Chapter 24

After Hu Hao had his fill of food and drink, he looked around and didn’t see any Japanese officers. Hu Hao entered a tent and found a lot of ammunition and weapons inside. He went in and rummaged through, discovering that there were only Type 38 rifles and Nambu machine guns.

"Hmm, there’s this gun too? Nice, it’s American!" Hu Hao took out a Springfield sniper rifle from the gun case.

"Wow, I’ve been lacking a good gun. I didn’t expect to get one from the Japanese camp!" Hu Hao looked around to see if there were any bullets for the gun. He found a box of 7.62mm rifle cartridges, grabbed his Springfield sniper rifle, and started loading the ammunition into his pockets.

After coming out, he had already switched his gun. Hu Hao originally wanted to kill a few Japanese officers, but the Japanese officers had gone to the city for a dinner party that night. Hu Hao could only say that the Japanese officers had good luck.

When he reached the edge of the camp, Hu Hao walked out with his gun on his back.

"Stop, where are you going?" a Japanese sentry asked.

"To defecate, what else?" Hu Hao replied in Japanese, not in a good mood.

"Go quickly and come back soon, the Eighth Route Army is still nearby," the Japanese sentry said.

Hu Hao ignored him and continued walking. When he reached a place where the Japanese sentry couldn’t see him, Hu Hao quickly crouched down to where he had hidden his clothes and changed. After changing, Hu Hao took the Japanese uniform and headed back to his hiding place.

"Who’s there?" Xiao Li’s voice came from not far away.

"It’s me, Xiao Li, it’s me," Hu Hao shouted.

"Where have you been? I came here and found you gone, I thought the Japanese had caught you," Xiao Li said. Hu Hao walked into the hiding place and saw that Xiao Li had already brought his blanket over.

"I went to the Japanese side to eat and drink. What? Did the commander send you to get my blanket?" Hu Hao asked.

"Hehe, I stole it. I took it while the commander was having dinner," Xiao Li said.

"Alright, thanks. You can go now, I need to stay here tonight," Hu Hao said.

"Okay, hey, Er Lengzi, you changed your gun?" Xiao Li noticed that Hu Hao had a different gun.

"Yeah, I went to the Japanese side and found this good thing," Hu Hao proudly showed his gun.

"What kind of gun is this? It even has a scope?" Xiao Li asked.

"A Springfield sniper rifle, made in America!" Hu Hao said.

"Alright, be careful. I’ll go back, it’s too cold outside, it’s going to snow," Xiao Li said.

After Xiao Li left, Hu Hao laid out the Japanese uniform and covered himself with the blanket. Before that, he had gone out to find a lot of branches and dry grass to block the entrance and camouflage it.

The next morning, when it was still slightly light, Hu Hao woke up. He pushed aside the cover of the entrance and saw that the outside was covered in white; it had indeed snowed.

"Ha ha, the heavens are helping me. Japanese, I’ll see how you can clear my mines in the snow," Hu Hao said happily.

Lieutenant General Tsuchihashi Kenji woke up and saw the snow outside, sighed, and said, "How can we march in this weather? The road has been destroyed, the 20th Division is in danger."

However, he still gave the order for the soldiers to have an early meal and set off immediately after eating, heading to the Eighth Route Army’s base to attack.

By 8 a.m., the Japanese started moving towards Hu Hao’s position. Hu Hao was just about to test his gun, and the Japanese delivered themselves right to him.

Hu Hao aimed at a Japanese major. The head was a bit far, so he aimed for the heart for safety. He pulled the trigger, and the Japanese major fell. "Enemy attack!" The Japanese didn’t learn from yesterday’s lesson and scattered in all directions. This wasn’t surprising, as today’s vanguard was the 15th Regiment of the 28th Brigade, which lacked experience.

"Boom, boom," the Japanese started their human wave attack.

Hu Hao wasn’t idle either. The Japanese were at least 600 meters away, and their rifles couldn’t reach him. Hu Hao started picking them off.

"Eight road, charge! The Eighth Route Army is just one man. Charge in formation!" a Japanese colonel shouted.

The Japanese soldiers began to organize a charge towards Hu Hao. Hu Hao wasn’t afraid. He had planted many mines along the way. By the time the Japanese reached him, they would be mostly eliminated. Hu Hao specifically targeted the sergeants and officers. Once they were eliminated, the Japanese charge would be ineffective, as there would be no one to command them.

"Boom," Japanese soldiers kept stepping on mines. Those who stepped on mines without explosives were better off, with few deaths and a few injuries. If they stepped on the mines Hu Hao had planted with explosives, the Japanese within 30 meters would be mostly dead.

Before they reached 100 meters, the Japanese had already lost several hundred men and had to retreat.

"Colonel, we can’t charge. The Eighth Route Army has planted mines all over the road. Many of our soldiers have already been killed. We should request the assistance of the engineers," a major said to Colonel Morita Tadahiro.

"Eight road, all retreat. Wait for the engineers to clear the mines. I can’t let my soldiers use their bodies to clear the mines," Colonel Morita Tadahiro said.

Thus, the 15th Regiment, which had just set out for less than half an hour, returned to where they had started.

"Eight road, why aren’t you advancing? I need to clear this road today, or the 20th Division will be in danger," Tsuchihashi Kenji slapped Colonel Morita Tadahiro.

"Yes, sir. The road is full of mines. My soldiers will be sent to their deaths if they go. I request the assistance of the engineers," Colonel Morita Tadahiro stood at attention and said.

"Eight road, if the engineers could solve it, they would have done it already. We don’t know how the Eighth Route Army planted the mines, and our engineers can’t find them," Tsuchihashi Kenji said loudly.

"Sir, my soldiers are the Emperor’s elite. I can’t send them to their deaths. Sir, can we use tanks to clear the way?" Colonel Morita Tadahiro said.

"Yo, that’s a good idea, but our 14th Division only has 8 light tanks. If they hit the mines, they will also be damaged," Tsuchihashi Kenji said.

"What should we do? We can’t stay here forever," Colonel Morita Tadahiro said. "Moreover, the Eighth Route Army is still sniping our officers. My unit has already lost at least 20 junior officers."

"Eight road, cunning Eighth Route Army," Tsuchihashi Kenji cursed.

"Sir, can we use pigs and sheep to clear the minefield?" a major suggested.

"Yo, that’s a good idea. Get some live pigs and sheep and drive them to the minefield," Tsuchihashi Kenji said happily.

An hour later, the Japanese somehow got a lot of pigs and sheep, probably by harming Chinese civilians.

When Hu Hao saw the Japanese driving the pigs and sheep, he cursed, "Damn, the Japanese have smart people too!"