Chapter 36: Ambushing the Guangping Reinforcements

  Firstly, the Eighth Route Army had very few cannons. If there were any cannons in the Eighth Route Army, they would be part of its main force. If the main force of the Eighth Route Army attacked Dongdaxin and Xixiandian strongholds, it's not necessary to say that these two strongholds didn't have enough people to even fill the gaps between their teeth. However, the main force of the Eighth Route Army had both big cannons and so many troops, could they just be attacking these two strongholds so simply?

  Ikegami immediately called Akio Akiyama, the captain of Kuruwa County, and reported the situation to Akiyama.

  As soon as the enemy had cannons, he also frowned, but he said: "So far, there are only eight army activities in your defense zone, and they have only attacked Dongdaxin and Xixian stores. It doesn't seem to be the main force of the Eighth Route Army. It should be a small unit of the Eighth Route Army equipped with mortars. You must send troops to assist Xixian store immediately."

  "Also, old classmate, I want to remind you that up until now the reinforcements from Feixiang County and Donggao Village are still trapped on the highway, having only marched out for over 20 miles, and have yet to arrive at Dongdaxin. I estimate that the garrison at Dongdaxin has already been annihilated. And the reinforcements you dispatched will likely suffer a similar fate."

  "What?" Chika Ikegami was shocked, "How is this possible? The distance between Hinoe Town and Togakushi Village's base to Todai Shin is only thirty miles, how can it not have arrived yet?"

  Akio Akiyama's expression was also not good, but he said: "The enemy used a simple anti-infantry landmine made of bullet shells. This mine can be made with just one bullet and is easy to lay out in large quantities. Both relief troops suffered casualties from this mine, so now we can only proceed slowly by clearing the mines step by step."

  Akio Akiyama and Ikō Takahashi were junior high school classmates, but Akio Akiyama joined the army earlier than Ikō Takahashi, so his military rank was much higher, already a company commander. The two had a good relationship in junior high school, so Akio promptly informed Ikō of the situation below to prevent him from being taken advantage of.

  "Hey, I got it. Thanks for the guidance, Mr. Akizuki. I'll send troops to support the Sai On shop immediately." Ikegami said gratefully.

  Chi Shangxian put down the phone and immediately ordered the devils and puppet troops to assemble urgently. He left a squad of devils and a company of puppet troops to garrison Guangping County, then took a company of devils and two companies of puppet troops to open the north gate, preparing to set out.

  Because the trucks were all taken away by Deputy Nakamura, this time they could only march on foot. The troops were led by Ikegami Shozo in person, and he wanted to see what kind of three-headed and six-armed Eighth Route Army was able to attack his two strongholds within a day.

  Chiaki Norika rode a tall horse and walked in the middle of the team.

  However, as soon as the troops in front left the city gate, they heard three shots of "bang bang bang", and the three devils in front were shot in the head and fell to the ground.

  It was pitch black outside in the middle of the night, and because the puppet army had to rush on the night road, they were all holding torches. However, this move was equivalent to asking to be killed by Liu Feng and his three snipers, each with a single shot that took out three devils.

  Those dozen or so Japanese devils and puppet troops who had gone out of the city immediately fell to the ground, none of them saw where the shots were coming from. Some devils, judging only from the direction of the three devils' being hit, fired wildly with a "bang bang bang" sound.

  Ikeda Chikamasa was still in the castle and immediately asked: "What's going on?"

  Soon, a staff officer reported to him: "Report to the squadron leader, our troops who went out of the city were attacked and three Japanese soldiers have been killed. The enemy's marksmanship is very accurate, all hitting the head, one shot and one kill."

  "What?!" Chika Ikezawa's eyes widened in surprise, when did the Eighth Route Army's marksmanship become so good?! To think that this was at night, and every shot hit the head?! Isn't that too much?!

  "How many of them are there?" Ikue asked.

  "So far it's unclear, but at least three people," the aide replied.

  "Hah! Three people! Three people actually dare to block the county gate and fight!" Chi Shang Xiao Zhu felt that his lungs were about to burst, a dignified Japanese Imperial Army company commander plus two companies of puppet troops were actually blocked at the city gate by three people. If this gets out, he will become a laughing stock of the Japanese Imperial Army, and his future will be ruined.

  "He bellowed loudly: 'Charge out and attack! Capture those three Eighth Route Army men and tear them to pieces!'"

  Under the command of Chi, everyone knew that there were only three enemies, so they were no longer afraid and stood up to charge forward.

  However, just a few dozen steps out, the devil soldier who was at the forefront felt his foot go soft, as if he had stepped into a pit. Then with a "bang" sound, he felt a severe pain in his foot and fell to the ground. The fake devils who were charging behind him did not stop, but instead stepped over him and continued to charge forward. However, they had already entered the densely packed bullet zone.

  Constantly, puppet troops of the devils were hit by bullets and fell to the ground. Those lucky ones were only shot in one foot, but the unlucky ones would be hit by bullets that pierced their soles and entered their lower body, which was a serious injury, and whether they could survive depended on luck.

  In just a few minutes, more than 20 of the puppet troops fell down. The people behind, especially the puppet troops, if they continued to charge forward, would be fools. They all slowed down their pace, and even hesitated and were unwilling to take another step forward, so the charge naturally came to a halt.

  The Chi Kung straightened up and jumped, but the enemy did not fire a single shot during this period, and they didn't know whether they had run away or were hiding in the dark waiting for a better opportunity.

  His classmates had warned him about the power of bullets, but Chiyo still didn't believe it, now he did. There are actually such despicable things in this world. The cowardly Chinese have actually invented such a thing to block the attack of the Japanese Imperial Army, which is simply too outrageous. All Chinese should die, die, die.

  An aide reminded Chi Shangdao: "Squad leader, we can detour from the east or west gate and bypass this minefield."

  "Hurry up, Squad Leader Yamashita and Squad Leader Kawabe! Each of you lead a squad of Japanese troops to sneak in from the east gate and west gate respectively. Quickly surround the Eighth Route Army." Chiaki Chikatsu immediately gave orders to the two squad leaders.

  As for why the Japanese army was dispatched to make a detour, Chi considered that the combat effectiveness of the pseudo-army was too poor and the speed of the detour was too slow. By the time they made the detour, the Huanghua vegetables would have been cold.

  "Hey!" The two squad leaders immediately led the Japanese army away in a detour.

  And on this side, Chi Shang ordered the engineering soldiers to immediately start clearing mines. As long as they could clear a small path through this minefield, he believed that even several companies of the 8th Route Army would not be able to stop his large troop.

  However, the sappers needed light to clear mines, and as soon as the torches of several sappers who started clearing mines illuminated the ground, they were shot in the head by bullets flying from the darkness.