Chapter 32: Desperate Breakthrough

  Hearing the words of Futamata Nirō, Hontō Kenjirō smiled and said to his chief of staff: "Send a telegram to Yokoyama Seizaburō! The back of the Shanhai army is narrow, so let's entrust it to him!" Soon Yokoyama Seizaburō received the telegram. After reading the telegram, Yokoyama Seizaburō thought for a moment and immediately ordered: "Artillery bombardment of the Chinese army's position! The troops will follow the artillery shells and charge!"

  Watching the Japanese army rush forward, Hua Lieyang shouted loudly: "Use cluster bombs!" Then he saw a bundle of hand grenades flying out of the bunker and falling into the Japanese army's ranks. After that, Hua Lieyang stood up with his submachine gun and swept the densely packed crowd of Japanese soldiers. Seeing Hua Lieyang's appearance, other soldiers also stood up with their submachine guns and swept the Japanese army.

  Koizumi Teiichi, who was directing the battle from behind, was stunned to see the ferocious and powerful Chinese army on the battlefield! After a while, Koizumi Teiichi came back to his senses and immediately ordered: "Bombard the Chinese army's position!" As soon as he heard Koizumi Teiichi's words, Chief of Staff Kakuno Tsunenori said: "Commander, there are still our own people in front!"

  "Hachigatsu Yarō! I know there are our own people ahead, but this is the only way to maximize damage on those Chinese! Don't forget we're at a disadvantage now!" Yokoyama Shizuo shouted in anger.

  "Hey!" said Jiao Jianzhi, turning around to give orders. About ten minutes later, when Hua Lieyang was commanding his men to fight to the death, Japanese artillery shells landed on their position! With the explosion of the shells, the Japanese quickly broke away from the entanglement with Hua Lieyang and his men. Seeing the Japanese retreat, Hua Lieyang shouted to Yang Chuncao amidst the Japanese artillery fire: "Get everyone to take cover!" After finishing speaking, Hua Lieyang picked up a sniper rifle and leapt out of the trench!

  Watching Hua Lieyang leave, Yang Chuncao said worriedly: "General, you must be careful!" After finishing speaking, Yang Chuncao led his men to retreat to the second line of defense.

  Hua Lieyang jumped out of the bunker and continuously leaped into the shell crater. Using the bodies of the devils as cover, he advanced forward. In the blink of an eye, Hua Lieyang had circled around to the vicinity of the devil's artillery position.

  Looking at the Japanese artillery position in front of him, Hua Lieyang calculated seriously and took out a hand grenade from his waist and threw it to where the devils were stacking shells. As soon as the grenade landed, it immediately attracted a Japanese soldier. Seeing the approaching Japanese soldier, Hua Lieyang took out a silencer from his pocket and installed it on his Tokarev pistol.

  In the blink of an eye, Japanese soldiers carrying Type 38 rifles appeared in front of Hua Lieyang. Hua Lieyang smiled and suddenly rushed out, shooting a Japanese soldier in the head before they could react. Taking advantage of the surrounding Japanese troops' slow reaction, Hua Lieyang disguised himself as the dead soldier and then threw three hand grenades at several artillery pieces.

  After everything was settled, Hua Lieyang changed his position to a hidden location and picked up his sniper rifle, firing at the hand grenade. After a dull gunshot, the place where the Japanese army piled up artillery shells suddenly became a piece of heaven. All the Japanese troops near the ammunition were blown into the sky.

  After witnessing this scene, Hua Lieyang continuously pulled the trigger of the sniper rifle in his hand. In the blink of an eye, all the artillery of the Japanese army exploded into the sky amidst the explosion of shells.

  Yang Chun-chao, who was on the battlefield, saw the explosion and flames behind the Japanese army and excitedly shouted: "General Yang has succeeded! General Yang has succeeded!" The soldiers next to him heard Yang Chun-chao's words and immediately became excited. Soon this news spread to the fortifications. When Yang Chun-rui heard the news, he immediately furrowed his brow and rushed to Yang Chun-chao's side, saying: "You let Jiting go out without stopping him at all! What if something happens to him, how can we explain it to General Yang?!"

