Chapter 30 of 100

Chapter 30

16 min read3,911 words

Just as Dong Ku was about to raise his gun and give the order to attack, a faint crackling sound suddenly came from the woods dozens of meters away.

"Hmm?"

Everyone, including Dong Ku, heard the sound and recognized that it was not the natural sound of a dry branch breaking, but rather the sound of something stepping on a broken branch.

The moment they heard the sound, Liu Zhong and the others lowered their heads, listening intently and waiting for Dong Ku's command.

Dong Ku quietly turned his head to look in the direction of the sound. As he turned, his eyes widened. There, dozens of figures were moving stealthily through the forest, quietly approaching the direction of the headlights. There must have been at least forty or fifty people.

"Trouble! It's a large force!"

Dong Ku's heart tightened, and he quietly made a gesture to retreat.

In the darkness, Liu Zhong and Shunzi touched the people around them, passing on the order to retreat. After receiving the final confirmation, they relayed the information back to Dong Ku.

Dong Ku slowly stood up, carefully feeling the ground beneath his feet as he retreated into the forest.

The others followed him, also stepping lightly, ensuring there were no hard objects underfoot before shifting their weight to the grounded foot.

The group quietly and slowly merged into the forest, leaving behind only the bright headlights and the burning, exploded truck in the distance.

Dong Ku and his team had retreated less than five hundred meters when a loud explosion suddenly echoed from the road. The sound shook the dry branches overhead, causing them to fall, and frightened the owls waiting for field mice in the trees, sending them fluttering into the night sky.

"Liu Zhong, Shunzi, cover the rear, move quickly!"

At the sound of the explosion, Dong Ku quietly gave the order to accelerate.

Under Dong Ku's lead, the group suddenly sped up, rushing into the mountains.

On the road, all the headlights had gone out. In the darkness, a motorcycle had been blown to pieces, and the surrounding bodies and two other motorcycles had been thrown dozens of meters away, lying crookedly by the forest edge.

Dozens of figures stood in the dim light of the explosion, cautiously guarding the surroundings. The six figures that had left earlier had already turned off their headlights and returned to the explosion site.

A group of ghostly figures appeared at the bend in the road, slowly surrounding the explosion site.

"Sir, no one was found. The enemy left a trap made of grenades, and Sergeant Yamada was killed."

In the darkness, a Japanese soldier reported.

"Call the search team behind us!"

A hoarse, sinister voice sounded.

Shortly after, a group of people rushed along the frozen road...

In the forest, Dong Ku led the charge, sprinting straight toward the ridge ahead. As he ran, he heard the roar of a car engine, heading in the direction of Dahu Town.

"It seems no one answered the phone, or they couldn't contact the missing Miyamoto Kojiro convoy, so they sent out a search team..."

As he ran, he analyzed the situation, secretly admiring the Japanese reaction speed. If they hadn't encountered them here, they would have reached Dahu Town before dawn.

Dong Ku didn't know that intercepting Miyamoto Kojiro had stirred up a hornet's nest. Just yesterday, he had received an inquiry call, and in the afternoon, the Kwantung Army headquarters in Jiamusi had called to ask about the departure time of Miyamoto Kojiro's convoy. Although Dong Ku's answers were flawless, the Japanese high command had already sensed something was wrong. The problem wasn't in Dahu Town but on the road between Dahu Town and Raohe, about a hundred kilometers away.

The reason for this judgment was that Miyamoto Kojiro had not arrived in Raohe, which was formerly known as Tuanshanzi. The supplies Miyamoto Kojiro carried were absolutely essential, and after failing to contact him via radio, they began to inquire with Xiaoye Taichiro in Dahu Town. Upon receiving a positive response that the convoy had left the previous night, they felt something was amiss. Thus, a standard company from Qitaihe, responsible for coal mining, headed straight for Dahu Town.

With the enemy situation unclear and the enemy's combat skills high, Dong Ku did not engage them head-on but instead avoided their sharp edge and sought another opportunity.

Half an hour after leaving the road, they climbed to the top of a hill near the road. From the top, they could clearly see a string of headlights moving through the dense forest in the distance.

"Brother Dong, there are quite a few of them!"

Shunzi, the last to climb the hill, saw the distant headlights and commented.

"Yes, it should be a standard company, and they are the main force of the Kwantung Army."

Dong Ku responded, then continued, "Special operations are about surprise attacks, infiltration, ambush, and assassination. We can't engage a large force head-on. The trap we set in Dahu Town was only possible with ample preparation and sufficient supplies. Otherwise, even if we act, we should only target the commanders in the formation, not show off our bravery."

"Yes!"

The nine men stood at attention, exuding a military presence.

Removing their night vision goggles and putting away the military map they had obtained in Dahu Town, Dong Ku ordered, "Move out, follow the ridge. About thirty miles ahead is Houtu Village. From there, we will head straight to Heizui and return to Dahu Mountain."

"Yes!"

