The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 485 Desperate Situation? (Two-part chapter combined)

Time: 6:47 AM.

The sky was already beginning to lighten.

Furthermore, in the eastern direction, some golden light was faintly visible, indicating that a golden sun would soon rise there.

This signifies that today is another exceptionally beautiful sunny day in late autumn.

However, at this moment, every single one of Hu Biao and the others had a deep look of despair on their faces.

No other reason than that! Around 5 a.m., they must have been desperately pushing forward and finally reached the very edge of the Japanese encirclement.

Unfortunately, this area was also where the Japanese troops were most abundant.

Here the Japanese had a company of infantry and a company of cavalry, a total of 370 or 380 men; and their physical strength and morale were in good condition.

In the past, three hundred and seventy or eighty Japanese soldiers wouldn't have been enough to drive Hu Biao and his men to despair.

After a long period of breaking through, they were all exhausted; their weapons and defenses were depleted, and their firepower was severely reduced.

They were completely powerless to break through the Japanese soldiers' blockade and were instead chased and forced to retreat in a sorry state.

Stumbling and fleeing east and west, they lost all sense of direction and were eventually forced to this high mountain.

Given the environment and terrain, they were completely trapped in a desperate situation.

At least three hundred heavily armed Japanese soldiers were positioned ahead, their gun barrels pointed directly at the hilltop, effectively eliminating any possibility of escape.

Behind the hill is a high cliff. Although the cliff is not a right angle of 90 degrees, the slope is still more than 70 degrees.

It looks bare, with almost no trees or platforms to cushion the descent speed when climbing down from here.

At the foot of the mountain, there is a lush birch forest, but what use is it?

Given the terrible terrain, the group only glanced at it before abandoning any thought of climbing down from there.

So, after struggling to break through for so long and losing so many people, did they ultimately fail and die here?

After considering these factors, the morale of the survivors was almost devastating.

For the time being, there are still 15 transmigrators, including Hu Biao, Annie, Black Star, AT, Uncle Bo, Lao Yu, Mo Shuiyan, Lao San, Mr. Nan Ze, Van Gogh, Lao Che, Xin Huo, Foreman, Shizi, and Sister Yi.

In addition, there were nine children including veterans, two female students including Song Jie, and one Eighth Route Army soldier named Fang Youcai.

The team still had 27 people in total, and every single one of them had a strong sense of resentment on their face, but they didn't know what to say.

In the end, he could only let out a long, dejected sigh, his face filled with indescribable loneliness.

Just then, a new development occurred.

About 300 meters below, there was a man wearing a Japanese military cap but a black silk jacket, with a Mauser pistol slung across his shoulder.

His current classic attire makes him look like a typical lackey translator.

He timidly poked his head out from behind a dirt slope, holding a megaphone made of rolled-up cardboard and shouting.

Because there were many open valleys and mountains nearby, the traitor's shouts, echoing repeatedly, quickly carried far.

"His Excellency Hu Biao, the Tiger of Shanghai, and his comrades."

Major Tanaka, commander of the military police company of the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade of the Imperial Army, extends his greetings on behalf of Major General Goro Mano, the brigade commander.

You and your companions are heroes of our time, and you naturally know the principle that those who are wise are those who know when to yield.

Why not lay down your weapons immediately? Major Tanaka guarantees your safety with the honor of his family and will treat you with the respect due to your status and position.

Otherwise, once we launch an attack, it will be the time for you to say goodbye to this world forever.

Major Tanaka is giving you ten minutes to consider this, starting now. If…

Even before those sounds had even begun, a tremendous commotion was clearly felt on the Japanese side.

This situation arose because, at this point, Major Tanaka probably felt that Hu Biao and his men could no longer escape.

Then they revealed the incredibly explosive news that the person they had been hunting was none other than the legendary Tiger of Shanghai, Hu Biao, and his accomplices.

Because of their numerous brilliant victories, Hu Biao and his comrades had become renowned throughout the Eastern battlefield.

Not to mention the Chinese soldiers, they were also very famous in the hearts of the Japanese soldiers; however, in the former's hearts, they were all good names, while in the latter's hearts, they were all bad names, as well as terrifying reputations.

After learning the identities of Hu Biao and the others, the Japanese soldiers, who had initially felt that their casualties the previous night were far too heavy, were relieved.

Not only did they find the casualty figures quite reasonable, but they even felt a sense of relief. It was incredibly lucky that only a few hundred people had died to stop the "Tiger of Shanghai."

In short, the Japanese soldiers below were all very excited and proud, and some were even secretly pleased.

As for Major Tanaka, he originally planned to kill Hu Biao and the others, so why did he change his mind and ask someone to persuade him to surrender?

