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

A strong smell of blood wafted out from the city gate.

Just as the ammunition boxes were unloaded, a series of urgent shouts rang out from the city wall.

"Southwest corner! The Japanese are sneaking up!"

"Grenades! Where are the grenades?!"

The soldier providing support nearly dropped the ammunition box because his shoulder twitched. Old Xu caught the bottom of the box, veins throbbing on his forehead.

"What are you standing there for? Move it!"

Zhao Weiguo dragged his Type 96 machine gun through the gate, the barrel scraping sparks off the blue bricks. He saw wounded soldiers lying haphazardly on the inner side of the city wall. There weren't enough stretchers, so some were sitting against the wall, their stomachs covered with blood-stained leg wraps, their hands still tightly gripping their guns.

A battalion deputy commander, his face covered in gunpowder smoke, rushed down, his eyes first landing on the machine gun, then on Zhao Weiguo's face.

"Where did this gun come from?"

Old Xu stuck his command sword into the ground.

"A tooth pulled from a graveyard!"

The battalion deputy didn't understand, and the sound of cannons shook down another layer of dust from the city bricks.

Zhao Weiguo placed the machine gun on the ammunition box.

"Is the southwest corner lacking firepower?"

The deputy battalion commander paused for a moment.

"Wait! The Japanese just blew up a section of the parapet and are climbing up!"

Zhao Weiguo looked up at the steps of the city wall.

"Give me two men to carry the ammunition trays. Old Xu, the knife-wielding team guards the breach. Shuanzi, distribute the grenades to the people at the base of the wall, don't pile them all up in one place."

The battalion deputy's eyebrows shot up.

"Whom are you in command?"

Zhao Weiguo didn't argue with him. He bent down, pulled a wet piece of paper from the map folder he had taken from the Japanese platoon leader's body, and slapped it on the ammunition box.

"Their night attack won't just target the southwest corner. The southwest corner is a hook; the northeast gate will loosen its grip once they hear gunfire. If you send all your reserves there, the back gate will be open."

The battalion deputy's expression changed.

How do you know about the Northeast Gate?

Zhao Weiguo's fingertip touched the pencil circle on the edge of the wet paper.

"The Japanese drew it themselves."

The deputy battalion commander snatched the paper away; under the torchlight, the Japanese markings looked like tiny insects crawling along the city wall line. He gritted his teeth and roared back.

"Second row, stay at the northeast gate! Anyone who dares to leave their post, I'll shoot them!"

Another burst of fire erupted on the city wall.

"The southwest corner can't hold out any longer!"

Zhao Weiguo had already shouldered the machine gun and rushed up the steps. The machine gun was too long, and he was small; the butt of the gun hit the brick wall several times, making his wrist numb from the impact. He didn't stop; the soles of his boots had stepped through blood, which was blackened by the firelight.

Old Xu followed behind, cursing under his breath.

"Slow down! If you get lost, how am I supposed to explain this to Company Commander Zhou!"

Zhao Weiguo stepped onto the city wall.

The night wind, carrying cannon fodder, lashed at my face.

A section of the parapet in the southwest corner was blown open, and outside the breach, Japanese helmets flickered in the firelight. Two bamboo ladders were placed against the wall, and the Japanese soldiers at the top were climbing up with bayonets in their teeth, while others below were suppressing them with guns. Bullets flew close to the city bricks, and the debris swept across their faces like sand.

As soon as one of the guards peeked out, a red hole appeared in his forehead, and he fell backward.

A young soldier next to him was holding a grenade, his hands shaking so badly he couldn't pull the pin.

"I...I can't pull it!"

Zhao Weiguo snatched the grenade, put the pin on his finger, bit the safety pin with his teeth, and pulled hard.

"Count to two, then throw the ladder base."

"what?"

"one!"

The young soldier's face twitched in fright.

"two!"

Zhao Weiguo shoved the grenade back into his hand and gave him a shove on the arm.

The black lump rolled down the city wall and landed at the bottom of the ladder.

boom!

The bamboo ladder broke in the middle, and the two Japanese soldiers at the top fell down with their guns, followed by a series of screams from below.

The young soldier looked at his hands, his lips trembling.

"I hit the target?"

Zhao Weiguo propped the crooked handle against the crumbling wall.

"Take two more."

Old Xu had already led four swordsmen to the edge of the breach. As soon as a Japanese soldier peeked out, his bayonet pierced through first. Old Xu turned sideways, caught the gun barrel, and slashed his broadsword along the wall.

