The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 456 Chasing After Him

When everyone works together, the work efficiency is quite high.

In less than five minutes, all four simple stretchers were ready.

The weapons the Japanese soldiers and the brothers who died in the 7th Company were carrying were only a grenade launcher, some small melon grenades, and a second-hand Czech light machine gun.

The rest were roughly wrapped in tarpaulins captured from the Japanese, then buried in a secluded spot, with a large stone placed as a marker.

They will dig it up again and use it after the Japanese sweep is over.

Then, carrying and supporting the wounded, they plunged into the golden reeds swaying in the autumn wind, heading towards the ancient city wall of Dalongmen.

Soon after, everyone completely disappeared into the vast reed marshes...

Eight or nine minutes later, just as Hu Biao and his men had predicted.

Another Japanese reinforcement arrived quickly, and soon after, several more Japanese reinforcements followed.

If they get entangled with you, it will be a real problem.

What Hu Biao and his men did not expect was that the third batch of Japanese reinforcements that arrived not only numbered four hundred, but also constituted two full companies.

The leader of the team was a Japanese major general who appeared to be quite shrewd.

Upon his arrival, he first listened to the report from a Japanese major who had arrived earlier, and then examined the battlefield to gather information and details.

Then the Japanese major general didn't say anything and started wandering around the battlefield.

As he looked at the scattered bullet casings, the marks of the explosion, and the mottled bloodstains on the ground, he mentally reconstructed a battle that was roughly the same as what had happened:

One of his squads caught up with a remnant of the Eighth Route Army at the edge of the reed marshes.

Just when it seemed they were about to annihilate them, a mysterious group of opponents suddenly appeared from the left rear. Although they were few in number, their individual soldiers were extremely skilled and they were equipped with a large number of automatic weapons.

Individual firepower has reached a terrifying level.

That's why they were able to inflict heavy casualties on their squad in a very short time, even causing the remaining personnel to lose their will to fight and flee in panic.

He was easily killed by that mysterious opponent, who hunted him from behind.

Although he had analyzed these situations, some bigger doubts arose in the mind of the Japanese major general: how could a small, local Eighth Route Army unit in the Pingxi base area have such a powerful force?
He pondered this for several minutes but couldn't come up with an answer.

However, he knew that the warriors of his squad could not die in vain, and he could not let go of such a mysterious opponent.

Immediately, the captain who had just reported to him began to give orders: "Captain Iijima, immediately take your men to monitor multiple points around this reed marshland, and then set the reed marshland on fire."

It would be best if those people hiding inside were burned to death in a fire.

If they're not hiding inside, then look for tracks on the ground, and then chase after them. You must catch them and kill them all.

Also, be careful, these people are very strong, so don't be careless; if the situation turns bad, don't fight head-on, contact nearby friendly forces for support.

Bringing their bodies to me would be the greatest achievement.

With a shout of "Hai!", Captain Iijima respectfully accepted the order, but in his heart he had made up his mind: if those opponents were hiding in the reeds, they could just be burned to death by a fire.

If not, I must rely on the strength of my squadron to kill them all one by one.

I need to make a good impression on the brigade commander and show him my abilities.

After giving instructions, the Japanese brigade commander rode his warhorse, escorted by more than four hundred Japanese soldiers, and headed off to another location.

This mysterious opponent was not on their minds too much.

Because his objective, or rather his ambition, in this operation was exceptionally high.

With the cooperation of friendly forces, the Eighth Route Army in the Pingxi base area was severely damaged, and they were able to take revenge for the loss of face and losses suffered by the North China Front Army during the first and second phases of the Hundred Regiments Offensive.

As for the identity and origin of that small, mysterious group of opponents, I'll find out once their corpses are dragged before me and I take a look. Oh, right! This Japanese major general is named Goro Mano, and he's the brigade commander of the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade.

His predecessor's predecessor was Lieutenant General Abe Norihide, who was killed by our party at Huangtuling. He was known as a "mountain warfare expert" and a "flower of masters."

Although Abe Norihide's death was rather unfortunate, one thing is certain.

As the earliest and highest-ranking independent mixed brigade formed by the Japanese, the 2nd Brigade was quite formidable in combat.

Compared to the Taiwanese mixed brigade and the 19th Independent Mixed Brigade that Hu Biao and his men annihilated in the Guinan region during their last crossing, they were still much stronger...

*******
More than four hours later, around 3 p.m.

Hu Biao and his men did not encounter any Japanese soldiers along the way. According to Fang Youcai, who was familiar with the terrain, the meeting point with the communications soldiers and the place to receive the mission was only three kilometers away.

Hu Biao immediately breathed a sigh of relief and issued a command:
"Stop. Everyone, take a 15-minute break. Old Cucumber, Consumption Ghost, Silent Gourd, and Big Fatty, the four of you go and keep watch around the area."

"Don't let the Japanese sneak up on us while we're still clueless."

After saying that, he slumped to the ground, looking quite exhausted.

In fact, Hu Biao had been strengthened six times already, and his physical fitness was already as strong as a large animal; under normal circumstances, he would never be so exhausted.

But with seven wounded soldiers in tow, it was really not a good idea for them to run into the Japanese.

We could only rely on Fang Youcai, a comrade familiar with the terrain, to point out some extremely rugged mountain paths, and even some wilderness areas where there were no paths at all.

During this process, the seven wounded soldiers, the large amount of weapons and ammunition they carried, and even a number of seamless steel pipes were all incredibly heavy burdens for them, yet they could not abandon them.

What could Hu Biao do? He could only lead by example, carrying a load of nearly 150 or 160 kilograms on his back, and struggling forward in the wilderness.

In such a situation, even large livestock would not be able to withstand it, so it is reasonable that he is exhausted like this.

The other seasoned transmigrators weren't much better off, their faces clearly showing signs of fatigue.

As Hu Biao sat down to catch his breath and took out a cigarette to light it and perk himself up, he suddenly heard a loud AT shout in his ear:

"Who goes there? Come out right now, or I'll shoot."

Such a commotion made Hu Biao grab the submachine gun beside him and rush towards the AT's location while crouching low.

The other veterans also picked up their weapons, or charged alongside Hu Biao.

They either helped the wounded find some natural cover and then prepared for battle.

Even in a split second, they all displayed excellent combat skills, which made the discerning soldiers of our army, such as Fang Youcai, have their eyes light up.

But only Hu Biao and his men knew that because they were too tired, their tactical movements and reactions were actually slower than usual...

Five minutes later, looking at the oldest person in front of him, who was only 19 years old, and the youngest person, who was only 16 years old, he saw...

The students, dressed in the distinctive modern attire of the Republic of China era, consisting of one male and three female students, gave Hu Biao quite a headache.

Because the four of them were considered progressive young people from the capital city.

Originally, they planned to travel from the Pingxi base area, a red route, to the Baota area; however, they were unlucky and encountered a large-scale mopping-up operation by the Japanese.

Originally, there were more than ten people, plus several comrades from our party who were protecting them. Now, only four of them are left, and they have been hiding in this wilderness for two or three days.

It is said that he hadn't eaten a meal and was so hungry that his legs were weak and his eyes were green.

"Come with us, we'll talk about the rest when we get to a safe place. Also, I'll have someone get you some food later," Hu Biao instructed.

Although he really didn't want to add four more burdens to his already heavily burdened team, he couldn't just watch them die at the hands of the Japanese...

(End of this chapter)