Chapter 31

In early April, in the mountains, the snow on the sunny slopes of the mountain tops had mostly melted except in the dense forests. The snow in the ditches and ponds still remained, but it was loose like sand. Fortunately, there was no standing water underneath, and it would freeze at night, so Dongku and his group wouldn't get their shoes wet from the Japanese soldiers' anti-moisture shoes, and their running wouldn't be hindered.

The Japanese soldiers behind them were in the same situation. Although they were delayed for a few minutes by the grenades and slowed down during the chase, after half an hour, they found no more traps on the road and thus quickened their pace, hoping to prevent the other side from having time to set more traps.

Thus, the two groups in the mountains both ran at their maximum speed, rushing through the hazel bushes and shrubs, one chasing and one fleeing, heading towards the forests west of Houtou Village.

At this time, behind Fuji, Tsuchi Koji was also leading his army squad in close pursuit, though they were at least four kilometers behind. However, once the front groups got entangled, they would quickly catch up.

The squad from Houtou Village had also entered the forests west of the village, occupying advantageous terrain and blocking the passages of at least two mountain peaks. Once it was light, the other side would have no chance of escaping the lookout from the mountain top.

"Damn! Can't keep up now, right?!"

Shanzi adjusted the radio on his back, panting and cursing.

Mengzi was also showing signs of fatigue. He was already carrying a machine gun weighing over ten kilograms and five hundred rounds of ammunition. When they entered the forest, Dongku gave him another box of twenty clips of ammunition. Although Mengzi had taken over the box for over half an hour, after two hours of continuous running, even this strong bull was out of breath.

Dongku was carrying a Type 38 rifle, an M4A1, a machine gun, two landmines weighing about six to seven kilograms each, five hundred rounds of M4A1 ammunition, and two hundred rounds of Type 38 ammunition. His load was equally heavy.

The others also carried plenty of ammunition. In their bags, besides clothes, a military blanket, and food, they carried the maximum amount of bullets and grenades. Mengzi, like Mengzi, carried bullets, a machine gun, and a Type 38 rifle, with a total weight of over twenty kilograms.

"Little brats, if I don't give you some nutrition, you'll think you're chasing rabbits!"

Dongku felt that the people behind hadn't given up the pursuit. In the darkness, he patted Shanzi on the back, ordered him to stop and be on alert, and took a short rest.

Shanzi quickly passed the order, and Dongku quickly put down the machine gun, took off the two guns, and dug out the landmines wrapped in clothes from his bag. He ran back about ten meters, squatted down, and started setting up the trap. After a while, he slowly walked back another ten meters, then bent a locust branch, quickly cut off the twigs, and attached it to a branch of an oak tree, carefully hanging the landmine's pull cord...

"If only I had some companion mines..."

Without suitable explosives to set traps, Dongku was helpless. Otherwise, the people behind would have been blown away long ago, and they wouldn't be chasing so closely. Unfortunately, grenades have a delay, and once the smoke is smelled or the hissing sound is heard, it's still possible to dodge. Although he knew how to modify grenades to explode immediately, he never had the time to do it, so he used the only landmine he had extravagantly.

Carefully leaving the oak branch that would spring up when touched, Dongku quickly put on his backpack, picked up his guns, and rushed to the front where the others were resting and on alert.

"Go!"

The simple order reached everyone's ears, and they quickly stood up, with Liu Zhong leading the way, heading towards the designated slope.

About ten minutes later, they had just climbed halfway up the opposite slope when a loud explosion came from behind. With the explosion, a ball of fire rose in the darkness about a thousand meters away, and then it quickly returned to the previous darkness.

"Hehe... Got them..."

Shanzi, without stopping, looked back and muttered.

The others didn't even stop, maintaining their speed as they ran through the dark forest.

Far away, at the spot where Dongku had buried the landmine in the dead leaves, six bodies lay scattered, with broken branches and twigs all over the ground. Smoke rose from the center of the bodies, and a large pit of frozen earth yawned open.

In front of and behind the large pit, Japanese soldiers lay on the ground, even the two wolf dogs with their tongues out. The Japanese soldiers, feeling the power of the explosion, confirmed it was a powerful anti-tank landmine.

With their ears ringing, all the Japanese soldiers lay on the ground, afraid to move. The sudden explosion made them suspect that there might be more landmines under them. Unfortunately, the current engineers didn't have mine detectors, so they could only rely on experience, using bayonets to probe the dead leaves around them to check for mines.

Liu Zhong and the others, running, didn't know the effect of the explosion behind them, but one thing was certain: the pursuers would be further behind.

Liu Zhong was the first to reach the top of the mountain.

"Rest here."

Dongku ordered from behind.

The order was quietly passed to those still climbing, and Liu Zhong, not knowing which direction to run, was glad to receive the order. He took off his backpack, took out the Japanese army canteen, and slowly sipped some water to soothe his parched throat.

The others did the same, putting down their items and drinking water to rest.

After climbing to the top, Dongku looked at the distant blurry shadows in the darkness, then looked up at the stars, recalling the approximate location of the Japanese map in his mind, and determined the direction of Houtou Village.

After confirming the direction was correct, Dongku sat down next to a few people and whispered, "The bastards have been chasing us for over two hours. Let's leave some gifts for the little brats and lighten our load. Six grenades each."

"Okay!"