It can only be said that a living Hu Biao, the Tiger of Shanghai, is far more valuable and has greater merit than a dead one. Major Tanaka is quite clear about this.

The decision to kill Hu Biao and his men was merely a helpless one made after a series of failed pursuits.

Now that he knew Hu Biao and his men were doomed, the Japanese major was filled with renewed ambition, and even his words of persuasion to surrender became more refined and literary.

Damn it! What do you mean by guaranteeing it with the family's reputation?
He was the second son of a farming family in Sapporo, with no family honor whatsoever.

Unfortunately, the translator, who was acting as a lackey, didn't even finish his persuasion speech, nor did he explain what they would do if Hu Biao and his men didn't surrender in ten minutes.

Hu Biao, who was on the mountaintop at the time, felt a sudden surge of anger.

First, we finally understand why these Japanese devils are so relentlessly pursuing us, like they're on steroids, with a show of no return.

It turned out that at some point, the Japanese soldiers had already learned their identities.

In a sense, the veterans and their children were implicated by them; otherwise, the process of the group of children following Fang Youcai on the mission might not have been so dangerous and difficult.

Secondly, damn those little devils, who do they think they are?

As descendants of the Chinese nation, even if they were in a terrible and wretched state in the modern world, they would never surrender to the Japanese.

Before the sycophantic translator could finish delivering all the persuasion to surrender through the megaphone,

Hu Biao's anger flared, and he growled, "Old cucumber."

With everyone's good understanding, Uncle Bo knew exactly what Dead Puji was thinking just from being called out by name; what else could it be but to get rid of that traitorous lackey to stop bothering everyone?
That's exactly what he wanted to do right now.

He immediately rolled to the edge of the hilltop, raised his Mauser sniper rifle, aimed for three seconds, and then pulled the trigger.

Normally, with Uncle Bo's amazing marksmanship and feel for guns, he wouldn't need to spend so much time aiming at a target that's only a little over 300 meters away.

Generally, you can aim briefly, pull the trigger, and that's usually it.

His serious aim was entirely because he wanted to achieve a better result: to smash that traitor's mouth.

And Uncle Bo did not miss this time either. After pulling the trigger, a 7.92mm Mauser rifle bullet flew out at a speed of 755 meters per second.

Before the sycophantic translator could react, the bullet had struck the center of the cardboard megaphone in his hand with perfect precision.

Then, the bullet struck his open mouth, shattering his soft tongue and oral cavity before exiting through the back of his head with a spray of blood. After the first shot, the Japanese soldiers saw their traitorous translator, his face filled with terror, fall backward to the ground, completely dead.

In a way, Hu Biao and his group expressed their thoughts through their actions:

Surrender? Go to hell.

The above process of persuading him to surrender actually involved Major Tanaka saying a sentence and the sycophantic translator immediately translating the previous sentence; in other words, he was forcibly interrupted before he could finish his flowery persuasion.

Major Tanaka made his announcement from the side.

Even so, when the sudden gunshot rang out, he was startled. It wasn't until he realized that the other side couldn't hit him at all, and his men looked over in surprise, that he realized he had embarrassed himself.

Seeing the lifeless body of the traitorous translator, he felt as if he had been slapped in the face in public.

It was not only painful, but also extremely embarrassing.

In an instant, a surge of immense anger welled up within him, and Major Tanaka was about to issue an order for his men to launch an immediate attack and kill Hu Biao and the others on the spot.

Major Tanaka held back the order just as it was about to be given.

The reason for suppressing the order was definitely not out of mercy or concern for the many children above.

This guy simply believes that the imperial newspapers must have reported on the major event of killing Hu Biao, the Tiger of Shanghai, and his companions repeatedly and in detail.

If I were to issue an order to attack immediately in a fit of rage...

It will definitely be mentioned in the newspapers that he promised ten minutes to consider at the last minute, but ultimately failed to do so.

He might be criticized for this, making him seem uncouth and damaging his image as an imperial hero.

Thinking that Hu Biao and the others were now in a desperate situation and couldn't escape anyway, they figured waiting another ten minutes wouldn't hurt.

Major Tanaka forcibly suppressed the order, glanced at his watch at the latest time, and decided to generously grant Hu Biao and the others ten more minutes of life...

******
After rummaging through his pockets, Hu Biao pulled out a pack of unopened cigarettes, but the box was badly deformed from being handled.

Damn it! This whole mess is just a pain in the ass.

In the past, when he traveled through time, the cigarettes he brought were never enough; it was okay if he could capture Japanese cigarettes to smoke, but many times he had to roll up tobacco leaves with newspapers.

They even used newspapers to roll up leaves, which was incredibly pungent.

