The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 435 He Laughs Amidst the Bushes (Bonus Chapter for Gangzong's Love of Meat)

...After each great victory, the newspapers would continuously report on how brave and fearless I and my comrades were in battle.

The article was filled with excessive praise, which made us feel quite ashamed.

The main reason is that we know there are other people besides us who are actually more deserving of praise and admiration.

Due to certain special reasons, the achievements of these workers behind enemy lines remain unknown, and their names will not be remembered for eternity.

They even died at the hands of their own people, bearing the stigma of being traitors.

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

After covering the Japanese women with a thin blanket and pretending to be fast asleep, Old Yu took the kitchen knife and went to the door, where he waited patiently.

What are we waiting for? It's a perfect opportunity to get started!

And such a suitable opportunity was seized by him in less than thirty seconds.

It was probably a 45mm tank gun from a T-26 tank. After raising the muzzle, it fired a shell that flew more than a kilometer away and landed in a nearby garden, immediately producing a loud explosion.

Thinking that the Japanese guards outside the door were probably distracted by everything, he realized that they had been drawn into the room.

Old Yu suddenly flung open the door and dashed out like lightning.

And indeed, that was the case. There was only a Japanese military policeman guarding the door, who was listening intently to the sounds coming from the garden, looking quite flustered.

By the time he heard the door open and realized what was happening, it was too late.

He opened his mouth as if to warn the others.

A flash of cold light appeared before my eyes, and I immediately felt a sharp pain in my mouth and throat. My hands instinctively covered my neck, and I couldn't make a sound.

Old Yu swiftly shoved a kitchen knife into his mouth, completely silencing his warning cries.

Then, Lao Yu locked the Japanese soldier's skull with both hands, and with a sudden force, a 'crack' sounded.

Despite Old Yu's daily torment of those Japanese women, he's in remarkably good physical condition; he actually managed to break the guard's cervical vertebrae with brute force.

Then, the dead Japanese guard was dragged into the room by Lao Yu and hidden under the bed.

Before stuffing it under the bed, he rummaged through the Japanese soldier's body and found a pistol and a dagger; the pistol wasn't one of those lousy things that the Japanese soldier had, but a miniature Type 94 pistol.

This pistol is much more reliable than that bastard's, so it's a pleasant surprise.

However, soon after, Lao Yu experienced an even bigger surprise.

It's unclear whether it was because the Japanese were already short-handed in order to block the Nationalist troops who were rapidly advancing from the north gate, but they had to send a lot of Japanese military police to participate in the battle.

Anyway, in the time that followed, they eliminated the Japanese guards they had initially killed.

Old Yu only found three Japanese military police and guards scattered throughout the entire building.

Facing imminent annihilation, they were in a state of high tension and confusion, completely unprepared. After Lao Yu approached them, he easily killed them one by one with his dagger.

During this process, Lao Yu found another set of keys.

After hesitating for a second or two, they decided to delay a little longer and released all twelve compatriots who were being held captive by the Japanese in the several cells on the first floor.
This included Mr. Yang and his pregnant daughter-in-law.

The two men looked rather listless, but there were no signs of torture on their bodies; it was probably because the Japanese military police were too busy to pay attention to them.

Because the Japanese guards at the front gate of the building had all been transferred away, Lao Yu easily led his compatriots out of the building.

Immediately, they spotted a Japanese Type 97 transport plane parked in the garden not far away, and it looked to be in pretty good condition.

This thing can take off from a distance of 100 meters on paved roads.

Unfortunately, Lao Yu didn't know how to fly a plane, so he had to use other methods to escape.

Fortunately, after wandering around for a while, the group of more than ten people found a dog hole in the wall on one side, which was relatively spacious.

At this point, escaping was the priority, and they didn't care about losing face. The group crawled out through the dog hole and came to an empty alley.

Perhaps because he had been detained by the Japanese military police for a while, he was now terrified.

The prisoners released by Lao Yu didn't even say "thank you" after emerging from the dog hole; they hurriedly ran off to either side of the alley and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Only Lao Yu, Master Yang, and his daughter-in-law remained, exchanging bewildered glances.

