The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 364 Driving Away (Two Chapters Combined)

...As time went by and the number of battles won increased, especially after leading a motley crew to achieve one incredible victory after another.

Many people from various countries, even foreigners and Japanese, are marveling at one point:
Hu Biao and his companions seemed to possess a magical power that could ignite the greatest fighting courage in the hearts of a motley crew of defeated soldiers, farmers, and江湖人 (jianghu people), making them fearless and undaunted.

Regarding this rumor, I can only say: I have absolutely no magic power.

If we must say that magic truly existed in those fierce battles...

That was during the long War of Resistance against Japan, when we were constantly retreating, and the great nation of China was on the verge of extinction.

Every son and daughter who still feels a sense of identity with this land and this nation longs to win.

The soldiers' desertion and the people's apathy stemmed from their inability to see any hope of victory; but if someone could give them even a glimmer of hope for a win, they would become fearless warriors.

Luckily! Because of some people's limited reputation, they were willing to believe that I, Commander Hu, could lead them to victory.

I feel so guilty! Because of this weighty trust, so many people have died on different battlefields, without ever having the chance to celebrate victory...

...Excerpt from Hu Biao's diary collection "Hu Shuo"...

It must be admitted that the quality of the Japanese veterans from that year was quite high.

Even on the main position at Gaofeng Pass, when the surviving Japanese soldiers realized that they had clearly fallen into a Nationalist army ambush, resulting in the deaths of many of their officers and more than half of their personnel in a very short time, they began to consider retreating.

Those veteran Japanese soldiers still performed exceptionally well.

They shouted to the other Japanese soldiers around them, and they quickly moved towards their position; soon, they formed combat groups.

Then these Japanese combat teams, ranging from a dozen to several people, began their evacuation under orderly alternating cover.

As for how they climbed out of the two-meter-deep trench, that was actually not difficult at all.

Many Japanese soldiers actually carried Type 38 entrenching tools; after taking them off, they could easily dig out a few footholds in the wall and then climb out with a little leverage.

In short, even with Hu Biao and his men's carefully laid-out tactics, the remaining three hundred-odd Japanese soldiers were still not at the point of complete collapse.

But the Japanese troops' orderly retreat had barely begun when it turned into a massive rout.

The reason for all of this was simply that Hu Biao drew a large knife from his back and shouted:
"Little Henan, sound the charge!"

After receiving Hu Biao's order, he passed through Xiao Henan, the team's bugler. He picked up a bugle hanging in front of him, put it to his lips, and immediately puffed out his cheeks and blew it with all his might.

It should be noted that the bugle calls of the National Revolutionary Army and the Communist Party were not in the same rhythm.

Under the current circumstances, Xiao Henan naturally cannot blow the kind of bugle call he is more familiar with, the kind he has heard since childhood from the Communist Party; he can only blow the kind from the Nationalist Army.

But that point is completely unimportant at this moment.

Amidst the stirring bugle calls that seemed to pierce the sky, a large flag was first raised high on the second-line position, its pale, shroud-like surface fluttering in the wind.

Immediately afterwards, countless voices filled with anger and resentment, like roars from the depths of the soul, rang out: "Brothers! Kill the Japanese devils!"

Amidst such a tremendous cacophony of battle cries, at least 1,200 to 1,300 men appeared on the second and third lines of defense.

Their clothes were a motley collection, and their weapons were even more varied.

Among them were rifles with bayonets, rifles without bayonets, and cold weapons such as broadswords, spears, and iron bars, as well as even simple tools like hoes and shovels.

These haphazardly wielded weapons were used to pursue the more than three hundred Japanese soldiers who were retreating in an orderly manner.

If it were only the above situation, these Japanese soldiers might not have completely collapsed.

After all, the Japanese had boosted their morale over the previous two years by winning battles with fewer troops.

The fact that the opponents in front of them, though numerous, were mostly without rifles, did not actually frighten them.

The key issue is that a large portion of the Japanese soldiers had at least a primary school education and were basically literate, yet a significant portion of the Japanese writing system consisted of Chinese characters.

So the Japanese soldiers could all understand the five characters "Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment" on that large flag that was fluttering in the wind.

All of the above combined suddenly made a difference.

Because among the Japanese soldiers on the Chinese battlefield, a legend had long been circulating:
Hu Biao, the Tiger of Shanghai, and his companions possessed a magical power that could transform ragtag groups into incredibly brave warriors.

On this point, however, the 9th Division, the 10th Division, the Shanghai Marine Corps, and the Independent Mixed 9th Brigade—these Imperial forces—demonstrated their own utter defeats.

The fact that even military commanders were killed has proven this quite strongly on several occasions.

At this point, the surviving Japanese soldiers could no longer remain calm, because even the veterans were filled with fear.

The Japanese veterans no longer had any intention of forming combat teams and taking turns covering each other during their retreat; they turned around, took off running, and fled for their lives.