At that time, he was thinking about when he could have enough sand smoke brought from the modern world to smoke.

This time, he finally got what he wanted. He even had a new, unopened bag of food on him, but he was about to be killed off. Just thinking about that made Hu Biao feel no joy at having achieved his goal.

He opened the cigarette box and stuffed a crumpled, sandy cigarette into his mouth.

Then, after casually handing the cigarette box to the AT next to him, he began to give instructions:

"Everyone who smokes, light one up and get ready for battle."

"Hold on for as long as we can. When we run out of bullets, we'll throw stones. Even if we can't escape today, the Japanese won't be able to take us without losing hundreds of men."

AT acknowledges that Hu Biao's statement above is entirely correct.

Since they're destined to die here, we should kill as many Japanese soldiers as possible to make it worthwhile.

After casually taking the sand cigarette, he instinctively glanced at the children on the side, especially Cao'er, who looked like a timid little deer.

After thinking about something, he couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

Because these time travelers, even if they die here, can be perfectly resurrected in the modern world.

Remarkably, in this time travel, even Hu Biao, the first guy to travel through time, and their actual leader, died, so they can no longer travel through time.

However, they can still live well in the modern world, in an era when that country has become powerful.

But what about Cao'er and the others? They can't be resurrected, and their lives have only just begun; they haven't even experienced all the wonderful things in life yet.

Just thinking about this made him wish he could trade his own life for the chance for Cao'er to be resurrected.

However, he knew perfectly well that this was nothing but wishful thinking. Like a little angel, the grass was destined to die here today.

A surge of intense resentment welled up in his heart, making him want to howl at the sky and vent his frustration.

At that moment, Van Gogh spoke up and asked a seemingly unrelated question:
"Has any of you been to the Motianling Cliff on the Yinping Ancient Road in northern Sichuan Province?"

Yinping Ancient Road is not a popular tourist attraction, and people from other provinces rarely go there; in fact, not many people seem to know or have even heard of it.

Xiao Cui and Lao K, both from Sichuan Province, were among the time travelers and might have been to this place, but they have both died in battle.

Faced with Van Gogh's question, everyone instinctively shook their heads, indicating that they had never been to that place.

At the same time, they were all quite surprised. Now that things were so urgent, why did Lao Cao ask such a nonsensical question?

Only Annie, the chief of staff of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment, had a sudden flash of inspiration.

Then his expression turned serious, and he asked a question in return:
"Old Cao! Are you talking about the Yinping Ancient Road that Deng Ai took when he entered Shu during the Three Kingdoms period, and the legendary Motianling Cliff where the most Wei soldiers fell to their deaths?"

“Yes, that’s it.” Van Gogh nodded to confirm.

Then, with time running out, and no longer in the mood to show off, he went straight to the point and stated his thoughts:

“I’ve been to Motianling. I remember that the terrain and slope on the north side of the cliff there are similar to the situation here now.”

However, the cliffs here are actually much lower.

So, since Deng Ai and his group managed to roll off the cliff by living on felt mats, it's understandable.

And they eventually reached Jiangyou Pass, conquering the naturally fortified Shu Kingdom. Why don't we try it, even if it's a last resort?

No sooner had the words fallen than Mr. Nanze raised his objection. He had not read any relevant history books, but had he not watched the TV series "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"?
I didn't react well to the question about Van Gogh before, not because...

He frowned and said, "I remember that many Wei soldiers have died here from falling."

Even Deng Ai himself, if it weren't for the bodies of his own fallen comrades as a buffer, might have died in the fall as well, and the Shu Kingdom could have held on for a few more years.

So, isn't rolling down from here a bit too risky? Who knows how many of us will survive if we do that?

Van Gogh simply asked a question, and Mr. Nanze completely lost his temper.
"Isn't this because there's no better way? If you have any other better ideas, that would be great. I don't want to keep going like this."

Soon after, someone raised another crucial question.

Mo Shuiyan gestured to Fang Youcai and the others with his eyes, and then said, "Even if we are willing to use such a crazy method as rolling down, we still need to ask them if they agree."

For some unknown reason, Fang Youcai, the group of children, and even the two female students, Song Jie, all had their heads down, seemingly lost in thought.

Mo Shuiyan's statement made a lot of sense, and Hu Biao quickly called out to Fang Youcai:

"Fang Youcai, Platoon Leader Fang."

At Hu Biao's call, Fang Youcai and the others finally came to their senses, but their reaction was quite dramatic; they abruptly stood up, stared wide-eyed at Hu Biao, and asked:
"Captain Hu, you really are Commander Hu of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment, and the others are your comrades..."

(End of this chapter)