  When Yang Chunrui heard the words, Yang Chunchao was suddenly shocked, and a cold sweat burst out from behind his back. Just as Yang Chunchao fell into embarrassment, he saw Hu Lieyang slowly crawling into the bunker with a sniper rifle on his back. Seeing Hu Lieyang return, Yang Chunrui walked up angrily and said: "Are you a commander or a soldier?!"

  Hua Lieyang, who was overjoyed, heard Yang Chunrui's words and was taken aback, staring blankly at Yang Chunrui without knowing what to say. After a while, Hua Lieyang came back to his senses and smiled foolishly: "Uncle Rui, it's not a big deal!" Before Hua Lieyang could finish speaking, Yang Chunrui angrily said: "As a commander, he should be with his soldiers! You're good, going solo as a hero!"

  Hua Lieyang heard Yang Chunrui's words and took a deep breath, saying: "Uncle Rui, I know you're worried about me! But do you know how many soldiers' lives the devils' cannons will take away?!"

  Upon hearing Hua Lieyang's words, Yang Chunrui calmly said: "What you've said, I wasn't unaware of! However, your safety concerns our overall situation. You promised Uncle Rui, don't be so reckless in the future!"

  Hua Lieyang thought for a moment and nodded, "Alright! I'll agree to Uncle Rui's request!" As he spoke, Hua Lieyang and Yang Chunrui walked into the fort together. After entering the fort, Hua Lieyang picked up his binoculars and took a look, saying: "Uncle Rui, today we're going to break through their encirclement!" Upon hearing Hua Lieyang's words, Yang Chunrui asked seriously: "Ji Ting, where are we headed?"

  "After we break through, let's gather at Datiger Mountain! We'll leave after Yang Chunxiao and the others arrive and head along the Rehe River to Heilongjiang!" Hua Lieyang said seriously. Upon hearing Hua Lieyang's words, Yang Chunrui was taken aback and said faintly: "Jiting, we've already escaped from the devils' encirclement, why do we want to rush into the devils' encirclement again?!"

  "The devils will definitely enter Heilongjiang next, and when that happens, Ma Zhan-shan, the acting chairman of the Heilongjiang Provincial Government and deputy commander of the Northeast Border Defense Army stationed in Jiang, will surely counterattack. At that time, we'll help him from behind!" Hua Lie-yang said seriously.

  Upon hearing Hua Lieyang's words, Yang Chunrui thought for a moment before saying: "Isn't Zhang Haipeng the one in charge of Heilongjiang for the Northeast Army?!"

  "Zhang Haipeng?!" Hua Lieyang smiled and said: "This coward, I didn't underestimate him. If the little devils arrived at Heilongjiang, Zhang Haipeng would definitely surrender!" As he spoke, Hua Lieyang took out his backpack and began to inspect his weapons.

  Before he knew it, night had fallen. Hu Lieyang held the binoculars and gazed at the distant starry bonfires, saying faintly: "Fire! Use up all the heavy artillery shells!" As soon as Yang Chunrui heard Hu Lieyang's order, he immediately turned around and left. After a while, shell after shell burst into the air, one after another falling into the Japanese army's position.

  Upon hearing the explosion of shells, Honten Kintarō immediately raised his head and exchanged a glance with Tadokoro Iwao before loudly asking: "What happened? Where did it explode?" At this moment, the chief of staff of the 6th Division, Takakura Kakujiro, rushed in and said: "Division Commander, the Chinese army has launched an artillery attack on us!"

  "What?! (What?!)” Motokura Kenjirō, who couldn't believe it, grabbed Takakura no Kuma and said: "How could the Chinese army shell us?!" He immediately ordered: "Send a telegram to inquire about the reaction of the surrounding troops, what is the situation with the Chinese army inside the pass?!"

