Chapter 38: Escaping the Devil's Encirclement

  "What's wrong with you, Suzuki! As soldiers of the Great Japanese Empire and warriors under His Imperial Majesty, how can we be so subservient to those Chinese people!" Nomura protested immediately after hearing Hayashi's words, right after Chen Shaokan finished speaking.

  In his view, as a emperor, when facing the enemy, there are only two options: either kill the enemy or be killed by the enemy. In any case, one cannot bow to the enemy. But now, Suzuki's words in front of Chen Shaoqin made him unable to find any dignity as an emperor, so he had no choice but to let Suzuki continue to show a submissive attitude in front of Chen Shaoqin.

  "Are you looking for death? It's easy!" Chen Shaoqin said, tightening his grip on the gun stock and taking a stance as if he was about to pull the trigger. He never thought that this little devil officer would still dare to be so arrogant at this time, which was simply a provocation against his authority. He absolutely could not let the other party's attitude continue, otherwise it wouldn't just be this little devil Inoue, but all the devils present would take action. After all, he had fewer men and guns in his hands, and if they really started fighting, he would absolutely not have any advantage. Therefore, he only had one way left, which was to bet that the little devil soldiers would not stand by and watch Inoue being shot without doing anything.

  Being startled by Chen Shaoqin's action, Nomura's body also began to disobey, with beads of sweat the size of soybeans sliding down his forehead, and his legs trembling slightly. Although they had been educated in militarism since childhood and would not fear death, when death really approached them at that moment, the weakness and cowardice in their hearts were thoroughly exposed, revealing the weakest side of human nature.

  "Chen San has something good to say, don't move your hands first!" Suzuki panicked and quickly put down the Nanbu Type 14 in his hand, not daring to make any moves that would provoke Chen Shaoqin, fearing that if Chen Shaoqin accidentally pressed the trigger, their superior would be gone with a single shot.

  "Great leader, you first take their weapons and then meet with Xiaoshi and the others!" Chen Shaoqin regretted not leaving more men here at this time. No matter what he asked the little devils for now, they would unconditionally give it to them. Capturing Nomura was a temporary decision, also an unexpected event, purely outside of plans, so there was no way to be prepared. At this moment, he could only pin his hopes on Liu, and take whatever he could get. After saying those words to Liu, he turned around to look at Suzuki beside him, staring at the opponent and asking, "You won't have any objections, will you?"

  "No objection, Chen Sang's meaning is clear to me. You few put all the weapons on the ground!" As soon as they heard Chen Shaoqin's words, Suzuki and others naturally understood what he meant, so they quickly let the peripheral devils put their weapons on the ground, letting Liu take them away. With Suzuki's words falling, the devils closest to Liu all put down their weapons in hand and retreated to the side of the troops next to Nomura.

  "Officer Chen, if I leave, how will you get out of here?" Liu the Crooked asked worriedly, looking at Chen Shaokai. This matter of capturing the Wild Village was originally a case of pulling teeth from a tiger's mouth, with danger lurking around every corner at any moment. Chen Shaokai had not considered his own personal safety and had let him leave with weapons, which he could not accept from either a moral or a Jianghu code of honor perspective, so he hesitated to move forward.

  "I have a way, don't worry, bring the guys and retreat quickly!" Chen Shaoqin didn't plan to waste time. Now that he had Oyama in his hands, the little devils didn't dare to make a move. If they could escape one by one, it was already good. If they waited until the little devils made a desperate attack, they might not be able to escape at all.

  "Yes!" Liu, the adopted son, did not dare to disobey orders. He immediately stretched out his hand and took all the guns, grenades, and other things on the ground, then walked towards the woods. When he entered deep into the woods, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, turned around, looked at Chen Shaoqin, and said in a low voice: "Officer Chen, take care!"

  After saying that, he ran off and suddenly darted into the woods, using the branches and leaves of nature as cover to escape from the little devil's line of sight. Gradually, the sound of his footsteps trampling on dry twigs and withered leaves also disappeared from everyone's ears.

  "Chen Sang, we've met all your requirements. Can you now release our Lieutenant?" Suzuki looked like he was afraid Chen Shaoqin would change his mind and immediately asked for the lieutenant's release after seeing Lao Liu leave. After all, this matter was a big deal in his eyes, and he didn't dare to delay it at all.

  "Of course, I'm not like you Japanese beasts who don't keep promises!" At this time, Chen Shaoqin saw thick smoke rising from the woods and knew that Xiaoshi and others had set up the smokescreen. He said a sentence to Suzuki, then kicked Nomura towards Suzuki with one foot, and jumped into the ditch, running towards the center of the woods.

  Nohara was pushed onto Suzuki, lost his balance, and fell onto Suzuki, directly knocking Suzuki to the ground. The two of them tumbled down together in disarray. Nohara clearly did not want to be played by Chen Shaoqin like this, so he immediately pushed Suzuki away, snatched the Nanbujū from Suzuki's hand, fired a shot into the sky, and then roared at those Japanese soldiers: "Yahata ga ka, all of you go chase after them, no matter life or death!"

  Following Nomura's order, all the devils carrying weapons in their hands chased towards the ditch. In no time, the sound of Type 38 rifles and the shooting sound of "pia pia pia" came, and those bullets were shot at Chen Shaocen one after another.

  At this moment, Chen Shaoqin was desperately running towards the forest. The bullets that were chasing him either hit the big trees or shot at the edge of the boulders. Not only was Chen Shaoqin not hurt at all, but he also took advantage of the dense foliage to cover himself, and his distance from the little devils grew farther and farther apart, almost jumping out of their shooting range.

  Chen Shaoqin arrived at the center of the forest, that piece of forest which had been burned by the devils' cannonballs, and saw Xiaoshi Tuo and Liu Waizhong. Without even waiting for his own breathing to calm down, he immediately asked: "How are the preparations going?"

  "Don't worry, I and Xiaoshi will get the smoke going, and the thunder is all set!" Xue Yumei originally wanted to ask Chen Shaoqin if he was injured, but seeing that he still had the energy to ask about their mission, she naturally assumed Chen Shaoqin was fine, so she reported all the work in front of him.

  "Scatter those guns that have no bullets left, throw them near our landmines, and then follow me to move left!" Chen Shaoqin smiled with satisfaction after hearing this, and then ordered everyone to get up.

  Why drop your weapons?

  Everyone is confused again...