The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 579 Madam! You didn't want this either... (Combined Chapter)

It was a little after 2 p.m. that day, on the dirt road leading from C Shacheng to Yueyang City.

When Sergeant Kazuya shouted, "Everyone, rest for 20 minutes and grab your lunch while you're at it,"

Even though Yuzuki Mitsuru had been in the army for two or three years and held the rank of Private First Class.

After throwing away the entrenching tool with its handle stained with blood from worn-out palms, he slumped heavily to the ground, not wanting to move a single finger.

There was no way around it! Yuzuki felt extremely tired; his physical and mental strength were at their limits.

Despite their smooth advance in the attack on C City, constantly defeating one Nationalist army unit after another and achieving some brilliant results.

However, behind these brilliant achievements lies the fact that they have been engaged in high-intensity combat, which has taken a heavy toll on their mental and physical strength.

It was thanks to the effectiveness of the "Marching Pill" that they were able to persevere throughout the journey.

They had just captured C Sand City, but before they could rest and recuperate in the city as promised by their superiors, and enjoy the privileges of the victors and occupiers, they were left without the opportunity to do so.

The legendary Tiger of Shanghai, Hu Biao, that powerful and terrifying man, and his equally powerful comrades, led the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment to the battlefield near C-Sha.

The 68th Regiment of the 3rd Division, with more than 3,000 Imperial warriors, was wiped out in one of their ambushes, leaving not a single survivor.

Fortunately, it is said that the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment also suffered heavy casualties in this battle and is in a state of extreme weakness.

In order to take advantage of the situation and annihilate Hu Biao and his comrades, Yuzuki Mitsuru did not get any time to rest.

Because his 40th Division was tasked with covering the flanks of the 3rd and 6th Divisions, allowing them to launch attacks on the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment and the 74th Army with peace of mind.

And then what? After several days of fierce fighting, the 3rd and 6th Divisions had wasted a lot of manpower and ammunition reserves without achieving the expected results.

Instead, the Imperial army's limited ammunition was severely depleted in this operation, forcing them to retreat.

Then, Yuzuki felt like he was about to collapse from exhaustion.

It is said that Hu Biao and his men mobilized hundreds of thousands of people and severely damaged their retreat route in one night, leaving behind large craters like the one in front of us.

And every so often there is a man-made earthen slope.

Such terrible road conditions make even walking quite difficult, let alone passing through the evacuation convoy with its heavy trucks and artillery.

Unfortunately, the people of C City and the surrounding area seemed to have been notified long ago and had gone into hiding.

In the short term, he couldn't find any laborers to repair the road, so he had to do it himself.

So today, after they set off early in the morning, the first seven or eight kilometers were relatively easy to walk, but then there was endless road construction.

They're either leveling those man-made earthen slopes or filling in those big pits.

The enormous workload was simply too difficult for Japanese soldiers like Yuzuki Mitsuru, whose physical condition had already deteriorated significantly due to continuous high-intensity combat...

Yuzuki sat slumped on the ground for at least a minute before he recovered slightly.

He took out a rice ball from the lunchbox he was carrying and started eating it.

While eating the rice ball, Yuzuki was so careful, holding the rice ball in one hand and bringing it to his mouth, while supporting it with the other hand, as if afraid that even a grain of rice would fall.

The rice balls were hastily made last night using some rice and dried vegetables distributed by the quartermaster after they received the order to retreat today.

There were a total of nine, which was all the food they had before arriving in Yueyang City.

Nine rice balls could last three days if eaten sparingly, which would normally be enough; however, Yuzuki knew very well that they would definitely not be able to reach Yueyang within three days.

With the surrounding people all gone, finding food was a struggle, and even finding clean water was difficult.

These rice balls became incredibly precious, and he dared not waste a single one.

The rice ball wasn't very big, only about 200 grams. Even though Japanese soldiers are naturally resistant to hunger, Yuzuki finished one quickly after such heavy physical labor, and was still not even half full.

He wanted to open his lunchbox and eat another bite, but thinking about how long it would take to reach the relatively safer city of Yueyang, he could only force himself to hold back.

Fortunately, the quartermaster appeared at that moment.

He and his men distributed small items to the soldiers one by one, and the soldiers, upon receiving the items, immediately stuffed them into their mouths.

Upon witnessing this scene, Yuzuki Mitsuru became incredibly excited.

In his view, the quartermaster must have distributed some candy as a supplement because he was concerned that everyone did not have enough food.