  "Hey!" said Takakura no Kuma as he turned and left. Watching him leave, Tamotsu Domon said calmly: "Takakura-san, what do you think the Chinese army is up to?" After thinking for a moment, Tamotsu Domon said: "I think the Chinese army is going to abandon their position!" As he spoke, Tamotsu Domon walked over to the map and took a look.

  After looking at the map, Tamotsu Domon said faintly: "We can use the route of the Chinese army's retreat to set up an ambush!" When he heard Tamotsu Domon's words, Kenjiro Honma thought for a moment and said: "I think this time the Chinese army will definitely withdraw back to Guannei, which route do you think they will take?"

  "Tomonori Tamura shook his head and said, "We can only set up a large ambush circle around Fushun and wait for the Chinese army to fall into our trap!" After hearing Tomonori's words, Kenjiro Hontani thought for a moment and said, "It seems we have no other choice!"

  About an hour later, Yang Chunrui ran to the front of Hua Lieyang and said: "Jiting, all the shells have been fired!" Hua Lieyang nodded after hearing Yang Chunrui's words and said: "I know!" As he spoke, Hua Lieyang looked at Yang Chunrui. Yang Chunrui saw that Hua Lieyang's eyes were dim and said: "Jiting, are we going to change the retreat route?!"

  After hearing Yang Chunrui's words, Hua Lieyang thought for a moment and asked: "Uncle Rui, just say what you want to say! No need to hide or dodge! This is not like a Northeastern Hanzi!"

  "Alright, Uncle Yang, I'll be straightforward!" Yang Chunrui took a sip of water and continued, "We just fired those big guns, the little devils must have guessed that we're going to retreat! They'll definitely set up ambushes along our withdrawal route!"

  Before Yang Chunrui finished speaking, Hua Lieyang nodded in understanding and said, "Uncle Yang, I know what you mean! The reason I opened fire was to give the devils a false impression, making them think we're withdrawing into the pass! Then they'll disperse their attention and set up encirclement circles around Fenyang!"

  Hua Lieyang pulled Yang Chunrui to the map and pointed at it, saying, "Tonight at 12 o'clock, we'll break out from Liujiatun Lake and enter Pingdingshan. At that time, you'll lead the men and a radio station to join up with Ma Longhai and Liu Changgeng in Jilin. I'll take five people to bypass Fenyang, head to Datoushan, and meet up with Yang Chunxiao and his group. Then we'll come back and enter Heilongjiang together!"

  When Yang Chunrui heard Hua Lieyang's words, he immediately put his mind at ease. At this moment, Yang Chunchao brought the other five people raised by Yang Yuting to appear in front of Hua Lieyang. Seeing them, Hua Lieyang smiled and said: "There are still half an hour! Half an hour later we will start breaking through! Wait a minute for everyone to take care of each other!"

  "This is something we would have done anyway!" Yang Chun-chao said seriously. Upon hearing Yang Chun-chao's words, Yang Chun-kuo immediately responded: "Yes! You can rest assured about this! So then, what about the severely injured personnel?!"

  Hua Lieyang thought for a moment and gritted his teeth, saying: "Take them all away! My requirement for every soldier is to never abandon or give up!" Upon hearing Hua Lieyang's words, some of the soldiers beside him were instantly moved to tears. Because of Hua Lieyang's words, later when Lin Biao led troops into Northeast China, there was no longer a massive army of one million, but that's a story for another time, we won't talk about it now!

  Time passed bit by bit! Looking at his watch, Hua Lieyang said calmly: "Take away everything that can be taken away! For things that cannot be taken away, install a time bomb!"

  At this time, Yang Chunluo hastily ran to the front of Hua Lieyang and said: "General, the seriously wounded are not willing to leave!" Hua Lieyang looked at Yang Chunluo and said: "Knock them unconscious and take them away! Or give them anesthetic and take them away!"