The man's finger fell off along with the gun.

"Come on! You son of a bitch, get up here!"

Zhao Weiguo pressed the trigger of the machine gun.

Da da da da!

Bullets swept diagonally down from the breach, knocking down a group of Japanese soldiers who were rebuilding ladders. Shell casings bounced off the gun barrel and burned a black hole into Zhao Weiguo's sleeve.

The soldier carrying the ammunition tray spoke in a trembling voice.

"Not many bullets left!"

"Short bursts of fire."

Zhao Weiguo released the trigger, his eyes scanning the dark figures outside the city. The system's blue line unfolded amidst the smoke of gunfire, while three red lines moved along the moat, their target not the breach, but the hidden door on the right.

He turned his head abruptly.

"Right hidden door! There's an explosive charge!"

The deputy battalion commander was still mobilizing men when he heard this shout and turned pale.

"Wasn't the right hidden door blocked?"

"A blocked door is the easiest way to make people let their guard down."

Zhao Weiguo scrambled down the low wall beside the machine gun and crouched low as he ran along the inner side of the city wall. Old Xu was getting anxious behind him.

"Mr. Zhao!"

"Keep your mouth shut!"

Below the hidden door on the right, two guards were leaning against the wall, panting. A slight scraping sound came from outside the door crack, like mice gnawing on wood.

One of the guards frowned.

What's that noise?

Zhao Weiguo lunged forward and kicked him in the back of the knee.

"Get down!"

Sparks suddenly flew from the crack in the door.

The explosive charge was inserted halfway in from the bottom edge.

Zhao Weiguo did not back down. He grabbed a bucket of water from the side and poured the whole bucket onto the crack in the door, then kicked a fallen sandbag over to press down on the end of the explosive charge.

Half of the spark was extinguished, but a piece of fuse was still burning inside.

The defenders were so frightened that their voices became shrill.

"It's going to explode!"

Zhao Weiguo drew his pistol and aimed it at the hand peeking out from the crack in the door.

Snapped!

A scream rang out from outside the door. The explosive charge was dragged, and the sandbag moved with it. Zhao Weiguo rushed forward, pressing his hands firmly against the sandbag, his face pale in the light of the fuse.

"Pull the rope! Push up the barricades behind the door!"

The two guards then came to their senses and scrambled to pull at the barricades.

Outside, Japanese soldiers frantically stuffed explosive charges inside, while Zhao Weiguo used his body to weigh down sandbags. The fuse was only a finger's length long.

Old Xu rushed in from the gap, his shoulder covered in blood, his command sword wrapped around a Japanese soldier's cap.

"Get out of the way!"

He slashed at the exposed wooden handle of the explosive charge with his knife, the blade getting stuck. Zhao Weiguo seized the half of the charge and, with all his might, pushed it through the crack in the door.

"Let go!"

Old Xu dropped the knife, grabbed Zhao Weiguo, and rolled to the side.

boom!

A burst of white light erupted outside the hidden door, causing the wooden door to bulge inwards. The barricades held the door in place, and although a few splinters broke, it ultimately did not collapse.

Dust settled on the two of them.

Old Xu's ears were bleeding, and he lay on the ground unable to curse, only panting with his mouth open.

Zhao Weiguo crawled out of the dust, picked up the Nanbu pistol from the ground, and fired two more shots through the crack in the door.

The noise outside the door stopped.

At the breach in the city wall, the shouts of the sword-wielding soldiers suddenly drowned out the gunfire.

"They've backed out!"

"The Japanese soldiers have retreated!"

Zhao Weiguo steadied himself against the wall, his chest barely heaving, but a gash on the back of his hand from the blast of debris caused blood to drip from his fingertips onto the city bricks.

The deputy battalion commander rushed to the hidden door, looked at the door that hadn't been blown open, and then at Zhao Weiguo, who was covered in dust and dirt. His throat felt like it was blocked.

"Mr. Zhao..."

Zhao Weiguo raised his hand to wipe the dust from the corner of his eye and turned to look out of the city.

The distant artillery fire stopped for a moment.

He bent down, picked up the command knife he had taken from the squad leader, and tossed it to the deputy battalion commander.

"The ammunition has been delivered."

At the foot of the city wall, Old Xu finally coughed up a mouthful of black phlegm and grinned, revealing a mouth full of blood.

"I also gave the Japanese a coffin as a gift."