Everyone, feeling frustrated from being chased, became excited at the thought of dealing with the Japanese and eagerly took out the grenades from their bags to prepare the traps.

"Dongzi, Huzi, Liu Hai, Mengzi, be on alert. The rest, come over."

As he spoke, Dongku put on his night vision goggles, removed the percussion caps and firing pins from the grenades, carefully dug out the fuses, and cut off two-thirds of them with a dagger, explaining the process in detail.

He demonstrated twice and told everyone the precautions. Seeing that the first step of removing the percussion cap was no problem, it meant that the grenades wouldn't explode unless the detonator inside was touched. He then let a few people spread out, each about six to seven meters apart, finding a hidden spot, and started disassembling the grenades under the faint starlight.

He, on the other hand, worked on the most dangerous part behind a rock, pushing the percussion cap forward to modify the delay...

The shortened fuses would only have a delay of about one second, during which time it would be impossible to dodge. Once activated, it would definitely explode.

In less than ten minutes, everyone had finished disassembling the grenades, and Dongku, working faster, reassembled them at a rate of two to three per minute as they brought him the disassembled grenades.

For Dongku, modifying grenades and bombs was child's play.

While Dongku was modifying the grenades, the Japanese soldiers carefully cleared the area around them.

After the cleanup, they found no more landmines and cautiously got up. Although they could avoid the other side's route, to ensure they didn't lose them, Fuji ordered them to continue advancing.

The Japanese were now more cautious, especially the two who had survived with the wolf dogs. They tightly held the dogs, using the faint starlight to judge if there were any more traps.

"Speed up!"

Fuji, worried that the other side would have time to set more traps, ordered them to accelerate after a while without any danger.

About ten minutes later, Fuji led over a hundred and thirty people to the top of the mountain.

"They rested here."

Seeing the obvious signs of sitting on the ground, Fuji ordered them to stop the pursuit. He carefully observed the darkness below and called over the two soldiers with the wolf dogs, instructing them, "You two, one to the left and one to the right, thirty meters away from here. Avoid the possible landmines they might have planted after resting, and start searching the slopes below to find their trail."

"Hai!"

The two soldiers with the wolf dogs split up, each leading a squad, entering the dense forest, avoiding the possible routes the other side might take, and heading down the mountain.

"Hmph! Trying to plant landmines?"

Fuji sneered and followed one of the squads, disappearing from the top of the mountain.

A few minutes later, the two squads, while merging, found the route the other side had taken down the mountain and combined, heading towards the ditches and ponds.

The surrounding hazel bushes were three to four meters tall, and the thick hazel forest was easy to navigate, as the ground below couldn't support small shrubs, only the hazel roots and decaying leaves, and the loose snow on top.

Seeing the dark hazel forest ahead, Fuji didn't hesitate, ordering them not to stop and to continue chasing in the direction. He knew that with the snow, if they detoured and lost the scent, they would have to wait until daylight to find the trail.

The Japanese slowed down, following the two dogs, and cautiously pursued the chaotic footprints in the hazel forest. The soldiers in front occasionally poked suspicious snow mounds with their bayonets, being very careful.

Over a thousand meters of hazel forest, to Fuji's surprise, they didn't encounter any ambushes or traps until they saw the dark shadows of the trees ahead.

"Yoshi..."

Seeing the light ahead, Fuji quickly analyzed the situation in his mind, intuitively judging that the other side couldn't carry many landmines and might have planted them where they rested, but he had avoided them.

Just then, a buzzing sound came from the front, followed by the sound of branches being whipped and the rustling of leaves.

"Bad..."

Fuji's scalp tingled, shouting a warning. But before his warning was finished, the sound of branches being whipped quickly spread to his back, like a chain reaction, reaching the center of the group before the Japanese in the hazel forest could react.

In the shouts, Fuji and the soldiers instinctively fell to the ground to avoid possible shrapnel from landmines.

But just as their bodies hit the ground, a loud explosion flashed in the hazel forest, lighting up the dark mountain. Immediately, a series of explosions echoed, with shrapnel whizzing through the air, tearing through the hazel forest.

"Ahh..."

The cries of agony echoed through the forest, especially terrifying in the midst of the explosions.

Fuji felt a powerful force above his head, and a strong impact pushed him into the snow.

"Where did they get so many landmines..."

This thought flashed through his mind just before the pain overwhelmed him, and he lost consciousness. He never realized that the explosions came from above...

"Brother Dong, should we go back and finish them off?"

Liu Zhong, watching the flickering firelight below, asked quietly.

"Situation unclear, can't linger. We don't know how many are searching the mountains, so it's not suitable to engage them directly."

Dongku, looking at the spreading fire, explained quietly.

After all, Liu Zhong and the others were still growing and needed more training. Direct confrontation could cause unnecessary casualties, which would pain Dongku.

"Let's leave the area of Houtou Village before the thaw."

Staying away from the road was the best choice now. Dongku didn't hesitate and gave the order to move forward.

Although Hu Zi and the others didn't participate in the discussion, they were excited. The explosions had lifted their spirits, and they ran lightly down the mountain at Dongku's command.

About ten minutes later, they reached the bottom of the mountain, crossed the shrubs, and silently climbed towards the top of a hill in a grove of oak trees.

While climbing, Dog Egg suddenly stopped. Before Shunzi behind him could ask, he squatted down, felt around, and picked up something, whispering, "Someone nearby!"