The Courtyard House: The Little Red Devil Returning from the Peninsula

The mule cart rushed up the small embankment, its wheels crushing the gravel, and the ammunition boxes thudded against the deck.

Old Xu's first cart swayed ahead, a black cloth draped over its rear, whipping and twitching in the night wind. No one lit a lamp. White breath puffed from the mule's nostrils, its hooves stomping into the mud with a series of wet thuds.

Li Shuanzi was lying next to the second car, clutching a long gun in his hand.

"Mr. Zhao, is there really a reed marsh ahead?"

Zhao Weiguo stared at the low-lying shadow in the darkness.

Yes. Don't speak when you arrive.

"Where are the frogs croaking?"

"listen."

The convoy slowed down.

The reed marsh was deathly still.

There was no croaking of frogs.

There were no insect sounds.

Only the distant artillery fire from the direction of Wanping illuminated the horizon with staggering dark red rays. Reeds stood by the water's edge, silent in the wind, as if someone had pressed down on the entire puddle.

Old Xu raised his hand in front.

"stop?"

Zhao Weiguo grabbed the edge of the car panel.

"Get down!"

Snapped!

Gunshots ripped out from the reeds, the first shot hitting the wooden shaft of Old Xu's cart, splinters flying all over his face.

The second shot flew past the brim of Li Shuanzi's hat, and the hat was blown into the mud.

"There's an ambush!"

Just as Li Shuanzi was about to raise his gun, Zhao Weiguo pressed down on the barrel.

"Don't aim at the fire, aim at the reed roots!"

"What?"

"They were lying prone, guns pointed upwards, their bodies downwards!"

Zhao Weiguo tumbled off the mule cart, mud and water filling his shoes. He slid along the embankment to a rock, then drew his pistol, the muzzle pressed low.

A small fire flickered in the reeds.

Snapped!

Zhao Weiguo fired the first shot.

A short, muffled groan came from beside the flickering fire, and a patch of reeds suddenly collapsed.

Old Xu was shouting from the front.

"Great! Brothers, keep the pressure down!"

Several Hanyang rifles fired simultaneously, bullets embedding themselves in the reed roots, splattering black flecks of mud and water. Chaos erupted among the people in the reed marshes; someone shouted in Japanese, a shrill, angry voice.

Blue lines spread out in Zhao Weiguo's mind.

Three people were on the left, two on the right, and one in the middle was lying on the edge of the small stone bridge, holding what looked like a long-handled explosive pack.

The red line extends from the small bridge to the first mule cart.

His eyes turned cold.

"Old Xu, by the bridge!"

Old Xu didn't hear clearly and turned his head.

"What?"

Zhao Weiguo had already rushed out.

"Explosives!"

He ran close to the bottom of the embankment, his body almost touching the mud. A bullet whizzed overhead, snapping a reed, the stalk landing on his shoulder. He didn't look up, firing two quick shots with his pistol.

Snapped!Snapped!

The dark figure by the bridge swayed slightly, but before falling, it had already lit a tinderbox in its hand.

The orange flames had just begun to peek out, illuminating the face of a Japanese soldier in civilian clothes.

Zhao Weiguo suddenly lunged to the back of the embankment, grabbed a clump of wet mud, and threw it at the embankment.

Snapped.

Wet mud was smeared on the man's eyes.

The man's hand trembled, and the tinder fell into the water, where it hissed out.

Only then did Li Shuanzi notice the dark bundle under the bridge, and his face turned pale.

"Damn, there really is explosives!"

Old Xu drew his broadsword and leaped off the cart like an ox crashing through a fence. He rushed through the mud to the bridge and swept the back of his sword horizontally.

Click.

The Japanese soldier's arm was bent into a grotesque shape, and the explosive charge rolled to Zhao Weiguo's feet.

Zhao Weiguo ripped off the fuse and threw it into the ditch.

"Don't touch the detonator!"

Old Xu had just reached out his hand when he immediately pulled it back.

"You should have said so earlier!"

Suddenly, a burst of gunfire erupted from the right side of the reed marsh. A young soldier on the third mule cart was hit in the shoulder and fell into a pile of ammunition boxes.

"I've been shot! I've been shot!"

Zhao Weiguo turned around.

"What are you yelling for? If it's still movable, hold the box down!"

The young soldier gritted his teeth and used his uninjured hand to hold the rolling grenade box.

Li Shuanzi's eyes turned red, and he raised his gun, ready to charge.

Zhao Weiguo grabbed his belt at the back of his waist and pulled him backward.

"You're a target the moment you stand up!"

Li Shuanzi fell into the mud, his mouth full of dirt.

"What should we do then?"

Zhao Weiguo pointed to the empty ammunition boxes next to the mule cart.

