Chapter 34: Not Taking the Usual Path

  "Let's go west! Yokoyama-kun, you're right! Now our main task is to purge the Chinese armed forces that we can't control within our jurisdiction!" As he spoke, Tamotsu Shirakawa turned to his staff officer and said: "Immediately send a telegram to the commander with our previous opinions!"

  Motomura Shigeru, who was waiting for news in the office, received a telegram from Tadashi Muto. After reading the telegram, Motomura smiled and looked at Ishihara Kanji sitting next to him, saying: "Ishihara-san, take a look at this telegram and give me your opinion!"

  Ishihara Kanji heard the words of Honjō Shigeru, immediately stood up and respectfully took over the telegram in Honjō's hand, looked at it and said: "Commander, Lieutenant General Tadokoro and Lieutenant General Yokoyama's opinions are very important! Although we have been sweeping through various places in Northeast China, there are also many Chinese troops who are resisting fiercely!……"

  Before Ishihara finished speaking, Honjō smiled and said: "Ishihara, you're thinking too much! Our main task now is to occupy the three northeastern provinces of China as quickly as possible! Use the resources of the Northeast to support the Empire's upcoming holy war!"

  "Thank you for your instruction, General!" After thinking for a moment, Ishihara Kanji said: "Then how should the commander deal with these escaped Chinese soldiers?"

  "There's an old Chinese saying, 'use the barbarians to control the barbarians'! We can also adopt a strategy of 'using the Chinese to control the Chinese' and use the bandits from Northeast China to eliminate these Chinese troops!" said Honjō Shigeru seriously. Upon hearing Honjō Shigeru's words, Ishihara Kanji was momentarily stunned!

  After a while, Ishihara Kanji smiled and said to Honjō Shigeru: "The commander's explanation is indeed brilliant!" Hearing Ishihara's compliment, Honjō smiled and said: "Ishihara, I'm already old! You are the future of the Empire! My term in Manchuria will also end next year! At that time, I will definitely recommend you to the Empire!"

  "Thanks for Commander's cultivation!" Ishihara Kanji said seriously.

  "Alright, no need to be polite! Your current task is to work with Tsuchihara Kenji to instigate the bandits to help us annihilate the Shina army!" As he spoke, Honjō Shigeru closed his eyes and continued, "You can go now!"

  "Hey!" said Ishihara Kanji as he turned and left.

  The next morning, Tōjō Kōji received the order and rushed back to the Kwangtung Army headquarters in Dairen. In Ishiwara Kanji's office, Tōjō Kōji and Ishiwara Kanji conferred for a while before Tōjō Kōji hastily left Ishiwara Kanji's office and departed from the Kwangtung Army headquarters.

  At the same time Tofu Hara left the Kwantung Army headquarters, Hu Lieyang carried his weapons along the mountain path towards Jehol. After walking for about half a day, Hu Lieyang looked at his watch and found a relatively safe place to sit down and rest when he suddenly heard dense footsteps coming from not far away.

  Upon hearing the sound, Hua Lieyang immediately pulled the bolt and hid behind a huge rock. After a while, he saw four Japanese soldiers with disheveled clothes, carrying guns on their backs and holding chickens and wine, walking towards where Hua Lieyang was resting.

  Seeing this scene, Hua Lieyang smiled and muttered to himself: "Really think of something and it comes! Drowsy and someone hands over a pillow!" As he spoke, Hua Lieyang took out the Tokarev pistol, installed a silencer, and waited for an opportunity.

  Time passed minute by minute, and about three or four minutes later, four Japanese soldiers appeared in front of Hua Lieyang. At this time, a Japanese soldier was heard saying: "Mr. Dashan, the flower girl in that village just now is very tasty! Have you ever had a craving?"

  "It's extremely delicious! How about you guys?" said a Japanese man named Oyama.

  Just as the Japanese voice had just fallen, Hua Lieyang suddenly launched a surprise attack from behind the giant stone, firing two shots and solving two devils. He then pointed his gun at the other two devils and said: "You should have the awareness of death for harming Chinese civilians on Chinese soil!" As he spoke, Hua Lieyang didn't wait for any reaction from the two Japanese soldiers, kicking one devil in the face with a whip leg and spinning around to shoot another devil. With a smile on his face, he looked at the last Japanese soldier who was lying on the ground, bleeding profusely, and said: "You should go die too!" Hua Lieyang quickly pulled out the dagger from his waist. The Japanese soldier on the ground saw the dagger in Hua Lieyang's hand and suddenly showed a terrified expression.

  Seeing the expression of the Japanese army, Hua Lieyang revealed a satisfied smile of the god of death, and solved the last ghost with one knife. After searching for something from the four corpses of the devils, he left with the scattered weapons around him, walking slowly away.

  As the sky gradually darkened, Hua Lieyang found a clean spot to start a fire and began roasting the chicken. Just then, five or six people in tattered clothing appeared before him. Seeing these six people, Hua Lieyang smiled and took out six steamed buns from his bag, tossing them over and saying: "Take these things and you can leave!"

  One of the middle-aged men said: "Leave all your things behind and we'll let you go!"

  Hua Lieyang looked at the six people and smiled, saying: "I didn't hear wrong, did I?" Upon hearing Hua Lieyang's words, the six people burst into loud laughter. Hua Lieyang heard their laughter and, without waiting for them to continue speaking, instantly drew his Tokarev pistol, pulled the trigger, and shot a bullet through the middle-aged man's head. Without even looking at the remaining people, he said: "You can get out of here!" The remaining people, upon hearing Hua Lieyang's words, ran away quickly as if they had been pardoned!

