Chapter 17

As the Japanese soldiers crouched and aimed their guns, they could see the flickering firelight on the hill and hear the crisp gunshots. However, they were ordinary soldiers and could not accurately pinpoint the heads of the gunmen covered by white cloaks. Even with a general direction, they lacked the professional training to shoot accurately. Thus, after aiming for a long time, the seven or eight soldiers had not fired a single bullet, while the gunshots from the other side had already become sporadic.

After crawling for dozens of meters, Fujita realized that his wound was not fatal, with just a piece of shrapnel embedded in his buttock, which did not affect his life. Therefore, he did not rush to bandage himself but instead hid behind a birch tree, raised his binoculars, and observed the situation on the hill.

After several dozen seconds of failing to find the exact location of the target, the impatient soldiers began firing in the general direction.

The gunshots echoed, but most of the bullets hit the air, unable to harm Liu Zhong and his team, who were camouflaged in the snow.

The moment the guns below fired, Liu Zhong, Sun Tao, Mangzi, and Mengzi quickly adjusted their gun barrels. When Dong Ku's gunshots rang out, they saw the vague figures crouched behind the sparse shrubs. Without hesitation, they each aimed at their targets, adjusted their breathing as Dong Ku had taught them, and steadily pulled the triggers.

Huzi and Liu Hai continued to search for moving figures amidst the chaos and the rising steam, quietly aiming and steadily pulling the triggers.

The moment Huzi and Liu Hai's gunshots rang out, Fujita, hiding behind the birch tree, saw them.

How could the Chinese engage in special operations? They actually know how to camouflage themselves?!

Seeing only the black muzzles of guns exposed at the edge of the snow, with the rest covered by white cloth, Fujita realized that he had encountered an elite Chinese special forces unit.

While Fujita was observing the hill with his binoculars, Dong Ku had already fired two shots, accurately hitting the heads of two soldiers. When Liu Zhong and the others fired, Dong Ku was aiming at another Japanese soldier. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a glint caught his eye.

A sniper!

Dong Ku's heart tightened. Instinctively, he adjusted his gun barrel, aiming at the position where the glint had appeared. The moment the gun barrel was in place, he pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The crisp gunshot rang out, and the bullet, spinning rapidly, shattered Fujita's binoculars and drilled into his left eye.

As the fragments of the lens flew, Fujita silently fell, and the soldiers nearby did not even notice that their commander had been killed.

Liu Zhong and the others had already locked onto their targets and, with the shooting skills honed from years of hunting, steadily pulled the triggers.

Bang! Bang!

The gunshots rang out in quick succession, and four Japanese soldiers were hit and fell.

Although they had not used their rifles for long, after six days of practice with fifty rounds each day, they could now easily hit large targets at a hundred meters.

The moment Dong Ku confirmed that the sniper target had been eliminated, he adjusted his gun barrel and aimed at the last Japanese soldier who had just fired.

Bang!

The crisp gunshot ended the life of the Japanese soldier, the bullet shattering his head, and the red and white matter splattered, leaving the head hanging limply on the gun.

After the gunshot, Dong Ku quickly put down his Type 38 rifle and raised his M4A1, searching for any moving targets outside the explosion site.

Liu Zhong and the others quickly adjusted their gun barrels and aimed at the explosion site.

After a few gunshots, the chaotic area no longer showed any moving leaves or rising steam. Life seemed to be buried under the dead branches and leaves, with no more breathing.

In the cold air, the smell of blood and gunpowder swirled and spread. The battlefield, which had been intense, suddenly fell silent, with only the occasional rustling of leaves.

The sudden cessation of explosions and gunshots relieved the two advancing teams. They knew that Captain Fujita had ended the battle, and the victors were, of course, their invincible Shinto warriors.

"Continue forward!"

Shimizu Jiro ordered with ease.

The reaction of the Sato family banquet was similar. After a brief pause upon hearing no more gunshots or explosions, they waved their hands and ordered to continue advancing.

On the hill, although Liu Zhong and the others were excited, they did not stand up without Dong Ku's command. They continued to search for targets and any suspicious signs.

Dong Ku, having retracted his gaze from the periphery, quickly searched the chaotic area, put away his M4A1, picked up a grenade from the snow, pulled the pin, and threw it towards a spot with thick leaves.

Boom!

The grenade exploded, sending debris and the body of a Japanese soldier flying. The surrounding branches shook, and the debris scattered.

As the explosion subsided, a few nearby leaves rustled but then fell silent.

"Damn! There's still someone alive!"

