The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 411 Midnight Snack Again (Two Chapters Combined)

At 9:51 p.m. on January 5, less than two hours after the ambush began, Hu Biao arrived outside the township office of Dadong Township.

At this moment, he was accompanied by three time travelers: Xiao Henan, Lao Ma, and Lao K.

The troops following behind the four of them numbered over eight thousand.

The reason for this was that Hu Biao and his men fought their way through the village. Every time they killed a group of Japanese soldiers stationed in other villages, they would gather a time traveler companion and the team they led.

After several rendezvous, they naturally amassed a large force.

At this moment, apart from the township office in Dadong Township where intense gunfire, shouts of killing, and explosions were still heard, the rest of the area had calmed down.

This means that all the Japanese soldiers in other places have been wiped out, and only this last batch remains.

As for this last batch of Japanese soldiers, according to the intelligence Hu Biao had previously obtained.

It should consist of the brigade headquarters, an infantry battalion, two artillery companies, and some engineers, supply and communications units, led by Japanese Major General Haruyama Endo.

All of them together numbered around two thousand Japanese soldiers, so they were naturally more resilient.

However, during the previous shelling, all of the Fifth Army's 150mm heavy artillery pieces were allocated to bombard the Japanese troops in this area.

After being bombarded by this heavy artillery at its highest rate of fire for five minutes, the Japanese soldiers were in no better shape.

As Hu Biao and his group jogged forward, when they were still a mile or two away from the final battlefield, a group of people approached them.

Taking advantage of the still bright moonlight tonight, after seeing the situation clearly, Hu Biao hurriedly called Lao Ma and the other two to come forward quickly.

Because it was Anne and Mina, accompanied by more than a dozen lieutenant generals and major generals from the Central Army and the Guangxi Army, leading a large group of field officers.

Judging from their excited expressions and actions, it seemed as if they were there specifically to welcome Hu Biao and his group.

Actually, this situation is quite normal when you think about it.

Tonight's ambush went so smoothly and the results were so brilliant that even Hu Biao and his men, who had taken advantage of the Japanese so many times, were now in a state of high excitement.

Not to mention the Nationalist generals and officers who, while not losing nine out of ten battles against the Japanese, certainly lost more often than they won.

Hu Biao guessed correctly; these people had indeed come to greet him, but they also harbored some other intentions.

The leader, a lieutenant general of the Guangxi Army in his late forties, came up and, without waiting for Hu Biao to greet him, patted Hu Biao heavily on the shoulder with a face full of excitement.

He said, "Damn it! That was a really good fight."

Since 1938, our Guangxi Army has fought so many battles against the Japanese, but tonight's battle was definitely the most satisfying one yet.

Brother Yitong! The Japanese were absolutely right to give you that nickname, "Tiger of Shanghai," you truly are a valiant general.

Why don't you stay in our Guangxi province? I'll personally go and talk to Jiansheng and Delin and the others, and let you take over the command of my 16th Army Group.

In a few years, you'll take on even heavier responsibilities; the future of the Guangxi Army rests on your shoulders.

Perhaps due to excessive emotion, the lieutenant general of the Guangxi Army even blurted out his hometown dialect. After speaking, he looked at Hu Biao with a serious expression, indicating that what he had just said was not a joke.

Upon hearing this, not only were the time travelers like Hu Biao moved, but even the generals of the Central Army, such as Du Yuming, were greatly surprised.

Because, despite the man speaking, he only held the rank of lieutenant general.

But his name is Xia Wei. Although he is not one of the famous three giants of the Guangxi Clique, he is one of the most influential people in the Guangxi Clique outside of the three giants.

He has known Bai and Huang, two of the three giants, since their teenage years.

They also studied together at military academies such as the Army Primary School, Wuchang Army Middle School, and Baoding Military Academy, forging a deep friendship.

He was also extremely capable and held several key positions within the Guangxi clique.

In short, his words above not only represented the Guangxi clique's renewed recruitment of Hu Biao and others, but also constituted a public promise that Hu Biao and his group would be the future successors of the Guangxi clique.

The Guangxi Clique was widely recognized as the strongest among the many warlords in the Republic of China, and even the bald-headed principal was wary of it.

Even Du Yuming, a graduate of the first class of the Whampoa Military Academy and a confidant of the bald-headed principal, was somewhat tempted, not to mention the other major generals and lieutenant generals.

Unfortunately, such recruitment held no appeal for time travelers like Hu Biao.

As time travelers, they knew that it didn't matter whether it was the Central Army or the Guangxi Clique.

Less than ten years later, they all ended up either fleeing to the island of Wanwan to eke out a living or squatting in the Gongdelin Temple. There was no one who would be tempted by them.

Instead of directly refusing, they subtly changed the subject, thus politely expressing their unwillingness to join.

"Gentlemen, why aren't you leading your men in the attack? Has something gone wrong?"

Upon hearing this, the disappointment on the faces of the Guangxi army generals was quite evident, but they quickly recovered; Xia Wei chuckled and said:

"Don't worry! There won't be any changes in this battle."

