The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 510: Sequel and Legend (Two-in-One Chapter)

More than an hour later, with 20 minutes left, Hu Biao was about to return to the modern world.

He scattered the last handful of Mr. Nanze's ashes into a mountain stream; then, while squatting to wash his hands, he said to the children:

"It's already past midnight, and we have to continue our journey early tomorrow morning, so you should go back and rest early."

My stomach was a little upset, so I went to the restroom and came back.

While Hu Biao said this, he actually wanted to find an excuse to send the children away and then return to the modern world without anyone noticing.

So as not to frighten them with the sudden disappearance of the scene.

As for whether his quiet departure might cause some trouble among the children and the comrades who came to the rescue, making them ask with concern?
Hu Biao had naturally already considered and made arrangements for this situation.

He had already taken some time to write a short message beforehand.

The letter was secretly slipped into Cao'er's cotton coat pocket. The contents of the letter told everyone that he had to leave alone because of some things.

Safety is a concern, as solo activities offer greater flexibility.

He also left behind pounds and dollars, weapons, medicines, and other supplies, all of which were given to the Pingxi base area as a small token of their appreciation.

Finally, it is hoped that the Pingxi base area will take care of the children as much as possible when it is convenient.

For example, find a skilled doctor to examine Cao'er's eyes; as long as it can be cured, don't worry about the cost of medicine; when the base area opens a primary school, give Xiaohao a chance to go to school.

Tell the ten-and-a-half-year-old that his father was very brave when he died in battle...

After several days of fleeing and fighting, and with several of them injured in the daytime battles, even though none of the injuries were fatal, the nine children were now completely exhausted.

Even so, they still mustered their spirits and participated in the cremation of Uncle Bo, Black Star, and others, as well as the ceremony of scattering their ashes into the stream.

In this way, we send off these uncles, aunts, and other relatives who were kind to us but whom we didn't spend much time with.

Having persevered to this point in time, their faces were already deathly pale, and their bodies were extremely tired and weak.

Faced with Hu Biao's instruction to "go back and rest early," they all agreed and, supporting each other, walked towards a temporary campsite two or three hundred meters away.

After walking about ten steps, Cao'er suddenly stopped and turned back to ask:
"Uncle Hu, the veteran said the mission is complete now, and he'll take me to the hospital to treat my eyes tomorrow; after my eyes are healed, will I still be able to see you and Uncle IT?"

After Cao'er's voice faded, the others also stopped in their tracks.

Although they didn't say anything, their eyes were filled with reluctance and inquiry as they looked at Hu Biao.

They didn't know that Hu Biao was about to run away on his own; but they did know that Hu Biao would be leaving in the next day or two at most.

Since he began his time travels, apart from the initial Battle of Shanghai, Hu Biao has never encountered a place he has traveled to twice in a row.

Therefore, he probably won't be coming to the Pingxi base area again in the future.

Then there will probably never be another chance to meet these children again.

But just like back on the Great Wall in ancient times, Hu Biao and his group told Cao'er a white lie by saying that "Uncle IT went to a villager's house to recuperate from his injury."

At this moment, Hu Biao was still prepared to lie.

He nodded vigorously and said with absolute certainty, "Yes! Take good care of yourselves, we will definitely meet again."

After he finished speaking, he turned around, waved, and strode away. He was mainly worried that if he stayed any longer, the children would see through his disguise.

Or perhaps, in a state of inexplicable melancholy, he worried that he would reveal a flaw.

Behind him, an old soldier, sensing something amiss, opened his mouth as if to say something.

In the end, it turned into a salute; the other eight children, together with Hu Biao, gave a standard military salute to his retreating figure.

Just like when they first met on the Great Wall...

Hu Biao then walked for more than ten minutes straight, with only three minutes left before he was to be teleported back to the modern world, and no one was chasing after him.

They found a relatively flat rock by a small pond and sat down.

He took out a pack of two Shashi cigarettes that he still had left, as his journey was about to end. He lit one and smoked it silently while patiently waiting for the return time to arrive.