Liu Zhong cursed softly, locked onto the moving position, and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The moment the gunshot rang out, the leaves at that position fluttered, and a hand twitched, reaching out but failing to grasp anything, and then stiffened in mid-air.

Sun Tao also locked onto a moving position. The moment the gunshot rang out, a figure burst through the leaves, raising a gun to find a target.

Bang!

Mengzi's gunshot rang out, and the figure flipped backward, landing on the dead branches and leaves, with steam rising from his chest and a large patch of red spreading.

Liu Hai and Mangzi locked onto the same target. Two gunshots rang out, and the leaves at that position trembled and then fell silent.

Seeing the quick reactions of the others, Dong Ku inwardly praised them. They were indeed skilled hunters, with better shooting awareness and reaction speed than veterans.

Seeing that the targets were all eliminated, he threw another grenade...

Liu Zhong and the others admired Dong Ku to the point of worship. After shooting several targets, they were both impressed and secretly alarmed. If they had stood up carelessly, they might have been killed by a hidden sniper. They did not know that this was the result of Dong Ku's experience from countless battles and the loss of several comrades, which was far beyond the understanding of hunters who had never been to the battlefield.

Seeing no more moving targets, Dong Ku slowly stood up, drew his pistol, and, when the others gathered around, quietly arranged for them to work in pairs, one searching and one guarding, to clean up the battlefield. He himself held a pistol in his left hand and a Type 38 rifle with a bayonet in his right, quietly approaching the battlefield...

Ten minutes later, after clearing the battlefield and sending the heavily wounded Japanese soldiers to meet their Shinto gods, the guns and ammunition were collected. The total haul included three intact binoculars, four Nambu pistols, four Type 11 light machine guns, two grenade launchers, nearly 20,000 rounds of ammunition, and twenty artillery shells.

After stripping Fujita, whom he had mistaken for a sniper, of his clothes, Dong Ku knew they could not stay long. He ordered the team to take the light machine guns, grenade launchers, pistols, and ammunition, with each person carrying ten grenades. The remaining Type 38 rifles were scattered on the snow. The unnamed lieutenant, wearing only a shirt, was thrown on top of the guns, his body pressed against a small tree, looking lonely.

The team, except for Huzi, who carried all the pistols and pistol ammunition, as well as 400 rounds of ammunition, each carried several backpacks filled with ammunition. Mangzi carried a grenade launcher and the two-person ammunition. Each person carried at least 20 kilograms of equipment, fully loaded with ammunition.

Dong Ku, in addition to the ammunition in his backpack, tied the other grenade launcher horizontally to his backpack, covered it with a cloak, and slid down the hill without stopping. Liu Zhong followed closely, with Huzi right behind him, and the others carried their respective items, excitedly leaving the battlefield.

Mengzi, who had the second-best physical strength after Mangzi, carried a light machine gun and his own ammunition but did not carry extra bullets. However, he dragged a fresh red pine branch behind him, raising a trail of snow mist as he pursued the others.

An hour later, Shimizu Jiro, on an urgent march, found the traces of the main force and, following the direction of the footprints, quickly headed towards the battlefield.

Sato Kaisei, on another route, was only an hour away from the battlefield and was expected to arrive half an hour after Shimizu.

Dong Ku led the team down the hill, entering a ravine and heading towards Hulin along the edge of the ravine.

Twenty minutes later, Dong Ku suddenly stopped, looked around, quickly removed his skis, adjusted his M4A1, and made a gesture to take cover. He quickly moved into the snow, adjusted his body, and covered himself with a large cloak.

Liu Zhong and the others, panting, quickly removed their skis, crouched next to Dong Ku with their Type 38 rifles, and pressed the edges of their cloaks into the snow, making their figures disappear into the snow.

Ten minutes later, the sound of footsteps crunching on the snow came from a distance. A Japanese squad, in two columns, trudged through the snow, quickly heading in the direction from which Dong Ku and his team had come.

Everyone lying in the snow pressed their guns into the snow, with only their alert eyes visible under the cloaks.

The Japanese sergeant, while advancing, frequently raised his binoculars to observe the surroundings, moving quickly and silently along the hillside. No one noticed that just four or five hundred meters below them, seven pairs of eyes, filled with killing intent, were counting their numbers.

Sato Kaisei, with one hand on his command sword and the other holding his binoculars, walked a hundred meters, stopped to observe, and then continued cautiously and quickly towards the direction from which the battle sounds had come.

After the sounds faded away, Dong Ku and his team lay still for a few more minutes. Once they confirmed that no more Japanese soldiers were following, they got up, quickly retrieved their skis from the snow, and slid away in the direction from which the Japanese had come, their hearts finally at ease.

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