If we include the group you just brought, we now have about 20,000 troops here.

How big could a mere township office be? With so many troops gathered here, they're practically overstretched.

Only one-third of the troops managed to seize the opportunity to attack. Now, even without our command, every brother is eager to fight and kill as many Japanese soldiers as possible.

The remaining two-thirds of the army are now just watching helplessly, their desire for war terrifyingly strong.

So don't worry, Brother Yitong, this last batch of Japanese soldiers will be completely wiped out within two hours at most.

As the above paragraph progressed to the end, Xia Wei and the other Guangxi army generals all wore expressions of unspoken sorrow.

They must have been thinking back to the time when 60,000 brave Guangxi soldiers launched a desperate charge against the Japanese on the Shanghai battlefield; this was the first time that the Guangxi soldiers under their command had such a heroic and eager spirit to fight.

Seeing that the atmosphere was becoming inexplicably heavy, Hu Biao started to laugh along:
"These past two days, in order to conceal our whereabouts, we've been eating dry rations every meal, and our mouths are so bland we're practically parched. If anyone has any canned goods, jerky, cigarettes, alcohol, or other good stuff on hand, why don't you bring them out?"

Let the cooks prepare it together, and we can all have a late-night snack together later.

First, it was to celebrate the initial success of our army's plan to besiege the enemy's stronghold and intercept reinforcements; second, it was a chance for everyone to have a good meal and satisfy their hunger.

Good heavens! Since this time transmigrating, Hu Biao has become somewhat addicted to eating late-night snacks.

However, after such a great victory, a late-night snack would be absolutely wonderful, no matter what you eat.

The suggestion was met with enthusiastic approval from everyone present; the previously somewhat somber and dejected atmosphere was once again filled with fervor.

However, compared to the beautiful and enthusiastic atmosphere at the battlefield in Dadong Township, the situation for Lao Yu and Uncle Bo in Nanning City was not so optimistic.

Especially Lao Yu, a member affectionately known as "the silent gourd" by the other members of the time-traveler team.

His mouth, which usually seemed welded shut and rarely uttered words, was now facing an unprecedented and severe test.

As for the specifics of the situation and why it has developed into such a dire situation, let's rewind a little bit...

******
At the same time, at 8:01 p.m., Hu Biao leaped up from the sweet potato field and led his men in a formal attack.

Location: In the largest banquet hall of the famous Xiyuan Hotel in Nanning.

"Please wait a moment, everyone! Look this way and smile!"

Amidst these greetings, Lao Yu pressed the shutter button, capturing the several fat, burly local tycoons in front of him in a perfectly still frame.

After putting down his camera, he greeted the group warmly:
"Mr. Zhang, Mr. Xie, Mr. Huang, Mr. Ma, please come in. The banquet has officially begun. We must eat and drink well tonight."

"I will personally deliver these photos to you in a few days as a souvenir of your participation in tonight's banquet." As he said this, Old Yu's warm smile and enthusiastic tone were all genuine and sincere.

The reason is simple: at 7:30 pm tonight, he not only accompanied Chairman Yang of the maintenance committee to participate in this dinner to welcome Uncle Sam's observation group.

Upon arrival, they discovered a Japanese lieutenant holding a camera, waiting at the entrance of the banquet hall.

As soon as anyone attending the banquet arrived, they would step forward and snap a photo.

Upon witnessing this scene, Lao Yu trembled with excitement, his mind filled with only one thought: no matter what, he had to get this job.

Think about it? What kind of good people are qualified to attend this dinner tonight?

They were either Japanese soldiers or traitors who had defected to the Japanese; in short, none of them were good people, and they couldn't even be considered human.

Therefore, Lao Yu could simply stand at the door with that strange Leica camera, take pictures of each person who comes, and take pictures of both of them if they come, so that none of them can have an easy time.

Fortunately, perhaps because Lao Yu had taken quite a few photos of the Japanese soldiers these past few days, and his skill level was quite good, the Japanese lieutenant had heard of him.

After a private exchange, the key point was that Lao Yu secretly slipped the other party a small yellow croaker.

The Japanese lieutenant who was originally in charge of taking photos suddenly felt unwell in his stomach and entrusted the task of taking photos to his good friend Yu Sang from the Empire.

After taking photos of Boss Zhang and the others, Lao Yu already regarded them as dead.

Old Yu naturally had an extremely good attitude towards these traitors who might die one day due to some accident.

Sure enough! After exchanging a few pleasantries with the other party and watching them walk into the banquet hall, he turned back to continue his stakeout.

As I turned my head, I caught a glimpse of another group of people walking towards us, and they were about to enter through the gate.

Without a second thought, he instinctively picked up the old Leica camera hanging around his neck, and habitually uttered a phrase:
"Please wait a moment, everyone! Look this way..."

When a familiar voice reached his ears, poor Uncle Bo almost shuddered in fright.

