The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 465 Wolves in Front and Tigers Behind (Two-in-One Chapter)

"Alright! We should be safe here for now. Everyone, stop and rest." Hu Biao rubbed his cold cheeks and gave a command in a low voice.

When speaking, noticeable white steam could be seen between the mouth and nose.

At his command, no one in the ranks cheered loudly.

But everyone visibly breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, especially the members of the performing arts troupe and Xie Liang and the other children, who immediately squatted down on the ground.

Even in the pitch-black night, it was impossible to see the children's faces clearly for a moment.

However, Hu Biao and his men knew perfectly well that the children were already exhausted from the continuous journey, but they just gritted their teeth and didn't complain.

It's not that Hu Biao and his group are so heartless, that they really want to torment the children like this.

There's no other way! The main problem is that the previous breakout battle, though short, caused them too many losses, and we simply can't afford to do it again tonight.

Based on their mental estimates during the evacuation, their losses included two aspects.

One aspect is personnel: the warehouse manager and a lightly wounded soldier died in battle, four seriously wounded soldiers committed suicide, and Xiao Ding, that spineless bastard, was shot dead from behind.

This means that when the team was first formed, there were 43 people in the team.

Just a few hours later, only 36 people remain.

Regarding ammunition, other caliber bullets were fine, but the key issue was the 7.63mm pistol rounds used by the MP28 submachine gun, which consumed at least 60% during combat.

The Japanese side did not use bullets of this caliber, and even if they killed Japanese soldiers, they could not replenish them.

Our Party comrades in the Pingxi base area are indeed using them, but they have now dispersed into many small units and have moved to the outskirts. Where can we find people to replenish ammunition?

It's like going through another battle like this, and their submachine guns, the most crucial type of automatic firepower, would become something even worse than fire sticks.

At that time, their firepower density will be greatly reduced.

Unfortunately, the task that wasn't clearly stated in the envelope has only just begun.

Therefore, a battle similar to the one before must not happen again tonight, otherwise, with new casualties and losses, their situation will only worsen.

With this in mind, they could only try their best to leave the Japanese behind.

To achieve this goal, the group walked westward along the ancient city wall under the dim starlight, walking for more than five hours and covering dozens of miles.

It wasn't until 3:56 a.m., when they had far outpaced the Japanese pursuers and thought they were safe, that Hu Biao issued the order to rest.

Of course! Even if we start to rest, it's not like everyone just sits on the ground and that's it.

Safety is definitely a concern, and we also need to consider issues such as keeping warm.

Otherwise, with the temperature already close to zero, if we sit like this until dawn, I'm afraid many children will catch colds and fevers tomorrow.

After everyone stopped moving forward, Hu Biao opened his eyes wide and looked around, and immediately had an idea in mind.

After speaking, he issued a series of even more detailed commands:
"Get up quickly, do you see that sheltered little valley over there? Go there to rest, and first build a temporary shelter with a tarpaulin. We can't keep being exposed to the wind like this."

Also, dig out the smokeless stove and find some firewood to start a fire.

We'll heat up the water in the kettle to make milk powder, and give each person 200 ml of milk.

Crippled, Fatty, Old Cao, and Iron-Crutch Li, the four of you will pair up and stand guard on the left and right sides. Remember to stay far away from this side of the ravine.

This way, even if the Japanese come, we can buy more time to react.

There are quite a few details worth mentioning in Hu Biao's series of orders.

A rain tarp is a standard item for every seasoned time traveler; it's not large in size or weight, but it can play a crucial role in critical moments.

Besides being used to deal with heavy rain, the pre-installed clips can also be used to piece together a larger piece; it can be used to build a shelter that is windproof and rainproof, allowing people to rest better.

In addition, these tarpaulins were intentionally painted a yellowish-brown color, which provides a good camouflage effect.

It's like when Japanese pilots fly overhead, even with their eyes wide open, they would have a hard time spotting these shacks that blend into the earth.

