The War of Resistance Against Japan: Starting with a Calm View of Life and Death

Zhou Jindong handed the binoculars to Wang Yuan beside him, pointing to the sea of ​​fire in the town and said, "See that? The Japanese are desperate. Once the shelling stops, the infantry will definitely enter the town to clear it out."

Signal Zhang Fang: Don't engage the Japanese head-on! Everyone, withdraw!

Wang Yuan took the binoculars, chuckled, revealing a set of white teeth: "Dongzi, that was a really cunning move. It just took up a lot of space! So, where do we go now? Back to the valley?"

"Back to the valley? Wouldn't that be giving the Japanese the run for their money?" Zhou Jindong grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground, rubbed his fingers together, and said, "We need to lead them in circles in the mountains, wear them down, break their patience, and then devour them piece by piece. Let's go, to Eagle's Beak!"

In the ruins of the town hall, Captain Ono brandished his sword, shouting hoarsely, "Charge in! The enemy is ahead! Machine gun suppression!"

More than a hundred Japanese soldiers, carrying guns, cautiously advanced towards the town center, stepping on the still-hot rubble.

The surrounding houses were still burning, and the sound of falling beams echoed everywhere.

Suddenly, flames erupted from the row of "guerrilla fighters" who had been standing still in the town square.

Immediately afterwards, several muffled thuds were heard; the earthen bomb buried under the scarecrow had exploded.

Although it wasn't very lethal, Zhou Jindong had deliberately added something to it.

The smoke and chili powder exploded instantly, and the red powder drifted in the wind.

"Achoo! Achoo!"

The Japanese soldier at the front took a sip of chili powder, and tears and snot instantly streamed down his face. He couldn't open his eyes at all, fired his gun haphazardly twice, and then rolled on the ground, covering his face.

"It's poison gas! The enemy used poison gas!" the Japanese soldiers behind shouted in terror, and their formation instantly broke down.

Captain Ono was also choked and coughed incessantly, but he still forced his eyes open and saw through his tears that the "enemies" who were hit did not bleed after they fell down, but instead scattered straw all over the ground.

"Baka! It's a fake! We've been tricked!" Captain Ono was so angry he almost vomited blood, slamming the back of his sword against the wall beside him. "Where are they? Where did these Eighth Route Army guerrillas go?"

Just then, a Japanese scout ran back from the back of the town, holding a tattered straw hat: "Reporting, Captain! Footprints found in the back hill! Heading northeast!"

"Chase! Full speed ahead! We can't let them get away!" Captain Ono didn't even wait for Okada Tomohisa's orders and led the remaining hundred or so Japanese soldiers to rush towards the back mountain.

On the ridge, Zhou Jindong watched as the Japanese troops rushed headlong down the predetermined route like a swarm of headless flies, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

He turned to the guerrillas behind him and said, "Send a signal to tell Jie Chuan to slow down and lead his men ahead, so they don't lose the Japanese."

The communications soldier nodded, took out a small mirror from his pocket, and waved it three times in the sun.

In the distant woods, Jie Chuan saw the reflection and immediately understood what it meant.

He wiped the sweat from his brow and shouted to the thirty-odd former puppet army brothers behind him, "Brothers, give it your all! Make your footprints deeper! Break the branches! Brother Dongzi said that anyone who runs too fast and shakes off the Japanese will be punished by carrying manure for a month when we get back!"

"Squad Leader Jie, don't worry! We've all trained in long-distance running!" one of the puppet soldiers replied with a grin, but deliberately stomped his feet hard in a mud puddle, leaving a series of clear footprints.

Jie Chuan glared at him: "Enough nonsense! We're a guerrilla force fighting the Japanese now! Stand up straight!"

After saying that, Jie Chuan led the way and ran into the depths of the forest, tearing several holes in his tattered cotton-padded coat as he ran, and hanging a few strips of cloth on the thorn bushes by the roadside.

Half an hour later, Fujita Hiroshi led the second squadron to the back mountain.

He glanced at the messy footprints on the ground and the strips of cloth hanging from the thorns, then at the narrow mountain path leading to Eagle's Beak, and turned to report to Okada Tomohisa: "Captain, the enemy is fleeing northeast. Apparently, there's only one road there!"

Okada Tomohisa sat on his horse, his military boots covered in mud, his face so gloomy it could drip water.

He glanced at his watch; it was already four in the afternoon.

"Only one road? Then block them inside!" Okada Tomohisa gritted his teeth. "Pass on my orders: artillery squads, set up cannons outside the mountain and seal off the road. First and second companies, full speed ahead! Annihilate this band of Eighth Route Army guerrillas before nightfall! I want to use their skulls as goblets!"

"Hai!" Fujita Hiroshi bowed his head and accepted the order, then led his team into the forest.

Eagle's Beak isn't actually a dead end; there's a trail behind it that hunters use, known only to local veteran hunters.

But Zhou Jindong had no intention of taking that path at all.

He led his main force, and after entering the mouth of Eagle's Beak Valley, he climbed up a gentle slope along the cliff like a gecko.

The area was covered with bushes, and unless you made a sound, people below couldn't see you at all.

Zhou Jindong lay prone behind a large rock, holding a Mauser pistol, peering through the gaps in the leaves at the mountain path below.

Wang Yuan lay beside him, clutching a hand grenade, his palms sweaty. "Dongzi, the Japanese are in. At least three hundred of them this time. Shall we fight here?"

"No rush," Zhou Jindong said in a low voice. "This opening is too narrow. If we fire, they'll retreat. We need to let them in and then block their path before firing."

The Japanese troops, like a long snake, slowly crept into the valley entrance.

Fujita Hiroshi walked at the front, and he was very cautious, stopping from time to time to observe the cliffs on both sides.

"Sir, there's no road ahead!" the scout reported back.

Fujita Hiroshi looked up and saw that there was indeed a sheer cliff in front of him, with only a narrow strip of sky above.

Below the cliff, there were scattered traces of a recently extinguished campfire and several broken earthenware pots.

"Search! Search thoroughly! They must be hiding nearby!" Fujita Hiroshi raised his sword.

Just as the Japanese troops began to disperse and stretch out their formation, Zhou Jindong suddenly raised his gun and pulled the trigger at a Japanese machine gunner walking in the middle.

"Bang!"

The machine gunner's head lolled to the side, his brains splattered, and he collapsed to the ground.

Immediately afterwards, dozens of guns opened fire simultaneously from the bushes on both sides of the cliff.

"beat!"

Zhang Fang's twenty-shot pistol spat fire, and a burst of bullets swept across, instantly felling several Japanese soldiers in front.

"Enemy attack! Take cover!" Fujita Hiroshi reacted quickly, rolling behind a large rock.

Although there were many rocks in the valley, they couldn't stop the bullets coming from above. The guerrillas occupied the high ground, and bullets rained down on them.

Even more deadly was Wang Lei's artillery platoon.

Although it only has one grenade launcher, this thing is a deadly weapon at close range.

"Pass!"

With a muffled thud, the grenade landed precisely on the most densely packed area of ​​the Japanese troops.