Bright Sword: Starting from Obtaining the Equipment Slot

As soon as Wei Dayong finished speaking, all the soldiers lying in the depression started to move.

Wang Xiao drew his pistol from his waist, cocked it, and chambered a round. He lowered his voice and said to the row of soldiers behind him, "Check your weapons, fix bayonets."

The soldiers in the row drew their bayonets from their waists and wedged them under the barrels of their rifles. The clanging of the bayonets as they locked into their slots echoed softly across the hollow.

Wei Dayong squatted at the edge of the depression, looking towards the prisoner-of-war camp through the withered grass.

The POW camp was located less than two kilometers to the west, separated by an open area. A dirt road extended from the east gate of the POW camp, crossed the south side of the depression, and stretched into the distance.

The dirt road was lined with withered yellow grass, which grew to about half a person's height. It would bend down when the wind blew and stand up again when the wind stopped.

There is a sloping earthen wall about two meters high on the north side of the depression, covered with shrubs. The terrain on the south side is slightly flatter, but there are several earthen mounds that can be used as cover.

Wei Dayong turned around and waved to the two soldiers behind him.

"Liu Dazhu, Sun Maolin."

Two soldiers squeezed out of the crowd, ran to Wei Dayong, and squatted down.

"Company Commander."

Wei Dayong pointed in the direction of the POW camp and said, "You two take two squads, sneak up to the entrance of the POW camp, find cover, and open fire on the POW camp. The more firefight, the better."

Liu Dazhu was taken aback: "Company commander, just these twenty men, you think we can take on a prisoner-of-war camp?"

"Let me finish," Wei Dayong continued. "Fire for five minutes, then run back. Remember to throw away a few empty magazines while you run, and don't run too fast."

Sun Maolin's eyes lit up: "Company Commander, are you trying to lure the Japanese out to chase us?"

"Yes." Wei Dayong pointed to the dirt road on the south side of the depression. "Run back along the dirt road. After you cross the earthen embankment on the south side of the depression and turn the corner, find a place to hide. When we fire our guns, turn back."

"Understood."

"Remember, don't run too fast, or the Japanese devils will be able to keep up. But don't run too slow either, or it will be troublesome if the Japanese devils catch up with you."

Liu Dazhu and Sun Maolin nodded at the same time.

"Go."

Two soldiers turned and ran back to their positions, calling to the soldiers in their two squads. Twenty men, crouching low and using the withered grass in the hollow as cover, crept towards the east side of the POW camp.

Wei Dayong stood up and called Wang Xiao, Hou Yue, and Ma Fenghuai to his side.

"Now set up the ambush position." He pointed to the earthen slope on the north side of the depression. "Hou Yue, you take the third platoon and ambush behind the earthen slope. Set up two light machine guns on the top of the slope, with the muzzles pointed at the dirt road."

Hou Yue nodded.

"Wang Xiao, you take a platoon of main force and ambush behind those earthen mounds on the south side of the depression."

"clear."

"Ma Fenghuai, your heavy machine gun position is on the southernmost embankment. That position has the best field of view and can cover the entire dirt road."

Ma Fenghuai responded and walked towards the south side of the earthen embankment, carrying the tripod of the heavy machine gun.

"I led my squad to ambush in the bushes, blocking the Japanese retreat." Wei Dayong gripped his MP38 submachine gun tightly. "Once all the Japanese are inside the ambush zone, I'll fire as a signal, and everyone will open fire simultaneously."

Remember, use crossfire. Shoot the leader first, then the ones in the middle. Don't let any escape.

Wang Xiao, Hou Yue, and Ma Fenghuai nodded in unison.

With deployment complete, everyone began to move out.

Hou Yue led the third platoon of soldiers, crouching low as they crept towards the north-facing earthen slope. The machine gunner unfolded the bipod of his Type 96 light machine gun and set it up at the top of the slope.

The assistant gunner lay down beside him, took four magazines out of the magazine pouch, and lined them up in a row.

Hou Yue crouched down next to the machine gunner and asked in a low voice, "Is the magazine fully loaded?"

"Fully loaded, platoon leader." The assistant gunner patted the magazines. "Four magazines, one hundred and twenty rounds."

