Chapter 34

In the mountain forest, the cold sunlight of early spring shone through the trees, making the already frozen and frosted bodies appear particularly clean.

Tsuchi Koji looked at the chaos before him, at the bodies that had bled to death from their wounds, the bodies covered by broken branches and leaves, and the soldiers with withered faces and dazed expressions. Even he, who had experienced countless battles, was momentarily stunned.

A standard squad of over 140 people had been mostly wiped out by the enemy, with very few left unscathed, and this was due to traps, not an ambush.

"What kind of armed group is this? To have such formidable capabilities!!!"

This thought flashed through Tsuchi Koji's mind, and then he quickly reacted, ordering the wounded to be treated and reporting the situation to Shōgun Kōichi.

"Report, Lieutenant."

The radio operator took off his headphones and said, "I can't contact Captain Shōgun."

"What?"

A dark cloud of foreboding enveloped Tsuchi Koji. He had a vague sense of unease. If this armed group was indeed from the Dahan Town direction, as Captain Shōgun had guessed, and had attacked the Miyamoto convoy, then Dahan Town would also have been left in a trap. If that were the case, Captain Shōgun, with only about 100 men, might...

As soon as this thought arose, he hurriedly ordered the situation to be reported to the Jiamusi garrison command.

In the command, where they were discussing how the Soviet forces had crossed the border, how many people had come over, and what their strategic goals might be, a heated discussion was taking place. An officer holding a telegram pushed the door open and entered.

"Read it!"

Commander Nanzirō ordered briefly and forcefully.

"Hai!"

The radio operator stood at attention and loudly read, "Commander, my unit, under the order of Captain Shōgun Kōichi, pursued the fleeing armed forces. Lieutenant Fujita was caught in the enemy's trap and suffered heavy casualties, with only about thirty wounded remaining. Calls to Captain Shōgun have gone unanswered. Please give further orders, Lieutenant Tsuchi Koji."

"Can't contact Captain Shōgun?"

Lieutenant Colonel Kawabe Torashirō, a graduate of the 24th class of the Army Academy, frowned slightly and said to Commander Nanzirō, "Commander, Captain Shōgun Kōichi is the main squad of the Nakamura Division. If we can't contact him, it's probably..."

"Reporting directly to a higher authority, there must be a problem."

Commander Nakamura's face was filled with worry. He didn't mind that the telegram hadn't gone through him, because not only did Lieutenant Tsuchi Koji, but even Captain Shōgun himself, didn't know that he had arrived in Jiamusi and joined the Special Command against the Soviets. Besides, direct communication with the command for major and border issues was a recent unified deployment for all units, and it wasn't as if they were disregarding him as a superior.

Commander Nanzirō pondered for a moment and said, "Captain Shōgun's previous telegram was forwarded to me. Now it seems that this Soviet force is not small and is skilled in jungle warfare and setting traps." He then ordered sternly, "Send a telegram to Jiapi Gou, Jixi, and Fuyuan Carbon Field to dispatch experienced units to seal off the mountain areas along the line and find this Soviet group. Send a telegram to Raohe and Huto to intensify patrols and closely monitor the Soviet forces on the other side. Send a telegram to Lieutenant Tsuchi Koji to temporarily take charge of the unit, follow this Soviet group, and report their position at all times."

"Hai!"

The radio operator wrote down the content, accepted the order, and left the meeting room.

As the telegrams flew out, the Japanese forces along the route where Dong Ku and his group were advancing immediately went into a frenzy. Trucks and motorcycles left the camps, and Japanese troops ran orderly to their respective mountain areas, sealing off all roads and patrolling continuously, waiting for the encirclement to form and then move into the mountains to hunt them down.

After dawn, before the ground began to thaw, Dong Ku and his group continued to run forward, covering over forty miles. By noon, when the ground had started to soften and thin streams appeared in the ditches, they stopped at a sunny spot.

"Rest until nightfall, dry your shoes, and we still have a few days of travel ahead."

"Hai!"

Liu Zhong and the others accepted the order to rest. They hung their wet shoes on a large rock in a clearing in the forest, laid out dry grass, ate a little food, left a guard, and fell asleep.

Dong Ku didn't rest. He took the radio from Shanzi and began searching for signals.

Half an hour later, his brows furrowed. Using the Japanese code he remembered, he translated several telegrams, and the content made his heart heavy. They were surrounded.

"Little ones, in the jungle, what can you do with three or five divisions?"

After carefully analyzing the surrounding environment, Dong Ku smiled coldly, turned off the radio, and fell asleep...

As night fell, Dong Ku and his group put on dry shoes from their bags, still wearing Japanese uniforms, and gathered on the large rock.

"We will go in this direction, reach this point, eliminate the Japanese stationed there, then turn and head straight for this point, cross the road, and head for Baoqing. When we get near Baoqing, we can drive to Mishan and then walk back to Dahuishan."

"Brother Dong, why aren't we going to the Fuyuan Carbon Field as you said? Is it because we intercepted the Japanese convoy and the Japanese are angry?"

Sun Tao asked, looking at the map in the dim light.

