Chapter 13

"Damn it, artillery fire, artillery fire!" Noda angrily drew his sword and waved it wildly in the air. He was almost driven mad. This minefield was set up by him and his soldiers according to Captain Asano's map, and he remembered the location of every mine clearly, able to guide the soldiers to avoid these damned mines without looking at the map.

But now, the positions of the mines had all changed, and in a very strange way. Even the Imperial engineers couldn't figure them out, and many of them had died. If they didn't quickly pursue the Eighth Route Army's doctor, many more Imperial soldiers would die on the battlefield.

"Sir, please order the use of grenade launchers to detonate the mines ahead. Otherwise, once the infantry artillery and mortars run out of shells, the Chinese doctor will escape right under the nose of the Imperial Army!"

"Very well, Lieutenant Colonel Mura, your suggestion is excellent. Let your soldiers use the grenade launchers to clear the way to victory. The artillery will continue to suppress the area. Not a single Chinese doctor must escape!" Noda nodded.

"Yes, sir." Mura saluted and hurriedly left...

The fat man moved like a weasel, getting farther and farther away from the trench where the team was hiding, and closer and closer to the Japanese pursuers. He had already run out of the range of the Japanese artillery, making him safer than if he had stayed with the team.

He crouched behind a pile of weeds about a person's height to rest. The physical exertion was so great that he was extremely annoyed by his own fat.

He raised his binoculars to look at the Japanese position, ready to continue moving stealthily, but through the binoculars, he saw several dozen Japanese soldiers with grenade launchers coming out. He thought for a moment, a cold smile appeared on his face, and he muttered, "The little devils are smart. They know they can't break through my minefield, so they're using grenade launchers to clear the way."

The Japanese 50mm grenade launchers had a range of less than 200 meters, and the fat man was not at all worried about being hit. What he was worried about was the Japanese using the grenade launchers to detonate the mines and using their infantry artillery and mortars to suppress Colonel Ma and his men. Colonel Ma and his men would eventually be caught.

He wasn't worried about Colonel Ma and his men; he was afraid that Wang Yi would die.

"Damn it!" The fat man gritted his teeth in anger. Snipers were most afraid of artillery fire. The Japanese had infantry artillery and mortars. If the Japanese discovered him, a single artillery barrage would leave nothing but scraps of his fat body. But he couldn't bear to watch Wang Yi, such a beautiful girl, die. He had to find a way to knock out the Japanese artillery and mortar positions. How could he pursue girls if he couldn't even protect them?

And he had to do it in one shot. If he missed, the Japanese artillery would blast him to pieces.

The fat man estimated that the Japanese artillery and mortar positions were about 700 meters away. Using the 98K sniper rifle with a 6x scope, he might not hit the Japanese artillery ammunition in one shot, but the Japanese soldiers with grenade launchers were only a few dozen meters from the position. If he moved forward a few dozen meters, he could use the 98K to hit the grenade launcher ammunition, possibly even damaging the artillery position.

But he wasn't sure if the explosion of the 50mm grenade launcher ammunition would affect the Japanese artillery position. To truly destroy the Japanese artillery, he had to take a risk and seek the most reliable outcome with one shot.

"Boom, boom" The Japanese grenade launchers began firing, starting to detonate the mines. The explosions were continuous, one after another.

"Opportunity!" The fat man took advantage of the smoke from the explosions and sprinted forward with all his might. Just a few dozen meters, and he could take out the Japanese artillery position. Unfortunately, he had only run a few steps when a Japanese observer spotted him.

"Rat-tat-tat..." The Japanese heavy machine guns spewed fire, all aimed at the fat man. His body jerked as if hit by bullets, and he fell to the ground, motionless.

Colonel Ma, hiding in the trench, saw this through his binoculars and his heart tightened. He said with a pale face, "Sigh, what a pity, he was a genius at close combat!"

"No, he won't die. He will live forever in our hearts!" Battalion Commander Zhang's face was somber. Although he didn't like the fat man, he had to admit that this cunning and shameless fat man had a natural courage in the face of death, never retreating in the face of danger.

"The greatest threat to us is the Japanese artillery. The Japanese infantry won't dare advance easily with the minefield in front of them. But if the Japanese use grenade launchers to clear the way and their artillery continues to suppress us, they will eventually get through the minefield and capture us." Battalion Commander Zhang had already considered the worst-case scenario and deduced the fat man's sudden dash out of the trench. He continued, "Sigh, he wanted to use his sniper rifle to destroy the Japanese artillery position. Without the long-range artillery, we could have left safely. Unfortunately, he fell short."

Everyone's faces darkened at Battalion Commander Zhang's words. For the first time, they seriously reconsidered the fat man, suddenly finding that his sleazy image wasn't so bad. At least the fat man had sacrificed himself for their safe escape.

Wang Yi thought the fat man was finally dead, but she felt a sudden sense of sorrow. Everything the fat man had done for her was actually to save her, and her hatred for him seeing her chest had diminished.

"Can he hit from such a distance?" Guard Xiao Li said, unconvinced.

"After sniping the Japanese squad in the forest, I found that his sniper position was over 600 meters from the Japanese lieutenant colonel. If he could get within 600 meters, he could definitely take out the Japanese artillery position," Battalion Commander Zhang said, becoming more and more agitated.

"Battalion Commander Zhang is right. Comrades, whether we escape this time or not, we should remember his name, remember that Liu Mang fought for the country, for the nation, and for us. Such a person deserves the title of hero!" Colonel Ma, not forgetting his propaganda, said that although the fat man hadn't joined the Eighth Route Army, he had died a worthy death, fulfilling his purpose.

Just as Colonel Ma was eloquently recounting the fat man's "great achievements," a soldier responsible for vigilance suddenly said, "Colonel, look, he's not dead."

"Not dead?" Everyone was stunned and looked out of the trench. Although shells were still falling, posing a constant threat to their lives, the heat and dust from the explosions did nothing to dampen their curiosity.

Colonel Ma and Battalion Commander Zhang both raised their binoculars to look out. They saw that the fat man was no longer where he had fallen. Following the line of sight, they saw him crawling forward.

"Damn it, he's not dead, hah, he's not dead!" Colonel Ma was as excited as if he had been injected with adrenaline, his face flushed red, and he shouted excitedly.

"Sure enough, he's a cockroach, he can't be killed even when shot!" Wang Yi muttered, dissatisfied. She had just started to hate him less, thinking he had "sacrificed," but now that she knew the fat man was still alive, her hatred returned. As long as the fat man was alive, her hatred for him seeing her chest would never disappear.

"You damn it!" The fat man's knee hurt like hell, but fortunately, it was grass, or he would have been skinned and bruised. He had tripped over a branch in the grass and fallen straight to the ground, as if he had been shot, which made the Japanese and his comrades think he had been killed, allowing him to escape. If several heavy machine guns couldn't take him out, the only option left was to use artillery and mortar fire.

The fat man had also learned his lesson, avoiding the mines he had set and crawling through the grass. Although his fat body made it exhausting, it didn't attract artillery fire. He safely reached a position about 600 meters from the artillery position and set up his 98K sniper rifle.

"70mm artillery shell, 90mm..." The fat man had chosen his target but still felt some pressure because he only had one shot. If this shot failed, he would not only attract retaliatory artillery fire, leaving nothing but scraps, but also Colonel Ma and Wang Yi would not escape.

The fat man wiped the sweat from his forehead and chin, then aimed at the target and calmly pulled the trigger. The bullet whistled out of the barrel...