Songhu: Never Give Up

Major Shinohara no longer cared about Colonel Ishii. He only had about a hundred men left, and they were being hunted down by hundreds of Chinese.

He tried several times to stop the defeat and launch a counterattack against the Chinese, but unfortunately he failed every time. No one listened to him and they just wanted to run faster than him.

When the army is defeated, the only way to survive is to be outrun by others. As a veteran, Major Shinohara naturally understands this truth;

After he realized the reality, he stopped wasting time and tried his best to escape. Whether he could save his life depended on his legs.

Those who are running away will always outrun those who are chasing them, unless their escape route can be blocked;

A large group of soldiers chased the Japanese and tried their best to kill them. They almost ran out of breath but still failed to kill all the Japanese. Dozens of them escaped, including Major Shinohara.

Colonel Ishii was also lucky. He and more than 200 Japanese soldiers escaped temporarily, but they were not safe. At least a company of Chinese people were watching them from afar.

Colonel Ishii and others were driven to retreat towards Lijiagou like a group of stray dogs. It was obvious that the Chinese people's intention was very clear, to drive them towards Lijiagou.

Major Watanabe reminded him:
"Sir, the commander of the corps, we can't go any further east. That's Lijiagou, where the Chinese people's pocket formation is waiting for the imperial army.

I suggest retreating to the northern mountains, occupying the commanding heights, and then holding on and waiting for reinforcements.

There aren't that many Chinese people, so as long as we hold on to the strategic terrain, we will be able to wait for reinforcements to arrive."

Major Suzuki, who had been silent before, expressed a different opinion:

"Where can we get reinforcements? The Araki Battalion in Linyi City can hardly protect itself, and there is only one battalion of imperial troops in Zaozhuang nearby, and they can't help;

The Imperial Army in the direction of Jinan cannot quench its thirst with distant water. Even if the Chinese cannot destroy us, how many days can we hold out if we lose our supplies?"

Colonel Ishii snorted coldly and said:
"Suzuki-kun, stop making sarcastic remarks. Just tell me what suggestions you have!"

Suzuki then continued:

“Sir, the main force of the Chinese has come to ambush the Imperial Army;
There are 72 peaks in Yimeng Mountain, and the mountains are connected to each other. Once the imperial army enters the mountains, it will be like fish entering the sea. What can a few hundred of them do to me? "

After Major Watanabe finished speaking, he was moved and immediately raised a key question. Major Suzuki, who had rich practical experience, smiled sinisterly and said:
"There are many villages hidden in the mountains. What food and daily necessities are there? As long as you are energetic, Miss Hua will have plenty!"

After hearing this, Major Watanabe's eyes lit up, and he followed Major Suzuki's words and said:

"This is indeed a good idea. We must face our own fate and then survive. Retreating into the vast Yimeng Mountains is like Sun Wukong entering the belly of the Chinese people.
We still have more than 200 warriors, who can come and go freely, and the Chinese really can’t do anything to us.”

Colonel Ishii was completely convinced and saw hope for survival, so he immediately gave the order:
"Mr. Suzuki, leave a few dozen warriors behind to hold back the pursuers, and the main force will enter the mountains from the north to completely disrupt the Chinese deployment."

Most of the remaining devils were soldiers from Suzuki's battalion, and soldiers had the power to speak;
It was naturally not his turn to be the rearguard, so he randomly assigned a small team leader to carry out the task, while he himself escorted Colonel Ishii into the mountains.

The actions of the Japanese did not escape the attention of the Third Company, which was monitoring them. Company Commander Jin Lei did not expect the Japanese to go the other way and go into the mountain valleys, so he had to order his troops to speed up the pursuit.
At the same time, all communication personnel were sent out to notify the surrounding villages and main forces to avoid being caught off guard by the Japanese.

The third company, which was in full pursuit, was soon blocked by the Japanese rearguard squad, and a fierce battle ensued between the two sides;
Although there were only a few dozen Japanese soldiers left, they fought very tenaciously and relied on the strong terrain to block the Third Company. Although they suffered heavy casualties, they still fought to the death.

The remaining Japanese soldiers took this opportunity to break away from the Third Company, penetrated deep into the Yimeng Mountains, and dug into the ravines, which also brought huge challenges to the villages in the mountains.

At Heishiling, the elimination of the Japanese in the encirclement has come to an end, and the troops chasing the Japanese in the direction of Linyi City have also returned;

The battlefield was quickly cleaned up, and Captain Yang Junkai excitedly reported to Liao Jianping:
"Commander, the main force of the Japanese has been annihilated, more than 800 Japanese were killed (including more than 100 wounded before), dozens of Japanese escaped from the Linyi direction, and more than 200 Japanese are still in the Tianjiazhen direction;

The 3rd Company is currently monitoring them. Let me lead the main force to destroy these bastards?"

Liao Jianping nodded and said:
"The task of annihilating the remaining enemy forces is left to you and the Third Battalion. You must cooperate well with Zhao Kun and we will definitely make sure that the fat meat slips away.
I will lead the artillery battalion to support the First Battalion. Since the Japs want to attack our Tianjia Town, I will destroy their Linyi City!"