Dong Ku glanced at Sun Tao and nodded inwardly. He had always thought that Sun Tao had a good sense of the big picture and could see the essence behind things. He nodded and said, "That's right. I translated several telegrams, and the content is all about searching for the Soviet special squad, from Jiapi Gou to the Fuyuan Carbon Field. We could avoid going to Fuyuan, but there's the Songhua River, and the transportation is inconvenient, which is not good for us. So, we still need to return to Heizui."

"Brother Dong, why don't we just charge through? Why are we avoiding the Japanese?"

Mangzi said bluntly.

"Mangzi, follow Brother Dong's plan."

Liu Zhong, without looking up, scolded Mangzi and continued to study the map.

"Mangzi, we are a special forces unit, a small infiltration team. We try to avoid direct confrontation with the Japanese. We are few in number, mobile, and flexible, suitable for eliminating the Japanese while on the move. But if we get bogged down, it will increase our casualties. Escaping the encirclement is not running away. In my dictionary, there is no word for running away."

"Okay!"

Mangzi, a straightforward person, understood Dong Ku's explanation. They were not suitable for a direct confrontation now and needed to avoid the sharp edge.

As night deepened, the cold temperature in the mountain forest refroze the snow and ground that had started to melt during the day.

Dong Ku and his group moved silently through the dense forest, causing deer and wild boars to listen alertly to the slight sounds they made.

Not far away on the road, a patrol squad of over ten Japanese soldiers on two motorcycles patrolled the road, their bright headlights piercing the night, leaving no darkness on the road.

"It seems these gas shells are the Japanese's prized possessions. They are putting in so much effort..."

Originally, they planned to create a diversion at Qiongbajiazi to draw the Japanese's attention and then easily escape the encirclement and return to Hulin from near Baoqing. Seeing the strict patrols and the crisscrossing lights in the distance, Dong Ku muttered to himself, carefully retreated into the forest, and ordered the group to move out.

Although Mangzi and the others were several hundred meters from the road, they could clearly see the crisscrossing lights and the flashlights on the road, and their hearts tightened. They no longer doubted Dong Ku's decision to abandon the original plan, even if they didn't know where they were going.

Moving through the night, Dong Ku and his group moved away from Qiongbajiazi and approached their target. By dawn, they stopped on a slightly barren hill.

"Brother Dong, there are people in that direction."

Liu Zhong pointed to several deer running wildly in the morning sun at the foot of the distant mountain.

"Stay hidden."

Dong Ku took out his binoculars and looked in the direction Liu Zhong pointed. He didn't doubt the judgment of these experienced hunters.

Sure enough, about two kilometers behind the direction the deer were running, a squad of over twenty Japanese soldiers appeared in his line of sight.

"Search the surroundings."

Dong Ku hid behind a bush and ordered.

Six binoculars were quickly set up, and Liu Zhong and the others each took a direction and began searching carefully.

"Twenty-four men at two o'clock, three kilometers away, moving in the same direction."

"Thirty-one men at eight o'clock, two and a half kilometers away, moving in the same direction."

"Sixteen men at nine o'clock, two kilometers away, heading towards us..."

As the directions were reported, everyone's hearts sank. They had been moving through the Japanese lines all night.

Dong Ku quickly changed directions, carefully observing the Japanese from several directions, and quietly ordered, "Eat the dried meat, drink water in advance, and concentrate all the water in half the canteens. Drink the rest. We will move out in three minutes, heading to ten o'clock."

Everyone quickly prepared according to the order. Three minutes later, they chewed on the dried meat and quietly moved down the mountain...

A squad of Japanese soldiers, rifles at the ready, cautiously searched the surroundings as they climbed the mountain. They didn't know that just thirty meters away, under the dead leaves, pairs of eyes were watching them closely, watching them leave.

A few minutes later, after the Japanese squad disappeared, Dong Ku quietly emerged from under the dead leaves, raised his hand cautiously, and gave the order to move forward.

Following his gesture, figures emerged from inconspicuous places, quickly and silently gathered, and then disappeared into the forest.

On the banks of the Baoqing River, in the dense reeds and grass, Dong Ku and his group stood in the cold water that reached their ankles, bent over, and watched the Japanese search party pass by twenty meters away...

Over the course of the day, Dong Ku and his group successfully avoided six waves of Japanese search parties, using their Japanese uniforms to escape the encirclement and head straight for Qitaihe. By evening, they had reached the area near Qitaihe, which was well-connected, and this would be the place where Dong Ku and his group would leave the mountains and return to Hulin.

"Damn! My shoes are soaked."

In a low shrub forest, Liu Zhong and the others were pouring water out of their shoes and cursing softly.

"Wring out your shoes, change into dry ones. We will jump out of the mountains tonight, and there might be a fight."

Dong Ku quickly wrung out his pants and shoes, changed into a pair of dry shoes, and said.

The Baoqing River is not a small river in the mountains. Now, the Baoqing River has thawed, and the ice has all melted. Crossing the river would not be a good idea, as the cold water could make everyone sick. So, although they had escaped the encirclement, they still had to break through the road to avoid being trapped in the mountains.