Chapter 40: Entering Xuzhou Territory Again Encounters Crisis

  "What's going on?" Nomura immediately covered his mouth and nose with his hand to avoid being choked by the thick smoke, but he couldn't help but seek the truth. After all, a whole squad of sharpshooters had just disappeared right before his eyes, followed by the death of the sappers, and now the troops entering the smoke were being blown up again. He really didn't dare imagine what was waiting for them ahead!

  "Report to Lieutenant, the troops ahead have encountered a Japanese mine, the five vanguard soldiers at the very front were blown up for His Imperial Majesty, three Imperial soldiers were injured!" The soldier in front heard Nomura's inquiry and immediately ran to Nomura's side to report on the situation of the troops ahead.

  "Eight ga... eight ga... eight ga..." Nomura cursed three times, his lungs almost bursting from anger. Now they not only lost Chen Shaoqin's trail but also suffered an unexpected loss. The entire squad had fewer than twenty people who could still fight, and the number of casualties was enough to put him on trial in a military court. So, beneath his furious outburst, he hid a fear that even he himself dared not imagine - a fear of Chen Shaoqin, because he would never know what Chen Shaoqin's next move would be.

  "Major, what do we do now?" Suzuki was completely at a loss for ideas. If the troops continued to advance, he had no way of predicting how many more landmines like the previous one Chen Shaokai had set up ahead of them, and casualties would definitely increase. But if they gave up like this, those Imperial warriors who died in battle would have died in vain, and Nomura wouldn't agree to it either. Suzuki himself couldn't live with himself, so he could only ask Nomura what he planned to do at this time?

  "Order the grenade launcher, blast a path for me! We can't let Imperial soldiers make unnecessary sacrifices!" Nomura heard Suzuki's inquiry and immediately ordered him. He also knew that their current situation was difficult to advance or retreat, but their equipment was still good, at least they had an advantage in front of the squadron, so he didn't say much and immediately ordered the grenade launcher to start shelling the front line, determined to blast a road for himself and Suzuki.

  "Prepare the grenade launcher!" Suzuki heard Nomura's command and immediately gave combat orders to the soldiers behind him who were carrying grenade launchers. Those soldiers simultaneously knelt down on one knee, placing the recessed part of the grenade launcher on their right leg, then quickly took a bomb from the ammunition box and carefully loaded it onto the launcher. After completing all these actions, everything was ready, and all that remained was to wait for Suzuki's next command.

  "Fire!" Suzuki saw that the grenade-throwing hands were all ready, so he raised his own right hand and then swiftly swung it down from top to bottom, accurately giving further orders to those throwing grenades.

  As the order was given, all the devils opened the valve on the side of the bomb-throwing tube. The bombs inside the tube quickly flew into the air and then glided down, heavily hitting the forest in front of them with thick smoke. The explosions came one after another, and the dazzling flames quickly covered the forest. If there were really people hiding inside, it was believed that these bombs would not leave anyone alive.

  Due to the explosion, the smoke in the forest became thicker and more intense, making it even harder for people to see ahead. Nomura saw that the explosion had already opened up the road ahead, so he quickly led the oni soldiers forward at a run, this time determined to lead the charge himself, or else he would never be able to hold his head high again.

  When Nomura led the oni-tai through the forest, after leaving the smoky area, he found nothing in front of him, and his disappointment almost made him collapse. This series of failures really made him feel unbearable, and he didn't have the face to go back and see General Tadashi anymore. So he knelt down with both legs, grasped the middle of the blade of the command knife with both hands, pointed the sword at his abdomen, and shouted loudly: "Your Majesty, I am a sinner of the Great Japanese Empire, repeatedly failing in the hands of Chinese riflemen, disgracing the Great Japanese Imperial Army, disgracing the Empire, and disgracing Your Majesty. Therefore, this subordinate can only apologize for not being able to cut his belly!"

  "Nomura, what are you doing?" Suzuki rushed over just in time and grabbed the sharp knife that was about to stab into Nomura's abdomen, stopping his reckless behavior.

  "I have no way to see through the opponent's conspiracy, repeatedly causing heavy losses to the Imperial Army. This time I brought a small team, and the remaining number of people is already less than 20, with nearly two-thirds casualties. I don't have the face to go back and see General Shimizu again, so I can only commit seppuku towards the east to apologize to His Majesty the Emperor!" At this moment, Nomura seems to be able to think of nothing but seeking death. In his view, he is not even Chen Shaokun's opponent, repeatedly losing to him without gaining anything. This has already become an insult to him, and he cannot accept such a fact.

  "Nomura, it's precisely because of the Chinese gunman's scheme that you can't see things clearly. You don't know how he's playing his cards, so you mustn't die. Think about it carefully - if you were to die, the Chinese gunman would be even more unscrupulous in dealing with the Imperial Army, causing even more of our great Japanese soldiers to fall into their hands. Therefore, you absolutely must live and personally capture that Chinese gunman!" Suzuki exhorted, saying a lot of words.

  "Good words, Chen Shaoqin... I didn't catch you, I absolutely cannot die!" Nomura's hands gripping the knife blade trembled involuntarily as he spoke, and a slow stream of fresh blood flowed down from the straight seam, dripping onto the ground with the tilt of the blade, splashing up red flower-like patterns...

  At this moment, Chen Shaoqin led the team and had already jumped out of Nomura's encirclement, successfully entering a small path leading out of the mountain. Through the markings on the map, they learned that going straight ahead from this small path would lead to Xuzhou, which was a garrisoned place. As long as they entered Xuzhou, reaching Nanjing was just a matter of time. Therefore, Chen Shaoqin led the team to speed up, striving to leave the devil's occupied area as soon as possible and let everyone arrive at the safe zone as quickly as possible.

  Out of the mountain forest path, Chen Shaoqin and his team came to a wide open road. On this road, every twenty minutes or so, a car would pass by from the side. From the flags inserted on those cars, it seemed that they had successfully jumped out of the devils' belly and had already entered the Xuzhou area.

  "Look at them, they're all driving cars, and then look at us..." Liu the cripple felt a surge of bitterness as he watched the vehicles pass by.

  "Well, it's good that you managed to escape from the little devil's hands, be content with that!" Xue Yumei said immediately after hearing his complaints, with a look of adding insult to injury.

  Just at this moment, their way was blocked by dozens of formal rifles in front of them. Judging from the situation, the other party's background is not small.