Bright Sword: Starting from Obtaining the Equipment Slot

Wang Xiao nodded.

Wei Dayong drew a simple map on the ground with his bayonet.

"The layout of the POW camp was very simple. The barracks where the prisoners were held were on the north side, the company headquarters was in the middle, and there was a guard tower on each of the east and west sides. The guard tower on the east side faced our direction, and there were seven or eight guards at the entrance of the barracks."

He pointed to the east side.

"The Japanese must have been alerted now, so we don't need to hide anymore."

We've revealed our hand; we're going to take them down!

Hou Yue, you lead the third platoon to attack from the east front. I will have Ma Fenghuai suppress the fire of the eastern guard towers with heavy machine guns. You don't need to charge in recklessly; just draw the Japanese attention to them.

Hou Yue nodded.

Wei Dayong then pointed to the southeast side.

"Wang Xiao, you lead a platoon of main force to break in from the southeast. There's a patch of dry grass over there that can provide cover for you to get to the barbed wire. After cutting through the barbed wire, take out the sentries in the watchtowers first, then charge towards the barracks."

"clear."

"I'll lead Liu Dazhu, Sun Maolin, and the others to sneak in from the northeast corner. Once the fighting starts on your side, the guards at the barracks entrance will definitely be drawn to that area, and we'll take advantage of that opportunity to make our move."

With deployment complete, everyone began to move out.

Hou Yue led three platoons of soldiers, taking advantage of the twilight, and crept toward the east side of the prisoner-of-war camp.

Ma Fenghuai led the heavy machine gun team behind them, finding a sloping hill to set up the machine guns. This time, the muzzles were aimed at the eastern guard post of the POW camp.

Wang Xiao led a platoon of main force soldiers, crawling along the ground towards the southeast side of the POW camp. They crossed the patch of withered grass and arrived at the barbed wire fence.

Behind the barbed wire was the open space to the south of the prisoner-of-war camp, where several sandbag fortifications were piled up, and two Japanese sentries were lying behind the sandbags, peering eastward.

Wei Dayong led Liu Dazhu, Sun Maolin, and others around to the northeast corner of the prisoner-of-war camp from the north.

The barracks were less than two hundred meters ahead, and the campfire at the entrance was still burning. Seven guards were huddled around the fire, rubbing their hands to keep warm.

They were all facing east, their attention completely drawn to the gunfire from that direction.

He showed no worry on his face, clearly believing that the loud gunfire was a display of their own prowess.

Wei Dayong crouched down and felt his way forward along the north wall of the barracks.

Just as he was about to reach the corner of the barracks, Wei Dayong suddenly heard a muffled thud behind him.

He turned around abruptly and saw a Japanese soldier roll out of the shadows on the north side of the barracks, blood streaming from his head, but he was already dead.

A familiar face stood nearby, holding a blood-stained stone and panting heavily.

Wei Dayong recognized him.

The registrar in the POW camp, when he was first imprisoned, was this little bearded man sitting behind the wooden table registering his information.

When the bearded man saw Wei Dayong turn around, he nodded to him, then threw the stone on the ground and ran over quickly.

"There was a Japanese soldier hiding behind the corner, trying to ambush you," the man with the mustache said in a low voice. "I saw him sneak up behind you, so I grabbed a rock and hit him."

"Well done." Wei Dayong nodded at him. "May I ask your name, brother?"

"Zhou Wenxu," the man with the mustache said, "I was in the Japanese POW camp out of necessity, and I offended many people before. Sometimes, knowing multiple languages ​​isn't necessarily a good thing!"

Wei Dayong remembered the name.

"Stay with us. If a fight breaks out later, don't wander off."

Zhou Wenxu nodded, bent down and picked up the rifle and bayonet from the Japanese soldier's corpse, holding them in his hand.

Wei Dayong continued to probe forward, leading Zhou Wenxu and the others, walking along the barracks wall towards the entrance.

The lights were still on in the Japanese company headquarters in the prisoner-of-war camp.

The remaining forty-odd Japanese soldiers had all taken their battle positions. Some lay prone behind sandbags, while others squatted on guard towers, their guns pointed east, vigilantly watching the eastern direction.

They had just heard gunfire from the pursuers and the Independent Company, but they didn't know that the pursuers had all been wiped out.

Ma Fenghuai lay prone behind the heavy machine gun, aiming the muzzle at the eastern guard post. He took a deep breath and then pulled the trigger.

The heavy machine guns began firing.

