Chapter 9: Escaping from the Tiger's Mouth

  When the three people returned to He Chunxiang's home, He Chunxiang was making dry rations.

  Seeing Chen Jihong and others, He Chunxiang was overjoyed, "I knew you would come back."

  "That's for sure, I promised you during the day, how could I go back on my word?" Chen Jifan smiled at her.

  He Chunxiang said: "I have prepared dry rations, when can we leave the city?"

  "Listen, Chunxiang, we just went to the pharmacy run by the devils and killed the devil boss Qiūshān Tàirō. These are the medicines we found in the pharmacy. If nothing unexpected happens, the devils will discover it tomorrow morning at the latest, and then they'll definitely launch a city-wide manhunt. If we can't get out of the city in time, we'll be in big trouble." Chen Jifan said.

  He Chunxiang looked at the three of them with a shocked expression, thinking to herself that they were really bold, having just killed some devils in the daytime and not stopping even at night. Then she sized up the three large packages on their backs and calmly said to Chen Jifan and the others: "Brother Chen, I know you're doing big things, one day I'll have skills like yours too, and avenge my family by killing Japanese devils."

  "Head, let's get a car, it's too much trouble to walk like this. If the devils chase us, we won't be able to get back." Just then, Zhao Jun interrupted with a sentence.

  Chen Jifan had originally planned to climb over the city wall at night after getting what he wanted, but Zhao Jun's reminder made some sense. Although it was easy to get out of the city, if the devils chased them, with three people carrying a large bundle and bringing a woman along, it would be difficult to escape. Better to take care of one thing at a time, first find a vehicle, then disguise themselves as Japanese soldiers and slip out of the city in the chaos.

  "Chunxiang, you rest first, we still need to get a Japanese car."

  After arranging He Chunxiang, the three of them took out the map given by Wu Qing and studied it carefully. Finally, they decided to go to the Japanese army's command center in Chuzhou to get a car.

  The Japanese garrison in Chuzhou was guarded by a battalion-sized force, led by Commander Takashi Koyama. After the Japanese occupied Chuzhou, they turned it into a bridgehead for further aggression and an important supply depot, so there were relatively more troops stationed here. Soon after taking office, Koyama heard about the annihilation of the Yida Battalion. Based on intelligence from various sources and his own understanding of the Chinese army, he judged that the force that defeated the Yida Battalion was likely a large regular Chinese army unit retreating, and the Yida Battalion may have fallen into an ambush due to unclear enemy situation. Now that the Chinese garrison had withdrawn from this area, Commander Koyama still had confidence in maintaining law and order in Chuzhou.

  Along the route on the map, Chen Jifang and his two companions soon arrived at the Japanese military garrison in Chuzhou. For convenience of action, Chen Jifang had Hu Yunfeng and Zhao Jun each carry a bayonet (the same bayonets that the Japanese soldiers who died at He Chunxiang's home were carrying). The gate was lit up, and the two sentries were still diligently standing guard.

  Chen Jifan chose to climb over the wall from one place and enter the commander's courtyard. According to the markings on the map, the commander's office and residence were in the large house in the middle of the yard. Behind the house was a military camp, where a company of soldiers slept. On the open space in front of the house, a medium-sized jeep was parked. "That's it," Chen Jifan thought to himself.

  According to the previous plan, after entering the headquarters, immediately find Takahashi's residence, kill Takahashi, and create chaos, take advantage of the night to disguise as Japanese soldiers and escape from the city.

  Chen Jifan made an attacking gesture to the other two, and Zhao Jun and Hu Yunfeng approached the guarded gate from both sides. The two exchanged a glance, then each pulled out a gleaming dagger from their pant legs. Although it was nighttime, the glint of the daggers caught the attention of the two guards, who were very alert and were about to pull the trigger and shout, but unfortunately, it was too late. A pair of large hands tightly covered their mouths, and as they felt a severe pain in their waists, they knew nothing else.

  Hu Yunfeng and Zhao Jun quickly changed clothes to replace the original guards, while Chen Jifan saw that they had succeeded, and with a flip of his body, he easily climbed up to the second floor from the side.

  The second floor of the courtyard was the commander's office and residence, and the first floor was other institutions. The window that Chen Jifang jumped into was the commander's office, and the room separated by a wooden board inside was Gaoqiao's residence. Gaoqiao was a young and promising officer in the Japanese army, who was promoted to lieutenant colonel for his meritorious service during the Battle of Shanghai and was stationed in Chuzhou.

  Chen Jifan was startled as soon as he entered the window, but he wouldn't have thought there was any danger. The command center was heavily guarded, and even if someone managed to get in, they would not be able to avoid being discovered. However, military habit still made him uneasy, so Takahashi decided to get up and take a look.

