Chapter 23: A Shocking One-on-One Challenge, Who's Afraid?

  Tan Mu quietly took aim at a guerrilla hiding behind a pine tree. At this time, he heard the sound of a large group of people and horses making noise, as well as the sound of guns colliding. Tan Mu took a deep breath, stretched out his Type 38 rifle a little bit, and felt a tense force on his right index finger. Just now, he clearly saw a faint flash of light there, and his rich combat experience told him that it was definitely the enemy's leader over there, and the flash was from binoculars.

  No longer hesitating, Duanmu pulled the trigger, a crisp gunshot broke the silence of the forest, also breaking the deployment of both sides.

  Duanmu didn't care about the outcome, and as soon as the gun fired, he rolled his body to the side, taking advantage of the momentum to roll into a depression overgrown with weeds, and pressed his head and body fiercely against the ground.

  Just as Wang Xiaohei raised the binoculars to his eyes, a bullet shattered the lens and whizzed past his ear, sending him tumbling to the ground. He rolled to one side and peeked out from behind the tree trunk, looking forward cautiously.

  The guns of the comrades beside him responded immediately, and a patch of grass was cut down where Duanmu had just lain.

  The sound of gunfire immediately attracted the devils on the main road, and groups of devils rushed over, shouting. The ambush turned into an encounter battle. The hidden machine gun snipers immediately took effect, and the first wave of devils was quickly put down to seven or eight. The alert devils immediately dispersed their formation, circling around to attack from the sides, and the devils' mortars and heavy machine guns were also brought in, filling the battlefield with thick smoke.

  "The little devil's shooting is quite accurate, these devils are different from the ones we've seen before, they're wild and cunning, brothers, retreat!" Wang Xiahei shouted.

  Under Wang Xiahei's command, the well-coordinated assault team quickly retreated to the rear, while several snipers provided cover for each other, forming a firepower support network to block the enemy's attack.

  The retreating troops had just left the forest when they found that the devils had already circled around and were closing in on both sides. If they had retreated any later, they would have been surrounded by the devils for sure. Kang Baocheng commanded the soldiers to occupy the high ground, suppress the devils' encirclement, and at the same time sent someone to report to Wang Xiaohei to quickly withdraw. Wang Xiaohei and several snipers were in a fierce battle, equipped with telescopic sights on their Mauser rifles, which were simply divine, really hitting whatever they aimed at.

  When Wang Xiaohei withdrew, Kang Baocheng only discovered that the devils had stuck them firmly, and in the task of cutting off, snipers were indispensable, making the devils also dare not to get too close.

  Ye Pig's Mouth is a more rugged place in this area, the mountain is not high, but very steep. Wang Xiaohei led his troops into Ye Pig's Mouth in disarray, and the devils almost stepped into Zheng Xiulin's ambush circle one after another.

  However, the devils were numerous and powerful, and the ambush circle was quickly torn open. The devils' strong firepower forced Zheng Xiulin to abandon his original plan and order his troops to retreat in the direction of Guipan Ridge.

  This shows the benefits of special forces. Strict training, actual combat training, resulted in Zheng Xiulin's troops having almost no casualties. These soldiers have been through many life-and-death tests and have extremely rich combat experience, with their battlefield survival skills training nearing perfection.

  The devil commander, Kanzaki Kazuichi, observed the battlefield fighting mode of these special soldiers through binoculars and was amazed. He said to his chief of staff, Oda Saburō: "These are truly warriors who are not inferior to those of the Imperial Army. Look at their movements."

  "These people must be seasoned veterans who have been through at least a few battles, they're too calm."

  Zheng Xiulin personally covered the retreat of his troops. Among the rocks, he caught sight of Li Zixu, also known as "Black Whirlwind". Although tall and dark-skinned, Li was a quick-witted Chinese literature teacher. After Beiping fell, he escaped to Wei County, but his entire family was killed by the devils during their escape. He was lucky to meet Nan Weiren and others, who rescued him from the Ghost Gate Pass. From then on, he joined the special warfare team and became an excellent sniper within a few months. At this moment, Li Zixu was lying in the tall grass at the front, calmly searching for targets through his scope.

