Chapter 78

Dong Ku and his team had managed to avoid detection by the Japanese army for so many days by hiding in an underground cave by the river.

The moment Dong Ku realized it would be difficult to break out of the encirclement, he had arranged all the escape routes. He found a dead tree trunk left by a lightning strike about twenty meters from the river, cleared out the dry leaves inside, and started digging a tunnel from the center. Although the dead tree still had roots, they were rotten and easy to dig through. Even the fresh roots were easily cut with the sharp entrenching tools. After digging more than a meter underground, he began to dig horizontally toward the river, all the way to a large backwater bay. He then poked a hole near the water surface to create a ventilation hole, and about three meters away from the river, he dug out a cave large enough to hide eight people.

The soil from the tunnel was transported out and spread under the leaves that had been lifted, and then the leaves were replaced to cover the soil, leaving no trace. The soil from the expanded cave was poured into the river through the ventilation hole that connected to the water surface via the roots.

Before entering the cave, they piled the dry leaves back into the dead tree trunk. Once inside, they pushed the leaves up from the inside and filled the entrance with soil, blocking it for about three to four meters.

If the Japanese army suspected this place and entered the dead tree to move the leaves, they would trigger the hand grenades buried in the soil. After the explosion, the dead tree trunk would show no trace of the cave, thus not arousing the suspicion of the Japanese army.

They were nearly twenty meters underground, and even with the interference of the powdered wild celery, it was impossible for the dogs to smell the odor underground.

One of the Japanese soldiers outside, still uneasy after stabbing several times with his bayonet, threw a grenade, which shattered the dead tree and completely buried the entrance. However, the hand grenades buried in the soil were not detonated. The cave was more than a meter underground, and one grenade was not enough to collapse the narrow tunnel that only allowed crawling.

To avoid sweating in the hot and humid cave and making the clothes smelly, Dong Ku had everyone strip naked and lie on the oilcloth used by the Japanese to make a simple tent. In the evening, they enlarged the ventilation hole and poked a small hole in the ceiling to replace the stale air inside the cave, and in the morning, they sealed it again.

They spent nine days in the dark underground cave. When Dong Ku learned from the radio that they were heading to the cliff, he ordered everyone to get dressed and prepare to leave. Although he wanted to stay a few more days, since Shui Linglong had found the addresses of the hotels in Fengtian and Xinjing, he needed to go there to check and ensure the funds were in place, so he decided not to hide from Shinsan Yumi anymore.

After feeling the vibration of the explosion, Liu Hai started digging from the tunnel's entrance, and the others passed the soil to the cave where they were hiding. Soon, Liu Hai reached the dry leaves. After confirming there was no movement around, he flipped the leaves and quickly climbed out, followed by the others. They then re-camouflaged the entrance, moved their bodies to adapt to the light, and quickly disappeared into the forest.

When Shinsan Yumi angrily ordered the last line of defense to continue squatting, Dong Ku and his team had already left the hiding place and were sprinting south.

Two hours later, Dong Ku and his team had run more than ten kilometers and crouched on a hill. They all took out their binoculars to check the surroundings and the opposite hilltop. After confirming there were no Japanese soldiers, Dong Ku signaled for them to continue advancing.

Just as they reached the top of the next hill, Dong Ku raised his hand, and everyone quickly crouched down.

Dong Ku raised his binoculars and saw a Japanese soldier lying in the grass, responsible for a distance of about thirty meters, with three soldiers in total, one lying down and two resting.

"Damn! They're still here!"

Dong Ku cursed to himself. He knew this was the best opportunity, as most of the Japanese soldiers were concentrated at the cliff, and even if there were guards here, the number would not be large.

The Japanese soldier was exhausted, his eyelids drooping. They had been on guard for ten days, eating coarse grain shells and taking turns lying down day and night, which had left them extremely tired. Although they did not complain, the continuous tension and lack of movement had greatly reduced their alertness.

He was almost asleep, unaware that less than fifty meters away, a gun barrel was aimed at his forehead. In the three-angled grass that had grown to more than half a meter deep, several camouflaged figures were quietly crawling between him and another guard post.

Shuanzi led the way, with the others spaced two to three meters apart, quietly approaching within thirty meters of the guards. They slowly crawled through the grass toward the outside of the blockade line.

Dong Ku's eyes never left the soldier's forehead. Seeing him almost asleep, he secretly smiled, thinking he would soon wake him up.

When he saw Shunzi use the reflection of his bayonet to signal from a hundred meters beyond the blockade line, Dong Ku locked onto him with the sight and confirmed through hand signals that everyone had safely broken through. Dong Ku quietly retreated into the bushes, set up three Type 11 light machine guns a hundred meters away, aimed at three points, and suspended them between two small trees. He then threaded three fishing lines through two cigarettes tied together, pulled the lines tight, and set up a mechanism with three stones tied to the triggers, lighting the cigarettes.