At times like these, a canned food would certainly be better.

But if all else fails, having a piece of candy is a very pleasant thing.

Just a minute later, upon seeing the white pill that the quartermaster had just handed him, Yuzuki Mitsuru cried out in alarm:

"Why did they give us this? Shouldn't they have given us a piece of candy?"

Because the white pill in his hand was actually a 'marching pill'.

Yuzuki Mitsuru, already a veteran, had naturally eaten his fair share of this stuff in previous battles.

They knew perfectly well that after taking this stuff, the effects would last for about 8 to 12 hours; during this period, the user would not only feel almost no fatigue, but would also be more courageous in battle.

The key issue is that taking too much of this stuff can cause significant harm to the body.

In particular, continuous use can lead to severe side effects.

During this operation, they have been taking "Marching Pills" for several days in a row, and are nearing their physical limits; if they continue to take them, they may experience hallucinations, schizophrenia, irritability, and some physical damage.

In response to Yuzuki Mitsuru's shouts, the quartermaster frowned and uttered a harsh curse:
"Eight little deer! You idiot, shut up right now! Without the strength from taking the marching pills, how can everyone have enough strength and energy to repair the road?"
When will we be able to retreat to Yueyang City?

"Take it quickly. This is the division commander's order. We must stay alert and repair the road and travel through the night. As for tomorrow, the Hayabuchi Detachment will replace us."

Amidst the quartermaster's curses, Sergeant Kazuya glared fiercely at him.

His eyes held a clear warning that if he dared to cause him trouble, he would be severely punished afterwards; seeing this, Yuzuki Mitsuru could only open the kettle, take a sip of water, and swallow the 'Marching Pill' in his hand.

Then, before his break was over, he lay down on the newly filled road surface, intending to close his eyes and try to get a few minutes of sleep.

I wonder if it's because I've been away from my hometown of Nara for too long.

It's almost as if Yuzuki is dreaming the moment he closes his eyes.

He dreamed that during the cherry blossom season, he and his wife Michiko were strolling in the Deer Park.

The blooming cherry blossoms were so beautiful, but Michiko, dressed in a light-colored floral kimono, had a bright smile that was even more beautiful than the cherry blossoms.

Then, the sound of an 80mm mortar explosion woke Yuzuki Mitsuko.

Immediately afterwards, a barrage of gunfire erupted, bullets whizzing overhead, interspersed with Sergeant Kazuya's piercing commands:
"Enemy attack! Everyone take cover and counterattack immediately!"

Sergeant Kazuya had developed a conditioned reflex through long-term use of slaps and fists.

Yuzuki Mitsuru, who had just woken up, rolled over and lay on the ground. He picked up his Type 38 rifle and hurriedly opened fire on some figures two or three hundred meters away on the dirt road.

Soon after, he emptied the five bullets in the chamber, but Yuzuki himself didn't know where the bullets went.

During this process, he inexplicably felt dizzy and his vision blurred, making it impossible for him to aim at his target.

He slapped himself hard, and only then did he feel better and regain his senses.

And so it was. While he was reloading, he saw that on a short stretch of dirt road nearby, more than twenty of his squad members had been killed or wounded.

A small portion were killed by mortar fire, while the majority were killed by bullets.

The attackers were Nationalist soldiers who had camouflaged themselves with a lot of branches and leaves on their heads and backs. There were only about thirty or forty of them.

Apart from a Czech-made light machine gun, the weapons were all Hanyang rifles.

The two sides exchanged fire for a short while, and the Nationalist army also suffered several casualties. Seeing that they could not gain the upper hand, they immediately began to retreat to a plum orchard far away from the road.

In an instant, Yuzuki Mitsuru heard their company commander's furious order, as if his tail had been stepped on:
"Ono Squad, chase after them immediately."

Remember this! You must catch them, kill them, and then hang their bodies by the roadside so those damned bastards know the price of a sneak attack.

Under such an order, Yuzuki Mitsuru followed along with forty-odd colleagues, as he belonged to Ono's squad.

But when she started running, Ono found her steps unsteady, and that dizziness and blurred vision returned once again.

But he slowed down a little and then got kicked by Sergeant Kazuya.

Just from that kick, which was far more powerful than usual, Yuzuki knew that Sergeant Kazuya was unusually irritable; so he didn't dare to make any excuses and could only force himself to continue chasing.

And so, Ono's squad, which had lost six or seven men in the attack, strode forward and caught up.

Before long, they had chased for three or four miles and rushed into the plum orchard.

