The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 487 Variables (Bonus Chapter for "The Song of the Vanishing Sword")
Before and after Hu Biao and his men rolled off the cliff, there was actually a very important situation, but unfortunately, neither Hu Biao and his men, nor the Japanese soldiers, noticed it.

And this situation quickly sparked a huge trend.

To be more specific, we need to rewind time by about twenty minutes; rewind to the time when that traitorous lackey who was shot dead by Uncle Bo was holding a cardboard megaphone.

When he uttered the words, "Respected Lord Hu Biao, the Tiger of Shanghai,"

In a forest a few miles west of the mountaintop, a group of three men dressed as commoners, each carrying a bundle of firewood on their backs, suddenly stopped in their tracks.

Their eyes met, filled with utter shock.

The reason is simple: they were elite soldiers from the guard company of the Pingxi base area headquarters.

Under General Song's orders, they secretly followed the retreating Yamazaki Battalion, intending to find out why the Japanese suddenly withdrew.

Since yesterday morning, their group of more than a dozen people have been divided into several small groups and followed us in disguise.

The longer they followed the Japanese soldiers and the more they saw traces of battle and the Japanese soldiers' arrangements, the more shocked they became.

First, based on the traces of the battle, they can draw a conclusion.

The reason the Yamazaki Battalion hastily withdrew was because the Japanese needed to divert more troops to hunt down another mysterious force; and this mysterious force was small in size, but its combat power was terrifying.

After one night, the Japanese soldiers probably suffered hundreds of casualties.

Secondly, even though they had experienced numerous Japanese sweeps, and each of them was a key target, this was the first time they had seen the Japanese go to such lengths to hunt down a small group of people.

They were not the Japanese targets, and they were extremely familiar with the terrain. It took them a lot of effort to find their way here; there were several times when they were almost discovered by the Japanese.

Suddenly, people became increasingly curious about the identities of the members of this mysterious team.

After hearing the voices urging them to surrender, the three finally understood the situation, learned the identities of those people, and completed the task assigned by General Song.

At this moment, however, they felt no joy whatsoever.

After the initial shock, everyone's eyes were filled with anxiety, and without even discussing it with each other, they immediately took action.

The older man at the head of the group drew a Mauser pistol from his waist; the other two younger men took out rifles from the firewood.

Without the slightest hesitation, he ran desperately toward the direction from which the sound came.

Because they clearly understood that Commander Hu and his comrades were not only a banner of resistance against Japan, but also one of the sources of their confidence that the Japanese were not invincible.

If the Japanese were to capture or kill them alive here, it would be a huge blow to the morale of the people in their resistance against Japan.

Another point is that although they did not know the secret that the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment had joined our Party, they still had immense respect for Hu Biao and his men's achievements.

They believed that although they were part of the National Revolutionary Army, they were absolutely different from other National Revolutionary Army soldiers and belonged to a friendly force that could be trusted and fought alongside them.

There was an instinctive and strong sense of closeness; they didn't want to see anything happen to Hu Biao and the others.

Therefore, they immediately took action and took the initiative to attack the Japanese rear, hoping to help draw the Japanese fire and give Commander Hu and his men a chance to break through.

However, even when they were running at top speed, they sped along the mountain paths.

But because it was too far away, it was ultimately too late.

When they rushed to the mountainside of a nearby mountain, just as they could see Hu Biao and the others at the summit, they saw the last couple on the mountain leap off.

They then clung tightly to each other and rolled around, quickly disappearing into the birch forest.

The three of them only glanced at the steep cliff before they gasped in shock, a surge of immense grief and indignation welling up within them…

******
"Let's go! Let's go down to the bottom of the cliff and see if we can find them alive or dead."

A short while later, the leading man roared out these words, his voice filled with indescribable sorrow.

The other two men had no objections either; as long as Commander Hu and the others had a sliver of hope of survival, they were equally unwilling to give up.

After reaching a consensus, the three of them ran again, taking a winding and circuitous route until they finally arrived at the edge of the birch forest below the cliff.

However, by this time, an hour and a half had already passed.

