Chapter Fourteen: The Big Knife Proceeds with Caution

  Wang Dazhu held the canteen in his hand and poured out the last few drops of water onto the muzzle, a burst of white smoke rose, and the water droplets evaporated instantly. He shook the canteen vigorously, not a single drop of water was left.

  "Or should we just pee on the muzzle?" Wang Dazhu asked his squad leader somewhat uncertainly, having heard that someone had done so before, but he wasn't sure if this young squad leader would be willing to use such an unrefined method to cool down the machine gun.

  Outside the city wall, the sound of killing had already risen. Gao Quan swung his machine gun and shouted, "To the city gate!" Grabbing a large knife, he set off with Wang Dazhu and Qian Sixi following closely behind, each carrying a knife. The company commander caught a glimpse of these three men who had abandoned their posts out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't have time to stop them. He raised his hand and fired another shot at the outside enemy, as he now had to command the entire company to use firepower on the city wall to suppress the enemy's attack, in order to alleviate the pressure on the division commanders below. As for those three men, they had the merit of shooting down an enemy plane, so whatever, let them do what they wanted.

  Thousands of devils swarmed in, Liu Ruming led a team of people and devils to engage in a fierce battle, and both sides launched a bayonet charge outside the city gate.

  When Gao Quan and the other two arrived, both sides had already clashed, with guns and knives clashing, and the battle quickly reached a boiling point. The battlefield was filled with the angry roars of soldiers from both sides. A tall soldier from the Temporary Second Regiment raised his knife and viciously hacked at the enemy, but beside him, a bayonet silently stabbed over, and the soldier's knife chopped off the enemy's head, while the bayonet that had snuck up also stabbed into his ribs. At this moment, Gao Quan happened to arrive nearby, let out a loud roar, and with a swing of his knife, knocked down the shameless little devil who had launched a sneak attack.

  Wang Dazhu and Qian Sixi automatically protected the rear wings of Gao Quan, forming a small combat team with three people, charging towards the devils.

  Gao Quan let out a loud roar and swung his knife at a Japanese soldier holding a rifle with a bandaged flag. The Japanese soldier raised his bayonet to block the attack. Gao Quan put all his strength into this one strike, and the force was so great that the Japanese soldier couldn't defend against it. The big knife chopped through the Japanese soldier's bayonet and continued downward, heavily chopping onto the Japanese soldier's forehead. The Japanese soldier's head split in two like a watermelon, with red and white splashing all over Gao Quan's body.

  Gao Quan shouted loudly with his mouth open: "Big knife, chop the devils' heads! Chop the devils' heads!"

  The majestic and stirring war song sounded in front of the narrow pass of Luowen Gorge. Wang Dazhu's eyes lit up as he listened, and he joined in with Gao Quan's next line, singing together. Qian Sixi heard the squad leader and platoon leader sing, and also followed along, singing together. Another soldier sang a line, beheading an enemy ghost with one slash of his knife. The song spread rapidly among the soldiers of the Temporary Second Regiment, with the sound of the war song echoing through the sky, accompanying every shout: "Chop down on the ghosts' heads!" Liu Ruming heard the lyrics and also joined in, singing loudly, growing more and more agitated, until he was so excited that he could hardly control himself. If not for the guards protecting him around, he would have charged into the enemy ranks alone, fighting to the death.

  The inspiring effect of this war song is unparalleled. The more the warriors sang, the louder their voices became, and the more agile their movements were. Their fighting spirit continued to swell in their hearts. Even though they had been exhausted and severely drained from the continuous fierce battles, their bodies seemed to be filled with strength all at once. As they swung their big knives downwards, the wind whistled, and with an unstoppable momentum, they chopped down the devils' heads, often knocking them down with a single blow.

  The devils were caught off guard, suffering heavy casualties. The thousands of devils who charged forward quickly collapsed and retreated, unable to withstand the Second Division's offensive anymore.

