Chapter 28

The deafening explosions on the playground threw the Japanese soldiers into chaos, with limbs and fragments flying everywhere. The shrapnel from the explosions ruthlessly tore through the panicked soldiers, creating a gruesome scene. The explosions and the shrapnel hit the Japanese soldiers on the playground, making a squelching sound as they were torn apart before they could even scream.

As soon as the explosions sounded, without waiting for Dong Ku's order, the machine guns began to fire in a dense barrage.

Two light machine guns at the main entrance of the barracks spewed out a deadly rain of bullets, mercilessly targeting the Japanese soldiers dozens of meters away. On the rooftops of the side buildings, two more light machine guns roared, mowing down the crowd below. The recently demolished wall, still covered in dust, saw two more light machine guns firing a dense curtain of bullets, covering half the size of a football field.

Dong Ku dropped the rope in his hand, bent down to grab another, and pulled it with all his might. The explosion that followed detonated at least thirty landmines.

As the dense curtain of bullets enveloped the playground, the Japanese soldiers who weren't blown apart were shredded into pieces, with blood and flesh splattering everywhere.

The cries of the wounded mixed with the intense explosions and the rapid gunfire, echoing through the earthen houses that had yet to emit smoke and reverberating in the sky that was just beginning to turn light.

The sudden and intense gunfire and explosions terrified the villagers, who thought the Japanese were starting a massacre.

Doors opened one by one, and figures, clutching large and small bundles, fled in panic in the opposite direction of the gunfire.

"Grandpa..."

A seven- or eight-year-old boy, crying, pulled his frail grandfather out of the courtyard.

In a nearby courtyard, a young man in his twenties, wielding an axe in one hand and a butcher's knife in the other, rushed out of the house with bloodshot eyes, searching for the Japanese soldiers.

"Get up quickly, I need to get ready."

Yang Piguang kicked the trembling figure in the bed, quickly got up naked, and started dressing.

As the explosions began, Shanzi, with a pistol in each hand, moved like a weasel between the cars in the parking lot, quickly searching for targets.

After pulling the second wave of landmines, Dong Ku leaped onto a table, jumped onto the roof, and rolled to the machine gun on the ridge, immediately opening fire without hesitation.

The nine machine guns fired in a dense barrage, the bullets crisscrossing and tearing through the flesh and blood of the Japanese soldiers. Whether they were standing in terror, hit by bullets, or struck by shrapnel, they were all torn to pieces. The entire playground was splattered with blood, and even the guns were shattered by the explosive force and the dense curtain of bullets.

Inside the main barracks, Liu Hai and Hu Zi constantly adjusted the machine guns, trying to keep the gun barrels low to avoid shooting into the air.

On the eastern wall, Liu Zhong and Mazi's two machine guns roared, the gun barrels spewing half-meter-long flames, the empty shells bouncing around. The beds and the floor were already piled high with empty shells and spent magazines. On the western wall, Mengzi and Goudan were in a similar state, their gun barrels glowing red from the heat.

On the roof of the main house, Dong Ku had already changed the fourth magazine in less than two minutes, almost without stopping.

On the roof of the eastern room, Shunzi, and on the roof of the western room, Sun Tao, each responsible for one side of the playground, the empty shells falling like rain.

Shanzi, in the midst of the gunfire, searched the entire parking lot for any abnormalities, then crouched at the edge, waiting for the slaughter to end.

A few minutes later, Dong Ku stopped firing and threw a grenade.

The explosion silenced the gunfire. Although the nine men's ears were ringing from the noise, they could still hear the agreed-upon explosion. Moreover, there were no standing Japanese soldiers left, and the gunfire was just following Dong Ku's previous orders, mowing down the playground with a continuous stream of bullets.

After stopping the gunfire, Mazi and the others stared blankly at the scene, their minds numb, only the still-smoking, slightly red gun barrels telling the story of the carnage.

"Ugh..."

The heavy smell of blood made Hu Zi's body go weak, and he vomited on the machine gun.

As the first vomit sounded, the silent camp was filled with more retching.

Liu Zhong, Shunzi, Mazi, and Mengzi were a bit better, though their faces were pale, their excitement overcame their nausea, and their eyes shone with excitement.

Dong Ku lay quietly, his eagle-like eyes scanning the scattered bodies below, not missing any slight movement.

Shanzi, though a bit farther away, could still see the hellish scene, but his early exposure to blood from helping his father bandage wounds made him more resilient than the others.

Suddenly, he heard a faint creak, like the sound of wood rubbing against wood.

"Hmm?"

Shanzi's heart tightened, and he instantly pointed his gun in the direction of the sound.

In his line of sight, the source was a row of wooden toilets.