It was only at this moment that he noticed the man standing on one side of the gate, wearing a Japanese military cap and a Japanese plaster sleeve on his hand.

The guy who was bowing and scraping to people, looking like a classic traitor from an old movie, turned out to be the taciturn Lao Yu whom I had been unable to contact.

If that were all, it wouldn't be a big deal. Old Yu can be considered an underground worker at least for now.

In order to better complete the tasks assigned by his team, he infiltrated the Japanese army. His appearance and actions are quite understandable.

The crucial issue was that he saw Lao Yu raise that strange Leica camera towards him, about to take a picture of him.

If I were to be filmed on camera, I might die at any moment.

As those who frequently die know, you get used to it after a while.

Therefore, Uncle Bo is not afraid of death at all. Anyway, he can be perfectly resurrected in the modern world. The matter will be over in the blink of an eye.

However, he died because of such a ridiculous situation. What a mess.

Those guys with such twisted sense of humor will laugh at me for at least a year afterward.

Fortunately, such a tragedy did not occur. It seems that before pressing the shutter, Lao Yu recognized him, as well as Bill Eulton and Shen Zui.

Suddenly, he put down the strange Leica camera and switched to another camera from his shoulder bag.

And then, with an air of seriousness, he said, "I'm so sorry! There's a small problem with this camera. Please wait a moment, I'll get you a new one."

And so, the three of them, along with a Japanese military police major, took a group photo at the entrance of the hall, and then entered the hall with Lao Yu bowing and scraping as he saw them off.

Throughout the entire process, neither party displayed any unusual behavior.

However, through their secret glances, Uncle Bo and Lao Yu quickly reached a consensus: tonight, the taciturn man would find a way to secretly go to him.

This alone made Uncle Bo feel quite good.

In contrast, Lao Yu was in a much better mood at the moment.

Upon seeing Uncle Bo and Bill Eulton, and realizing that Shen Zui and his two companions had appeared as Sam's observation team, he quickly understood the situation.

No wonder! When he learned that such an observation group was coming, he was wondering when these foreigners had become so kind.

It was originally the work of Hu Biao and his cronies; they probably traded some technical data for it.

Of course! It doesn't matter where this thing came from.

The key issue that had troubled him for so long—how to prevent a tragedy from befalling the 70,000 to 80,000 compatriots in the city—has finally been resolved.

A few minutes later, an even bigger surprise arrived.

A short, stout Japanese lieutenant general, in his fifties, wearing glasses, walked toward them, accompanied by several other Japanese officers.

Although it was the first time Lao Yu had seen this Japanese lieutenant general, he immediately guessed the man's identity.

Who else could he be but Ando Rikichi, the commander of the 21st Army and the highest-ranking Japanese officer in the city?

He immediately stepped forward, bowed and scraped for a while, and with a 'click,' he managed to get Ando Rikichi, this old Japanese devil, to take the last photo of his life.

The moment he pressed the shutter, Lao Yu felt so excited he felt like he could fly, and his hands were trembling slightly.

Damn it! After waiting for so many days, I finally managed to take a picture of you, you old devil.

If there was anything that Lao Yu found somewhat regrettable, it was that he waited at the door until 8:30.

After all the people who were supposed to attend the banquet had arrived, the commander of the 5th Division, Imamura Hitoshi, still did not appear.

This was somewhat of a drawback for him, as he was unable to completely eliminate the two major figures in the Japanese city.

After no one else arrived, Lao Yu also entered the banquet hall; he casually picked up a glass of Japanese sake to pretend to be a connoisseur, and then watched a group of scoundrels perform.

That's right! It's a performance.

Tonight's banquet is less a welcome to Uncle Sam's observation team and more a way for the Japanese to put on a show of the city's enthusiastic support for them.

At this moment, these were all traitors who had received instructions from the Japanese before attending the meeting.

They were all loudly proclaiming how much money and supplies they would donate to the Japanese army; they were all so excited, as if the Japanese were their fathers.

In particular, Chairman Yang of the maintenance committee wrote a calligraphy piece with the words "King's Army" and presented it to Ando Rikichi on the spot, which made the atmosphere even more enthusiastic.

Finally, around 10 p.m., when Hu Biao and his group from Dadong Township were preparing their midnight snack again.

The so-called banquet was drawing to a close and was about to end; but at this moment, something unexpected happened to Lao Yu.

Caught completely off guard, several Japanese military police officers quietly approached him; one covered the mouth of the unsuspecting Lao Yu, while another punched him hard in the ribs.

As Lao Yu was writhing in excruciating pain, his body curled up like a shrimp, his shoulders and arms were already locked.

Then these Japanese soldiers dragged him away quickly through the side door.

"Damn it! Tonight's banquet was definitely a trap. It must have been that traitorous dog Chairman Yang who betrayed me. Don't let me get a chance, or I'll show you what the price of being a traitor is."

This was the only thought in Lao Yu's mind during his desperate struggle...

(End of this chapter)