Compared to previous returns, when they always returned laden with large and small boxes of spoils.

Apart from a Browning M1911 pistol and a spare magazine, Hu Biao had no other spoils of war left.

However, considering that none of the nine children are dead or crippled, and there are no spoils to bring back, it doesn't seem to be that important.

Nothing unexpected happened in the last few minutes of this trek.

Three minutes later, Hu Biao saw a line of faintly glowing words flash across the surface of the small pool in front of him. It was the settlement message for each crossing:

Congratulations to all the time travelers, this time travel journey has come to an end.

Because the number of time travelers who died in this time travel was too high, only Hu Biao survived.

To ensure the smooth progress of the next time travel, some of the personnel who died in this battle will continue to participate in the next time travel journey.

The list of personnel who will be able to continue participating is currently undecided.

The answer will be revealed when the next time travel begins a month later.

Except for Xiao Ding, all other participants in this trek will experience a slight improvement in their overall physical qualities, including stamina, strength, speed, nerve reaction, and recovery ability.

However, because the number of times these individuals have improved their physical fitness in various aspects differs, they will receive different evaluations.

The five of them—Shizi, Lao Che, Baogongtou, Yijie, and Xinhuo—have all improved their physical fitness once. Hmph! They're just a few slightly stronger greyhounds.

The four men—the thug, the third brother, the guard, and Old K—have all improved their physical abilities twice in total. They're nothing special! They're just some pretty good greyhounds.

Xiao Cui, the warehouse manager, Xu Feng, Huang Adi, Mr. Nan Ze, and Van Gogh have all improved their physical fitness three times in total. That's alright! You guys are already the kings among greyhounds, but unfortunately, you're still greyhounds.

Lao Yu, Hei Xing, Mo Shuiyan, and the other two have collectively improved their physical abilities four times, which is quite impressive! They are already the dominant force among greyhounds.

Annie, AT, and Uncle Bo have collectively improved their physical fitness five times! Wow! The three of you have already transcended the category of greyhounds and entered the category of Tibetan mastiffs.

Hu Biao's physical fitness has improved seven times in total. If he could only be considered a young tiger or a big cat before, he can now be called a splendid tiger.

Friendly reminder: Tigers are called big cats when they are 0 to 6 years old, spotted tigers when they are 6 to 12 years old, and big tigers when they are 12 to 18 years old.

18到24岁称白额，24岁到30岁称山君，30岁以上称玄坛。

Please note that the above number of upgrades only represents the number of times and data that the transmigrator has been upgraded, and does not represent the individual's final strength.

An individual's ultimate strength must also include their physical attributes and individual combat skills.

Xiao Ding, the time traveler, will not be resurrected because he attempted to escape and drastically altered history.

In addition! Besides receiving another slight improvement in his physical fitness, Hu Biao also received the reward of mastering various types of Chinese hot pot.

Finally, the additional rewards for the Chinese family in the modern world 85 years later have been determined and will be distributed subsequently...

Hu Biao quickly read through the above content without even having time to make a comment.

He could already feel his body gradually turning into countless points of light; the time to return to the modern world had finally come.

Two seconds later, there was no trace of Hu Biao left at the edge of the small pond.

******
Just like every time he returned to the modern world before, everything in this world did not stop as soon as Hu Biao, a transmigrator from the modern world, left.

It continued to develop along the same lines as before.

Therefore, the great chaos in North China did not subside immediately. Various forces continued to engage in numerous battles, large and small, with the Japanese, which lasted for more than a month before finally calming down.

There are a few things worth mentioning during this month.

Firstly, although the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment knew that their commander was safe after receiving Hu Biao's telegram, they had already engaged in firefights with several Japanese units.

It's not like we can retreat immediately and return to the Pingxi base area right away. Besides! After hearing about the deaths of Annie and other officers, Zhao Zheng was filled with immense anger and didn't really want to retreat for the time being.

