The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 268 buried
Amidst a roar of "Long live the Heavenly Locusts!", a Japanese lieutenant colonel trembled as he pulled the trigger, and the pistol pressed against his temple immediately went off.

Even if the pistol he's using now is a Type 14 Nambu pistol, that kind of lousy Japanese stuff.

But at such a distance, killing himself wouldn't be a problem at all.

In the blink of an eye, a burst of blood erupted from the Japanese lieutenant colonel's temple, thus ending his own life in this way.

This situation is happening only at this moment near the nameless little hill in Nigou Village.

It was a trivial matter that happened to so many Japanese soldiers.

To be more specific, it was after a bloody battle that Hu Biao and his group finally stormed the hill and captured a regimental flag, raising the battle flag of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment.

In the process, he also took care to kill off high-ranking Japanese commanders such as Major General Kei Seya and Colonel Yaezo Akashiba.

Some things happened that made the entire Subei Independent Regiment extremely happy.

Just a second ago, there were still 150 or 160 surviving Japanese soldiers fighting desperately.

The next second, all their fighting spirit vanished, and they each made different choices.

Almost all the Japanese officers, along with some of the soldiers, with faces full of despair, committed suicide with guns, bayonets, and other weapons.

Another Japanese private, his face filled with fear and confusion, threw down his rifle.

Many more Japanese soldiers laid down their weapons and surrendered; in the end, excluding the seriously wounded, a total of 57 Japanese soldiers surrendered.

Don't be fooled by the seemingly small number of 57 prisoners.

But don't forget, this is the 27th year of the Republic of China, and these people are the elite Japanese soldiers of the island nation's permanent division.

Deeply influenced by the Bushido spirit, they believed that surrendering was shameful and dying on the battlefield was glorious; moreover, if they surrendered, their families in the island nation would suffer greatly.

The Japanese soldiers preferred to commit suicide rather than fall into the hands of the Nationalist army.

Therefore, the reason why so many Japanese soldiers were able to surrender was because these unlucky guys from the Setani Detachment had experienced the fierce street fighting in Taierzhuang and the hardships they had endured on their escape today.

They were also repeatedly attacked by the cavalry of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment using tactics such as repeated assaults.

Ultimately, only after all the military commanders were killed in battle and the regimental flag was captured did so many Japanese soldiers, as many as 57, agree to surrender.

Therefore, these 57 Japanese prisoners alone are a remarkable achievement; if they were given to Commander Li of the Fifth War Zone, they would gain a considerable favor.

It was when these 57 Japanese soldiers laid down their weapons that the battle at Tuqiu came to a complete end.

Without waiting for the surviving brothers of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment, they mounted their warhorses and continued to pursue the other Japanese soldiers who were scattering and fleeing.

Loud gunshots and shouts of killing suddenly rang out from several areas within a few miles of the mud ditch.

Without a doubt, it was other friendly forces from the Fifth War Zone who had dealt with the Japanese blocking forces that were entangled with them and finally caught up with them.

It means that even without the Subei Independent Regiment taking action, those more than a thousand Japanese soldiers who were scattering and fleeing would be caught and killed one by one.

This means that the Japanese Setani Detachment will be completely annihilated at Taierzhuang.

After considering all of the above, the remaining five or six hundred brothers, amidst their ecstatic joy, all looked at their pillar of strength: Hu Biao, Commander Hu.

Under everyone's gaze, Hu Biao turned to Annie beside him and instructed her, "Translate this for me."

Then, he shouted to the surrendered Japanese soldiers:
"I can spare your lives if you want, but the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment doesn't support idlers, and it certainly won't support you beasts for nothing."

From now on, all food will require your labor to obtain.

After Annie finished translating the above passage, the expressions on the faces of the Japanese prisoners visibly relaxed.

Then, Hu Biao issued a series of orders to the brothers of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment: "Go and send about ten men to escort these Japanese prisoners to work."

Tell them to dig a pit in the wheat field next to the mound, and make sure it's big. I plan to bury all the Japanese soldiers' corpses in it, because the weather is going to get hot soon, and we can't let their bodies rot and cause a plague, which would be terrible.

If you see any lazy Japanese soldiers, beat them mercilessly; if any try to escape, shoot them without asking for permission.

"Let's just leave those Japanese deserters to our friendly forces. Our Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment is getting meat, so let's give them a little soup too."

Now, everyone should bandage and treat their wounds first, and then start cleaning up the battlefield.

When cleaning up the battlefield, prioritize treating our seriously wounded brothers; we don't need to worry about the seriously wounded Japanese soldiers, we can just throw them into the big pit later.

Our medicines are precious; we don't have any extra to use on them.

"When cleaning up the battlefield, everyone should be more careful; no matter what the Japanese soldiers have, they should take everything, including their weapons, ammunition, cars, carriages, warhorses, or anything else. Take all the valuables off them."

Oh, and remember to pry open these Japanese devils' mouths to see what's inside. They love to make gold teeth out of the money they steal; don't waste it.

So, in the time that followed, the survivors, exhausted, got to work according to Hu Biao's instructions.

Anne, the wizard, Mr. Nanze, and others who were seriously injured received emergency treatment and medication, so at least they no longer had to worry about being in immediate danger of death.

As for what happens after a longer period of time? There's no need to worry about that.

The seven surviving time travelers—Hu Biao, Annie, Zanana, the Wizard, Van Gogh, Nan Ze, and Mr. Yu—all shared a common intuition:
Their journey through time will come to an end no later than dawn, and they will be teleported back to the modern world.

As for the next time they are transported back to this world, no one can say for sure when or where they will appear.

It was precisely because of these intuitions that Hu Biao and his group consciously began to make arrangements for their departure.

For example, by the light of a kerosene lamp, Hu Biao and Annie wrote short letters to Commander Li and Boss Dai, as well as some messages to their brothers.

When cleaning up the battlefield, the Japanese soldiers were almost stripped down to just their loincloths.

Among the numerous spoils of war, Hu Biao and his men possessed not only the regimental flag, but also a small number of high-ranking officers' samurai swords, watches, binoculars, pistols, gas masks, and three boxes of gold.

The remaining high-value items were all distributed among the surviving brothers.

Weapons, ammunition, shoes, helmets, and uniforms—the surviving brothers could take as much as they wanted; the rest were loaded onto trucks and wagons.

Meanwhile, other friendly forces continued to rush to the muddy ditch.

All I saw was the legendary Hu Biao, Commander Hu, sitting behind an empty ammunition box, smoking.

The thought that he originally wanted to grab some spoils of war immediately vanished; after giving Hu Biao a solemn military salute from afar, he immediately ran away.

There's no way around it! If it were any other unit that had taken all of the Seya Detachment's richest spoils, they would have all come forward and demanded a share of the spoils.

Ironically, after Commander Hu swallowed these things, they didn't have the slightest objection.

Or perhaps they dared not voice any objections, not because of Hu Biao's or the reputation of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment.

It was their countless life-or-death battles in Tengxian and Taierzhuang that made today's great victory possible.

Finally, around 2:30 a.m., the battlefield was completely cleaned up.

All the spoils of war and the seriously wounded were loaded onto trucks and wagons.

The only thing that hasn't been done yet is that the large pit filled with the corpses and seriously wounded Japanese soldiers has not been covered up.

After burying it, the team can return to their temporary camp in Taierzhuang.

Just before burying it, Hu Biao pointed to the large pit and coldly said to the 57 exhausted Japanese prisoners:
"Jump in, all of you jump in..."

(End of this chapter)