After charging another thirty or forty paces through the plum orchard, Lieutenant Ono, who was leading the charge, sensed something was terribly wrong. He realized that the small Nationalist army unit that had attacked earlier was merely bait, and now they were the prey caught in a trap.

But by then, it was too late for them to retreat. At least a hundred figures suddenly appeared from their left, front, and right directions and opened fire.

The weapons used in this firing operation were not just one Czech light machine gun; there were at least three or four light machine guns, a dozen or so submachine guns, and seven or eight Mauser pistols.

After they opened fire simultaneously, their firepower was incredibly fierce.

Under such fierce firepower, Ono's squad was soon reduced to only seven or eight people.

Knowing they were doomed, they held their bayonets, roaring like wild beasts at the end of their rope, and launched a desperate charge against the ambushing Nationalist troops.

No! I say this because there is one exception among these Japanese soldiers.

At this point, Yuzuki Mitsuru had completely fallen into a hallucination due to taking too many of the "Marching Pills".

Or to put it another way, other Japanese soldiers also suffered from the side effects of excessive drug use, but Yuzuki Mitsuru's symptoms were the most pronounced.

When Yuki stumbled and staggered into the plum orchard.

These plum trees, whose fruit had long been picked, transformed in Yuzuki Mitsuru's eyes into the cherry blossom trees in Shinji Park in his hometown of Nara, which were now in full bloom.

The time traveler leading the team, shooting at the Japanese soldiers and setting up ambushes, became the long-lost Michiko in his eyes.

So while the other Japanese soldiers were charging forward with bayonets at the ready, howling...

He threw away the cumbersome Type 38 rifle in his hand, opened his arms, and charged forward with a pout, as if to embrace her.

Upon returning to his hometown in Nara, the first thing he wanted to do was hug and kiss Michiko to his heart's content; this was something Yuzuki Mitsuru had already decided in his heart...

******
At that time, Lao Yu had just finished emptying the magazine of his submachine gun and was busy changing the magazine.

Although they could easily deal with the last few Japanese soldiers in hand-to-hand combat, since they had guns in hand, why bother with these Japanese soldiers?

Even if it doesn't hurt our own people, it's not good to damage the flowers and plants.

Let's just shoot them down quickly, and then we can change positions and launch another sneak attack on the Japanese.

When he saw a Japanese soldier charging towards him with outstretched arms, pouting lips, and gleaming eyes, Old Yu, who hadn't panicked during the bloody battles, was now completely terrified.

Damn it! I've seen perverted Japanese devils before, but I've never seen one this perverted.

He's almost a middle-aged man, how could he bring himself to do that?

In his panic, Lao Yu had a new magazine in his hand, but he couldn't load it successfully even after several attempts.

In that short time, that perverted Japanese soldier had already rushed up to them.

Although he had a large number of men around him, they hesitated to fire for fear of accidentally injuring him.

Fortunately, when the Japanese soldier exhaled a nauseatingly warm, foul-smelling breath that hit Lao Yu's face, the guy finally realized what was happening.

After a sudden kick, he sent the Japanese soldier staggering backward.

At the same time, with a 'click', he finally loaded a new magazine into the submachine gun in his hand.

Then he pulled the trigger and opened fire on the Japanese soldier; he only stopped after he had fired a whole magazine, smashing the soldier's chest, abdomen, head and face to pieces.

"Damn it! This Japanese soldier must be hallucinating from taking too many drugs."

Still shaken, Lao Yu first muttered a guess that was almost the truth.

Then, he shouted at his men, who had already killed the remaining Japanese soldiers and were now seemingly suppressing laughter, "..."
"What are you all standing there for? Are you all just sitting there with nothing better to do?"
"Quickly clean up the battlefield, then hang these Japanese soldiers one by one on the trees; that way, I can move to another spot and find more Japanese soldiers to ambush and snipe."

After shouting, Lao Yu also got to work himself.

He stripped the bullet box, grenades, cigarettes, gold teeth, and wallet from the body of the perverted Japanese soldier he had killed.

For the current Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment and Hunan Provincial Supplementary Regiment, these are all good things.

After finding the wallet, Lao Yu casually opened it and took a look.

Then, you can see that in the wallet, besides some scattered military notes, Japanese money, and Chinese currency, there is also a black and white photograph.

In the photo, a Japanese woman in a kimono stands under a cherry blossom tree. Her face, with its sweet and gentle smile, looks somewhat familiar to him.

