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

The bayonet tip gently pried at the snow, picking aside the pebbles one by one. The cold blade tip was less than half a foot away from the first firing groove.

Zhao Weiguo lay tightly on the rock at the highest point, the detonation rope in his hand tightening little by little, his knuckles first turning pale, then turning ashen.

The fog has not yet dissipated.

Outside the valley entrance, the intermittent sound of mule bells paused for a moment, then began to ring again.

The first to sneak in were three scouts, their rubber boots wrapped in cotton cloth, making no sound as they stepped on the snow.

The short man in the lead suddenly crouched down and used his bayonet to poke at the clump of withered grass on the ground that was being used as camouflage.

Those were the very things that Shi Tou and the others had carelessly tossed aside after pulling them out last night; they were scattered there crookedly.

The short man tilted his head and examined it for a long time. The tip of the bayonet was suspended above the fire line under the white line, separated by a thin layer of soil.

Zhao Weiguo clenched his jaw so hard it made a grinding sound, and he didn't even dare to blink.

Then the short man slashed downwards again, turning over a small section of dark yellow frozen soil.

The clod of earth flipped over and fell back to its original spot, but fortunately the fire wire underneath wasn't pulled out.

The short man stared intently for three breaths, even bending down to sniff the tip of the knife.

After confirming that everything was correct, he raised his head and looked into the valley repeatedly.

Zhao Weiguo silently counted the beats in his mind.

Fortunately, the short man stood up and gestured behind him.

The other two scouts quickly followed, and the entire scout team advanced into the depths of the valley without incident.

Li Yunlong, who had just arrived with his men and was lying on Zhao Weiguo's left side, held up his binoculars, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed hard.

Caught between the two men, Staff Officer Luo's knees were soaked with snow that had long since melted from his body heat, leaving a large patch of his cotton trousers damp.

The sound of mule bells drew closer.

The first wave of Japanese infantrymen poured into Hulukou. Zhao Weiguo silently counted in his mind: one, two, three... all the way up to twenty.

The infantrymen were followed closely by pack animals, and several mules were lined up side by side, their backs covered with tarpaulins, bulging and pressed very low.

Zhao Weiguo's breathing suddenly slowed down. It was definitely not an ordinary way of binding grain sacks. The cold, hard edges were visible under the oilcloth, and there were double-stranded ropes tied on the outside.

As they counted to fifty, enemy troops outside the valley continued to pour in. Staff Officer Luo moved forward slightly, forcing a urgency in his voice, and said, "Staff Officer Zhao, that's about enough! If we don't act soon, the vanguard will have crossed the valley floor!"

"No, we can't fight yet," Zhao Weiguo said without even blinking.

"The front team has passed the middle section, but the back team is still stuck at the valley entrance. If we pull the rope now, at least half of them will have to run away."

Staff Officer Luo opened his mouth, but ultimately swallowed his words. Li Yunlong, standing to the side, smiled silently without uttering a sound. He knew perfectly well what this kid was waiting for.

By the time the count reached eighty, the line at the bottom of the valley had stretched into a long, yellowish-brown line, leading all the way from the valley entrance to the valley floor.

Just then, a Japanese soldier stopped without warning beside the second pit, bent his knees on the fresh soil, and re-tied his leggings. Zhao Weiguo felt a cold sweat suddenly seep into his vest, running down his spine and into his cotton trousers.

The deadly cap was buried just two inches below the man's knee! His index finger dug into the detonating cord so hard that it instantly stretched into an iron bar.

Fortunately, after the soldier finished fastening his leg wraps, he stood up, shook his trousers, and jogged back to his unit.

Li Yunlong muttered "Damn it" under his breath, but Zhao Weiguo gritted his teeth and didn't respond.

As the column reached the middle of the valley floor, a Japanese officer led his horse out and began scanning the hillsides on both sides with binoculars around his neck.