The more accurate term for a smokeless stove is a light-proof, smoke-dispersing stove.

This is another seemingly insignificant but actually crucial, and sometimes even life-saving, camping tip.

Especially in the winter in northern regions, in such an environment where enemies and ourselves are locked in combat, it proves to be quite practical.

If you don't light a fire when camping in the wild, people will freeze and suffer serious illnesses, resulting in a lot of non-combat casualties, which is quite a loss.

Let's start a fire. The rising smoke and flames will be spotted by the Japanese from a great distance, thus revealing our hiding place.

Fortunately, Hu Biao and his team learned how to use this light-proof and smoke-dispersing stove in advance, based on information from the modern world.

The claim is that it was invented ahead of schedule because some sources say that this type of light-blocking and smoke-dispersing stove was invented by logistics personnel during the Huaihai Campaign; other sources say that it was invented by the Chinese People's Liberation Army during the Korean War.

There is no consensus on the exact date of its founding or its founder.

It doesn't matter who invented it; what matters is that Hu Biao and his team learned it.

Moreover, this type of stove, which creates several long, shallow pits on the ground, is designed to prevent light from rising and to disperse smoke. When it burns, the flame is extremely small, and the smoke it produces does not rise but flows along the ground and eventually disappears completely.

In short, it has many advantages, such as being able to cook and keep warm, and being difficult for others to discover.

This also allowed Hu Biao and his men to start a fire with peace of mind in this environment.

As for the order to give each person 200 milliliters of milk, which would quickly consume almost all the milk powder, it was a rather helpless decision by Hu Biao.

The small bowl of meat soup and the bowl of porridge I drank that evening were after a battle and a long evacuation; coupled with the cold weather, they consumed even more of my body's energy.

By now, everything has been digested, and everyone is starving.

Especially for these veteran transmigrators, their stronger physical attributes mean they have greater combat power, but also require more food intake to maintain normal physiological functions.

Just like a big truck and a small car, their fuel consumption is definitely different.

If the others could still eat until they were half full from the meat soup and porridge at night, then these people were just getting a taste of what was to come.

After all this commotion, Hu Biao was starting to feel some symptoms of palpitations, trembling hands, and sweating.

Although these symptoms were mild, he knew they could not be ignored.

These are typical symptoms of hypoglycemia. If it goes on for too long, it will seriously affect combat effectiveness; after all, if your hands are unsteady, how can you hit the Japanese?
So even though he knew that the emergency food he had on hand would be gone with each bite, he still had to drink some milk to replenish it.

Then the problem arose: we couldn't just let the adults drink it while the children watched enviously, could we? We might as well give each of them 200 milliliters.

As the old saying goes, with such a small amount of emergency food, no matter how much we try to save it, it's far from enough. The best solution is to find other ways to replenish it later...

No one objected to Hu Biao's arrangement.

After that, everyone except those with night blindness sat down to rest and got busy; however, besides Hu Biao and the guards, there were also the foreman and the other two.

While everyone else was busy, Hu Biao, along with his guards, beckoned the foreman to come aside.

During the evacuation, based on the accounts of the guards and Shizi, Hu Biao learned that the shot that killed Xiao Ding was actually fired by the new contractor.

Hu Biao had no objection to beating that spineless bastard to death, and he certainly wouldn't punish the contractor for it.

The crux of the matter, according to Hu Biao, is that dealing with the threat from the Japanese was already extremely difficult for them; if there were another unstable factor within the country, it would undoubtedly be even more troublesome.

Therefore, Hu Biao is now preparing to resolve this problem ahead of time by finding out the situation from the contractor before deciding how to handle it.

The reason for calling the guards along was, of course, to use the professional skills of a modern-day detective to determine whether the contractor was lying.

Thus, Hu Biao lowered one right hand, ready to draw his pistol and fire as quickly as possible.

