The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 627 Shoes (Bonus chapter for the factory's Monkey Leader)
Hu Biao, who was a short distance behind AT, was also hiding behind a low wall.

Seeing AT's face turn as red as a pig's liver, a truly fascinating sight, I immediately burst into laughter.

After he finished laughing, he ignored AT's raised middle finger at him.

Give the other person a look that says, "You're still too green, let me handle this."

Kang Kang coughed a few times, cleared his throat, and then spoke in a tone that was both authoritative and friendly, yet also contained a touch of playfulness.

As he stood up, he shouted:

"Fellow villager! We're truly on the same side."

"I am Hu Biao, the commander of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment, whom the Japanese called the 'Tiger of Shanghai'; our Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment has strict military discipline and never takes a single needle or thread from our fellow villagers..."

Halfway through his shout, Hu Biao's expression suddenly changed, and he rolled over on the spot.

Because he saw that the fellow villager, dozens of meters away, was about to pull the trigger before he could even finish shouting.

Fortunately, he had taken cover in advance, which saved him from being shot dead; even so, his M35 helmet was knocked off his head.

His head, wrapped in gauze to prevent it from sticking to the helmet, was exposed, making him look incredibly disheveled.

But what was even more embarrassing was the cursing that came out of that fellow villager's mouth:
“I’ve already told you, I’ve never heard of any of these people, such as the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment, Hu Biao the Tiger of Shanghai, or IT. Get out of the village right now, or I’ll kill you if you dare come near me again.”

Upon hearing this, Hei Xing, Uncle Bo, and the others who arrived later burst into laughter at the sight of Hu Biao's extremely embarrassed expression.

After laughing, a troubled look appeared on his face.

Although the result of AT and Hu Biao's pretentious behavior was somewhat laughable, based on past experience, given their fame, their fellow villagers should have at least been very friendly, if not bowed down in worship.

Even if the other party was a traitor and they were shot, they would still show great fear, and it would definitely not be because they had never heard of the above names.

If it weren't for the other person's accent, which was full of standard Northeastern dialect, they would have thought they were still in China.

After the gunshots rang out, three or four more figures appeared inside the house; they took cover on the roof, in the yard, and behind the windows, pointing the black barrels of their guns in their direction.

One of them seemed to be holding a grenade, ready to pull the pin at any moment.

In a very short time, they demonstrated remarkable vigilance and combat skills, clearly indicating that they were not ordinary civilians.

Of course, Hu Biao and his group paid no attention to their behavior.

It didn't matter if the other party wasn't an ordinary citizen; even if they were a notorious bandit from Northeast China, as long as they weren't Japanese soldiers, no one wanted to kill or injure them.

However, taking down the enemy without firing a shot and without paying a price is quite difficult for Hu Biao and his men.

After a few seconds of contemplation, Hu Biao gave instructions to everyone using a series of tactical maneuvers:
He stayed behind with some men and six novices to continue searching the courtyard where the house was located, while the others searched the village to see if there were any other people there.

If one can explain their identity through others, that would be best.

If that doesn't work, we'll have to capture these people, even if it means taking a risk.

Because they needed to find out the exact time and location, as well as the strength of the nearby Japanese troops, through these people; in addition, they needed to rest in the village for a day or two to allow their physical strength and mental energy to recover before proceeding.

The group of Black Star, the wizard, and Mo Shuiyan, who searched the village, were quite efficient.

In less than fifteen or sixteen minutes, they had all completed their search and returned to Hu Biao's side, but the news they brought back was quite bad.

Mo Shuiyan: "Damn it! This village is very strange."

Those houses must have been uninhabited for a long time. They look fine from the outside, but once you go inside, they're so dilapidated that they're practically uninhabitable.

Furthermore, blankets, food, grain, and even daily necessities were almost completely depleted, and there was absolutely no effective replenishment.

Wizard: "I encountered the same situation."

The others remained silent, but nodded in agreement, indicating that they had encountered similar situations...

What exactly happened in this small village was something that Hu Biao and his outsiders couldn't figure out for the time being, which only strengthened their resolve to capture those people and get all sorts of answers from them.

Before officially taking action, Hu Biao, clinging to the last shred of hope for a peaceful resolution, shouted inside once more:

"Who are these guys inside? I wonder who they are?"
"It's okay if you haven't heard of us. We're all Chinese, right? Why resort to knives and guns? How about we each send one person, unarmed, and find a place to chat for a bit?"

Faced with Hu Biao's sincere proposal, the other side was clearly somewhat tempted.

Unfortunately, at that moment, a man hiding behind the chimney on the roof suddenly shouted: "Oh no! The Japanese punitive expedition is here, there are at least thirty or forty of them."

These people are just scammers, trying to stall us; I'll cover you, you guys get out there and fight your way out.

As he spoke, he fired a shot in the direction of Hu Biao.

Faced with this outcome, Hu Biao and the others were not surprised but rather delighted; you see! These past few days they had been hoping to encounter the Japanese soldiers so they could steal their clothes and supplies.

