Holding the original shares, they fought all the way to the Korean War!

Deng Chen did not respond immediately.

He quickly estimated the troop strength of both sides in his mind.

Then he spoke, his tone carrying a cautious quality that only comes after rational analysis.

"Commander, a battalion of Japanese soldiers plus a battalion of puppet troops, the total strength is at least 1,500 men."

"We only have 355 men right now. Although we just captured a batch of equipment, the disparity in troop strength is still there."

"If we fight head-on, the casualties will be significant."

Zhou Tianyang remained silent.

His gaze remained fixed on the direction of the mountain ridge, his mind racing.

More than a thousand Japanese soldiers plus several hundred puppet troops were indeed a tough opponent.

But their situation is somewhat different now than it was yesterday.

Yesterday's ambush was hastily set up after a forced march, and the soldiers were exhausted.

From this morning until now, they haven't been walking very fast, so their physical exertion has been relatively limited.

More importantly, time.

Zhou Tianyang turned around and glanced in the direction he had come from.

Although the pursuing Japanese soldiers have been shaken off for the time being, it is possible that they will catch up again at any time.

If we linger too long in front of this stronghold, the pursuing troops will arrive from behind and launch a pincer attack.

That would be really dangerous.

"We must act swiftly."

Zhou Tianyang withdrew his gaze, his tone carrying a certainty that came from having already made a decision.

"We can't linger here any longer."

"The old method will do!"

"A feigned attack to lure the enemy in, then an ambush and annihilate them."

"Lure out the main force from the stronghold and eliminate them within the pre-set ambush area."

"Once we destroy their mobile forces, the rest will cower in their strongholds and dare not come out, allowing us to pass through safely."

After listening, Deng Chen remained silent for a moment, quickly assessing the feasibility of the plan in his mind.

Then he looked up, his tone filled with trust and approval.

"Captain, just tell me how to fight."

Zhou Tianyang did not rush to answer.

He unfolded the map again, his gaze moving rapidly from his current location, searching the area around the ridge for suitable terrain for an ambush.

His fingers traced arcs across the map.

It finally stopped at a marker about five or six miles southwest of the mountain ridge.

"Wolf Valley".

As he read out the place name, he tapped the mark twice with his finger.

Deng Chen leaned over for a look and immediately recognized the location.

A narrow valley with steep slopes on both sides covered with shrubs and wild grass, and a dry riverbed in the middle.

That terrain was the ambush ground he was most familiar with.

"This place is really nice."

Deng Chen's gaze lingered on the location of Wolf Valley on the map for a few more seconds.

"The valley is narrow enough to accommodate a limited number of troops. Even if the Japanese chased out thousands of men, they couldn't spread out their formation in that kind of terrain."

"As long as we can lure the Japanese into the valley, we can trap them from both sides and they won't be able to escape."

Zhou Tianyang put the map away.

Their gaze shifted from Deng Chen to Ma Yong, and they quickly assigned tasks.

"Battalion Commander Deng, take 120 men and launch a feint attack on the outpost's perimeter."

"No need to fight them to the death. Fire a few rounds and then run, leading the Japanese to the direction of Wild Wolf Valley."

He then looked at Ma Yong.

"Ma Yong, take the rest of the men and come with me to Wolf Valley to set up an ambush position."

"Half of the troops were deployed on each of the two slopes to form crossfire."

Deng Chen didn't ask any more questions, turned around and walked towards his team to start counting people.

He moved quickly, and those whose names were called walked out of the line one after another and lined up quickly on the roadside.

Zhou Tianyang walked over to Ma Yong and added a sentence.

"Leave twenty men behind to provide backup for Battalion Commander Deng later, depending on the situation."

"The rest of you, come with me."

Ma Yong nodded and turned to make the arrangements.

The team split into two groups.

Deng Chen led the 120 men quickly along the bushes on the side of the hillside toward the stronghold.

The formation was spread out, and from a distance it looked like dozens of scattered figures moving around.

They quickly disappeared into the folds of the mountain ridge.

Zhou Tianyang led the remaining men southwest, quickly advancing towards Wolf Valley along the route marked on the map.

Ma Yong led the way, scouting ahead.

Wolf Valley is indeed a long and narrow valley, just as shown on the map.

The slopes on both sides have a moderate gradient and are covered with dense shrubs and waist-high wild grass. If a person lies down in such a place, they cannot be seen from the bottom of the valley.

The dry riverbed at the bottom of the valley extends in a winding manner, and the width on both sides gradually narrows from the entrance to the middle section.

Zhou Tianyang quickly scanned the terrain at the entrance of the valley and then began assigning positions.

"Ma Yong, take more than a hundred men up the left flank slope and spread them out to form two lines of fire, denser in the front and sparser in the back."

"I led the rest of the men up the right flank slope and set up two lines of fire as well."

"Leave a gap in the middle so that Battalion Commander Deng can lure the Japanese in before closing it in."

Ma Yong nodded in agreement, then turned and led more than a hundred people quickly toward the left wing slope.

His deployment was extremely efficient; the soldiers dispersed within minutes.

They each found shooting positions behind the bushes and made simple camouflage with branches and weeds.

From the bottom of the valley, there was absolutely no flaw to be seen.

Zhou Tianyang led the remaining men up the right wing slope.

After quickly scanning the terrain, he chose a rocky platform that was significantly higher than the surrounding area as his firing position.

The rock is located in the upper middle section of the slope, offering a view that covers the entire valley.

The entire valley, from its entrance to its exit, is laid out before you.

He propped up his sniper rifle in a crevic in the rock and peered through the scope toward the entrance to Wolf Valley.

The view was clear, and the center of the cross was firmly positioned on the dirt road at the entrance.

Time passed by, second by second.

Zhou Tianyang lay on the rock, his breathing steady and even, his eyes never leaving the scope.

He could faintly hear gunshots coming from afar.

That was Deng Chen and his men making a feint attack on the outskirts of the stronghold.

The gunfire wasn't frequent, but it was continuous, carrying a perfectly timed provocative tone.

To him, the voice sounded like it was being shouted at the people inside the stronghold.

Come and get me! I'm right here, are you coming or not?

About half an hour later.

The gunfire in the distance had become noticeably more intense.

The sounds grew closer and clearer.

The first figure appeared in Zhou Tianyang's scope.

That was Deng Chen, leading those 120 people as they raced along the dirt road toward Wolf Valley.

He ran in the lead, glancing back every now and then.

Behind him, a group of Japanese soldiers in military uniforms emerged from the bend in the mountain ridge, carrying guns and pursuing him along the dirt road.

Next came the second team and then the third team.

Zhou Tianyang quickly counted the pursuing figures.

The number of Japanese soldiers far exceeded his initial estimate.

There were at least seven or eight hundred people, and they were still pouring out from behind the ridge.

A large contingent of puppet troops followed behind, though they weren't running as fast.

But the dark mass of people looked to be several hundred.

Deng Chen ran very fast, and the 120 people behind him were spread out.

The distance between them was so great that it made it difficult for the pursuing Japanese soldiers to concentrate their firepower.

They made a brief stop at the entrance to Wolf Valley, waiting for the last few people to rush into the valley.