  At this time, Yang Chunxiao, who was walking in the distance, heard the sudden gunshot and immediately became alert. The ten people raised their sniper rifles and looked around for a while without finding anything. Then Yang Chunfeng said to Yang Chunxiao: "Chunxiao, the gunshot came from the front! Do we want to go over and take a look?"

  Upon hearing Yang Chunfeng's words, Yang Chunxiao looked around at the people and nodded, saying: "Let's go take a look up ahead!" As soon as he finished speaking, the ten of them immediately formed a triangular battle formation and headed in the direction of the gunfire.

  Hua Lieyang, who was eating, heard the rustling sound coming from behind him. Upon hearing the sound, Hua Lieyang immediately hid behind a large tree and raised his sniper rifle in the direction of the sound. After a while, Hua Lieyang saw Yang Chunxiao through the scope of his sniper rifle.

  As soon as he saw Yang Chunxiao, Hua Lieyang immediately put away the sniper rifle in his hand and laughed: "Uncle Xiao! How did you end up here?!" As soon as they heard Hua Lieyang's shout, Yang Chunxiao and the others were stunned. After a while, they saw Hua Lieyang walking out from behind a big tree, and Yang Chunxiao immediately came to his senses.

  Yang Chunxiao came back to her senses and looked at Hua Lieyang, saying: "Jiting, how are you here?! Where are the others?!"

  Hua Lieyang smiled and replied, "They're all in a safe place! I'm here specifically to meet up with you guys!" As soon as Hua Lieyang finished speaking, Yang Chunfeng huffed and said, "How could they be at ease letting you come out alone?!"

  "It's okay! Uncle Feng, don't be so angry! The person who can take my life hasn't appeared yet!" Hua Lieyang said with a smile. At this time, Yang Chunlei, who was on the side, patted Yang Chunxiao and said: "Chunxiao, look over there!" When Yang Chunlei spoke, Yang Chunxiao looked at the corpse beside him and asked: "Ji Ting, who are they?!"

  Before Yang Chunxiao could finish speaking, Hua Lieyang laughed and said: "They're just looking for trouble! I just scared off a group of idiots!" Upon hearing Hua Lieyang's words, Yang Chunxiao thought for a moment before saying: "It seems we can't stay here anymore! Let's move on again!"

  After hearing Yang Chunxiao's words, Hua Lieyang thought for a moment and said: "Then let's go!" As he spoke, Hua Lieyang picked up the shell on the ground and followed Yang Chunxiao and others to leave.

  At the same time, just as Hua Lieyang and Yang Chunxiao were gathering together, Li Yuanci walked into Zhang Shao's study room and said: "Shao, I've just received intelligence! The North Camp has fallen! But that kid Hua Lieyang played a brilliant move!"

  Before Li Yuan finished speaking, Zhang Shaoxiao curiously asked: "What's going on?!"

  "Hua Lieyang finally blew up the entire Jishanmen fortifications! Many little devils were killed or injured! Even the commander of the Second Division, Tomenokura Nijirō, was almost blown to death!" As he spoke, Li Yuanci took a deep breath and suppressed his excited mood, continuing: "Hua Lieyang destroyed the Japanese temporary frontline command center while retreating! He shot and killed the commander of the Sixth Division, Hokeno Kenjirō, and the chief of staff, Takakura Kenkuma!"

  Upon hearing Lí Yuǎn Cái's words, Zhāng Shào Suì suddenly became excited and seriously looked at Lí Yuǎn Cái asking: "This time the Japanese army launched a surprise attack, how many high-ranking Japanese military officers were killed under Huà Liè Yáng's command?!"

  Li Yuanchao opened his notebook and took a look, saying: "Two division commanders; one division chief of staff; one brigade commander; the regimental commander has not been counted yet!"

  Zhang Shao-shuai heard what Li Yuan-cai said and thought for a moment before saying, "Yuan-cai, where do you think that little rascal Hua Lie-yang will go next?"

  "This is unbelievable! Hua Lieyang this kid has a very sinister move! Every step he takes is very precise! And I still haven't figured out where Hua Lieyang got so many soldiers!" Lei Yuanchen said seriously.

  At this moment, General Zhang's secretary walked into General Zhang's study with a telegram and said: "Deputy Commander-in-Chief, urgent telegram from Nanjing!" General Zhang took the telegram from his secretary's hand, looked at it and said to Li Yuancun: "Yuancun, Old Chiang is also after that little devil Hu Lieyang!"

  Just as General Zhang received the telegram from the Commander-in-Chief, in the study of the Presidential Palace in Nanjing, the Commander-in-Chief looked at Chen Guofu and asked: "What's new in the Northeast now?"

  "Now the Northeast, except for a small number of scattered troops resisting the Japanese army, all other Northeastern armies have retreated to the interior! Except for those who surrendered and defected, all Northeastern armies are now concentrated near Beiping!" Chen Guofu said seriously.

  Upon hearing Chen Guo's words, the commander-in-chief furrowed his brow and said: "Is there any news about that guy Hua Lieyang?!" Chen Guo shook his head and said: "I have already dispatched all our intelligence networks in Northeast China to search for Hua Lieyang! There is no news so far!"

  The commander nodded and said, "This kid has a bit of Wang Yaxiao from the Shanghai Axe Gang! It's really giving me a feeling of love and hate!" Chen Lifu, who was on the side, heard the commander mention Wang Yaxiao and seriously asked, "Your Excellency, when we find that Hu Lieyang, are we going to take necessary measures?!"

  "This won't do! After all, he's still just a child! It's very possible that he was deceived by someone else!" The commander-in-chief said to himself in consolation.