"Push it down!"

The two soldiers immediately kicked the empty box down the embankment. The wooden box rolled into the mud and water, blocking the firing line on the right.

Zhao Weiguo replaced the clip with a new one, pressed the trigger with his finger, and the bolt clicked shut.

"Old Xu, take two men and go around from the left. Shuanzi, count to three, and hit the tallest clump of reeds on the right."

Li Shuanzi wiped the mud off his face.

"three!"

"two!"

"one!"

Gunshots rang out simultaneously.

The tallest part of the reeds on the right was riddled with bullet holes, and the machine gunner hiding behind it had half his shoulder exposed. This was the moment Zhao Weiguo had been waiting for.

Snapped.

The man's brow darkened, and he fell backward into the water.

The firepower in the reed marshes was cut off by half.

Old Xu had already circled around to the left flank, his broadsword without a cutting edge, using only the back of the blade to strike. The first blow knocked one down, the second shoved another into the mud. The remaining one drew his short sword, and Old Xu sidestepped it, the blade grazing his sleeve.

"You dare to play with knives with me?"

The blade flashed down.

The man knelt in the water, and his dagger fell to the ground.

The small stone bridge finally came into view.

The bridge was narrow, the wooden planks were slippery, and two unlit explosives were strapped underneath. If they had been any later, the entire convoy, along with their ammunition, would have fallen into the ditch.

Old Xu dragged the prisoners back, his chest heaving.

"Mr. Zhao, two are alive, four are dead. What about the bridge?"

Zhao Weiguo squatted down and used an iron ruler to pry open the detonator under the bridge, his fingers as steady as if he were holding an embroidery needle.

"The bridge is passable. One vehicle at a time, people get out and push, don't shake the ammunition."

Li Shuanzi looked at him, his hands covered in mud and gunpowder ash, his voice hoarse.

"If you had been a fraction of a second slower..."

Zhao Weiguo put the dismantled detonator into a cloth bag and looked up towards Wanping.

The gunfire flashed again, illuminating the mud on his face and the cold light in his eyes.

"Stop talking nonsense."

He stood up and patted the shaft of the first mule cart.

"Cross the bridge. Wanping is still waiting for bullets."

The first mule cart crossed the bridge.

The wooden planks creaked and groaned under the wheels, and black water flowed down beneath the bridge, clinging to the remnants of explosives and ropes. The soldiers got out and pushed, their shoulders braced against the planks, their teeth grinding together.

"Slow down! Don't smash the board with the revolver!"

Zhao Weiguo squatted at the bridgehead, his palms pressed against the bridge surface, listening to the sound of the wooden beams.

Click.

A faint sound emerged from inside the bridge.

His eyelids twitched.

"stop!"

Old Xu reined in the mule.

"What's wrong now?"

Zhao Weiguo lay down and reached into the crack in the bridge, his fingertips touching a thin wire. The wire was stuck with mud, and the other end was wrapped around a dark part of the bridge pier.

It wasn't that bundle of explosives from before.

There's another trick up your sleeve.

Li Shuanzi's face turned pale.

"Damn it, a trap within a trap?"

Zhao Weiguo took out an iron ruler and carefully pried along the gap. The wire was very taut; if the wheel moved forward another half foot, the bridge would press down, and the wire would pull the firing pin away.

There was a grenade hidden under the bridge.

The pull ring is already on the wire.

Old Xu managed to squeeze out a sentence.

"These bastards."

Zhao Weiguo extended his hand.

"knife."

Old Xu handed the broadsword over backwards.

Zhao Weiguo didn't catch the blade; he only used the back of the blade to press down on the bridge plate, and with his other hand, he inserted the iron ruler to lock the pull ring.

"Shuanzi, come here."

Li Shuanzi climbed up to his side.

"What are you doing?"

"I'll count to one, and you lift the bridge plank up half an inch. Old Xu, don't loosen the back of the blade. If anyone's hand shakes, the three of us will be blown to bits."

Old Xu grinned, sweat mixed with mud streaming down his forehead.

"You're really refreshing to talk to."

Zhao Weiguo stared at the dark grenade.

"three."

Li Shuanzi gripped the edge of the bridge plank with both hands.

"two."

The veins on Lao Xu's arm bulged.

"one."

The bridge plank was lifted half an inch.

The wire came loose.

Zhao Weiguo suddenly flicked his iron ruler, but the pull ring didn't move. Instead, the wire came out of the ring, bounced off the bridge pier, and made a soft sound.

Everyone froze.

The grenade didn't explode.

Zhao Weiguo slowly took it out, threw it into the muddy pit, and weighed it down with a stone.

"Hurry up."

Old Xu swallowed.

