunzheng and the others to attack the artillery! The rest of you, attack the devils' infantry outside Xiaofeng Village. One minute later, blow the charge!"

  One row moved forward first.

  Ge Cunzheng raised his hand and shot, killing the artilleryman who was loading the cannon. The first squad and the reconnaissance team rushed up together, a burst of chaotic gunfire, and this small artillery team was left with only five or six bewildered artillerymen, they leaned against each other and surrounded a mountain gun, and then there was no movement at all.

  Ge Cunzheng took a step forward and shouted: "Surrender your guns and we won't kill you!" The few Japanese soldiers looked at him indifferently, without any reaction.

  Ge Cunzheng knocked down a Japanese artilleryman with his rifle butt, and saw that they were surrounding someone inside. The person was squatting on the ground, wrapping something around several boxes of shells!

  "Fall back! Everyone fall back!"

  As Ge Cun Zheng's hoarse voice shouted, a deafening explosion sounded, and a huge air wave lifted the heavy mountain cannon and the devils around him, as well as Ge Cun Zheng himself, flying away together.

  The limbs scattered on the ground can no longer be distinguished as belonging to whom.

  Ge Cunzheng is dead.

  He sacrificed his own life to give a few Japanese soldiers the chance to live as prisoners. Faced with people who no longer resisted, anyone's trigger could not be pulled down, but were those things really human?

  This scene was seen by You Fei with his own eyes, he jumped high and shouted in a changed tone: "Squad leader! Charge!"

  After shouting this sentence, he took the lead in picking up his rifle, pulling out the bayonet from the gun butt and attaching it. He rushed out. Jiang followed closely behind him.

  The bugle sounded, and the soldiers who had been glaring with red eyes jumped out of their hiding places and charged forward. However, He Tianhao left two men behind to operate the remaining mountain gun.

  Outside Xiaofeng Village, the Japanese army's Tanigawa unit, which was suddenly hit, abandoned its siege of the village and hastily rushed to the front line of the Youfei Regiment to set up a defensive position. Upon hearing the explosions, gunfire, and bugle calls, the well-trained Japanese soldiers first lay down on the ground before deploying into a defensive formation.

  The Tanigawa unit was suddenly attacked, but the losses were not fatal.

  Each Japanese army squad was equipped with more than six light machine guns. The machine gunners had just been firing at the fleeing civilians outside the village, and now they were running over with their machine guns and ammunition boxes, quickly opening fire on the You Fei squad.

  The sound of gunfire blocked one by one corpse in front of the Japanese army's position less than 50 meters away.

  Boom! The mountain cannon went off.

  The shell flew over the soldiers of both sides who were fighting, and fell into a pond behind the Japanese army. It only stirred up a column of water. The nearby wet devils could be seen laughing, which was to mock this poor artillery.

  Boom! The second shot, a machine gun flew into the sky.

  Boom! The third shot, another machine gun flew into the sky.

  Boom! Boom! With the continuous sound of artillery fire, although not all of the enemy's machine gunners were blown up by the landmines, they had all lost some arms and legs. The machine guns fell silent for the time being.

  Yu Fei and Jiang Zhuang led the charge, bursting into the Japanese army's position. A fierce hand-to-hand combat began. The group of veteran soldiers led by Yu Fei, who were eager to fight, had a slight advantage over the slightly smaller number of Japanese soldiers. Moreover, these veterans, who had experienced countless life-and-death battles, possessed some special skills that gave them an edge. As a result, the tide of victory began to shift in Yu Fei's favor.

  But the stubborn devils were still desperately resisting.

  He Tianhao suddenly appeared beside You Fei, "Big brother! Lian Chang! The enemy's reinforcements are about to arrive!"

  "Concentrate on me! Suppressing firepower! Withdraw from the battlefield! Second platoon, cover our retreat!" You Fei shouted loudly, issuing a string of orders. They fought and retreated, putting some distance between themselves and the enemy soldiers. An enemy officer also yelled loudly, reorganizing the remaining enemy troops.

  "Wah ya!" "Wah ah!" Just as the devils were shouting and catching up, a shell landed right on that officer's head! Except for one devil who was blown into the air, the rest all hastily fell to the ground.

  "Strip off all removable clothing! Get down! Retreat!"

  "He Tianhao also shouted: 'The car that the devils used to pull the cannon, put it at the end, and pick up the brothers who were cut off.'"

  At this time, some people ran out of Xiaofeng Village and ran in different directions. The remaining devils vented their anger on these civilians! Gunshots rang out, and they fell to the ground one after another. Two or three devil soldiers entered the village again, while the rest fired at the village from outside.

  "Alas!" You Fei sighed, the scouts on the periphery had already discovered the large group of devils' men and horses, if they didn't leave now, it would be too late. And the thousands of villagers who were crowded in the village, just stupidly waiting for the stab of two or three devils' bayonets, at most, running out to become live targets for the dozens of devils outside the village.

  People of a country known for its etiquette, in the face of utterly inhumane beasts, still maintain an innocent appearance.

  "You can't be saved! I will avenge you!"

  The tragic fate of the civilians and the death of Lieutenant Ge Cunzheng, who had just been promoted, deeply pained You Fei. He told his comrades: "Pass on my order to everyone! From now on, this unit will not take a single Japanese prisoner. The beasts don't even deserve to be taken prisoner."

  Walking further forward, I arrived at the Yangtze River bank.

  Eat persimmons and choose soft ones, good men don't eat losses in front of their eyes. These basic living rules were not fully followed by You Fei in the battle of Xiaofeng Village. It was He Tianhao and the gunner he found who made great contributions. In the Battle of Xiaofeng Village, He Tianhao's mind remained clear throughout. The artillery support played a decisive role in the battle with a hundred people. Even though this was a victory, only ninety-two people were left after withdrawing. Nearly half of the people stayed outside Xiaofeng Village. How many more times can this regiment withstand such confrontations?

  You Fei made a decision in his heart, from now on he must not use the troops to fight hard again. Even more, he should make a self-criticism for what happened in Xiaofeng Village, everyone knows that those civilians were impossible to save.

  You are now facing the problem of breaking through the devil's river defense line. In the Yangtze River, the devils' small gunboats patrolled back and forth, and there were also their defensive positions on the riverbank. Not to mention that their cruisers were also cruising in the river, and they might encounter them at any time. Moreover, if they didn't cross the river in time, the pursuing troops behind them would have an absolute advantage and could surround You Fei's dumplings.