Chapter 33

"General, General, retreat quickly, the Eighth Route Army's main force has arrived, our soldiers can't hold on any longer!" a major shouted as he entered Tofu Genkun's tent.

"What's going on? What's happening? How can there be so many Eighth Route Army soldiers here? We still have over ten thousand elite Imperial Army soldiers, how can we not hold on?" Tofu Genkun grabbed the major's collar and said.

"General, I don't know. Now, all the Eighth Route Army soldiers on the front line have broken through. Our soldiers are suffering heavy casualties! There are almost no one left. General, please leave quickly. Major Sakai and Major Kano have already committed suicide. General, please leave quickly. Your guard is still here, it will be too late if you wait," the major said.

"I can't leave. No, it's impossible. The Eighth Route Army's combat strength isn't that strong," Tofu Genkun released the major's collar, looking dazed.

"Someone, quickly take the general away, quickly!" the major shouted. A few guards immediately carried Tofu Genkun out.

Hu Hao was leisurely wandering around the Japanese camp. Knowing that the reinforcements had arrived, Hu Hao became even more relaxed, moving from one tent to another, finishing off any surviving Japanese soldiers with a shot.

Seeing a Japanese officer, Hu Hao started to loot.

"Damn, another non-smoker. Pfft. The watch is nice, the wallet is nice, give them to me, the dead don't need them!" Hu Hao said as he took off the watch and searched the officer's pockets.

Looking around the tent, seeing no other valuables, he moved to another tent.

"Damn, this is the command post, with so many maps," Hu Hao said as he entered.

Hu Hao looked at the dead officers inside, "A major, good stuff," he said, running over to a dead major.

"This sword is nice, I'll give it to my brother. This watch is nice too, it's a Longines. Damn, when did you Japanese get so rich? What's this? A Browning, nice, four of them now," he said, taking out the Browning and putting it in his belt, two on each side.

"Where are the bullets? There should be some. What's this?" Hu Hao saw a briefcase in the dead officer's hand.

"You damn Japanese, why put the regimental flag in a briefcase? Wasting my time. Throwing the flag on the ground, he continued to search. "Damn, Japanese, you even carry gold bars when you go out. Nice, and the briefcase is nice too. Forget it, I'll take them all," Hu Hao picked up the briefcase and put the silver dollars and bullets he had collected into it.

"Stop, don't move, raise your hands!" a few Eighth Route Army soldiers rushed in and shouted.

Hu Hao was taken aback, raised his hands, and slowly turned around. Seeing the Eighth Route Army in the dim light, he said, "Are you itching for a beating? You dare point your guns at me?"

"Who are you? Ah, it's you, Er Lengzi," the soldiers in front immediately lowered their guns upon recognizing him.

"Who else could it be?" Er Lengzi replied.

"Er Lengzi, the chief of staff is looking for you. Was it you who did this?" a soldier asked as he approached.

"Can't you see I'm collecting spoils? This place is mine. Wait until I'm done, then we'll talk. You guys go out," Er Lengzi said.

"It's yours, we won't fight over it. But, Er Lengzi, you should take off the Japanese uniform. If our soldiers see you like this outside, they might shoot you," the soldier said.

"Right, right," Er Lengzi said, taking off his coat. He then asked, "Are all the Japanese dead?"

"Almost all of them are dead, or nearly dead. Unfortunately, we couldn't find the division commander. He probably escaped. You can clean up here, I'll check other places," the soldier said, leading a few others out. Once outside the tent, a soldier asked,

"Class leader, shouldn't the spoils be reported? Why does Er Lengzi say this place is his?"

"Shut up, do you know who Er Lengzi is? Do you know who killed these Japanese? He can take whatever he wants. Just pretend you didn't see anything. If you gossip, I'll kill you," the class leader said.

"Alright, you guys stand guard here and follow Er Lengzi. Don't let him run off. I'll go find the chief of staff," the class leader said.

Hu Hao didn't care about what was happening outside. He carefully collected the spoils from the officers.

"Nice, a major's sword, I'll take it for hunting. This short sword is nice too. This coat is nice, and this one too, I'll give them to my brother," Hu Hao threw the coats to one side. He then checked the briefcases of the Japanese, putting all the good stuff into his own bag. Looking at the briefcases, Hu Hao thought,

"These briefcases are nice, made of cowhide. I'll give them to my brother," Hu Hao threw the briefcases into the pile of clothes.

"Alright, nothing valuable left. On to the next one," Hu Hao looked around, walked to the pile of clothes, tied them up, and threw the bag over his shoulder, heading out of the tent.

"Er Lengzi, where are you going?" a few soldiers outside the tent asked when they saw Hu Hao come out.

"Mind your own business, newbies," Hu Hao said irritably.

"No, Er Lengzi, our class leader went to find the chief of staff. He'll be here soon. Don't wander around," a soldier said.

"Which eye saw me wandering around?" Hu Hao said, walking to the next tent. He was very unhappy, having searched several tents without finding any cigarettes.

Entering the tent, he saw it had already been searched.

"Which bastard searched this tent? Don't you know I haven't searched it yet?" Hu Hao turned and shouted loudly.

"Er, Er Lengzi, I searched it. Everything is here. I haven't taken anything. What do you need? You can pick it," a soldier carrying a large bundle wrapped in a Japanese bedsheet came over, opened it, and said to Er Lengzi.

"Any cigarettes? Did you find any?" Er Lengzi asked, looking at the items on the bedsheet.

"You want cigarettes? Yes, yes," the soldier quickly took out several packs of cigarettes from his pocket.

"Give them to me, I don't want the rest," Hu Hao grabbed the cigarettes and put them in his pocket, then turned to the next tent.

"Comrades, if anyone finds cigarettes, give them all to Er Lengzi. Got it? Continue searching," the soldier said.

Hu Hao entered the next tent, but it had already been searched. He came out with a frown.

"Er Lengzi, come, here are the cigarettes we collected. There might be more later, we'll bring them to you," the soldier from earlier ran over with a cloth bag full of cigarettes.

Hu Hao took the bag, his mood immediately improved, "Alright, you guys go do your work. I'll go find my brother."

Hu Hao looked around, spotting a jeep. "Nice, a good thing." He walked over, opened the door, threw his things inside, grabbed a handful of wet soil, and wrote "Eighth Route Army" on the hood and the back of the jeep. He wiped his hands with snow, got in the car, and without a key, started the engine and drove towards the front line.

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