Chapter 31

After the Japanese soldiers retreated, Hu Hao was completely drained of energy. He turned around, not caring about the other soldiers, and took out a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket with trembling hands. Just as he was about to open it, he dropped it.

A soldier nearby picked it up for Hu Hao and took one out, putting it in Hu Hao's mouth.

"The lighter is in the left pocket. Thanks, do you smoke?" Hu Hao said.

The soldier helped Hu Hao take out the lighter, opened it, and lit the cigarette for him. The other soldiers often saw Hu Hao use this lighter, so they knew how to use it.

"I don't smoke, thanks. You're really amazing," the soldier said.

Hu Hao exhaled a puff of smoke and smiled bitterly. "Amazing? If I were amazing, so many of our brothers wouldn't have died!"

After saying that, Hu Hao opened the food box that the first company commander had the soldiers bring over. Inside were a few steamed buns and some slices of white meat. Without caring how dirty his hands were, Hu Hao grabbed them and started eating. The most important thing now was to restore his strength.

Seeing Hu Hao eating, the soldier went to help elsewhere.

While Hu Hao was eating, a cadre nearby saw him and said, "What are you doing, soldier? Don't you see the other soldiers are busy treating the wounded? You're here eating, like a hungry ghost reincarnated!"

Hu Hao heard the voice, looked up at the person, said nothing, and continued eating with his head down.

"Stand up! Didn't you hear me?" the cadre shouted.

The surrounding soldiers, hearing the voice, quickly looked up to see what was happening.

"That Captain Zhao, let him eat. He's really exhausted," a soldier nearby said.

"It's not just him who's exhausted. Why should he be the only one sitting here eating?" Captain Zhao said.

Hu Hao ignored him, not because he didn't want to, but because he didn't have the energy. The most important thing now was to fill his stomach and restore his strength. He needed to meditate later to recover his powers.

"I told you to stand up, did you hear me? Are you out of your mind?" Captain Zhao, seeing Hu Hao's reaction, became angry.

"Hey, Captain Zhao, calm down! He's really exhausted, let him eat!" the first company commander, seeing this, hurried over.

"No, First Company Commander, aren't you being too lenient with this soldier?" Captain Zhao said.

"Come, come, come," the first company commander pulled Captain Zhao aside, afraid that Hu Hao would get angry.

"Captain Zhao, look at the bodies in front. Do you think we killed a lot?" the first company commander pointed to the Japanese bodies in front of the trench and said.

"Yes, a lot, probably 6,000 to 7,000 Japanese. Your combat power is indeed strong, but what does that have to do with this soldier?" Captain Zhao asked curiously.

"At least half of them were killed by him, I'm saying at least. He's really exhausted. Before you came, he was drenched in cold sweat and his hands were shaking. He's a hero in this sniper battle. Without him, our defense line would have been breached long ago," the first company commander explained.

"Ah! Really? Just him?" Captain Zhao couldn't believe it, and the first company commander nodded affirmatively. "Not only that, but in these few days, he has killed at least 20 Japanese officers of the rank of major or above, and countless lieutenants. So his physical strength is really drained, not because he doesn't want to help the wounded."

"Oh," Captain Zhao was stunned by this news and then said, "I didn't know. I'm sorry, I—"

"It's fine, he won't mind!" the first company commander said.

At this moment, Captain Zhao's look at Hu Hao changed. This soldier was really amazing, taking out thousands of Japanese by himself.

Of course, it wasn't just him; many soldiers helped Hu Hao load bullets and fetch ammunition.

Hu Hao ignored them, finished eating, and sat down to meditate for a while. "Hmm, could I break through this time?" Hu Hao felt that the bottleneck in his meridians was loosening, so he quickly focused his energy to break through.

After about an hour, Hu Hao was still sitting there, and it was already completely dark. The surrounding soldiers were eating the dinner sent from the rear. Some soldiers saw Hu Hao meditating and placed a meal next to him, waiting for him to wake up and eat.

Hu Hao opened his eyes, feeling full of energy. He didn't expect that using up his internal energy would break the bottleneck he hadn't been able to break for nearly half a month, entering the third level.

Hu Hao looked at the bowl of rice next to him. Although it was cold, he didn't care. After eating, he put the bowl down and went to the regimental headquarters.

When Hu Hao arrived at the regimental headquarters, he saw that Commander Zhang was drenched in sweat.

"Brother, brother, what's wrong, brother!" Hu Hao quickly shouted where Commander Zhang was lying, touching him and feeling a high fever. A wet towel was on Commander Zhang's head.

"Why didn't you send my brother to the rear hospital? He has a high fever!" Hu Hao shouted at the political commissar and the chief of staff, who were also anxious.

"We didn't send him, we've tried many times to get him to go down, but he refuses. He says there's a tough battle tomorrow and he needs to hold on until then," the political commissar said anxiously.

"Um," at this moment, Commander Zhang woke up from his coma, opened his eyes, and saw Hu Hao. He licked his dry lips and said weakly, "Erlengzi, I can't go down now. If I go, the morale will be lost. Everyone is holding on, and we'll see who can hold on the longest. Erlengzi, don't worry about me. I won't die. As long as the Japanese don't break through our defense, I won't die. I have to wait until the Japanese retreat from this battle or die here. Remember what I told you before."

"Brother, let's go down. With me here, I guarantee the Japanese won't come up," Hu Hao said, crying.

"I know you're strong, and you did well today, but you're just one person, not a god. The Japanese will intensify their attack tomorrow. Time is running out for them," Commander Zhang said.

"Brother, I'll go find medicine for you. Wait for me," Hu Hao said and ran out. It was already dark, and Hu Hao directly climbed over the trench. He remembered that he had killed many Japanese medics during the day and wanted to find some anti-inflammatory and hemostatic medicine from them.

Hu Hao came to the foot of the mountain. The Japanese hadn't collected their bodies yet. Hu Hao searched a few medical kits, opened them, and saw the medicine inside. He didn't care what kind of medicine it was, he just took it back. On his way back, Hu Hao thought about it and found a Japanese soldier who had died cleanly, stripped off a clean set of Japanese clothes, and brought them back to the regimental headquarters.

After returning to the regimental headquarters, Hu Hao took out the medicine boxes, opened them, and looked through the medicine. The instructions on the medicine were in Japanese, but that didn't bother Hu Hao.

"Brother, I found it. This is the Japanese anti-inflammatory and hemostatic medicine. This can also treat fever. Brother, I'll get some water for you to take it."