Bright Sword: Starting from Obtaining the Equipment Slot

Wang Xiao led a platoon of soldiers to the barracks gate and began organizing the evacuation of prisoners of war. The soldiers carried the wounded prisoners out and headed towards the gap in the barbed wire.

Wei Dayong called Liu Dazhu to his side.

"You lead your men to escort the prisoners of war out of the camp, heading towards the depression. Remember, don't take the main road, stay close to the dry grass, and don't let the Japanese see you."

Liu Dazhu nodded and led a dozen soldiers, escorting the prisoners of war toward the gap in the barbed wire. The procession was long, with those who could walk supporting the wounded. They moved slowly, but in an orderly fashion.

Wei Dayong turned and ran towards the squadron headquarters.

Hou Yue and his three platoons of soldiers had already stormed into the camp from the east and were exchanging fire with the Japanese troops near the company headquarters.

The Japanese troops used sandbag fortifications in front of the company headquarters to resist, with light machine guns mounted on the sandbags, firing in the direction of the third platoon. Bullets hit the corner where Hou Yue was hiding, sending brick fragments flying everywhere.

Hou Yue, crouching behind the corner, turned and shouted to the soldiers behind him, "Grenades! Does anyone still have grenades?"

A soldier took a grenade from his waist and handed it to Hou Yue.

Hou Yue took the grenade, pulled the safety pin, tapped it against the wall, and then threw it towards the sandbag fortifications. The grenade flew more than twenty meters through the air, cleared the sandbags, and landed behind them.

An explosion.

One of the sandbags was blown over, and the Japanese machine gunner's body was thrown out by the shockwave, crashing into the wall behind him before bouncing back to the ground, where he lay motionless. The assistant gunner, his face covered in blood, lay on the ground groaning.

Hou Yue shouted, "Charge with me!"

The soldiers of the third platoon rushed out from behind the corner of the wall, bayonets at their heels, and charged toward the company headquarters.

The Japanese soldiers behind the sandbags were blown to pieces by the grenades. The two remaining soldiers tried to get up and fire their guns, but were stabbed to death by the soldiers who rushed up with bayonets.

The bayonet was thrust in, pulled out, and thrust in again until the opponent stopped moving.

The door to the squadron headquarters was kicked open.

Inside, a Japanese officer was loading bullets into his pistol—one bullet at a time, his fingers trembling so badly that one bullet fell out after he had loaded two.

Seeing the soldiers rush in, he hurriedly raised his pistol.

But before he could pull the trigger, a bullet struck him in the chest.

The bullet pierced his chest and left a hole in his uniform on his back.

The officer fell backward, knocking over the kerosene lamp on the table. Kerosene spilled onto the floor, and flames suddenly erupted, spreading along the kerosene trail to the filing cabinet in the corner.

After the few remaining Japanese soldiers in the company headquarters were killed, the resistance in the entire prisoner-of-war camp was basically over.

Wei Dayong stood at the entrance of the company headquarters and glanced around the yard. All the prisoners of war had been evacuated from the barracks, and Liu Dazhu was leading them outside the barbed wire fence, heading towards the depression.

Wang Xiao ran over from the front, a bloody gash on his left cheek, and a bullet tear in the right shoulder of his military uniform.

"Company commander, all the prisoners of war have been evacuated. There are 213 people in total."

"Alright. Have the soldiers clean up the battlefield, take all usable weapons and ammunition with them, leave nothing behind."

"Yes."

Wang Xiao led his soldiers to begin clearing the battlefield.

They picked up the rifles from beside the bodies, inspected the bolts, put the usable ones in a pile, and threw away the broken ones.

The bullets were emptied from the magazine and put into a cloth bag. The grenades were taken from the waist of the corpse and collected into bags.

The grain was carried out of the warehouse behind the company headquarters, sack by sack. The light machine gun on the east guard tower was also dismantled, the gun body and the gun mount separated, and two people carried it away.

The entire cleaning process took less than twenty minutes.

Wei Dayong stood at the east gate of the prisoner-of-war camp, watching the last soldier carry supplies out, then turned around and shouted to everyone.

"withdraw!"

The group headed towards the depression and soon disappeared into the night.

Liu Dazhu led the prisoners of war to the low-lying area and was distributing cotton-padded clothes and dry rations seized from the prisoner-of-war camp.

There weren't many cotton-padded coats available, so they could only be given to the wounded and the weakest people first.

The dry rations were compressed biscuits from the Japanese army. The prisoners of war held them in their hands, and some took a bite, chewing for a long time before swallowing—their stomachs were not used to eating anything proper for too long.

When Wei Dayong led the main force to the low-lying area, Wang Xiao had already begun to count the spoils.

"Company commander, the spoils this time weren't much. We only have about thirty usable rifles, one light machine gun, and a little over four thousand rounds of ammunition. But we have plenty of food!"

"We're lucky if we even have anything," Wei Dayong said. "Our main goal is to save people, not to steal anything."

He turned around and looked at the prisoners of war in the depression.

They changed into cotton-padded clothes, ate dry rations, some sat on the ground to rest, some helped bandage the wounded, and some surrounded the soldiers of the Independent Company asking them all sorts of questions.

A prisoner of war in tattered uniform walked up to Wei Dayong and saluted him. The uniform was so worn that its original color was no longer visible, and the shoulders were covered with patches upon patches, but the salute was perfectly executed.

"Sir, thank you for saving us."

Wei Dayong looked at him and asked, "Which unit are you from?"

"From the Jin-Sui Army, 193rd Brigade. He was captured by the Japanese in Xinkou last year and has been imprisoned here for almost a year."

"Now that you're out, what are you planning to do?"

The prisoner of war was silent for a moment, then said, "Sir, I want to work for you."

Wei Dayong looked at him without saying a word.

"I spent a year in a prisoner-of-war camp and witnessed firsthand how the Japanese tortured our people. My company commander, platoon leader, and brothers in my squad all died here. You saved my life, and I want to fight the Japanese with you."

Wei Dayong nodded.

"Okay. Those who want to work with us can stay. Those who don't, we'll give them travel expenses and they can go home on their own."

The prisoners of war looked at each other, and then stood up one by one.

Of the 213 prisoners of war, not one wanted to leave.

Wei Dayong looked at them, his lips twitching slightly. Then he turned to Wang Xiao and said.

"Wang Xiao, have the soldiers distribute the captured weapons to the prisoners of war. From now on, they are all members of the Independent Company."

Wang Xiao paused for a moment, then smiled.

"Yes, sir!"

Wei Dayong stood at the edge of the depression, watching Wang Xiao lead his soldiers to distribute the captured weapons to the prisoners of war.

He turned around and waved to Old Wu.

Old Wu was squatting next to a wounded soldier, changing his bandages, when he saw Wei Dayong calling him. He quickly handed the bandages to the soldiers next to him and ran over.

"Company commander, you wanted to see me?"

"Old Wu, you take the brothers from the logistics platoon and escort the prisoners of war back to the valley first."

Old Wu was stunned for a moment.

"Company commander, aren't you all going back together?"

"We still have things to take care of."

Wei Dayong pointed to the west.

"Zhou Huaiyuan led the second platoon to launch a feint attack on Majiagou, and they haven't returned yet. Judging by the timeline, they should already be on their way to retreat."

Old Wu's expression changed.

"Company commander, you mean...?"

"If the Japanese soldiers from Majiagou didn't catch up with the Second Platoon after they came out, they would definitely turn back. There was only one route for them to return, which was the highway west of the POW camp."