"Damn! I missed that!"

Shanzi scolded himself silently.

"Creak..."

Another sound.

"Someone's there!"

Shanzi quietly got up and slowly moved toward the toilets.

Just as he was about to reach the toilets, one of the doors slowly opened a crack, and a head appeared.

Shanzi's movement had been noticed by Dong Ku on the roof. He quickly put down the machine gun, picked up the M4A1, and aimed at Shanzi. Recognizing Shanzi, he understood that someone was in the toilets and adjusted his aim.

Shanzi quietly put away his right-hand gun, slowly drew a thick-bladed knife, and, before the head was fully exposed, smashed it with his left-hand gun and slashed with the knife. A jet of blood spurted out, and the Japanese soldier fell out of the toilet, his pants still down, exposing his white buttocks in the cold smoke.

Shanzi quickly glanced inside the door, confirmed it was empty, and opened the next door, finding it empty as well. He continued to check the other doors...

Dong Ku, satisfied, put away his gun and jumped down from the roof.

"Clean up the battlefield! Move quickly!!"

He slung the M4A1 over his shoulder, picked up a Type 38 rifle that had been blown to the door, and, with a pistol in his left hand and the rifle in his right, walked into the blood-soaked mud.

Liu Zhong and Mengzi leaped out of the wall's breach, rushing toward the slaughterhouse with their rifles.

The others, except for Hu Zi, who was still struggling with nausea, picked up their guns and rushed into the playground...

A few minutes later, the eight men, though pale, were excited, using shovels to clear the scattered limbs and flesh.

Dong Ku assigned Hu Zi to watch the captured officer who was still unconscious, not letting him participate in the cleanup. He then went to the parking lot, opening the curtains of the trucks one by one...

Behind the curtains were neatly stacked boxes of ammunition, guns, canned meat, food, winter and summer clothes, various types of shells, and six disassembled mountain guns, along with four trucks of cement.

"It seems they were planning to build a permanent military base in the Zhenbao Island area..."

Dong Ku frowned, recalling that there were no permanent underground bases or fortresses in the Raohe area. Could it be that the Japanese judged that the Soviets would not attack from this direction, so they didn't build a permanent base?

Shaking his head, Dong Ku stopped thinking about it. Seeing that the cleanup on the playground was still ongoing, he decided to check the warehouse.

He didn't know that in history, Kōmoto Shōjirō's supply convoy, not long after leaving Dahu Town, had the heavy trucks carrying cement and guns break through the ice on the Qili River, causing the entire convoy to fall into the river and be swallowed by the icy water. The soldiers who managed to escape the vehicles and climb ashore were all frozen to death in the cold April night, with none surviving.

In the warehouse, there were still many explosives and ammunition that hadn't been moved. They had only taken six trucks of ammunition and six boxes of gold and silver looted by the Japanese, and, given that Shanzi and Goudan were still learning to drive, they had only loaded half the trucks. Therefore, there was still a lot of material left. It seemed these supplies were not meant to stay here, perhaps delayed by the heavy snow. The twenty trucks outside suggested that the Japanese hadn't had time to send drivers to pick them up, or they might have left with the lieutenant.

However, these questions didn't need guessing. He would ask the captured lieutenant, and everything would become clear.

With a flashlight, Dong Ku carefully inspected the supplies in the ammunition warehouse, discovering that the materials were very comprehensive. Besides ammunition and food, there were gas masks, batteries, radios, telephones, and telephone lines, enough to equip a regiment.

"So much, all good stuff!"

The more he counted, the more reluctant he was to let these supplies go to waste.

After all, the reason the Northeast Anti-Japanese struggle was so hard was the lack of logistics support. In every battle, they had to carefully count their bullets, and even in a complete victory, their supplies would diminish. If they had these supplies, they could form a thousand-strong Anti-Japanese United Army with more ammunition than the Japanese. How could they not win the battle?

"Damn! Go all out!"

Looking at the supplies, Dong Ku made up his mind to transport everything, even if it meant a two-day delay.

A two-day delay wasn't a problem. With no Japanese soldiers escaping, the news wouldn't reach the Japanese in Jiapi Gou and Qitaihe for a while. The main concern was dispersing the villagers to avoid Japanese retaliation and to keep the hidden supplies a secret.

Half an hour later, Dong Ku left the ammunition warehouse, still thinking. When he reached the playground, he found the ground already cleaned, and the small boards used to cover the landmine wires had been removed and piled up.

"Rest for twenty minutes, then load the remaining supplies from the back. Liu Zhong is in charge." He looked at the sweating men and added, "Eat a light breakfast of food and coarse grains, and eat less."

With that, he turned and walked back to the barracks...

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