Chapter 32: Mission Accomplished

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The militiamen cheerfully set about combing the battlefield. Before this, they had only heard how formidable the New First Regiment was and that it had killed the commander of the Sakata Regiment. Now they had seen it for themselves.

Not a single man had been lost, yet in the short time it took to smoke a cigarette, more than a hundred Japanese soldiers had been wiped out!

“Commander Li’s troops are incredible!”

“Brother Wang, do you think we could join Commander Li’s unit?”

“If Commander Li starts recruiting, I’ll be the first to sign up!”

“All right, all right! The mission comes first. Hurry up, everyone!” Captain Tian shouted, urging them to work faster and not waste time. He also lifted a crooked-handle machine gun and placed it on a cart.

Before long, thanks to everyone’s swift and nimble work, the Japanese weapons and ammunition had filled two large carts.

With regret in their eyes, they had no choice but to abandon the scattered shell casings on the ground. Then they drove the carts along the dirt road toward Little Wang Village.

Some time after they had left, the soldier sent by the Second Battalion Commander to find Li Yunlong finally reached the valley, only to discover that he had arrived too late.

After scanning the Japanese corpses strewn across the ground, he noticed that many scattered items had not been collected. He guessed that the commander had probably gone on to Little Wang Village, so he hurried after them along the dirt road.

At the blockhouse in Little Wang Village, the First Company, under Zhang Dabiao’s command, continued launching orderly attacks against the Japanese position.

The Japanese were desperately short of manpower. Left with no alternative, they could only hand the defensive position on the western flank over to Lin Fenghua’s puppet company.

“Company Commander! These Eighth Route troops have far too much firepower! The men can’t hold them back!”

Lin Fenghua crouched in the trench and nudged up the brim of his cap with the muzzle of his gun. He shouted furiously, “Damn it! What are you babbling about? Even if we can’t hold them, we have to! Otherwise, we’re all finished!”

“All right! Hold on a little longer, brothers. The Japanese commander said reinforcements will be here any moment!”

“When we get back, drinks are on me!”

What he did not know was that, under Zhang Dabiao’s orders, the Second Company was already holding back as much as possible. Otherwise, they would have taken the position in a single charge long ago!

Just then, one of the Second Company’s squad leaders ran to the company commander and asked, “When are we launching the final assault? Several of our squads have already taken turns sneaking up to the edge of the trench!”

The Second Company Commander replied irritably, “Haven’t I told you all to take it easy? Take it easy!”

“We’re only making a feint right now. If we get rid of the bait and the Japanese give up waiting for reinforcements, the commander’s whole plan will have been for nothing!”

The squad leader wore a troubled expression. “But, Commander… these puppet troops are simply too weak to fight!”

They might surrender at any moment.

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The Second Company Commander waved his hand. “All right. Wait for orders.”

In truth, the First Company under Zhang Dabiao was advancing quickly enough in its frontal assault as well. With the Third Company covering its flank, it had repeatedly pressed close to the edge of the Japanese position. The Japanese now had barely more than thirty men left!

Zhang Dabiao calculated the timing and thought that, by now, the commander should have engaged the Japanese reinforcements from Xin Town.

“Heh heh, Commander, I, Zhang Dabiao, am about to make my move!” He had been holding himself back for far too long. With a savage grin, Zhang Dabiao drew his Mauser pistol.

But at that very moment, something entirely unexpected happened: Li Yunlong arrived with the Reinforced Company!

Seeing Li Yunlong jump down from the sidecar on the eastern dirt road, Zhang Dabiao was astonished. Had the battle already been settled?

This was bad. He would no longer be able to take all the credit for himself!

While Zhang Dabiao regretted not acting sooner, the Japanese realized that the overall situation was already beyond saving.

Since Li Yunlong had come swaggering over from the direction of Xin Town on a sidecar motorcycle, bringing his men with him, that could only mean one thing: the reinforcements from Xin Town had been wiped out.

Second Lieutenant Yamada, his face covered in dust and grime, shouted with bloodshot eyes. He frantically waved his command saber and roared, “Men! For His Imperial Majesty the Emperor—banzai!”

The Japanese were prepared to fight to the death. They could no longer wait for reinforcements from the county seat!

Li Yunlong found Zhang Dabiao. “Dabiao, prepare to launch the final assault!”

The arrival of the Reinforced Company brought overwhelming firepower, pinning down the remaining Japanese so completely that they could not even raise their heads.

Zhang Dabiao shouted without hesitation, “Fix bayonets! Everyone, attack! Charge!”

If they did not charge now, when would they? The Japanese grenade launcher and crooked-handle machine gun had already been silenced by Wang Chengzhu’s precise fire.

The Second Company charged fastest and finished first. They had been nearest to the trench in the first place. When the puppet troops saw that the reinforcements arriving were actually Eighth Route soldiers, they surrendered on the spot.

“Sir, spare our lives! Spare our lives!”

“We surrender! We surrender!”

“We were forced into this!”

Clearly well practiced, Lin Fenghua was the first to throw his rifle to the ground. Raising both hands, he dropped to his knees.

The puppet soldiers followed his example one after another, tossing their rifles aside and kneeling without the slightest hesitation.

“Wu, take a few men and keep an eye on them!” The Second Company Commander left several soldiers behind to guard the puppet troops, while the rest continued charging along the trench toward the Japanese.

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“Stay put!” the young Wu shouted. The puppet soldiers shuddered in fright.

“We won’t move, we won’t move! Please, don’t shoot!” The puppet troops were extremely cooperative.

When the First Company’s soldiers reached the Japanese position, the remaining Japanese came screaming out of the trenches with bayonets fixed, hoping to make one final desperate stand.

Unfortunately for them, Zhang Dabiao had no intention of engaging in hand-to-hand combat this time. To save time, twelve Garand rifles led the charge. Before the Japanese could even reach them, each rifle had fired eight rounds, and hardly any Japanese soldiers remained standing.

The surrounding soldiers quickly swept through the position and eliminated the remaining enemy. The battle came to an end.

Li Yunlong chuckled as he holstered his Mauser pistol. “Huzi, go look around and see if there are any command sabers!”

At that moment, Captain Tian’s transport team, following behind Li Yunlong, arrived as well.

Without needing to say a word, everyone began clearing the battlefield in perfect unison.

Li Yunlong then found Zhang Dabiao. “Ha ha, Dabiao, bet you didn’t see that coming!”

Zhang Dabiao gave a helpless smile. “Heh, it certainly was unexpected. I never thought the commander would move so quickly!”

This also made him realize just how formidable this batch of weapons was. They were even better than he had expected.

“By the way, Commander, what should we do with those puppet troops?”

Li Yunlong waved dismissively. “Do I really have to spell it out? Make them strip off those uniforms and get the hell out of here!”

“And tell them this: if I ever see them join the puppet troops again, I’ll skin them alive!”

“Yes, Commander!” Having received his orders, Zhang Dabiao went to deal with the puppet soldiers.

Li Yunlong began shouting loudly, “Move it! Gather up the wounded and clear the battlefield quickly. The Japanese will be here soon!”

Before long, Huzi came running over with a command saber and handed it to Li Yunlong.

Li Yunlong examined it and slid it back into its sheath. “Ha ha! With these two sabers, this trip was worth it!”

Soon, the battlefield had been completely cleared. After sending men to notify Captain Hao and the others to withdraw, Li Yunlong and Zhang Dabiao led their troops away as well.

Just as Li Yunlong and Zhang Dabiao were still arguing over how to divide the spoils this time, the soldier who had been sent to find Commander Li finally caught up with them!

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