The dark lens slowly rotated, stopping precisely on the rock where Zhao Weiguo was hiding, and remained still for a moment.

Zhao Weiguo pressed his face even closer to the shadow of the stone, his eyelids half-closed.

The binoculars were finally moved away. The officer put down the scope and waved to the back of the column.

Immediately afterwards, a mule carrying the base of a heavy machine gun was led to the edge of the second pit.

The mule's forelegs slipped on the soft, fresh soil, and it instinctively veered to the side. The entire marching column paused for a moment because of this unexpected turn of events.

This is the moment we've been waiting for!

Zhao Weiguo flicked his wrist, and the detonating rope shot out along the black line in the snow.

"Boom!" The first thunderclap resounded. The first crater exploded instantly, and frozen soil mixed with gravel shot into the air. The section of the column at the valley entrance was as if it had been cut in half, and the first few Japanese soldiers were blown away by the violent shockwave.

The second sound followed immediately. The mule carrying the heavy machine gun was completely overturned, and the heavy machine gun mount spun out and crashed into the snowdrift.

With the third roar, the group of people in the middle of the valley collapsed and lay prone, while several more were violently thrown out by the blast wave. Three thick columns of black and yellow smoke rose from the ground simultaneously.

"Hit." Zhao Weiguo uttered a single word in a low voice.

The dead silence was suddenly shattered by the barrage of fire on both sides of the slope.

"Aim carefully before you fire!" Li Yunlong roared.

"Don't shoot those lying down, shoot those who stand up and run! Shoot the officers! Shoot the machine gunners!" Although the gunfire was sparse, every bullet had its place.

From the valley entrance, Shuanzi kicked three boulders down the hillside with a flying kick. With a muffled "thump, thump," the boulders rolled onto the opening, leaving only a gap in the middle.

That was a flaw that Zhao Weiguo deliberately left last night, leaving this opening so that people outside would have the idea of ​​rushing in to rescue.

Zhao Weiguo remained lying in place, but his gaze did not linger on the smoke nearby; instead, he stared intently at the entrance to the valley.

The fog outside was partially dispersed by the smoke and dust from the explosion.

Outside that gap, gray-yellow military uniforms were still surging in like a swarm of ants.

The number of people rushing in and the number lying in the valley didn't match at all! He swallowed hard.

The yellow line at the bottom of the valley was still intact; even though the front section was knocked down and the middle section was blown away, the back section kept pressing up to fill the gap.

Further away, on the mountain path outside the valley entrance, new shadows still pierced through the thick fog. One group, two groups. The mule bells were also newly lit; before the bells of the first group had even stopped ringing, another group followed closely behind.

By the time Zhao Weiguo counted the third set of mule bells, his fingers had already dug pale marks into the rock.

He quickly calculated the numbers in his mind: if the guard team was organized into a squadron, it would have a maximum of 180 people.

But there are already no fewer than fifty bodies lying at the bottom of the valley, and people are still pouring in from outside the valley entrance.

He counted at least two hundred people who were still trying to squeeze in, and there were countless others behind them who were out of sight.

This isn't a company. This is the size of a battalion!

Staff Officer Luo's face instantly drained of all color.

He scrambled over, his voice trembling so much he could barely contain himself: "This...this head isn't right."

Li Yunlong finally realized what was going on. He stared intently at the valley entrance through his binoculars, his Adam's apple bobbing violently, and spat out, "Fuck the hell out of him."

"The intelligence said it was a company," Staff Officer Luo said anxiously, rubbing his hands on his cotton-padded coat. "This is hardly a company!"

Zhao Weiguo didn't reply. He stared intently at the cloud of dust outside the valley entrance for a full three breaths.

"The Japanese soldiers brought so many troops to protect the supplies as they entered Hulukou..." He licked his dry, cracked lips. "They were definitely not protecting ordinary supplies."

Staff Officer Luo was taken aback: "What?"