The ammunition retainer was swallowed by the machine gun, the spent cartridges were ejected from the other side, and the bullets hit the wall of the guard tower, scattering a cloud of broken bricks.

The sentry on the watchtower was pinned down by bullets and couldn't lift his head. The machine gun mounted on the watchtower was also knocked askew, its barrel pointing upwards, unable to return fire.

Hou Yue shouted, "Third platoon, fire!"

The soldiers of the third platoon peeked out from behind the earthen slope and opened fire on the prisoner-of-war camp. Two light machine guns fired simultaneously, bullets hitting the walls of the barracks, shattering the plaster and exposing the bricks underneath.

The Japanese soldiers in the POW camp were drawn to the third platoon's fire. The officers in the company headquarters shouted orders, and the machine guns on the south guard tower began to return fire to the east.

"Now!" Wang Xiao shouted to the first platoon of main force soldiers, "Cut the barbed wire!"

Two soldiers, armed with pliers, rushed to the barbed wire fence and began cutting it. The wire was thick; the pliers had to be twisted quite a bit before they could cut it.

"Hurry, hurry!" Wang Xiao urged.

The wires were cut one by one, making a piercing sound.

Soon, a gap was cut in the barbed wire, big enough for one person to crawl through. Wang Xiao was the first to crawl in, followed one by one by the soldiers behind him.

The sentry on the south watchtower spotted them and was about to turn his gun around when Ma Fenghuai's heavy machine gun bullets struck the wall beside him. The sentry lay prone on the ground, too afraid to look up.

Wang Xiao led a platoon of main force into the prisoner-of-war camp. They crept along the walls of the barracks, bypassed the open space on the south side, and rushed towards the barracks.

Two Japanese sentries behind the sandbag fortifications spotted them. As soon as they raised their guns, they were taken down by Wang Xiao's Mauser pistol in quick succession.

The Japanese troops in the prisoner-of-war camp were attacked from both the east and southeast sides at the same time, and their firepower began to be dispersed.

Some fired to the east, some to the southeast, and others, unsure which way to fire, lay hidden behind sandbags with their heads tucked in.

Upon hearing the gunshot, the seven guards at the barracks gate stood up and looked in the direction of the sound, rifles in hand.

This was the moment Wei Dayong had been waiting for.

He waved to the soldiers behind him and was the first to rush out.

The submachine gun vibrated in his hand, and bullets swept towards the guards at the barracks gate. Before the three guards could react, they were hit in the back, their bodies falling forward and their faces slamming into the frozen ground.

The remaining four guards hurriedly turned around, but Wei Dayong had already rushed in front of them. He kicked the one closest to him to the ground, then turned his gun and opened fire on the other two.

The bullet pierced their chests, and both men fell backward, their rifles flying far away.

The last guard tried to raise his gun to fire, but Liu Dazhu rushed up from the side and stabbed him in the abdomen with his bayonet.

When the bayonet was pulled out, it drew a spurt of blood. The guard screamed, his rifle slipped from his hand and fell to the ground, and he collapsed as well.

All seven guards were wiped out.

Wei Dayong walked to the barracks entrance and pulled on the iron lock. The lock was large, the chain was as thick as a finger, and the iron lock was rusty.

"If we can't break through in a short time, Maolin will use a grenade to blow it up," Wei Dayong said.

Before Sun Maolin could react, a voice rang out: "Don't blow it up!"

When Wei Dayong saw that it was Zhou Wenxu, his eyes widened immediately.

This kid's gotten too bold. He actually dares to provoke me just because he saved me a little bit?

The others immediately pointed their guns at Zhou Wenxu.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Wenxu immediately realized he had been misunderstood. He quickly pulled a key from his pocket and explained, "I have a key, why would I want to blow up the door?"

He then stepped forward, unlocked the lock with the key, and walked to the side with the lock and chain.

Wei Dayong felt the situation was a bit awkward, so he could only pretend that nothing had happened and kicked the door.

The barracks were dark, with only light filtering in from the doorway and broken windows. More than two hundred people were crammed together, wearing tattered cotton-padded clothes, some of whom didn't even have any, huddled in the corners, shivering.

Wei Dayong stood at the doorway and shouted inside, "I'm Wei Dayong, I've come to rescue you!"

The barracks were silent for a second, then erupted in deafening cheers.

Wei Dayong shouted to the prisoners of war, "Don't panic! Line up and come out! Those who can't walk, help them. Don't push!"