Chapter 54: Rich Harvests

"Boom!"

The iron wire mesh was blown open by a grenade, and the prisoners of war wept with joy, supporting one another as they walked out of this place of blood and tears.

"Everyone, follow me, let's get out of here first and head to a safe zone!"

"Sixth Squad, take them away!" Li Yunlong immediately arranged for a squad of soldiers to escort the prisoners away.

These were the foundation for his future troop expansion, so they had to be well protected.

As for whether they would be willing to follow and work under him, Li Yunlong had not a single worry. When it came to swinging a hoe to poach talent, as it happened, Li Yunlong was quite experienced!

Just think of the capable men under his command, whether it was Zhang Dabiao, Wang Chengzhu, or Sun Desheng who hadn't been called over yet—which one of them wasn't recruited by Li Yunlong himself?!

Most of the prisoners of war, under the protection of the Sixth Squad, stumbled across the courtyard wall and far away from this land.

However, a small number of people chose to stay, including the exceptionally skilled tall fellow, Wei Dayong. They strongly requested to be given a gun so they could fight the Japanese devils.

"This officer, give us a gun, we want to kill the devils too!"

Li Yunlong was more than happy to hear this. Weren't these people delivering themselves right to his doorstep?!

Once they took his gun, did they still think they could leave? Hehe, that was impossible!

"Hahaha, good, Fifth Squad Leader, give each of them a gun!"

Li Yunlong waved his hand grandly, "Brothers, let's fight the devils shoulder to shoulder, charge!"

Although these Nationalist soldiers were in poor physical condition, their tactical movements remained proficient. They quickly integrated into Li Yunlong's troops and tacitly advanced step by step.

With their joining, coupled with the firepower of submachine guns, Li Yunlong's side advanced at a very fast pace.

Crossing a corridor, Li Yunlong used a submachine gun to mow down a Japanese devil and rushed to the outer courtyard of the original Liuwang Temple.

He saw the squad that had been pinned down outside the courtyard gate. Huang Tianning was withdrawing his body to reload, and several corpses of the Provisional 7th Battalion soldiers lay outside the gate.

Li Yunlong ran over with his soldiers, taking cover outside the courtyard wall as the two sides completed their rendezvous.

Li Yunlong ran up to Huang Tianning in a rage and shouted loudly, "Huang Tianning, how the hell are you fighting?! Ah! You haven't even taken a courtyard this size, and you've lost so many brothers!"

Huang Tianning wiped the dust off his face without making any excuses. "Battalion Commander, I, old Huang, will definitely take it!"

Of course, Li Yunlong wouldn't let him make a reckless charge to his death. With wide-open eyes, he barked, "Get lost, that's not how a battle is fought. Tell me the situation inside!"

"Yes!"

Huang Tianning hurriedly reported the situation. "Battalion Commander, there are still about twenty-plus little devils inside, relying on the main hall in the courtyard to put up a stubborn resistance!"

"From the courtyard gate to the main hall is a dozen meters of open ground, and this bunch of little devils inside is no ordinary lot. Every single one of them has a submachine gun, and they shoot with extreme accuracy!"

"Our soldiers would be greeted with a row of bullets the moment they popped their heads up. We took a risk and fired a rocket launcher earlier, but unfortunately, it missed!"

Li Yunlong frowned; he didn't believe in superstition. "I want to see for myself just how extraordinary they are!"

"Battalion Commander, be careful!" Huang Tianning's heart jumped to his throat as he watched Li Yunlong attempt to stick his head out for a look.

Hugging the edge of the door, Li Yunlong quickly turned his head, peeked for a few seconds, and pulled back.

The very instant Li Yunlong pulled back, "Bang, bang, bang..." a row of bullets struck the edge of the door, kicking up puffs of dust.

"Heh! The little devils really are something else, their reaction time is fast enough!"

Just as things reached a temporary stalemate here, the two remaining garrison platoons in Wuyin County finally reacted.

They must have fallen into the enemy's trap, but just like Major Akai's judgment, the enemy's primary target was likely Wuyin County itself.

