Chapter 23: Zhu Family Town's Dragnet Operation

  At the warehouse entrance, Lao Er let two people pass through and took down the guards watching the warehouse. He then left two people at the entrance to keep watch while the others followed him inside.

  The warehouse was filled with wooden crates, and several brothers eagerly pried them open. Before their eyes were not only fabrics, biscuits, and canned beef, but also various types of weapons and equipment. The brothers were stunned, like country folk entering the city for the first time, their eyes full of astonishment and delight.

  "You guys go out and get a truck from the devils, prepare to load up!" Old Two was also blinded by what he saw in front of him, fortunately his composure was enough, he didn't forget himself, immediately ordering several brothers beside him to steal a truck from the devils, planning to take away all the things here.

  "Yes!" Several brothers responded in unison and walked outwards, not daring to delay for a moment.

  "By order of Director Chen, we'll take as much as we can get! Don't just stand there like fools, hurry up and get to work!" Er Ge shouted loudly at the other brothers who were momentarily stunned and standing around stupidly.

  The brothers heard this and without saying another word, they rushed up and started grabbing. At that moment, they really regretted that their parents had not given birth to a few more hands for them, as many things were too much to carry. All the brothers could do was stare with envy, their eyes filled with helpless frustration.

  Under the brothers' busy carrying and moving, not a single gun or bullet was left behind, nor was any food supply missed. Most importantly, Old Second himself carried a mortar on his shoulder, with a box of shells clutched in his hand, as he led the brothers out of the warehouse. As they emerged, the enemy's truck had already driven up to Old Second, who looked up and saw that the driver was actually a puppet soldier. He immediately asked the brother driving the truck, "What's going on here?"

  "Second Master, none of us brothers know how to drive, so we had no choice but to catch this little guy and have him be our temporary driver!" One of the brothers explained the reason as soon as Second Master asked.

  "Alright, everyone load up and get ready to retreat!" Old Second didn't say much else, just ordered the brothers around him to quickly load their things onto the vehicle. He was very clear that every minute they delayed here increased their danger, after all this place was the lair of the little devils. Once the little devils came to their senses, they would be completely surrounded and none of them would survive. At this moment, time was life itself.

  The brothers didn't dare to delay, quickly loaded the goods onto the truck, and then all climbed aboard. However, the second brother took all the hand grenades from his body, tied them together, pulled the strings, and threw them into the enemy's warehouse. Then he quickly climbed onto the truck, which immediately started moving, rushing towards the outside. Afterwards, only a series of earth-shaking massive explosions were heard coming from the direction of the warehouse, followed by a burst of flames that illuminated half of the dark county town of Xian County...

  The devils who came out of the city obviously didn't know what was happening in the county seat, and continued to rush towards Zhujia Town. At a fork in the road, they met Nomura and Suzuki, who had been waiting for a long time. They had previously searched for Chen Shaoqin and Guai Liu in the mountains, but received orders from Hamada to lead their troops to reinforce Zhujia Town, so they had been waiting early on the necessary road to Zhujia Town for the arrival of the main force. At this moment, they merged with the main force of devils and naturally marched towards Zhujia Town in a mighty manner.

  On the side of Zhujiatun, all the puppet soldiers were trapped in the artillery tower and only dared to fire blank shots. They didn't dare to stick their heads out because as soon as they did, they would definitely encounter Chen Shaokan's bullets. These puppet soldiers, in order to protect their own lives, naturally didn't dare to take any risks, so the guns in their hands could only be fired into the sky, and had no effect at all.

  "Director Chen, why hasn't there been any movement from the devils' side until now? Is it that these secondary devils haven't contacted the devils?" Lao Liu was getting anxious, this fishing game was wearing down his willpower, and if time dragged on, he wouldn't be able to hold on.

  "Don't worry, the two devils are trapped here by us. If they don't get food or water, and don't get support from the little devils, it's equivalent to waiting for death here. They won't be so stupid!" Chen Shaoqin analyzed the situation of these fake soldiers at this moment, and his determination that the fake soldiers would ask the devils for help was almost certain. He was very clear that the reason why the fake soldiers were still hiding in the artillery tower, not coming out to surrender or break through, was only one possibility: the devils had given them a promise, and they would definitely come to support Zhujiatun's artillery tower.

  "It's been so long since the time passed, and Ah Si and Xiao Shi Zi haven't returned to report the enemy's trail!" Liu Waizai inserted his left hand into his waist, holding a Mauser pistol with his right hand, tapping his own temple, looking at Chen Shaoqin with an impatient expression, obviously dissatisfied with the slow speed of the little devil.

  "Fishing requires patience!" Chen Shaoqin said to Liu, "Although I can't be sure when the little devils will arrive, it's a fact that they'll come here. I believe as long as we hold on to these fake troops, the devils will definitely show up!"

  "Right, don't you know the saying 'haste makes waste'?" Xue Yumei, although being held captive by two bandit soldiers on one side, couldn't help but interject when she heard Chen Shaoyin and Liu the Crooked discussing. She really couldn't understand how someone as irritable as Liu the Crooked became the leader of the mountain stronghold?

  "I don't eat tofu, I only eat meat. Besides, what does it have to do with fighting now whether or not I eat tofu?" Liu the Rascal hadn't read any books and didn't know the origin of this phrase, so he looked at Xue Yumei with a puzzled expression.

  "Got it! Consider I didn't say anything!" Xue Yumei was so frustrated that she could only respond with this sentence, she really had no way to force herself to explain such profound things to an illiterate person, and she admitted that she didn't have the ability to do so.

  "Boss, the devils are coming! They're driving a truck and heading straight for us!" Just then, Ah Si and Xiao Shi Tou returned from the outer perimeter and reported to Liu, apparently they had seen the main force of little devils advancing towards Zhu Jia Town, successfully completing their scouting mission.

  "Brothers, our mission is accomplished, immediately withdraw along the original route!" Chen Shaoqin heard Ah Si and others' report, knowing that the little devils in the county town had been mobilized, and Er Ge's action had received favorable support. He immediately ordered all his brothers to hurry up and leave, otherwise they would be surrounded by the devils' main force, which would not be good for them.

  "Fall back..." Liu Guizi immediately gave the order to retreat, and followed the troops in retreating eastward along a small path, because Chen Shaokuan had previously arranged for people to intercept the Japanese puppet army's pursuit.

  When the soldiers saw Chen Shaoqin, they all retreated, thinking that the Japanese army had arrived. Suddenly, they all rushed out of the artillery tower and chased after them towards the small path in the east...