Hou Yue nodded, then shouted to the other machine gun team, "Where are you guys positioned?"

"Ready."

Wang Xiao led a platoon of main force, crawling along the ground on the south side of the depression to the back of the earthen embankment. The soldiers set up two light machine guns on the embankment, covering the barrels with dry grass, leaving only the muzzles exposed.

Ma Fenghuai squatted down behind the last earthen embankment and began setting up the Type 92 heavy machine gun.

The ground was too hard, and the tripod spikes were not easy to drive in. He used his bayonet to dig three shallow holes in the ground, inserted the spikes, and then stomped them in.

"Have you checked the gun barrel?" Ma Fenghuai asked the assistant gunner.

"Checked, no problem." The assistant gunner inserted the thirty-round magazine into the feed port, pushed it all the way in, and only released it when he heard the click of the latch locking.

Ma Fenghuai lay prone behind the heavy machine gun, gripping the handles with both hands, aiming the muzzle at the middle of the dirt road. He squinted one eye and glanced through the scope—the view was clear, and there were no obstructions on the dirt road.

Wei Dayong led the remaining men into the bushes on the north side of the depression. The bushes were so dense that they were completely invisible from the outside.

He extended the barrel of his submachine gun through a gap between two bushes, aiming the muzzle at the dirt road.

Wang Xiao leaned close to Wei Dayong and whispered, "Company Commander, how many Japanese soldiers do you think will chase after us?"

Wei Dayong stared in the direction of the POW camp and said, "There are more than eighty Japanese soldiers in the POW camp now. Under normal circumstances, they won't all chase after them; they'll have to leave some men to guard the barracks. At most, two platoons, a little over thirty men, will manage to escape."

"Then let's eat them."

"Yes, eat them up." Wei Dayong gripped his MP38 submachine gun tightly. "After we've eaten them up, there will only be fifty-odd Japanese soldiers left guarding the POW camp, and then it'll be much easier for us to fight them."

The wind blew from the mountains, stinging my face. The prisoner-of-war camp in the distance was quiet in the twilight, with only the searchlights on the watchtowers occasionally sweeping across the outer perimeter of the barbed wire.

Wei Dayong activated his surveillance system.

Inside the prisoner-of-war camp, the lights in the company headquarters were still on. Several Japanese officers sat around a table, presumably waiting for news from the direction of Majiagou.

Just then, gunshots rang out from the east side of the prisoner-of-war camp.

Liu Dazhu and Sun Maolin led two classes to take action.

First came a few sporadic rifle shots, then a burst of gunfire. Twenty soldiers lined up, lying prone on a slope 300 meters east of the POW camp, and opened fire on the camp.

The sentry on the east guard tower was the first to react, raising his machine gun and firing eastward. The searchlight suddenly turned, its beam sweeping across the earthen slope.

Liu Dazhu, lying prone behind the earthen slope, shouted to the soldiers beside him, "Don't stop, keep fighting!"

The Japanese soldiers in the prisoner-of-war camp were alerted by the gunfire.

One by one, the lights in the barracks came on. Whistles and shouts echoed from the camp.

Wei Dayong lay prone in the bushes, keeping a close watch on everything happening in the prisoner-of-war camp.

Inside the Japanese company headquarters, an officer stood up from his chair, grabbed his military cap from the table, put it on, and strode towards the door. As he walked, he shouted, and several Japanese soldiers ran out behind him.

The Japanese soldiers in the barracks hurriedly dressed, grabbed their rifles, and ran out of the barracks to assemble in the courtyard.

In less than five minutes, about thirty Japanese soldiers had lined up in the courtyard.

A second lieutenant stood at the front of the column, drew his sword, and pointed east. The soldiers split into two groups and ran towards the east gate of the POW camp.

Wei Dayong watched this scene, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

The east gate opened, and Japanese soldiers filed out. The second lieutenant at the head of the group held up his command sword, while the soldiers behind him carried Type 38 rifles, rushing towards the earthen mound where Liu Dazhu and his men were hiding.

When Liu Dazhu saw the Japanese soldiers chasing after them, he made a hand gesture to the soldiers beside him.

"withdraw!"