Chapter 29

After the gunfire ceased, the villagers who had fled the village realized that neither those from the eastern end nor the western end had been harmed by the bandits. Everyone looked at the village and speculated that it might have been a Japanese military exercise. They had seen this before in the autumn of the previous year, with guns and cannons, which had truly frightened them.

After waiting for the whole morning and finding the village very quiet, the villagers returned to the village in small groups.

The strong man who had been ready to fight the Japanese was just entering the village when he was stopped by two men in sheepskin coats.

"Harashou..." (Hello)

One of them, using broken Chinese mixed with Russian, explained to the strong man.

"Russians?"

The strong man quietly loosened the pig-killing knife hidden in his clothes, puzzled, and followed the Russian and another bearded Russian man to a row of trucks parked on the road...

"Ugh..."

Even though the strong man had seen a lot of animal blood, the sight of the minced meat in the trucks made him retch. When he saw the coagulated blood trails under each truck and the blood-soaked tires, he finally understood.

The moment he understood, he immediately ran from house to house, spreading the news.

Shortly after, the village rang with the sound of broken pots, calling out to the relatives still hiding nearby. In no time, they all returned, carrying luggage and kitchenware, to the trucks where they received food and ten silver dollars each. The young and strong even received Hanyang rifles and ammunition, and they all set off on their journey...

"I won't leave, it will be fine when the Japanese come..."

Looking at the fat woman wiggling her hips, Dongku saw a hint of something suspicious. When he and Mazi entered her house, they saw not only a lecherous man but also Japanese canned meat, fish, and bags of food...

"Alright, we need someone like you to stay..."

Dongku waved his hand, pressed the woman to the kang (a traditional heated bed), quickly tied her hands and feet, and ignored her strange cries. He pulled out a piece of cotton from the quilt and stuffed it into her ears, then grabbed a pair of socks and stuffed them into her mouth. Mazi, who was also quick, tied up the terrified lecherous man, threw him onto the kang, and similarly stuffed cotton into his ears and a sock into his mouth, then covered them with the quilt...

Two days later, in the middle of the night, a row of trucks left the still smoking Dahu Town. Here, except for a few houses that were not set on fire, Dongku and Mazi, disguised as Russians, had cleared and confirmed that no one was left, and then set them on fire...

Passing by the pile of burned cars on the ice, Dongku saw the rising water on the car bodies and knew that the river at the first checkpoint was no longer a problem. The broken riverbed had caused the water to overflow onto the ice, and by midnight, it would freeze, forming an ice lake that would cover all traces. The cave entrance, hidden by fallen leaves, would be completely covered by green grass in ten days.

Liu Zhong and his men spent the two days moving the supplies unloaded the previous night into the cave, leaving one person to guard it while the rest practiced driving. At night, they continued to drive the supplies to the first checkpoint. In just two days, they had learned to drive, though their skills were still shaky.

In the darkness, Huzi excitedly stared at the car in front, tightly gripping the steering wheel, and pressing the gas pedal hard. The engine roared, and the car stayed close behind Liu Hai's.

Dongku led the way, following the tracks left by Kōmoto Shōji's convoy, bumping along the road toward Jiapi Gou.

Three hours later, they were far from Dahu Town. At that moment, there was no one left there except for the untied Yang Pipu and his wife.

During the journey, the front wheel of Huzi's car hit a stone, causing the car to jolt. The engine suddenly roared, and the car accelerated, crashing into a birch tree by the roadside.

"Ah ah..."

Huzi tightly gripped the steering wheel, instinctively pressing the gas pedal to the floor, staring at the approaching tree, shouting, but pressing even harder.

Bang! Crash...

Huzi's car, without any surprise, crashed into a birch tree as thick as a bowl. The car's front lifted, the front axle bent the tree, and the car climbed up the trunk until the rear wheels were suspended, the engine whining as it spun in the air.

"Oh no!"

Liu Zhong, who was behind, slammed on the brakes, shifted into neutral, and jumped out of the car, running towards Huzi's car.

Mazi followed closely, stopping his car and running after Liu Zhong to Huzi's car.

Shanzi, who was at the back, not knowing what had happened, saw the front car tilt into the sky. He stopped his car, flashing the headlights to signal to Dongku, who was far ahead.

Huzi was now in a daze, holding the steering wheel, staring at the sky through the branches, unable to think.

"Haha!"

Mazi, seeing Huzi's car climbing the tree, laughed heartily: "Huzi, you're amazing, you can even climb trees!"

Liu Zhong, who had already figured out the situation, ignored Mazi's laughter and shouted loudly: "Huzi! Lift your foot!"

Huzi, dazed, came to his senses at Liu Zhong's shout, fumbling to lift his foot, shift into neutral, but not knowing what to do next.