The group quietly followed the order, with Liu Zhong leading, Shunzi in the middle, and Dong Ku at the rear, following the ridge toward Houtu Village.

Just as the group had formed a single-file line and walked a few hundred meters, a faint light caught Dong Ku's eye.

"There's a situation!"

Dong Ku whispered, tapping the shoulder of the person in front of him, Shanzi, and hiding behind a tree to look down the hill.

Shanzi quickly moved forward, tapping Mazi and quietly passing on Dong Ku's warning.

The information about the enemy was relayed one by one to Liu Zhong at the front. Everyone took cover nearby, listening intently to the surroundings.

The moment Liu Zhong stopped, Dong Ku caught the faint light again. In the night vision goggles, the light was particularly glaring. However, judging by the slightly red edges, it was clearly being covered by a hand.

"Looking at a map?"

Dong Ku's heart tightened. This was not a good sign. It seemed they had been discovered or were being pursued. If it was just a coincidence and the Japanese found the vehicles and searched the mountains, it would be manageable. But if they were being pursued, this Japanese force was definitely not simple.

"Maintain formation, maintain direction, and increase speed!"

Dong Ku, seeing the light source about a kilometer away, quietly gave the order.

The command was relayed to Liu Zhong, who immediately stood up. Once everyone was close, he turned and started jogging along the ridge.

Dong Ku stayed at the rear. The hunters, Liu Zhong and the others, were familiar with night travel in the forest, relying on the faint starlight. They didn't need his night vision goggles, and his position at the rear allowed him to better utilize them.

The group ran rapidly, reaching the bottom of the hill in less than half an hour, stepping on the slightly soft soil, and heading toward the opposite ridge.

Just then, Shanzi, who was in front of Dong Ku, suddenly slowed down, listening intently, and said, "Brother Dong, there are people behind us..."

"Yes. I heard it too. There's the sound of dry branches breaking, about four or five hundred meters away."

Dong Ku said as he rummaged through his backpack.

"How did the Japanese follow us?"

Shanzi asked, blocking a branch that had snapped back.

"There must be dogs." As he spoke, Dong Ku stopped abruptly, quickly crouched down, and set up a grenade. Without waiting for Shanzi to stop, he stood up and leaped to catch up with Shanzi.

Catching up with Shanzi, the two hurried to catch up with Mazi, rushing up the hill in the darkness.

Boom!

A loud explosion shattered the forest's tranquility, startling Dong Ku and the others. The sound was no more than five hundred meters away, meaning the distance between the top and bottom of the hill was very close.

"This Japanese force is not simple!"

Liu Zhong and the others all had this thought.

To be able to run at the same speed as the hunters who had been hunting in the mountains for years and not fall behind, their tracking skills were undoubtedly excellent. Not losing them in the dark forest showed their strength. To keep up with the speed, their physical condition must have been exceptional.

"We can't go to Houtu Village. We don't know if there are Japanese there. They will surely come when they hear the explosion. We will head straight to Shuangyazi Mountain! Shake off the pursuers and get what we need."

"Shuangyazi Mountain?"

The few who had gathered asked in confusion.

"Yes, it's also known as Qixing Rock Coal Mine or Fuchun Coalfield."

Putting away the map, Dong Ku briefly explained and pointed in a direction, giving the order to move.

A man from the capital knew the surroundings better than the locals, which greatly impressed Liu Zhong and the others.

Putting aside the admiration Liu Zhong and the others had for Dong Ku, the group had just disappeared when a Japanese squad, leading two large wolf dogs, rushed to the scene. From their appearance, the explosion had only injured a few, clearly not affecting their morale.

"Second Lieutenant Fujita, they have changed direction and are bypassing Houtu Village. We don't know which direction they are heading."

A soldier leading a wolf dog reported.

"Our opponent is very cunning, even setting traps. They are bypassing Houtu Village, likely considering the possibility of an interception. Send a message to Houtu Village to intercept them in the western mountains!"

As the Morse code flew, a squad of over fifty men, fully armed, rushed in the direction Dong Ku and his team were heading.

At the same time, Lieutenant Kobayashi Koichi, heading to Dahu Town, received the message.

"Understood..."

Holding the message, Kobayashi Koichi narrowed his eyes, a fierce light flashing in them as he ordered, "Order Fujita Kiyoshi to follow this armed group. Order Tsuboi Kosei to abandon the search around the vehicles and join Fujita Kiyoshi to pursue this armed group. Order Sergeant Takeuchi Masaki in Houtu Village to assist Fujita Kiyoshi!"

"Yes!" The radio operator acknowledged and ran to the front car.

Kobayashi Koichi waved his hand, ordering the team to continue toward Dahu Town. However, he had already made a rough guess that Dahu Town was where Miyamoto Kojiro had been killed. The reason was the trucks on the road, which were the ones Miyamoto Kojiro used to transport troops.

Although he had a rough guess, he still had to rush to Dahu Town to find the supplies. Otherwise, if the secret of the supplies leaked, it would have a significant impact on the Japanese strategic deployment.

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