Therefore, the two Japanese platoon commanders decided to maintain city-wide alert and defense while dispatching only one squad, accompanied by a company of puppet troops, to reinforce Liuwang Temple.

When Zhang Dabiao learned from the scouts that only a single squad of Japanese and a company of puppet troops were coming as reinforcements, he was overjoyed. "Haha, the little devils are delivering heads to us!"

Zhang Dabiao immediately changed his tactics. It was no longer about setting up a roadblock, but directly annihilating this reinforcement unit.

"Men of the Fifth Platoon, move to the opposite side immediately. As soon as my side opens fire, you are to immediately cut off the devils' retreat. Not a single one must be allowed to escape!"

Receiving the order, the soldiers of the Fifth Platoon quickly shifted their positions.

Zhang Dabiao began arranging the tactics, "Listen up, later when I fire the rocket launcher, throw grenades first, and suppress them with full machine-gun fire!"

"Once the Fifth Platoon cuts off their retreat, the entire force will charge and quickly resolve the battle!"

Just as Zhang Dabiao was fully prepared, the Japanese squad was following right behind the puppet company, with the devils' gun barrels intentionally or unintentionally aimed at the puppet troops in front.

It looked as if the Japanese didn't trust these puppet troops at all, practically forcing them to lead the charge!

Among the puppet troops, a platoon leader sidled up to Company Commander Wang Kai, whose face was looking rather grim, and whispered through clenched teeth, "Brother Kai, let's do it! The brothers can't take this humiliating treatment anymore!"

"Everyone knows you only agreed to that bastard traitor Li Rong伟 to become a puppet soldier in order to protect our fellow villagers, but Sister Xiangning still couldn't be saved!"

"Just give the order, and everyone will turn around right now and slaughter these little devils!"

Remembering Xiangning, Wang Kai's eyes instantly turned red, and a suppressed, hoarse voice rang out, "Alright, we're bound to run into the defensive line soon. Tell everyone, the moment a shot rings out, immediately turn your gun barrels and waste those motherfuckers!"

The platoon leader's blood surged instantly. "Got it! We were just waiting for those words from you, Brother Kai!"

就这样, Wang Kai led the puppet company and the Japanese squad—sharing the same bed but dreaming different dreams—straight into Zhang Dabiao's ambush site.

Through his binoculars, Zhang Dabiao acutely spotted the oddity: the distance between the puppet troops and the Japanese was stretched far too wide, and both sides maintained a certain wariness toward each other.

"Could this be... preparing to turn against them right before the battle?" Zhang Dabiao's eyes lit up as he guessed a certain possibility, and his heart immediately swelled with joy.

"Ha, looks like this position of First Battalion Commander is still going to be old Zhang's!"

Zhang Dabiao immediately lowered his voice and gave the order, "Spare the puppet troops in front, focus all firepower on the little devils in the back!"

Soon, the puppet troops rounded the bend, and the Japanese squad entered the optimal ambush zone. On the hillside, Zhang Dabiao abruptly stood up, and the Super Bazooka on his shoulder fired instantly.

"Boom!"

The rocket accurately hit the Type 92 heavy machine gun in the Japanese formation, sending gun parts, fire, and severed limbs flying in all directions.

"Ugh, ah!!!"

"Enemy attack!"

"Counterattack, counterattack!"

In an instant, the Japanese suffered heavy casualties, but before they could disperse their formation and mount an effective counterattack, dozens of grenades dropped from the sky.

"Boom, boom, boom..." Amidst the series of explosions, the Japanese failed to dodge in time, suffering casualties exceeding half their numbers.

At this moment, the MG-42 machine gun opened fire, pinning the Japanese right where they stood.

Especially young Yi's machine gun, with its precise trajectory and continuous firepower, directly wiped out all grenade dischargers and Type 11 light machine guns.

By then, the puppet troops in front had turned their guns around and rushed back, only to be somewhat dumbfounded by the scene before them.

"Ka... Brother Kai, looks like there's nothing left for us to do?!"

Watching Zhang Dabiao leading a charge in the distance, Wang Kai threw his cap to the ground. "What the hell, consider it beating a drowning dog! Charge with me!"