"We'll talk about it later," Zhao Weiguo suddenly turned to look at Li Yunlong, "Commander, the valley entrance can't be held down anymore."

Li Yunlong's brows furrowed instantly: "Didn't you say three battalions would be enough?"

"The layout set up by a company can't take down a battalion," Zhao Weiguo stared back at him intently. "Our blockade force is calculated in hundreds of men."

If those hundreds of men were to all come in, three battalions definitely wouldn't be able to hold them back; the breach would burst open.

The Japanese officer at the bottom of the valley was lucky to survive.

The man rolled to the ground and landed behind a rock, shouting at the top of his lungs for reinforcements. A small group of Japanese soldiers broke away from the main force and began to crept up the ridge.

On the ridge, Shuanzi fired a shot with his sniper rifle, as if targeting a specific person.

The Japanese soldier at the front suddenly twisted his neck and fell to the ground.

The others quickly lay down, and instead of retreating, they continued to inch forward.

The situation on the right slope was also becoming tense. Kong Jie's troops were defending the right slope, but their firepower was far less dense than that on the left slope, and soldiers were already shouting urgently to change their magazines.

Zhao Weiguo turned around abruptly and grabbed Staff Officer Luo's arm tightly: "Staff Officer Luo, make a trip."

Staff Officer Luo stared at him with wide eyes.

"Return to the brigade headquarters immediately," Zhao Weiguo said through gritted teeth, enunciating each word clearly. "Send the remaining two battalions and the guard company of the New First Regiment up here."

Staff Officer Luo was completely stunned: "Move...move the entire regiment?"

"Adjust." Zhao Weiguo's fingernails dug deeply into his cotton-padded jacket. "This fish is a bit big. If we can catch it, it will be a huge achievement for us."

Staff Officer Luo stared with his mouth agape, unable to close it for a long time.

Li Yunlong chimed in from the side, "Listen to him." He tucked his pistol into his waistband, turned, and glared at Staff Officer Luo: "I'll keep you here. The faster you run, the better off our Independent Regiment will look."

Staff Officer Luo then seemed to wake from a dream. He crouched down and retreated rapidly down the slope, disappearing into the thick fog in a few steps.

Zhao Weiguo turned around and lay back down behind the rock. Another burst of gunfire erupted from the left slope. It was coming from the right slope, which Kong Jie was responsible for. Kong Jie's anxious shouts carried on the wind: "Second platoon is almost out of ammunition!" "Shoot sparingly, shoot sparingly!"

On the ridge, Shuanzi was forced to change his sniping position. The rock he had just been hiding on had a corner shot off by the Japanese, completely exposing his sniping position. Zhao Weiguo glanced back at Shuanzi. Shuanzi also happened to turn around and grinned at him. That smile was deathly pale, devoid of any color. On Shuanzi's right arm, his cotton-padded jacket had been stained with a large patch of black blood, from where he had been hit sometime earlier.

Outside the valley entrance, the gray-yellow tide of soldiers continued to surge wildly. Amidst the smoke and fire, the sound of mule bells echoed one after another.

Nearly.

Nearly.

The smoke from the battle in the valley had not yet dissipated when enemy troops outside, under cover of cover, pressed forward to the rolling stones. The gap that Zhao Weiguo had deliberately left as bait last night had now become a deadly trap.

Zhao Weiguo reached for his pistol at his waist and lightly placed his finger on the trigger. He quickly ran through the timeline in his mind: Staff Officer Luo would need at least twenty minutes to reach the foot of the mountain by running downhill; once at the foot, he would need to find the messenger and deliver the message to the other two battalion commanders, which would take another ten minutes; and by the time the order to mobilize the remaining two battalions was given, it would take at least forty minutes. All in all, it would definitely take more than an hour and a half.

During that crucial hour and a half, they had to stay put and hold the bag.

Outside the valley entrance, the sound of a new mule bell drew an inch closer.