We don't need to be the fastest to escape, but we must leave those new recruits behind, maybe even a whole independent regiment from northern Jiangsu...

Seeing the more than three hundred Japanese soldiers fleeing in disarray, Hu Biao felt not joy but shock, and even a mixture of amusement and disbelief.

So, what is the biggest need for Hu Biao and his men, and the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment, right now?
Soldiers? No.

Although Hu Biao and his men needed as many soldiers as possible to defend Gaofeng Pass, with the addition of Wu Dawei's group of defeated soldiers, they now had 1836 men.

This means they currently have a full regiment of troops at their disposal, which isn't a huge force, but it's enough for their basic needs.

Therefore, the worst thing for the current Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment is its supplies, specifically its weapons and ammunition.

According to the latest statistics, only two-thirds of the brothers in the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment had guns, and each gun had an average of only about twenty bullets.

Especially the light and heavy machine guns, which are the key firepower for these defensive formations, are severely lacking.

What to do? The Japanese have them! If we wipe out this Japanese battalion in front of us, we'll have weapons and ammunition all at once, and we might even be able to get two Type 92 infantry guns.

So, before this battle began, Hu Biao and his team devised the next step, or rather, the second half of the tactic.

While they were stuck to these fleeing Japanese soldiers, they drove them all the way down the mountain to the Japanese starting position.

This way, they could avoid being heavily damaged by the dense machine gun fire, artillery fire, and grenade launcher fire from the Japanese positions during their approach.

Once we stormed into the Japanese starting position, everything else would be much easier.

Of course, we should rely on our numerical advantage to completely overwhelm them, wipe them out, and seize their weapons.

Therefore, if the two sides could not stick together, it would be difficult to say whether they could even withstand the dense machine gun fire of the Japanese soldiers and charge into the Japanese starting position, let alone reduce casualties.

Seeing this, Hu Biao could only take off after them, shouting at the top of his lungs:
"Quick, quick, quick! Charge up there and get mixed up with the Japanese. Herd them down the mountain into the starting positions like livestock..."

******
Wu Xuanyi, also known as the thug, is a 19-year-old guy who just transmigrated this time. He is carrying a wood-chopping knife in his right hand and running at an unprecedented speed.

They chased after the Japanese soldiers who wished they had an extra leg so they could run even faster.

It's amazing! Just ten minutes ago, the thug said this guy felt sleepy and tired, like his whole body was about to fall apart.

Even when standing, it can fall asleep like a large animal.

After all, almost two days have passed since he transmigrated here, and he only managed to sleep for a little over four hours last night.

The rest of the time, he was constantly busy. He was either leading people to build fortifications, or accompanying the guards to wander through the crowds to check for any Japanese soldiers who had infiltrated, or doing other things.

Anyway, that damned Hu Biao has endless tasks to do, treating people like animals.

If that guy hadn't also been working, and even had less time to rest and sleep, the thug would have really gone on strike.

However, when the bugle sounded and he charged out with his brothers, who were originally defeated soldiers, farmers, and craftsmen, he suddenly felt his whole body filled with strength.

I feel much better than I usually do after a good night's sleep.

Thanks to this miraculous state, after the thugs dug out of the trenches on the front line, they chased for another hundred meters or so and caught up with a Japanese corporal.

Seeing that he was being caught and there was no way to escape, the Japanese veteran unleashed his last bit of ruthlessness; as he stopped his staggering steps, he swung his bayonet at the thug's abdomen.

Thanks to four years of kickboxing and two years of Sanda, after countless hours of hard work, I have developed the nerve reflexes I need.

Although the Japanese soldier's bayonet came extremely fast, the thug managed to dodge it by stepping to the side.

And as if by reflex, he kicked out with his right foot in a low side kick, which struck the Japanese corporal squarely in the knee; with a loud thud, the Japanese soldier, in pain, immediately lost his balance.

Before the Japanese soldier could fall to the ground, the thug had already delivered a powerful left hook, striking the target squarely in the jaw.

It was almost instinctive for the fighter to use the classic kickboxing move of 'side kick + hook to the jaw'.

With a fierce swing punch, the Japanese soldier's hard jawbone was shattered; at this point, he had completely lost his fighting ability and was cleanly and efficiently dealt with by the thugs.

After taking down the Japanese corporal, the thug did not immediately continue to hunt down the other Japanese soldiers, and his face showed a strong sense of hesitation.

What was there to hesitate about? Of course, it was because of the explanation given by that damned Hu Biao before the battle even began.

Before the battle began, Hu Biao explained the tactics to the new recruits, then earnestly emphasized one sentence:
"If the plan goes smoothly, when we get to the part where we chase down the Japanese, we must terrify them so that we can drive them to break through the machine gun positions."

Therefore, in order to minimize the loss of our brothers, the methods you use to kill the Japanese soldiers must be as ruthless as possible.

