Chapter 3: Sneak Attack on the Base (Part 2)

  The content of page 1 is as follows:

  Li Xinmin was overjoyed when Liu Wentao told him that the scout had returned, as he had been planning a major operation recently. If this plan succeeded, the gains would be unimaginable. So, Liu Wentao called the scout to report directly to Li Xinmin, and this time the situation was very detailed, which made Li Xinmin extremely happy.

  "Old Liu! Send out all the scouts and get me a clear understanding of the surrounding situation! The clearer, the better!"

  "Alright! I'll go take care of it!", Liu Wentao turned around and was about to leave to pass on the task.

  "Wait! Let me ask Guangfa Uncle if he can help." "Alright, I'll go ask Guangfa Uncle right away."

  Li Xinmin turned to look at the map on the wall, which he had drawn with his own hands based on the intelligence provided by the soldiers. The markings were very clear, allowing him to see the surrounding situation at a glance.

  The troops' training is still ongoing, and every soldier is working hard. Especially the special forces soldiers, who were just recently stunned by Li Xinnian's demonstration! After this phase of adaptive training, Li Xinnian has basically adapted to everything here. He used a captured Type 38 rifle to hit targets over 1,000 meters away multiple times, with every shot hitting its mark and precise accuracy that conquered the soldiers under his command. What impressed Gao Dabao and others the most was that each time Li Xinnian taught them something different, and as training time went on, the gap between him and them grew bigger. At first, they could still keep up for a while, but now it's basically impossible. To train them, Li Xinnian had to slow down his attacking speed and rhythm. In short, everyone in the company is actively training now, and the team is completely different from before. The team's temperament has undergone tremendous changes, even simple standing postures have more momentum than before. The army has formed a kind of momentum, with a unique temperament. Seeing the soldiers' training yield some results, Li Xinnian was also very happy, but he also clearly knew that these soldiers still needed to go through some baptism by fire.

  "Little Dragon! Go and call Huang Pai-chang and the others to come here for a meeting!", Li Xinmin, who had sorted out the intelligence, immediately called his guard Li Shenlong to summon the cadres under him.

  "Yes!"

  "Comrades! We all know our situation, the guns and ammunition are not very sufficient, and we haven't replenished them for a while. The big strongholds dare not be touched, and the small ones have devils hiding inside who don't come out. If this continues, our days will be difficult!"

  "Really!", "Yes!", "What can we do about it?", The people below started discussing and arguing.

  "We haven't improved our food for a long time! We must get our rations up to standard! Our guns and ammunition also need replenishment! So I've decided to launch a surprise attack on the enemy's Xin Village stronghold. Here's my plan..." Li Xinnian then laid out his plan.

  "This time I'll personally lead the first and third squads to the Xincun outpost, Second Lieutenant Liu Wentao will lead the second squad to set up an ambush at Lao Ye Ling, blocking the main force of the devils. Gao Dabao will lead the special warfare team to coordinate with the second squad. Your main task is to hold off the main force of the devils, so that the first and third squads can smoothly take down the Xincun outpost. This time your mission is very heavy, how about it? Can you complete it?"

  "Don't worry, Captain! We guarantee to complete the mission!" Liu Wentao and Gao Dabao promised in succession.

  "Also, I want to remind you all that we must minimize casualties as much as possible. Our lives are more precious than those of the little devils, do you all understand?"

  "Got it!", "Got it!"

  "Also, do you still remember the precautions I taught you during training when executing sniper missions? You must execute as I requested, if one shot is not hit, immediately hide and retreat, never fight hard, and also, do not be greedy for merit."

  "Don't worry, Captain! We're all clear on this! Be sure to pay attention."

  "Alright! Let's go back and prepare for action!" Li Xinmin instructed.

  "Yes!!", each comrade hurriedly left Li Xinmin's command post to convey the task.

  When all the troops were ready, Li Xinmin called over the guard Li Shilong and told him to inform Guangfa Shu that they could start.

  It wasn't long before Li Shenglong returned, "Company Commander! Guang Fa's uncle said that the traitor successfully evaded the militiamen guarding him and went to the Xin Village base to report,"

  The content of page 2 is as follows:

  "Alright! Inform the troops, start action now! Inform Guang Fa that we should set off!"

  "Yes!"

  Li Xinmin led his troops to the outskirts of the Xincun stronghold and hid. Li Xinmin had already understood the Xincun stronghold very well from the scouts' intelligence. The devils set up this stronghold on high ground, and the walls of the stronghold were high and thick, with a brick wall surrounding the courtyard. There was a gun tower on the north side of the stronghold, and inside the stronghold, there were houses for the devils to live in, as well as an ammunition depot and a grain depot. In addition, the devils also built a bathhouse inside the stronghold. The devils ordered the village heads from more than 20 villages around the stronghold, including Xincun and Dawangzhuang, to report to the stronghold every three days. When reporting, if the village head was not careful, he would be beaten by the little devils. "Company Commander, look! The devils are coming out! Look!" The sentry immediately reminded Li Xinmin.

  "Alright! Once the battle breaks out on the other side, we'll start our operation! Inform everyone to get ready for battle!", "Yes!"

  "Company Commander! The devils have reached the second line at a distance of three li!"

  "Everyone get ready for action!", Before long, a faint sound of gunfire was heard from afar, after all, the distance was too far, and the voice wasn't very clear.

  "Commander Li! Let's go open the gate of the stronghold first." "En! We must be careful!"

  The speaker was Zhangcun Village Chief Zhang Gui, who exchanged greetings with Li Xinmin and then walked towards the entrance of the stronghold with Wang Village Chief from Maojia Village, Li Village Chief from Houpocun, and several Eighth Route Army soldiers in disguise.

  "Halt! What are you doing?" a Japanese soldier shouted at them.

  "Ta Jun! We have a situation to report to you!" Zhang Gui hastily replied, and several people bowed their waists to the Japanese soldiers. Since they were already familiar with each other, the Japanese soldier didn't ask too many questions. Zhang Gui and the three village heads walked shoulder to shoulder in front, followed by disguised Eighth Route Army soldiers. When the group approached the Japanese soldier, soldiers Wu Ruilin, Wang Jianfei, and Li Yumin quickly drew sharp daggers from their waists and slit the throat of one Japanese soldier. The dagger swiftly cut off the voice of another Japanese soldier who was about to shout, and he was stabbed in the heart by Wang Jianfei's dagger. Another Japanese soldier met an even more miserable end, his head split into two halves by Zhang Gui's axe. "Follow me, charge!" With Li Xinmin's order, a row of soldiers swiftly rushed out from their hiding point, charging towards the stronghold.

  A large troop rushed into the stronghold, and because of the suddenness of the event, Zhang Gui and his men acted very quickly. As a result, when Li Xinmin led the soldiers to rush into the courtyard of the stronghold, the devils in the artillery tower on the north side of the stronghold had just reacted, but Li Xinmin and his men had already rushed into the stronghold.