They immediately engaged in a fierce battle with the Japanese in areas such as Pingshan and Jingxing.

In addition to the 18 main regiments of regular troops, the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment also had more than 30,000 second-line troops and civilian laborers to support it.

On the Japanese side, a division, an independent mixed brigade, an independent tank battalion, and dozens of aircraft provided support.

Such a head-on, head-on battle has not occurred in North China for a long time.

At the very beginning of the war, many factions believed that the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment was doomed to defeat.

Unexpectedly, during the week-long battle, the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment held its ground during the day by relying on its defensive fortifications, and launched attacks at night when the Japanese planes were unable to take off.

Let the whole night be their domain.

After a week of fighting, the Japanese side ended up at a disadvantage.

In particular, a Japanese tank battalion that could rampage freely in other places was lured into an ambush and completely annihilated by a large number of rocket launchers.

This serves as a demonstration to all parties that even without Hu Biao and his comrades in command, the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment still possesses formidable fighting power.

Unfortunately, the Japanese North China Area Army, seeing the situation was dire, quickly requested reinforcements from its headquarters.

Under strict orders from headquarters, two divisions of the Japanese Kwantung Army entered the pass overnight to provide support.

After receiving the news, Zhao Zheng realized that he could not achieve any greater results, so he withdrew his troops and returned to his base. During their retreat, the Japanese, who had been badly beaten, did not even dare to pursue them.

Of course, the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment also suffered considerable casualties in the first battle.

The casualties numbered in the tens of thousands, and a large amount of ammunition and food were wasted, but overall, all of this was worth the cost.

On the one hand, after they gained a reputation, more talented people took the initiative to join them, including many intellectuals from the Beijing-Tianjin area.

These people played a significant role in the development of the base area in various aspects.

On the other hand, it was equivalent to giving the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment a good real combat training exercise.

The most crucial aspect was that it provided his troops with invaluable experience in large-scale combat, experience that could never be gained on the training ground.

Through continuous analysis and the return of wounded soldiers, their fighting strength only increased...

Secondly, the fact that the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment had flexed its muscles and fought a direct confrontation with the Japanese made Principal Bald and Yan Laoxi more wary.

But if you really think about it, it's not a big deal either.

Although the bald principal was already troubled by the unruly Hu Biao, he feared that with his subordinates becoming even stronger, Hu Biao would become increasingly difficult to control and manage.

However, in this incident, the process of the Nationalist troops in Zhongtiao Mountain launching an offensive against the Japanese in southern Shanxi under his orders exposed too many problems.

For example, the conflict between the Central Army and the Northwest Army had reached an alarming level.

The defensive fortifications along the Zhongtiao Mountains were weak. Although it was called the "Eastern Maginot Line," it was actually just for show and struggled to withstand the limited counterattacks from the Japanese.

Food reserves were insufficient, and some troops went hungry just three days after the start of the war.

Command was chaotic, a large number of officers were ineffective, and even the Fifth Army was involved in opium trafficking and arms smuggling, which were booming.

In short, this major battle exposed the weakness of the Nationalist army's Zhongtiao Mountain defense line several months ahead of schedule.

The situation is much better than when we were facing a large-scale attack from the Japanese army.

After learning about the above situation, the bald principal cursed for a long time in his office; you must know that the Zhongtiao Mountain defense line is extremely important and is a strategic location that absolutely cannot be lost.

They immediately dispatched a capable team to reorganize the Zhongtiao Mountains.

They killed many people, replaced a number of generals and officers, and allocated some food and equipment to them.

But how effective will all this effort be in the end, and will it be able to prevent Zhongtiao Mountain from suffering a crushing defeat in a future Japanese offensive?

Even the bald-headed principal himself wasn't sure for the time being.

In this way, the Jin-Northwest guerrilla area, which was not far away, or the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment, became a very important supporting force.

Therefore, while the bald-headed principal had some reservations about the formidable strength displayed by the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment, he was mostly pleased with it.