He first took out a pack of cigarettes with his free left hand, gave one to himself and one to the other two, lit one with a lighter, took a puff, and then got straight to the point:

"Dude! I'm not going to argue with you. We've killed way too many Japanese soldiers, so the smell of blood and human lives on you can be smelled from far away."

You don't need to hide anything anymore, just tell us what really happened; don't let us have any bad misunderstandings, otherwise it won't look good for anyone."

Upon hearing this, the foreman took a deep drag and smoked half a cigarette.

After billowing thick smoke from his nostrils like a chimney, he gave Hu Biao a standard Russian military salute and said:

“Wang Jianwei, platoon leader of the Russian National Guard volunteer squad, greets Commander Hu.”

Hu Biao knew what the above 'volunteer formation' was all about.

The once-famous Wagnerian mercenaries in the modern world had their forces integrated and transferred by the Russians after their founder died in a plane crash.

A portion of them remain, presumably still fighting on the front lines, but their name has been changed to 'volunteer formation'.

So this contractor is no ordinary guy; he managed to rise to the rank of platoon leader, and it's quite reasonable that he has so many lives on his hands.

Even so, he and the guards did not express any further opinions, but instead gestured for the foreman to continue speaking.

Seeing this, the contractor, while smoking, briefly recounted how he had worked as a contractor in Quancheng, Shandong Province, ended up with a mountain of debt, and had no choice but to become a mercenary in Russia.

After saying that, he threw the cigarette butt, which was already the third one in his hand, on the ground and stomped it out.

He solemnly said to Hu Biao, "That's the situation. I do have quite a few lives on my hands, definitely a dozen or twenty."

But I can assure you with my own heart that every single one of them is white, none of them are my compatriots; do with me however you like, kill me or torture me, it's all up to you.”

After saying that, he spread his hands and stood there straight, looking quite like a bachelor.

Or perhaps, when he picked up the gun during the breakout and shot that spineless bastard Xiao Ding, he had already gone all out and was able to accept any outcome.

Hu Biao glanced quickly at the guard, who nodded slightly, indicating that the foreman was probably not lying, or at least he couldn't see where the lie was.

Having seen the guard's statement, Hu Biao had already made his decision.

He first said, "I've killed some Chinese on the Russian battlefield and it's no big deal; mercenaries are just people whose lives and fortunes are in the hands of fate, and everything is their own choice."

Then, he walked to the ground and picked up an M1 Garand rifle and a bullet box from the extra equipment, and handed them to Bao Gongtou.

At the same time, he shouted, "Brothers, welcome to the transmigrator team..."

******
Thirty minutes later, Hu Biao put down the pork kidney lunchbox in his hand and sighed silently, still feeling somewhat unsatisfied.

The makeshift shelter had been successfully built, and everyone squeezed inside.

The stove to keep out light and smoke was dug, and after the fire was lit, the temperature in the shack gradually increased.

After the water boiled, everyone drank 200 ml of milk and some hot water, and their pale complexions finally returned to normal.

The only pity was that although the palpitations and trembling hands of Hu Biao and other veterans who had drunk the milk had improved significantly, they seemed to be even hungrier.

However, with the emergency food reserves becoming increasingly scarce, Hu Biao was determined not to continue wasting them.

They simply called Annie and a few other veterans, along with Fang Youcai, to the stove to keep out the light and smoke.

He pulled out a military map of North China that he had captured from the Japanese soldiers during his previous time travel, along with a letter that was soaked in blood.

By the light of the fire in the stove, and with the help of Fang Youcai, the second platoon leader who was familiar with the surrounding terrain, they began to study it seriously.

As for the children, they were told to get some rest.

What are we studying? Of course, we're trying to deduce where the Seventh Company's mission should take place this time, and how to plan the route to minimize time and maximize safety.

Because the blood-stained letter contained the phrase "traveling westward along the Great Wall".

