The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 473 What retreat?

As Hu Biao and his men packed up everything they intended to take, and threw anything they couldn't carry into the pillbox, preparing to burn it all down...

Fang Youcai and his four students and children, who were originally staying in the deserted village, also rushed over after receiving the signal.

Upon arriving at the destination, the first thing I heard from Xiao Cui was the good news that we would be able to have a mutton hot pot dinner later that night.

Everyone was overjoyed, especially a group of children who cheered loudly, filling the hilltop with a joyful atmosphere.

To be honest, after hearing the cheers and seeing the children's smiling faces, Hu Biao and his team felt a mix of pride and shame—a very complex feeling.

They say a half-grown boy can eat his father out of house and home.

Even if these children's appetites aren't as good as those of gluttons like Hu Biao, they're really not much different from an adult's.

They didn't eat enough last night or this morning.

However, these children were exceptionally sensible and kept quiet about it all.

Just like last night when they traveled all night, many of their little feet were blistered and bleeding, but no one complained.

It wasn't until before going to bed that Hu Biao and his men noticed that there were many mottled bloodstains on the socks of these people, which made them feel heartbroken.

No! This doesn't mean that all the children cheered loudly immediately upon hearing that they would be having a lamb feast today.

At least the two oldest children, the veteran and Fifteen, were not like that. Although they were happy to know there was good food, they were more concerned about other things.

After exchanging glances, the two reached a consensus.

Qi Qi walked over to Hu Biao's side. The older veteran, acting as a representative, hesitated for a moment, scratched his head, and then spoke somewhat embarrassedly:
"Captain Hu, these weapons were captured by your Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment, so it's your prerogative to decide how to handle them."

But judging from Uncle Black Star and Uncle Ai's actions now, it seems you're planning to burn down a lot of weapons and ammunition that you can't take with you, along with the Japanese pillboxes.

So instead of wasting it like this, could we each get a gun and some ammunition?

The Hanyang rifle I carry is so old that the bolt is deformed, and I often have to step on it to chamber a round, which is quite tiring to use.

Because he was too young and weapons were scarce in the army, Shiwu hadn't been assigned a gun in over a year since he enlisted.

Upon hearing the veteran's plea, Hu Biao's expression immediately became hesitant.

In fact, he had long noticed that the Hanyang rifle that the veteran cherished and always carried on his back was actually a second-hand, tattered piece of equipment.

The weapons they brought from the modern world were used to arm a group of novices.

Actually, there was an extra M1 Garand rifle, but it wasn't given to any of the veterans.

It's not that they're reluctant to part with it, but rather that their instinct is to prevent them from having guns; because if they have guns, they'll instinctively want to get involved when they encounter gun violence, which could lead to danger.

After all, as the old saying goes, those who drown are often the ones who know how to swim.

But looking at the two teenagers with expectant eyes and their pitiful words, Hu Biao couldn't bring himself to harden his heart.

After a pause, he reluctantly agreed.

"Go pick a gun and some ammunition! But let me make it clear beforehand: no heavy machine guns, no more than 50 rounds of ammunition, and no more than two grenades."

Most importantly, no one is allowed to participate in combat without my order.

Although the veteran and Fifteen were both heartbroken that the light machine gun, which they considered a precious treasure, was not allowed to be taken and had to be burned, they were still quite distressed.

There was also considerable dissatisfaction with the requirement that one could not participate in combat without orders.

But when they heard that Hu Biao had promised them both a rifle, 50 rounds of ammunition, and two grenades, they were overjoyed.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the veteran was carrying a Hanyang rifle; he only had three bullets in total, and they were the kind that were reloaded with black powder from the base's arsenal.

The standards Hu Biao provided made the two of them feel like they had struck it rich.

Without hesitation, the two men each picked out a Type 38 rifle that was about 80-90% new. They chose a small leather ammunition box, kept 50 rounds of ammunition, and regretfully threw away the rest. They also hung two small melon grenades on their bodies.