After a little discernment, he realized what was going on:
Good heavens! Doesn't this look exactly like a Japanese teacher named 'Chikina Yuuna' from the modern world?

She's the teacher who often appears in scenes like, "Madam! You don't want your husband to lose his job either," or "Madam! You don't want Nobita to be bullied at school," and then the relevant plot unfolds.

"The man is dead. It seems that the story of this teacher is about to play out in real life in Japan."

With that confident statement, Lao Yu threw away his wallet, but stuffed some loose change and photos into his pocket.

Meanwhile, the Japanese soldiers on the main road heard a burst of gunfire coming from the plum orchard in the distance.

They immediately realized what was happening: Oh no! Ono's squad had ambushed them.

This time, however, they did not dare to rush out to provide support without careful planning. It was only after the company commander had gathered the remaining two squads that they cautiously made their way into the plum orchard.

By the time they stormed into the plum orchard, Lao Yu and his men had already disappeared with their spoils.

All that remained were the 46 long-dead corpses of Ono's squad, hanging from the plum trees...

Old Yu's sneak attack and ambush were just one of many attacks launched by Hu Biao and others against the long retreating Japanese troops.

While Lao Yu was busy, the others were naturally not idle either.

Twenty minutes later, about three miles away from where Lao Yu launched the attack.

After carefully crawling forward, Xiao Henan finally led seven or eight brothers to a patch of grass only thirty or forty meters away from the dirt road.

Looking up slightly and ahead, they could immediately see some Japanese trucks struggling to move forward on the dirt road.

Yes! It's very difficult and slow.

The reason for this is that although the dirt road had been filled in by the Japanese soldiers ahead, it was a completely different concept from the solid road surface that had been compacted over many years.

The newly filled soil is not strong enough.

Especially when a truck carrying a cannon runs over it, the wheels immediately sink deep into the cannon, and the truck often gets stuck without the driver even realizing it.

What would the Japanese do in this situation?
What else could they do but lead a large number of poor infantrymen to push carts?

After a group of people painstakingly pushed the car out, they used shovels to fill in the deep tire tracks and repaired it again.

Anyway, they kept getting stuck, having to push the vehicles and repair the roads, and after a while, the Japanese soldiers' eyes were filled with extreme numbness.

Looking at the group of Japanese soldiers in front of him, who were like walking corpses, gritting their teeth and pushing the cart with all their might.

The kind-hearted Xiao Henan suddenly felt a strong sense of compassion and decided to help these Japanese devils.

Specific way to help: Blow up this Japanese truck in front of us, and kill all the Japanese soldiers pushing it. Let them finish this once and for all, then we won't have to worry about the truck getting stuck or having to push it anymore.

Just thinking about this good thing made him happy for those Japanese devils.

And so, at the signal of the kind-hearted Xiao Henan, his brother handed him a DIY rocket launcher that was already loaded.

Make sure there's no silly kid hiding behind the DIY rocket launcher.

Xiao Henan, holding the DY rocket launcher, took a quick aim and decisively pulled the trigger.

At a distance of only thirty or forty meters, the DIY rocket launcher was still accurate; after a flash of light, the fuel tank of a Japanese truck in front of them was hit.

Immediately afterwards, a huge explosion engulfed the truck and a group of Japanese soldiers pushing carts nearby.

The moment he pulled the trigger, Xiao Henan yelled "Run!" and, carrying the empty rocket launcher, sprinted backward.

In no time at all, they escaped the effective range of the Japanese Type 38 rifles.

This deputy battalion commander of the cavalry battalion, who was not on horseback, still ran at an astonishing speed.

The only pity was that the Japanese soldiers behind them, apart from staying on the dirt road and firing their guns from a distance, did not chase after them directly.

This left Old Ma, who had set up an ambush on a small hill about two miles away, with some regret.

He kept muttering to himself, "If I had known this would happen, I would have gone to lure the enemy; just thinking about taking a shot at the Japanese truck would have been so exciting."

Of course! Even if the Japanese didn't chase after us this time, allowing Old Ma to achieve his goal of ambushing the pursuing Japanese troops.

However, in the time that followed, the Japanese pushed the damaged trucks and cannons to the side of the road and moved the dead and wounded to an open space on one side.

After filling in the large hole in the ground, more than ten minutes had passed.

Although these ten or so minutes may seem short, if there are enough similar incidents, they can slow down the already slow retreat of the Japanese soldiers even further.

Furthermore, physical strength, mental fortitude, and morale are constantly being depleted...

(End of this chapter)