We've been waiting for this for ages, and now it's finally here. As for the misunderstanding these people have, isn't that simple? Just wipe out these Japanese punitive expeditionary forces right in front of them, and that will be the most powerful proof.

He immediately shouted to the people in the house, "Don't misunderstand! We're not on the Japanese side. We'll kill them right now and show you!"

After shouting, he didn't care whether the people believed him or not.

He issued another command: "Iron Man, Old K, Old Car, Quack Doctor, Little Green, Egg, and Zhixiang; you guys stay here with the newbies and don't let the people in the house do anything stupid."

"The rest of you, follow me and kill these Japanese punitive expedition members."

The so-called foolish thing to do was, of course, to prevent the people inside the house from escaping, and to shoot them from behind.

At Hu Biao's command, everyone except those who stayed behind immediately removed the ropes from their skis.

Treading on the snow, which was thinner than that in the forest but still forty or fifty centimeters deep, they began preparations for battle...

******
Soon after, Hu Biao and his men, who had been hiding at the village entrance using various obstacles, saw the Japanese punitive expedition they had been longing for; how to put it? Their appearance alone did not disappoint them.

This refers to the clothes they were wearing.

There were about thirty-seven or thirty-eight of them, with the number of Chinese traitors and Japanese soldiers in black uniforms roughly equal.

Those traitors and police officers are one thing, but the Japanese soldiers were wearing cotton hats with dog-skin linings and overcoats with fur collars.

The large leather shoes on her feet were not clearly visible from a distance, but they were probably the kind lined with fleece.

From a distance, the Japanese soldiers' attire inexplicably made them feel warm.

The sight of the Japanese soldiers, who had been freezing for the past few days, almost made their mouths water; they wished they could strip the Japanese soldiers naked and put on these proper warm clothes and shoes.

This mentality was particularly strong among the thugs.

There was nothing he could do! He was wearing single-layered tall boots, and I don't know what he kicked this morning, but there was a two or three-centimeter-long tear at the toe of his left shoe.

Even after he stuffed a small piece of roe deer skin into the opening, he also stuffed a lot of Ula grass into the toe of his shoe.

But his toes had gone numb from the cold a few hours earlier, and everyone was rushing to get somewhere, so the guy couldn't very well stop them to start a fire and warm his feet. He could only grit his teeth and continue on his way.

So he has to quickly change into a new pair of shoes, otherwise what if his toes really freeze off?
The battle began when the expeditionary force was still sixty or seventy meters from the village entrance, and there was no suspense whatsoever during the battle.

Under the firepower of nearly twenty automatic and semi-automatic weapons, the punitive expedition team, which was preparing to encircle the village from different directions, was instantly wiped out, with more than half of them being taken down.

The remaining Japanese soldiers immediately lay down in the snow, instinctively preparing to fight back on the spot.

Such an action only allowed him to survive for a few more seconds; he was then picked off by two snipers, Uncle Bo and the warehouse manager, along with some veterans using M1 Garand rifles.

Anyway, when Mo Shuiyan, who was holding a Type 89 grenade launcher, just took out a high-explosive grenade and was about to put it into the launcher...

To his dismay, he discovered that all the Japanese soldiers had already been killed, and he had no chance to make a move.

It was at this moment that Hu Biao shouted, "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and take off your clothes! If you wait any longer, they'll be covered in blood. How will you wear them later?"

Mo Shuiyan didn't care that the Japanese soldiers had been wiped out before he could even make a move.

He dropped the grenade launcher and the fragmentation grenade, and dashed towards the Japanese soldiers' corpses.

Without Hu Biao's prompting, the thug was the first to rush forward, quickly reaching a burly Japanese private.

Instead of taking off his hat and coat, he plopped down on the dead Japanese soldier and quickly loosened his shoelaces.

The moment the thug forcefully ripped off the heavy boot from the left foot of the Japanese private, a strong stench of foot odor assaulted the top of his head.

But the thug still had a big smile on his face.

No wonder! The Japanese soldiers' big boots really did have a thick layer of fleece inside, so they must have been very warm to wear.

Without the slightest hesitation, the thug took off his torn boot and shoved his left foot into the oversized shoe.

The moment his toes slipped into the oversized shoes and he felt their softness, the thug almost cried out in pleasure.

Just a second or two later, the smile on the young man's face froze completely.

This guy, who is 190 cm tall and weighs 100 kg, discovered that his size 48 feet simply couldn't fit into the Japanese shoes, which were at most size 39.

It was only then that he realized that under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for him to snatch a pair of shoes from the Japanese soldiers that could fit his own feet.

The kind that's forced or squeezed in would probably be quite difficult.

"They are clearly men, but they have bound feet like women."

Overwhelmed with disappointment and indignation, the thug slapped the dead Japanese soldier in the buttocks hard across the backside, cursing under his breath...

(End of this chapter)