"Take off your backpack, slowly, don't be afraid."

Standing by the fallen tree, Liu Zhong calmed Huzi...

Seeing the lights behind, Dongku knew something had happened and stopped his car, standing by the roadside to look back.

"Huh? Why are the lights pointing at the sky?"

Seeing the headlights piercing the sky, Dongku was surprised, not knowing what had happened.

Shunzi, Dog Dan, and the others also stopped their cars, holding their guns, and looked back...

Shortly after, Liu Zhong ran over to report: "Brother Dong, Huzi drove the car into a tree, what should we do?"

"Into a tree?"

Dongku was taken aback, not understanding. There were hardly any trees by the road, left as road markers for heavy snow, spaced hundreds or even thousands of meters apart. How could he have driven into a tree?

"Shunzi, Dog Dan, you keep watch, I'll go see."

Saying this, Dongku ran to the back...

"Alright..."

Seeing the engine still running but the car suspended, Dongku couldn't help but laugh. He patted the nervous Huzi on the shoulder, suppressing his laughter, and said: "We don't have a tow rope, so your driving practice is over. Anyway, you won't be driving much longer. In three hours, we'll have to abandon the cars and walk."

"Brother Dong..."

Huzi stammered, wanting to explain something.

"It's okay, Huzi, you'll drive my car later." Saying this, Dongku took out a lighter he had gotten from the Japanese, climbed to the fuel tank, opened it, and pulled out a hemp rope from the tarp, dipped it in fuel, and lit it...

"Let's go."

Dongku jumped into Liu Zhong's car, holding the door and ordering them to start.

The three cars roared past the burning truck, heading forward.

Just as Shanzi's car passed the burning truck, a burst of light appeared ahead, followed by the sharp sound of gunfire, startling the deer in the forest, which ran wildly into the mountains.

"Turn off the headlights!"

Dongku jumped out of the car, quickly put on his night vision goggles, and ran, gun in hand, towards the cars a few hundred meters away.

Liu Zhong, the moment Dongku jumped out, slammed on the brakes, turned off the headlights, put on his backpack, and jumped out with his gun.

Behind them, Mazi, Huzi, and Shanzi also put on their backpacks, turned off the headlights, and ran forward with their guns.

Covering the four to five hundred meters, Dongku ran quickly, but before he reached the scene, the gunfire had already stopped.

"What happened?"

Seeing Shunzi standing by the car with a gun in each hand, Dongku, gun in hand, scanned the surroundings and asked.

"Brother Dong, it was Japanese motorcycles. They noticed the flaw in my Japanese and were forced to open fire."

Shunzi said, changing the magazine in his gun.

As Shunzi spoke, Dongku saw the three sidecar motorcycles and the Japanese bodies on the ground and in the vehicles a dozen meters ahead.

"Tell everyone to get into the forest, quickly!"

Seeing the motorcycles, Dongku, familiar with Japanese habits, urgently ordered.

"Yes!"

Shunzi waved his hand, called Dog Dan, who was checking the bodies, and met Liu Zhong and the others.

Dongku looked around, quickly came to the motorcycles, removed all the grenades from the bodies, quickly set them up, and took the Type 11 light machine guns and ammunition boxes from the sidecars...

A cold breeze blew in the early morning, and at the corner of the forest, figures crouched, guns in hand, slowly approached the still-lit trucks and motorcycles.

"Sure enough..."

In the night vision goggles, Dongku saw the figures a few dozen meters away, confirming his earlier suspicions. This was at least a standard squad, or they wouldn't have had three motorcycles leading the way.

"No one is to fire without orders."

Dongku gave the order in a low voice.

Liu Zhong and Shunzi relayed the order to their sides. After the order was given, several people aimed their guns at the bright area between the motorcycles and trucks.

Several Japanese soldiers, guns in hand, backs to each other, slowly observed the surroundings and moved towards the trucks.

Liu Zhong and the others locked onto their targets, waiting for Dongku's order.

The Japanese soldiers slowly approached the sidecars. One soldier, gun in hand, crouched and checked the pulse of the fallen man, waved his hand, and the others continued to move forward.

Why do they not seem like a regular army squad?

Seeing the cautious and coordinated Japanese soldiers, Dongku felt a chill. These six Japanese soldiers were clearly veterans, experienced and highly alert, and had no intention of moving the bodies until they understood the situation.

Seeing this, Dongku knew there was a larger force behind them, but he still wanted to capture these six Japanese soldiers. Such skilled enemies would be highly destructive in future battles.

Deciding on this, he aimed at one of them, ready to fire.

The six Japanese soldiers moved back and forth, changing positions irregularly, making it difficult to aim in the dark. However, they didn't know that the night vision goggles could see their every hair, and their tactical movements were useless.

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