  The sound of Japanese clogs shocked Chen Jifan, who quickly found a place to hide. A man in a kimono came out from behind a wooden door. It was Takahashi. He walked straight to the window and found it closed with nothing unusual about it. Shaking his head, he turned around and headed back to his room.

  Chen Jifan hid in the dark and saw Gao Qiao coming and going, but he didn't let go of this opportunity. He picked up the dagger in his hand and stabbed it into Gao Qiao's back. Who would have thought that Gao Qiao was not an ordinary person? Just as the dagger was about to stab Gao Qiao's body, Gao Qiao suddenly dodged to one side, and the dagger stabbed empty air. Chen Jifan reacted quickly, seeing that the dagger had missed its mark, he immediately rolled forward, and with a swift kick, he kicked Gao Qiao's calf. Gao Qiao let out a miserable cry and fell forward onto the ground. Before he could even fall down, Chen Jifan thrust the dagger upwards, and the sharp blade stabbed into Gao Qiao's abdomen. Then, with both hands grasping Gao Qiao's arms, he gently laid him on the ground. Gao Qiao looked at his own abdomen in despair, unable to believe that he would be assassinated in the heavily guarded headquarters. He turned his head back, about to curse "Bastard", when he felt a pair of large hands grasping his chin.

  To be sure, Chen Jifang decided to break his neck. The whole process took only a few minutes, and after Chen Jifang wiped the bloodstains off Gao Qiao's clothes with his dagger, he pushed the body aside. Then, rummaging through the desk drawers by the faint light of his watch, Chen Jifang found a 9mm Browning pistol and a box of bullets.

  "Good stuff!" Chen Jifan secretly praised. At that time, the Browning pistol was a world-renowned gun, especially the 9mm caliber which was known for its great power. In contrast, the Japanese-made Type 94 pistol was considered one of the worst pistols of World War II, so many Japanese officers would purchase a Browning pistol through various channels as their personal sidearm in addition to wearing the Type 94 on formal occasions.

  Qin Jifan changed into his lieutenant's uniform and scabbard from the clothes rack and put the Browning in its holster.

  The sky was almost bright, Chen Jifan gently pushed open the window and sent a signal to the downstairs. As soon as Chen Jifan landed, Zhao Jun and Hu Yunfeng couldn't help but laugh, because Chen's Japanese military uniform was really too fitting. Chen Jifan smiled and gestured for the two to be serious, then the three of them quietly approached the jeep parked in front.

  No key, but they were not deterred. After the car started, Chen Jifan gave a signal to Hu Yunfeng, who understood and fired a shot into the air with his Type 38 rifle. Then he shouted "Enemy attack" in Japanese and fired another shot. The Japanese reacted quickly, and as soon as the second shot was heard, the bugle sounded loudly from the barracks behind, and the Japanese soldiers rushed out of their quarters, but most of them were disheveled, and some didn't even have their guns.

  The devils have gone mad, Chen Jifan ordered the car to start. When the car passed by the gate of the courtyard, two guards rushed over to ask questions, Chen Jifan raised his hand and shot the two guards without hesitation, then drove away.

  Soon after Chen Jifang and the other two left, the Japanese garrison in Chuzhou was thrown into chaos. The Japanese platoon leader responsible for guarding the place shouted at the gate for half a day, feeling that something was amiss, and then ordered his men to break down the door of Gao Qilong's house.

  Looking at the corpse of his superior officer with blood all over, the squadron leader felt a chill from head to toe. If he couldn't catch the murderer, he would have to commit seppuku to apologize. "Eight gah!", the squadron leader gritted his teeth in anger, "Lock down the whole city and catch the murderer!"

  Under the cover of Japanese military uniforms, the three people arrived safely at He Chunxiang's home.

  He Chunxiang didn't sleep all night and got up as soon as it dawned. Suddenly she saw three Japanese soldiers and was almost frightened to death.

  He Chunxiang's home was not far from the West Gate, and the Jeep arrived at the West Gate in five minutes. The West Gate had already been closed off, and He Chunxiang was so scared that her face turned green.

  "Don't be afraid, just lower your head." Chen Jifan comforted.

  The Japanese guards at the gate indeed stopped the car, and Zhao Jun got out of the car and slapped the two sentries who had blocked the car. "Baka, we were ordered to pursue the Chinese resistance fighters, delaying military affairs will be killed."

  The beaten sentinel went "heh heh" and the jeep drove away with a flourish.

  After leaving the city, He Chunxiang asked Zhao Jun: "Brother Zhao, what were you talking to that ghost about earlier? Why did he obey you after you hit him?"

  "This Japanese is a despicable fellow, the more you beg him, the more vicious he becomes; the harder you beat him, the more obedient he will be." Zhao Jun said with a smile to Chunxiang.