Chapter 19: The Devil Meets Zhen Yu Again
The devils cautiously approached the big tree, but someone accidentally touched the pull ring of the hand grenade. A strong explosion sound instantly covered all the surrounding sounds as a wisp of smoke rose from the branches of the big tree. The devils were shocked by the strong explosion and scattered in all directions. Those little devils who encountered shrapnel were either injured or killed, while those who did not die or get hurt were panicked and lost their senses, trampling and triggering the hidden landmines on the ground. Then came another series of explosions, the sound deafening, slowly spreading from this forest to the entire valley.
When Takeda crawled out of the mud and sand that buried his body again after the explosion, he found that the Japanese soldiers beside him had lost nearly two-thirds, and there were only a few soldiers left who could fight.
"Captain Takeda, it's my fault, and I've dragged the entire Imperial Japanese Army down with me for His Majesty the Emperor!" Lieutenant Suzuki crawled out from under the mangled tree branches and immediately ran to Takeda's side, helping up the disheveled Takeda and apologizing for his own misjudgment that had led to the loss.
"Bah! Those Chinese are cunningly at work!" Wada brushed off the dirt on his clothes, staring at the lingering smoke with a sullen face. He was well aware that this matter couldn't be blamed on Suzuki's judgment, after all, he himself had been unable to discern truth from falsehood at the time and had no choice but to make a decision. Suzuki was taking responsibility for him, so Wada didn't have the slightest intention of blaming Suzuki, instead focusing all his anger on Liu and his gang.
"Before, this group of bandits under the leadership of a man named Liu were just a motley crew, how could they suddenly become so cunning and formidable? I think there must be some unexpected change within that we don't know about!" Suzuki saw that Takeda didn't seem to blame him, so he began to analyze the situation with Liu's group. He knew that if he didn't understand his opponent's abilities, continuing to attack blindly would only give himself an opportunity for defeat and humiliation.
"That's right, they didn't dare to oppose the Imperial Army before, only occasionally buying some weapons and ammunition from the Chinese who were loyal to the Great Japanese Empire. We turned a blind eye, but now that the Imperial Army has established a logistics center in Qu County, we need to conquer all the armed forces around us that refuse to surrender to the Great Japanese Empire. That's why we took action against Liu's gang, but we didn't expect that there would be such a capable person by his side, who could turn a mob into an important anti-Japanese resistance force!" Wada agreed with Suzuki's opinion, thinking that it was impossible for someone so formidable to appear in Liu's gang. They wouldn't have been able to coexist peacefully when they entered Qu County either.
"What do we do next?" Suzuki seemed to be at a loss for what to do, as they were in a dilemma. If they continued to move forward, they would definitely encounter more of Chen Shaoqin's hidden landmines and traps, and who knows how many more soldiers would die. But if they didn't continue the pursuit, they wouldn't be able to complete the task entrusted to them by Hamada Itsuo.
"Continue to pursue, after seeing those words, see if you can bypass them. If there is really no way, let the engineer dismantle the thunder!" Wada decided immediately. He was very clear that he could not go back like this, because going back like this would bring shame back to Qu County, which for him was an even greater insult.
Chen Shaoqin and Liu took advantage of the delay caused by the explosion of several hand grenades to quickly escape from the forest and enter another primitive forest.
This forest is completely different from the previous one. The previous forest was mostly composed of tall trees and shrubs, with only a few large trees scattered among them, which were also arranged by Chen Shaoqin and others to set up ambushes, effectively giving them time to retreat; while this forest is dominated by towering trees, dense foliage covers the sky, blocking out most of the sunlight, making it somewhat dim. The ground is overgrown with weeds, moss is everywhere, and the humidity far exceeds normal levels.
"I'm asking you, Big House, how did you provoke the little devils?" Chen Shaoqin asked curiously while leading his men along the edge of the ivy-covered vines. It's worth noting that these devils had used 80mm mortars and 92-style heavy machine guns against Liu and his men, indicating a desire to annihilate them in one fell swoop, so he wanted to understand the specific reasons behind this.
"The devils have recently been stockpiling strategic materials in the county town of Quwo, and our brothers on the mountain were eyeing them covetously. So Lao San led a group of over 20 brothers down the mountain to take care of these materials, but unexpectedly they were recognized by a Han traitor who did business with the devils and saw through their plan. The traitor reported this to the little devil, and as a result, on that same day, the little devil surrounded Lao San and his group in the Yunyang Inn in the county town. Lao San fought back against the little devil, but they were outnumbered, and after all of his brothers were killed, Lao San managed to escape through a window. After this, our mountain stronghold didn't dare to provoke the little devils again, and we quietly stayed put on the mountain. I think it was probably because of this incident that we provoked the little devils, and now they're taking action against us!" Liu the Crooked said, recounting the events of the past few days in front of Chen Shaoqin.
"Never mind why the devils are surrounding you, but since they've started to surround you, this matter won't end so easily. I think we should send someone to erase all our tracks in this forest, otherwise those little devils will catch up with us soon!" Chen Shaoqin analyzed after hearing Liu's words.
"Director Chen, leave this matter to me. I'll definitely take care of the traces we left behind with my brothers!" Lao Si was the first to volunteer after hearing Chen Shaoqin and Liu's conversation, it seems he is determined to get this task done.
"Alright, after you've taken care of the scene, follow the river on the left side upstream with Old Second and Old Third. After walking about 1,500 meters, you can get ashore, which will eliminate your own footprints!" Chen Shaoqin reminded them to enter the forest from the waterway and reunite with the team after meeting up with Old Second and Old Third.
"Director Chen is indeed a wise and far-sighted man, with this arrangement, we don't have to worry about the little devils following us anymore!" Lao Si heard Chen Shaoqin's arrangements and was particularly impressed, but he still had some doubts in his heart that he didn't know how to resolve. He walked up to Chen Shaoqin and continued to ask, "Director Chen, I have a few questions on this journey that I haven't been able to find the answers to, I wonder if Director Chen can help me clarify them?"