  The sky had darkened, and the devils finally stopped their attack and retreated. It was another whole day of fierce fighting, and in front of Luowen Valley, the bodies of soldiers from both sides were piled up.

  A rare tranquility appeared in front of the thousand-year-old Guan Ai Luo Wen Yu. The warriors who had been fighting for a day were busy bandaging their wounds, tidying up their equipment, and eating.

  After finishing off four big steamed buns in one breath, Gao Quan let out a sigh of relief and comfortably lit up a crumpled cigarette. Wang Dazhu and Qian Sihuan leaned against the side, each with a cigarette dangling from their mouths.

  "Will the devils attack again tonight?" Qian Sihao asked his squad leader, exhaling a mouthful of smoke.

  "Right." Gao Quan said with a resolute tone. In his memory, the Battle of Luowen Valley had lasted for several days and nights, with the devils launching attacks day and night without distinction between day and night.

  "These damned little brats! Don't they ever eat or sleep? One wave after another, not even letting me catch my breath." Wang Dazhu complained bitterly.

  "The devils are attacking in batches, one team retreats and another team comes up, they're playing a wheel war with us!" Gao Quan was already familiar with his two subordinates, now that he had some free time, he didn't mind analyzing the situation with them.

  "Alright, the little devil doesn't know when he'll be back again, now let's take advantage of the time to rest for a while." Gao Quan extinguished his cigarette butt and leaned against the city wall with his eyes closed.

  Gao Quan was right as expected. Just after 10 o'clock in the evening, the devils launched an even larger-scale attack. The shouts of killing and the sound of guns and cannons shook the night sky.

  The machine gun position in the daytime caused heavy casualties again for the officers and men of the Temporary Second Division defending Luoying Gorge tonight.

  Inside the pass, 2,000 soldiers gathered, and Brigade Commander Li Jintang stood at the front of the troops. Division Commander Liu Ruming gave a solemn military salute to all the officers and men, "Brothers, tonight, Brigade Commander Li will lead you in a night raid on the enemy's machine gun position. The enemy has already launched a general offensive, and this machine gun position has caused significant casualties for our army. Whether we can eliminate it is the key to whether our temporary second division can hold onto Luowen Valley. I will lead the soldiers at the pass, withstand the enemy's machine guns, and guard the position to the death, waiting for good news from you brothers. Thank you, brothers!" After finishing speaking, he gave another military salute. Then he shook hands with Li Jintang, "Brother Jintang, thank you!"

  Li Jintian raised his hand in a salute: "Please rest assured, Master. I guarantee that the task will be completed! Take care of yourself!" After finishing speaking, he waved his hand and said, "Let's go!" He led the way forward. Liu Ruming quietly watched as the two thousand men left the mountain pass and disappeared into the night.

  Gao Quan, Wang Dazhu and Qian Sixi walked together, their squad was also included in the list of this night raid. It is said that this was a decision made by the commander himself. The advantage is that their squad was finally filled with personnel, three classes in the whole squad, thirty people in total, each person holding a big knife and a short gun, which can be described as strong and powerful. Gao Quan finally became a real squad leader in this era.

  Wanting to take advantage of the night to launch a surprise attack, they couldn't light torches for illumination. The dark mountain road was treacherous, with people constantly tripping and falling, only to be pulled up by their companions. The enemy's machine gun positions had already been thoroughly scouted out by the division, but this time it wasn't necessary to use Gaoquan, mainly because he hadn't asked for reconnaissance soldiers since joining the temporary second division. The temporary second division had its own reconnaissance soldiers and wouldn't randomly take people from infantry units. Fortunately, the division's reconnaissance soldiers were quite capable and had figured out the exact location of the enemy machine gun positions. Since it was a surprise attack, they couldn't just march past in broad daylight; they had to sneak around from the side. The area around Luowen Valley was all mountains, and as soon as they left the valley entrance, the troops began climbing up the mountain.