Yang Junkai was about to turn around and leave when the signalman sent by the 3rd Company arrived. After listening to the signalman's report, Liao Jianping's expression became serious and he said with a cold face:
"Old Yang, leave one platoon behind to look after the spoils, and the rest of you go out and reinforce the 3rd Company;
The Yimeng Mountains are hundreds of miles in radius, and there are villages of all sizes everywhere. It is difficult to catch them. We must give full play to the advantages of the people's war and make sure they have nowhere to hide. We must not let them harm the people in the base area!"

Yang Junkai was fully aware of the heavy burden on his shoulders. He saluted Liao Jianping carefully and said:
"Make sure to complete the mission!" After Yang Junkai left, he sent a large number of reconnaissance personnel to search for the whereabouts of the Japanese, and at the same time notified the villages within a radius of dozens of miles to prepare for anti-mopping up.

They had their own way of passing information, which involved only notifying one village, which in turn would send someone to notify the surrounding villages;
Word spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred. Within a day, the news spread throughout the base area, and even villages dozens of miles away knew about it. This is the wisdom and power of the people.

Tanjiagou, Songling Village

The bronze bell hanging on the old locust tree at the east end of the village was rung. This was the signal for the militia to assemble. Upon hearing the signal, the militia rushed over from all directions and soon formed up in platoons.
After a period of training, the militia company has taken on the appearance of a team, with each man armed with a gun, but the guns are of various types, and these are the weapons that were eliminated after the bandits were suppressed.

When Lin Tianqi, the team leader and militia company commander, saw that everyone was present, he said directly:

"Militia brothers, we just received a notice from above that a group of defeated Japanese invaders have broken into the mountains and could appear in front of any village.

This group of devils are very difficult to deal with, and the main force is also searching for them with all their might, so from now on, our sentry posts should be placed ten miles away, and once we spot any trace of the devils, we must evacuate the people.

This emergency situation is also a test for our militia company. There will be many such situations in the future, so it is a good opportunity to conduct actual combat drills.

Let me reiterate again, this is not a drill, but an actual combat. If the Japanese are allowed to rush into the village, the consequences will be disastrous!
After the meeting, they went door to door to inform the villagers to hide food and important things in the cellar first, and to prepare the mines at the entrance of the village and the back mountain, so that they could be set off if the Japanese appeared;

If the devils appear in the back hills, evacuate the people towards the village entrance. If they appear behind the village…"

Since the militia company in Songling Village was established not long ago and the tunnels in the village had not been dug yet, they could only shelter a small number of elderly people with limited mobility, and the young people had to be evacuated.

The militia company of Songling Village has a total of 113 people, equipped with 2 machine guns, 1 homemade cannon, and the rest are light weapons. The homemade cannon was captured from bandits.

After the disbandment, everyone went about their business, the militia company's war machine began to operate, and the people's war officially began.

In the Liu Family Courtyard, Liu Xiaowen excitedly said to Liu Shicai:
"Dad, the Japanese are coming! The peasants in the village are as anxious as ants in a hot pot, and the man surnamed Lin is so ignorant that he wants to fight the Japanese to the death.
With just their junk and a bunch of rabble, they dare to go to war with the Japanese. They don't even know how to write the word death."

When Liu Shicai heard that the Japanese were coming, he shuddered with fear. He was also afraid of the Japanese and shouted:

"Then why are you still standing there? Run for your life! Go to the town, there are nationalist troops there."

Liu Xiaowen said nonchalantly:
"Dad, what are you talking about? When the Japanese come, they are afraid of the peasants. If we just join them, the Liu family will have the final say in the whole village and even the whole town.
A powerful dragon cannot suppress a local snake. If the Japanese want to rule China, they must rely on the Han people, especially the gentry and scholars, just like the Manchus did. "

Liu Shicai had also experienced the previous dynasty. Although the Manchus ruled the country, the gentry still had the final say, and it was nothing more than changing the emperor to pay taxes.
He felt relieved when he thought of this. The Liu family had their roots in Songling Village and their fields in several surrounding villages. It would not be easy for them to escape to the town. They had such a large family and such a large business that they could not move there.

He still believed in Liu Xiaowen. After all, he had studied in Qingdao, and the school was run by Japanese people, so he was still one of their own.
But since it involves the foundation of the Liu family, he still asked worriedly:

"Boss, are you sure the Japanese will accept our surrender? This is a serious matter and we cannot afford to take any risks."

"Dad, don't worry. The Japanese are killing resistance fighters. At worst, we can tell them about the mud-legged people digging tunnels and laying mines."

Liu Shicai looked around habitually before saying:
"This is a capital crime. If the militia comes back——"

"Dad, do you think they can come back?
Hundreds of thousands of main forces of the National Army were driven out of Shandong by the Japanese. They were just a bunch of peasants who took advantage of the Japanese's southward advance.

Now that the Japanese are back, they can only run away - Dad, a man without ruthlessness is not a hero!"

“Boss, although that’s what I said, we are all from the same village, so don’t be too extreme;
The Japanese killed all the peasants, so who will farm for us? Besides, they are always on guard against us, and we don’t even know where the tunnel entrance and minefield are.”

"Dad, I know a little bit about their minefields. If we search more, we will find them."

"Boss, the Japanese have big appetites too. I'll leave it to you to deal with them..."

The conversation between the two lasted for a long time. Liu Shicai was finally persuaded by Liu Xiaowen and was in a good mood. That night, he enthusiastically favored the fifth concubine twice and regained his masculinity. (End of this chapter)