  Affected by Nam Il-woo, Lee Jang-ho's favorite is sniper warfare, and his marksmanship can be compared to that of Jung Soo-young. Jung Soo-young was trained under her father from a young age. In Lee Jang-ho's own words, it's "talent plus hatred".

  The devils in the sight were clearly visible, even their eyebrows could be seen. Li Zixu watched as his bullet shot into the enemy's brow, and the bursting blood flowers stained the air around the devil's head into a fog-like state. Such a miserable death often made the surrounding devils frightened and timid.

  The devils in pursuit couldn't help but slow down.

  These snipers were all headshots, and the psychological blow to the devils was too great. It also stimulated the blood of the devil's special shooters, and from time to time, the bullets of the special shooters would kill the big intention snipers of the special warfare team. The pursuit battle became a sniper showdown.

  "Li Zixu, retreat quickly!" Zheng Xiulin shouted loudly, "The devils are going to surround us." While shooting and killing a devil sniper hiding behind a tree, bullets flew in front of Zheng Xiulin, hitting the rocks with a loud clang, sparks flying everywhere.

  Zheng Xiulin had already retreated to the second ambush point, covering Li Zixu's retreat. "Hurry! Let's talk again at Guipan Ridge. Keep up with the team."

  Under the cover of several other warriors, Zheng Xiulin also withdrew from the battle. The devils shouted and chased after them.

  The terrain of Guipan Ridge is very strange. After turning over the mountain pass, a 50-meter-long mountain road is located between the continuous mountains, with bare and smooth rocks on the top, no grass or trees grow, and it's hard to hide people.

  After passing the 50-meter mountain path, it enters the big mountain, but it is in the dense forest and tall grass behind the mountain rocks. The paths are crisscrossing, and there is a vast vitality everywhere. The roads are numerous, chaotic, and complex, even locals fear them.

  Zheng Xiulin turned the last corner, spread his legs and ran desperately, shouting: "Quick! Quick! The devils are coming up. There's no cover here, quick!"

  The enemy's bullets followed their footsteps and came over, if it weren't for the usual sprint training, they would not have been able to dodge the enemy's pursuit.

  Kawada Ichiro was extremely frustrated, since the war in China began, he had never fought a battle like today's, where the enemy had so many snipers and were so cunning. The enemy's forces didn't seem to be that numerous, yet they were fighting with such tactics. His own squadron had already lost more than half of its men, yet the enemy was retreating calmly and slowly without any signs of panic. This was impossible in the past, Kawada had experienced the combat power of Chinese troops before, especially in Northeast China where there were some anti-Japanese die-hards, but they had all been defeated by the Imperial Army. Even the anti-Japanese hardliners in Northeast China didn't seem to be able to withstand the Imperial Army so easily. In the Battle of Yanmen Pass, the Eighth Route Army was a force to be reckoned with, but it seemed that even they didn't have as many snipers or such flexible tactics. Who exactly were these people?

  Kawada Ichiro thought to himself, carefully following behind the soldiers as they advanced. He had just experienced the enemy's sharpshooter's ferocity and if it weren't for a unlucky soldier who happened to block the shot, Tenjo-san would have probably been summoned back already. The special shooters on his side were not only few in number but also... well, there simply weren't any special shooters on his side.

  In front of us was a long stretch of stone road where it was impossible to set up any ambush, the rocks on both sides were bare and steep, almost vertical, and the fleeing enemy's shadow could still be seen.

  Although panting, Ichiro Kawada tightly commanded the troops to chase after them. After turning over the mountain pass, through binoculars, Kawada discovered that the escaping enemy was running frantically along a relatively wider path in the middle, and it wasn't until then that he truly saw an enemy soldier who had run away with one shoe missing. Kawada looked back and saw the 2nd and 3rd squads rushing up from behind.

  Lieutenant Colonel Kanmuri seems to be watching this place with binoculars.

  The soldiers around Kawada were on high alert waiting for orders.

  Kawada did not know that his choice would cause the entire army of the proud corps led by Yano Yuichi to be annihilated. He also did not know that he was changing a legendary history.