The thug had no idea what brutal methods to use to deal with the Japanese soldiers before, but he managed to come up with one while charging up with his machete.

Were the Japanese soldiers not superstitious, but worried that their souls wouldn't be able to return to the shrine to find peace after being beheaded?
They were deliberately beheaded, and their greatest fear was about to be unleashed.

However, this guy, who is a professional MMA athlete in the modern world, has a better mentality when fighting compared to ordinary people.

But after all, he was a boy who grew up in a peaceful environment, so even if he could kill Japanese soldiers without hesitation.

But when it came to the task of killing the Japanese soldiers and then chopping off their heads, his years of civilized education made it difficult for him to actually do it.

At this critical moment, a loud explosion reached the thugs' ears.

After turning his head to look, he no longer hesitated at all.

That was a Type 92 infantry gun on the Japanese position. Seeing that a direct shot would accidentally injure their own personnel, they immediately raised the muzzle and fired a shell in a curved trajectory.

The shells landed over the fleeing enemy troops, hitting the pursuing troops in some positions behind them.

It was this shot that made the henchman make up his mind: if he didn't want his brothers to die in vain, then he had to go all out.

With a gritted tooth, the thug suddenly bent down, raised the woodcutter's knife, its handle almost dripping with oil, high in his right hand, and swung it down fiercely as if chopping wood and mincing meat.

This wood-chopping knife, forged by an unknown blacksmith in the countryside, is quite sharp.

But it seems that it's not enough to cut off the Japanese soldier's neck with one stroke.

Blood splattered immediately after the slash, staining half of the thug's face red, but only managed to cut the Japanese soldier's neck in half, which was then blocked by the hard cervical vertebrae.

Once the thug had made up his mind, he swung his machete continuously without the slightest hesitation.

He kept slashing, one, two, three times, until the fourth slash finally severed the unfortunate man's neck.

The next second, the thug straightened up, holding the Japanese soldier's head in his left hand and wielding a blood-dripping machete in his right.

He channeled all the anger, fear, disgust, and other emotions in his heart into a roar: "Brothers! Kill the Japanese devils..."

"This thug is really worth training."

At the same time, Hu Biao, who was about 20 or 30 meters to the left, saw this scene and couldn't help but mutter this sentence.

At this moment, in his left hand, he was holding the head of a Japanese lieutenant whose face was frozen in endless fear and whose blood was dripping continuously.

Other veterans like Black Star, Lao Yu, Lao Ma, and Xiao Henan also carried the same thing.

It turns out that they used this method with remarkable tacit understanding without any prior communication.

As for the other veterans, including Uncle Bo and Cang Guang, they were currently pulling the bolts of their rifles so high they were practically flying off.

Prioritize eliminating threatening Japanese machine gunners, officers, and grenade launchers from a distance.

After each target was eliminated, the two silently noted down a number, marking the start of another healthy competition between the time-traveling team and the old and new snipers.

Annie, Mina, Xiao Cui, and the other two girls, because they were running a little slower, had not yet caught up with a single Japanese soldier they could attack.

So much so that they were muttering curses under their breath as they chased after them.

After Hu Biao and his comrades demonstrated how to chase and kill Japanese soldiers with their heads on their hands, many more brothers in the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment followed suit.

When those Japanese soldiers fled to the foot of the mountain...

Including Hu Biao and his men, there were already fifty or sixty people charging forward, each carrying a Japanese soldier's head in one hand and wielding a weapon in the other.

Such a brutal scene terrified not only the Japanese soldiers who had escaped from the mountain, but also the Japanese soldiers who had fled down the mountain.

On the starting position not far down the mountain, the Japanese artillerymen, machine gunners, and logistics personnel were also terrified and had no courage to resist anymore.

Even when the retreating routs were still a dozen paces away, they had not yet broken through their lines.

These Japanese soldiers discarded all their heavy and light machine guns, cannons, grenade launchers, and other equipment that was difficult to carry, and turned to run away without a second thought.

During their escape, these Japanese soldiers even felt somewhat aggrieved and confused.

Because these Japanese immigrants who lived in Taiwan and had more contact with Chinese people really couldn't understand how these Chinese people, who had always been exceptionally docile in their memories, had suddenly become so brutal.

What these Japanese devils didn't know was that this wasn't brutality at all; it was a righteous counterattack against foreign invaders.

Furthermore, this fighting style did not appear suddenly; rather, this nation already possessed such a fighting style two thousand years ago.

This was during a historical period for the Chinese nation, a period later known as the "Powerful Han".

Those Han border troops who defended their homeland were just that brave and fierce in battle.

They brandished their eight-sided Han swords, beheading the invaders one by one and tying the heads to their belts; then, with their robes open, they continued to charge towards their enemies.

They drove the once invincible Xiongnu people to a place thousands of miles away.

At that time, the Japanese devils on the island had just obtained a gold seal engraved with "King of Han-Wa-Nu"...

(End of this chapter)