Even after getting a new gun, the veteran still had no intention of throwing away that old Hanyang rifle.

Upon seeing this, Mo Shuiyan wanted to speak up and tell the veteran not to carry such a fire poker-like thing, but then he thought of the current predicament of our Party and our army, which often valued weapons more than people because of the shortage of equipment.

The words that were about to come out were swallowed back down.

After seeing the old soldier and Shiwu each take a new gun and a lot of ammunition, Xiao Hao, the art troupe, Xie Liang, Ma Fei and other children all became envious.

Forgetting all about drooling over the fat sheep, they swarmed towards Hu Biao, with the smaller one even pleading:
"Uncle Hu, can we get a gun too? We want to fight the Japanese too."

"No! We'll talk about fighting when you're older." Hu Biao said sternly, refusing without giving a chance to argue; he would absolutely not let these children go to the battlefield.

If anything goes wrong, he'll regret it to the core.

However, seeing the children's pitiful appearance, Hu Biao still felt a pang of pity and added in a gentle tone:
"The Japanese devils' melon grenades, you all know how to use these, right? Then everyone take one for self-defense, remember not to use them recklessly."

Oh, right! Go see if you can find any Japanese army boots that fit properly, then change into them; if they're too big, remember to wear two extra pairs of socks.

Hu Biao's explanation about changing shoes contains a little joke.

Because the Japanese soldiers were short, their feet and the size of their shoes were naturally small.

During the Hundred Regiments Offensive some time ago, the Eighth Route Army captured a lot of Japanese Type 5 military boots, only to find that a large portion of them were simply too big to wear.

The only options are to try to modify it, or just throw it away.

Fortunately, these shoes are quite suitable for children to wear, much better than cotton shoes that expose the toes.

After a lot of work, Hu Biao packed up everything he needed to take, and Shi Zi was also burdened with a huge black pot.

Hu Biao took the cigarette butt from his mouth, flicked it lightly, and it flew into the pillbox.

Besides the weapons and ammunition that couldn't be taken away, there was also firewood from the kitchen, some blankets and sheets from the barracks, and some gasoline, kerosene, and vegetable oil poured inside.

It can be said that as soon as it comes into contact with even the slightest spark, it immediately bursts into flames.

It shouldn't be long before the ammunition inside explodes, completely destroying the last remaining pillbox of the Japanese at Mendun Mountain.

Against the backdrop of such a raging fire, the group headed down the mountain...

******
Although the description of cleaning up the battlefield is quite detailed, the actual time spent was not much; in fact, it hadn't even taken more than half an hour since the battle began.

At this point, the Japanese reinforcements still haven't arrived.

Because back when they were cleaning up the battlefield, Annie and Xiao Cui had already distributed a sum of money—US dollars, pounds, and military scrip—that they had brought from the modern world to the remaining puppet troops.

Although each person only had a thin stack of paper money, it was worth at least seven or eight thousand yuan at the current exchange rate.

In this era, although the purchasing power of 100 legal tender is far less than that of 37, when it could buy two large cows, it can still buy a small cow now that it has depreciated significantly.

This sum of money is quite a lot for an ordinary family.

Now, only 10 members of the puppet army that Wu Anguo and his group defected to were left.

When they reached the foot of the mountain and parted ways, their lips moved as if they were about to say something; however, they ultimately said nothing, turned around, and hurriedly left together along a path.

Logically, by this time, Hu Biao and his group should have been able to make a successful retreat.

But Hu Biao and his ilk are all the kind of guys who only want to take advantage and never want to suffer losses; the grudge that was chased like a dog by the Japanese yesterday and was beaten so badly can't be completely quelled by just taking down two pillboxes.
Besides! What if we don't really hurt these Japanese devils? What if they keep chasing us like ghosts?
So, of the plans Hu Biao and his team devised this morning, there's still one final step they haven't completed. In summary:

Retreat? What retreat? Let's ambush a wave of Japanese reinforcements, inflict heavy damage on them first, and then we'll talk...

(End of this chapter)