  "Pursue!" Kawada's mouth corner revealed a smile, that was the satisfied smile he made when he saw an enemy stumbling and falling one after another. Although the enemy was cunning, but the Empire army's powerful firepower was not something these small squads could resist, and from the actions of the escaping enemies, it seemed they had planned to escape into the dense forest earlier. But as soon as they entered the forest, their organized appearance disappeared, and they were only concerned with fleeing individually.

  "Report to Lieutenant Colonel, enemy has scattered and fled."

  Encirclement is one of the most commonly used tactics, especially when our side has a numerical advantage.

  Three squads, divided into three directions, infiltrated deep into the forest.

  Kanmura Kazuki and Oda Saburō stood on a higher rock, observing the entire battlefield with binoculars under the protection of a small squad of guards. However, the woods were too dense to see anything clearly, and the sound of Type 38 Arisaka rifles occasionally came from their ears.

  Suddenly, a soldier beside him shouted, "Be careful!", before he could react, many long wooden arrows shot out from the woods beside him, several soldiers were hit in the thigh and fell to the ground, groaning in pain.

  Squad leader Kawasaki reacted the fastest, and the light and heavy machine guns guarding Kanemura's side suddenly came to life as they followed Kawasaki's battle knife.

  In the woods, there was nothing but silence. The dense gunfire had almost swept away all the trees, yet still there was no movement.

  "Cease fire!" Otoda Saburo shouted loudly, "Kawasaki, take a few men over and check it out."

  Kawasaki shouted back: "Hey!"

  Under the cover of light and heavy machine guns, Kawasaki finally led a dozen soldiers to sneak into the woods. A short rope was faintly visible in the grass, with a long and narrow wooden plank between two trees, and many small holes on the wooden plank. When Kawasaki approached to take a closer look, he found that there was another wooden plank combined with it, apparently, the enemy used the elasticity of the tree to shoot out the wooden arrow. A devil slid along the short rope and stabbed into the grass with his bayonet, but there was no movement at all. The short rope was hanging down from a small tree.

  Kawasaki waved his hand back and signaled to gather the troops.

  After the big stone, he was no longer his most respected Sergeant Kano Village. Only a few corpses with wooden arrows inserted in their mouths were left, no sergeant, and no Oda Saburō.

  Kawasaki felt a sudden tightness in his chest, as if a massive boulder was weighing heavily on it. Cold sweat had unknowingly soaked through his military uniform. He sat down weakly, staring blankly at the dense forest where the sound of gunfire was growing fainter. This was China's forest, an unfamiliar place to him, a mysterious and terrifying land of death. By instinct, he knew that the Imperial soldiers who had pursued them into the forest were probably all dead, including his Lieutenant Colonel and Major Tada.

  A dozen or so soldiers, tightly surrounding Kawasaki. The air seemed to have some kind of evil spirit that could snatch people away from the crowd without warning.

  A stifling atmosphere. No one spoke, no need to say anything, everyone had the same feeling in their hearts. This was not the kind of mortal fear on the battlefield, but a kind of terror from the unknown and unpredictable nature of humanity itself.

  "Everyone," Kawasaki looked around at the soldiers, "I think I should make a decision now, and take all the consequences myself. Now, I order, withdraw from this place which can be ambushed at any time. Then, ask for help from headquarters."

  Nobody speaks.

  Two old soldiers consciously gathered their belongings and walked away from the bushes and woods as far as possible.

  Then four soldiers guarded Kawasaki, ten meters away from the old soldier, holding machine guns and retreating cautiously.

  The last four were robust and powerful, very alert, forming a skirmish line among themselves, on the lookout for 270 degrees, withdrawing to the rear.

  The mountain pass is just ahead. Turning over the mountain pass, it's that stretch of peaceful mountain road. Then there's the temporary battlefield hospital left behind, where there's a radio station that can contact headquarters.

  Over the mountain pass.

  Sergeant Seki's eyes were fixed intently on the thicket being searched by Kawasaki, and he too had an inexplicable feeling that he had never experienced before. Almost everyone was staring at the thicket, but just behind them to their right, several men set up a catapult, placed several burlap sacks on one end of it, and with a sudden burst of force, the sacks were thrown high into the air, flying towards Sergeant Seki and his group.