Left with no other choice, Lao Yu could only hold a gun in one hand and support Yang's daughter-in-law, who was suffering from stomach pain, with the other, and hurriedly retreat to the left side of the alley.

However, after walking about twenty or thirty steps, a small intersection appeared in front of them.

In his anxiety, he didn't have time to figure out which way to go, so Lao Yu randomly chose a small alley and continued walking through it, eventually passing through several alleys in a row.

During this time, they could see that the doors and windows of every house were tightly closed, and they could also sense that behind some windows and doors, there were pairs of eyes full of tension looking at them.

Not every resident of the city is willing to abandon everything at home and hide in that so-called safe zone.

After walking for an unknown distance, the three finally saw a courtyard with an open gate. They quickly went inside, closed the gate, and slumped down on one side of the courtyard.

"Damn! Now I'm safe, right? I can just watch them kill the Japanese, and then I can show up and talk to them about taking pictures."

Leaning against the courtyard wall, Old Yu let out a long sigh of relief, thinking to himself with a sense of satisfaction...

*****
Because his watch had been taken by the Japanese soldiers, Lao Yu, who was hiding in the courtyard, had no idea what time it was.

However, this was not a big problem. Old Yu could clearly hear the sounds of gunfire and shouts of battle coming from all directions, which meant that the Nationalist army had entered the city on all fronts.

More importantly, after they had been hiding for almost half an hour, a huge cheer erupted.

Such a commotion must mean that the Japanese command post at the Xiyuan Hotel had been captured by the National Revolutionary Army; even if there were still Japanese troops entrenched in the city, they were only small groups.

So the battle is about to end, and Nanning, which has been occupied for almost two months, will soon be completely returned to the embrace of China.

After waiting for several more minutes, a series of rapid footsteps came from the alley outside the courtyard. Old Yu immediately shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Here, we are here."

The reason for the loud shouting was that the footsteps were not the sound of the Japanese soldiers' Type 5 military boots treading on the stone pavement.

It's much lighter; you'll either be wearing cloth shoes or straw sandals, since you're friends, not enemies.

Old Yu miscalculated this time. With a loud thud, the closed gate was forcibly smashed open, and dozens of people, wielding carrying poles, kitchen knives, and sticks, rushed in.

Upon spotting their location, they immediately charged forward menacingly.

Startled, Lao Yu fired several shots into the air, finally stopping the civilians in their tracks.

With a chill running down his spine, Lao Yu shouted, "Fellow villagers, you've misunderstood! We're not Japanese devils, we're Chinese! You've got the wrong people!"

Unexpectedly, a man carrying a carrying pole cursed fiercely:

"That's right! We're looking for you traitorous dogs."

Old Master Yang, the head of the maintenance committee, has always been a dog of the Japanese. His whole family is rotten. You are also a lackey of the Japanese. I have seen you taking pictures of the Japanese several times.

He bowed and scraped, like a dead eunuch.

"Neighbors, don't be afraid! He only has a few bullets left in his gun. Charge forward and kill these traitorous dogs!"

Amidst such insults, Lao Yu nearly died of frustration, because he realized he had no way of explaining to these people why he had taken pictures of the Japanese soldiers.

Besides! No one would believe me even if I told them.

But to be beaten to death by one's own people like this, isn't that even more unjust than Dou E?

Yet, he could also see in the eyes of these people a deep-seated anger and hatred, and a determination to fight even at the cost of being beaten to death or injured.

For a moment, he clearly had a gun in his hand, but neither shooting nor firing was appropriate.

Just then, he felt someone tug at his arm from behind.
He glanced back quickly and saw that Chairman Yang hadn't said anything, only shook his head at him; at that moment, his eyes shone brightly, and his face was full of magnanimity, relief and other emotions in a radiant smile.

In those gleaming eyes, Mr. Yang's gaze seemed to pierce through the barriers of crowds and buildings.

They witnessed the Nationalist army successfully entering the city, killing off the last remaining Japanese soldiers, and the city returning to the beauty of China.

In those radiant smiles, Lao Yu couldn't help but recall a line of poetry he had learned in elementary or middle school: "When the mountain flowers are in full bloom, he smiles amidst them."

With a long sigh, Old Yu threw away the pistol in his hand...

(End of this chapter)