"Mr. Zhao, if you used your skills to gamble, the bookmaker would be devastated."

"Stop talking nonsense and push the cart."

The first vehicle crossed the bridge.

The second vehicle crossed the bridge.

When it was the third mule cart's turn, a burst of light suddenly appeared from the direction of Wanping, followed by the sound of artillery fire rolling across the river. Shells landed behind the small dike, mud waves surged into the air, and the last mule cart was startled, its front hooves rearing up, and the grenade box on the cart floor slid towards the bridge.

The young wounded soldier rushed forward, his shoulder wound reopened, and blood instantly soaked through his cotton-padded coat.

"The box! The box!"

Zhao Weiguo rushed over, grabbed the rope of the box, and was dragged so that his knees slammed against the wooden board. Li Shuanzi pounced on him and hugged his waist, while Lao Xu dropped his knife and braced his hands against the board.

The box hangs over the side of the bridge.

Below are black water and stones.

Zhao Weiguo's fingernails dug into the seams of the rope.

"Pull me back! Don't shout!"

The three of them exerted their strength together.

The box was pulled back onto the bridge, causing the wooden planks to shake.

The wounded soldier's face turned blue with pain, yet he still pressed the lid of the box tightly against his body.

"Mr. Zhao, I didn't loosen it."

Zhao Weiguo glanced at him.

"I'll remember that. Now shut up and save your breath."

The wounded soldier grinned, his teeth covered in mud.

"become."

The convoy finally crossed the bridge.

Ahead lay a low, dark mass of graves, the withered grass pressed flat to the ground by the wind from the artillery fire. Further on, the outline of Wanping city walls came into view, firelight flickering on the walls, the gunfire so dense it sounded like beans being scattered in an iron pot.

Li Shuanzi leaned over the side of the cart shaft, his voice strained.

"We're here, almost there."

Zhao Weiguo did not respond.

The system's blue lines have been laid out again.

To the right of the cemetery, three red figures moved close to the tombstones. To the left, behind the earthen slope, there was a thin line of fire, positioned directly at the waist of the convoy.

He raised his hand.

"Stop everything. Don't go into the cemetery."

Old Xu's eyes widened.

"If we stop now, we'll miss our chance!"

Zhao Weiguo pointed to the burial mound on the right.

"There are people there."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a bullet shattered the tombstone in front of him, spraying stone dust all over Old Xu's face.

Old Xu pulled out the knife, and his curses seemed to burst from his chest.

"There's still some left!"

Someone behind the grave mound shouted in Mandarin:

"Leave your ammunition, and we'll spare your lives!"

Li Shuanzi was stunned for a moment.

"Traitor?"

Zhao Weiguo raised his gun, pointing the muzzle in the direction of the shout.

"The dog food given by the Japanese devils makes your tongue stiff from eating too much of it."

They shouted again from the graveyard:

"There are children in the car! Brothers, don't be afraid, charge!"

Zhao Weiguo pulled the trigger.

Snapped.

The shouting stopped.

He turned to look at Old Xu.

"There's a machine gun on the left slope. You take some men and cover the right side, don't chase too far. Shuanzi, unload two boxes of ammunition and roll behind the tombstone."

Li Shuanzi's eyes lit up.

"Using boxes as bait?"

"Use boxes as walls."

Two ammunition boxes rolled off the vehicle and crashed behind a tombstone. Soldiers crouched down and opened fire. Three figures peeked out from the grave mound on the right, only to be pushed back down.

The machine gun on the left slope opened fire.

Da da da!

Bullets swept across the roof of the vehicle, tearing the black cloth to shreds, and the mule brayed and struggled to the side. Zhao Weiguo climbed onto the truck bed, stepped on the ammunition box, leaped onto another vehicle, and slid down the side of the truck.

Old Xu was shouting on the right.

"Mr. Zhao, where are you going!"

"extract a tooth."

Zhao Weiguo crawled into the cemetery, tombstones flashing past him one by one. With each flash of machine gun fire, the red line in his mind shortened by an inch.

Thirty steps.

Twenty steps.

Ten steps.

Behind the earthen slope, the machine gunner was holding down the gun, while the assistant gunner was loading bullets onto the ammunition bar. Zhao Weiguo didn't rush up the slope; instead, he took out the detonator he had just removed, wrapped it in cloth, and pulled a small piece of fuse from his pocket.

The fire extinguisher was wiped clean.

Nourishing.

He threw the detonator into a pile of empty pottery jars behind the earthen slope.

boom!

The sound wasn't loud, but it sent shards of pottery flying everywhere.

The machine gunner instinctively turned around.

Zhao Weiguo raised his gun.

Snapped!Snapped!

Two shots.

The machine gun went silent.