Seeing the cigarettes fully lit in the breeze, Dong Ku quickly left, following the path Shunzi and the others had taken to cross the blockade line, and met up with Shunzi and the others waiting there, quickly heading toward Bee Mountain.

They had only run for a few minutes when the sound of gunfire echoed through the forest.

Dense bullets hit near one of the guard posts, breaking branches and scattering dry leaves.

The sudden attack woke up all the drowsy Japanese soldiers, who raised their guns and fired back at the direction of the machine guns. In an instant, the forest was filled with the sound of gunfire.

The Japanese soldiers' counterattack seemed to have hit the target or suppressed the enemy's fire, as the gunfire from the other side stopped after a few seconds.

The Japanese soldiers on the defense line stopped shooting but, following orders, remained lying on the ground without searching.

Less than a minute after the gunfire stopped, the machine guns fired again, this time at another guard post.

"There! Fire!"

A lieutenant commanding nearby soldiers shouted and turned to call for support using a radio.

"Are they trying to break through?"

Shinsan Yumi was pondering the gunfire, about to order an inquiry, when he heard the report. A thought flashed through his mind, and he ordered the Japanese soldiers to rush to the location of the gunfire for reinforcement, while the soldiers on the blockade line remained in place, maintaining vigilance.

As his order was issued, the machine guns on the other side of the blockade line stopped firing. This made the Japanese soldiers on the blockade line even more nervous, constantly searching the grass, fearing that the trapped people would break through the line in the chaos.

The Japanese soldiers on the road also heard the gunfire and raised their alertness, defending their positions to prevent the enemy from breaking out of the forest and crossing the road.

Just as they were tense, the machine guns fired again after less than a minute, with dense bullets flying, seemingly trying to break through.

However, the Japanese soldiers on the defense line found it strange that the previous machine gun fire, although aimed at one guard post, had been erratic and had not caused any casualties, only breaking some shrubs.

Is this the kind of shooting to break through the line?

This time, no one fired back, all lying quietly to avoid stray bullets and prevent anyone from breaking through the line in the chaos.

The gunfire soon stopped, as if the enemy had too many bullets and was just playing, firing a full magazine and then stopping.

Shinsan Yumi, hearing the gunfire stop, could not sit still and picked up the phone to inquire about the situation at the location.

When he heard that no one had broken through the blockade, his eyes narrowed: Could it be a feint?

He was eager to capture even one person or a corpse. Otherwise, after losing more than three thousand soldiers in this operation, his fate as the commander would be only one: seppuku.

The responsibility would fall entirely on him, as the lieutenant general of the division, Yokomura Yuji, had remained on the road and not entered the forest.

He did not know that as the main force of the Japanese army moved toward the location of the gunfire, the "Soviet" team he had tightly trapped had already left the blockade line and was heading toward Bee Mountain.

Shunzi and the others did not know how Dong Ku managed to make the machine guns fire after they left, but seeing that Dong Ku did not stop, they followed him silently, quickly moving through the forest.

More than two hours later, Dong Ku stopped on a hill by the mountain path, carefully searching the path and its surroundings. After confirming there were no Japanese soldiers, he led his team across the road and disappeared into the forest of Bee Mountain.

In the forest, they washed the camouflage paint off their faces by a stream, took out the clothes from their backpacks, and changed out of their camouflage uniforms. After confirming the location of Liu Zhong and the others with Shanzi, they headed straight for Liu Zhong's training camp.

Seeing the hunters who had already developed a military air, Dong Ku did not say much. He only had the hunters throw stones into the air and demonstrated precise shooting with his pistol and rifle, shocking the hunters. He then gave all the two thousand bullets each person had carried back to Liu Zhong and arranged for him to have the final day of shooting training the next day, followed by pure physical and combat training. He would decide on the shooting training schedule when he returned from Harbin.

After making the arrangements, Sun Tao handed him a recently translated telegram from Shao Pang, informing Dong Ku that the factory site in Kundi had been selected, the equipment had arrived, and it would be operational within a month. The flour mill in Shanghai was also built and would be ready for trial production within half a month. The telegram also mentioned that the binoculars he had custom-ordered in Germany had arrived in Kundi with the machinery, asking if they should be sent to Harbin with the wine ordered by Liu Rujie in Shanghai.

Seeing that the binoculars had arrived, Dong Ku quickly had Sun Tao send a reply, asking Shao Pang to have Iron Monk deliver the binoculars to Shanghai and send them to Harbin with the wine, where he would receive them.

After making the arrangements, he handed the M4A1 to Shunzi, gave his backpack to Sun Tao, and set off for Mishan with Shanzi and Huzi, carrying only light equipment.