As for what Yan Xishan thinks? To be honest, that's not really important, as long as he doesn't defect to the Japanese.

In terms of actual combat effectiveness, the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment was not much weaker than this guy's Jin-Sui Army.

If Yan Laoxi doesn't cause trouble, things will be fine; the two sides can even do some business and cooperate in battle. But if he really tries to create friction, we'll show him what it means to have a firm grip on power...

Thirdly, aside from the fact that the Japanese learned of this great chaos in North China because of Hu Biao and his comrades, it was all too late.

Despite being able to spare some troops to search the area under attacks from various Chinese forces, Hu Biao could no longer be found.

This section mainly discusses the story of Okamura Tsuji, a prominent Japanese figure.

When the mustard gas had mostly dissipated and the remaining Japanese soldiers rushed into the convoy, Okamura Tsuji had already been in shock for a while, writhing in excruciating pain from having his vital organs squeezed so hard.

Seeing this, the Japanese soldiers quickly tried to pry open the fingers of Lao Yu's right hand.

As a result, Lao Yu's right hand seemed to be welded to the spot. The process of bending it aggravated the severely damaged vital organs, and Gangcun Ninji was awakened by the pain, and then fainted from the pain again.

In desperation, the Japanese soldiers cut off Lao Yu's right hand, but it still had no effect.

In the end, they had to cut off each of the fingers on Lao Yu's right hand to rescue the Japanese lieutenant general.

Upon seeing the wound, the Japanese garrison commander at Zijing Pass, an army lieutenant, nearly fainted and burst into tears.

Unfortunately, the limited number of troops stationed at Zijing Pass were not equipped with any field hospitals or military doctors; if they were sent elsewhere, they would probably die on the way.

In this critical situation, a high reward was immediately offered in the small town of Zijing Pass, claiming that whoever could save Lord Gangcun would be rewarded with a large amount of gold and beautiful women.

As the saying goes, "a great reward will surely bring forth brave men," and in the end, an old widower who usually made a living by castrating livestock stepped forward.

However, after lying in bed for half a year, he was only able to get out of bed and walk slowly with his legs tucked together. In the future, he will only be able to squat to urinate.

This is combined with the reward that Hu Biao saw on the surface of the small pond before he was teleported back to the modern world.

Therefore, this time, the mysterious entity teleported Hu Biao and his group to their destination.

It seems the purpose wasn't to kill the Japanese lieutenant general, but rather to let them experience the hardships faced by residents of the base areas during the War of Resistance against Japan, and to ensure the survival of Cao'er and the other nine children...

On the surface, the Japanese claimed that they had achieved a great victory in this sweep.

They successfully killed several of Hu Biao's close associates, severely damaging the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment.

In order not to dampen the morale of the Chinese military and civilians in their resistance against Japan, the elder in the Baota area secretly discussed the matter with Zhao Zheng via radio and reached a consensus:
Based on the possibility that some of the fallen soldiers, such as Annie, would later have siblings who resembled them, who would then rejoin Hu Biao's forces to continue fighting the Japanese.

In the Baota area, they would instruct veterans and their children, as well as those in the Pingxi base area who had prior knowledge of the situation.

The news that Annie and the others had died in battle should not be disclosed; it should be changed to say that they were only injured.

At the same time, they refuted the propaganda of the Japanese victory and presented the corpses of warehouse managers, thugs, Huang Adi, and Xiao Cui, among others.

They said they simply found some people who looked similar, killed them, and then substituted them for others.

That is why not many Chinese people believed the news that Annie and others had died in battle.

On the contrary, from that day onwards, related news began to circulate from time to time across North China.

For example, someone claimed that deep in Baiyangdian Lake, he met Annie, who was sailing a small boat. Chief of Staff Annie ate stewed fish, lotus-scented chicken with lotus seeds and peanuts, but drank at least two jin of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor).

Wang Er, a notorious traitor in Baoding, was shot dead by a warehouse manager from 800 meters away...

(End of this chapter)