Upon arriving there, they saw several corpses, both men and women, including a Japanese major whose skull was smashed to pieces. There was also a large amount of dry grass and some damaged, abandoned equipment on the ground, but no sign of any living people.

After carefully examining the bodies, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief, because they did not find the bodies of Hu Biao or Hu Tuanzuo among them.

They were quite certain about this.

Although none of them had ever met Commander Hu in person, they had seen him in the newspapers more than once.

Although the photos in the newspapers were quite blurry, many reporters used detailed descriptions to comment on and depict Hu Jintao's appearance, saying that:

With a high, straight nose and a sculpted, chiseled face, his overall demeanor combined elegance and valor—he was truly one of the most handsome and valiant men in the world.

There are even rumors that the most popular dancers and socialites in the Shanghai concessions are willing to pay extra to spend a night with Hu Tuanzuo, which gives you an idea of ​​how extraordinary their looks must be.

Based on the above, it is clear that none of these corpses meet these criteria.

Seeing the bloated corpses with their clothes stuffed with dry grass, they knew perfectly well that Hu Biao and the others had managed to avoid falling to their deaths on such a high and steep cliff using this method.

Realizing this, the three breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to bury the bodies except for the Japanese major.

After all, the people who followed Hu Biao in his operations, even if they weren't his famous comrades, were definitely good sons and daughters of China who dared to fight the Japanese. They couldn't be left to rot in the wilderness like that.

Before they could find a suitable place to dig a hole, the sound of dense footsteps could be faintly heard.

Based on their long experience dealing with the Japanese, they could immediately tell that it was the sound of those big leather boots that the Japanese had, also known as the Showa 5 military boots, stomping on the ground.

Without a doubt, the persistent Japanese devils have returned.

And it's not far from here; we'll arrive here soon.

What to do next? Faced with this question, the two soldiers looked at the man in the lead, because he was their squad leader.

After thinking for a few seconds, the squad leader had an idea in mind.

He began to instruct, "Zhou Wu, you're the fastest. Go after the headquarters right away and make sure to tell General Song as quickly as possible that Commander Hu is being hunted by the Japanese."

"Don't worry, squad leader. Even if I run myself to the point of vomiting blood, I'll run back as fast as I can," the soldier called Zhou Wu solemnly assured him.

The squad leader nodded after hearing this, and then began to instruct another soldier:
"Li Hai, follow the trail left by Commander Hu and his men, and provide them with all the assistance you can."

"Okay." Li Hai solemnly agreed, but then couldn't help asking worriedly, "Squad leader, what are you planning to do?"

The squad leader drew his pistol again and said firmly:

“I’ll go and lure the Japanese away. Even if I can’t completely draw them away, I can at least buy some time for Commander Hu and the others. They are much more important than us, and they absolutely cannot die here.”

Upon hearing this, Li Hai and Zhou Wu wanted to object.

The main reason was that they knew the mission their squad leader was undertaking was far too dangerous; but before they could even speak, the squad leader had already said decisively, "Execute the order."

"Yes," Li Hai and Zhou Wu agreed through gritted teeth.

After that, the three of them went their separate ways.

Leaving aside the squad leader who lured away the Japanese soldiers, and Li Hai who went to chase after Hu Biao and the others, let's just talk about Zhou Wu who went back to report the news.

Because during last night's pursuit, the Japanese side not only suffered heavy casualties, but was also exhausted.

Therefore, he didn't encounter many Japanese soldiers on his way back. Even when he did, their defenses were very lax, so it was a very smooth journey.

More importantly, it benefited from the first and second phases of the recent Hundred Regiments Offensive.

The Pingxi base area was in the hands of the Japanese, who captured several radios. Although Commander Song led the headquarters to retreat towards the Taihang Mountains, he left behind some support personnel with radios.

Although the number of people left behind was small, once Zhou Wu arrived, they were able to use the radio to send the news that the Japanese were chasing and killing Commander Hu as soon as possible.

This added a positive twist to the fate of Hu Biao and his group...

(End of this chapter)