  A guard happened to turn his head and saw this scene, shouting loudly: "Lieutenant Colonel, be careful!" He immediately pushed the lieutenant colonel out a few steps. The sack arrived, and the opening of the sack was not tightly closed. After falling to the ground, it opened, and many poisonous snakes and scorpions poured out from inside, hissing and crawling around. Soldiers quickly used bayonets to kill the snakes in front, but more and more snakes crawled out, rushing into the crowd, with people screaming and starting to run away. The lieutenant colonel also had to retreat from the big rock, and several soldiers who were left behind unfortunately lost their lives to the wooden arrows shot from the forest. After venting their anger, the snakes disappeared into the grass.

  The lieutenant was surrounded by people and walked into the nearby woods, immediately realizing the enemy's intentions, ordering the only thirty or so devils to prepare to retreat. The woods were very quiet, and the crickets in the grass were happily singing, which at this time sounded so annoying. Just now, when these people rushed into the woods, a soldier behind them stepped on a rope trap set up by the cunning enemy and fell upside down. When some soldiers tried to go up and untie the rope, they triggered a landmine that had been set up, killing three and injuring four. At the moment when the lieutenant gave the order to retreat, a soldier saw someone holding a bow and arrow behind a tree about ten meters away, shooting and killing one soldier without hesitation, then quickly fell to the ground and ran away. No one chased after him, and the lieutenant did not give an order to chase. Facing this mysterious forest, the lieutenant understood that the enemy was going to divide and conquer them.

  On the way back, several inconspicuous stones on the road were unfortunately kicked by the soldiers and exploded on the spot, killing five and injuring seven, with three of them dying soon after. The lieutenant colonel couldn't understand how these people holding such backward weapons as bows and arrows could produce such advanced landmines.

  When carefully bypassing the stone, unfortunately stepped on the fish line in the grass, triggering a chain of explosive shells, injuring and killing over a dozen. The lieutenant was very lucky to have escaped unharmed; four soldiers gave their young lives for him.

  Now, there are less than ten people around Shao, and they have also lost their way in the forest. It is impossible to withdraw back to the mountain pass.

  Suddenly, a strange insect cry came from the grass thicket, and different voices echoed in the surrounding woods. Before long, Lieutenant understood how wrong his judgment was. Because he saw dozens of special forces soldiers with light and heavy weapons had already surrounded him.

  Kang Nianshan led his company to surround the enemy, the second company collected the remaining enemies, and the third company retreated again, probably to ambush the enemy's heavy troops. He didn't worry about Wang Xigui and Fu Mali at all, he intercepted more than half of the enemy's battalion by himself, and the rest wouldn't let these two people starve, but they definitely couldn't hold on either.

  The elite leopard special warfare team under Gao Junping has three companies, all of which are reinforced company formations. Each company has 150 people. Under Yang Jie's special care, the special warfare teams in the guerrilla troops were the best, with the most capable fighters, the most advanced weapons, and the highest food supply - they could have whatever they wanted. Of course, their tasks were also the most arduous.

  Kang Nianshan was the first warrior under Gao Junping's command, not only could he fight, but he also understood some combat theories. He was a descendant of a famous private school teacher in Kangjia Town, who saw that he loved martial arts and disliked literature, so apart from teaching him some military strategies and battle examples, he didn't read much of the Four Books and Five Classics. Instead, he learned a good set of skills from one of his teacher's friends. When Yang Jue captured Kangjia Town, the teacher was very impressed, and seeing that Yang Jue's troops were well-disciplined (he had no idea it was due to Yang Jue's soft and hard tactics! And those were all mercenaries!), the teacher who was familiar with historical records thought that a wise ruler had arrived in troubled times, and was overjoyed. He then entrusted Kang Nianshan to Gao Junping, hoping that he could make achievements and bring glory to his ancestors.

  Kangnian Mountain was already over thirty years old at this time. He had long been displeased with the Japanese invaders' lawless behavior, but he had to endure it for the sake of his family.

  When he joined the team, Gao Junping had a conversation with him. Especially after seeing Gao Junping's fighting style, Kang Nianshan really liked this guerrilla warfare and special warfare form.