Confirming the mission destination was relatively easy for Hu Biao and his team.

Taking into account factors such as distance, terrain, and transportation, after some quiet discussion, they quickly identified three areas as having a high probability of being the most likely locations.

I don't know exactly which place it is.

However, I believe that once you go to the site and take a look, you should be able to confirm it.

Then, a very crucial question, or rather a difficult problem, was presented to us:

A dozen or so miles further west lies the border between Laishui and the neighboring Yi County. There is a place called Mendun Mountain there, which is an unavoidable transportation hub on the way to those three locations.

We must get through here to continue to the three suspected mission areas.

Mendun Mountain has been a strategic location fought over by military strategists since ancient times. The Japanese were just wicked, not stupid at all, and their tactical vision was quite good.

As early as one or two years ago, they built a stronghold here consisting of pillboxes and bunkers.

A small squad of Japanese soldiers, along with several puppet troops, were stationed there for a long time. They checked and blocked off people coming and going, causing great trouble for the base area.

During the first and second phases of the Hundred Regiments Offensive some time ago, the Pingxi base area planned to destroy this place.

As a result, even with the deployment of a battalion of regular troops and the cooperation of local forces, they still failed to capture it.

The key reason for this was that the Eighth Route Army was severely lacking in firepower for offensive operations, and the Japanese, with a small force, were able to hold out for a period of time by relying on fortifications such as pillboxes and bunkers.

Secondly, and more importantly, there is an old railway line, the Gaoyi Railway, that passes through Mendun Mountain.

Therefore, the Japanese troops in Yi County and Laishui would immediately send reinforcements to support the Mendunshan stronghold as soon as they received a request for help.

Moreover, these Japanese reinforcements were all rapidly mobilized by rail, with a Type 93 SO-MO armored vehicle, which could be used for both rail and road transport, often leading the assault.

If this thing were deployed on the European battlefield, it would be nothing more than a thin-shelled tin can, posing absolutely no threat.

However, against the Eighth Route Army, which had virtually no anti-armor capabilities, they were incredibly formidable.

In short, although the loss of seriously wounded personnel improved Hu Biao's mobility considerably, it was still far from reaching a normal level.

Getting through Mendun Mountain is extremely difficult.

After a long silence, Fang Youcai shared some of their previous experiences:
"Captain Hu! How about we stay hidden here for another day tomorrow, and then go through Mendun Mountain at night?"
The transportation routes of the former base passed through here.

Besides disguising themselves as civilians, they would either sneak through here at night when the Japanese soldiers were tired.

Alternatively, some troops could be sent to attack, tying down the Japanese firepower in the stronghold, ideally destroying their searchlights, so the rest could quickly pass through.

Hu Biao rejected the above suggestions without hesitation: "No way."

In the time that followed, facing the surprised looks from the crowd, Hu Biao was at a loss for how to explain his reasons for opposing the proposal.

After Fang Youcai made his suggestion, a strange image suddenly flashed through Hu Biao's mind:

In the dead of night, they tried to cross the railway as carefully as possible, but they were still discovered.

Under the relentless barrage of machine gun fire from the Japanese soldiers, Xie Liang, Ma Fei, and Zhu Xiu, three children with night blindness, were hit as they walked hand in hand and collapsed on the spot amidst splattering blood.

His life was forever frozen at the age of 12, just as his life was beginning.

Hu Biao himself knew that while his fellow transmigrators might be okay with this far-fetched reason, Fang Youcai and the others would absolutely not believe it.

So after organizing my thoughts, I changed my excuse:

"Believe me! We've only shaken off the Japanese soldiers behind us for now. They'll definitely catch up again tomorrow during the day. We won't have a chance to stay until nightfall."

Staying an extra day is not an option, and sneaking through at night is also unreliable.

This dire situation, akin to being caught between a rock and a hard place, immediately gave everyone a major headache...

(End of this chapter)